Dear Caldwell,
As I will note in Sunday’s sermon, there are some voices in our country that know the power of fear – how it appeals to the worst aspects of our nature, how divides, how it inspires desperation.
As people of faith, we await the Prince of Peace, and we are sometimes called to act on that claim as the body of Christ on earth. We have two immediate opportunities to stand against the hate and bigotry that is being advanced in the name of national security.
First, tonight, you can gather with people of many faiths in a peace rally at UNCC, specifically to stand in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters, whom some would demonize.
What: Vigil to Mourn the Shooting in San Bernardino and Stand Against Violence
When: Friday, Dec 11, 6:00pm
Where: UNCC, Just Outside Fretwell Hall
Second, in response to recent inflammatory statements made by politicians, T. Erskine Clarke, editor and publisher at the “Journal for Preachers” and professor emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, has issued a letter appealing to Christians to “seek to be agents of God’s justice and reconciliation in the world.”
I invite you to read and sign the letter if you wish (click on “letter” above).
Come Sunday, we will claim joy over fear and divisiveness. That may seem an utterly counter-cultural act. And it is! That is just the point. Even in the face of the world’s chaos and uncertainty, even as we do all we can to bring about peace and justice, our faith invites us to know and dwell in a joy that unites us.
More about that on Sunday.
In Christ,
John