Faith Leaders Sign a letter asking Florida Legislature to stop Anti-Immigration bills.

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Nearly 70 Faith Leaders Sign Letter Asking Florida Legislators to Stop Anti-immigrant Bills SB 1718 and HB 1617

Nearly 70 faith leaders across the state of Florida signed on to a letter led by the Florida Council of Churches, expressing grave concern around the anti-immigrant legislation that “will unfairly target persons out of status and every sector of society that connects with them, including Florida houses of worship, schools, hospitals and businesses.” As these bills are considered and move rapidly through the legislature, the letter was delivered electronically today with signatories to the Senate President President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner with hopes that they would keep these bills from moving to a floor vote.

The faith leader’s letter states: “This legislation is anti-faith, anti-family, anti-health, and anti-safety. Many immigrant families are a mix of immigrant status. Elders and parents will be separated from their children. The mandate for hospitals to collect information on immigration status will cause a public health crisis with children and parents fearful to seek care. Parents will struggle to provide for their families, and businesses will suffer from unjust fines and increased liabilities on employers. Witnesses to crimes will be unwilling to speak with police. The proof of citizenship elements will lead to profiling and disregard for basic rights of citizens based on ‘they look like an immigrant.”

Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, the Executive Director of Florida Council of Churches added, “I have sat through committee hearings and listened to false promises that this legislation will solve the immigration crisis. But none of it touches the real causes of immigration. Instead this super majority is targeting vulnerable people who have fled hunger and violence and want only safety and opportunity. These bills will make things worse for all of us. It’s a political lie to say otherwise. As faith leaders we have a moral obligation to stand up, speak for justice, and try to stop this inhumane legislation from becoming law.”

The letter goes on to say that “SB 1718/HB 1617 will have a devastating impact on Florida and will be a divisive force among the people of our great state. As faith communities, our role is to promote the values of love, care for our neighbors, and peaceful unity among all. This legislation does the opposite. We pray that our Florida legislature will do the right thing and stop SB 1718/HB 1617 from becoming law.”

Dear President Kathleen Passidomo and Speaker Paul Renner,

As faith leaders from diverse traditions, we are gravely concerned about the impacts of the companion bills SB 1718 and HB 1617. This legislation attempts to solve the nation’s immigration crisis, but instead will cause a humanitarian disaster in Florida and wreak havoc in our economy. The legislation will unfairly target persons out of status and every sector of society that connects with them, including Florida houses of worship, schools, hospitals and businesses. The undersigned 69 faith leaders ask you to prevent this law from passing.

In our faith communities, our sacred scriptures tell us to welcome the immigrant in our midst and love our neighbors. We recall Leviticus 19:34 which states, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Florida’s identity is as a place where immigrants find new life. Migration has made Florida into an economic powerhouse that showcases cultures from around the world. But if this legislation is adopted, its damage will send shockwaves across the country. Florida will be seen as the state that self-destructed over its fear of immigrants. 

This bill attacks our religious freedom and criminalizes our ministries. We do not check for immigration status before we obey God in serving those in need. For the state to expect us to do so is for the state to demand we forsake our beliefs. SB 1718/HB 1617 would make it a felony to bring uninspected unaccompanied minors into the state; invalidate the use of driver licenses issued by other states to undocumented immigrants; invalidate community IDs; require Emergency Rooms to collect immigration status information for all patients; increase fines and penalties for hiring undocumented immigrants, and prevent DACA recipients from a license to practice law in Florida.

This legislation is anti-faith, anti-family, anti-health, and anti-safety. Many immigrant families are a mix of immigrant status. Elders and parents will be separated from their children. The mandate for hospitals to collect information on immigration status will cause a public health crisis with children and parents fearful to seek care. Parents will struggle to provide for their families and businesses will suffer from unjust fines and increased liabilities on employers. Witnesses to crimes will be unwilling to speak with police. The proof of citizenship elements will lead to profiling and disregard for basic rights of citizens based on “they look like an immigrant.”

SB 1718/ HB 1617 will have a devastating impact on Florida and will be a divisive force among the people of our great state. As faith communities, our role is to promote the values of love, care for our neighbors, and peaceful unity among all. SB1718/HB 1617 does the opposite. We pray that our Florida legislature will do the right thing and stop SB 1718/HB 1617 from becoming law.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, Florida Council of Churches
Rev. Sandra Messick, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev John Vertigan, Florida Conference United Church of Christ
Bishop Aner Morejon, Brethren in Christ U. S.
Bishop Pedro Suarez, Florida-Bahamas Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Deacon Connie Schmucker, Florida-Bahamas Synod, ELCA
Rev. Chad Fair, Immanuel Lutheran, Palm Coast
Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, Presbyterian Church USA
The Rev. Dr. W. Harvey Jenkins, Jr, Presbytery of Florida (PCUSA)
The Reverend Grace Gravelle, St. Matthew Lutheran, Jacksonville
Rev. Dr. George Cruz-Martinez, Hope Lutheran Church, Satsuma
Ms. Beverly Rivera, Hope Lutheran Church, Satsuma
Senior Pastor  A. D. Shaw, Shekinah Glory Church Of God In Christ
Professor Arthur Kane, Pax Christi Florida
The Reverend Wilifred S Allen-Faiella, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Reverend Evan, Congregational United Church of Christ
The Rev. Franklin Eric Wester, Lutheran Church (ELCA)
Rev. Thomas K Holdcraft, St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Pastor Bernice Powell Jackson, First United Church of Tampa
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Morgan, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Tampa
Mr. David Sinclair, Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana de Tampa
Rev. Dr. Jon Keiser, Florida Bahamas Synod
The Rev. Richard Dow, Memorial Lutheran Church St. Augustine, FL
Rev. Anna Enderle, Mandarin Lutheran Church
Rev. Daniel Locke Daniel Locke, St. Mark’s Lutheran
Reverend Scott-Eric Lindner, Atonement Lutheran Church of Wesley Chapel
Pastor Ross Worch, Advent Lutheran, Orange Park
Reverend Jody Rice, St. Andrews Lutheran Church
Rva. Migdaleder Mazuera, Presbyterian Church
Rev. Kathleen Korb, Unitarian Universalist Association
Rev. Richard Murphy, UU Church St. Petersburg
Rev. Rev. Richard Hafer, Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Rev. Frank Wagner, Florida Bahamas Synod
Co-Founder, Sue Blythe, Interfaith Climate Group
Rev.  Rev. Edward Benoway, All Saints Lutheran Church
Co-Founder Shannon Larsen, Ancient Trees
Rev. Patricia Harris, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Fernandina Beach
Pastor Bob Hale, PoP! ELCA
Reverend  Ann Goraczko, Episcopal Church
Pastor David Monduy, Iglesia Rescate
Pastor Ruben Gimenez, Centro AFE
Pastor Lori Fuller, Palms Deaf Church
Pastor Rodolfo Lorenzo, Iglesia Rey de Reyes
Lider Roca Kids Nubia Gaitan, Casa Roca Miami
Pastor The Reverend Lois Ann Sorensen, Reformation Lutheran Church
Reverend Rev Donald Erickson, Rock of Ages Lutheran Church
Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer, Bat Yam Temple of the Islands
Pastor Carlos Uribe, Reyes y Sacerdote
Dr.  Maria Sgambati, Plum Village Community of Thich Nhat Hahn
Sr Pastor Yuniel Iglesias , Bet-El. El Monte de Su Presencia.
Reverend Susan Rogers, The Well at Springfield
Pastor Bob Hoffman , Shepherd of the Glades Lutheran Church
Copastor Angel, Iglesia Cristiana Bethel
Pastor Luis Parra, Iglesia torre fuerte of Miami
Pastora Teresa Rodriguez, Revelation Church
Rev. Jeffrey Ungs, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Senior Pastor Juan De La Cruz, Ministerio Internacional
Rev. Dr. Brant S. Copeland, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Pastor Rev. Kathryn Carroll, Chair, Global Missions Committee, Florida-Bahamas Synod
The Reverend Licia Affer, The Episcopal Church
The Rev. Dr. Keith A. Spencer, Trinity Lutheran, Pembroke Pines
Miguel Segura, Minit internc Jesucristo rey de reyes
Rev. Charles May, ELCA Pastor
Max Hernandez, One Love
The Rev. Horace Ward , The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family
Rev. Kathryn Carroll, ELCA
Lynda R Mack, Florida Council of Churches
Rev. William C Hamilton Jr, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Urge President Biden to take Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism List

 

Cuba is facing one of the worst economic crises in its history.  The Cuban people are facing shortages of clean water, medicine, and medical equipment, and the price of food has skyrocketed.   At the same time, it is nearly impossible for U.S. humanitarian and faith organizations to provide humanitarian aid to the Cuban people. The main obstacle is the fact that Cuba is on the State Department’s “State Sponsors of Terrorism List.”   Because banks fear running afoul of U.S. anti-terrorism laws and regulations, it can take years for groups to get much-needed aid and finances into the country.

Read a letter from 20 faith groups in support of taking Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism List

President Obama removed Cuba from the list in 2015 as the initial step to opening up diplomatic relations.  But in January of 2021, weeks before the Trump administration left office, Secretary Pompeo placed Cuba back on the list with devastating effects for the Cuban people.  Private businesses and entrepreneurs who were thriving under the opening of restrictions were decimated, and the effects were compounded by the US economic embargo.  Almost immediately, our partners faced shortages of critical items such as food, medicine, and other lifesaving essentials. For many Cubans, the situation has now become so unbearable they are selling all they own and risking their lives to migrate to the US.  Almost 300,000 Cubans have migrated – our policy is one of the root causes of that migration.  

Cuba continues to make international commitments to combat terrorism, has ratified numerous international counterterrorism conventions, and has signed a bilateral agreement with the United States on counterterrorism.  Cuba has worked with the U.S. on other efforts as well and provided access to Cuban air space so the US could deliver aid to the Haitian people.  Cuba has been lauded by the Colombian government for its help with their peace negotiations.  Cuba should not be on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. 

Please take action for the Cuban people!  Contact the administration and congress today and urge them to take Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

On Remebering and Lamenting of the Terrorists Attack of 911

This report focuses on the role that religion plays in relationship to violence, most specifically the form of violence used to attack important centers and symbols of American power on September 11, 2001. It also examines actions that have been, or can be, mounted to counter such violence and the role religion plays in supporting or challenging those counter terrorist actions.

Our church comes together every two years to discern together how best to live as faithful Christians in the world.  We consider resolutions and mandate studies of various issues, which are then passed along to our churches for study and implementation.  One such issue was terrorism, which resulted in this resolution, approved by the 216th General Assembly (2004) This resource includes both the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) resolution on terrorism and six lesson plans for its study.

Resolution on Violence, Religion, and Terrorism

Advocating for the Cuban people

 

The Rev. Dr. Larry Cuthill of the Central Florida Presbytery, has provided a draft letter in support of our Cuban sisters and brothers.  One of the most important things that we can do to support them is to put pressure on our elected officials to change the policy of the United States. I have slightly revised the letter to allow for one that doesn't reply to a particular president as the US policy changes. 

For over sixty years the United States has pursued a failed policy of embargo against the people of Cuba. While the stated goal has been to hasten regime change, the practical goal has been to impoverish the people of Cuba. A review published by Science in 2010 researched the effect of the embargo on the health of the Cuban people.  The study concluded that the sanctions altered the medication supply and likely had serious consequences to their health.  The sanctions have resulted in a 90% decline in trade of food and medicine. 

Several years ago, I traveling to Cuba with the Cuba-Mission Partnership of the Central Florida Presbytery. It was a privilege to meet the people of Cuba.  They are resourceful, resilient, embodied so much happiness and love for life.  They are highly educated and the country has a high literacy rate.  However, the impact of the embargo in impoverishing the nation is overwhelming.  The impact of the embargo on the population is an example of cruelty that I found  shocking.  Most people in the United States will never travel to Cuba and see how devastating this policy is having on our neighbors to the south.  

The bottom line is that the policy has not done anything to bring about regime change but has instead punished the people of Cuba.  Therefore, I believe it is time to end this policy and open up Cuba to change.  

I will add a few links at the bottom to other sources that have highlighted this terrible policy.  I encourage everyone who cares about justice in our world to write your representative and elected leaders asking for the removal of the embargo against the Cuban people. 

Rev. Omar R Gonzalez

The Addressee format is as follows:

   The Honorable__________________

   (Office number) ( Office Building)

    Washington, D. C.   20510

Dear Senator\Dear Representative:

I write to you as a member of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and Central Florida Presbytery because of the continued tightening of restrictions with our close neighbor to the South, Cuba. As one who has had involvement in our church's relationship with the Reformed Cuban Church, I am deeply concerned about the negative effects this will have on the ordinary people of that country. 

Today they live on the equivalent of $80 a month per person. They survive harsh circumstances by banding together and sharing, demonstrating remarkable courage and faith. For our government to roll back recent  progress that  allowed cruise ships, certain business and farm relationships to go to Cuba is a serious blow. Further, it is proposed to restrict sending money to relatives in Cuba, which makes a major difference in their  meager quality of life. 

Another negative is it strengthens the Cuban government's will to resist the efforts of the U.S. to exercise influence and control Cuba. How can we justify these strong arm efforts which only hurt the populace. For over 50 years we have pursued a policy that has failed. Shall we continue to do so knowing it only makes things worse.

I urge you to look into this matter and do what you can to enable peace and reconciliation with these wonderful people. I remain in awe of the fact that after many trips we have always found them to be hospitable and genuine in their faith and practice. May God bless you and lead you in the important work you do.

Faithfully yours,

(this letter has been slightly altered from its original to fit the current context.  The original letter can be seen on the Central Florida Presbytery Cuban mission partnership linked below.  Letter was provided by Rev. Dr. Larry Cuthill)

Four Decades of Failure

United Nations

CFP Partnership with El Centro Presbytery in Cuba

Presbyterian pastor's offer a public apology for slavery

 "PC(USA)pastors and other leaders offer a public apology that was centuries in the making.  Article by Mike Ferguson/Presbyterian News Service, 

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

Evangelist Annie C. Foreman of Reachout Christian Center Church, at right, spoke movingly last month during a service of apology for the sin of slavery and its aftermath. (Contributed photo)

LOUISVILLE — Late last month dozens of white clergy from churches and mid councils, elected officials and other leaders in Lansing, Michigan, gathered at the Reachout Christian Center Church to apologize to the African American community for slavery and its aftermath. Among the participants was the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms.

Ross-Allam said that the service included a litany of repentance read by the white people who were present. For him, a powerful response to the apology came from Evangelist Annie C. Foreman of Reachout Christian Center Church, who spoke of having to pick cotton beginning at age 3. A few years later, she recalled looking heavenward and telling the Almighty, “Lord, there’s got to be a better life. I cannot live like this the rest of my life.” Sharecropping “was all my parents knew, and that’s what they did,” she said. “We didn’t go to school every day. When we went to school was when it rained.”

At the end of the year, her family would be paid in cash, the money coming to the workers inside a brown paper bag and without a receipt. One year, her father came home and told his wife, “Honey, we didn’t clear anything this year.”

“My mother said, ‘How are we going to live?’” Foreman said. Her mother put her coat on, grabbed her purse and paid a visit to the man. “When she came back, she brought home some money,” Foreman said. She then told her husband, “You’ve got to do something.” When he told her he didn’t know anything else but sharecropping, she told him, “You know how to clean, don’t you? You go up to Lansing [where some family members had already moved] and get a job as a janitor.” He did, and then a few months later returned to move the rest of the family to Lansing. “My father was afraid because he didn’t know anything else, but he listened to my mother,” Foreman said.

“I want you to know we really appreciate [your apology],” Foreman told the crowd. “You didn’t have to do it, but you did, and I want you to know I thank you all, every one of you who came up here and said you’re sorry. It wasn’t you who did this to us. It was your forefathers. But you had the courage and the decency to get up and say, ‘We’re sorry for what we did,’ and I thank God for you.”

 

“It was more important for me to take in the experience through her,” Ross-Allam said, “than it was for me to hear people say those words on the stage. I was overwhelmed by someone picking cotton as a three-year-old girl. She thought she would never hear that [apology] in a church.”

The Rev. Stan Jenkins

The Rev. Stan Jenkins, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lansing, called the ceremony “a long overdue apology to the African American community of our city for the sin of slavery and its aftermath. The apology came from the national body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

“It was a deeply humbling and moving experience which was graciously received — and indicative of our conviction that if racism and white supremacy are to be addressed in our country, it has to start with white people because it is a white people problem. If there is going to be any change, we have to tell the truth about our history and take responsibility,” Jenkins said. “It’s a small, but important, step toward a new beginning.”

After the ceremony, the Justice League of Greater Lansing offered a brief presentation on its reparations endowment program. The organization has its roots in First Presbyterian Church, which has pledged $100,000 toward the Justice League of Greater Lansing’s goal of raising $1 million by the end of the year from white people to help start and fund Black businesses, mortgages, and education.

“It feels like something significant is happening in the city of Lansing,” Jenkins said.

Sen. Sarah Anthony represents Lansing in the Michigan Senate. (Contributed photo)

Political leaders also expressed their appreciation for the apology.

“We don’t have to talk about the hearts and minds and the conditions of the country. We can just literally start putting some numbers together and writing bills and getting them drafted, and then starting to lobby for these things in the halls of power,” Michigan State Senator Sarah Anthony, who represents Lansing, said during the ceremony.  “So, I had physically and mentally and emotionally just said, folks will never change, that our hearts will never be clay enough, be soft enough to actually own this stain and the legacy that it’s had on myself, on our families, and on generations to come. And then today happens … I didn’t know what to expect, but I am leaving a different person.”

The Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam directs the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. (Contributed photo)

In his own remarks as part of the ceremony, Ross-Allam connected the apology to the PC(USA)’s commitment to the Matthew 25 invitation.

“Today’s living example of commitment to the Gospel is part of the reason why I could barely contain my excitement when Elder Willye Bryan (of the Justice League of Greater Lansing) reached out to me to announce what First Presbyterian and the Justice League is doing here in Lansing. The Center for the Repair of Historic Harms … and our entire denomination is inspired, encouraged, and emboldened to continue to wake up to the possibilities God has in store for the world by the faithful example being set here today.”

Service participants offer a closing prayer. (Contributed photo)

To those wondering if a majority white denomination such as the PC(USA) believes that words of apology, however sincere, are “sufficient to pave our path together into a viable future,” Ross-Allam said “I am happy to let you know that the answer to your righteous question is a resounding ‘No!’”

“It is through the commissioning and the mission of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms that the PC(USA) announces to the world that God so loves, that an apology without a commitment to reparations, just like an emancipation without compensation, is an insult to God and an affront to the human family that God loves without reservation and without partiality.”

The PC(USA) “intends to bear fruit worthy of repentance” through a two-part commitment, Ross-Allam said. The first is the current investigation of the historic harms committed within the denomination “to our own members and partners.”

Some of those who gathered for a service of apology held Jan. 28 at Reachout Christian Center Church in Lansing, Michigan. (Contributed photo)

At the same time, it’s “doing all that we can to collaborate with local and national organizations like the Justice League of Greater Lansing in order to communicate a message through our faithful actions to the federal government that the PC(USA) stands with the Afro-American people of the United States in the demand for full reparations legislation,” Ross-Allam said, “that will close the racial wealth gap and prevent to the greatest extent possible future repetition of the social, political and economic relations born of chattel slavery and the legacies of Jim Crow ideologies and practices.”

“Please know that we are encouraged by your faithfulness here today and that we are inspired and determined to extend ourselves to you in support of your ongoing ministry of reconciliation and full-spectrum repair,” Ross-Allam said.

Article reprinted by permission of the Presbyterian News Service. 

Original Article click here

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.

Resurrection Always Wins Out Over Insurrection (Presbyterian News Service)

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LOUISVILLE — On the eve of the two-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, an interfaith vigil was held in Washington, D.C., on Thursday evening.

The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, a Presbyterian pastor who co-chairs the Poor People’s Campaign, was one of several speakers featured during the livestreamed event, which focused on the need for unity and healing.

“God of the people, you teach us that love tramples hate, that truth trounces lies, that hope conquers fear, and life overcomes death,” said Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice housed at Union Theological Seminary. “Resurrection always wins out over insurrection.”

The vigil, which lasted more than an hour, was hosted by the Franciscan Action Networkand Light4America, which seeks to “reclaim” Jan. 6 as a day for Americans to defend democracy and repair partisan discord.

“We call upon people of faith and no faith to use this observance of Jan. 6 to recommit to working in their community to safeguard democracy, including the right to vote without intimidation, and the protection of our poll workers and government officials from all who would threaten or harm them,” said the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, an ordained Baptist minister who’s president of the Interfaith Alliance, which strives to unite diverse voices to challenge extremism. 

“We invite religious leaders to teach all of us to be generous in victory, gracious in defeat, and unrelenting in our determination to find common ground upon which all might live together and flourish side by side.”

His words stood in contrast to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the day that throngs of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol after he made false claims that the 2020 election, won by Joe Biden, had been stolen from him. The deadly and destructive attack, which resulted in around 900 arrests and a congressional panel accusing Trump of multiple crimes, continues to be an open wound for the country despite the passage of time.

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“We come together at the U.S. Capitol today to pray for national healing after a painful event that still divides us as Americans,” said Michele Dunne, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, a nonprofit organization focused on transforming public policy on various issues, including poverty and human rights. “We're here today to pray that Americans uphold and improve our democracy so that we can resolve our differences peacefully.”

But political strife continues despite the commitment of those gathered at the vigil to peace, justice and reconciliation, Theoharis noted.

“We’re here this evening, right near this Capitol Building, where extremist politicians sow division and discord, where two years after an attack on the building, we’re witnessing such extremists continuing to defy and undermine our democracy,” Theoharis said.

She likened it to the days of Jesus when powerful people “were oppressing and subjugating the people, sowing violence and strife.”

In her speech, Theoharis lifted up the issues that she believes people of faith must commit themselves to. “The issues that Jesus holds dear are not about gun rights, or waving flags, or determining who can marry who,” she said. “They're not about having politicians pick their voters rather than voters electing their leaders. They're not about controlling women’s bodies or harassing and threatening LGBTQ and trans youth. No, those issues are the work, the law of empire.

“Instead, Jesus’ main concerns are food and sustenance and immigrant rights and health care and an adequate standard of living and decent housing and prison abolition,” Theoharis continued. “They're about peace among and between nations, letting the light of justice and truth and peace shine, lifting from the bottom so that everybody — everybody — rises.”

Imam Dr. Talib M. Shareef, president of the Masjid Muhammad, “The Nation’s Mosque,” said that “Faith is the strongest energy for establishing the life that Almighty God wants on this Earth.”

Noting the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, he added: “We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. If there is a time for unity and solidarity, the time is now. The unity we ought to have can only manifest when there is real faith. Real faith requires real work to realize it. We can never simply believe; we have to also build upon our beliefs.”

Shareef also called for tolerance and thoughtful leaders. “We’re a nation of nations, a country made up of people of every land. We choose our leaders and we need our leaders to be respectful and reflective of our reality and to live up to the responsibility that we the citizens of this country have entrusted to them — that is, provide good government for the people by the people and to protect the rights of all citizens.”

Bishop John Stowe, Roman Catholic Bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, and president of Pax Christi USA, noted that “corruption and secrecy undermine the values that make democracy productive.” He added: “Like St. Paul reminded the Thessalonians, we are to be children of the light, not of darkness. Our presence tonight is to insist that we cannot allow these values to slip away because we’re not vigilant nor to be taken away by those who would prefer to be under the dictatorship of one who shares their views, rather than doing the hard work of creating a democratic consensus in which all voices matter.”

Associate Rabbi Stephanie Crawley of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C., also spoke with commitment and an eye to the future: “We are not comforted but we are rededicated. We will rededicate our country and its hallowed halls once again — this time, through the steadfast commitment to every ideal we dream of.”

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A Mother's Prayer: by Ralphetta Aker McClary, Ruling Elder Washington Shores Presbyterian Church

image Art in the Christian Tradition: Copyright © 2024 Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, Vanderbilt University

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Growing up in the church, I always looked forward to Christmas and the celebration of the Birth of Jesus.  In Sunday school, we learned of the angels’ proclamations, the journey to Bethlehem, there being NO room in the Inn, the Virgin Birth in a manger with all the animals, the coming of the Wise Men and presentation of gifts and the escape to Egypt.  As I matured, so has my understanding of the importance of Advent. 

Today, we rush through this season and often overlook the story of Mary and her faith, love and hope. This Advent season, we should pause and meet Mary again, as she expectantly waits and prepares for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas.  Her pronouncement of liberation and justice for her and our broken world, ended the silence of oppression, and ushered in a season of Holy Change, grounded in faith and rooted in prayer.  With the Mother of Jesus our Anti-racism statement, joins Mary by ending the silence of our time.

In every depiction of this great story, we find Mary in the Nativity of Christ kneeling by the cradle of her new baby boy, in a humble and submissive state.    Yet, the angel’s declaration in Luke 1:28-30 “You have found favor with God”, informs us that Mary was a woman after God’s own heart, who was obedient to the teaching of her Lord Yahweh.  In kneeling, Mary demonstrates that which she already knows, that the child she has delivered is deserving of respect and loyalty, for her son Jesus is the promised King.

How can I make such a profound statement of Mary’s knowledge of her son? Her own words in Luke 1:46-55, historically titled “The Magnificat” or “Mary’s Song” demonstrates she was a woman of God who voices her faith in Yahweh the God of her ancestry.  Few of us know more than the opening verses Luke 1:46-48 ~
“46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,”
 
This opening phrase is pleasant to our ears and portrays Mary as a meek and mild mother, obedient to God’s direction.  Mary is the humble girl for whom God the Almighty is doing great things, God is holy and will bless those who fear him.

“49     for the Mighty One has done great things for me--
    holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.”
A favored woman of God! Then comes this her pronouncement of God’s plan to be carried out through her son.  In Luke 1:51-55, she states:
“51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

As I read these words again, I see Mary in a new light.  Less of a scared, obedient, teenager and more like a woman~~ a mother; one with a deep understanding of God’s love.  One who knew the directive of Micah 6:8 and who profoundly understood the teaching of Isaiah 53:1-12. Another look at this passage reveals Mary, a mother of faith intent on reorienting and dismantling unjust systems. 

This is a Mary for our 21st Century world.  She is a mother who, even before the manger, knew the pain of loss and the sacrifice she would face. She is a mother who was in prayer for her son before His birth and even in the manger, still on her knees. I recall the old Negro spiritual~~”My mother prayed for me, got down on her knees and prayed for me.  I’m so glad she prayed, I’m so glad she prayed for me.” Mary prayed for Jesus; in the same way, Jesus prayed for the world.

Mary knew the work assigned to her Son.  She knew He would scatter those who are proud in their minds, speak to bring down rulers lift the humble, and teach us to fill the hungry with GOOD THINGS and the rich, He sent them away empty. Mary’s words are the longest words spoken by a woman in the New Testament.  The words of Mary’s Magnificat rebuke the arrogance of the proud, who think that power is their sovereign right. Mary is a mother who demonstrates loyal and steadfast love, both in her words and actions.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was executed by the Nazis, called the Magnificat, “the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary hymn ever sung.” The poor and oppressed people of color, and all who are followers of Christ should reclaim Mary’s Song and see Mary not as a silent figure in a nativity scene, but as a voice for those who are vulnerable – physically (to include skin color), economically,  and socially (to include class and gender). 

Mary’s prayer/mantra is a demonstration of courage. While she was poor, unmarried, pregnant, and likely a young woman of color, she shared her own story, in a society that devalued women. Mary is the embodiment of God showing up, right here, in the midst of real people in the real world. Hers is not some ancient irrelevant story.  Mary disrupts our business-as-usual. God seems especially concerned for the oppressed while too many wrestles with the fact that God loves everyone equally. When we share the vantage point of black, indigenous, people of color, many of the myths that perpetuate a system that plunders the poor who are disproportionately people of color are exposed.

In our statement on Racial Injustice, we affirm that “racism” is a sin and we expound on the belief that Jesus has destroyed the myths and idols of systemic racism and oppression so that we are freed to love and serve one another with no-strings attached; to love with the love we have all been freely given.  This is the hope Mary was expressing; a hope that declares that the Spirit of God is living among us.
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This Advent season, we can wait with hope on the promise of the coming Christ child and know the fulfillment of His kingdom on earth as we await His second coming. Mary’s words give us hope—in them we hear a witness to faith, see a demonstration of love and hope for what is and is to come.  In her words we are able to find God in a place where God may seem to be absent. We, along with the mothers of Emmitt Till,  Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Abrery, and countless others, including Jesus, who have been unjustly killed, can stand and lift our voices with Mary, for in this Advent season, there is faith, there is love, and there is eternal hope.