Dear Ones,
This past week has been a whirlwind. On Saturday, over 300 of us gathered at City Hall for the first Alameda People’s March. I was asked by the organizers to do a Blessing at the end of the Rally and before the march commenced. Even though I have coordinated many vigils at City Hall, I felt really honored to be asked to do a blessing by an organizer I did not know. As you well know, many people mistrust anything Christian these days, so to be given this trust as a Christian minister moved me deeply. To have the opportunity to bless people of all faiths and no faith and to embody a loving Christianity is one of the best things I get to do a pastor. I included a video of the moments of blessing so you can get a sense of what unfolded.
It was good to look back at this video, after all that has transpired this week. Some of you are watching the news, others may not be. You may or may not have heard about the sermon preached at the worship service before the Inauguration by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. It is in the spirit of all we stand for at FCCA and is both a lovingly spoken by strong prophetic word and I encourage you to watch the whole video. The last two or so minutes are spoken directly to the 47th President.
Those of you who are following the news know that there has been a hateful backlash in response to Rev. Budde’s sermon and against progressive people of faith. Ironically (?) the lectionary reading for this coming Sunday is all about the backlash Jesus endured for the many of the same reasons.
As we gather this Sunday, and in the coming weeks and months, it will be important for us as a progressive faith community to understand the scandalous nature of the gospel and to relook at our social justice statement from 2017. We will need to take intentional time to discuss how we will respond to the executive orders that are coming forth one after the other. Many, if not all, are in direct opposition to Biblical understanding of justice and human dignity for all people.
It is my prayer that we will dig deep and hear our call and find ways to act on it in the coming days.
Many Blessings,
Rev. Laura
