A message from your ministers on the events of these days

Dear Old South Church,
 
The events of Charlottesville, VA have shaken us to the core. We grieve the loss of the dead and pray for the healing of the injured. We despair that today’s Nazi’s feel emboldened to spew hateful venom into the public square with impunity while wearing helmets, wielding shields, and brandishing weapons. We are confounded by the self-proclaimed anti-fascists who are also prone to violence. The moral fabric of our nation is frayed.
 
We know that you need to do something. Many of you are desperate to be a part of the solution. You want to confront the evil, face it down, expose it to the light of day for what it is. We love you for this … for your fierce anger and will to do good, to make a difference, to take a stand for God.
 
Similar groups to those who visited hatred upon Charlottesville plan to hold a rally on the Boston Common on Saturday. We have had lengthy meetings with City officials and other inter-religious leaders. Days of meetings. We are taking our marching orders from trusted colleagues in the Black community, the Muslim community and the Jewish community. See below the events being planned. We support these. They are not all the same in tone, tactics, or strategy. We ask you to investigate your own conscience and decide where you are called to be.
 
PRAYER AND WORSHIP

Friday, 5:00 pm, Temple Israel. Interfaith Gathering of Unity, Love, and Strength. Whatever else you choose to do this weekend, we hope you will make this a high priority. We need to pray and to be together as religious people. This needs to be standing room only, spilling out into the streets.
 
Friday, 6:00 pm, Temple Israel. A Sabbath of Love and Light. Whatever else you choose to do this weekend, we hope you will make this a high priority. We need to pray and to be together as religious leaders. This needs to be standing room only, spilling out into the streets. Here we will worship with those whom today’s Nazi’s have singled out.
 
SATURDAY MARCH

Should you choose to participate, we urge you to find a buddy. Do not go alone.
 
Saturday, 11:00 am. Gather at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, Roxbury. Meet here and march to the Boston Common (organized by Black Lives Matter). This is a very large march whose organizers are intending to confront the white supremacists. It is likely to include conflict. If you are feeling called to march with them, know that this is a serious commitment. The organizers strongly request you prepare by attending a non-violent action training in advance. See below.
 
The Boston Police will do their level best to place themselves between the white supremacists and any protestors. The Boston Police and State Troopers will be present with a significant show of force as well as lots of undercover officers.
 
NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TRAININGS TO HELP US PREPARE
To attend, RSVP to M4BLMBoston@gmail.com.

Thursday, 5:00 – 10:00 pm Arlington Street Church, Boston
 
Friday, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm, Rolling Training, Union United Methodist Church, Boston
 
Friday, 5:00 – 10:00 pm, Hope Central Church, JP
 
Thursday, 1:00 – 4:00 pm, The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston (pre-register here; donation requested)
 
Thursday, 5:30 – 8:30 pm, The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston (pre-register here; donation requested)

In addition, we are working on plans to have with us on Sunday at Old South Church some friends from neighboring synagogues and mosques to speak at the 10 am and 12:15 pm education hours. It will be good to hear from each other.
 
Finally, a group of interreligious leaders have prepared a statement. See below.
 
In parting, savor these words from 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5: “ See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. Beloved, pray for us.”
 
This is our prayer.
 
June R. Cooper, Theologian in the City
John M. Edgerton, Associate Minister
Anthony T. Livolsi, Associate Minister
Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister
Donald A. Wells, Theologian in Residence

A JOINT STATEMENT FROM BOSTON AREA RELIGIOUS LEADERS
On the horrific events in Charlottesville, Virginia

Would that the troubles visited upon Charlottesville were unique. Alas, they are not.
White bigots, some proudly wearing Nazi regalia, shouting racist invectives and egging for a fight, engaged in brutish scuffles, fear-mongering, and even murder in broad day light ...

These, alas, are unoriginal sins.

What is surprising and utterly disheartening is the failure of some of our national political and religious leaders, including President Trump, to call out this behavior instantly, unequivocally—to decry it with instinctive, full-throated condemnation. There should not be any hesitation in naming and denouncing these vicious acts of pure, unadulterated racism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.

As religious leaders, we are outraged by these unimaginative, but vicious transgressions. We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of life in Charlottesville. May the murder of Heather Heyer and the deaths of state troopers Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates call us to recommit ourselves to the hard work to which the US Constitution calls us as human beings, created by God, equal and beautifully diverse.

We take some heart, however, that precisely because the sins in Charlottesville are unoriginal, we have resources to respond to them, if we heed the lessons of history and reflect deeply on the spiritual and ethical teaching of our respective traditions.

The remedy for these unoriginal sins include an unwavering commitment to justice and peace; a collective summons to renewed moral decency; open-hearted engagement with the “other” whom God also fashioned from earth and breath; and honest reflection about the roots and branches of racism and bigotry in our own communities, whether in Charlottesville or Boston.

The remedy also requires us to admit that it is far from “self-evident” in this country that “all people are created equal.” Rather, this remains a sacred aspiration to which we the members of these United States—northerners and southerners alike—struggle to achieve. To do so, we must work daily to dismantle entrenched systems of oppression and degradation.

As clergy and religious professionals living together in the historic city of Boston, we stand united in support of the foundational democratic value of pluralism—religious, ethnic, racial, and otherwise. As we decry the abhorrent behavior of the violent bigots in Charlottesville and the underwhelming response of some of our national leaders, we also call on our communities to rededicate themselves to serving as agents of healing in our homes, houses of worship, work places, schools, playgrounds and streets.

*Knowing that many people in our communities will gather for prayer and public action this weekend, we offer the following questions for contemplation and discussion:

• What is one concrete action you can take today to oppose the despicable actions in Charlottesville and elsewhere in our country?
• How can you help address issues of racism and bigotry in your own community?
• Where might you engage in meaningful conversation and/or action with people from other religious and cultural communities?
• What sustains you in your peace and justice efforts? What resources do you need to carry this work forward?