The Adult Education committee is busy planning for forums this next year—and this is an opportunity to help them plan well! Perhaps you have suggestions? Have particularly enjoyed certain forums in the past and would like to see more of the same? Take the survey by clicking HERE.
Click HERE to view the e-announcements sent out on August 9, 2017
One of the ways people experience racism every day is through our nation’s criminal justice system. In her book The New Jim Crow, legal scholar Michelle Alexander points out how, “by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, relegating millions to a permanent second-class status.”
Throughout the summer and fall, the (g)Race Equity Team invites everyone to spend time with us in reflection and conversation about our UNjust criminal justice system. We encourage people to read The New Jim Crow and/or Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy this summer, both of which focus on the inequitable racial dynamics in the current system.
We ask that people complete their chosen book (or books!) by mid-September, when our team will facilitate conversations and actions. There also will be the chance for group viewings of the powerful documentary 13th.
Any questions about this conversation or the (g)Race Equity Team? Contact Dee Cole Vodicka at deecv@comcast.net.
On Sunday, January 29 at our Congregational Meeting (following the 10:30 worship in the sanctuary), one action will be to adopt a statement of solidarity with the Muslim community. This statement has been developed cooperatively by our Social Ministry committee, council, and pastors, and was reviewed by interested community members at a forum on January 22 – feedback from that session has influenced the final draft. You can read the statement here: Muslim Solidarity Statement, January 2017
Many people have requested a copy of Pastor Mary’s sermon from November 13. Attached here are both the transcript (here) and the audio file (below).
We ask you to keep in mind that usually sermons are crafted for a particular day and with a particular audience in mind, but we hope that these words speak to whatever you need to hear when you encounter them.
