~ A Message from Bishop Denise ~
Greetings!
This week I have a wonderful announcement to share with all of you regarding our current plan for gathering again on Sunday mornings, and I’ll get to that in a minute.
But first, I must acknowledge what a terribly difficult and devastatingly tragic week we’ve had. I’ve had a couple of sleepless nights this week and I have to acknowledge and share with all of you how it has struck me. I’m devastated…
While there have been times that I’ve been glued to the Dereck Chauvin trial and I’ve heard and watched with amazement as the thin blue line has finally been shattered. Last week, we heard the police chief not only NOT defending his officer, but calling him out publicly and implicating him. I was feeling some hope for change, and then came this week… Daunte Wright, just miles from this trial, pulled over for the traffic violation of having air fresheners hanging on his rearview mirror, the police discovered there was a warrant out for him, (AND if you didn’t hear what that warrant was for... it was possession of marijuana!). He was SHOT DEAD when he tried to flee.
While there’s a lot of focus on the fatal mistake of thinking she had her taser, there is NO DISCUSSION on the fact of the systemic racism that has led to a different form of policing for those who are found to be “driving while black.” This systemic racism means there is a heightened level of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, that is engaged in a police officer confronting a black man (even a black 7th-grade BOY like Adam Toledo). This heightened racism has led to a lack of common judgment for the police officers to back away for a moment and realize this was a traffic stop, not a dangerous criminal!!! And the same systemized racism leads to the police being highly activated when a black kid, whom they’ve been chasing turns to face them, even though he was responding to the command to put his hands up. That fear response led to a trigger finger being too quick for the possibility of judgment to intercede. There was no chance for the police officer’s brain to process that there was nothing in his hands! While officers need to be held responsible for their actions, we’re not talking about the fact that systemic racism has led to compromising ALL of us, black, white, those dressed in blue, AND their victims.
I reached out this week to Kevin Beckford in my despair. (For those who are new, Kevin helped us get our Anti-Racism Group together, and this statement does not speak to the ways he opened his heart and shared his experience as a black man living in this society. He was, and is, so invaluable and precious to us.) Kevin shared a 5-minute video with me from James Baldwin. I encourage you to take the few minutes. If this moves you, I encourage you to watch James Baldwin’s documentary “I am Not Your Negro.” I saw it last month through the ECC Anti-Racism Film Series. I’ve seen some great videos and documentaries that address racism, especially this last year, but this one laid me bare in ways that moved me deeply. In fact, if there’s interest in viewing this together, I’m in!!
With all of this and the mass shooting in Indianapolis at the Fed Ex plant, I have been feeling raw this week. In light of this, if you need a more uplifting read, I share something that came from Starcross Community this week Brother Toby’s Reflection a Quaker Tao. I realized how our Guiding Principles and Values are very aligned with Brother Toby’s interpretation of the Quaker Testimonies. And this leads me to our announcement- as we need some good news right now!!!
We are excited to share that on Mother’s Day, May 9th, we are beginning to open the sanctuary on Sunday mornings for Mass!! This feels like our Easter- our Resurrection from the tomb of the pandemic. Please know that we will be continuing our Livestream so you will be able to join us at 10:00 inside or online. Please stay tuned to whether or not we will need to ask people to sign-up in advance. If so, you’ll see that in an upcoming bulletin. You’ll also find the particulars that will be an important part of opening in upcoming bulletins.
Today I’d like to discuss the overarching ways that opening must reflect our Values and Guiding Principles and how that will impact our decisions. In fact, I’d like to draw your attention to our Guiding Principles and Values at MMC. In particular the value of inclusiveness. This is a founding principle of MMC. When we think about this it brings warmth to our hearts as a community, but each of our values and guiding principles also has growing edges, and at times, upholding our values calls us to be uncomfortable. I’m thinking of this as we’re thinking about opening.
As pastor, the safety of this community is of the utmost importance to me. I know I look at pastoring with “mama bear” eyes, or maybe more culturally as an Italian Mama, but it is who I am! It is also who we are as a pastoral team!! Welcoming the community back is something that we have spent a lot of time talking about! We can’t wait to see all of you and welcome you back into the sanctuary!! We’re also taking very seriously that being an inclusive, welcoming community also means that our sanctuary must feel as safe as is possible to EVERYONE who enters.
This pandemic has brought into focus how there is a continuum within our society that has led various populations to being much more at risk. The populations most impacted and at risk vary in regard to race, age, health status, socioeconomic status, medical complications, and even family make-up. And, not only do we vary in regard to the above-mentioned circumstances, but we also have varying degrees of comfort with the risk involved in living in society during a pandemic. This week in a conversation with Lori, we both identified that on any particular day or any given situation we have different feelings in different settings through a given day.
Sadly, and quite frankly surprisingly, within our society, simple health measures, and scientific recommendations are oddly pushing up against “personal liberties?!” In our Christian theology, when we are talking about public safety, and being a responsible part of society we must acknowledge that in practical terms, this is one way we love our neighbor as ourselves. I must admit, that right now, I’m even grappling with the fact that we now have a surplus of vaccine in our country. On one hand, I want every one of my family, friends, and every member of our society to have access to the vaccine, and I’m aware that there are countries that live in abject poverty that do not even have enough vaccine for 1% of their population because 1st World countries (like the US) have bought up the available supply. This is a conversation for another day and another time, but we must NEVER lose sight of living in privilege.
What will all of this mean in the nuts and bolts of reopening? A few quick fundamentals-
1. a mask must be worn at all times in the sanctuary. (You may be fully vaccinated, you may be able to drop your mask in other settings, you might not feel the need for a mask, but your brother and sister who is at risk asks you to be conscious of their safety!! And the community that exists outside our door also asks this! It has not been proven that those of us who are vaccinated don’t carry the virus and spread it to others- WEAR A MASK.) At some point, this will change but we’re not there yet.
2. people will be asked to not gather in the aisles or leave their pews during mass. This includes the sign of peace. After mass, we will be having Lemonade on the front lawn (more details later) and we will have buttons that indicate you’re open to receiving hugs, or that you prefer an elbow bump or a Namaste. This will offer the possibility for mingling, connecting, etc.
3. There will be other guidelines coming related to the principles of building an inclusive sanctuary where everyone feels as safe as possible, but these are the biggest.
Anyway, at times we have so much to share with all of you!! And to help with this in May you can look forward to receiving a bulletin twice a week. One will focus on what’s happening, safety guidelines regarding the pandemic, and various logistics, and a second one that will focus on the needs of Sunday, our pastoral letter, etc.
But before I close, there is another important announcement! Please save the date for the Ordination of our second priest at MMC!!! Deacon Lori Vail will be ordained as Rev. Lori Vail on Friday, August 6! We will gather in the sanctuary at 5:30 and the ceremony will begin at 6:00! She will celebrate her first Mass on Sunday, August 8 with a proposed ordination picnic at Edmund Lyon Park (1-1/2 block from the church) right afterward!! I can’t wait, and I think she’s a little excited too!!!
I can’t wait to welcome you back home!!!
Great love to all of you,
Bishop Denise
