Mission: to Amplify Compassion by amplifying marginalized voices in our community, including those marginalized by their race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or any others searching for equity. We will help challenge our congregation to amplify justice, mercy, and humility to create a more compassionate church.
Reflection – by Pastor Cade
We have a tendency to rush to Easter. After a long Lenten journey, we are ready for a little more celebration and a little less sacrifice. This year especially, we are in dire need of some positive energy and good vibes.
However, Good Friday is an opportunity to be present with the pain. On this holy day in the Church year, we are invited to look at Christ crucified and not try to avoid the reality of this suffering. Rather than skipping immediately to the good news of Easter, Good Friday is a chance for us to contemplate what God is up to in our most broken moments as individuals and as a society.
The Amplify team is trying to lean into this Good Friday moment. To amplify marginalized and oppressed voices is to listen closely to Jesus’ cries from the cross and not turn away. To ignore or explain away the suffering of our unjust world and relentlessly look for an ‘uplifting’ or ‘unifying’ message from the Church is to seek forgiveness without confession, grace without repentance, resurrection without crucifixion, Easter without Good Friday.
As Christians on Good Friday, we are obliged to look upon the brutalized body of our savior lynched by state violence and ask, ‘did I have something to do with that?’ Perhaps, after we wrestle with this painful question, then we will be ready for the glorious Easter that God will bring to our world.
May it be so. Amen
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Join A Tu Lado - a ministry opportunity through the Migrant Assistance Project in which houses of faith partner with an immigrant family and walk with them on their journey through the immigration process in the U.S. If you are interested in joining an A Tu Lado team at Dilworth UMC please reach out to Pastor Cade for more information.
Suggested Resources
Join the Amplify Book Club for our study on “Dear Church: A Love Letter From a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S.” by Lenny Duncan. Click Here to purchase a copy of the book, and please reach out to Pastor Cade to express interest in being part of this study.
Are you interested in sharing a reflection in the Amplify newsletter? If you feel called to share a story, testimony, or devotion related to diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation, please reach out to Pastor Cade. The Amplify Team is open to all members who feel passionate about shaping our conversation and working for justice in and through Dilworth UMC. Please contact Pastor Cade to become a part of this important ministry.
