Dear Friends and Members of the Ark and Dove Community,

Once again our banners of love have been crucified by hate and/or ignorance. Vandals have attacked the two Black Lives Matter banners. Let’s remind ourselves why those banners and our Rainbow banner are so important to us. We believe that all people are children of God. We believe that all humanity is tied together in a bond of mutual community with love at its center. In the Christian tradition, we continually remind ourselves that Jesus called us to love one another because God loves all people. We believe that when one person suffers, everyone in the community is adversely affected and our ability to create a just community is diminished. Nowhere on our banners is the word “only” displayed. We simply proclaim from a place of love that Black lives and the lives of people in the LGBTQ+ community matter. 

We learn from studying American history, that for the past 400 years black lives have been treated like they don’t matter. Black bodies have been enslaved, murdered, lynched, oppressed by Jim Crow laws and disenfranchised by voter suppression. Black lives have withered in the face of such evil. Generations of people have been beaten down; so many possibilities and so much potential lost. We see forces alive in our country today that would both rewrite history and take us backwards. To these hateful deceptions, we respond in strength with love, because all human life is sacred.

I know that at times you feel discouraged and that you get angry about these hate crimes. What is wonderful and faithful about our congregation is that you continue to engage in study and conversation around these issues. Through our conversations we have been able to peel off the societal containers that have constrained us and we have been able to make progress toward building the beloved community. Anger is appropriate in the face of these attacks, but let us not burn with useless hot anger, let us not be known as hot heads. Let us embrace cold anger.  

Hot anger, according to Mary Beth Rogers, who writes about Community Organizer Ernie Cortez, is not productive. Cold Anger she writes in her book of the same title is the kind of anger that can energize a democracy. Cold anger gives you both hope for change and the energy to organize and empower people. Cold anger is rooted in faith and in understanding the injustices in life. Cold anger are hot impulses cooled and redirected to improve individual lives and the quality of the common community. Hot anger is spouting off. Cold anger is ministry, essential church workers putting their faith in action; doers of the word. Cold anger is a passion for people, it’s control, it’s taking responsibility and acting in a spirit of love.

To that end, at the request of the Mission Ministry, the Session has voted to put a giving tab on our website to increase security at our church HERE. Step one would be to add wireless cameras to our outdoor spaces and directing some toward our banners. It’s not ok that freedom of religion is being attacked. It’s not ok that our property is the site of hate crimes. It’s not Ok that love is being assaulted. It’s not ok that our banners have been vandalized; but it does remind us that our ministries are needed in this community and our country. I am grateful for the difference you make and the love you bring into the world. 

Peace of Christ,

PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT for Dick Paronto; Freyja Hartzell, going through various physical challenges and Divorce; Joan Barry, for a successful Mohs procedure on left hand; Amy Goldber's father, Michael Cooper; Denise Bartgis; Rebecca Echols friend, Lauren Douglas, and Uncle, Rick Orfinger; Andy, friend of Karen Dodson; Jeanne Elbefeld & Donna Beckwith; Abawi family member; Prayers to the person(s) who attempt to change us by repeatedly defacing, destroying, and stealing our signs of affirmation; Praise the healthy arrival of Lillian Rose, Great niece of Laurie & Fred Barrow; Charlotte Davie; Mike Bartgis's cousin; Lydia Doughty; Marjorie Tanner, Laura Doughty’s mother; Ellen; Cara Moody family member, Gary Moody Sr.; Friends of Michelle Schoonmaker: Carly & Chris Taylor and Bri Reed; Jan Hof; Laurie Barrow's brother, Steve Beckwith; Fred Barrow’s sister, Betsy Sargant; Debbie Saylor's Family and Friends: Carlene Printy, Helen Rossum, Wayne Rennex, & Alison Buffington; Karen Mongold, colleague of Ray Bussey; Donna Kurtz ; for a woman, E.B., and her children, leaving an abusive home environment; Irina Lee, Jan and Al Jank's daughter-in-law; William Campbell, grandfather of Cherese; Chris and Jeff, friends of Deb Saylor; Amber Maschino, neighbor of Craig West; Dotty Kaufmann; Jack Sweeney; Mary Lou Dulina, friend of Cheryl Schafer; Alvin Dennis and Audrey Price; Ashton Borsella; Tiffany Thompson; Courtney, Deborah Dingle’s niece; Anna Scofield; the people of Ukraine; Lou Kareha's friends and family: Aubriella and Michael Steele, B. Wicker, James Karanasky (sister-in-law's brother), Thomas Kochis (cousin), and Nando Smacci (friend); Mike and Denise Bartgis' son-in-law; Kathy Miller's brother-in-law, Jeff Miller, and sister, Beth Krauth; Lourdes Cordero's family and friends: Diane Cordero (sister), Jose (brother), granddaughter, and Fred and Arelene Jones (friends); Christy Hipchen’s nephew and grandmother, Ann Chubon; Josh Arnold; the family of Mike Esparza; Amy Tardiff’s Aunt Fran; Michelle Schoonmaker; Michelle Schoonmaker's friends and their children: Kai S., Liam F. and Ezra R.; Bernice Taylor, Michelle Schoonmaker's great aunt and Ylonda Fauntleroy’s Aunt; Cameron Jackson, Ylonda Fauntleroy’s cousin, dealing with a difficult situation; Frank Stillwell; Mary Caolo; David Johns; Angela Goska; Belinda Edwards; Karen Stokes; Betty Small; Calvin Latham; Ann Hirschy's family: Isaiah, Aunt Cindy, and brother; Ann Hirschy; Adell Gaurin; Carol Saylor; Carol Saylor’s family: sister-in-law who passed away of stomach cancer, and granddaughter being bullied at school; Ray Bussey's mother, Doris; Vaughn Brown; Arlyce Lohr; Amy Hagemann’s sister, Susan Pratt; Mary Benson’s sister; Bill Lifsey Sr., Amy Carskadon Lifsey’s father-in-law; Helen Wilkens' mother, Jane Reinert; Karen Dodson’s cousin, Miles and the family; Pam, Carrie Dodson's friend; Lewis Shorter; Jennifer Schwandt-Gayle, Lewis Shorter’s niece; Dot Forloine’s Family: Melisa Tucker Saatthoff (granddaughter) and Luke (great-grandson); Dot Forloines; Linda Taylor’s mother, Izola; Amy Goldberg’s grandmother, Ruth Cooper; Diane Johnson's Family: Uncle Ed, Aunt Janet, and Cousin Richard; Diane Johnson's friend, Tom; Shelley Franklin's father; James Franklin's sister-in-law, Kelli Franklin; Gunther Kurtz, Laurie Barrow’s nephew; Carl Hahn, Laura Doughty’s brother-in-law; Ruth Doughty, Paul Doughty's mother; Cheryl and Doug Walcutt’s Family:Cheryl Walcutt (mother of Cheryl), Judy (sister of Cheryl); Don Clark, friend of Cheryl Walcutt; Margaret Schade, Erika Sealing's grandmother; Rob Yeager’s friends: Greta Daughtrey and Peter Brown; Linda Jordan, Christy Yeager’s mother; Bonnie, Linda Jordan’s niece.