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 – Alison Busch
This morning I woke up with what felt like a huge weight on my chest. I had been impatient with my family and friends and just felt off, sick and emotional. It didn’t take long for my mind to connect to what my heart and body already knew. Two more black and brown boys had been killed. And at the same time, we wait to hear the fate of the man who knelt on George Floyd’s neck last summer and killed him. When I sat with this anxious feeling, I thought not about my own three teenage boys because the chances of that happening to them are pretty slim. But I thought about the black and brown children I have taught. I thought about the black and brown children who are friends with my children. I thought about my neighbor, whose amazing teenage sons have to work so much harder to fit into my neighborhood and NOT have the police called on them simply because they are black. And I thought about my friend and neighbor who is pregnant with her third black son. It’s hard not to take on some of that heaviness. But the heaviness I feel is in no way comparable to the heaviness and fear of our black and brown brothers and sisters.
To better understand that reality and walk alongside those in our community who feel that heaviness, I invite you to join the Amplify Team’s next book study. We will read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ memoir Between the World and Me. It’s a letter to his teenage son about what it’s like being a Black Man in America. I look forward to reading and trying to understand better and respect his perspective. I look forward to the deep and non-judgmental conversation that always comes from these book studies. And I look forward to new faces joining us. This book was chosen to try to draw in some of the youth specifically. To have these conversations across generational lines would be a gift to us all. Consider joining us and inviting a friend or young person in your life.
Sign up to receive the weekly Amplify newsletter directly to your email. Reach out to Aisha Newton to get on the listing.
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 “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
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 (
cade.barefoot@dilworthchurch.org).
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.
