Friends,
I'm joining clergy in Boston today to pray and support Minneapolis. today is a day to shut down everything. As ICE arrives in Maine, and lots of black SUVs are delivered to Burlington, MA, we wonder if Boston is next.
Prayers for all those who have gone to Minneapolis, and for all of us supporting them from home.
-Liz
Purple Congregations
I often use "progressive" and "mainline" interchangeably when talking about congregations, and that is completely inaccurate. For those of us serving mostly white parishes, there are more people who are politically conservative then we probably recognize. And there is a large group who are uncomfortable with the way our nation is going, and wanted change. Or who find all politicians equally bad.
According to exit polls 57% of white non-evangelical protestants voted for Trump. In my congregations several of the people who talked to me at election time just didn't vote the top of the ticket. I just heard a study of who took part in the January 6 insurrection and the myth of poor whites from the middle of the country is -- myth. Half were white suburban professionals and they came from all 50 states.
Why am I bringing this up now?
Because as leaders of congregations it is our responsibility to meet people where they are at, and to provide formation opportunities that bring them closer to ... not to my beliefs, certainly not to my politics, but to the gospel.
And the health of our nation requires that more and more people are helped to see that the gospel includes policies and laws that help us to care for each other. To stand up for our neighbors. To prioritize welcome over exclusion. To set aside political violence in favor of conversation, discussion, listening.
I wish that "they", that is people who are not as liberal as I am, had learned something different in school, or were taught something different in church, or had different experiences in their homes. I wish that somebody would figure out how to help them see what to me is clearly the gospel of love.
The bad news is that somebody is me. My congregation. My bible study. My small social group. I can't be waiting for somebody else to start these conversations. "we are the ones we have been waiting for" (From Poem for South African Women by June Jordan).
I can think of the things to tell these people, these members of my congregation, these people who go to an open and affirming church and are kind to immigrants and are trying to learn the correct pronouns. I have so much to tell them.
But the task is not so much to tell as to listen. To ask questions. To encourage conversation. I am explicitly advising you all to not do what I would do, and just glide over these alternative views of my people. Instead to pause and reply "say more" and "that's interesting, what would happen then" and "why do you think that is important?"
Because people do not change their views because someone told them they were wrong. They definitely don't change their views when they are called names, or are presumed to be stupid. I understand the urge. I want to tell you I'm saying don't do it because it is not how love works. But really I am just confident that it won't help.
Most of did not develop their ideas simply to be mean. Something is going on in their lives and we need to know what that is so that we can find how the gospel applies. They are afraid or uncomfortable or are getting bad information. And if we as church don't find a way to get at their reasons, and help them to find another path, then no one will. We need to spend less time figuring out whether those people are real Christians and more time exploring the gospel with them.
How to do this--that is the struggle. Some will come to bible study. Most will hear sermons. The problem with sermons is they don't allow dialogue--so a listener can just decide one part was just not right and go on with their life. In bible study it is easy to emphasize the people's who faith conclusions are similar to mine. Instead I need to be very interested in other people's views.
We need to engage the biblical texts that are driving more conservative views. We need to look at the letters that encourage us to follow the law and to conform to societal norms. We need to wrestle with Revelation and Daniel. We need to help every member find their own heart of the gospel and help them to see how that might relate to what is happening in our community and our nation.
I'm not arguing that we will convince everyone. Some days I'm not sure we'll convince anyone. But I do believe in the good news, and that we are meant to proclaim it.
Thus we must preach and teach that the oppressed that will go free. That God has a preferential option for the poor. That the Kingdom of God only comes when we bring everyone along. That we will be judged on how we treat the stranger. And that forgiveness is available to everyone.
And we must join members of our congregations where they are as we aim to teach the good news of Jesus Christ.
How have you engaged the outliers in your congregation? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
Reveal's More to the Story explores the way populism is becoming more violent in these times and how democracy can save us from this violence. Includes the statistics on who took part in the January 6 insurrection. (36 minutes)
PRRI study of how religious people voted in the 2024 election.
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