Response to Apparent Murder of George Floyd

Partners in ministry,

Doubtless you are disturbed as I am by the apparent murder of George Floyd, especially after the Ahmoud Arbery and Breonna Carter deaths.   Frankly, what with 100,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, and a disproportionate number of those among persons of color, I think there is too much death around us at this moment in time not to have a Cross Walk this year. You might recall we cancelled the Good Friday Cross Walk due to fears around the pandemic.

Now that we are all getting back out there, I propose we do a Cross Walk this Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 1 pm beginning from the steps of First Congregational, Darien and ending at St Luke's Episcopal.  We will observe safe practices of social distancing.  Everyone who participates is  expected to wear a mask.  Instead of handing the cross from one person to another, the one who carries it will lay it down for the next person to pick up.  I will bring wipes to clean the cross between our turns carrying it.  I will provide gloves for a further degree of safety for us pilgrims.

Also, invite your people to bring a small Bible with them.  Maybe bring a small towel also as the cross will feel sharp upon the shoulder without the heavier coats that we wear in the spring.

Our churches, our town, and our nation feel anguish in this moment.  Anger is understandable but staying angry leads to attacks and violence.   Perhaps we can help our people move from anger to sorrow and lamentation.  We already had so much pent-up grief before this agonizing and violent course of events. We know how dangerous unprocessed grief is. Helping people to grieve is right in the wheelhouse of our calling as Christ's church.  There is no way around all of this pain; the only way is that of Christ straight through it.  The Cross symbolizes that as well as the powers taking the lives of God's children who count ever less in the schemes of this world.  

At the very least, I ask you to mention this at your virtual services on Sunday, and invite your people to join us.  At most, I invite you to cast your lot with us and join us.  My wife and I both have shoulder problems. We need your help for that reason and other more profound reasons.  

Let me know if you can be with us and how many might you bring.  God bless you all in this tough time to do ministry in any case. Thank you! 

Peace in Christ,

Dale Rosenberger

The Reverend Dale Rosenberger, Senior Minister
The First Congregational Church of Darien,
UCCDarien, Connecticut 06820
203 655-0491  x. 101

Racism

Dear Friends,

People have asked me, “Why do you care so much about race and racism?” At different moments and in different settings, my responses would vary.

On the days when my Christian identity and faith are on full display, I would respond with ‘Jesus wants me to love my neighbor as myself’. I would then profess ‘everyone is my neighbor, particularly the most vulnerable of my fellows’.

History is instructive. Almost no one arrived in America like Africans. They came in chains, beginning in 1619. For the better part of 250 years, they were bought and sold like animals. They had names that were discounted and discarded. Whatever family arrived in tact was torn apart. Violence was a constant threat.

In 1865, slavery was abolished. Yet for another 100 years, life for African Americans was a heart-wrenching struggle chalked full of unjust and dehumanizing realities. The math is simple -- 350 years of individual and collective trauma.

Perhaps guilt is not the best emotional response. No one is immediately responsible for events that predate their birth. But as Christians, we are called to pour compassion on those who grieve. Furthermore, we carry the responsibility to work for healing in the lives of ALL who strive to be free of the persistent roots of trauma.

This Sunday, we will conclude our Courageous Conversation on race and racism. Our prayer is for its conclusion to be a beginning. Our prayer is for everyone to be asking ‘what now, what more’. As our faith tells us, we are called.

Rev. Carter Via

Meditation

“In the cherry blossom's shade
there's no such thing
as a stranger.”
― Kobayashi Issa

“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.”

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

Meditation

"Everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefulness, and gratefulness is a measure of our aliveness."

-David Steindl-Rast

"'Thank you is the best prayer that anyone could say.  I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility and understanding."

-Alice Walker

Meditation

"We rise by lifting others."

-- Robert Ingersoll

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation

of my heart be acceptable to you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

--Psalm 19:14

Gracious God,
Help us to become masters of ourselves so that we might be the servants of others.
Take our minds and think with them,
Take our lips and speak through them,
Take our hands and work with them,
And take our hearts and set them on fire with your Spirit.

--Rev. William Sloane Coffin