30th anniversary of the ADA: The Intersectionality of Racism and Disability

We mark the 30th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) this Sunday, July 26. What is the intersection of Racism and Disability? We need to address all isms in the work to eradicate systemic racism.

The summer issue of “Voice of the United Methodist Disability Connection” discusses the intersectionality: “Many of us are working for the end of the killing of unarmed black men and women by police. Thirty to 80 percent of those killed were persons with some type of disability. (The exact number is unknown because no one tracks these statistics.) There are instances of Black Deaf men being shot because they didn't hear the verbal command to stop. At least a quarter of victims were experiencing a psychiatric crisis and unable to communicate their needs. If one's disability causes slower or atypical speech or reactions, a person is at a higher risk of being injured or killed.”

We are trying to eliminate the school to prison pipeline. Black children are disproportionately punished, suspended, arrested, and incarcerated, and the rates for children with disabilities are even higher

Participating in antiracism protests, we need to make sure they are accessible as was a recent Milwaukee march. “The route was level and the march led by wheelchair users who set the pace. Sign language interpreters were stationed throughout. . . Ear plugs were available at rest stations for people sensitive to the noise level.”

There have been a lot of wonderful structural changes since passage of the ADA, Paratransit or buses with lifts didn't exist before, and there were no curb cuts in the sidewalks. Now people with disabilities can use power wheelchairs in public. People’s use of service dogs is accepted. Students receive extra time for tests and other accommodations to help them do well.

But attitudes change slowly. Former Iowa senator Tom Harkin, prominent co-author of the ADA and today still a strong advocate, recently said in a PBS special that the percentage of people with disabilities being employed is no higher than it was 30 years ago. People of color continue to face discrimination in employment.

Churches were exempt from the ADA. We have learned that having loud worship isn't always good for people with autism; others with disabilities also need a quieter environment. Many congregations now do have assisted listening devices, large print bulletins and hymnals, lever doorknobs, even some chancel ramps. Some have lowered their welcome center counters, redesigned a bathroom, installed better lighting, fixed the sidewalk, and installed automatic door openers to the sanctuary, fellowship hall, and restrooms.

What has not changed? We still have assemblies and conference meetings scheduled in inaccessible spaces, with no one questioning that choice. Parents still tell their children not to look or ask about disability, teaching them that disability is a bad thing.

Some churches are still stuck in ableist theology that says disability is either a blessing or a curse for sin. Candidates for ministry who have a disability often are discouraged from proceeding, or their application is simply “lost.”

Businesses still often do not comply with anti-discrimination policies/laws in regard to racism nor with accommodations for people living with a disability. There are few adverse consequents for such exclusivity. However, together we can help dismantle racism and confront ableism.

God's Care is Communal

God’s Care is Communal

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph l:2)

Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Ephesians 6:23)

I recently heard someone say, “I’m not afraid to go out during this COVID-19 scare. I trust God will take care of me.” Fear. Trust. Care. I admired her faith. God does care for every single one of us during times of fear. We can trust that. However, God’s care is communal. God’s care in Christ is not just for every “single” one of us, but for the whole community. God’s grace extends beyond my own personal “undying love” for Jesus to the whole world.

Living in Christ, I may not be afraid to die, but neither am I to neglect concern for the lives of everyone else, particularly the most vulnerable.

The Epistle greetings and blessings are always plural. (“You” is a plural “you.”) I have seen it. Haven’t you? People really caring for each other. We will need to continue to take precautions, to really care, today, tomorrow, for all time to come.

Prayer:

Now to the one who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20)

Norma Cook Everist, DeacPost Devotion

Palm Sunday Procession from Coast to Coast

Palm Sunday. This year when we could not physically participate in a procession at church, I was privileged to walk with Jesus on a journey that began with an online service in Northwood Iowa, where husband Burton shares an interim call, to hearing the church bells ring at a Canadian Lutheran Church in Nova Scotia, back to Iowa, to the on-line service at our congregation here in Mason City. Then on to Wisconsin, hearing more about Jesus’ life from the preaching of a pastor/friend, a Wartburg graduate.  My journey-procession concluded at the end of this day with a Zoom conversation, where I talked on the road in San Francisco with a Jewish woman.  I am thankful for these profound events as I, with Christ, enter Holy Week.

Epiphany 2020 and Our Striking Realizations

Epiphany: A manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles 

“Epiphany,” more broadly, is “an experience of a sudden and striking realization.”

This year, we are experiencing the striking images of fires raging in sudden outbursts across Australia. Will we finally realize the global climate crisis?

We have experienced the killing of an Iranian military general by the sudden order of a U.S. president. What will the striking realization be: retaliation, escalation of hostilities, war?

Epiphany, January 6: What is our calling as Christ is manifest again in the world?

When Death is Sudden, Christ is Timeless

We were together in community for the Vigil and Funeral Eucharist of Gwen Sayler Friday and Saturday. In Dubuque two communities centered for service in Christ were together at Wartburg Seminary, difficult to comprehend, but wonderful to experience.  I have been a member of the Lutheran Deaconess Conference (Lutheran Diaconal Association) for almost 60 years (with Gwen for almost 50 of those). I became a faculty member at Wartburg 40 years ago (Gwen was a faculty member for almost 30). Wartburg Dean of the Chapel led worship; deaconesses read lessons and preached. So many others shared their words and gifts. Graduates from decades conversed, processed, embraced.  Together, together, we said “Hello” again in coming to say “Good-bye.” Even when death is sudden and shocking, new life in Christ is timeless and the body of Christ gathered is strong beyond words.

Strong Leader; gentle man: Elijah Cummings

I sat in my living room for a long time quietly watching them walk by. Silently, silently, black and white, old and young, paid their respects to the son of share croppers, now the first African American to lie in state in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

 “Elijah” means “the Lord is my God” and it was evident that those who spoke at the ceremony Thursday knew Rep. Elijah Cummings lived every moment of his life with that strong center.

 A “double PK” (the son of two preachers as are the sons of Burton and me), Elijah was a leader with a strong and gentle voice in the House, worked on behalf of those in need, lived among his people in Baltimore, working for peace in times of turmoil, always with a tenacity for justice.

 A man of integrity with a servant’s heart: Micah 6:8 “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Fridays for the Future: Youth Lead in Climate Crisis

Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, led a group of young people to the White House lawn this Friday insisting those inside act like grown-ups to do something about the global climate crisis. These past months Greta has been leading a global movement of school students to make a statement every Friday: “Fridays for the Future.” She has galvanized the world’s young people who know action must be taken now. She spoke this summer at the World Economics Forum in Switzerland and is looking forward to the United Nations General Assembly next week in NYC.

When asked in a television interview aired Friday night on Public television why she thinks there is so much inaction on the climate crisis, she said she thinks that human beings often are of two minds morally, saying they are concerned about an issue, but they “go along” with society which they see is not doing anything to change.  When asked what has led her to step forward, she replied that she believes it is due in part to her being on the autism spectrum. “I don’t usually follow society coding, but go my own way.”  She speaks in a very intelligent, sophisticated manner about the need for both individual action and systemic policy change.  Her passionate, persistent activism is inspiring youth around the world and adults as well to become more aware of and feel the urgency of the climate change crisis.

The Dangerous Deception of White Supremacy

Why do people believe in white supremacy? Why do they need to? What a dangerous deception. I am white and therefore benefit from white privilege. The fear of losing what never rightfully belonged to privileged people increases fear of the "other."

 So we hear the same words from the shooter in New Zealand: "immigrant invaders" as we do from our leader about the "emergency" need for a wall because of "immigrant invaders." Fear reigns. Terrorism prevails. Does hope fade? 

However, also yesterday high school students around the world demanded a future of an earth safe for them to live on. And yesterday, while snow remained outside, four little birds returned to the rafter roof above our deck. They remembered their home and came in hope. 

So I am called to remember that this world is home to all and to work to make it so, well into the future.

"Snow Shut-Down" Brings Constant State of Uncertainty

There he was at 5:00 a.m. plowing out the parking lot across the street.  Faithful, he’s plowing now so people can use the government services building even though the man will have to plow again because the storm is predicted to not stop until evening.

The upper Midwest has been living in “snow shut down” for weeks.  National media shows storms as they move to the East Coast. They report airport delays and difficulties for “commuters.” Well, in small cities most of us don’t “commute.” We simply live and work here.

 And by now, school students aren’t rejoicing in having a “day off.”  They haven’t had a full week of school since the beginning of the 2019 term. They value education and are concerned how far behind their sessions are.

We live in a constant state of uncertainty. To cancel or not cancel.  And will the rescheduled date for our activity be cancelled again? I know, I know, a day snowed in means I have the time to clean closets, but the sneaky depression of snow shut-down does not provide incentive for closet cleaning. 

However,  we are thankful people: for a warm place to live and enough food.  And we are careful and aware of road accidents and heart attacks while shoveling. We worry about and reach out to care for those who don’t know where they will sleep in this snowy cold. 

The CEO of the Health Care Center around the block is also out. He and a few others with four-wheel drives are picking up their staff who can’t make it through the storm. Good Shepherd doesn’t have “snow days.”  They are needed to serve.  Thanks be to God for them.

WHY THERE’S NO NEED FOR A HONEYMOON PERIOD IN MINISTRY: Beyond Valentine's Day

God’s Love goes beyond Valentine’s Day. God’s love is more sustaining than any “honeymoon” period in ministry.   It’s not just about flowers, candy, one short day. God’s love is sustaining and unconditional.   

But that “Honeymoon” advice lingers: “Get as much done as you can right away before the normal life sets in with all the complaints and difficulties of really living together.” They loved your paperwork and were impressed with the interview. And you liked the looks of them. They loved the former pastor and will love you, too. Or, maybe they didn’t, so this will be a better “fit.” If we all put on our best behavior for a while, Valentine’s Day can last for a few months. Ah, beware of the “honeymoon” period in ministry and trust that God’s love endures beyond Valentine’s Day. 

Creation:  Before we came, God had created the congregation.  God is still creating—putting us together. Build on those foundations.  Rather than giving in to the temptation to change things quick before people notice, we need to ask and listen and give Valentine-like thanks to the faithful saints at work through the years. Then, together, we can create with the Creating God.  Oh, there will be suspicions that we are going to rip up everything and plant our new ideas. We can bring fresh ideas without totally ripping out what may simply be slow to grow. Creation involves change, but God didn’t rip things up each month and completely start all over.

Beyond favoring those who might seek our favor with Valentine-like flowers or candy, we need to seek out those less known people, those less appreciated.  We can walk around the neighborhood, and as a congregation build new relationships all over the place among those thought to be “outsiders.” We can give valentines to those who don’t usually receive them. God’s love multiplies.  

Christ: God’s love incarnate is among and between us.  Not that we need to fall in love with each other in Valentine-card ways. We are called to love before we even know each other. We are already the body of Christ, now being joined together, even when old congregational wounds need to be healed by the wounded One, Jesus. This will not be just a one-day celebration of being nice, or until the  liking-each-other period runs down.  Christ’s forgiving, reconciling love, which won’t let us down, even when we let each other down, is the forever kind.  

The Holy Spirit:  When I was called to serve a congregation years ago, I had to remind them I was not the coming Messiah. God had not sent me to “save” them. However, we could expect to be surprised by the Spirit. How would God be growing us? By pruning? By transformation? By numerical growth or some other kind of growth? By listening to each other and hearing everyone’s voice? By reaching out in radical hospitality without fear? (Grafting strangers on to the tree?) By building trust and trying new healthier patterns of making decisions? By really incorporating new people (corpus of Christ), and building more trust?

Happy Valentine’s Day all year long, my beloved sisters and brothers, as we live together in the trustworthy, unconditional love of God.

(based on a conversation with Rev. Christopher deForest)

Now as the Year Turns Again, Give us Peace Beyond our Fear

There we were! Don Weber and I happened to be kneeling beside each other at the altar rail as hundreds came forward for healing yesterday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City. Years ago I  turned 18 and he 30 when I worked in his family’s carpet business while attending my first two years of college.

 Now I am 80 and he is 92. The years have turned. How many times each of us has heard the Gospel and received communion since then.  I have gathered in churches all over the world. I felt the presence of all those saints as the sign of the cross was made with oil on our heads Sunday.

 Pastor Dan Gerrietts had invited us to come for healing for ourselves, for others, for our nation, our world. Now as the year turns again,  “Healer of our every ill, light of each tomorrow, give us peace beyond our fear . . . Teach us all your way of healing.”

While Walls and Fear Kill Children . . .

Luke: “Because there was no place for them.”

Matthew: “Flee . . . for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Herod was infuriated and “killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under.”

In the midst of a government shutdown over a wall, when a leader is infuriated, when children die, when the world becomes more dangerous because of targeted fear, and when, as always, there is no room for the stranger, God incarnate comes. Peace to you, brothers and sisters, always and everywhere. Jesus is here among us and everyone.

Advent and Slain and Imprisoned Journalists

Saturday is Bill of Rights Day.  The first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes the free exercise of religion and the freedom of the press.

This week TIME Magazine named its 2018 Person of the year: “Guardians and the War on Truth”: slain and imprisoned journalists.

On Sunday we light the third Advent candle. Little might the world notice unless we Christians ourselves pay attention. We have lit two. We still can light the third, and the fourth. Most of us will not be imprisoned for doing so.

We, like the shepherds, can “go now” and “see this thing that has taken place,” seeking out the truth, finding the Christ who is the center of all truth and making it known. We will need to be as astute as the wise men in searching diligently for the child born king, worshiping, and then choosing “another road” rather than playing into Herod’s wicked plans.

Our advent journey is a time to pay close attention, to reflect, repent, and focus on the Truth so that we might tell publicly the news which prevails.

Respect! Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, was a Gospel woman for generations of men and women. Cradled in her church in Detroit, she never left it, but rather carried it with her all over the world. She sang "Precious Lord" at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral 50 years ago in 1968. Her music and her dedication supported the civil rights movement right through to her singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at President Obama's inauguration in 2009. Amazing! "Respect" was her anthem. Amazing woman. Amazing Gospel Grace!

P.S. I googled the Queen of Soul singing "America" at President Obama's Inauguration.  Just to listen to her and to watch the crowd listening to her was wonderful.  To watch President Obama watch and listen to her and be inspired by her inspired me again.  Then I scrolled down briefly to see the comments.  This was all within a few hours of her death. They were all in gratitude.  Except one. What?  One by Donald J. Trump: "Gotta Thumbs down on this one."  I don't tweet things to or about Trump, but this time I did reply to his tweet. I wrote: "Thumbs down on America? Thumbs down on music? Thumbs down on Freedom? "Don't gotta!"

I know even more today how much we need Aretha, and Martin Luther King Jr., and President Obama.

I know how much we need the Gospel.  I know how much we need to sing.  All of us.

Families Belong Together . . . In the Storm

Five minutes before the appointed 4:00 p.m. time, the rain stopped after huge thunderstorms and floods forced cancellation of the Families Belong Together event in Mason City, Iowa, part of the 750 protests nationwide Saturday, June 30. At 4:01 Burton and I decided spontaneously to drive to Central Park anyway. There we saw it: a bunch of people with signs held high: “Jesus was a Refugee.” “Reunite Families.” We didn’t know what else to do, but we wanted to be together, high water or not. 

We introduced ourselves to each other. Some women had driven in from Titonka, an hour to the West; a couple had driven up from Jewell, an hour to the South, being stopped on #Hwy 35 because of visibility. But they had persisted. The all day television coverage of tens of thousands was important. It might not have included us, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the country, but we were here.

Even the Smallest Children Lead the Liturgy

Silently the children entered the sanctuary. First came the pre-school children, then grade by grade through 8th, over 200, all sizes and tones of colors, came for Friday morning mass at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church.  A sixth-grade boy announced the service was beginning. His class would lead today. The entire parish school takes turns leading week by week, including the kindergarten. This was the people’s mass and all were totally engaged. It was a full hour-long service with children leading every part, except for the presiding/preaching priest.

The reverent silence quickly turned to the beautiful sound of children’s voices filling the sanctuary: opening hymn, confession, Kyrie, Gloria, lessons, sung Psalm verses.  The music of the liturgy was central. There was singing and signing, all by heart, coming from the heart.

Numerous sixth grade children had carefully prepared their leadership roles of reading lessons, composing prayers, providing the choir for the day, (I understand when younger children lead, reading may be a bit slower, but lead they do!) In communal worship, all take their part. No one is mere audience.

The Liturgy is the work of the people. This reverence was not duty but the rhythm of joy. When it came time for the Eucharist, all knelt, the eyes of the youngest barely peering over the top of the pew in front of them. And then they came forward, many crossing their arms for a blessing, older children to receive the bread, and older still for bread and wine.  But all were part of this most holy communion.  And this most holy community.  

When is Resting Never Enough?

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SoSome of you know that I live with a disability, the mysterious, debilitating chronic disease, ME/CFS, myalgic encephalomyelitis.  I have lived with this disease for 35 years. I have a disease; I am not my disease.  Its cause is still unknown. No cure is available. And it is terribly misunderstood. 

I urge you to watch a film called "Unrest" which premieres on Independent Lens  on PBS Monday night, January 8, 10 p.m. EST, 9 p.m. CST (check your local listings.) Here is the description:

(San Francisco, CA) — Filmmaker Jennifer Brea was a Harvard PhD student soon to be engaged when she was struck down by a mysterious fever that left her bedridden. As her illness progressed she lost even the ability to sit in a wheelchair, yet her doctors insisted it was "all in her head." Unable to convey the seriousness and depth of her symptoms to her doctor, Jennifer began a video diary on her phone that eventually became the powerful and intimate documentary, Unrest. Written, directed, and produced by Brea, Unrest premieres on Independent Lens Monday, January 8, 2018, 9:00 to 10:30 CST on PBS.

Once Jennifer was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), she and her new husband, Omar, were left to grapple with how to shape a future together in the face of a lifelong illness. Refusing to accept the limitations of life in bed, Jennifer embarks on an online voyage around the world where she finds a hidden community of millions who have disappeared from their own lives, confined to their homes and bedrooms by ME. Using the internet, Skype, and Facebook, these disparate people connect with each other, finding a much-needed sanctuary of support and understanding.

At its core, Unrest is a love story. Though Jennifer and Omar may never live the life they originally dreamed about, together they find resilience, strength, and meaning in each other and their new-found community. Says Brea: “It’s my hope that in sharing this world and these people I have come to profoundly love, that we can build a movement to transform the lives of patients with ME, accelerate the search for a cure, and bring a greater level of compassion, awareness, and empathy to millions upon millions of patients and their loved ones wrestling with chronic illness or invisible disabilities.”

“As experts struggle to figure out what causes chronic fatigue syndrome, Jennifer’s film opens a window into what it’s like to live with this devastating illness,” said Lois Vossen, Executive Producer of Independent Lens. “This brave and fearless film introduces us to this community of millions of ‘missing’ people who have lost all normal functions to ME, and is a powerful demand that more be done to understand and cure a terrible disease.”

Unrest made its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and has been independently distributed with the support of Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship. Visit the Unrest page on Independent Lens for more information about the film, which will be available for online viewing on the site beginning January 9.

About the Filmmaker

Jennifer Brea (Director/Writer/Producer) is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She has an AB from Princeton University and was a PhD student at Harvard until a sudden illness left her bedridden. In the aftermath, she rediscovered her first love, film. Her feature documentary, Unrest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won a Special Jury Prize. She is also co-creator of Unrest VR, winner of the Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities Award. An activist for invisible disabilities and chronic illness, she co-founded a global advocacy network, #MEAction, and is a TED Talker.

About Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)

 A condition characterized by post-exertional malaise (a severe worsening of symptoms after even minimal exertion), ME causes dysregulation of both the immune system and the nervous system. The effects are devastating enough to leave 25% of patients homebound or bedbound. An estimated 15-30 million people around the world suffer from ME, approximately 75-85% of them women, and 80-90% of them undiagnosed.

Are Gifts of Poor People and Congregations Important to the Church?

As a child, my mother moved my sister and me to Mason City from Des Moines after our father died suddenly of a heart attack. We were suddenly poor. A local Lutheran Church reached out to us, inviting us to worship services, Sunday School, and catechism classes. Members gave us rides to church and often invited us to Sunday dinner. At fall stewardship time, members were asked to bring food to share with the needy in the community. Mother gave my sister and me each a can of soup to take to the church’s offering. At Thanksgiving, I was surprised when our family also received a food basket from the church. I learned at that young age that in the Christian community it is not that some are the givers and others the receivers, but that all have something to offer, and, together, we all are receivers of God’s generosity. Together we are called to reach out to the community to those in need.

          In recent years, my husband and I helped support an inner-city congregation. Courageously and generously that small congregations for years had been serving its neighborhood.  Most of its members were young, in fact, youth!  (Many congregations would give anything to have that percentage of young people!) The youth had been taught to give and all gave almost ten percent of what they had. They were sharing God’s healing love. With the love and nurture of the congregation, many of the young people, were successful in school and beyond. But still, it was clear that this small, lower socio-economic mission congregation would never become totally self-sustaining.  It was closed last year.

          The story of the church is one of community. We are called to share God’s healing love in Christ’s reconciliation through personal and communal servanthood. We are called to mission through the generations. All are in need.  And the neediest have gifts. Not one of us as individuals or as congregations is totally self-sustaining. By the Spirit in the name of the Resurrected Christ we have been called to have all things in common and to use everyone’s gifts. How can we courageously and generously be the body of Christ as servants in the world?

          The essence of the early church, upon which all generations of the church since have been built by the Spirit, was hearing the Word taught and preached, baptism, the breaking of bread, prayers, and generous hearts for caring for each other. And the church grew. The history of the Church is not of individuals but of community. Together God gives us generous hearts to build up the body of Christ.

        “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45) 

Vocation: Why Deliver Mail When All the Homes Have Burned to Ashes?

        Images of tragedy quickly pass through the news cycle, but one image of houses totally incinerated in Santa Rosa, California, remains in my head. We viewed on television the city before and after: homes were totally burned to ashes. All was still. Nothing left. But in one screen image I saw something moving. A U.S. postal truck was driving alone slowly up the street. Why was it going up those streets? It seemed to be making its daily rounds. But there no homes to which to deliver mail. Incredible.  And then more incredible still, I saw the truck stop at a metal mailbox that remained. The carrier put some mail in that box. That was the driver’s job.  Or, in Martin Luther’s terms, that was the carrier’s station, role: to deliver mail.

        How ironic! How horribly ironic. What might that mail carrier have been feeling? How could one even tell which plot of ashes was which? What was the mail carrier’s vocation that day? What was the call to ministry?  Sometimes it is very difficult to discern, particularly in the midst of tragic circumstance.  Some people were incinerated in that ash. But others would be coming back and might need their mail: a pay check, a letter from an insurance company. The U.S. mail service would make other provisions, of course. Many addresses and mailboxes no longer existed. What about the mail carrier’s own house?

        After the tragedies of hurricanes, floods, and fires, Christ lives. As Luther wrote: God’s call lifts us out of our everyday duties but does not take us away from them. Rather, more deeply into them. Through the cross and resurrection, our work becomes calling. In the most tragic, even ironic situations, we need each other to discern our vocations. Christ lives in and through us together. Moving through the ashes, we are never alone. 

We Must Respond to the Call of the Current Situation

 I have been in public ministry for 57 years.  What has been the current call to faith communities in those various decades?

People feel the fear today: global instability, gun violence, economic inequality, inhospitality to refugees. All these challenges amidst lowered church attendance.

People contrast that to the 1940’s and 50’s when churches were building, growing, and full! But the “current” then also included the millions killed in World War II, refugees, and the beginning of the nuclear arms race.

My first call to parish ministry was the fall of 1960, to a 2000-member suburban congregation in Missouri with 800 in education classes, including a parish school.  We started classes for those with intellectual disabilities. However, inclusion of racial diversity was not so easily accepted. People thought Norma Cook was a great minister, but she had “one problem; she liked Negroes.”  

Living in Detroit later in the 1960’s we were part of inner city churches leading in the Civil Rights movement.  I had a seminary master’s degree; my theology was deepened on the streets through community organizing. The challenge was racial inequality. The “current” situation was revolution, called riots, in cities throughout the United States. The nation, and faith communities, were divided further over participation in the Viet Nam war.

In the 1970’s our “current” context moved to New Haven, Ct. where we lived simultaneously in two worlds: the inner city and Yale University Divinity school. I worked on the streets and taught in the classroom. In both places there was need for the Gospel in individual lives and for shaping community.  The feminist movement brought new opportunities for women and men.

“Current” has changed since 1979 when we moved here. Dubuque decided purposely to become more diverse. I’m a native Iowan, but not a native Dubuquer. That term itself is now being revisited. ‘Inclusive Dubuque’ and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque are two groups addressing the current challenges.

The call now to faith communities, whether struggling with attendance or not, is to work together to face continuing deep issues of global unrest, racism, refugees, nuclear arms escalation, inequality, and the need for stable, credible leadership.  Always current is the unconditional love of a faithful God active in the midst of the world’s greatest needs.