Reconciling Works

A pastoral letter to the Metropolitan New York Synod. My Dear Sisters and Brothers: Grace, mercy, and peace to all of you in the Name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. There is enough evidence for me to realize that not everyone reacted in the same way I did to the horrid violence and evil […]

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I am writing with a heavy heart as again our country is mourning the senseless loss of over 50 lives at the hands of hatred and violence. This time, the particular target was the LGBTQ community. Later this week, we will mark the one year anniversary of the massacre […]

A Response from the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago to the Shootings in Orlando: We, the members of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, add our own voices of lament and outrage to the cry rising up across our nation for peace, justice and healing in the aftermath of the mass […]

Once again this year as summer begins, we find ourselves face-to-face with a massacre. Last year on June 17, it was the Charleston massacre. This year on June 13 it is the Orlando massacre. Our hearts are heavy. Many of you found about this after worship this past Sunday or perhaps only heard about it […]

“Even with darkness sealing us in, We breathe Your name, And through all the days that follow so fast, We trust in You; Endless Your grace, O endless Your grace …” [From Stephen Paulus’ Pilgrims’ Hymn, words by Michael Dennis Browne] These are days of profound sadness with the loss of 50 lives and many […]

Again we join people across our nation and around the world with mourning and lament. We pray for the families of the 50 people slain, and the 53 wounded victims of the horrific slaughter of innocent lives in Orlando. Let us hold them in our hearts. We grieve for the peoples of LGBTQ communities everywhere […]

50? Is that what it’s going to take? Or is it 60 or 75 or 100? When will we take a stand and say no more? No more killing grounded in ignorance! No more hate crimes against our brothers and sisters in the LGBTQIA community! No more deaths because someone’s skin is a different color […]

This is my prayer tonight… God of peace, mercy and justice. The suffering on this day is inconsolable, the tears overflowing, and the fear palpable. The slaying of your LGBTQ people in Orlando cries out for healing, hope and Justice.. Hear the cries of grief and the anguish of loss. Have mercy and compassion for […]