Wake Forest Baptist Church

All Are Welcome, No Exceptions

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A Day Without A Woman/Women’s Rights are Human Rights

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. Usually this day celebrates the strides made in women’s rights and the contributions women make to the world.

But this day will be different. Many woman across the country and across the globe will be on strike. Including me, your pastor.

I will strike because women still make $.78 to each man’s $1.00. I will strike because women work outside the home but still do the majority of work in the home. I will strike because Ohio representatives are refusing to support legislation that makes drugging and raping your wife illegal. I will strike because the new administration reinstated the global gag rule so that NGOs who receive money for health access for women around the world can no longer mention abortion as an option, including to save the life of the woman. I will strike because the so-called “religious liberty laws” may allow people or institutions to support marriage exclusively as the union of one man and one woman.

I will strike because women’s rights are human rights, and I will settle for nothing less than equality.

I’m not in the office today. If you need me, I’ll be at home doing some things I love. I’ll be baking bread, going for a long walk, sewing, and maybe even knitting. I’ll be at Wednesday night supper tonight, where the men are cooking dinner. You’re welcome to join us… I hear that pizza is for dinner. And I’m going to write a few notes today, to some amazing women who have been my role models and mentors and friends, to tell that I am so grateful for the love, generosity, and intelligence they bring into the world.

 

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Construction, Not Destruction

I sat with the powerful women of the Ladies’ Circle yesterday. They like to call themselves “The Remnant,” because they are the remaining women of several Circles. The name “remnant” has a Biblical meaning, recalling the returning Israelites after the Babylon deportation and exile. They are the ones who asked, “How can we sing our songs in a foreign land?” Wikipedia says that the remnant is “what’s left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe.”

While there was a planned program yesterday (thanks to the fearless leader of the Ladies’ Circle), it was abandoned to discuss the sorrow, heartache, and anxiety we were all facing in light of deportations, religious persecution, and hate crimes in our nation. We collectively felt our powerlessness, our anger, our outrage. And yet, we all share a deep desire not to destroy but to construct instead.

There were suggestions of constructing—cookies delivered to neighbors, visits made with friends—caring for one another during this difficult time. There were also suggestions of resistance–letter writing, phone calls, financial assistance to organizations poised to make a difference.

I re-learned two things in that time with my sisters. First, we have already seen catastrophe. We have survived and even thrived in the past through all kinds of catastrophes. Health issues, losses of people we loved, broken relationships; all manner of change has happened and will continue to happen. And we can survive and thrive. Second, we know how to get through this. We pay attention to the relationships around us, to those in need. We bake cookies. We deliver hugs. We hold one another up.

We can survive and even thrive. Together.

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A Day Without Immigrants

Dear friends,

There is a  national protest today called “A Day Without Immigrants.” Workers and students who have immigrated to the United States are striking, showing in a non-violent way, how important immigrant presence is here in Winston-Salem and in the nation.

This is a photo of marchers in downtown Winston-Salem, standing up against the new anti-immigration Executive Order, taken just this afternoon. There are stores and restaurants that are closed. Do you know anyone who went on strike today?

A few weeks ago, we sent a letter of support to a local Latino congregation, El Buen Pastor. Today, we received their reply. The original is surrounded by signatures of our brothers and sisters in Christ, but you’ll have to come Sunday to see it:

These are our brothers and sisters who have come to our country for a better life. Let’s recognize their contribution and be prepared to support them whatever comes.

Warmly,

Pastor Lia

 

 

 

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Forward Together (Not One Step Back!)

A lot of us are concerned about the direction that our country is going. The leadership seems more proficient at division and fear, than love and concern. The leadership seems focused on upsetting the status quo, and not worrying much about what gets broken, or who suffers, as a result. The leadership wants to “make America great” by scapegoating those who are “other.”

The Forward Together Moral Movement and its founder, Rev. William Barber II, shares those concerns, and has been working to build a coalition to put forward moral issues like these in the forefront of political discussion. This coalition is wide ranging, and ecumenical, and is focused on love, not hate.

At least 26 of us traveled to Raleigh last Saturday to participate in the 2017 Moral March, also known as HKOJ (Historic Thousands On Jones St.) It’s hard to guess crowd sizes, but it is a safe bet that there were more than 20,000 people there, with a wide range of interests and concerns.

We were proud to have made the journey to stand in solidarity and to be counted along with our brothers and sisters concerned about injustice on the basis of race, religion, national origin, economic class, gender, or sexual orientation.

It will take more than marching to bring love to the oppressed and justice for all, but it’s a start.

Here’s Rev. Barber’s inspirational sermon:

Here’s a part that I found particularly touching:

But my momma’s here… eighty three years old…
She had me, two days after the March on Washington…
She said, I never thought I would have a baby,
that when he was fifty years old, he’d still be fighting,
some of the battles that I fought…
But she said, Boyyyyyyy you’d better Fight!

You’d Better Fight!

‘Cause Bowing Down Is Not An Option!

The weather was good, spirits were high, and everyone seemed to feel like the effort to stand up and take part was worth it.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of work that goes into an expedition of this size. I’d like to thank Eve and Steve Andrews, Judy and Terry Lovelace, Elizabeth Corney, and Drew McCarthy for all their hard work. And many of you made contributions too, from camp chairs to financial resources. Special thanks to all of you who marched, too!

Wake Forest Baptist Church

P O Box 7326
Winston-Salem 27109
Email: admin@wakeforestbaptist.org

Phone (336) 860-0777