Pastoral Letter: Call to Listen

Dear St. John's Community,

As many of you are, I am also saddened and angered by the outpouring of hate which has happened in our country in the last couple of weeks. People should not be continuing to die because of hateful discrimination. As people of faith, we are called to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with others and God. The actions of many in the last few weeks have been unjustified and tragic.

On June 3, 2017 I wrote a newspaper article for The Derrick's Upward View titled, "Diversity is a gift from Holy Spirit." It was published the day before the Day of Pentecost and I was pointing to the scripture passage from Acts 2 we read each year on Pentecost. In the passage, the disciples are all given gifts of speaking in different languages. God did not call one people, one language to follow Jesus. God called all the people of the world to follow Jesus and made that very clear by the Holy Spirit's gifts so the disciples could spread the Gospel to all people.

God calls all people to follow the way of Jesus Christ, and that way is Love. Even in the midst of turmoil, violence, oppression, we are called to follow the way of Love. Many in our area may be saddened by what is going on in cities and other places far away, but feel comforted by the lack of problems here. Here in Venango County, our population of 50,000 people is 95% Caucasian/White. We may not see the same kind of violence in our county based on discrimination, but that is only because it is better hidden. We are the privileged who do not have to worry about running from the police, we are the privileged who can voice our opinions without worry of death threats or violence. We are the privileged, and now it is our turn to listen. We need to listen to our brothers and sisters across the country as they speak about their experience. We need to listen to our sisters and brothers and take responsibility for our actions. We need to listen and learn how we can make changes for the common good of all.

Moving forward will take hard listening, opening up, and accepting our own actions as part of the system of injustice in our country. Moving forward will require grace and open eyes and hearts for us to make changes. We are called by God through Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to share Love with ALL people, respecting their dignity and their abilities.

I pray we can all open our hearts to really listen in this time of change.

Elizabeth+

*This letter was emailed to the community of St. John's on May 31, 2020 on the Day of Pentecost