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Letter from Birminham Jail | Session 3
April 9, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Are We a Social Club or Justice Seekers?
In his prophetic Letter From Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., expressed frustration with white moderates, including clergy who were critical of civil rights efforts. King likened their complacency to the outright hostility of white supremacists, writing, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” King asserted that the white church needed to take a principled stand or risk being “dismissed as an irrelevant social club.”
How and where does that same complacency and belief in “all things being done decently and in order” (a Biblical reference in chapter 8 of the PC(USA) Book of Order) resonate in the church today? When/how/why should we step out of our traditional white culture comfort zones to assure that we are indeed living out being a Matthew 25 church? What should we physically, culturally, and financially divest from in order to invest in a future that fully embraces all of our siblings who enter our building, those who are in our neighborhood and throughout our denomination? Those are big questions that demand our attention and our discernment.
Our very future is at stake. Let us continue the conversation on Zoom on Saturday, April 9, 6 pm, with the third and final deep dive into King’s letter. We will be led by the Rev. Paul Roberts, co-pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, and members of the ELPC Facing Systemic Racism Committee.
Join us in person in the Social Hall or online via Zoom. You also may call in by dialing 301.715.8592 and entering meeting ID 846 9026 2039 and passcode 950626 when prompted.
