ePistle: Peace on Earth, Good Will to All: A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Hope Morgan Ward
Glory to God and on earth peace! – Luke 2:14
I greet you in the name of the One who comes embodying peace and offering peace to all.
In Advent, our churches use beautiful hues of purple and blue on pulpits, communion tables and banners. Blue is the ancient color for Advent, the color of the Bethlehem sky and the color of Mary’s garments in classical Christian art. Purple, the color of royalty, summons us to a posture of humble, penitent yearning for the fullness of life the Messiah brings. Read the full ePistle.
Sacred Conversations: Because Black Lives Matter
Whether scanning the latest happenings on Twitter and Facebook, reading the newspaper or sitting down and watching the news it’s hard to miss the continuous stream of stories about racial violence. “Black Americans make up 13 percent of the US population, but the FBI’s data shows that 32 percent of the felons killed by officers in 2012 where black. Fifty-two percent were white, and 12 percent were Hispanic.” (http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6051043/how-many-people-killed-police-statistics-homicide-official-black).
As people called to love our neighbors as ourselves we invite you to come be a part of the Sacred Conversations: Because Black Lives Matter event, January 28, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, in Duke Memorial United Methodist Church .
The purpose of our gathering is to be in prayer and conversations with our sisters and brothers around the issue of anti-Black violence in our communities and our nation. We believe the church should be involved in discussions of race as both a prophetic voice and an instrument for change when and where needed. Our goal in this holy conversation is to create paths of solidarity, integrity, honesty, respect, compassion and action.
To learn more, please contact Rev. Albert Shuler: ashuler@nccumc.org
