I recently went on a long-awaited holiday. My husband of 30 years, Jay, and I had postponed our anniversary trip to Europe because of COVID. While in London, we attended an evening concert at an Episcopal Church. We arrived early, so I looked through the books and pamphlets in the hymn book rack and found a program for an eight-week lecture series called “The Search for Meaning.” Naturally curious, I read further. What I read surprised and humbled me. In the introduction, the rector spoke of the suffering of people in faraway places: Afghanistan, Syria, and the grief caused by the nation’s immigration policy.
In the series, parishioners explored the thinking from an eclectic group of speakers who addressed the nature of human existence. Some religious, some not, the lectures focused on humanity and what it means to matter. They led talks on Identity, Why Go to Church? human rights and equality. This makes me wonder whether American churches and clergy are doing, asking, and listening enough. Are we opening our houses of worship to voices that don’t automatically align with the demographic of the congregation? Are our churches talking and hearing enough about the inequalities of immigration and institutional racism? Do we challenge ourselves enough to sit in someone else’s pew?
In thinking about what is being discussed from the pulpit across heartland states, I talked with Rev. Angela Denker, a pastor of a rural parish outside of Minneapolis and the author of Red State Christians: A Journey into White Christian Nationalism and the wreckage it leaves behind. Denker said she has recently felt more hopeful about progress on social issues in the U.S. because of Congress’s passage of, and signing of, the Respect for Marriage Act by President Biden. “This marriage equality act would not have happened without clergy stepping up,” said Denker. She firmly believes that clergy helped sway American opinion and understanding on this issue in a positive way, and that they have the ability to tackle other equally difficult social issues.
There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to immigration – no connective tissue on that neatly ties fairness and legalities together. Added to this, for the most part, American views seem to be largely strong and not very charitable. Denker would like to see churches and congregations be more open to examining the extreme negativity surrounding immigrants. We discussed the country’s willingness to accept Ukrainian refugees versus those from Central and South American. “So much of American opposition to immigration is inseparable from broader problems with socioeconomics and how we have been taught to hate the poor and the non-white,” she said. This is where she believes clergy could step up and help parishioners examine their auto reactions and to ask, “what is the gospel saying on this” and reminded all that “Jesus loved to care for poor people.”
Denker wishes congregations would feel linked to their pastors in shared missions this holiday season, particularly coming out of COVID. She thinks it is imperative for local congregations to look locally at their close to home problems and ask who is a leader in solving local issues, urging their churches to join in. Inch toward empathy and understanding at a local level and not focus so much on the national problems that seem impenetrable. Maybe a reasonable new year’s goal is to think globally but act locally. Perhaps next year, at this time, we, as a country, Midwesterners, or faithful people, will have tempered some of our negative thinking about people who are different from ourselves. How we might: take a deep breath, listen to others, think of ways to challenge our thinking, and have some new understanding sprinkled in with some compassion.
