A longing for hope leads to a call to action...

It's been a couple of years since I have been to a church service. Part of that is on me as I have avoided church after trying unsuccessfully to find a church home that did not elevate an American man and a political movement that does not represent my faith over the truth about who Jesus Christ was as a man, and as a savior. I have felt for a long time a disenfranchised negativity toward church because of the discriminating vitriol that has taken root there. I learned last night, I am just going to the wrong churches.

Over the years, I have missed the community of church, the music, the challenging message of action and conviction that I once experienced weekly. For me, a white lady with a ministry degree, I have watched white churches turn a sharp shoulder away from the true teachings of Jesus and move toward a nationalist patriotism that has left me uncomfortable and disengaged.

I had given up on church and shame on me for it. What a privilege I have to walk away from the "messy work of compromise and community."


​Last night, I felt a tugging in my soul to be somewhere holy where I could pray for our country and whatever is to come today forward. I am glad I followed that calling to go to church. I went to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Service put on at Saint Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Lord, I feel certain, found me there.

I went into that service looking for hope, but I left with a challenge & a conviction. From the spirit led worship from two choirs and a soloist who sang one of my most beloved gospel songs, Precious Lord, Take My Hand. I was already knowing I had come to a place where God was "pulling up."

There were several meaningful prayers from pastors across the city. But, a deep stirring in my heart started when Pastor George Shears, III of New Hope Baptist Church began to pray.

"Lord, we come to you with heavy hearts in a world where peace feels distant, yet our longing for it is deep. We pray for peace in this nation. Peace that is not just the absence of violence but the presence of justice."

"We are living in a time where banning an app is seems more urgent than banning militaristic armament. Lord, help us to see the value of every human life and to act in ways that protect and preserve it. Teach us to prioritize what builds peace, and safety over what divides and distracts us."

"We pray for peace in our nation, where leadership is not measured by crowd size but by character. May integrity and humility replace arrogance and division. Raise up leaders who value truth, justice, and compassion above personal gain. And may we as citizens hold ourselves to those same standards. As we reflect on Dr. King's dream, we pray for the courage to transform weapons of war into tools for building and healing. We ask for the strength to confront the injustices that disrupt peace in our communities to challenge systems of inequality and to build bridges where others erect walls.

Finally, Lord, we ask that your peace, which surpasses all understanding, would guard our hearts and our minds. Let it begin within us, spread to our homes, and flow into our neighborhoods, our nation and this world.
May we remember that the work of peace is not passive but active. Not easy, but essential. In the name of the Prince of Peace, in Jesus Christ, we pray, amen."

By the time Brittany Stillwell got up there to give the prayer of Unity, I knew God had put me in that pew next to Debbie, my new church friend, on purpose. (I went by myself and can't help but make new friends.)

Brittany, said the hard part outloud before her prayer. She said, "My knees are knocking. I have been asked to give the Prayer of Unity, and as a white woman in Little Rock, I do not think I can deliver a prayer on unity without a little confession along the way. So for my brothers and sisters in this room for whom this confession does not apply, would you help me? Will you pray for me and the rest of us that we might be able to own what is OURS to repair?" You can find her prayer & confession at 1:24:50.

The entire service built into an outpouring of hope and conviction and a call to action that requires all of us to be involved in. A strike against apathy and silence in the face of what we know is wrong even if it is "legal." I wish I could quote the ENTIRITY of Dr. Fredrick D. Haynes, III sermon, but I won't because YOU should take the time this morning to watch & listen.

If you are like me, and you feel uneasy this morning, I encourage you to hear that message. You can watch this program from start to finish here: https://www.youtube.com/live/qsWGZJaMsxg?si=i-jyd5KgOykP2Q2M

Dr. Haynes' sermon starts around 2:04:20.

Thank you Saint Mark Baptist Church for challenging and refocusing me as we move into a new era of our country on what not just WE are called to do, but what I am called to do. And thank you always to the beautiful City of Little Rock for showing up time and again to remind me what community really is in service & in action - not just words & feel good quotes.
Be well friends, and be active. And never ever be silent in the face of hate & wrongdoing. Now more than ever, we must speak up, show up, and hold up the strong constructs of justice and compassion that our black brothers and sisters have worked tirelessly to create in the face of hate and apathy without our help.

Just because they did the work, doesn't mean they didn't need our help, and it sure doesn't give us an excuse to let them continue to carry the load of equality & human rights for all without us picking up the weight that is ours to bear.

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