ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — As an African American pastor who serves as a chaplain in the Minneapolis police precinct where the white officer charged with murdering George Floyd worked, the Rev. Charles Graham believes he is exactly where God intended. "God is putting us where he wants us to be," said Graham, pastor emeritus at Macedonia Baptist Church in Minneapolis and chaplain at the 3rd Precinct for six years. "I know it's my job to show the hope. We might as well learn how to live together." Graham and other Twin Cities faith leaders who minister to communities historically ravaged by racial injustice know their neighborhoods are also the most vulnerable to poverty and crime. Most of the worst looting and vandalism this week struck long-established Native American and African American areas that more recently became home to large groups of Hmong, Somali and Latino migrants. Firm in their denunciation of brutality and racism, the religious leaders believe that using faith to … [Read more...]

(RNS) — On Pentecost Sunday, after a night of unrest that swept the country in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of police, the Rev. William J. Barber II delivered what he called “a pastoral letter to America” urging that leaders hear — and heed — the calls for justice from blacks and other minorities. Barber, a North Carolina Disciples of Christ pastor and co-leader of the Poor People Campaign, said Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ apostles, is a time of discernment. Floyd’s May 25th death is a moment when Americans ought to wake up to the ways systemic racism is “choking the life out of American democracy,” he said. He urged immediate reforms to make America more just including universal health care, a living wage, sick leave and affordable housing — part of the platform he has long championed with his Poor People’s Campaign. Speaking from the pulpit of an empty Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North … [Read more...]

(RNS) — According to mental health professionals, when human beings encounter a threat we respond in one of three ways: fight, flight or freeze. We can choose to confront the threat by fighting, either physically or verbally. We can run away from the threat in an act of self preservation; again, this can be literal or it can be an emotional and psychological retreat. Finally, we can freeze, an experience of physical or psychic paralysis that won’t let us fight or flee but temporarily immobilizes us. The fight, flight or freeze reflex may kick in when people of conscience see or hear about the latest incident of Black death. I had this reaction when I first saw the video of George Floyd’s killing this week. A white cop calmly pressing his knee against the back of the neck of a prostrate Floyd, who was Black. Floyd pleaded with the officer, “I can’t breathe,” until Floyd lost consciousness and soon died. Another human being reduced to hashtags: #JusticeforGeorge and … [Read more...]

(RNS) — The United Methodist Church has rescheduled its General Conference for Aug. 29-Sept. 7, 2021, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis. And it’s looking into ways to use technology to ensure delegates can participate in the quadrennial meeting, according to the Commission on the General Conference. The General Conference — during which delegates from across the globe are expected to discuss a proposal to split the denomination over the inclusion of its LGBTQ members — had been set for earlier this month in Minneapolis. It was postponed in March when the convention center announced it was restricting events at the venue to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We’re grateful that we were able to secure new dates while keeping the site of General Conference in Minneapolis. Nearly seven years of pre-planning and preparations by the host team have gone into this event,” commission chair Kim Simpson said in a written statement. A group of young delegates … [Read more...]

RNS) — The coronavirus pandemic hit pastor Kato Hart’s Detroit storefront church hard. Finances dwindled to almost nothing. Rent and utility bills went unpaid. All the while, neighbors were losing jobs and seeking unemployment. His church, Hold the Light Ministries Church of God in Christ, prides itself on "being a servant in our community," so not being able to help their people was difficult to process, Hart said. But then they got some unexpected help. Hold the Light is one of more than 100 small churches that have each been awarded $3,000 grants. Through the Churches Helping Churches initiative, a relief fund was set up to provide $3,000 grants to churches at risk of closing due to a decrease in financial giving during the pandemic. The initiative is led by the AND Campaign, with support from other organizations, like the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Pinkston and the Pinetops Foundation. As part of this effort, national Christian groups have urged larger … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Ahead of Memorial Day, which honors the nation’s wartime dead, a coalition of activists from across the country will hold a 24-hour online vigil naming some of the people who have died of COVID-19. The #NamingTheLost vigil will begin Wednesday (May 20) at 2 p.m. Eastern on Facebook and end at 2 p.m. Thursday. “By taking 24 hours to read the names of those we have lost, we seek to humanize and honor each person — and those whose names we do not know — at a time when we must be physically apart,” the website for the vigil states. There is no central database listing the names of the more than 90,000 Americans and 318,000 people globally who have died. So vigil volunteers have culled more than 10,000 names from obituaries and Facebook memorial pages. Volunteers will recite those names in between readings, songs and prayers. A list of at least 500 nursing homes where individuals have died will also be named. “Historically, we might turn to our government or people in … [Read more...]