Almost a week after the murders in the Buffalo supermarket, of ten people shot by a white man who claimed to be targeting Black people, our hearts are still breaking. I have heard some Black friends speak of not feeling safe in public, of being re-traumatized by dangerously pervasive white supremacist ideology. I have heard white friends and Western members wanting just to do something. In this time when communities remain overwhelmed by this ever-mutating disease, and we all work more to achieve a sense of normalcy, I feel powerless.

“Laura, it’s not your ministry that I’m frustrates me; I just think I’m done with organized religion.”

One of you shared your frustration with Christian faith recently. (Part of me wanted to say, “Yes, but at Western we’re not THAT organized!”) Your frustration at the “Christian” organization behind the impending overturn of Roe v. Wade had broken your heart. You hadn’t been part of the Free Inquiry discussions on public theology, nor had you been part of one of the conversations about what it means for our congregation to become more intentionally antiracist and intercultural. I’m not judging; these days it’s hard to stay connected with the faith we share at Western if you’re not able to be with us in person on Sundays and you’re not interested in engaging on-line.