Domes - Our Monthly Newsletter
Dunbar UCC
June 10, 2007
Matthew 11:28-30
Our Refuge
- The Inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” - If you’re a foreigner coming to America, seeking refuge from poverty or political oppression,those are comforting words. Those words aren’t true, especially today, but they express an ideal of what we would like ourselves to be.
- But many years ago Jesus of Nazareth offered a similar invitation to the huddled masses of his time -- and beyond his time. It was an invitation without exceptions or requirements. He said, simply, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest....” That’s the message that we are trying to offer here. We are saying, “Whoever you are, come here and be a part of this community. Come as you are. Let this be your refuge. We will care for you and your family. And whatever your race or or color or age -- whatever your abilities or sexual orientation -- we will worship and seek God’s will together.” Jesus invited everyone to join him. He ate with everyone, even though he broke the Kosher laws of his Jewish tradition and got into trouble with the Jewish and Roman authorities.
- Last April some expressed feelings or concerns they had about Open and Affirming. One person said to me, “Is this your agenda?” My agenda is Jesus Christ. The Open and Affirming process began when I was approached by members in this church almost three years ago who asked me why our church did not have such a statement. I said, “I suppose we don’t because no one has seen a need.” And they said, “Well we see a need. We feel a need, and we have family members and friends who feel a need and to whom this would make a big difference.” So I said, “You’re right. This is important, and it would make a difference to people who won’t enter a church now for fear of being judged.”
- And so here we are. We’ll vote in a short while. We’ll vote on these words, printed here in the bulletin and composed by our Deacons. We are voting on this statement -- and nothing else. We are not voting for Gay Marriage. I called the Connecticut Conference and spoke with Cecile Gilson, the assistant to Davida Crabtree, our Conference minister, and to Ron Brown, our regional minister. And they confirmed to me that we are just voting on the statement -- not whether or not you support marriage or civil unions or anything else. They clarified to me that each church makes its own policy on these matters -- who is married in their sanctuary, the charges for a wedding, the times, etc. And these are decisions usually made by the Deacons. We do have our policy at this church -- it hasn’t been updated in many years, and maybe we’ll look at that later. But that’s not what we’re doing today. Today we are voting just for this statement -- which if we pass -- we will then call ourselves an Open and Affirming church. I hope that you will vote yes for this statement, and especially, that we will try, with God’s help, to live these words of welcome and refuge.