global affairs

You’ve probably noticed the hyperbolic rhetoric this weekend in the wake of the radical Islamist inspired terrorism attack in San Bernardino, where Donald Trump called for closing our border to all Muslims (including Muslim-American Citizens) and the president of Liberty University called on all 113,000 of its students to arm themselves against “those Muslims” and to be prepared to “teach them a lesson” in case of a feared attack. This, of course, blames the vast majority of peaceful Muslims for the acts of a small few, and empowers and legitimizes all sorts of hate speech and acts towards peaceful, innocent people.

In response to all of this, a Facebook friend suggested:

I cannot fix Trump. But I can write a note of support to local mosques. So can you.

This was a great idea, so I drafted a letter and posted it on Facebook, seeking suggestions for improvement. In the end, I made a few minor changes and mailed this to three area Islamic Societies and a mosque that had experienced a specific threatening act on Saturday. I had planned to just leave it there, but some are asking to see the final text to share. So, here it is. Please feel free to adapt and use in your context as you see fit.

Peace to you as well this Advent season.

Chad

PDF: IslamicNeighborltr2015
———————-

Dear brothers and sisters:

As-salamu alaykum.

These days appear to be trying times for followers of Islam in our country. As the Pastor and spiritual leader of The Kirk, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and your neighbor in the Kansas City community, I extend to you a greeting of peace and love.

This is a particularly holy season for those who claim the name Christian. We await the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whom we call the Prince of Peace. We believe that Christians are called at all times to imitate Jesus’ welcome and compassion, to love all people as God has loved us in Jesus Christ, to be peacemakers.

In this spirit, I am writing to extend my support and encouragement to your community and to all the families who find nurture there. My heart breaks at the hate speech and vile behavior toward Muslims recently expressed by some politicians and Christian leaders in our country. It is my prayer that this reprehensible behavior has not adversely impacted your community, and that you can continue to practice your faith and live your everyday lives in freedom, peace, and mutual harmony.

If we can extend to you something beyond this word of encouragement and support, please do not hesitate to ask. In particular, I would hope to explore whether there is some opportunity for our communities to come together over a shared meal or social activity, so we might come to know one another better.

Peace to you this Advent season.

In Christ,

Rev. Chad Andrew Herring
Pastor
The Kirk of Kansas City

December 7, 2014 ~ Prepare from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on December 7, 2014.

Isaiah 40:1-11
and Mark 1:1-8
(Click above link for the Scripture texts upon which this sermon is based)

Editorial note: I’m working on correcting spacing issues. Thank you for your patience in the meantime.

So….John the Baptist.

As a preacher, John the Baptist wouldn’t have lasted a day
In the Presbyterian Church I grew up in as a child, in southwestern Iowa.

MAYBE he could’ve been the preacher down
At the Pentecostal Church of the Second Blessing
the one in the metal building, you know, out on the outskirts of town,
But NO WAY in my home church.

It’s not that we were some big, shoe-shined, tall-steeple, metropolitan church.
Mine was a typical Presbyterian church in rural America,
A church that had choirs for all ages,
And a good youth group
Church camp up at Knox Knolls…
And elders who looked like elders,
And deacons who acted like deacons,
And trustees—well, I was never sure what the trustees did,
But they sure looked sober and respectable doing it.

In short, as I heard people there say:
maybe we weren’t all that great,
But we weren’t all that bad either.

How’s that for a church motto?
Law-abiding, taxpaying, comfortably middle class. Don’t rock the boat.
That was my church.

We were the kind of church that liked our religion
in small, controlled, organized doses.
Nothing fanatical, please. But nothing very challenging, either.
Frankly, we seemed perfectly happy for God
never to say anything to us other than
what we expected to hear already,
And all that we expected to hear at my church
was “I’m okay. You’re okay.”
“God is nice; therefore, we should be nice to each other[i].”

So, if John the Baptist had pulled up one day as the New Preacher
looking like a cross between Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
And “captain caveman”—
–with his unkempt hair and scraggly beard,
and if he moved his wardrobe of one camel’s-hair outfit
into the closet of the pastor’s study,
and put his box of locusts
and jar of wild honey into the pantry—
–eyebrows definitely would have raised.

We’ve all seen eccentric preachers before,
But John would have taken the cake.
…And come to think of it, that cake might have been
the LAST thing he got to eat on his new job.

Whispers would reach crescendo,
Calls would be made, you know—
“Who did we offend to get a pastor who looks like THIS?”

Maybe they would have hung in through the first sermon,
But the first time John stepped into the pulpit and unleashed
One of his fire-breathing,
Spit-flying sermons—
–that would have been the end of him.
The Personnel Committee would meet…and, POOF—no more John. [Read more…]

An Advent Letter to Kansas City Muslims

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