By Kathryn Mary Lohre

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?
Jeremiah 8:22

On May 24, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA hosted a memorial service for lives lost to COVID-19. In a time of physical distancing, the church ecumenical gathered online for “A Time to Mourn,” drawing thousands together to remember and lament. Grounded in our hope in the resurrection, the Rev. Elizabeth A Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, declared, “The body of Christ is COVID-positive.”

The very next day, a black man named George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Onlookers to his arrest quickly became protestors to his death, filming it for all the world to see. The footage of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man on the street until he became lifeless went viral. In their public statement, “Lynching Justice in America,” the officers of The United Church of Christ, asked “Is this how white supremacy prays? The original pandemic of our nation – structural racism and white supremacy – has reasserted once again itself as the deadliest virus among us.

Thus, as the country passed the grim marker of more than 100,000 lives lost to COVID-19 last week, the death of one man became the focus of our national attention. George Floyd’s last words, “Please, I can’t breathe,” are a stark reminder that a severe respiratory virus is not the only illness plaguing us. But we need to be clear in our diagnosis. This it is not about two unrelated ailments: COVID-19 and racism. Rather it is about how the coronavirus, as an acute disease, is aggravating many of our society’s underlying conditions in these, and other ways:

• Stay-at-home orders have exacerbated gender-based-violence.
• Private health care systems have magnified economic injustice, as those who cannot afford it have limited access and quality of care.
• Under-resourced public education systems have provided unequal opportunities for remote learning during school shut-downs, and contributed to food insecurity in many families.
• Disproportionate rates of infection and death from COVID-19 in communities of color have exposed racialized health disparities, including pre-existing conditions.
• The classification of “essential workers” has laid bare the racialized hierarchies of labor in our society, and our dependence on low or no-wage migrant workers.
• The return of wildlife to urban areas has revealed our addiction to habits of consumption, travel, and transit that gravely contribute to climate injustice.
• Unchecked discriminatory police practices targeting black and brown bodies, compounded by racist criminal justice systems have led to several killings of unarmed black and brown people during the COVID-19 pandemic, including not only George Floyd, but also Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and others unnamed, and delayed or denied justice for their killers.

None of these conditions are new since the onset of COVID-19. They are more severe. We, the people of the United States, are very ill. We, the ecumenical family in the United States are very ill. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (I Corinthians 12:26). Whether we are experiencing the symptoms, or contributing to them, none of us are well. You know that, you have seen it, and you have reached out in love and solidarity with us. For this, we give thanks to God for the continued accompaniment of the ecumenical family on the pilgrimage of justice and peace.

Every day since George Floyd’s death, protestors have taken to the streets in cities across the country. Risking arrest and violence, and COVID-19, they are demanding justice – undeterred by those with evil, ulterior motives. Like they prophet Jeremiah, they are crying out, “Black lives matter!” Our churches – our clergy and lay people – are amongst them, and also supporting them with service, care, and sanctuary in our communities. The protestors are enraged by the death of George Floyd, yes, but their rage is also pointing to the 401 years of anti-black structural racism and white supremacy undergirding it, and creating barriers justice. We are at a tipping point as a nation. We feel this whether we are watching and working from self-quarantine, or seeing and joining in with our bodies in the streets.

The status quo has been weakened by COVID-19, and it is susceptible. The question we are wrestling with is, what role will the churches have in treating the underlying conditions – of making lasting change for building racial justice and dismantling white supremacy? The African Methodist Episcopal Church, for one, has been clear: “White supremacist business as usual, is no longer acceptable.” This is work we must engage within our churches, but also together, ecumenically. The Act Now to End Racism initiative of the National Council of Churches will be vital in these next steps, including its recently adopted work focused on white supremacy.

United in Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we must undertake a comprehensive and aggressive treatment plan against structural racism and white supremacy, even and especially while we flatten the curve and seek treatment for COVID-19. Our life together in Christ depends on it because if you can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.

Kathryn Mary Lohre serves as Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations & Theological Discernment for the ELCA

By Rabbi Yehiel Poupko

Today, we, the Jewish People, have finished counting and fulfilling seven weeks of seven days, forty-nine days since Pesakh and the liberation from slavery in Egypt-Mitzrayim. As the Torah records, we were freed from slavery in the sight of all the world.

In Your love You lead the people You redeemed; In Your strength You guide them to Your holy abode. The peoples hear, they tremble; Agony grips the dwellers in Philistia. Now are the clans of Edom dismayed; The tribes of Moab — trembling grips them; All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast. Terror and dread descend upon them; Through the might of Your arm they are still as stone — Till Your people cross over, O LORD, Till Your people cross whom You have ransomed. (Shemot-Ex. 15:13-16)

This evening we celebrate Shavuot-Pentecost. We will arrive at Mt. Sinai, where we will be given the Torah, where we will receive the Torah, and where God will reveal God’s self to us, as recorded in Exodus-Shemot 19 and 20. No one else was present at this revelation and at the giving of the Torah. The liberation from slavery is a universal experience witnessed by all the world. The giving of the Torah at Sinai is absolutely particular and parochial. Only the Jewish People were given the Torah. God and Israel were alone at Sinai, the Rabbis teach, like a bride and groom at their wedding. In order to achieve this absolutely particular, parochial, and private experience God gave the Torah to us in the desert. We were all alone with God. No one was there. No one else was given the Torah.

And then imagine the shock. No sooner than we at Sinai are all alone with the One God, in order to give the Torah to Israel, God begins to read the Torah out loud in the hearing of all Israel so that Moses-Moshe can write it down. What are amongst the very first words that Israel, in absolute intimacy with the One God hears read?

When in the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth…and God said, “Let us make the Adam (the human) in our image, after our likeness…” And God created the Adam in God’s image. In the image of God did God create the Adam. Male and female God created them.”

In a moment of absolute parochialism, an experience shared with no one, God declared to Israel, every person is created in the image of the One God. In this pristine moment of intimacy God declares the absolute universal principle. Every human is created in the Image.

We have a custom, a tradition, to stay up all night tonight, Shavuot, and to read, study, and learn the whole Torah from the beginning of Genesis-Bereshit to the end of Deuteronomy-Devarim. Like all Israel standing at Sinai, what will we experience? So, tonight in our moment of absolute privacy with the One God we will note, on this anniversary of our honeymoon with God at Mt. Sinai as we begin to read the whole Torah from the beginning of Genesis-Bereshit, that just two or three days ago one person created in the image of the One God, an African American, an American citizen, a resident of Minnesota, George Floyd, cried out, “Please, I can’t breathe!” At the same time, another person created in the image of God, for approximately ten minutes with his knee on George Floyd’s neck did not hear him speak these four words, “Please, I can’t breathe.” And tonight, we will also come to that verse in the Torah, and God artistically fashioned the human, dust from the earth, and breathed into the human’s nostrils the breath of life, and the human being became a breathing articulate being. So, tonight on Shavuot, in commemoration of our most particular of experiences, we will, like our parents long ago at Sinai, listen to the words of the Torah declare the most absolute universal of all realities. Every human being is created in the Tselem Elokhim, the Image of God. And into every human being has God breathed the breath of life. As we remember the last words of George Floyd, “Please, I can’t breathe!”

All good to each and every one of you,

Yehiel Poupko
YP/cm

Rabbi Yehiel Poupko is Rabbinic Scholar at the Jewish United Fund/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

elca.org/emanuelnine

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, ELCA congregations are encouraged to reaffirm their commitment to repenting for the sins of racism and white supremacy, which continue to plague this church. As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine. Each year this day will be set aside as a time of penitence for ELCA members through study and prayer. An online ELCA prayer service, including leaders from across the church and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton as preacher, is being planned for June 17, 2020, to mark this fifth anniversary. Below you will find a collection of resources that will assist you and your congregations during this time of prayerful reflection, remembrance, and recommitment. More is available at elca.org/emanuelnine.

The Emanuel Nine
On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson – the Emanuel Nine – were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Our relationship to the shooter as well as two of the slain reminds us of both our complicity and our calling. Together we confess that we are in bondage to the sins of racism and white supremacy and, at the same time, we rejoice in the freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus who “has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14). May God continue to guide us as we seek repentance and renewal, and racial justice and reconciliation among God’s precious children.

Worship resources
The resources referenced below are provided to help congregations navigate this commemoration and day of repentance. Many of these materials were recently produced for this first year of marking the commemoration; among the others are helpful ELCA websites and documents as well as resources from our ecumenical partners.
In this time of pandemic, many of the resources will need to be adapted for virtual worship, online conversation, or individual reflection and devotion. You are invited to use them in whatever ways are most helpful for your local context.

•  “Prayers, Litanies, and Laments for the Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine” | PDF |
• “Terror and Prophetic Witness,” a litany by Senior Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Jr., African Methodist Episcopal Church | PDF |
• “The Doors of the Church Are Still Open,” a litany in memory of the Emanuel Nine by Senior Bishop Adam J. Richardson, African Methodist Episcopal Church | PDF |
• ELCA “Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday” (Sept. 6, 2015) | PDF |
• ELCA “Worship Resources: Juneteenth” | PDF |

Ecumenical partnership
For many decades, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the African Methodist Episcopal Church have been ecumenical partners through coalitions such as the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC). In the 1990s, our two churches entered into theological dialogue seeking full communion and co-published a congregational resource. Our churches have also engaged in various forms of cooperation and public witness together and with other ecumenical partners. We have participated together in the cross-racial dialogue of the Conference of National Black Churches since 2015 and in the NCC’s A.C.T. Now to End Racism initiative since 2018. As the Office of the Presiding Bishop tends to church-to-church relations nationally, vital relations have been cultivated across the church by bishops, rostered ministers and lay leaders, with key leadership from Lutherans of African descent. We continue to seek ways to deepen and expand our ecumenical partnership across various ministry contexts and communities as part of our ecumenical commitments and churchwide resolutions. You can access an overview of ecumenical relations between the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America here.

You can learn more about the ELCA’s Emanuel Nine commemoration and day of repentance along with accessing additional resources by visiting elca.org/emanuelnine.

As we approach the twentieth anniversary of our full communion agreement, “Called to Common Mission,” we give thanks to God for the partnership we share with The Episcopal Church. In the coming months, we will pray for and with one another, seeking spiritual renewal in these challenging times, and revival for the common mission we share.

From Pentecost Sunday through the first Sunday in September, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and her Episcopal counterpart Presiding Bishop Michael Curry welcome congregations and individuals to regularly pray “A Prayer for the Power of the Spirit Among the People of God.” This prayer – crafted by a team of Lutheran and Episcopal prayer leaders in light of the COVID-19 pandemic – will connect us in common prayer and revive us for common mission, wherever and however we may be gathered.

Congregations might wish to incorporate the prayer into worship following the Prayer of the Day, as part of the Prayers of Intercession, or at the conclusion of worship before the Blessings or Dismissal. Individuals may pray it anytime as part of their own personal prayer discipline. Please feel free to print, publish, post, and share it widely.

At Pentecost, we celebrate the power of the Holy Spirit. In our diversity, we are united through God’s presence among us. We are amazed and astonished. United in Christ, and joined by common prayer, the Advocate calls and sends us out in common mission. Come, Holy Spirit.

A Prayer for the Power of the Spirit among the People of God
God of all power and love, we give thanks for your unfailing presence
and the hope you provide in times of uncertainty and loss.
Send your Holy Spirit to enkindle in us your holy fire.
Revive us to live as Christ’s body in the world:
a people who pray, worship, learn, break bread, share life, heal neighbors,
bear good news, seek justice, rest and grow in the Spirit.
Wherever and however we gather,
unite us in common prayer and send us in common mission,
that we and the whole creation might be restored and renewed,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Oración por el Espíritu en tiempos de incertidumbre y desplazamiento
Dios de todo poder y amor, te damos gracias por tu constante presencia y por la esperanza que brindas en tiempos de incertidumbre y de pérdida. Envía tu Espíritu Santo a encender en nosotros tu fuego santo. Revívenos para vivir como cuerpo de Cristo en el mundo: un pueblo que ora, adora, parte el pan, comparte la vida, atiende a sus prójimos, es portador de buenas nuevas, busca la justicia, descansa y crece en el Espíritu. Dondequiera y de cualquier manera que nos reunamos, únenos en oración comunitaria y envíanos en una misión común: que nosotros y toda la creación podamos ser restaurados y renovados, mediante Jesucristo nuestro Señor. Amén.

Une prière pour l’Esprit en une période d’incertitude et de déplacement
Dieu de toute puissance et de tout amour, nous te rendons grâce pour ta présence indefectible et l’espoir que tu nous donnes en cette période d’incertitude et de perte. Envoie ton Saint-Esprit allumer en nous ton Saint feu. Ravive-nous pour vivre comme le corps du Christ dans le monde : un peuple qui prie, adore, apprend, rompt le pain, partage la vie, guérit les voisins, porte de bonnes nouvelles, cherche la justice, se repose et croît dans l’Esprit. Où que nous nous réunissions et de quelque manière que nous le fassions, unis-nous dans une prière commune et envoie-nous dans une mission commune afin que nous et toute la creation puissions être restaurés et renouvelés à travers Jésus-Christ notre Seigneur. Amen.

Shoulder to Shoulder is a national coalition-based campaign of religious denominations and faith-based organizations and communities that are committed to ending discrimination and violence against Muslims in the United States by equipping, connecting, and mobilizing faith leaders to effectively take action. The ELCA is a founding member of Shoulder to Shoulder and has supported the work of the campaign since 2010.

By Dr. Catherine Orsborn

Like many of you, we started 2020 with a lot of plans. We were excited to engage (in person!) with people across the country through our Faith Over Fear trainings and through our annual Ramadan campaign. In February, we started to get a little concerned about Coronavirus, but figured that things would surely be “back to normal” by the time Ramadan rolled around. As slowly (then quickly) new information and recommendations emerged, we realized we were facing a future with much greater uncertainty than any of us could have imagined.

In mid-March, our team gathered on Zoom and we asked one another, how in the world do we plan for the future in a time like this? Do we just abandon our plans for a bit (we joked for a few minutes about taking a “spring break”)? Or is it possible to find meaningful ways to connect across lines of difference and to address discrimination and bias, even while we’re physically distancing from one another? We think that it is. Thus, we took to the task of designing a plan for interfaith engagement during Ramadan that allows for meaningful social connection across physical distance.

As Priya Parker has argued in her book The Art of Gathering, the purpose (rather than category) of a gathering is the most important place to begin planning any meaningful coming-together. This is true as much for a virtual space as it is for an in-person event. In rethinking our Ramadan plans, we asked ourselves WHY people find interfaith Iftars meaningful, and how can we recreate that experience in a virtual space? While certainly, people learn things from the “front of the room” content at many Iftar events, we mostly have heard from people in our networks that it is the one-on-one or small group conversations and connections that really make an interfaith Iftar experience worthwhile to them.

So instead of trying to pivot every large interfaith Iftar to a virtual one, we thought, why not focus on just connecting households to one another for more intimate conversations over a meal? We designed a matching system and a guidebook, with ideas for how to make these encounters fun and meaningful, and launched our Welcome to my Table initiative for Ramadan 2020.

The staff and Executive Committee of Shoulder to Shoulder joined the family of Shoulder to Shoulder co-founder Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi for a virtual Iftar in his home as part of this initiative. We gathered on Zoom, watched presentations from Dr. Elsanousi’s school-age children, and shared some of our own experiences with fasting with one another. I held my infant daughter on my lap throughout. It was brief and it was meaningful to be let inside someone’s home in this way.

We’ve started to hear stories of others who gathered through this initiative, including two interfaith couples (one Muslim and one Catholic in each couple) from different parts of the US, who found the experience incredibly enriching and uplifting, saying, “We discussed travel, food, immigration to the US, our jobs, how the pandemic is affecting our lives and the world. The time flew and by the end I realized we forgot to talk about Ramadan!…I’ve been trying to see the silver lining in everything in this pandemic and this was definitely a blessing” (Linden, Wisconsin).

Another household pairing reported that they found it to be a great opportunity for their teenagers to connect with each other and share about their remote learning experiences, while others were able to use the time to share about commonalities and differences between Lent and Ramadan observances. Many noted that they’ll continue to stay in touch with their household “match,” whether virtually or- someday- in person.

We are also finding that this moment is ripe for uplifting the incredible stories of American Muslims responding to the challenges that Coronavirus has created, whether it is providing essential medical care or responding to food insecurity. As interfaith partners looking to help change false and negative narratives about Muslims and Islam, this is an opportunity not only to connect across lines of religious difference, but also to help tell a different story.

We are learning as we go– this is a brand new reality for all of us to navigate, but we’re committed to continuing the work of reaching across lines of difference, even when it’s a little more complicated. We are all aware that Zoom fatigue is real, and we know that we cannot move every single thing we were planning to do in-person to a virtual event- we’ll burn out. But if we are asking questions around purpose and goals of our initiatives and events, and we are intentional in engagement with one another, I think we’ll continue to find meaning and connection in these complex times.

Dr. Catherine Orsborn serves as the Executive Director of Shoulder to Shoulder

     © mars.nasa.gov

By The Rev. Paul S. Tché

Have I been to Mars? Of course not. I understand no one has yet. We—by which I mean human beings—have sent robots to explore the aerosphere, atmosphere, and surface of Mars, so we have some limited information about the overall environment, which doesn’t seem perfectly fit to be a “colony” of the Earth. Our unlimited imagination, however, has already taken many of us to Mars and has established hundreds of human habitations there. I understand that in our fantasy worlds of Mars, we can do whatever we want and overcome treacherous living conditions. But the reality on Mars in the near future doesn’t seem that rosy. We wouldn’t have the freedom to roam around the neighborhood for a walk or go jogging or biking unless we build everything inside of a gigantic dome. We are probably able to put one community in a dome, but not the entire Mars colony. It is bigger than the Earth, remember. Under these circumstances, I have absolutely no idea about what people would do for religious life. If I cannot find my Christian tradition in my sector, should I take my airship and travel through the red dust of Mars every Sunday?

I am confident COVID-19 will bring radical changes to our lives. But the difference after COVID-19 would not be as dramatic if we were to colonize Mars . . . or would it? Well, even if our lives would not be as radically different as living on Mars, it may be helpful for us—especially many religious folks like me who lack imagination because of our long tradition—to simulate religious practice on Mars to stimulate our creativity and inspire more unique adaptations of post-COVID-19 faith life.

Let us imagine that a bunch of dedicated Christians decide to emigrate to Mars. What would we do first as we commissioned them to establish our religious communities there? If you are a Catholic, then you must figure out how your parishioners receive the Holy Communion. Would the Church allow good Catholics to receive the elements virtually via hologram? Would the Church encourage members to go to any liturgical church to participate in the Eucharist? Asking these questions has already made my head spin even with the light gravity on Mars.

How about my own faith community, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)? Do we need to establish a Disciples congregation on Mars? Why? As a church born out of the desire for Christian unity, why on Earth do we need to create divisions once more on Mars? Oh, I guess we must promote Christian unity there too.

How about my beloved Lutheran friends? I think you should found the Evangelical Lutheran Church – Martian Mission District (ELC-MMD) because it would add another cute acronym to the list of the universal Lutheran communion. But seriously, if you must establish a church there, what would be its calling? What would be the purpose for founding a church on Mars?

You may find these questions silly to even contemplate, so let’s return to Earth for a while. I am certain you have imagined what the next year or two may look like. Donald McNeil, the New York Times reporter who has covered the stories about different infectious disease for two decades, has given some primary answers to the question. Here are his points: a) there is enormous uncertainty; b) social distancing is still vital; and c) it’s unclear how well the U.S. will cope with the next phase of coping with the pandemic. (The New York Times Morning Briefing, April 20, 2020).

There is enormous uncertainty about our future. Inevitably, collective life for each religious community will not be the same as six months ago. Each faith community is asking questions to prepare itself for the post-COVID-19 spiritual life.

What are we asking about now? Do we still ask about things that only matter to each communion, or do we ask questions about our collective Christian life after the tempest of this pandemic subsides?

I want to point out that what we are currently asking is not as crucial as we might think. We must reflect on the current situation with COVID-19 as if we are facing the circumstances of living on Mars. Only that radicality will help us imagine religious life on Earth after or still under the threat of this virus.

It is said that some have come “back” to religious life while facing uncertainty. I hope that we do not fall into the trap of false hope because of this belief. It is not evident that the numbers of churchgoers will significantly increase and that each communion will have more members in pews after this pandemic. Instead, I have a grim prediction. This pandemic will accelerate the adoption of post-institutional religiosity all over the globe. This is because we will probably have to live with COVID-19 (or similar infectious diseases) rather than overcome it. Thus, our life of social distancing will not go away soon.

Under these circumstances, I cannot help but be worried about the future of the Church and the ecumenical movement. Here is what I am deeply concerned about—our Christian faith has so much depended on our institutional memories and traditions, which keeps our way of thinking in this pandemic confined within those parameters.

When was the last time you remember Christianity portrayed as if it were alive? I personally believe that it was when the ecumenical movement was vibrant and leading. It was the time when we thought we could be one Church of God together beyond our denominational lines and institutional boundaries.

We are standing at the crossroads as one Christian community, not as a single denomination. The fate of Christianity will be decided in response to this pandemic. With COVID-19, if we ask only how we can be a church of one particular tradition, and if we focus only on reestablishing our own traditional way of faith and life, then we may not have another chance to be one Church of Christ soon. Consequently, we may disappear one by one.

Let’s go back to Mars. What would we do in terms of religious life on Mars? Would that radical difference of lifestyle challenge us, Christians, to be one Church together? I understand there will always be skepticism about being one church, even on Mars. Personally, however, I believe there is a way for us to bring visible unity of the Church while maintaining our diversity of traditions.

To be one Church, we do not need to immigrate to Mars. We can be in unity here and now. So here is the irony for the Church at this time. We have an opportunity to serve every follower of Christ in the way Jesus has asked us to serve one another. Of course, it requires each of us and each faith tradition to make tremendous sacrifice. But is it what Jesus asks us to do?

As our people face death from this disease, what do we discuss as a church now?

The Rev. Paul S. Tché, President of the Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Untied States and Canada.