Our work does not really change. Voting in an election is no more the end of our participation in its democratic process than the notion that the extent of our Christian worship is confined to an hour on Sunday morning.

The unpacking of the marriage between certain far-right political and religious interests is central to developing a response that not only takes seriously the effort to undermine American democracy, but also seeks to create healthy discourse about the ways in which our democratic systems can learn and grow beyond this inflection point.

Do we resign ourselves to the house of fear or seek to cut paths through (and with) the house of love?

Our narratives of faith and state are contested – our beliefs about their origin and development over time, while grounded in various theological and historical commitments, often include a healthy dose of mythmaking.

The moral arc of the universe bends towards justice when we get a little disruptive – when we cause some holy trouble – when we reverse our spiritual amnesia and remember that our essential interconnectedness compels us to act courageously and love outrageously.

The Rhode Island State Council of Churches inhabits a unique space in our community – we represent a wide range of religious belief and practice while at the same time defend our democratic norms expressed through the stability of civil society

The idea of a dying church might be more aptly described as the realization that we who are a part of leading it are coming to terms with how little control we have over it; and the further learning that the degree to which we lean into one another, into the Spirit, into the rich and fertile soil of our personal and communal intersectional bonds, the more we will be paying attention to the new thing that emerges.

One thing is for certain. We will not resolve the conflict of today with the logic of yesterday, with moral justifications anchored in a power and privilege that shield us from transcending our simple binaries.

As we prepare ourselves to do the work, I pray that we lean into our mutual concern for one another, and away from the false comfort of our binaries; that when we are challenged by the work and one another, that we recommit ourselves to the values that unite our common humanity.

The lesson for me, at least, is that the degree to which I embrace an orientation towards gratitude, love, empathy, and compassion the greater my capacity to express those values to others around me.

I remain persuaded by the Christian hope of resurrected living, by the view of a church that embraces the complexity and messiness of life while also learning to love and live in community – and not in a superficial or naïve sense, but in a way that reaffirms our bonds to one another without denying the essential and unique humanity expressed in every one of us.