Learning How to Live Justly, Together

Today is Earth Day—a partly cloudy, cold day. (It snowed last night!!)

Not only is climate change real, scientists are saying we are in a climate emergency. To have a chance of averting catastrophic temperature rises, we’re being taught we must get to “net-zero” emissions – where we are adding carbon dioxide into the atmosphere no more quickly than Earth’s natural processes or yet-to-be-developed technologies can remove them – in less than three decades. I’m not an expert on this science, but I’m more and more convinced that this urgent concern must be intersectional with all our justice programming. Let’s get educated, let’s get motivated and make every day Earth Day.

Speaking of our justice work, as we work to make a better world, we see education as part of our organizing work. Our Revolutionary Love Conference was such a success! We sold 1,390 tickets to the four days of programming with a radically diverse cast of faculty. Stay tuned for an opportunity to buy the conference in our store.

Speaking of learning, we want to update you on all things fire and listen to what you’re thinking as we move forward. Join us on Sunday, May 2 for a Congregational Meeting right after worship.

We are also educating ourselves on who should be our next mayor. Rev. Amanda has organized a Multifaith Justice Mayoral Forum with more than 40 co-sponsors. Please join us next Sunday, May 2nd at 3PM ET on zoom to center the demands of progressive people of faith for NYC’s next mayor! If you have questions you’d like asked in the areas of low-income housing, immigration, and criminal justice reform, please email Rev. Amanda.

Come Sunday, our worship celebration will honor that our Muslim family are in Ramadan (Ramadan Mubarak!) as we invite our friend, author and activist Zainab Salbi, to talk with us on lessons she’s learned about the resilient ways life continues, even in the midst of all this death. She and I will be in Chat and Chew after worship to talk more about faith and current events.

Family, join me in praying for all who mourn: Pray for the families mourning lives lost to COVID-19; for the Sikh community who was targeted in Indianapolis; for the lives lost in policing events these last days, and over our history. Pray for the traumatized, and if it’s you, love, be gentle to your soul.

I love that we are learning how to navigate these days, together. Thank you for walking this journey with the staff and me.

We love you,

Jacqui