Pastoral Statement

Dear siblings in Christ,

Although yesterday’s attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield did not result in the death of any of the children, staff, or congregants present, the terror, trauma, and grief it brings will shape that community for years to come. The Jewish people have endured millennia of persecution – from ancient exile to the holocaust, from systemic discrimination and oppression to ongoing antisemitic attacks – and we acknowledge that the Church has participated in this discrimination and violence for far too many centuries. Yesterday’s violence is not an outlier. It is the latest chapter in an ancient and ongoing assault on a people of faith.

This attack is also painfully close to home. Just months ago, our siblings in Grand Blanc experienced a similar act of targeted violence of a worshipping community when a gunman attacked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during Sunday worship. That community, including our own St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Grand Blanc, rallied around their neighbors to recover. But the community carries those wounds still. 

Further from home, and yet no less heavy on our minds, and in our hearts, yesterday’s events occur against a backdrop of war in Iran and across southwest Asia, violence and conflict in Israel-Palestine, rising tensions at home, and a pervasive sense that the ground beneath us is unstable. The complexity and pain of our current moment leads us to call out to God for strength, for compassion, for mercy. The rich and ancient traditions of our faith have always reached out to God in times of difficulty. The psalmist gives voice to pain: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 130:1-2). Lent is a season of wilderness, of truth-telling, of repentance. In this time, we are reminded that to cry out to God is itself an act of faith. God does not require us to have the right words. God, who hears our cries, requires us to not look away.

Bishop Perry, in our sister Diocese of Michigan, has spoken clearly: “All houses of worship must be sanctuaries, not targets. When violence enters a place of prayer and learning, it wounds not only those present but our whole human family.” We echo her words. In our Baptismal Covenant, we pledge to respect the dignity of every human being and to persevere in resisting evil. Every act of violence, every act of dehumanization, is a violation of these promises. It is an assault on the image of God which every person bears.

We ask you, in the days ahead, to pray. Pray for the community of Temple Israel, for our Jewish neighbors across Michigan, for the people of Grand Blanc who are reliving their own trauma, and for all who are shaken by these events. We ask you to support the Jewish communities in our Diocese by being good neighbors – support the outreach ministries of your local synagogue, engage in opportunities for inter-faith dialog, and coordinate joint outreach ministry efforts that allow you to serve together with your Jewish neighbors. Get to know the other beautiful communities of faith in your local area. We ask you to hold fast to the covenant you have made at your Baptism: strive for justice and peace among all people, loving your neighbor as yourself. Resist the forces that diminish human life and discard human dignity. Continue to embody the love of Jesus with grace, hope, and joy, even when the world makes that embodiment feel impossible.

The wilderness of Lent is not a place of despair. It is where we are stripped of pretense and returned to what is essential. It is our season of preparation to more fully receive Resurrection here and now – yes, even when the world seems to be so consumed by death. May we find in this season the courage to lament, the strength to be in solidarity with our neighbors, and the faith to trust that God’s response to violence and death is always to bring forth new and unending life in Christ.

Faithfully,