A Pastoral Word for Ash Wednesday

 
 
 

Ash Wednesday, 2023

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly; gather the people.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say,
“Spare your people, O Lord!”

Today we enter the solemn fast of Lent, living into the call we hear in Joel 2:15-17. We do this every year, with varying degrees of intentionality.

This year let me invite you to put down whatever you are doing, and give your full attention to these things that have taken place recently among us locally and nationally, for which we cry together, “Spare your people, O Lord!”

  • On January 3, we were grieved to hear that the Brackenridge Police Chief was killed and another police officer was wounded in the line of duty.

  • On January 7, the nation was stunned, yet again, to learn of the murder of Tyre Nichols, who was beaten by five police officers after a traffic stop and died three days later.

  • On January 22, we began to learn of the mass shooting the night before at a Monterey Bay ballroom dancing studio, in which 11 people were killed (the 33rd mass shooting of the new year).

  • On February 6, we were distressed, again, to hear of the death of a McKeesport Police Officer killed in the line of duty, and that another police officer was wounded.

Any one of these events might have led us to lift up a concern about some aspect of our life together in this nation: guns, racial bias, policing, mental health. But these specific events, held together so closely in time this month and last, drive us to name the deeper things that trouble our lives: a culture of violence, systemic racism, deep-seated fear and distrust, and a way of life that values financial profit over the care of people.

This month and last we saw acts of violence suffered by and perpetuated by people with a shared racial identity; we saw both sides of the violence and death that accompanies policing. So we are left with no easy off-ramp to blame others for “the evils we deplore.” (ELW 705)

Instead, we are driven to confess that we are captive to sin. We live in and perpetuate a culture of violence. We suffer from and are complicit with systemic racism. Fear and greed drive our actions, both personally and as a people. What, then, shall we do?

The Church has historically responded to this question with a pattern of worship that relentlessly invites us into self-examination through the order for confession and absolution used to begin every liturgy, AND, the Church has historically responded by throwing its personal and physical resources into caring for our neighbors in every way imaginable. We feed the hungry and clothe the naked, yes, but we also advocate for public policies that care for people so that poverty and injustice may be diminished. And we seek ever-deeper understandings of our complicity in poverty and injustice, in systemic racism and violence, so that we learn how to change our own hearts and minds and actions.

What follows is a gift to you from our Authentic Diversity and Justice working group – a way you can be involved this Lent in our shared work of standing up to systemic racism and a culture of violence and fear and greed through opportunities for education and action and worship. It’s what we can do together about these things.

With you in Christ,

 

Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow

 
 

The Authentic Diversity and Justice Work Group

of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA

The Authentic Diversity and Justice Work Group has been working over the past four years to identify ways in which the people of God in Southwest PA can be present to those experiencing injustice.  We seek to be “authentically” engaged in the work of dismantling racism and every other oppression that denies the fulness of our humanity.  We do this as a part of our baptismal covenant and our commitment to the Gospel.  We also follow the clear mandate of the Church Universal and our own denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

As your siblings in this work, we readily confess that we are not “experts” in this life-long journey.  We are, as the Bishop has expressed, sinners who stand in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.  We seek to repent, to repair and to restore what has been broken and to realize the delight of God’s promise and goodness in our lives.  Our path is often filled with mistakes and failure.  Still, we are committed to move forward, knowing that our Lord walks with us.  Our journey begins with ourselves, reaches to our family, friends and neighbors, and expands into our institutions, communities and world.

In response to Bishop Kusserow’s Pastoral Letter in Lent we offer the following opportunities for the people of the SWPA ELCA and our regional partners.  The life-long work of addressing the violence that proceeds from our own hearts (Matthew 15.1-20) includes attention to God’s Word and prayer, learning about those who are different from us, being present to those who experience injustice, and action that proceeds from humility and trust in one another and in God’s Spirit.

Last year, the Authentic Diversity and Justice Work Group organized the Southwest PA Synod Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration, a liturgy held in collaboration with ecumenical, interfaith and community partners to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy among us and to uphold nonviolence and civil disobedience in the service of love and justice.  The service was followed by a youth dialogue on racism facilitated by the Rev. Lamont Wells.

We invite you to join us this year for our second commemoration of Dr. King’s life and witness with a special focus on the issues of housing in our synod.  Dr. Asa Lee, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will preach.  In addition to the liturgy at 4pm on March 26 at Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church, the commemoration will also feature a Nacho meal served by “the Little Free Food Truck,” a ministry of House of Prayer Lutheran Church, and a panel of regional leaders in a variety of housing ministries, including 1HOOD, ELCA World Hunger Team, Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, City of Bridges Community Land Trust, and Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Pennsylvania.

As a part of a weekend of engagement, we also invite you to join us at the Hot Metal Faith Community at 12p on March 25.  We will accompany Rev. Erin Jones in a time of presence to those who are currently experiencing housing insecurity followed by an introduction to the new Housing Resource Guide of the ELCA led by one of the guide’s authors, Brooke DeJong.  In addition, Tracey DePasquale of LAMPA will talk about housing legislation in Pennsylvania.  The part of the event focused on the Housing Resource Guide and housing advocacy will be live-streamed (URL to be announced on the synod website). .

We encourage your learning, advocacy, and building as you engage housing ministries in our region.  As we do so together, we take the next steps in making our communities better places for ALL of us.  In response to God’s goodness, we empower our own lives and the lives of others as we build “the Beloved Community” in southwest Pennsylvania.

We invite your membership on the ADJ team and we would welcome your leadership.  We also invite you to be a part of our racial justice training opportunities (May 4 and May 6 at Zion, Penn Hills) and to receive our monthly newsletter.


For more information:
swpasynod.org/ministries/diversity

 
SWPA Synod ELCA