January 2023 Newsletter
Reflections on "Truth Be Told" exhibit
The Rev. Brian Bennett
Lutherans love the sacraments. Holy Communion and Holy Baptism are the center of much of Lutheran identity and while much ink has been spilled about them, I cannot help but think about one book in particular, Visible Words by Robert Jenson evokes a response just by the title alone. We remind people all the time in catechetical instruction that the physical element of a sacrament is not what makes the sacrament, but the bread, the wine, or the water united with God’s Word. The sacraments are visible words of God given to us. Words that we may feel and taste.
In deep resonance with this understanding of the sacraments, this past semester fourteen words stood in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at the Lutheran University Center and testified to the truth. Some that have stood out to me were bravery, repair, awaken, despair, love, and listen. It was not just the words themselves, however, but the physical representations that fourteen women artists, seven Black and seven white, crafted out of polymer clay to tell their story about how racism has affected them. Tangible representations upon which to hang words of beauty and ugliness bearing witness to something deeply true.
Groups from various settings came to see the exhibit. Church groups, student groups, classes, individuals came to experience words wrapped up in physical form and ponder the reality set before them. Thanks to a grant from the Philip N. Knutson Endowment we were able to have several docents and one of the artists of the exhibit, Debbie Jacknin, present to help guide people around the exhibit. In some cases, we could have larger discussion with the groups. Our regular group of students at the campus ministry were among the earliest groups to reflect and discuss the exhibit.
Amid a familiar space and among friends, their reflection was honest and responses were free. For groups that came, unfamiliar with the space and their companions, conversation was more guarded. Youth participants were often reluctant to engage as freely as older participants did, which I understood more as youth having less of a framework upon which to respond to powerful presentations of prejudice and promise. Older visitors have lived a life surrounded by such a reality and this exhibit loosed their tongues to question and speak. More people responded by writing their thoughts on paper and placing them on the cork board for others to see. The women who created this exhibit, who told their stories through their art, their relationships, their words, made the truth visible and allowed others to join the journey. I am incredibly grateful that we were fortunate to have provided space for this exhibit to stand in our midst and tell the truth.
MLK Day events
Wilkinsburg Sanctuary Project for Peace - Monday, January 16 at the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg (748 Wallace Ave, Wilkinsburg)
Noon - Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Peace
1pm - Reception and networking with community leaders and fellow peacemakers
Event will be livestreamed here. Those attending in person are invited to bring canned soups, meals, vegetables, pasta sauce of any kind
to support the Wilkinsburg Community Ministry’s new mobile food pantry. For more information, contact the WSPP President at pastorjanethb@gmail.com.
Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit
The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit will be held January 20-21, 2023 at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Registration is available here.
Chapel service at PTS
The World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary hosted several mission trips to Guatemala, Lebanon, Palestine/Israel, and the Philippines this month. You are welcome to join us at a chapel service to hear of their experiences on Tuesday, January 31 from 11:30am-noon at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (616 N. Highland Ave, Pittsburgh).