Posts from January 2021

Woman of Power and Standing

Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama’s half-sister, works with my wife Deborah on education and justice projects in Hawaii, and sent her this video today: “The Women Are Coming“ The first part of this video is a sequence of the images of the world’s current female heads of state, followed by 28 images of U.S. women of power and standing, ending with the young poet Amanda Gorman.   You may have some names you would like to add. Mila suggested Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,…

The Tide Has Turned

I said something like what follows at the close of last night’s Board meeting, and people seemed to like it, so I will share it with you. If we are feeling tired and worn out and a bit discouraged, this is understandable, this is normal, and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up for feeling a bit down. Even though most of us are feeling somewhat relieved by the recent elections, I and many people I know are still kinda glum. Having our…

We’re Almost There

I hope this is the last time there’s any reason to write about the Almost-Former President Trump. By this Wednesday we should have a new President who is a nice man, and our long national nightmare will officially begin to end. I predict that Mr. Trump will have his hands full with fighting indictments, and a new generation of wanna-be demagogues will appear. They may or may not be more dangerous to democracy than Mr. Trump. Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz…

Planning for Reopening

At the direction of the Executive Team, a task force has been formed to manage the planning for reopening the church later this year. The committee’s members are Mila Brinker (Church Administrator) and members Beth Cooper-Zobott and Erica Lavine. Mila knows the building and its members like almost no one else; Beth has received certification as a COVID-19 Compliance Officer, and Erica is a safety manager at a local corporation. Once the State of Illinois enters Phase 4 of its…

With Love and Luck and Will

We are passing through the final days of a great ordeal of fire, and it appears our national institutions have held, and that it’s going to be all right again. Well, it will be all right for a while, anyway, till the next demagogue comes along to tap the evil energies that surge through our society. But with love and luck and will, we now have another, better chance to address the persistent haunting inheritance of the slave system, and the…
Copper collection plate on a wooden table

Community Crisis Center

This month’s Share the Plate recipient is: The Gretchen S. Vapnar Community Crisis Center Located in Elgin, Illinois, the center was founded in 1975 by a group of dedicated volunteers to meet the needs of individuals and families in crisis. Employees provide comprehensive services to individuals and families suffering due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or economic/ financial difficulties. The Crisis Center is one of the oldest domestic violence shelters in the state and was instrumental in organizing both the…