Dear Glen Morris United Church,

Peace be with you! As I write this, I am sitting among a pile of boxes and feeling exhausted and excited for my move to Cambridge that will be happening this Friday. Although I will continue to be in ministry at Glen Morris until the end of January, I am taking this opportunity to say a final farewell as this will be the last Passing the Peace newsletter I write.

What started (without any plan) at the beginning of the pandemic in March, has now become a part of my weekly rhythm. I truly appreciate all of the replies and comments I have received from this newsletter and am so grateful that it gave me an opportunity to reach out amidst all the isolation we’ve experienced this year. So thank you to each and every one of you who joined me for this adventure.

2020 was certainly a remarkable year and I am so glad that despite all of the challenges, I had the opportunity to be in ministry at a church that is courageous and passionate. I am excited for the future of Glen Morris United Church and I look forward to seeing how you continue to grow in faith and as a community.

Peace be with you,

On the days when you feel forgotten or alone may the Peace of Christ hold your heart,

On the days when it feels like everything is going wrong, may the Peace of Christ bring you calm and clarity,

On the days when you are joyful, may you share the Peace of Christ with those around you,

 

Yours in Christ,

Rev Michiko

 

Engage: Making sense of the connections between christianity, racism, and politics

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We must take the white Christian nationalist symbols at the Capitol riot seriously: The attack exposed the comfortable juxtaposition of Christianity and white supremacy

 

The Sadness of the Sacred: The Conflict of the Rotunda, Failed Theology, and the Renewal of Faith

 

Can I Say This At Church? Podcast: "I'm Still Here" with Austin Channing Brown

In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements...do our words matter? How do we do this as a people and more importantly how do we begin to reconcile with each other. Sometimes we need to realize what is the 'right medicine'.For readers who have engaged with America's legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.