April Pastoral Letter

Dear Friends,

April begins with good news: death does not have the last word, God does--and it is a word of life, abundant and eternal life. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!  

The best news of all is that this gift is not something that we can earn; it is a free gift. Scripture tells us: For God so loved the world (that is everyone in it) that he gave his one and only son (John 3:16). This gift of new life is for all of God’s children, every single one. This good news is the gospel truth which we believe.

This gospel truth was challenged again this past month. Despite the wideness of God’s mercy, we humans continue to try to put limits on God’s love and restrict God’s grace. And worse yet, we witnessed in horror once again the hate harbored against certain children of God manifested in acts of racism and violence. 

I am outraged and saddened by the Atlanta shooting of seven people of Asian descent, six of them women. This reveals the growing anti-Asian discrimination in our country and the appalling increase in violence against Asians, the majority of whom are women. While we, as a church have necessarily been focused on anti-Black racism, the horrific events in Atlanta draw our attention to the increased number of acts of violence over this past year, and reveal the tragic reality of the deep prejudices affecting the Asian-American community which have been fanned over this past year linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. These and other attacks against the Asian-American community represent the latest chapter in our country’s history of xenophobia, which tends to flare during times of crisis.

In a Relevant article, “Christian Leaders Condemn Misogyny and Anti-Asian Violence in the Wake of the Georgia Shootings,” Rev. Eugene Cho, Korean-American Pastor and President/CEO of Bread for the World wrote this: “To my fellow Asian community: I am so sorry. It hurts so much. Take time to mourn. We weep together. It's overwhelming. Not just today but this entire past year. Words can't articulate the deep pain so many of us have experienced. You're not alone. We see you, love you, need you.”

As a Christian church, we join with Rev. Eugene Cho in condemning the violence against our Asian sisters and brothers and we pray for the families of the victims and with the communities impacted, including members of our own CPCBA family. We commit to learning more and I encourage you to take this moment to listen closely to Asian and Asian-American voices and learn more about ways to work with them in support of anti-violence and anti-hate efforts against the Asian community. Here are some articles to read: NPR, Time, NYTimes, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Christian Century. And here is a reflection for One Day at a Time written by Tim Heavner.

Let us be vigilant in standing up for the truth of the gospel, which Jesus reminds us as:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). 

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

Easter is the celebration of the triumph of life over death, love over hate. May this Easter inspire you to give thanks for the gift of this new life and promise of eternal life and also to work for a world in which God’s gift may be realized and celebrated by all of God’s children, of every color, class, culture, and creed, everywhere.  May it be so.

Easter blessings,

Pastor Donna