It is late here (after 1 am) and I'm not going to post much. The Clergy Leadership Network kicked-off with an orientation with The Rev. Dr Albert Pennybacker, Chair/CEO of the CLN, and The Rev. Brenda Peterson, CLN's executive director. Pennybacker told the group that the National Gathering had been called because:
It is a time of critical decision for those who care about issues of justice in our world. This group has been formed not by conversion, but by opportunity. Why in Cleveland? Why now? Because we want to make it clear the religious institutions gathered here are not owned by the present Administration in Washington.
Most will agree that the Bush Administration has attempted to co-op Christianity into their version of a state religion so to give theological cover for their ill-conceived policies at home and abroad. Participants at this gathering are speaking in great detail about their concerns regarding the war in Iraq and the declining economy at home. God did not create all of creation simply to allow humans to destroy it. What is now being done in the name of God is not God's will.
That was the message during the evening's interfaith worship service. Jews, Muslims, and Christians came together to acknowledge that we worship a common God known by different names.
Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Sr., from Kol Tikvah Temple in Woodland Hills, CA was joined by Bishop E. Lynn Brown, Presiding Bishop, Second District, CME Church, and Iman Clyde Rahman from Masjid Bilal in offering prayers of unity so that we can work for common issues of social justice during this difficult time.
Music (that kind that makes you want to jump up on your feet) was provided by the Olivet Institutional Baptist Choir, Richard Smith directing. The Rev. Dr. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. presided over the worship. US Congressman Sherrod Brown (OH) and Cleveland Mayor Jane L. Campbell brought greetings to us.
The Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., senior minister of Riverside Church in New York City, gave the sermon. This was the second time I have heard Dr. Forbes preach. Maybe there is once in a generation a person with his talents for ministry who answers God’s call to serve. He told the assembled clergy, lay-leaders, and seminarians that:
* We are not un-American just because we dear to challenge the current trends.* I suspect when the next great spiritual awaking occurs it will be out of a multi-faith dynamic.
*In order for America to rise out of the rubble there has to be a spiritual revitalization. After 9/11 churches, mosques, and synagogues – with a few exceptions – were as silent as church mouse, because people were intimated, they were discombobulated, dealing with delayed symptoms suffering from post-traumatic syndrome; loving their nation, but hating its deeds. Watching things that did not bring honor to the name of America. Having the sense that God said one thing and hearing something different from Washington. And hearing the people in Washington say that God told them to do it. Who to believe?
He went on to remind us that we might in our efforts do things that disappoint God. We might even misrepresent God. He challenged us in our efforts to remember that the Bush Administration’s effort to create a new dominion was something we could all be guilty of. All of us want power, but the only who how actually holds it is God. We must not replace one dominion with another. Instead we must always remember that we are just servants of God trying to help bring about God’s vision of justice, not our own. It was an inspiring message and there is no way I could fully to do justice to it.
More will come tomorrow.
