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From Newark-
Sirens wailed as police and fire equipment rushed past the place of worship Sunday night where people gathered for the Prayer Vigil for Peace at Trinity and St. Philip's Cathedral in Newark.
“We needed to have a witness in response to Ferguson and Staten Island,” said Episcopal Bishop Mark Beckwith. “People are upset and confused and we offer hope, together, in a commitment to a more just world,” Beckwith added.
Dozens came to the church, which traces its history to the early 18th century. Some wore a bulls-eye on their backs.
More here-
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/12/candlelight_vigil_for_peace.html
From St. Louis-
At worship services around this region, clergy on Sunday called for recovery and healing after a week that began with an announcement that a grand jury would not indict a white police officer who shot an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson and that then careened through looting, fires, and tense standoffs with the police and National Guard soldiers.
Yet in many of the messages, there were also calls to continue a movement raising questions about race and police behavior that followed the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. That momentum and those concerns, some clergy members said, should not be allowed to fade away or be forgotten.
At the Episcopal cathedral in downtown St. Louis on Sunday morning, the Rev. Michael D. Kinman did not immediately begin a sermon, but instead led his congregation in a song from South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement. “Oh, yes, I know, freedom is coming,” the mostly white parishioners sang along with him.
More here-
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/us/ferguson.html?_r=0
From Patheos-
Clerical privilege frequently hands the worst ideas the biggest megaphone, putting the values and beliefs of a far-gone age on a pedestal, while shielding those who abuse their position from the consequences of their actions. The fact that when I’m fully-trained as an Ethical Culture Leader I will formally be a clergy person myself is the source of some discomfort, as if I’m being offered a fancy uniform I’m not certain I want to wear. The work of an Ethical Culture Leader I love and want to continue – the position as clergy makes me nervous.
And yet.
In the past few months I have spent many hours with clergy in the St. Louis area, as we have planned and worked together in response to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. In that time I have seen, over and over again, enormous moral courage and principled leadership from the clergy. Professional representatives of a wide range of faiths have consistently been some of the first to respond to calls to action, and have been pivotal in organizing actions across the city.Read more:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/templeofthefuture/2014/11/this-atheist-is-thankful-for-the-clergy/#ixzz3KNNhT5xu
