Dear Ones of St. C’s, 

As I write this I am trying to picture each of you with your different social locations, your different life experiences, your different ways of thinking and your different ways of processing feelings.  I am picturing everyone I saw at church on Wednesday and thinking about everything we talked about.  I can tell you that none of us are experiencing the exact same thing at the exact same time on these days following the election, but everything each of us is experiencing is giving us important information about the times we are living in and how we can care for each other. 

Many of you are grieving and scared because Donald Trump won the election.  I want to be clear, my job as your priest is not to tell you who to vote for.  My job as your priest to help facilitate your connection to God and to one another.  But I will be transparent with you.  I am grieving a Trump presidency and I am scared for what this will mean for our country and all the people who live here, especially the most vulnerable. 

I do not want to isolate anyone at this time who feels differently.  Isolation is actually the key to abusive power finding a foothold - not just in politics, but everywhere and in every situation.  We need each other.  And the very annoying thing that I cannot seem to stop saying is, “When everyone belongs, everyone belongs.”  In order to belong, you need to know you are safe and you are loved.  Everyone present at St. C’s must feel safe and loved.  This can only happen when we respect the dignity of every human being who is there (just as our baptismal covenant calls us to do).  

I believe as a community we must respect the dignity of every person who voted in the election on Tuesday.  I believe that rural US Americans were not respected by many urban US Americans prior to Trump getting power and that much of their love of Trump comes out of this pain. It is painful to not belong, and when someone doesn’t belong based on any "-ism" in society, we are creating fuel for abusive power to reign. 

You do not have to respect what every person believes and you can put up boundaries on the conversations that you participate in. (Thank you to Micah Kurtz’ adult formation class "Listening Across Difference" for helping us think through this!).  If it is too hard for you to be in a close relationship with anyone who's ideology is too painful for you, I can respect and understand that.  The place that I hope we can ultimately agree on is the intrinsic value of all humans.  I believe we must hold onto this belief as fear enters our hearts and minds.

I have mentioned to many of you that St. Columba’s received a grant from the Diocese of Olympia for Dr. Kimberly George to work with our community in 2025.  Dr. George has a Ph.D and an M.A. in Ethnic Studies and a second M.A. in U.S. Religious History and second Ph.D. program in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice. I have been studying under Dr. George since 2020 and her work really centers marginalized voices in our world who are asking, "What does it look like to be a part of creating a just world?"  It turns out for many of them the answer lies in building coalitions across difference, which for me echos everything Jesus calls us to do in the gospels.  Dr. George studies scholars who have experienced injustice and who are working to help us all right the wrongs of our past. I believe this work is incarnational, driven by the Holy Spirit and reveals the Kingdom of God.

I truly believe that in doing this work, we will come to a deeper understanding of what is happening in our current political context.  We will be given the tools we need to move towards each other.  We will figure out how we are going to widen our circle and build a church where everyone is safe and loved, so that everyone can belong.

This was our work before Trump got elected and it will continue to be our work until we, as a society, have transformed the systems of oppression that have found their way into our institutions and our understanding of ourselves.  As the USA was formed, the leaders of our country participated in both the genocide of indigenous people and built wealth through the free labor of (mostly) African chattel slavery.  We must face and heal this past so that we can be a part of the world we long for--God's kingdom reigning here on earth.  Part of why I even still believe this world is possible is because of this community at St. Columba's.  It is because of the ways I see you taking care of each other, having difficult conversations, and choosing to love one another. Our power is found in community and together we are going to figure out how to release this power in the world and join God in making all things new. 

with care, 

Meghan 

These thoughts were influenced by:

Dr. Kimberly George

Micah Kurtz

Adrienne Brown

Cedar Monroe - author of Trash: A Poor White Journey

The Episcopal Church's Baptismal Covenant

The Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

This Conversation on White Christian Nationalism -