Dear friends,
Thank you for building community power with us in 2021! The Epiphany is the revelation of new life in the birth of Jesus for people to see, hear, feel, touch, and smell. The sign that guides toward this new life is a star, set in wonder and stirring the longings of hearts. The star serves as both lens and compass to find in the small, vulnerable, seemingly insignificant baby a way of life that is love-in-public, justice made manifest in our world.
The prophet Jeremiah calls the faithful to practice the ecology of shalom (communal peace, holistic well-being) in the midst of the burdens of exile. It is a form of resistance to oppression. In a society that glorifies greed and violence, we as seekers of justice are “in exile.” Yet, our rising up in protest to embrace subversive, alternative, sustainable ways of being challenges the culture to change. In the face of consumeristic, militaristic, patriarchal, and racist systems, another world is possible – we follow our star, a vision, which flows through us as a sacred and human “yes!” to liberation for us all.
The Church Council has been exploring how we are to live together in community. We are learning organizing practices that hold the promise of building collective power. For us, living from transformational values has been revelatory for embodying the change that we want to see in our society and in our world. Inspired by these values, we have articulated our vision:
The Church Council of Greater Seattle envisions a future when justice is realized,
where all people experience liberation, profound peace,
expansive equity, and joy-filled human flourishing.
This vision, we believe, is faithful to the spiritual underpinnings of our 102-year history. It is aspirational, and it is true to who we’ve become as a faith-based organization that seeks to embrace an inclusive justice in word and deed.
If you find this vision attractive, we would love to connect or renew our relationship; we have much to learn from one another. Your own actions, alignment, participation help us all to see the road ahead more clearly.
We have a long, long way to go. Yet, we celebrate that the process of change and the commitment to growth with our partners – each step of the way – nudges us toward the goal. The fog of supremacy is lifting; the days are a bit longer; our lights shining together are an irresistible and generative force for life and life in abundance.
The moral arc of the universe bends toward a time when “justice shall flourish and fullness of peace forever.”
In faith and gratitude,
Michael Ramos
Executive Director, Church Council of Greater Seattle
P.S. Please join us at a fully remote Annual Assembly on March 29, 2022! Learn more here.
Photo: Polaris, known as the North Star, sits at the center of this image, which captures the movement of stars around the north celestial pole over several hours. Credit: Preston Dyches via NASA