Clergy from left, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Associate Rector Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Courtesy photo

By Reverend Lynn Finnegan
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith
Santa Fe

In one of the most famous “about-faces” of all times, the apostle Paul, who ruthlessly persecuted and murdered Christians, received a severe wakeup call from God. Convinced of the error of his ways, he then set as his life’s mission the proclamation – in word AND actions – of the love of God in the death and resurrection of Christ. He was largely responsible for the tremendous growth of early Christianity. In all his ministry, however, he never forced his new-found faith on anyone. When the Jewish Christians wanted the pagan Christians to be circumcised before being accepted as a Christian, he balked.

Now Paul was far from perfect, but in imitation of Jesus, he strived to respect, not dominate, those to whom he brought the gospel. “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.” (1 Cor 9:19-23 The Message translation).

It only took a few hundred years for the Church, in its quest for empire, to tragically erode Christ’s witness of humility and Paul’s vision for ministry. The Crusades. Charlemagne’s brutality. The Inquisition. The violence of the Reformation and the Counter Reformation. And, on the soil of our own country, the genocide of and numerous injustices inflicted upon the Indigenous Peoples of North America. For a refresher, see Pastor Deb Church’s May 7, 2023 article “The Doctrine of Discovery – Hearing and Healing” (https://ladailypost.comall-shall-be-well-the-doctrine-of-discovery-hearing-and-healing/).

This is not to say “the Church” is an incorrigible organization that must be destroyed. As leaders of mainstream denominations, we obviously don’t think so. Christianity has been at the forefront of innumerable good in the world for centuries and continues to do so when, as Saint Paul endeavored, we keep our bearings in Christ. Keeping bearings in Christ means we strive to adhere to the message Jesus came to convey: the need to repent, seek forgiveness and work toward reconciliation. When we can face our brokenness and admit our wrongdoings, then true healing begins.

In this spirit, many Christians are celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with prayers of both lament and celebration. Lament for the complicity of the Church in inflicting pain and death upon our Indigenous brothers and sisters that lingers in generational trauma. Celebration in the richness of Indigenous cultural traditions, especially regarding the honoring of creation, that helps inform our own Christian faith. Living in a state with a significant Indigenous population gives us all an extraordinary opportunity to reflect, lament, and participate in celebrations.

In closing, I leave you with this prayer by Dianne Climenhage, Mennonite Central Committee:

We look at your world and praise you for the diversity all around us.
Thank you for the gift of relationships; Our connection with people, animals and the land.
Help us, Lord, to see differences and diversity as strengths.
Help us to listen and understand; to meet one another with wonder and anticipation.
Help us to love as you love, without expectation.
Reveal to us your way of reconciliation and guide us into right relationships with all living things.
Lead us to understand how Indigenous peoples have been and continue to be profoundly harmed by settler people and institutions.
Lead us to repent when we as settlers deny Indigenous people’s respect, dignity and fullness of life.
Help us to listen compassionately, to speak humbly and to act justly. Help us to seek the peace, justice and reconciliation you desire among all your children.
Thank you for your mercy and grace. Amen.

Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a semi-monthly column written by local women clergy (pastors and deacons) including, ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); Nicolé Ferry, Pastor, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (pastornicole@bethluth.com); Lynn Finnegan, Assistant Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org) and Deb Church, Pastor, White Rock Presbyterian Church (pastor@wrpchurch.com).