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Connecting | Creating Greater Awareness | Empowering Action | |
Vice President's Letter: "The Good Old Days"
Words matter and we ought attend to them like we do our loved ones. They carry power. They carry love, and they also carry trauma. Journeying across our church over the last twelve years, by way of six Disciples institutions, I cannot accurately name how often I have heard the phrase "Back in the good ole days..." These words are released into communal space with such casualness and glee, it is woefully apparent most have not considered for a moment their exclusive and traumatic implications.
As a pastor, I understand and can hold space for grief and loss associated with comfort, even comfort that is idolatrous in nature. However, "The joy of the Lord is our strength!" Happiness at the expense of God's equitable and inclusive love is nothing to fete. We expand our care for one another and the Church by letting these words go.
Holding on to the phrase and mentality has fueled the resurgence of state-sanctioned evil not seen in 65 years. These demonstrative words, "The good ole days," have given the green light to disappear non-white people from this country by force. In the last few weeks, we have seen masked men raiding homes and workplaces, dragging human beings into vans. We have seen unhoused human beings being forced out of parks and their belongings bulldozed like trash. Our beloved capitol, built by enslaved African Americans and immigrants, is now being patroled and terrorized by armed military personnel.
And why? Because a critical mass of this citizenry believes this will give them back their good ole days. To be clear, there were no police departments until Black people could no longer be enlsaved and there was no ICE until after 9/11. The evil we are experiencing is rooted in racism, not safety.
The NAACP published, "The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the Slave Patrol. The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror." Terror is the antithesis of the Holy Spirit. As people of faith who follow the freedom fighter Jesus, we do not have to glorify a mythical time to be well.
"Good" is among us, not "back" anywhere. Let us dress ourselves in God's equitable and inclusive love. Let us live in truth. Scripture says it will set us free. Freedom, come. Freedom, come. Freedom, come and make us whole.
| | | Take Action: Sign the 2025 Ecumenical Statement on Hunger Justice | | |
Church World Service has released the 2025 Ecumenical Statement on Hunger Justice.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is one of 20 Organizational Signatories.
Please consider adding your name to the statement as well.
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The 2025 Ecumenical Statement on Hunger Justice
from Church World Service
As people of faith, our vision is a world where everyone has access to enough nutritious food to thrive. We believe that, by standing shoulder to shoulder, our vision can become reality, around the corner and around the world.
Hunger is deeply tied to other injustices. Across the globe, it robs millions of people of health and opportunity — especially those who also lack access to clean water and safe sanitation. Hunger disproportionately affects refugees and immigrants, families recovering from disasters, people experiencing homelessness and others whose voices are too often ignored or silenced. But by bringing together our skills, experience and passion to this vital shared mission, we can heed God’s call “to loose the bonds of injustice…to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke and to share your bread with the hungry.” (Isaiah 58:-7).
Through this Ecumenical Statement on Hunger Justice, we are answering the scriptural call to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31) to ensure all have what they need to thrive. We pledge to be the neighbor that everyone in our world deserves so that no one goes hungry in a nation and world of such plenty.
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Spread the Word:
Resources Worth Sharing
| | Disciples Advocate shares stories and resources from trusted sources that are engaged in the work of justice. Check out these links from some of our ministry partners. You can recommend a story or resource here. | | | | |
A decade ago, nine Black members of a Charleston, SC church were killed by a white supremacist during a Bible study. In this interview about his new book, Kevin Sack explores Mother Emanuel AME’s history within the larger racial history of America.
Read the article
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A new report from ecoAmerica and the APHA dives into personal and household experiences with heat-related illness, what health effects are at the top of mind, who is most at risk, and whether local heat resources are keeping up with the challenge.
Read the report
| | | | DC ministers say that if ICE officers or other federal officials park on their property, it makes it look as if they support the admin's move to police the city as well as the “disappearance of our neighbors, family members, and friends." They want it to stop.
Read the article | | | | Research shows there is an economy of political pressure. Personalized calls are exponentially more powerful, with some studies estimating the impact could be as much as 70x more effective. One phone call outweighs hundreds of form messages. Read the essay and suggested phone scripts | | | | |
This History Explained article from the NAACP details the ways that "Tough on crime" laws have put an unprecedented number of non-violent offenders behind bars and yet our neighborhoods feel no more secure and also explores the systems roots in slavery.
Read the explainer article
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If you’re in a city where law enforcement, federal agents, or military troops are present, it’s important to know your rights.This brief explainer article from the ACLU walks you though specific actions you should and should not take during those interactions.
Read the explainer article
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Join the Disciples Advocate
WhatsApp Community
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WhatsApp Groups are a communication tool that allows users to chat, share images, videos, and other information with a group of people in real time.
A WhatsApp Community is a collection of WhatsApp Groups all under one umbrella. It is a great way to stay in touch, stay informed, and amplify issues.
The Disciples Advocate WhatsApp Community is made up of five distinct WhatsApp Groups. You can join one, two, three, four, or all five groups! You can learn more from our website, or follow the links below to join a group.
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Refugee and Immigration Ministries
Responding to Jesus’ call to welcome the stranger, the sojourner, the refugee, the immigrant.
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Disciples for Racial Justice
Combatting structural oppression and systemic racism to advance collective liberation.
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Environmental Justice & Green Chalice
Caring for God’s good creation by working for equitable, sustainable solutions to climate change.
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Voter Rights & Voter Education
Increasing citizen awareness of their democratic rights and fundamental freedoms around voting.
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Disciples for LGBTQIA+ Justice
Working for freedom and justice for LGBTQIA+ folks and their families.
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Opportunities for Engagement:
Toolkits, Invitations, & Events
| | Each regular email update from Disciples Advocate includes a list of upcoming invitations and opportunities as well as toolkits you can use. If you or your faith community have something you would like to see included in this section in the future then click here to fill out a simple webform. | | | | |
Communities should not be forced to live in fear of masked agents who refuse to answer basic questions about who they are. Urge Congress, to pass the VISIBLE Act today.
Email your members of Congress
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The Colors of Hope Retreat offers a sacred pause + a return to ourselves + our ancestors. Together, we’ll draw wisdom from what was, so we can become what’s needed.
Register for the Colors of Hope Retreat
| | | | Reflections on the weekly Godmothers of the Disappeared Prayer Vigils happening in Los Angeles and a Toolkit that lets others share this prophetic witness in their community.
Read the Story and Download the Toolkit | | | | |
Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker will explore the question, "How does a church move beyond activism into true community organizing" during this webinar with New Church Ministries.
Register for the Webinar
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From our partners at USAHello: The Trump administration has made big changes to U.S. immigration policy. Learn what changes are happening now, what may happen soon, and what they mean for you. Available in eleven languages.
Check out the Toolkit Here
| | | | What happens when we unbind the Bible and let it speak afresh into today’s questions around gender, identity, and inclusion? DSF invites you to find out at a new workshop.
Learn more and register here | | |
Christian Climate Training w/Blessed Tomorrow
September 27, 2025 @11:30AM ET
We are called by our faith to care for all that is sacred
which includes the earth and all creatures great and small.
This Christian Climate Training with Blessed Tomorrow equips you with the knowledge, hands-on experience, and resources to speak and take action on climate change in your home, neighborhood, congregation, and community, with policymakers and beyond. The training, which is part of the Blessed Tomorrow Climate Ambassador Program is free, practical, inspiring, backed by science, and rooted in faith.
Jointly hosted by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, American Baptist Churches USA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, National Baptist Church USA, Presbyterian Church USA, The Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, in partnership with Blessed Tomorrow.
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