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Greetings, beloved people of the Minnesota Conference,
It is good to finally be among you and begin my work as the Covenant Organizer. We waited together through the Advent season for something new to begin and my work of connecting commenced at the season of Epiphany. This is the time we celebrate that spiritual intuition leads to the subversion of death-dealing power through everyday acts of reckless love.
When I chose my start date at the Conference and my love and I chose our home in the Powderhorn neighborhood, we could not have known it would coincide with horror and tragedy of this magnitude. A neighbor I baked Christmas cookies for was kidnapped from their home just a few days later. Renee Good was murdered three blocks from my new address. I have seen the violence humans can unleash on each other firsthand in my neighborhood. More than that, though, I have seen the power of love and relationship arising to the call of the moment – the call to love our neighbor. And, in that love, I catch glimpses of what scripture describes as “the kingdom of God among you.”
At the center of our denomination is a theology of covenant – an agreement between autonomous people that we will remain in relationship and do our best to do something different than dominant culture dictates. When so many answer the question “What do we owe each other?” with “Nothing,” we instead choose to see deeply and empathetically into the needs of the other. When messaging tells us to see fellow humans as threats, we choose instead to see them as kin. Instead of casting each other aside, we stay at the table with one another.
Recently, a ministry partner and I talked about the cracks that moments like this make between people. Perhaps you are witnessing some of those cracks in your circles, in your churches, between those you care about. There is grief in knowing that there isn’t a perfect act, an exact right thing to say that will make it all better. The faultlines are showing and they aren’t going away. Poet and musician Leonard Cohen has a good word for us in this moment: “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
As a resurrection people, who live into the story of a risen Christ who still has scars on his body, we hold fast to the promise that there is newness of life on the other side of these cracks. Though we trust in God’s redeeming work in the world, we cannot only hope for someday. Right now, we need each other and our neighbors need us. Right now, our role is to hold onto covenant and the belief that we are better, stronger, more rooted in our shared vision of the world as it could be when we choose one another over and over and over again. As Kelly, the associate pastor of All Nations Indian Church is often quoted as saying, community is a spiritual practice.
So what does the work of covenant look like in your midst right now, in this moment in history? I have some practical suggestions but I am happy to have a conversation with you directly over days and weeks to come.
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Pray for our immigrant neighbors and friends. Host a prayer circle in your faith community and join together as members of the Body of Christ.
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Host a potluck on your block. Eating together is one of the best ways we can build relationship and getting to know your neighbors is an important first step in loving them!
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Worship in solidarity with our faith communities who are vulnerable in this time. All Nations Indian Church has asked for help greeting and managing their point of entry. This is a great opportunity to participate in fellowship and worship with an amazing community of faith while also lending support. Covenant in action! E-mail me at mallorye@uccmn.org for more information on how to support.
Keep your eyes peeled for more opportunities to lean into covenant and equip ourselves for courageous relationship-building over the next few weeks.
Together,
Rev. Mallory Everhart (she/her/hers)
Covenant Organizer
Learn more about Mallory
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