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In this election season as we encourage people to let the gospel values guide their actions, conversations and voting decisions, we will be six fundamental teachings of our faith drawn from Jim Wallis’ book The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith and Refounding Democracy.
September 22, 2024 Luke 10:25-37
The Rev. Terri Hobart You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. …Who is my neighbor?
September 29, 2024 Genesis 1:26
The Rev. Terri Hobart Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’
October 6, 2024 John 8:32
Cate Colburn-Smith and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’
October 13, 2024 Matthew 25:31-46
The Rev. Terri Hobart As you have done to the last of these, you have done to me.
October 20, 2024 Matthew 5:9
The Rev. Terri Hobart Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the “children of God.”
October 27, 2024 Galatians 3:28
The Rev. Terrance Carroll There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Civil Rights, The African American Tradition
of Spirituals and Freedom Songs
Africans to enslaved in America created songs to express the hardships of slavery and their longing for freedom and home. Many spirituals combine lyrics about Christian themes with musical elements typical of West and Central Africa, making these songs one of the few ways in which slaves could preserve a small part of their native culture. Music was a common element for Africans from many disparate tribes as they faced new circumstances of terrible suffering and gradually forged a communal identity as African Americans. As they were passed down over the generations, many spirituals were adapted to new circumstances and became important sources of inspiration and expressions of protest in the 20th century, especially during the Civil Rights movement. Music energized the Civil Rights Movement, motivating protestors on long marches and providing psychological strength against harassment and brutality.
St. Thomas has a long legacy of social justice advocacy. In the 1960’s a coalition of Park Hill churches, including St. Thomas, their congregants, and other neighborhood residents established the Park Hill Action Committee to create an inclusive neighborhood by dismantling school segregation and the practice of redlining. Park Hill and St. Thomas quickly became the center of the civil rights movement in Colorado. Our work continues to this day. Beginning this September 15th and continuing through the fall, the St. Thomas Choir invites everyone to join them during the offertory in singing Freedom Songs from the Spirituals Tradition. It is our deepest hope that these songs will once again inspire, energize and mobilize us to stand up to those who would strip the rights from people of color, women, immigrants, the LBGTQ community, and people of other faith traditions.
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