08/06/2020
Thank you for the words of solidarity and support from Bishop of the Evanglical Church of Baden, Prof. Dr. Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh. Conference President Bobbie Henderson has responded forr the Conference.
Here is the text of the letter from the Bishop:
Karlsruhe, June 4th, 2020
Dear Edith Guffey,
Dear members of the Conference Council,
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the churches of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference,
We had planned to exchange hopeful greetings in the Season of Pentecost and to share our com- mon struggle with managing the consequences of the global pandemic.
But now the first thing to do is to write you in lament and assure you of our solidarity.
We join you in heartache as we pray for George Floyd and the victims of racial violence. We are disturbed by and we condemn the persistent injustice that we see, across our media, that in- cludes unsettling images of violence against non-violent demonstrators.
We join you in a call for racial justice in America. We join you in prayer for a better future. And we pray for hearts and minds to be turned around wherever there is racism in our country and around the world.
We thank you for the ways you have mobilized your faith in speaking, standing and showing up across American cities. Your engagement seems to us as an answer to the Beatitudes of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Would we be courageous enough to act in a similar way? Leading bold and courageous conversations, engaging in direct social activism, and participating in civil disobedi- ence as a way to bring attention to and disrupt racist systems and structures. We are grateful to partner with the United Church of Christ because we know you are committed to this kind of leadership, engagement and participation. In response to Dr. Edith Guffey’s letter: I would like to say that we try to see you and try to hear you – and we take this moment to look for ways to join you in the struggle.
We acknowledge that constant racist and xenophobic discourse from the extreme right has im- pacted mainstream political discourse in our own country, too, and that the church must speak out against all kinds of discrimination, racism and sexism. We pray that our partnership will con- tinue to hold us accountable and help us to move together towards a more just world. Inspired by the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - we are cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. We know that we cannot sit idly by in Baden and not be concerned about what happens in Minneapolis, and Tulsa, and Kansas City. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
In this season of Pentecost we pray that the Holy Spirit will unite us across our differences and guide us towards justice - especially for our black sisters and brothers and empower us to fighting for their breath and lives. We pray that the barriers that divide us be torn down and re- placed by understanding. We pray for moral and empathetic leadership in the current struggle. We pray, that the Holy Spirit will overcome our strategies to create identity by discrimination!
May you be strengthened and encouraged by the Spirit of Pentecost! Yours in Christ,
Prof. Dr. Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh Bishop
