John Pavlovitz: Don't Let Bishop Budde Stand Alone: A Challenge to Every Minister in America.

[Dennis Donovan]

John Pavlovitz - Don't Let Bishop Budde Stand Alone: A Challenge to Every Minister in America.

John Pavlovitz
Jan 23, 2025

/snip/

This week, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde stood in a Washington, DC cathedral and did the one thing spiritual leaders are here to do: she let her faith speak unequivocally—pushback, conflict, and retribution be damned.

In a breathtaking display of courage and leadership, she stood before the world and before the most powerful man on the planet, and she made vulnerable and oppressed human beings the center of that moment, because that is what Jesus calls those of us who follow him to do. Like him, we are here to be Good Shepherds: loving caregivers to the harassed and helpless sheep in our care—and the fearless opposition to the wolves who would devour them, wherever they show up and however much influence they have.

And while I’ve gratefully watched Bishop Budde's act of bravery bring a nation to its feet and remind us of the power of a single voice, my greatest fear is that she will be the only one of her kind; that in a few days she will prove to be an outlier, just a beautiful aberration.

I’m afraid she will be the last minister to stand against the hatred having its renaissance here in the name of God—and I need (ministers) to prove me wrong.

Your congregations need you to prove me wrong.

/snip

[gab13by13]

1. C'mon,

One entire denomination, I forget which one has stated it will be a sanctuary for immigrants.

Catholic dioceses in California have stated they will be sanctuaries for immigrants, and there are more.

There is backing for immigrants by the churches, it just isn't being covered, it is being swept under the rug.

[Ocelot II]

2. Rachel Maddow talked about this last night.

[cloudbase]

3. Graham, Osteen, and the rest will get right on it.