In this time of chaos, the Spirit moves. She lifts us high, gives us strength and encourages us to build another possible world. There is no way to stop the Spirit, as no one can stop those who move on her wings. • Interim Executive Director, Doris Garcia Rivera, preached at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC last weekend to kick off a virtual Pentecost preaching series hosted by Calvary. Read her inspiring words on where the Spirit is moving us! Calvary Baptist is a BPFNA Partner Congregation.
Read More
Interim Executive Director Doris Garcia Rivera has been invited to participate in a virtual Pentecost preaching series through Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Doris will be preaching on Sunday, May 30 at 9:45 AM Eastern, the first Sunday in the series.
Read More
Several years ago, I started an end-of-year personal ritual of listing the significant things that brought me joy and growth as well as pain and loss – the smaller details of life that became meaningful for me during the previous year. Creating these lists has helped me acknowledge aches, find resolution and learn life lessons to enter the new year with hope, strength and gratitude.
Read More
Yesterday morning, I was preparing for the upcoming season of Lent and came across Jesus’ words in John 12, “Now my soul is troubled, and what should I say?” I carried these words with me as the events of the day transpired and domestic terrorists, far-right extremists, stormed our nation’s Capitol while Congress was voting to affirm our next President. Oh, how our souls are troubled, dear Highland family. And what should we say?
Read More
“Brian, you gotta get stoned!” I looked into Monica’s eyes as I tried to stifle the laugh that was catapulting from my gut. The blank look on my face was coupled with my inability to respond. This paralysis was immediately noticed prompting Monica’s response. “You’re a person of faith, aren’t you?” I nodded. “You’ve read the stories, right?” Again, I nodded. “You know the story of Stephen. Stephen lived in a deep truth, and it stood in the face of power. It made those in charge nervous and angry. Stephen shook things up so much that they threw rocks at him, but his truth and faith were so fortified all he could do was see the kingdom on earth. So, Brian, you and I gotta go be like Stephen and get stoned!”
Read More
May 8 marked the third anniversary of Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church (Lakeshore) becoming a Sanctuary Congregation – our renewed commitment to stand with the immigrant community as they face injustice and inhumanity by our government. We’ve lived out this ministry in a number of ways over the past three years and, as with everything, our work has taken a new direction and meaning in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read More
BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz staff member Rubén David Bonilla Ramos interviews Rev. Gail Hill, president of the BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz Board of Directors, about how church life has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Gail is pastor of Chico First Baptist Church in Chico, CA.
Read More
Although our building is closed, the church as a helping people is still wide open. In this time, people are hungry and they are scared that they cannot feed their kids. Faith communities and faithful people have an opportunity to respond. And so, a local restaurant owner and an Imam have come together to “saddle up” and make sure everyone eats. My brother-friend, Imam Azhar Subedar, of the Islamic Association of Collin County Plano Masjid and Ram Mehta, the owner of In-Fretta Pizza and Pasta in Plano, saw the hunger in our communities and it scared them. Those on the edge of poverty are having to choose between paying rent or putting dinner on the table. These two friends, a Sikh and a Muslim, had the courage to remedy one of those choices. They decided that everyone eats. They decided to begin distributing thousands of free meals to anyone who needed it.
Read More
The following walking meditation is divided into sections correlated with each of the senses and punctuated by prayer. The pace and distance of the walk is negotiable. You may want to print out the reflection or have it to reference on your Smart Phone. Allow your walk, if you can, to be spontaneous and unfold at its own pace.
Read More
There are no words in the English language adequate to confess the impacts of white settler colonialism on the Indigenous People of this nation and this world. The first step in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit that we have a problem.
Read More
Columbus Day has a controversial history in the US, despite being one of the newer federal holidays. In 1992, Berkley, CA, became the first city in the United States to reject Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day. Twenty-five years later, as of Oct. 9, Time reports a list of 55 cities which have done the same—as well as three universities, three states, two cities which celebrate both, and South Dakota, which replaced Columbus Day with Native American Day in 1990. More communities are considering the same, including Washington, DC itself. As of October 2017, Oberlin, OH, is on the list, and Cindi and Jeriel Byron-Dixon can tell you why.
Read More
On Saturday, May 9th, less than 100 people gathered under tents outside the NW Detention Center in Tacoma. We gathered to hear stories and to be a presence to those who are detained, and to say “enough is enough” to the 34K nation-wide nightly bed requirement set by ICE: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Read More
There isn’t a picture in our scriptures, anywhere, that depicts people who seem to have gotten their act together any better than this text. Just imagine: The people had one language and the same words. No communication barriers. They had migrated together, and had settled, in order to build community. They knew their strength was in numbers. They didn’t want to be scattered so they stopped, to build the first city in the world!
Read More
My first "real" job was the summer after graduating from high school. I worked for my uncle at a salmon cannery on the far side of Kodiak Island, Alaska. Days off were few and far between. The 4th of July celebration happened on the 5th that year because the boss said so. The long hours made for tired bodies, albeit with bigger paychecks.
Read More
Peach Jack was an attendee on the Justicia en la Frontera/Justice at the Border Friendship Tour to Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, TX. Originally published in "The Spire," the newsletter of Seattle First Baptist, her article addresses some of the important details of the trip itself as well as provides some useful information to help others formulate responses to questions concerning immigration and the issues around it.
Read More
The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Eh Nay Thaw, a member of Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky and a student at Centre College who frequent attends at the BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz Summer Conference.
Read More
Adviento 2014.
Read More
The incidents in Ferguson and New York have not only highlighted longstanding racial tensions, but have also laid bare the disparities facing black citizens throughout our country. While these cases raise questions about the prevalence of racial profiling and police misconduct, they also reach far beyond that, stressing ongoing issues of economic inequality, housing discrimination and unequal access to adequate education. And it rises from the deep fear and despair that clings to walls of inner-city tenements, and reeks from the tar paper shacks that still dot the Old South.
Read More
Peace, we know, is rooted in justice. We are beyond grateful for our dear friends and colleagues who work for it. See what some of your fellow peacemakers have been up to - just within the last four days!
Read More
The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Linda and Bill Mashburn, long-time BPFNA members who recently moved to a retirement community in Abingdon, VA.
Read More