Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ!
At its October meeting, the St. James Council responded affirmatively to the request of the AMERICAN INDIAN ALASKA NATIVE LUTHERAN ASSOCIATION and our Bishop Patricia Lull, to join the Saint Paul Area Synod in a time of remembering the children who have died in Indian Boarding Schools.
In a letter dated July 23, 2021, the American Indian Alaska Native Lutheran Association writes, “we come with sad hearts at the news of 215+ children of the Kamloops Residential School whose remains were recently found in a mass grave and of the children of the Rosebud Sioux whose bodies were returned to their homeland this past week. They are being remembered by many by the color orange.
The color orange is symbolic and came from the inspiration of a survivor of that era, Phyllis Webstad, who stated that when she was a 6-year-old girl arriving at a residential boarding school, she was stripped of her clothes which included a new orange t-shirt her grandmother had gifted her and was never given back. The orange shirt/color now symbolizes how the church and the schools they administered took away the Indigenous identity of the children in their care.” (to read complete letter - click here)
Starting on this Sunday, November 21, there will be a remembrance display in our narthex. I am grateful for Pastor Nancy who created this arrangement for us. At the center is the cross from the altar at St. James original building in Savage draped in orange cloth.
Sunday is the Festival of Christ the King. At the end of the Church Year, this feast day celebrates Christ’s reign of love that spans across all nations and peoples. The holiday was established almost a hundred years ago as an effort to encourage Christians to find their identity and unity in Christ amid the rise of nationalism and sectarian divisions following World War I. Finding common ground in God’s love, as demonstrated in the teaching and ministry of Jesus, remains an important task for us to do.
It is out of the love of Jesus that we remember that all people (whether they are Christians or not) are loved by God. God desires for the human creature to live in community that is loving and respects the dignity of all. When that doesn’t happen, we need to repent and turn once again to God. This is the task to which Christ calls all his followers. Whether we are talking about past actions or current events, there is a continual need for forgiveness and realignment to Christ.
Our Remembrance of the Children is one way to raise our awareness of the past so that we might take a different path in the future that is more loving and illustrative of Christ’s own life and reign.
As always, I look forward to greeting you in worship on Sunday - whether it is at our 8:00 parking lot worship, or at our 9:30 in-person/online.
In Christ’s Light,
Pastor Walt