Cabarrus Clergy Coalition: A Call to Unity, Justice, and Peace

A Call to Unity, Justice, and Peace

As faith leaders:

We affirm the equal value of all peoples and our holy responsibility to love one another as we have been loved. The greatest biblical commandments are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves and to do so mindfully, as children of God and sisters and brothers to all (Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:35-40).

We believe that God loves and respects the people of all nations setting none above any other (Amos 9:7).

We believe that we must name evil publicly and confront it actively. Scripture reminds us to hate falsehood and to love what is good (Psalm 97:10; Psalm 119:163). We are told to do justice, love compassion, and walk humbly with our Creator (Micah 6:8).

We stand in resolute agreement in condemning and rejecting racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and neo-Nazi ideology as a sin against God that divides the human family created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26).

We ask that all people of faith join us in our commitment to reject hatred and to confront evil in all its forms. We must speak. We must act. Our faiths charge us to do God’s work: to respect and care for one another and, in so doing, sustain peaceful and loving communities free from hate of any kind.

In faith,

Rev. Felix Alvarado

Rev. Donald Anthony

Rev. Dr. Steve Ayers

Rev. Ledale Benson

Rev. Chris Bolder

Rev. Tim Bostick

Rev. Karen Byers

Rev. Peter Bynum

Rev. Walter Charles

Rev. Nancy Cox

Rev. Chris Harbin

Elder Plyler Hemphill

Rev. Edward Holloway

Rev. Lynne Keel

Rev. Nathan King

Rev. Karen Langston-Byers

Rev. Alexander Porter

Rev. Sidney C. Sessoms, Jr.

Rabbi Barbara Thiede

Rev. Rachel Vogado

Cabarrus Clergy Coalition

-- Concord, NC, December 10, 2017 --