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One Congregation in a Crowd

Date

Freedom Riders. Righteous Gentiles. Activist churches. Banning land mines.
Jon Biemer will share stories of small groups that have made a big difference.  As Wy'east is becoming grounded in its own social action, Jon will provide perspective and encouragement. He is a founding member of the congregation.

One Congregation in a Crowd

by Jon Biemer

Presented to Wy’east Unitarian Universalist Congregation, February 20, 2011

 

 

How many people have heard of Rosa Parks?  Yes she was the African American woman who, in December 1955 refused to sit at the back of a bus and thus sparked the year-long MontgomeryAlabamabus boycott – and the large scale civil rights movement of the 1960’s. How many of us have heard of Clark and Virginia Durr the white people who bailed Ms. Parks out of jail?  Clarkwas Rosa’s employer, a lawyer who had no white clients because he defended black people.  Virginiawas known as a socialite who fought against the practice of taxing people for the right to vote – the poll tax. 

 

For years I have been collecting stories about people who went beyond convention, risking livelihood and sometimes their lives to help those trapped in oppressive circumstances. In a recent Wy’east service we learned that there are numerous Clark and Virginia Durrs among us right now: people who help people they don’t know, people who choose a right livelihood, and people whose volunteer work is a way of life. I am preaching to the choir!

 

Therefore…  I will talk about choirs, groups of people who have made a big difference in the lives of others.

 

Let’s start with the Freedom Riders.  During the spring and summer of 1961 buses of black and white people traveled throughout the South challenging state segregation laws. In places the confrontations were violent. A lynching was narrowly avoided in one case after the bus was burned.

 

These Rides created the political climate for the Interstate Commerce Commission to order desegregation of buses, terminal eating facilities and bathroom facilities. More important in the long run, the Freedom Riders helped motivate blacks within the South to challenge inequalities. In all about 450 men and women participated in the Freedom Rides. 

 

The YadVashemMuseumof Jerusalemhas collected over 23,000 stories of Righteous Gentiles. These are people who protected Jews before and during World War II. Six million Jews were killed under a policy to exterminate the Jewish people in what is now called the Holocaust.  Here are two stories where people banded together to protect the Jews. 

 

The first story is of Denmark.  The country was occupied by Germanywithout a battle, and its occupation was relatively benign even for the 7500 Danish Jews.  Then an order was signed to round them up on September 28, 1943.  Two ships were waiting in the CopenhagenHarbor.  But, Georg Duckwitz, the German Marine Attaché leaked the plans to a Danish politician. The next morning Rabbi Marcus Melchior told his congregants to go into hiding and to pass the word.  Danish people of all classes hid Jews in their homes until boat passage to Swedenand other countries could be arranged. Danish police and even some German soldiers refused to cooperate in the manhunt. 

 

Ninety-three percent of Denmark’s Jewish population survived the war. After the war, Danish Jews found that their homes, gardens and even pets had been taken care of by neighbors.

 

The Albanian people protected Jews in plain sight after the German occupation in 1944.  Muslim bureaucrats gave Jews false identity papers, and Muslim neighbors honored those identities.  Albanians are proud to say they did not lose a single Jew to the Nazi’s.

 

In 1938 the Unitarian Church sponsored a mission to help intellectuals, students and anti-Nazi politicians escape Czechoslovakia. In 1940 the Universalist Church organized a similar mission to Holland.  A post-war home for adolescent girls in Verden, Germanywas the first formal joint project of the two churches that would, in the 1960’s, merge into the Unitarian-UniversalistChurch.

 

Between 1941 and 1945 over a hundred thousand Japanese Americans were sent to America’s concentration camps. We called them “Internment camps”.  Most of these Japanese Americans were loyal to the United States.  One of the bright spots in this dark episode is the letters written by friends and former neighbors. Not only did those letters assure Japanese Americans that someone cared; letters also were pivotal in shutting down the camps before the war ended. 

 

Let’s go back in time to America’s genocide, the relentless killing and betraying of American Indians. The Nez Perce flight from Washingtonthrough Idahointo Montanahas mythic overtones.  Just forty miles south of the Canadian Boarder General Miles and his troop intercepted the Nez Perce and forced them to surrender. Chief Joseph’s words “I will fight no more forever” are famous. 

 

But that is not the end of the story. The Nez Perce were sent to Oklahoma, where they were forced to live in conditions of squalor for several years.

 

It took a campaign by the mid-west Presbyterians to force politicians to give the Nez Perce a reservation in the Northwest.  Whole congregations as far away as Ohioprotested the deplorable conditions.  Most of the Nez Perce, including Chief Joseph, were relocated to the Colville Reservation in Eastern Washington, a process facilitated by that same General Nelson A. Miles

 

Churches were also critical to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980’s.  Some of you may remember the civil strife of Nicaragua, Guatemalaand El Salvador.  This resulted in a stream of refugees flowing north.   At the time the US Government did not recognize these people as political refugees and deported them back to their country of origin.  The reality for the deportees was often imprisonment, execution or being disappeared.

 

Tucson Arizona’s Southside Presbyterianbecame the first church to offer these refugees sanctuary, relying on moral rather than legal authority. Over time the network of Sanctuary churches grew to over 500 – 28% of which were Unitarian Universalist.  Jobs were found; people were fed; a night’s stay was given; sometimes more.  Two Catholic churches were pivotal to this movement.  The church in Mexicohelped refugees find their way across the border. The Catholic Church in Nogales, Arizonacounseled the refugees and helped them reach other sanctuary churches.

 

Over time, numerous cities, including Portland, became Sanctuary Cities, instructing their police not to question people about their immigration status. 

 

Perhaps it is obvious that the Sanctuary Movement was inspired by the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad which brought slaves north to freedom. And… The Sanctuary Movement in turn inspired the Oregon New Sanctuary Movement to help families these days that are in the midst of a deportation process. It also is an ecumenical effort, and we just supported it with today’s collection.

 

Another wonderful story has its roots in Central America. Jody Williams taught English as a second language.  In the 1980’s she shifted her career to working with non-government organizations (NGO’s) serving Latin Americain the wake of the civil wars. She became Deputy Director of Medical Aid for El Salvador, a Los Angeles-based organization.  Ms. Williams must have been exposed to horrendous stories, because she went home to Vermontand recruited a few women friends for an impossible mission – banning land mines.

 

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) started with the support of six non-profit sponsors. With the inspired use of FAX machines, that number has become 1,400. The result, in 1997, was The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction. The Ottawa Treaty, as it is called, now has 156 State parties. Even some organizations struggling for power in their countries have signed the treaty. Eleven formally war-torn countries are now clear of landmines.  Jody William and the ICBL were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work.

 

How about right here in Northeast Portland? Near ProvidenceHospitalis an aging congregation.  Only about fifty members show up on Sunday morning. But think about what this Community of Christ church is doing.  They provide free meeting space for the Portland Chapter of the American Indian Movement and for Folktime, a non-profit that gives developmentally disabled adults a social life. The women of this church make quilts for an orphanage.  Last year the church contributed $25,000 to Outreach International, a non-sectarian organization that helps people help themselves.

 

Here are some things I have learned in the course of collecting and writing these stories.

 

  • Every story is rooted in a time, a place and a historical context.  The U.S.government supported dictatorships as part of a Cold War containment strategy.  
  • Perfection is illusive.  Most of the Nez Perce were not allowed to return to their forest homes of Oregonand Idaho. The U.S., Chinaand Russiahave yet to sign the Land Mine treaty.
  • Individual contributions and leadership matter.  The Danes would not have become heroes were it not for the courage of a German diplomat.  The Freedom Rides required initiative. When things went badly, others took the initiative.
  • It usually takes a groupto follow through on bold ideas. Breakthroughs are the result of thousands of small actions.
  • Finally, values matter. Albanians talk about Besa an ancient code of honor to “keep the promise”. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. And our Unitarian Universalist “first principle” says “affirm and promote the inherent dignity of every person.” 

 

Okay, what about our own congregation? 

 

Wy’east Unitarian-Universalist Congregationdonates at least one collection every month to support special causes. During our services we give representatives of these organizations an opportunity to speak with us. Last year we collectively gave $3000 to life-affirming causes.

 

Several of our members are doing praiseworthy community work: Anders arranged for a presentation at OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) by Oceana about the realities in New Orleansas a result of Hurricane Katrina. Elizabethvolunteered last summer at the Virginia Garcia Memorial Clinic. And Liana is promoting the Southeast Portland Tool Library.

 

The congregation hosted a party for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and we have hosted two Thanksgiving Dinners for our landlord, The Hollywood Senior Center. We also contributed food to Hacienda Community Development Corporation where Arianna volunteers.

 

Up and coming Sonrisa and Libby will be presenting The Laramie Project film as a consciousness and fund raiser about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) issues. And those of us in the Wy’east Environmental Group are preparing to help the congregation be more sustainable.

 

What message do I really want to leave with you?  I have thought about that question deeply. This is my answer:

 

  • Take pride in what we are doing.Our efforts already make a difference.
  • Be intentional about owning it as a congregation. The synergy that comes from supporting each other is powerful.
  • And celebrate our membership in the ranks of small groups that make a difference.Paul Hawkins, in his book Blessed Unrest, says that there are two million organizations working to make the world a better place. And I do not think he included churches.  We are not alone!

 

Take pride; be intentional; and celebrate. That is kind of medicine that will help us sustain and multiply our efforts. Wy’east Unitarian Universalist Congregation will be part the history of our century.  

 

Visitors, I also urge you to connect with like-minded people, and… Take pride; be intentional; and celebrate. Our place probably will not be in the headlines; it will be deep inside the stories that tell how the world became a better place.

 

Benediction

 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

 

Margaret Mead said that. Go forth. Do good.

 

First Reading[given before the talk]

 

Dear Friends,

 All of us at the HollywoodSeniorCenterwant you to know how much we appreciate the Wy'east Unitarian Universalist Congregation efforts in creating our second Thanksgiving Feast for low- income and isolated seniors.  The food was delicious, the servers were cheerful and helpful, and the fellowship was incomparable.  At the event, a woman came up to me to say “thank you.” She said she lives alone with no family and friends around. Today meant a great deal to her. Today, she was part of a family. Thank you for giving her, and the 60 other older adults and individuals, that attended such a memorable and meaningful opportunity and experience.

 It is one of our goals here at the HollywoodSeniorCenterto foster a sense of belonging in our participants.  When someone in the “neighborhood” does something generous and thoughtful, as members of the congregation has, everyone affected gets the feeling that they are still a part of a community of caring individuals.

 Please accept our heartfelt thanks.  It was such a joy to share that wonderful day with you. We hope to share many more Thanksgiving celebrations with you.

In gratitude,

 

Amber Kern-Johnson,

Executive Director

HollywoodSeniorCenter[Portland, OR]

[December 2010]

 

 

Wy'east One Congregation talk 1-22-11F