Dear Members and Friends of Faith: Palm Sunday is upon us this week, and I’m so sad that we won’t be together to process with palms for a second year.  Still, we will try to enter Holy Week together with anticipation, wonder, and joy as well as we are able online. 

Holy Week Services – Maundy Thursday will take place next Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 PM followed by Good Friday the next day at 10:00 AM. 

Easter Sunday – Next Sunday (April 4), 10:00 AM. 

ELCIC News – Every week our National Church sends out news items and resources to assist church leaders and congregations in their ministry.  This week I thought I would share ELCIC News with you as there are many interesting things taking place both nationally with our church partners and internationally.  If you are interested, I invite you to subscribe to receive these notifications each week.  You will find this weeks version of ELCIC News here: https://mailchi.mp/elcic/elcic-news-4736398?e=6407dbaef1

Racism Resources – In the sermon last Sunday I brought your attention to three resources that have been a big help to me as I have tried to learn about how systematic racism plays out in my own life, and I’ve been asked to share them with the whole congregation.  The three resources I mentioned are:

                                                    i.     “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Race,” by Robin Diangelo.  You can find a summary of the book, reviews, and information about the author at Good Reads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43708708-white-fragility?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=94Tyvw7Cyw&rank=1

                                                   ii.     “The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power,” is by Desmond Cole and is a uniquely Canadian view of race in our country.  The Good Reads link is: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50870424-the-skin-we-re-in?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=t8sWWUShrJ&rank=1

                                                  iii.     “Scene On Radio” is an American produced podcast that, a few years ago, produced a series of episodes called “Seeing White.”  Typically, when we speak of race we are talking about other races – Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) – and by doing so, the assumption is that white is what is normal and everything else is ‘other.’  This podcast looks at ‘whiteness’ historically, politically, and economically.  It is a 14 episode series.  If you don’t have time to listen to the whole series, I particularly recommend episode 2 “How Race Was Made.”  You can access the series here: https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/

See you Sunday!

Peace,

Pastor Brian