“Today, if only you would hear God’s voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.” 

• Psalm 95: 7b-9 (NIV)

Dear ABCNJ Friends and Family,

As I write this letter, my heart is grieved and full of sorrow. This weekend we found ourselves grieving for yet another community impacted by the violent act of hate crime rooted in the sin of racism. For the families, friends, and communities of ten Black people who lost their lives and the other individuals of the Tops Grocery store shooting in the City of Buffalo, lives were forever transformed in an instant by the racially-motivated violent extremism of a single individual. We join these families in their time of mourning and pray for God’s peace and love to sustain and embrace them amid their pain. 

The all too common occurrence of these moments in our nation may cause our spirits to grow numb, yet the psalmist warns us of the dangers of letting our hearts harden to ongoing injustices around us. A trip to the grocery store should not be met with fear of loss of life. I pray that this weekend’s actions will motivate ongoing work toward anti-black racism and catalyze lasting change in our nation. We must not absolve ourselves of our personal responsibility to dismantle policies and practices that discriminate, seek to destroy, and do evil to others. 

We pray for the faith communities of the Buffalo area, including our American Baptist colleagues in the Niagara Area Baptist Association of the American Baptist Churches of New York State. We pray that they will be places of healing within their communities impacted by this weekend’s violence. 

In this painful moment, when we again experience the loss that flows out of hatred and violence, we affirm that in Christ Jesus, we are not powerless. Through our churches right here in New Jersey, we can be catalysts who strengthen the fabric of our communities and build up the bonds of our common humanity. Resolving to be proactive, we can not only be ready to respond with healing when violence or hate visit, but also push back and even prevent darkness from overcoming the light.

We must set aside our political, economic, and social motives that compromise the integrity of our affirmation of God’s image in every human being. We must continue to pray that God will cause the scales to fall from our eyes and help us see that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. We must continue to speak out when we see the humanity and dignity of another person being disrespected and disregarded. We must act in ways that create bridges of unity and resiliency in the places where our churches serve. 

I pray that together, in our respective communities, we commit to a way forward–a way of love. Not a love that we feel, but a love that we do and live out. “Let us not tire of preaching love, it is the force that will overcome the world. Let us not tire of preaching love. Though we see that waves of violence succeed in drowning the fire of Christian love, love must win out, it is the only thing that can.” (Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love).

Forward in love,

Rev. Miriam Méndez,
Executive Minister and Senior Regional Pastor