“Being upset, tired, and worn without action will get us nowhere,” says Pastor Albert Rush. He invites everyone to “stay in the fight.”
The days are counting down to the 2021 Virtual Michigan Annual Conference to be held online Thursday, June 3 through Sunday, June 6. Bishop David Bard and other leaders of The Michigan Conference have already spent many hours pre-recording portions of the event.
The Rev. Albert Rush, Pastor at Eastpointe Immanuel United Methodist Church in Greater Detroit, was one of the persons invited to be part of worship leadership this year. Bishop Bard is grateful for his participation and introduces him and a video shared in this week’s “Voices” section of MIconnect.
Bard says, “The Michigan Conference, The United Methodist Church, and our entire nation find themselves in a unique time, a time of racial reckoning. ‘Reckoning’ has to do with settling accounts, and it also has to do with pondering and considering.” The bishop continues, “We are being invited in this time to think anew about our history and the ripple effects of that history over time. We are being invited to consider how race has influenced our thinking, our behaving, and the construction of our systems. In this time, it is important that we listen deeply to a wide range of voices.”
Last November, Bishop Bard brought together an anti-bias/anti-racism (ABAR) working group to “help me, our clergy, our churches, and our conference listen and learn and change.” Pastor Rush is a member of the ABAR working group. The bishop reports, “In saying ‘yes,’ to being a liturgist this year, Pastor Rush asked if he might also share some of his thoughts with the conference.”
Pastor Rush reflects, “We do not as Christian leaders have the luxury to be worn out. We must do whatever we can to make a difference in our families, in our churches, in the conference, and the world.” In the video, you will hear examples of the things that he and Immanuel United Methodist Church have done “to try to stay in the fight.”
Last Updated on April 27, 2021