The Michigan Conference Board of Justice joins the global religious community in sorrow and prayer with the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” ~ Jeremiah 31:15
We, the members of the Michigan Conference Board of Justice, join our hearts and prayers for the victims, survivors, and members of Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We are deeply disturbed by the hateful anti-Semitism, senseless violence, and utter disregard for human life.
We encourage our fellow Michigan United Methodists to reach out to Jewish communities across our state to offer care, support, and solidarity. We also encourage Michigan United Methodists and congregations to participate and be present at community prayer vigils and events.
We confess the Christian roots of anti-Semitism and White nationalism. We recommend Michigan United Methodists study the General Conference resolution United Methodist Guiding Principles on Christian-Jewish Relations.
We call on Michigan United Methodist to stand up and speak out against Anti-Semitic and other hate speech and acts. “[I]t is essential for Christians to oppose forcefully anti-Jewish acts and rhetoric that persist in the present time in many places. We must be zealous in challenging overt and subtle anti-Semitic stereotypes and bigoted attitudes that ultimately made the Holocaust possible, and which stubbornly and insidiously continue today. These lingering patterns are a call to Christians for ever-new educational efforts and continued vigilance, so that we, remembering and honoring the cries of the tortured and the dead, can claim with Jews around the world to be faithful to the post-Holocaust cry of “Never Again.”” (United Methodist Guiding Principles on Christian-Jewish Relations).
LEARN MORE about United Methodist response in the wake of the synagogue shooting.
Last Updated on October 31, 2023