The financial settlement for the family of Breonna Taylor, $12 million in cash and promises of police reform, was announced this week. Time will tell whether the reforms become real. A clear-eyed look at past promises suggests that hope should be cautious at best. It is the big cash payoff, however, that stopped me in my tracks. Not because of the size, but because of the absurdity of equating the loss of an innocent life with money. Let me be clear. I do not object in any way to the financial settlement. But the belief that money can heal such…

I am thinking back to Homecoming Sundays in other years, remembering the excitement of anticipation and then the rightness of seeing so many members of the community gathering once again in the sanctuary. “Rightness” is a good word to describe that feeling of sensing once again the coming together of a community of support and of hope that is what First Unitarian means for so many. Homecoming Sunday is a time to gather ourselves and begin again in love. This year we cannot gather in person, but support and hope remain on the agenda. The importance of the church is…

Dear Members and Friends, It is not news that much is changing…for us and for the world. We are living through such losses. At the same time, we are discovering resilience in ourselves and new possibilities for our path forward at First Unitarian. Since we closed our campus, we have worked hard to sustain community. Committed congregants have called every individual and family in the church, not once, but on three separate occasions. We’ve hosted virtual social hours and “Coffee with the Ministers” and increased our online programming significantly. Attendance has blossomed. Our live worship from the Sanctuary has become…

http://www.bradforduu.org The Bradford UU Church survived the fires of Monday night, some of which burned adjacent to their building. More important, their sense of mission and the priorities in their ministry emerged with such clarity. On Tuesday, I wrote to that church and their minister to express our support. To the Clergy and Congregation of the Bradford UU Church of Kenosha, The ministers and senior staff of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR are in solidarity with you. We applaud and aspire to the clarity of mission and courage of spirit that your response to the shooting of Jacob…

Out of long experience, I have come to expect the increase in energy in the church as the inevitable end of summer approaches and we look toward the beginning of a “new church year.” I wondered, this year, what that energy might be like. I wondered whether that energy would even be present…at a distance. I think I have part of an answer. In the past week, I’ve reached out to members of our community and others have reached out to me…with questions and concerns, with the need for reassurance and the need to express uncertainty and even fear. “When…

“Trump’s Presidency has paved the way for a revolution against racism. … Just as the Abolitionists of the 1850’s demanded the immediate eradication of slavery, immediate equality must be the demand today.” Ibram X. Kendi, The End of Denial, Atlantic, Sept. 2020 I want to believe Ibram Kendi that our current President, by displaying for the American people the depth of the racism in our culture, has opened a real possibility to dismantle that racism and move toward equality. I want to believe. The extent of the protests, the racial and generational diversity of the protestors, the duration of this uprising for…

The Universalist promise that each of us, every one, has inherent worth is, for most of us, a bedrock of our religious commitment. We may have a hard time trusting that Good News, but it still serves as a comfort when we fall short, when our actions harm others, when there seems good reason for us to be most self-critical. It is a source of affirmation for each of us and a corrective to the plaque of perfectionism. That promise also fuels our work for justice. What would a religious community that held that every person has inherent worth as…

First Unitarian Files for Temporary Restraining Order on Federal Law Enforcement (You can see this feature in this weeks Speaking of Justice: Weekly Update 7/30.) As you know, First Unitarian Portland is a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed last week to require that the recently-deployed federal law enforcement agents cease their operations and militarized tactics in Portland streets. What we have witnessed over the last week is an escalated, extremely violent attack on the people of Portland. As of this writing, though the Governor announced an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw these law enforcement agencies, DHS Director Chad Wolf…

During July, while Rev. Sinkford takes a summer break, look to this weekly update for ways that our congregation is responding and how you can engage in our justice work. This piece is featured in our Speaking of Justice: Weekly Update 7/23/2020 Waking this morning, after the 55th day of protest of police brutality, demanding the defunding and reallocation of our community's tax money to care for our people, I sit in gratitude. Aaron Campbell. Kendra James. Deonte J. Keller. Keaton Otis. Quanice "Moose" Hayes. Patrick Kimmons. André Gladen. Matthew Burroughs. Jason Washington. May they each rest in power. May their families…

During July, while Rev. Sinkford takes a summer break, look to this weekly update for ways that our congregation is responding and how you can engage in our justice work. Last week with over 300 signatures, including ministers and congregants, First Unitarian submitted this letter to Mayor Wheeler. We demanded he use his power as Police Commissioner to end the egregious human and civil rights violations during the uprising of protest. We have not received a response from the mayor. To lift up our growing concern, congregants have written letters to the editor of the Oregonian. Lena Lee was able to get…