UBE Press Release on the Charleston Murders

Up Golgotha's rugged road
I see my Jesus go.
I see him sink beneath the load,
I see my drooping Jesus sink.
And then they laid hold on Simon,
Black Simon, yes, black Simon,
And Simon bore the cross.

      

- From God’s Trombones by James Weldon Johnson

We believe the rugged road up Golgotha is the road to justice and peace. For more than 400 years “black Simon” has been forced to bear the cross of redemption. The heavy cross being borne is that of lynching, church burnings and bombings, police brutality, and the murder of innocent worshippers. Even until today, the children of “Black Simon” continue to be “laid hold upon”; grieved but determined souls struggling with Christ towards justice and peace for all. The Union of Black Episcopalians call upon all in our churches and community to join us in prayer, moral support and visible actions of support for Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, S.C.; and, also, the public repudiation of racial violence and injustice in our society.

“Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another and serve the common good.”  [BCP p.388]

- The Rt. Rev. Nathan Baxter