This summer we welcome our neighbors to come and share about their lives, work, passions, spirituality and give us sense of how we can serve “our neighbors as ourselves,” following what Jesus called the second greatest commandment (Leviticus 19:17-18, Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28). See speakers list below.
This Sunday, we welcome Raul Fernandez, who was the first Latinx person elected to serve as a member of the Brookline Select Board. He also founded and chaired Brookline’s Small Business Development Committee and led successful efforts to create a working group designed to better support the Brookline Housing Authority and its residents, a Racial Equity Advancement Fund, and a task force focused on reimagining public safety. He is a Senior Lecturer and past Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development where he studies, writes, and teaches about inequities in education. He is also an appointee to the Racial Imbalance Advisory Council of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and has been named a Public Impact Scholar by the Initiative on Cities.
In worship, we will reflect on Paul’s letter to the Romans, in which he talks about how to interact with government authorities, concluding with the summation: Don’t be in debt to anyone, except for the obligation to love each other. Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law. (Romans 13:1-10, especially 8-10)
Raul will revisit Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. As Raul writes: “King’s calling white moderates to task is certainly fitting for Brookline, but even more relevant today is his call to defy unjust (morally wrong) laws and to move with greater urgency to eliminate those laws, make reparations, and enact new laws that lift up those who need it most. I’ll talk about what these concepts mean for racial justice and other forms of social justice in Brookline.”
Come and join us as we live into our call as neighbors, learn more about our co-citizens, our community and one another.
In faith,
Amy and Kent
Image from Raul Fernandez.
Summer Worship Series: Who is Our Neighbor?
July 2 — Tommy Vitolo, Massachusetts State Representative, 15th Norfolk
July 9 — Raul Fernandez, former Brookline Selectman
July 16 — Rachel Silverman and Erin Venkatesh, Thrifty Threads
July 23 — United Parish Mental Health Group and guest speaker
July 30 — Reverend Carrington Moore, Executive Director, common cathedral
August 6 — Reverend Erik Hoeke, visiting pastor
August 13 — Raana Mumtaz and Faiza Khan, Brookline Muslim Friends
August 20 — Matthew Kossack, Executive Director, Artbarn Community Theater
August 27 — Aba Taylor, Executive Director, Brookline Community Foundation
September 3 — Arlene Hill, Brookline Housing resident
