Many folks in our congregation have felt the call, over the past few years, to take a more active role in our local community – lending strength and support to each other, and to our neighbors. We see how our political climate is only growing more volatile by the day, and we long to be reminded of the strongest power there is: the power of Beloved Community. The power of showing up, to love and care for one another.
WellSprings supports our neighbors in many ways – most notably, through multiple community service partnerships sustained by our wonderful HeartWorks Team. We are also part of the Interfaith Action Community of Chester County, which helps us build relationships with, and learn about, neighboring faith communities; and our JusticeWorks Team has begun working with POWER Interfaith over the past year, a statewide group that brings folks together to take action around our shared values in Harrisburg.
There are a handful of statewide and national organizations bringing folks together to take action around values like ours – but none of those larger groups have the capacity to pay attention to what’s happening on the local level, here in Chester County. We can have a meaningful impact by coming together, across many different faiths, to show up for our neighbors.
Imagine this: DEI initiatives are under attack in a local school district, or a school board is considering adding Eid to the calendar as a permanent holiday – so we ask for volunteers from our multi-faith community to show up in support. Or this: a permit to build a new shelter is on the agenda at a local township supervisors meeting – so we ask people of faith living in the township to show up and speak in support of providing housing for our neighbors. We would not – of course – involve ourselves in electoral politics, in any way. But we can mobilize the local faith community, in support of our shared values.
Earlier this year, and with the blessing of our Board of Trustees and our JusticeWorks Team, Rev. Lee began meeting with two other local pastors: Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin of Frazer Mennonite Church, and Rev. Doug Hagler of the First Presbyterian Church of Phoenixville, to develop the idea for this project, which we are calling Love Thy Neighbor – a multi-faith alliance of people who live, worship, and vote in Chester County, and who show up in support our common values: diversity, democracy, and humanity.
As this new coalition gets off the ground, we invite you to check out our website at www.lovethyneighborchesco.org. On the site, you’ll find a brief description of our purpose, and two forms you can fill out. Clicking on “I Want to Show Up” will take you to a form that allows individuals to join the Love They Neighbor list, and be notified of opportunities to show up locally for each other. Clicking on “I Need My Neighbors” will take you to a form that allows anyone to submit an opportunity to call on this coalition, for support.
The year ahead is likely to be difficult, in all kinds of faith communities across our area. But when we know and see that our neighbors have our backs – even across differences of faith and religious tradition – we can not only have an impact that’s meaningful… we can strengthen and bolster our own spirits, as well.
Please feel free to sign up, and to share news of this new local project with other nearby religious communities, or other community partners (nonprofits, advocacy groups, etc.) who may want to call on the local faith community in Chester County when they need support.