Dear Reader,

I have had the privilege of traveling to nearly 30 different churches across the country this summer on a book tour, and I was encouraged to see inclusive communities stepping up to the plate to organize for justice in their communities. From Birmingham to Miami to San Francisco, progressive people of faith are realizing that now is the moment not to rely on the government to enact true justice, but instead, for us to be the vehicles of justice in our neighborhoods, cities, and country.

This is how it’s been since the beginning of the Jesus movement- Jesus didn’t work within the systems of government, but recognized how unjust they were, and worked to bring about justice through empowering regular people in their regular neighborhoods to do regular acts of kindness- and that’s what we need right now. We can't allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by all that’s happening on the national and world stage- I am confident that when we get out of this dark era, we will roll back much of what has been done by the current administration.

But in the interim, we must be a people who ensure justice is enacted in our own local communities. Trans people will continue to be demonized at the highest levels, and marriage equality will continue to be attacked- but we have the resources and ability to resist and offer an alternative to whatever the government does in our own churches- and the good news is that churches are heeding the call. If you’ve been out of church for a while, I’d encourage you to think of joining one now- community and collective action are how we will make it through this era.

~Rev. Brandan Robertson