The rainbow flag that hangs in our vestibule during the week, and flies outside our University Street entrance on Sunday mornings, is an important symbol for our congregation. Displayed beneath the Black Lives Matter banner, together these two symbols make a bold statement to everyone who passes by. I have heard more than one person say that noticing the Black Lives Matter banner or the rainbow flag on our building is what first drew them to come inside and check us out.
 
I identify as heterosexual, and I am honored and proud and humbled to carry the rainbow flag from its safe place in the church vestibule to its more bold and prominent place outside. This is something that we do every Sunday morning before church, and lately I’ve started doing it at other times when I’m working at the Fellowship. There are hours during the week when I’m the only one in the building, but flying the rainbow flag is like proclaiming that the Fellowship is open for business—the business of radical inclusion, the business of welcoming everyone with love and fighting for justice.
 
I’m keenly aware of the irony in my carrying the flag: as a member of the privileged group (heterosexuals), I’m making a statement for the rights and dignity of those who are oppressed (anyone who identifies as homosexual, bisexual, pansexual or asexual). When I’m in the privileged group, I can’t pretend that I know what the experience of the oppressed group is. Nor should I presume to know how to fight for their rights—if I want to be an ally in someone else’s struggle, I need to follow their lead and listen more than I speak.
 
I happen to be a person with many privileged identities, and my intention is always to be aware of my privilege and to use my power and my voice to dismantle oppressive systems and create loving community. As a straight person, I strive for gay rights; as a cisgender person, I promote transgender equality; as a man, I call for women’s rights; as a person who has been socialized into an identity of whiteness, I denounce white supremacy; as an able-bodied person, I advocate for people with disabilities; as a person with money, I say we need to fix a broken economic system that punishes people without money; and as a highly educated person, I believe we need to address our prejudice against people with less formal education.
 
Believe it or not, I think about all of these things when I carry the rainbow flag from the vestibule, down the sidewalk, to the Fellowship’s front steps. I’m fiercely glad to be part of religion that believes in justice for all. Proclaiming our beliefs through these symbolic banners makes us a magnet for like-minded people and a target for people who disagree. May we always be ready to declare ourselves on the side of loving multi-cultural community, and against oppression in any form.
 
Prayer:
May I always see myself in other people, seeing beyond difference to the common humanity within. May I know that our destiny is linked: your freedom is my freedom; your oppression is my oppression; your suffering is my suffering. And may love remove the barriers between us, so that together we can build the beloved community we seek.
 
Yours in faith and service,
 
Andrew (Drew) Frantz
September 25, 2019

A highlight of my week was participating in the peace rally “Let Peace Reign” sponsored by the Isabella County Human Rights Committee last Saturday. As a newcomer to Mount Pleasant, I’m eager to find out who is active in the social justice arena of the city. As your minister, I was honored to show up and to represent the Fellowship at this event. I was the only religious leader there, and when one of the other participants asked me what I church I represented, and I told him, “Unitarian Universalist,” he said: “Oh, of course.”

Of course UU’s show up for rallies and marches and vigils and pride parades. This is what we believe in and this is who we are.

The event was small, but included police officers, the mayor of the city, two administrators from Central Michigan University, and the chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. It made me think about who we are as the UU Fellowship of this city and how we fit in. How are we seen and known in this community? What other groups do we have natural affiliations with, and what groups should we be working harder to communicate with and cooperate with?

A lot of my work in the first three weeks of my time here has been getting to know the people inside our walls—the members and friends, the ones who are reading this letter. Part of my job is also to be involved in the community—and I’m aware that many people in the congregation don’t live in Mount Pleasant, so the “community” is more than the city and includes the region. As I continue this work I look forward to growing into this role and hearing from you what people and organizations you’re connected with in the area, and where you think the Fellowship should be getting more connected.

Two of the speakers at the rally, musing on the theme of “peace,” spoke not about international conflict but about parenting: being a father and raising children in an atmosphere of peace; working for a world of peace for their children to grow up in. I appreciate this connection to the service we celebrated on Sunday, the blessing of children and teachers. Everything we do in the realm of social justice, like the good work of the Isabella County Human Rights Committee, is for our children and their children.

Finally, I will pass on an invitation that I got at the peace rally for an all-day peace symposium in East Lansing this Saturday, September 21, from 10:00-3:30. The title is “Building a Peace Economy” and the information is at www.PeaceEdCenter.org.

Prayer:
May we be aware of our place in the world, like branches in a tree. Each person is a tiny branch, connected and rooted to others; our religious community is a larger branch growing next to others: other churches, other organizations. We all are blown by the same wind, fed by the same rain, dependent on the same sunshine. May all beings grow and thrive and be at peace.

Yours in faith and service,
Andrew (Drew) Frantz
September 18, 2019

Since starting my ministry here ten days ago, I’ve met many of the members and friends of this congregation at Sunday worship, at the Friday night potluck, and at the dinners graciously hosted by Carol Rard and by Jim and Liz Dealing.

When I ask people what they love about this Fellowship, I usually hear the same thing: community. New people are drawn to the feeling of welcome and support that they perceive here, and long-time members describe being part of a network of friendship and caring. On Sunday we celebrated our annual Water Ceremony, which to me represented the way that this congregation comes together with our individual selves and blends into a unified whole. As I get settled into living in this city, I am reminded again and again of the connection to nature here. In my walks in Chipp-A-Waters park I see this: the people of Mount Pleasant on the trails, in the woods, by the river. I am aware, too, of the presence of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe here: part of the fabric and identity of this community.

All of these things came together for me in gathering the water for the Water Ceremony. I stood in the flowing Chippewa River at Chipp-A-Waters park. As I submerged the plastic jugs in the current of rushing water, they gurgled and glugged with a musical sound. I thanked the spirit of the river for the gift of the water. In doing so, I imagined some kinship with the Indian ancestors who made their home here, and who had reverence for the earth and the water that sustains us. And I felt kinship with the current residents of Mount Pleasant, young and old; black, white and brown, whom I see on the trails of this city park, enjoying the autumn woods and river.
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The water from the ceremony on Sunday—combination of Chippewa River water and all the water that people brought to the sanctuary—has been filtered and it is back in the jar labelled “Ceremony Water–D0 Not Consume” in the Fellowship’s fridge. This is our holy water, the inside version. The outside version is the living water of the river that flows through this city. Finally, as we celebrate our congregation through the metaphor of water, I invite everyone to think about ways to protect and conserve this precious natural resource. Personal actions might include using less water for baths and showers; reducing or eliminating use of bottled water; and re-using gray water in the garden. For those interested in political action, I can put you in touch with the People’s Water Board and their Faith Outreach Committee. They are working on a water affordability plan to present to the governor.

Prayer:
May this Fellowship be blessed in its diversity and in the values which unite us. May we be strengthened in community. May we be grateful for the water which sustains life, and may we find ways to protect and preserve this precious resource.

Yours in faith and service,
Andrew (Drew) Frantz
September 11, 2019