From the Pastor: June 2025

Dear Friends, 

In June the Pride flags start appearing around Katonah.  I’m happy to see them.  I wish they were up all year, because to me they don’t single out one particular group for support—the joyful colors sing that we welcome all who are marginalized or oppressed.  Recent legislation poses significant risks to the human rights of individuals across the spectrum of humanity.  I'm proud of our church and its members for advocating justice, supporting helpful organizations, promoting peace, and challenging unfairness.   

            A few months ago, a former member complained to me that the church should stick to preaching the Gospel and not get involved in social and political matters.  But the Gospel explicitly calls us to these arenas. The Old Testament taught us to welcome the stranger and immigrant, to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8); and the Christ of the Gospels radically crossed all cultural/political boundaries to care for those in need (Matthew 25). 

            I’m sure you’re aware that our denomination calls us to actively engage with the world.  “Our social witness stance is affirmed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which encourages church members and leaders to go to places of suffering and need to alleviate poverty, stop violence, protect the planet from climate change, and seek justice for immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, and people of color. By engaging in those issues from a biblical perspective, the church recognizes God’s sovereignty over every aspect of human life.” (pcusa.org)

            As we enter Pride month, I am proud to be the pastor of KPC, continuing its long history of being voices & hands for social justice.  I recently became curious about how we handled the civil rights crisis of the 1960’s.  According to Session notes, in 1962 we sponsored Rene Ojito, a refugee from Cuba (minutes 12/4/62), began studying the Civil Rights question in 1963; in 1964 our pastor Rev. Justus J. Fennel reported on his trip to Hattiesburg, MS to assist with voter registration (2/4/64) and the church made donations to the Emergency Fund for Freedom on Race Relations Sunday (2/9/64); and in March 1962, four months before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed, Katonah Presbyterian welcomed our first black member, Mrs. Barbara Taylor, and for several weeks of 1964 sent a delegation of KPC members to Washington to ask Congress to support Civil Rights legislation, the minutes noting that “We were the only church in the Presbytery doing this regularly” (3/22/64). What a proud legacy of advocacy we carry.

            Thank you for all you do to make God’s love visible, to bring light in the darkness.  Let our banners fly proudly!

Love and light,

Martin