A Word from Pastor Lisa: on Bloomington
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
O Bloomington, I loved you the moment I stepped foot here at the High School Journalism Institute. I loved your culture, food, arts, sporting events, brilliant minds, new ideas, and quirky people. You felt like home. A year later when I visited with my parents to check out the journalism school, I questioned if you felt like home to everyone. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day 1997. As we walked from the IMU parking lot to Ernie Pyle, my Boilermaker father was bragging about his Purdue socks, and I turned away, embarrassed. That’s when I caught a glimpse of the massive swarm of students protesting at Showalter Fountain. They were demanding this day be recognized as a holiday by the school and that the university make efforts to recruit and retain more racially diverse faculty and students. Within a year, the university met the student coalition’s demands. As a white student, I felt good about volunteering with First Methodist for “A Day on, Not a Day Off” on a subsequent MLK Jr. holiday. I didn’t recognize all of the racial injustice still simmering underneath.
O Bloomington, when I was first dating Colin, we hoped to make a home here one day. As a United Methodist pastor, I couldn’t determine where I would serve, so we thought our Bloomington dream wouldn’t happen until retirement. We envisioned our gray-haired selves taking the Meadowood bus all over town. Our dream came true over a year ago when we found out I’d been appointed to First Methodist – a fabulous church in a wonderful community. We were so excited to move here.
O, Bloomington, we still love you, but the honeymoon is wearing off. Last year’s volatile farmer’s market showcased our racial tensions boiling. Over the July 4th holiday weekend, racial profiling and violence overflowed our community — Black IU football players were racially profiled on Lake Monroe; basketball star Darwin “Dee” Davis, Jr. was racially profiled by an off-duty police officer; and Vauhxx Booker of the Bloomington Human Rights Commission was assaulted by white men on Lake Monroe. As of this writing, no arrests have been made in Booker’s situation. At a rally for Booker on Monday, two protestors were deliberately struck by a vehicle whose driver still hasn’t been apprehended.
O Bloomington, how can a city so advanced in areas like creation care be so far behind in anti-racist work? How can a town that considers itself progressive and inclusive with the best college town Pride Fest in the country have so much work to do on intersectionality? How can we have some of the best minds in the country, yet still not be able to change racist structures and hearts?
O Bloomington, Jeremiah told the people of Israel in exile to pray to the Lord for the welfare of the city, for in the city’s welfare, they would find their welfare. We will only find our welfare when all people in Bloomington are treated as beloved children of God, when school, church, and neighborhood segregation end, when racial profiling ceases, when housing and job inequality is corrected, when poverty is addressed, when racial violence is over, and when all people dwell here in peace.
When we pray to the Lord, we need to start with a posture of confession. Last week we got a call to the church that one of our roofing contractors was on top of the building, shirtless, sporting a “White Power” tattoo. We immediately addressed the situation with his supervisor, but it was a stark reminder: white power is part of the structure of our church. We have benefitted from white privilege as a congregation. Repenting of that privilege, changing our ways, and becoming a more racially diverse church will feel like our roof has been blown off. Are we willing to take the risk?
When we pray to the Lord, we must put feet on those prayers. As with mass shootings, “thoughts and prayers” around racial injustice will not suffice. We must be people of action:
Call the prosecutor (812-349-2670).
Contact the DNR (317-232-4200).
March in protests (with masks and social distance, if that’s safe for you).
Give generously to organizations doing this work locally, like Black Lives Matter-Btown and the NAACP.
Support businesses owned by Blacks and other people of color.
Check out the new People’s Cooperative Market and donate food boxes to those with food insecurity.
Write a letter to the editor.
Learn from the IU Arts & Humanities’ Council Facebook live series, “Confronting Racism.”
Do anti-racist work in your own life and with your family.
Learn what “defund the police” really means.
Elect leaders who will make change.
Encourage others in your circles to do the same.
O Bloomington, I will continue to love you, pray for you, and seek your welfare, trusting that we won’t truly be well until all of your people live in justice and peace.