Places of Worship to Host Moral March Services Statewide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 31, 2014

 

 

For More Information: Laurel Ashton, Field Secretary, 828 713 3864

     Atty. Jamie Cole, Public Policy Coordinator, 919 682 4700

 

Places of Worship to Host Moral March Services Statewide this Weekend to Rally Their Communities for HKonJ in an Effort that Transcends Religion and Denomination

 

DURHAM - In preparation for Moral March on Raleigh HKonJ People's Assembly, more than 50 places of worship around the state will be hosting their own Moral March services on their respective holy days this weekend to rally their congregations and their communities.

 

Religious leaders at churches, synagogues and mosques across denominations will preach about the moral imperative of standing up against injustice and immoral, unconstitutional governance by making their voices heard on Feb. 8 in Raleigh during the Forward Together Movement's Moral March.

 

"Caring for the least of these, looking out for the good of the whole, standing up for justice and with love-these must be at the center of our public policy," Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II said, citing Matthew, Micah and the preamble of the NC constitution. "But the morally-indefensible policies passed by Gov. McCrory and the extremists in the General Assembly don't just ignore the sick, the poor, women and children-these policies kick people when they are down. They take away voting rights and equal protection under the law for African Americans, women, immigrants and the LGBT community."

 

This weekend's Moral March services will rally the religious community around the state to stand up for its deepest moral values and for our constitutional principles. Numerous pastors, rabbis and imams have agreed to talk to members of the media about their social-justice sermons and their motivations for  for the Moral March on Raleigh. (See below for acomplete listing and additional details.)

 

As scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, "The prophetic moral critique does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined. The imagination must come before the implementation."

 

The pastors participating this week in the Moral March services, alongside the NC NAACP and its coalition partners, are engaged in this project of imagination: they are creating the vision of an anti-racist, anti-poverty, pro-labor and deeply moral movement that strives for justice and equality under the law. And this Moral Movement will march onward on Feb. 8with the immovable optimism of a people who know there can and will be a better way to live together. These leaders will call our state to prayer, repentance and transformation, guiding us towards the better way and the beloved community.

 

"Hope is the refusal to accept the reading of reality, which is the majority opinion," Brueggemann continues. "This hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretension of the present, daring to announce that the present to which we have all made commitments is now called into question."

 

At the Moral March, thousands of people from around the state and across the country will gather in Raleigh to raise their voices against the morally-indefensible, constitutionally-inconsistent and economically-insane policies pushed by extremists in the NC General Assembly.

 

The rally for the Mass Moral March on Raleigh will begin at 9:30 am on Feb. 8 at Shaw University on Wilmington St between South St and MLK Jr Blvd. More information about the event can be found here. Don't forget to RSVP your attendance at the Moral March!

 

Wondering why you should join us in Raleigh on Feb. 8? Want some help convincing your friends? Watch "We Are Not Going Back!" | Moral March on Raleigh Promotional video.

 

And join us at the Moral Monday Cost and Loss Policy Briefing at 3 pm on Feb. 3, either in person or online. RSVP to the event here. #ForwardTogether #MoralMarch

 

More information on religious leaders open to speaking with the media is listed here, including their names, congregations, service locations and start times. If a member of the media would like to talk to a pastor or rabbi about their sermons or attend a service, we request that they first contact the pastor at that church using the phone number provided.

 

The following pastors, rabbis and imams are open to speaking with members of the media about their social-justice sermons and attending a Worship Weekend service:

  

Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Asheville, NC

Kehillah Synagogue, Chapel Hill, NC

United Church of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church, Charlotte, NC

Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist, Charlotte, NC

 

Masjid Ash-Shaheed, Charlotte, NC

Muhammad Mosque #36, Charlotte, NC

New Hope Missionary Church, Charlotte, NC

Bethel A.M.E. Church, Currie, NC

Covenant Presbyterian Church, Durham, NC

 

Mohammad Mosque #34, Durham, NC

Greenleaf Christian Church, Goldsboro, NC

Muhammad Mosque #92, Greensboro, NC

New Light Missionary Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC

Temple Emanuel, Greensboro, NC

 

St. Mary Freewill Baptist Church, LaGrange, NC

Freedom Temple Church, Raleigh, NC

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

Temple Beth Or, Raleigh, NC

First Calvary Baptist Church, Salisbury, NC

 

Gethsemane Missionary Baptist, Salisbury, NC

Mount Olive A.M.E. Church, Wilmington, NC

Shiloh Baptist Church, Wilmington, NC

Emmanuel Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, NC

 

 ###

Sent from my iPhone