Please circulate this appeal to clergy you know and to others who will be interested:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I write to my fellow clergy of all faiths today, to invite you to join me on Standing Rock Sioux nation on the banks of the Missouri River on November 3rd.
We will gather to stand witness to water protector’s acts of compassion for God’s creation, and to the transformative power of God’s love to make a way out of no way.
I have been serving 25 years as the supervising priest of the Episcopal churches of Standing Rock in North Dakota. In recent days, the repressive power of the state has increased: armed riot police are guarding ongoing pipeline construction, increased arrests and repression of non-violent prayerful action. At the same time, Oceti Sakowin water protectors have reclaimed land never relinquished by treaty directly in the path of the pipeline and established a new camp.
Our duty as people of faith and clergy could not be clearer: to stand on the side of the oppressed and to pray for God’s mercy in these challenging times.
We need your help at Standing Rock. I invite you to join me and other clergy November 2 and 3. Our vision is a day of protective witness in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and with the water protectors. We will gather Wednesday for non-violence training and fellowship, and on Thursday we will act.
I know this invitation is last-minute. But these are extraordinary circumstances. I hope you will sit in prayer with this request, and I pray that this may be the opening door that you have been searching for to engage with all that is happening here in North Dakota.
If you can join us, please RSVP by clicking this link so we help with travel and other arrangements.
God’s best,
John Floberg+
Please circulate this appeal to clergy you know and to others who will be interested:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I write to my fellow clergy of all faiths today, to invite you to join me on Standing Rock Sioux nation on the banks of the Missouri River on November 3rd.
We will gather to stand witness to water protector’s acts of compassion for God’s creation, and to the transformative power of God’s love to make a way out of no way.
I have been serving 25 years as the supervising priest of the Episcopal churches of Standing Rock in North Dakota. In recent days, the repressive power of the state has increased: armed riot police are guarding ongoing pipeline construction, increased arrests and repression of non-violent prayerful action. At the same time, Oceti Sakowin water protectors have reclaimed land never relinquished by treaty directly in the path of the pipeline and established a new camp.
Our duty as people of faith and clergy could not be clearer: to stand on the side of the oppressed and to pray for God’s mercy in these challenging times.
We need your help at Standing Rock. I invite you to join me and other clergy November 2 and 3. Our vision is a day of protective witness in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and with the water protectors. We will gather Wednesday for non-violence training and fellowship, and on Thursday we will act.
I know this invitation is last-minute. But these are extraordinary circumstances. I hope you will sit in prayer with this request, and I pray that this may be the opening door that you have been searching for to engage with all that is happening here in North Dakota.
If you can join us, please RSVP by clicking this link so we help with travel and other arrangements.
God’s best,
John Floberg+
This call for prayer and solidarity came to us by way of Peter Sawtell, who has this to add:
I am moved to forward this short-notice request for two reasons.
1. The Standing Rock witness is emerging as an exceptionally bold, visible and prophetic witness for tribal rights and climate justice. The Lakota Sioux of Standing Rock, joined by representatives of 200 other tribes, are revealing the way in which our culture’s fixation with oil overwhelms all other concerns — clean water, tribal rights, and a livable climate. The escalating conflict between water protectors and the repressive power of the state echo some of the most momentous events of the US civil rights movement. This is a Kairos moment which must be acknowledged.
2. My conscience has just been stirred by a renewed awareness of the deep historical roots of the conflict about the Dakota Access pipeline. The Smithsonian Magazine that arrived at my home a few days ago has a deeply disturbing article, “Ulysses S. Grant Launched an Illegal War Against the Plains Indians, Then Lied About It”. The article documents the secret and illegal actions of the US government which led to the displacement of the Lakota from reservation lands. The passion of those at Standing Rock, and the justice of their claims, is rooted in this long history of land theft.
I ask that you prayerfully consider the appeal from Rev. Floberg — for yourself, or to pass along to clergy that you know. And in the coming weeks, as you watch news from North Dakota, hold in your prayers the native people and the clergy who stand with them.