State Senator Art Haywood (D-4) commends the Unitarian Soceity of Germantown's legacy of working to end oppression on Sunday, May 15, at an event culminating the church's 150th anniversary celebration. (Photo by Sue Ann Rybak)

by Sue Ann Rybak

State Senator Art Haywood (D-4) praised the Unitarian Society of Germantown's legacy of working to end slavery and other social injustices at an event culminating the church's150th anniversary celebration on Sunday, May 15.

According to the church's website http://usguu.org/mission-values-goals, the core values of the Unitarian Society of Germantown, at 6511 Lincoln Drive in Mt. Airy, include the belief in the “interconnectedness of life” and the conviction that human beings have an “obligation to care” and “speak up in the search for justice and healing.”

Haywood, who was the keynote speaker at the event, asked the congregation, “What do we owe to each other?” Then, he told them a story about an 18-year-old woman who was hiking in the woods with two friends, when she wandered off the trail and became lost.

The senator said her friends immediately reported that the woman was missing and a rescue team was dispatched to try and find her. He added that after a long and extensive search, the rescue team located the woman.

“She was freezing, cold and hungry, but eventually she was found and reunited with her friends and family,” he said. “We have all heard stories of people being rescued.”

He said, in almost every case, someone reported the person missing and a rescue team was sent out to find them and reunite them with the community.

“Today, there is a deep need for folks to be rescued,” Haywood said.

He explained that many people are separated from the community by extreme poverty, discrimination and oppression.

“In the legislature, we look at this question of 'What do we owe each other,' Haywood said.

He said low-income wage workers, victims of gun violence, victims of domestic abuse, and LGBT employees, who can be fired based on their sexual orientation, are excluded from the community.

“They are outside,” he said. “They need to be rescued. The question is: 'Do we send a rescue mission for them?' We do not. The legislature in general does not have a rescue mission for the victims of gun violence, for low-income workers and for struggling inner city schools.

“We do have a rescue mission. We owe that to each other to rescue those who are oppressed. I know that this church believes that we owe it to each other to rescue those who are oppressed. You have a history of it – 150-years of working to abolish slavery – one of the greatest acts of separating one from another. That establishment took many centuries and cost many lives as Bishop Tutu said, 'Not all saw the ultimate outcome.'”

He said the church recognized that slavery was wrong – and more importantly – that action needed to be taken.

“This is who you have been, and I believe this is who you are now,” Haywood said.

He encouraged the congregation to continue to take action by calling and emailing their elected representatives and officials and urging them to pass legislation to raise the minimum wage, prevent gun violence, finance schools and address mass incarceration. Haywood asked them to reach out to family and friends who live outside of Philadelphia to encourage them to ask their legislatures to raise the minimum wage.

“You have a relationship with the people we need to bring about change in Pennsylvania,” Haywood said. “I am not asking you to go to Alabama or Georgia. I am asking you to reach out to people you already know. This Tuesday, May 17, is Raise the Wage PA. You can make a difference by contacting your elected officials and asking them to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.

“I know this church has been here before, and I ask you only one thing – send out rescue teams.”

The Rev. Kent Matthies, pastor at the Unitarian Society of Germantown, recalled the words of the Rev. Dr. William Lawrence Sullivan, a Jesuit priest who later became an Unitarian minister and pastor at the Unitarian Society of Germantown.

“Love is not simply an 'affair' of the heart,” he said. “It is the heart's all consuming business, it's whole cycle of peril, peace, its statesmanship and warfare.

“Love is the heart's commonwealth and kingdom, its ever-and-ever, its election, redemption, and salvation.”

Matthies concluded the service by saying, “As we go forward into this day, may we fully engage in life-affirming and lifesaving acts of love.”