Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Members of Napanee’s Grace United Church showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Sunday with a peaceful sign display on the lawn outside the church at the corner of Bridge and Robert.
Congregation member Diane Remington felt compelled to do something in the wake of George Floyd’s death, in which the 46-year-old black man died while in handcuffs laying face down on the sidewalk as police officer knelt on his neck. Floyd’s death, which has sparked protests around the world and eventually led to the four arresting officers being charged, took place in Minnesota.
With the blessing of Grace United Church Rev. Elaine Kellogg, Remington invited her fellow parishioners to bring signs and display them on the lawn between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., doing so while observing physical distancing protocols.
“I’ve been really pleased with the support of my church community and the community at large, as they were driving by they would honk,” said Remington. “That makes me feel good that at least here we are acknowledging there is a huge problem and there needs to be the conversations that have to happen that will bring about change that we so desperately need.”
Kellogg was happy to support the idea.
“I was really quite touched by some of the signs that people made and brought,” said the reverend. “Some of them are using various Bible verses, some are just talking about justice for black people. One references Martin Luther King Jr.; the sign was just ‘I have a dream’. It was a pretty lovely display.”
She felt it was important her church community’s thoughts on the matter be heard.
“I had been concerned that some churches and some church leaders have said things that are not all that helpful during this time,” said Kellogg. “Some churches don’t say anything, which is also not all that helpful. Some churches have been coopted by voices that do not really have the church’s mission in mind. My understanding of the gospel, we think God’s on the side of justice and that God cares for oppressed people and God is angry at injustice. So let’s say that.”
Kellogg referred to the display not as a protest or a rally, but rather as a witness.
“From a faith perspective, Christians are supposed to be witnesses to Christ and part of that witness is to love the world Christ loves and to love the people that Christ loves,” she added.
As people nailed their signs into the lawn, Grace United’s office administrator Leslie Sweet played the carillon, which could be heard throughout the town.
The sign display will be left up throughout the week and members of the public are invited to add their own Black Lives Matter sign to the collection.
On Friday a separate, yet similar, peaceful display took place at the corner of Bridge and Centre as about 10 people came together to display signs that speak out against racism and call for racial equality.