A note from your priest:

I write to you on the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America. In less than 24 hours President Trump signed executive orders that will have devastating consequences on our most vulnerable neighbors, including many of you in this parish.

Please know that you are not alone. You have a church family that loves you, affirms you, and supports you. You are supported by Epiphany, the Diocese, and the National Church.

This morning the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, delivered the sermon at the Service of Prayer for the Nation at the cathedral.

Near the end of her sermon, Budde directly addressed Trump, who was seated in the front row alongside his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance.

“In the Name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde stated. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”

“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens, or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.

Budde asked Trump “to have mercy” on people “in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing warzones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.

“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land,” she continued. “May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God.”

Earlier in her message, Budde stressed the importance of unity, of respectfully disagreeing with one another, but also expressed concern over what she called “the culture of contempt” and feared “the loss of equality” for some who lose in political debates."

I pray her words and God’s grace find purchase in the hearts and minds of those who need them most.

We are facing a crisis of justice and morality in our country and, yet, I remain hopeful in the knowledge of God’s love for all of creation that will eventually prevail.

Be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted ; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We will go forth into the world in peace together.

Fr. Chaney