The Southern Peace and Justice Center has been a tiny seed of an idea for 5 years while Open Door toiled to Raise the Roof. In the last month that tiny seed has sprouted and started to grow. This week Reva Brooks and Rhoda Byler Yoder got together at a coffee shop. In two hours they outlined a Center education program to help teenagers who are not succeeding…
In September, I was part of a tour hosted by Mennonite Central Committee Central States, where we spent time learning from the Mennonites in Oklahoma who are Cheyene. It was a lovely trip, and if we were sitting down across from each other, I would love to talk about it for ages. But the thing that has stuck with me, and the point of this letter, is how…
Note: The following was used in our worship service on 10/29/2023. God of every place, God of every people We lift our eyes, our hearts, our voices to you In our grief In our pain In solidarity with victims of violence We have no other hope. We say your name: Creator Spirit. Father of All. God of peace. God of justice. Liberator. God of every place, God of…
Pastor Hugh continues on a series as we explore passages of scripture that lead us to be a certain kind of church. This week we are talking about power and privilege, and what we do with it when we have it. The text this week is from Luke 16:19-31 “This man, this rich, privileged man, is so used to being in control that when he is being tortured…
In the month of October, Open Door is going through a process of discernment as we look both at the past 50 years of ministry and the future before us. As a result, our services are a little different this month. We are using the sermon as launching points for a time of discussion. Because these are often highly personal conversations, we are only streaming the sermon portion,…
On September 24th of 2023, Open Door celebrated 50 years of ministry in Jackson. We also recognized Pastor Horace for his 18 years of service and blessed him as he leaves us to pursue new ministry opportunities elsewhere.…