I am the pastor of the Sunderland and Hatfield Congregational Churches. The Hatfield church has a stained-glass window of Jesus knocking at the door. It is the only window facing Main Street and the only one illuminated at night. It preaches silently to those outside the church building that Jesus asks to be involved in their world.
The church is in the Christmas/Epiphany Season. At this time of year, we share a message like that of the stained-glass window as we repeat the angel’s message to Bethlehem’s shepherds of “good news of great joy for all the people.”
In this same spirit, the Sunderland church will host a Martin Luther King Jr. Day program presented by the Sunderland Human Rights Task Force. We do so to honor the good Reverend’s work. His faith inspired his political activism, empowered his opposition to prejudice and poverty, and gifted him with the hope that he could help make the world better for all.
King recognized what W.E.B. Du Bois called the “color line.” It consigned Blacks to generational poverty, but King also realized that poverty crossed racial lines. Prejudice is manipulated cynically to set the poor against the poor to keep them poor. One of the most famous moments of the civil rights movement is Rev. King’s “I have a dream” speech. This speech was delivered during The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It protests both racism and poverty, and King finishes with a prayer hoping for “when all of God’s children … are free at last.”
It is easy to scan Scripture to find proof-texts uplifting the poor and excoriating wealth, but some who read the same text insist that these are meant only to encourage acts of freely chosen generosity. In other words, poverty is not a governmental concern that may be remedied by imposed taxes or programs. I wholly disagree with this interpretation. However, such a discussion will devolve into a blue vs. red debate that is unlikely to change anyone’s mind. What we witness now, though, is not a disinterested government. It is one that actively favors the rich at the expense of the poor. Nowhere does Scripture sanction such intentional greed.
The government, for instance, denies the science of climate change, and dismantles the governmental programs that would confirm it. Fires, storms, tornadoes, heat, rising water levels, drought will impact the poor disproportionately, but the government will ensure that oil companies do just fine, even if we must invade an oil-rich nation.
Haphazardly the government slashed funding for the poor worldwide and domestically, removing safety nets that sustained those most in need. A staggering increase in health care premiums threatening the health of 22 million Americans was barely averted against leadership wishes.
Two days before Christmas, NEPM aired an interview with Mary Cowhey from Northampton. She spoke of the panic she still feels based on her childhood hunger and the lasting physical ailments caused by it. Hers is a local story representing the multitudes who suffer and die because of our federal government’s intentional disregard for those in need, but a pretentious golden ballroom receives ridiculous money.
The government is offering the Trump Gold Card to those who can pay $1 million. This grants the wealthy expedited treatment, while the visa lottery, officially known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, is suspended. In 2025 alone, three immigrants claimed Nobel Prizes in science for the United States. However, experts warn that immigration crackdowns and “America First” could undo American innovation and end U.S. prosperity.
The government has targeted DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) everywhere, including college applications. Even a phrase like “overcoming obstacles” is held suspect because of this. How many potential Nobel laureates are being denied access to higher education in the United States because they can’t afford a Trump Gold Card or because life is hard?
The government has masked ICE officers on our streets arresting the poor and using lethal force to do so. It was claimed they would go after hardened criminals. Instead, they’re grabbing the poor and the Brown and killing a young mother, but presidential pardons are handed out to a drug lord and others wealthy enough to afford them.
Are we returning to an aristocracy where people are born into a forever social class? Roughly 70% of Americans say they don’t believe in the American dream. Opportunity is being excised from people’s lives. Young people are delaying marriage and having children because of the future they see. Mitt Romney has written that the government better reverse course and tax the rich before this hopelessness leads to violence. Ignoring poverty doesn’t make it disappear; it makes it angry.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Rev. King went off script and moved by the Spirit declared, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” That all is our founding national principle and a repeated Scriptural teaching, and it is why we celebrate and continue King’s struggle against prejudice and intentional poverty.
The First Congregational Church of Sunderland, United Church of Christ, is at 91 S. Main St. Sunday Services at 11 a.m. MLK Jr. Day program at 9 a.m. and all are welcome. Community Eats, building a community one meal at a time, is served at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 13, March 13, April 10, May 8 and June 12. Call 665-3068 for reservations. The church’s website and Facebook page are found under First Congregational Church of Sunderland. If you wish to reach Rev. Randy Calvo, email randyc1897@gmail.com. We are an official “Open and Affirming” congregation. When we say, “All are welcome here,” we mean it.