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We are asking our Membership to affirm this letter of public witness, written by our Board.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere… Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963).
“The church… must not simply bandage the victims under the wheel, but jam a spoke into the wheel itself.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Church and the Jewish Question” (1933).
Throughout its history, the Christian Church has recognized its sin in social and political affairs and sought a more faithful future. In light of rising authoritarianism and political violence in America, the perversion of the Christian faith by Christian Nationalism, and the temptation for Christians to align themselves with worldly power, we are compelled to raise our voices as one.
We, the members of Riverfront Family Church, speak as followers of Jesus and as American Baptists. We confess that the church has often failed in public life. We also claim our own tradition of confessing and resisting when the gospel is bent to serve unjust power. In 1934, confessing Christians gathered at Barmen to declare that the church belongs to Christ alone: “Jesus Christ … is the one Word of God which we have to hear … trust and obey.” They also drew a bright line against state idolatry: “We reject the false doctrine … [that] the state … should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life.”
In 1985, South African Christians issued the Kairos Document and began with a summons we feel again today: “The time has come. The moment of truth has arrived.” They insisted that peace cannot bypass justice: “No reconciliation is possible … without justice.” These witnesses teach us to test politics by the gospel—not bend the gospel to politics.
Our biblical grounding:
• Scripture sets the plumb line.
• God announces good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed (Luke 4:18–19).
• The Lord requires justice, mercy, and humble walking (Micah 6:8).
• Let justice roll down like waters (Amos 5:24).
• We wrestle “not against flesh and blood” but against “the powers and principalities” (Ephesians 6:12).
• We honor the image of God in every person (Genesis 1:26–27; James 3:9–10)
• We confess that in Christ we belong to one another (Galatians 3:28).
Our Baptist convictions:
As American Baptists, we cherish religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and the separation of church and state. A free church in a free state protects faith from state control and protects the public square from religious coercion. Any movement—left or right—that seeks state privilege for religion, suppresses dissent, or coerces conscience contradicts our faith and Baptist history.
We affirm human dignity as a basic right and reject prejudice in all its forms—including racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, sexism, and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Our Baptist policy statements commit us to human rights and denominational inclusiveness that “devalue no person.” We apply those commitments today to defend our transgender siblings’ safety, dignity, and full participation in civic life.
The present challenge:
Our struggle is not with individuals. We resist the powers and patterns that deform public life:
• Christian nationalism that seeks to merge state power with religious identity.
• Contempt for truth through disinformation and grievance politics.
• Authoritarian tactics that excuse political violence and undermine free elections.
• Policies that target immigrants and religious or racial minorities, restrict voting, or punish critics.
• Rhetoric and beliefs that perpetuate white supremacy and racism.
• Laws and practices that erase or endanger LGBTQ+ neighbors—especially transgender people— through discrimination, denial of healthcare, and public harassment.
Our commitments
Because Jesus is Lord—and because love is the measure of public faith—we commit to:
• Tell the truth. We reject conspiracy and dehumanizing speech; we practice truth-telling that builds trust. (Ephesians 4:25)
• Protect conscience and religious liberty for all. We oppose any fusion of church and state and any state use of religion to harm minorities.
• Defend democracy (“people-power”). We reject political violence and support the peaceful transfer of power, free and fair elections, and equal access to the vote. (Romans 13 read with Acts 5:29)
• Pursue racial justice. We dismantle white supremacist racist systems that perpetuate inequality in law, economy, education, and public safety.
• Welcome the stranger. We advocate humane immigration policy and the safety of immigrant families and houses of worship. (Leviticus 19:33–34; Matthew 25:35–40)
• Honor the image of God in LGBTQ+ neighbors. We stand against discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and public services. We speak and act for the dignity and safety of transgender people in particular. (Genesis 1:26–27; Galatians 3:28)
• Practice courageous love. We confront harmful powers while refusing to hate people. We seek justice with mercy, strength with humility. (Romans 12:9–21; Mark 10:42–45)
Our appeal to the church and to neighbors
We call Christians—and all people of good will—to reject politics built on resentment and fear, and to choose a public life shaped by the life and teaching of Jesus. We call congregations to pray, preach, disciple, and act in ways that align with core Christian commitments to religious liberty, human rights, and the refusal of prejudice. This is not a campaign against persons. This is a witness against the powers that harm our neighbors and our common life. We pledge to live this out here in Hartford: showing up for our neighbors, telling the truth, protecting conscience, sheltering the vulnerable, and doing justice with joy. By God’s grace, we will be known more for what we build than what we oppose—and we will oppose only what crushes people God loves.
— Members of Riverfront Family Church, Hartford, Connecticut
- Pastor Ben
- Apr 24
Easter is a joyful celebration—the tomb is empty, and Jesus is risen. But after the excitement, we might find ourselves asking, "So what now?" At Riverfront Family Church, we're answering that question by choosing Radical Love.
Radical Love isn't just a nice sentiment. It’s a commitment to embody the kind of inclusive, sacrificial, unconditional love Jesus showed us. This means living out our faith practically, through hospitality, peace, and healing.
Radical Hospitality at Riverfront is about making everyone feel seen, welcomed, and valued—not as guests, but as family. It’s the kind of welcome that changes lives, like when a weary mom named Wanessa found comfort at our restaurant, Fire by Forge. After a tough day with her daughter hospitalized, the kindness of our staff transformed her evening. Hospitality is turning strangers into family, honoring every person’s story, and surprising them with how deeply they matter.
Peace for us means active peacemaking—working for justice and reconciliation in a wounded world. Our friends at COMPASS Youth Collaborative and Homeboy Industries model this beautifully, stepping bravely into moments of tension, offering hope and belonging. Real peace isn’t passive. It engages boldly, affirming that every life has value and every person deserves another chance.
Healing acknowledges we all carry wounds. At Riverfront, healing is a community effort—honest, messy, and transformative. Inspired by the spiritual depth of the 12-Step movement, we explore deeper ways to become fully alive and whole. Healing is about walking together, recognizing that our wounds are not the end of our stories.
Ten years from now, we dream of a community transformed by Radical Love—where diverse stories are celebrated, peace is actively built, and healing is continuously pursued. A place where everyone truly belongs.
Because resurrection isn't just an Easter story. It’s our daily practice. It’s how we love, heal, and make peace.
So, what now? Let’s keep loving, rising, and becoming the resurrection people we're called to be—today, and every day.
- Pastor Ben
- Jul 3, 2023
This past Sunday, as part of our "Semper Reformda: Always Reforming" series, I shared with you all, virtually verbatim, a dream for our church that I share back in 2016. I have shared and preached this dream/vision virtually every year since then. I do that because I believe it captures something true about how our heart beats as a church.
As we struggle and wrestle and seek the winds of the Spirit for our next season as a church, I don't think we need a new vision or dream --- we have that, it is part of our DNA, it is core to we are as a church.
What we need is to discern what form our ministry and community will take in the coming year and years in order to together move the reality of RFC closer to our dream for RFC.
We will be spending most of our Summer Sundays focused on this question. No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, and no matter what your current relationship and involvement with RFC is, I invite you to be part of the faithful community trying to enflesh our dream.
OUR DREAM FOR THE CHURCH:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
You know that is still happening today. What was true then is true now. The Holy Spirit hasn’t stopped working, hasn’t stopped moving, hasn’t stopped inspiring. And young men and women will see visions and old men and women will dream dreams.
And we are still dreaming dreams and seeing visions here at RFC. We are.
Did you know that we -- Jen, Liza and I -- get together for 2-3 hours every Tuesday morning and we dream dreams. We gather with the Board and see visions. We sit with Pastor Nancy and pass emails back and forth full of dreams and visions for this church in our day.
But we aren’t dreaming big dreams any more. No, we are dreaming small dreams for us and our church and our community.
We dream of a church that gathers -- devoted to the apostles' teachings, to the breaking of bread, to doing life together, and deep abiding and listening to prayer.
We dream of a church where people share with each other and help each other in practical ways -- as needs arise. A church where people are filled with awe and praise whenever they gather.
We’re dreaming not of a church with massive Sunday services, but small huddles scattered throughout the community. We’re dreaming of a church that is not about revolution, but revelation, where miracles are normal and small changes and breakthroughs are celebrated.
We dream of a church that is as diverse as the Kingdom of God. All ages and colors and genders and orientations. We dream of a church where kids encounter Jesus every day and parents are growing in their love of God and singles are finding real community and [those who have experienced great loss] are embraced and cared for. Where [children who need forever parents] discover their families and where our broader family embraces every one of the lost, least, lonely and forgotten in our community.
We dream of a church that creates safe places for people to seek after God -- black and white, old and young, men and women, gay and straight, cis-gendered and trans-gendered, the able and differently abled -- one family, one church, one God we worship.
We dream of a church that will be known for our love and our grace and our pursuit of truth -- for our generosity to our neighbors and those less fortunate and less resourced.
We dream of a church -- that doesn't fill stadiums but ignites a viral movement of the Holy Spirit in our day. A movement of hope and healing and restoration and reconciliation.
We dream these dreams because we believe that what was true then can be true now. Because we believe an Acts 2 church can happen in Hartford CT in our day just as it happened in Jerusalem in 33 AD. We dream because we have tasted and we believe and we long for all that God has promised for us.
We dream because we believe… that because of Pentecost… because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in our day.. That we can go forth into the world full of faith in a God who loves us all, following Jesus our Lord, striving towards good, loving one another, rejoicing in God’s Presence, and using our gifts to make earth more like heaven.
We hope and pray that you will dream this dream with us...
