GMP offers post-election message to ‘live love boldly’

The Rev. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, has released a video message inviting people to pause, pray, and prepare to live love boldly in the midst of the 2024 election results.

“Now is a time to pause for prayer, to break from the toxicity of this election cycle, and to gather ourselves for the work that is ahead for us as people of faith,” she said, acknowledging how the “vitriol of the political season” has created pain and brokenness among people.

As Donald Trump was announced the winner of the presidential election, Thompson acknowledged how the nation and church are divided — while some feel concerned for the direction of the Trump Administration and its implications for commitments to justice and caring for one another, others support the elected administration and its direction for the country.

Thompson emphasized the importance of the UCC commitment to work for a just world for all.

“No outcome of the election would deter us from our quest for justice. As people of faith and followers of Jesus, our values and our commitments are not changed by the politics of the day. Instead, we remain called to be advocates for justice and to find ourselves providing solidarity with those whose voices have been silenced, those who find themselves living on the margins of our society, and those whose rights are threatened among us,” she said.

Thompson offered the following prayer:

Holy God, you call us to follow you and to live love boldly. Among us we are feeling a range of emotions – and above all else, an exhaustion from the divisiveness we have experienced. We are yet anxious as we anticipate the aftermath of the election; we wonder what will come next.

Be present with us in the days to come. Guide us, protect us, and direct us as we learn to love you more and seek to live the truth of your comfort, peace, and joy in the days ahead.Grant us vision, courage, and wisdom for the living of these days.

Amen.

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