• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • United Church of Christ News
  • Long Island pastor recalls life-changing advice from Desmond Tutu
Tutu&LongIslandChurchBldg

Long Island pastor recalls life-changing advice from Desmond Tutu

by Dwight Lee Wolter | published on Dec 29, 2021

In November, 2008, in the Village of Patchogue, Long Island, Marcelo Lucero, an unarmed, undocumented, 37-year-old immigrant became a hate crime murder victim at the hands of seven boys from the local high school. 

The Congregational Church of Patchogue, United Church of Christ, Patchogue, Long Island, N.Y.

I presided at Lucero’s funeral at the Congregational Church of Patchogue, where I am still pastor. A week later, our church invited alleged hate crime victims to come to our ‘safe sanctuary’ to tell their stories. Latino persons had, for years, felt unsafe to report crimes to the police for fear of harassment or deportation. 

While we were arranging this opportunity for people to tell their stories, some organizers demanded the police – long suspected of allowing violent attacks – should not be permitted to attend. Some said they would even block the doors of the church to keep the police and their commissioner out. I believed it was dangerous to exclude those who would be called to testify in court, while they continued to patrol the streets.  

The people were due at the church to tell their stories that night! We were at a standstill with the potential for a violent explosion of rage and frustration.  

I thought of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the painful stories shared at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. I thought of his Nobel Peace Prize. I knew his literary agent who located him, asleep in a London hotel, and delivered my urgent message. He responded almost immediately. His comments helped defuse a potentially violent situation, and helped resolved the impasse:   

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Oct. 7, 1931 – Dec. 26, 2021
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Dear Dwight, 

I have heard of your decision to welcome the victims of crimes… to come into the Congregational Church of Patchogue to tell their story in a safe and supportive environment.  I believe this process will result in a form of healing and justice that may not come solely from a court of law. 

I commend the actions of your church and community to seek restorative justice that will focus on truth-telling, healing broken relationships, the restoration of trust, and the re-integration of all sides within your community.  I strongly invite all parties, including the police, to the table to hear the stories of the victims.  This is difficult work, but work that must be done.  I am praying for you all, the victims and the perpetrators, and their families and friends. 

God bless you all, Archbishop Desmond Tutu 

The Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter

All were welcomed to the event. The stories were recorded in confidence by an NPR reporter. The testimonies involved violence, housing discrimination, labor violations, theft, threats, and more. The audio tapes were subpoenaed by a grand jury. A two-year investigation by the Department of Justice resulted in 100 demands for change.  Things are better. 

As we await the funeral of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I am mindful that peace has enemies, but it also has friends; that advocates of peace may become targets of hate; and that, ultimately, love wins.  

The Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter is senior pastor of the Congregational Church of Patchogue, Patchogue, New York.

Categories: United Church of Christ News

Get the UCC in your inbox!

Sign up for the weekly UCC News Digest

Privacy Policy
 
 

Related News

United Church of Christ News

UCC leaders grieve deaths in Nashville school shooting, urge gun reform now

The United Church of Christ National Officers publicly mourn the deaths of three children and...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

Antoinette Brown Society offering limited-time free ticket to award ceremony with $25 donation

As Women’s History Month wraps up, the Antoinette Brown Society is offering a limited-time...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

Two Conferences call for Synod response to ‘plastic pandemic’

The 2023 General Synod of the United Church of Christ will consider 17 resolutions...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative