A Love Letter to Our Clergy-Servants, Forgive Us! From the Heart of Lay Persons

By Sis. Cynthia Gordon-Floyd, Contributing Writer and Sis. Penny Oliver

We acknowledge our silence as we sat with you in Nashville, Tennessee, in December 2021 as you listened to the Department of Retirement Services report that 66% of your retirement savings was gone. We sat with you in disbelief. We sat in silence.

We acknowledge our silence.

We acknowledge our silence, as we have asked you to constantly be attentive to our needs, pain, and struggles. Yet, whenyou needed us to be attentive to your needs, your pain, and your struggles, we sat by quietly and followed behind those who led us to this egregious loss.

We acknowledge our silence as we have gathered and financially supported celebrations for episcopal leadership while refusing to speak out against celebrating in a time of extreme loss and uncertainty for the church as a whole.

Forgive us.

Forgive us for our thoughtlessness, as we have participated in raising money for the few and making plans to help the “less fortunate,” while our own retired clergy family seeks employment at 75 years of age to have money to put food on their table, or as the clergy widow(oer) applies for government assistance to afford their medication. You should be our most pressing cause for raising money.

Forgive us for our silence as we sat by and allowed those who have failed in their leadership responsibilities to paint those who were forced to pursue legal remedies as traitors and enemies of the church when it was them who failed to protect your future by mismanaging your retirement legacy that you worked decades to receive.

Forgive us for our selfishness as we sat in our pews, allowing you to preach, teach, console, and love on us with a broken heart and a disturbed spirit. Forgive us for not praying aloud for you each day that the Lord would continue to keep you and strengthen you as you continue to serve with a broken heart.

Forgive us for gathering as delegates at the General Conference and allowing those presiding and on the floor to contort the operation of the quadrennial body for the benefit of the few with the labor and funding of the many. We should gather for the good of the church body – nothing more or less.

Forgive us for our weakness. We have not prayed, fasted, or studied the Word enough to be bold enough to stand flat-footed for what is right, trusting that the LORD will fight our battles.

We stand in love, care, concern, and solidarity with all clergy-servants who have experienced the loss of 66% of their retirement savings and retirement income. Our hearts ache as we recognize the years of sacrifice, service, and loyalty of our clergy-servants, who have preached the unadulterated Word of God, served the needy, visited the sick, eulogized members (including their own loved ones), and baptized our children. We want it known that we love our clergy-servants and grieve with them through this horrific loss.

Forgive us; we will not be silent any longer.