Dear Nashville neighbors,
We wish to send you words of friendship on the day that you gather for Friday prayers in the mosques of our city. We pray that the Holy One may bless you, and that together and in our own respective ways, our communities of faith may be a blessing for our city.
We are deeply disturbed by the foolish and hateful words spoken in recent days by prominent members of the American public, particularly with regard to refugees fleeing the violence in Syria and to Muslims in general. We will not allow this dangerous rhetoric to divide us. We stand with you for a better vision of our country and our city, and ultimately for a better vision of our world, a vision of peace.
As men and women who follow Jesus and seek to honor him as our brother and Lord, we are called to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves. We are not free to choose who is or is not our neighbor, but rather must seek to be and act like a neighbor toward every human being.
We are grateful that we live with you, work with you, and worship with you in this city, and we believe that our different ways of honoring the divine with lives of holiness and righteousness make our city better and stronger. We are committed to continuing to pursue peace, promote better understanding among our communities, and pursue justice in all that we do.
In solidarity and friendship,
Thomas Kleinert
Senior Minister
Lise Matthews
Co-Chair of the Board
Jeff Miller
Co-Chair of the Board
Stephen Moseley
Chair Elect of the Board
This letter from Vine Street Christian Church was sent today to mosques in our city.