3. I encourage lay people to speak with clergy if they are not certain where the clergy stand on antisemitism. The healthiest way to go about this is to give them some warning about what the conversation will involve, like “I’d like to set up a time to talk about hate and antisemitism, and what our congregation should be doing about it.”

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2. Lay people need to hear and to know where their clergy stand on issues of hate. If it is Christian clergy, the people really need to know where the clergy stands on antisemitism. People will often assume that the clergy in their congregation are incapable of harboring hate. That should not be assumed; the clergy need to be clear through consistent words and actions where their hearts are.

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Pastor Nakagawa was wrong in this act and his attempts to sugarcoat it are misplaced, deceiving, hurtful, and unconvincing.

What are some lessons we can take from this incident, especially those of us who are involved in the life of a congregation?

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And if you want to read the statement from the conference where the pastor has served, here is a link.

https://www.calpacumc.org/news/statement-regarding-rev-mark-nakagawa/

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I’ll have some comments below.
If you want to jump to a news source, here is a link.

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/jewish-woman-says-she-caught-neighbor-in-act-of-drawing-swastika-on-her-groceries/

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