Photobooth volunteers (Michelle Molitor, Cindy Morgan-Jaffe, Caroline Hill, Carmen Carrera), with Associate Minister Rev. Dr. Susan Newman and Social Justice Minister Cathy Rion Starr.
One couldn’t ignore the Presidential Inauguration here in the nation’s Capitol. So at All Souls Church in Washington, DC, we held our own inaugural ball on Sunday to celebrate all the hard work of the election and to rededicate ourselves to the challenges ahead. As our Senior Minister the Rev. Rob Hardies says, “We’re not just inaugurating a president, we’re inaugurating a people.”
The live band kept the dance floor full as Unitarian Universalists and others dressed in better-than-Sunday-best danced, talked, and laughed with each other. Meanwhile, in the corner of the hall, we captured snapshots of attendees with the President. But this wasn’t just any photobooth! The banner above the (cardboard) President read: “Mr. President, I pledge my commitment to….” Our distinguished guests (aka, congregants) held signs for our priority justice issues. The photobooth added another element of fun to the party (and to coffee hour after worship that morning), but it also reminded us that it’s time to recommit ourselves to build a movement for peace, environmental justice, migrant rights, affordable housing, and more.
The photobooth reminded us that now is not the time to sit idly by, watching to see if Obama can continue the legacy of “Seneca, Selma, and Stonewall,” but rather, now is the time to rededicate ourselves to bending the arc of the universe toward justice, together.
Yes, we plan to deliver the photos to the White House, but more than that, we will follow up with all those who got their photo taken (check out some of our photos here) to make sure they’re engaged with our justice ministries. Together, we will keep working to “inaugurate a people” and to build a movement of spiritually grounded, strategic, and fun-loving people of faith.
In faith,
Cathy Rion Starr
Director of Social Justice Ministries
All Souls Church – Unitarian
