(OPINION) A Chicago-area church said it “will not be using any music or liturgy written or composed by white people” during Lent. The First United Church of Oak Park is marking 40 days of “fasting from whiteness.”
“In our worship services throughout Lent, we will not be using any music or liturgy written or composed by white people. Our music will be drawn from the African American spirituals tradition, from South African freedom songs, from Native American traditions, and many, many more,” it said.
“For Lent, it is our prayer that in our spiritual disciplines we may grow as Christians, united in the body of Christ with people of all ages, nations, races, and origins,” the church added. Turning Point USA posted footage of the “Fasting from Whiteness” sign outside the church building, criticizing them for creating “disunity” and moving “back to segregation times.”
The First United Church of Oak Park announced that for 2022 the church would do a mix of ‘giving something up’ and ‘taking something on’ for Lent by not using music written or composed by white people but instead focusing on music from other cultures.
Turning Point USA captured footage of the sign, with the conservative website blasting the stunt for moving America ‘back to segregation times.’ First United has even erected an outdoor sign to promote their choice for the 40-day religious observance despite the fact that the church’s lead pastor, Rev. John Edgerton himself white. Edgerton has form for woke virtue-signaling, and bragged about being arrested for confronting former Utah Senator Orrin Hatch in 2017 about a proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Sharing a photo of himself being led away by a cop on Facebook, he wrote: ‘Thank you for your prayers. I’ve been released and everyone involved is safe. We confronted Senator Orrin Hatch earlier in the day, sharing personal stories of what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would mean, and asking that he share his plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act.
‘He ignored us in the hallway, pretending as if we weren’t there. He ignored a woman named Jamie as she asked him how her three children, now covered under the ACA, will be able to see a doctor. ‘He tried to ignore us, and so we sat in front of his office and refused to leave. We were non-violent and loving and absolutely unashamed.’
