Reproductive Justice

At Middle Church, we believe abortion is healthcare and access is a basic right. We also believe abortion isn’t just essential healthcare. It’s also essential religious liberty. The Supreme court decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade is grotesque and violent and a continued attack on bodily autonomy. Religious organizations have orchestrated a decades-long attempt to legislate their religious beliefs—turning people’s personhood into a battleground for political warfare. The war on abortion is about race, sexuality and gender. This attack on our bodies is intersectional and demands truth, justice and liberation as a collective action. People deserve to decide whether they create a new human. No state should be able to pass laws restricting that right.

APPDIA Justice

Racism is public desecration. God loves Asian and Pacific Islander people, and weeps at rising anti-Asian violence: Each racist attack tears what God created, blessed and named good. We mourn with the Asian community in the wake of the heinous terrorism in Atlanta: We must name and uproot this evil. And it’s doubly despicable that this present wave of violence was stoked by bigoted government officials who have erroneously blamed Asian people for COVID-19; betrayal by the very people who are supposed to keep us safe. At Middle Church, we know that we are all responsible for fighting hatred in every form, and we are committed to standing with our Asian congregants, neighbors and friends to eradicate this evil. We love you! We are you! You are not alone. We are here for all of us.

Economic Justice

At Middle Church we understand that economic justice, racial justice, and LGBTQIA+/gender justice are inextricably bound together. We are a proud partner in the Poor People’s Campaign. We’ve partnered with key organizations to work for a living wage and paid family leave. Before Covid, we partnered with Momentum to offer two hot meals on Mondays and a food pantry, and we continue to work with local organizations to feed the community.

We prepare and deliver brown bag lunches to the hungry people in local parks on Sundays. Our annual Children’s Sabbath helps us to focus on issues affecting children, especially poverty. We supported the Occupy movement by feeding and housing protesters. We stand with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Fight for 15 in demanding fair wages. And we understand that poverty and homelessness are systemic issues, not something charity can solve.

Our circumstances have changed, but God’s call has not. As government continues to abandon the most vulnerable in our midst, and nearly 40% of households are at risk of eviction, we know that God is calling us to do whatever we can to address financial need in our community. Because of this, we have created both a Deacon’s Fund for small grants, and a $100,000 Cancel Rent/Cancel Mortgage Program to help people stay in their homes. We also created a $100,000 Black Lives Matter fund to fuel crucial antiracist organizing and education.

We follow Jesus’ ministry, who both gave direct assistance to people who were suffering even as he took action to address that suffering at its source. His work was both individual and systemic, and ours must be too.

The Fresh Food for Seniors program:

Access to affordable healthy food is a serious problem for New Yorkers. Erik Bottcher, New York City Council Member District 3, is offering free fresh food for seniors. For more information and access to this program email, district3@council.nyc.gov.

Immigration Justice

At Middle we agree with Gloria Anzaldúa, who describes the border as una herida abierta—an open wound. Our ministers have traveled to U.S. Mexico border, and have witnessed firsthand the trauma and suffering our policies create in Tijuana refugee camps. And we proclaim our faith in a brown, Palestinian refugee baby whose parents sought asylum in Egypt. We tell the story of Moses, who began life as an unaccompanied minor. And our faith convicts and compels us to act until every stranger is welcomed with love.

Borders are a violation of God’s and no human is illegal.Our borders and immigration laws are violence. Far from making our communities safer—they tear them apart. So we organize with groups like New Sanctuary NYC to abolish ICE, and free our neighbors from their terror. We hope you’ll join us. And our ¡Hablamos! group offers other great ways to get involved in immigration advocacy!

Ecological Justice

At Middle, we know that God created us to be in loving relationship with our human and non-human kin alike. We affirm the personhood of rivers, plants and animals, and seek to construct faith that honors our place among them. We reject the fundamental racism that has transformed communities of color into environmental sacrifice zones. And we know that true climate solutions will be found outside capitalism.

Middle Church has responded in real time on the ground through organizing, rebuilding, fundraising, and advocacy after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Sandy in New York City and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. We know that climate change disproportionately harms people of color and the poor, and center intersectional ecological efforts. We see how environmental degradation, racism, and poverty are interconnected. And we seek structural change. Our children and our senior minister have preached about climate change and creation care, confirming our long-term commitment. We can all do better to reduce our footprint, and Middle Church is committed to doing so.