Join us on Thursday, May 4, 2017 from 7pm to 9pm at Bethany Baptist Church on 275 West Market St, Newark, NJ as we gather together with faith and community leaders to send a powerful message that our prophetic voices will sound as one against injustice and oppression. Together we will say, “No One Stands or Fights Alone.”

Members of many faith traditions will be sharing, testifying, and advocating to advance immigration reform, racial and socio-economic justice towards the realization of the beloved community. Lift up your voice so that our community, public officials and families can hear our prophetic witness during this time of “irrational emotionalism and social destruction.”

Register today https://noonestandsorfightsalone.eventbrite.com/

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, “Where Do We Go From Here,” said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels inevitability. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

Ours is a time for vigorous and positive action. Ours is a time of resistance. So many people, from seasoned organizers to first time demonstrators, have taken to the streets, picked up the phone to call elected officials, and begun the long sojourn of four to eight years of faithful resistance.

As people of faith, we have a moral imperative to give voice to the voiceless, stand for those who have been beaten down, and shine light into those places of darkness in our communities.

Faith in New Jersey has had a leading role in providing outlets for religious leaders and faith communities to live out their moral mandate to embrace the stranger and care for the immigrant, the refugee, the forgotten, and the disenfranchised. From organizing sanctuary cities, congregations, and communities of support to bringing over one-hundred and fifty clergy, US senators, and people of conscience together to help stay the deportation of Catalino Guerrero, an undocumented immigrant from Union City, NJ who has lived in the US for over twenty years, Faith in NJ has embraced King’s call for vigorous and positive action.

In the spirit of resistance,

Pastor Heyward D. Wiggins, President of Faith in New Jersey
Rabbi Ariann Weitzman of Congregation Beth El of Monclair
Pastor Susan Friedly of Calvin Presbyterian Church of Linden
Imam Saffet A. Catovic, Drew University, Madison
Rabbi Elliott Temperman of B’nai Keshet of Montclair
Pastor Timothy Jones of Bethany Baptist of Newark
Rabbi Robert Wolkoff of Congregation Bnai Tikvah in North Brunswick
Father John Mennell of St. Luke Episcopal Church of Montclair
Rabbi Joel N. Abraham of Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains
Pastor Carmine Pernini of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rahway
Imam Raouf Zaman of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County in Piscataway
Father J.Brent Bates of Grace Church in Newark
Rabbi David Greenstein of Shomrei Emunah of Montclair
Rev. Herbert Thomas of St. John’s Baptist Church
Rabbi Jesse Olitzky of Congregational Beth El in South Orange
Pastor David Ford of St. Matthews Baptist Church in Roselle
Rabbi Philip Bazeley of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick
Pastor Kathryn Irwin of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Nutley
Rabbi Eric Rosin of Neve Shalom in Metuchen
Father Timothy Graff of Saint Joseph Church in Bogota
Rev. Dámaris E. Ortega, Pastor of United Church of Christ in Plainfield
Rabbi Bennett Miller of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick
Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz of Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston