Nativity scene with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in separate cages

Cheers to the Claremont United Methodist Church

December 12, 2019 | revcom.us

 

From a reader

Cheers to the Claremont United Methodist Church (in Southern California) nativity scene with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in separate cages.  The installation has created a stir with tens of thousands of people discussing it on social media and press all around the world covering it.

This is the same church whose nativity scene in 2013 depicted Trayvon Martin, a Black youth, who was murdered by a vigilante.

Despite the fact that the church has said that this is not a political statement, but a theological statement, it is clear that the scene represents the horror that the Trump/Pence regime has unleashed on immigrants at the border, separating families and putting children in cages.

Rev. Karen Clark Ristine, lead pastor at CUMC, said, “This is a church that has a very long history of helping refugees resettle. It’s a congregation that has regular immigration clinics to help people who want to apply for legal citizenship. So it was just really important for them to live into that part of their tradition.”

Rev. Ristine has come under attack from Trump supporters with her Facebook page being inundated with angry comments and Donald Trump memes.

People from all around the area have come to view the scene and offer their support.  A woman who drove several miles with her husband to see it said, “It brings tears to my eyes, actually.  Because we feel the same way—it’s wrong. So to see it, and to see what this church has been brave enough to do… to just put it out there in front of all of us, I wish more of our churches would do the same thing.”