EVERETT — The banners outside the Everett church were in place well before the Orlando bloodshed.
One has been there for quite some time. It is a rainbow, a nod of support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The other hangs high between the trunks of two tall Evergreens. With white letters on a blue background, it reads: “TO OUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS/BLESSED RAMADAN.”
The latter banner was displayed in recognition of the Muslim holy month, which began June 5 and includes prayer and sunrise to sunset fasting.
They were separate messages encouraging tolerance.
The coincidence that both banners were raised along the same courtyard street corner now seems eerily prescient.
Before it occurred, no one from the Everett United Church of Christ could have conceived of the horror that unfolded in a Florida nightclub a week ago. An American-born Muslim claiming allegiance to ISIS shot more than 100 people at a gay night club. Nearly half died. The FBI has called the attack both an act of terrorism and a hate crime, but is still investigating the motive.
Interim Pastor David Zaworski said he hopes the simple messages outside the church in the 2600 block of Rockefeller Avenue help people understand that “showing support and neighborliness really counts,” as does finding common ground.
“There is so much misunderstanding and misinformation, so much rhetoric and trying to find someone to blame,” Zaworski said. “It’s really important for us to remember we are all in this together.”
Zaworski began filling in as interim pastor in January. The church has been in Everett since 1893. Zaworski said he has been impressed with the congregation’s commitment to service and openness to people from all walks of life.
That includes reaching out to people of different faiths.
“…With Muslims, as with Jews, what we share as the three Abrahamic faiths is so much more important than our differences,” he said.
Zaworski sees ISIS as a collection of warlords luring followers who feel isolated and frustrated in their daily lives.
“So the anti-Islamic rhetoric that comes out is just recruiting for ISIS,” the pastor said.
A good step to counter that is reaching out “to our Muslim neighbors,” he said.
Other United Church of Christ congregations have hung similar banners to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan.
The Rev. John Dorhauer, general minister and national president of the United Church of Christ, supported the Pacific Northwest churches that chose to order the signs.
“As you know, the public narrative about how Christians and Muslims relate to one another is inconsistent with our core beliefs about what the gospel calls us to,” he wrote. “You also know that many of our Muslim neighbors live in constant threat of retribution from Christians who have been taught and told to live in fear of their Muslim neighbor. We have a duty to change that narrative.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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