If there’s one thing I know about churches, it’s that we are so darned polite. We’ll shake your hand, welcome you with smiles and preach you a message guaranteed not to ruffle your feathers, often so filled with ambiguous platitudes that you can spend much of the service planning your afternoon trip to the sandbar.

We are so fearful of offending that we sandpaper the rough edges of what our faith demands of us and, instead, busy ourselves with keeping our heads down, planning the next potluck and downplaying the secular chaos around us. We’re adept at sidestepping our commitment to respond to God’s call to work for a society that seeks justice. We’ve been so flabby for so long that the world has branded mainstream believers as impotent.

It is time for Key West churches to end our silence. We must speak our truth to those whose titles and elected positions give them outsized power to determine the destiny of our community.

We know the requirements of our faith; many of us try to live them daily.

But our silence allows others to step forward undeterred.

Our island is home to thousands of immigrants, some documented, some not. We are home to countless LGBTQ men, women and children, some out, some not. We are home to the hungry, the homeless, the sick and the sorrowful.

The fear among our most vulnerable is palpable. Many have no voice, no power to withstand the onslaught of hate and retribution. We must speak and act on their behalf — even when our voices quaver and our knees shake. Our faith demands no less.

I’ve listened to upwards of 4,000 Sunday sermons, even given a couple dozen of my own, taught Sunday School and have held church leadership roles. I’m a fourth-generation Presbyterian and an active member of Peace Covenant here on the island. I’d venture to say that most of my friends and acquaintances don’t know that. More than one has commented, “But you don’t sound or act like the Christians I see in the news.”

I’m part of the problem with mainstream Christians. I’ve known that for a long time. Maybe an example will help. Back in December I wrote a series of columns on Key West hope, peace, love and joy. Y’all liked them; they resonated with you. I know because of the emails and comments.

What I didn’t explain was this: I deliberately used the four pillars of faith on which Advent, the Christian preparation for Christmas, is based. I knew if I told you that, I’d run the risk of alienating both nonbelievers uncomfortable with proselytizing and those folks who look askance at the agendas of “liberal” Christians. I write about Key West, not religion.

Key West churches | We can be silent no longer

And then on Jan. 21, I watched Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde bite her lip and take a deep breath near the end of her sermon at the Washington Cathedral, look directly at Donald Trump and say, “Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now.”

As eyes rolled and faces on the front two rows glowered and shook their heads, Budde listed those who are afraid: LBGTQ families, immigrants without the proper papers, children fearful of losing their parents, those fleeing war zones and persecution.

“Our God,” she continued, “teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and to walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”

The furor that followed was frightening as outraged, self-styled Christians, Christian Nationalists and Trump political supporters assailed her and her message. An apology was in order. Deportation a demand. Removal from her roles in the Episcopal Church required. Her death? Sure, why not?

But beyond the hyperheated, conflict headlines, which the national media adore and to which we are addicted, a time-worn silence has been broken. You’ll have to look harder to find them, but mainstream denominations are standing in solidarity with Budde.

My own, PCUSA, issued this statement on Jan. 27: We stand “in solidarity with Bishop Budde. We condemn the hate-filled rhetoric directed at her and call for an end to such threats. Her witness reminds us of the courage of the women at the tomb who, when the disciples were huddled in fear, were the first to encounter the risen Christ. Christ entrusted them with the message of the Resurrection, charging them to go and tell the good news. It is this tradition of perseverance, bold proclamation and unwavering faith that sustains us today. We honor those who have gone before us, and we stand firm in the Gospel’s call for justice, mercy and love.”

Let us be guided on this un-silent journey together in the knowledge that God calls us to service in the world; that our life together is be ordered in ways that enable all members to flourish; that God calls us to generous stewardship of what we have; that we are to stay alert to the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, and that we respond to God’s call to work for a society that seeks justice.

And the people say, “Amen.”

Learn more

Watch Bishop Budde’s full sermon

Budde’s sermon and Christian Nationalism

PCUSA supports Budde

Trump criticizes Budde