Leading in Turbulent Times

The weeks since the 2025 United States presidential inauguration have proven a whirlwind for many. Current Berkeley students and alums alike find themselves dealing with new and exacerbated stresses in their own homes, as well as among parishioners and others they care for. Even while managing threats of job loss, gender discrimination, and general unease regarding the future of the church, students strive to comfort one another, seeking and pointing toward strength and hope. Graduates continue to care for the people in their churches, though some find themselves changing their methods and priorities. 

One current student was stunned when her wife was notified that her job assisting unaccompanied minor immigrants was to be cut. “Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised the next day when her boss called to say basically, ‘Surprise, just kidding—you’re back on.’ We’re not exactly sure what happened, we’re just glad to not have this major stress hanging over our heads. The situation is still unstable, but at least now we feel we have time to prepare,” said second-year student Kelly Park. Third-year student, the Rev’d Samantha Christopher, applied for a new passport recently but was shocked when it was delivered. “My previous (issued in 2021) passport correctly labeled me as a woman. My new one labels me a man, a gender which is not only wrong but is also at odds with all my identification—including my Ohio birth certificate,” she says. Christopher encourages people to take action. “Please, don’t just tell trans people how sorry you are. Speak out, make a fuss, call your representatives and senators to ask them to push back on this moral panic, and call out transphobia wherever you see it. We’re depending on you, and we can’t do it without you.”

The Rev’d Jasmine “Jazzy” Bostock ’18 MDiv serves two churches in West Oahu whose members are of conflicting political persuasions. She finds that though she preaches the same purposefully apolitical sermon at both churches weekly, her listeners respond quite differently. She finds herself leaning more than ever into prayer, as well as endeavoring to minimize the amount of bad news she personally takes in. “We have had many discussions recently about how to ‘right-size’ the news - meaning how to stay informed without being swallowed by the ups and downs of the headlines,” she says. “I sense in myself and in the people I serve a weariness from the news cycle and a need for church to be a refuge and sanctuary. I am working on figuring out the rhythm between those two needs in my own life and in my life as a priest.” She notes her need to love those in her congregation and community who voted differently and is curious about efforts other churches are making to build bridges.

The Rev’d Canon Greg Baker ’20 MDiv of Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis has noticed increasing anxiety in his congregation since the inauguration, yet feels what has not changed at all is the actual work of ministry: “preaching Christ crucified and risen, gathering to rejoice at God’s victory over evil and death, and going forth to participate in the fulfillment of God’s promises to liberate the oppressed, feed the hungry, and cast down the mighty from their thrones.”

All Saints in Hoboken, New Jersey supports the Hoboken Shelter, which provided housing to 157 guests in 2024. The Rev’d Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas ’13 MDiv, who serves there as Rector, worries that the federal government’s funding freeze which includes support for shelters like theirs will make it impossible to do so this year. The same concern prevails at The Lighthouse, where people who have been granted asylum in the U.S. find temporary shelter. “Our neighbors live in terror that they will be confronted with ICE agents as they go about their day,” Thomas reports. All Saints has worked to help provide “Know Your Rights” cards to those who may be affected, as well as becoming part of an alert system designed to offer support and witness in the case of ICE raids. “I encourage members to dig deeper with financial support as they are able and to contact decision makers in Washington to advocate on these issues that cause us such concern. I also tell them not to neglect their prayer life. With so much swirling around us, we need to make sure we are rooted in prayer so that we can continue to love and serve our neighbors.”

Rachel Pinti, second-year Berkeley student, concurs. In a recent sermon at her internship parish, she admitted to her own battle with fear in the current situation. “I have spent every day since January 20th glued to news stories and overwhelmed by bombarding information about the unsettling state of the world, international relations, and political strife. In some of my lowest moments just this week, I have thought, ‘I’m only twenty-five. Is this it? Will I know a fulfilling career in economic collapse? Will I know peace if there is war? Will I know closeness to my family if we are apart? Will I, and anybody else, care for the losses of our neighbors as much as we worry about our own losses?’”

For Pinti, the answer lies in choosing to follow the example of Simeon and Anna who, in their response to the arrival of Jesus as an infant in the Temple, demonstrate the pursuit of life. 

“Simeon proclaims Jesus the Messiah and says, ‘For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’” The devout Simeon sees the promise of salvation, light, revelation, glory, and peace in Christ Jesus, and Anna’s model of waiting in prayer for her hope also offers us an example to follow. Rachel concludes, “We ought to be so committed to pursuing life that we find ourselves hanging on to that one crucial bit of history that has not yet repeated itself: Christ’s coming again.” 

As the Rev’d Canon Greg Baker ’20 MDiv reminds us, “We are clear-eyed about the reality that the world was a broken place before the election and will remain so long after the current regime ends, ever in need of grace to mend and heal the wounds of sin. And we are reminding ourselves every day that no matter who holds authority in the halls of power of our nation, we follow one Lord, one King, whose name is Jesus.”