A Message from Cindy
What would it look like for PAHSA to start a conversation together about race?
July 15, 2020
What a year 2020 has been so far. I try to be a person of faith who thinks and prepares what to say before speaking (or writing). But, so far this year, between COVID and continued civil unrest around race relations, it’s been difficult to find time to think. The velocity of change and constant need for adaptation seem to eclipse the days, weeks and months. Faced with looming issues, the gaps in my own understanding quickly fill with reticence and deference that cause me to sit quietly with competing values in my lap. I wonder if you have felt the same way?
For weeks now, I have contemplated how PAHSA might respond to the issues around racial justice and reconciliation raised by the senseless death of George Floyd, here in the Twin Cities where I live. As horrific as this particular killing was, even more appalling is the fact that George Floyd was one more in a long line of black people murdered by white people in America. When our cities erupted in protest, aggravated by violence; as we were under curfew while National Guard vehicles drove down my street and helicopters flew over my house in St. Paul, MN, my heart was breaking. These deaths and the following unrest lay bare that, for all the blessings we know as a nation, there remain deep wounds that must be healed, barriers and unjust systems that must be dismantled and personal and collective relationships that must be reconciled. As a Presbyterian minister and in my personal life, I have been engaged in anti-racism for many years. Ask me how I feel, what I’ve heard from sisters and brothers of color, and where I stand, and I will tell you.
BUT - I will not presume to speak on behalf of PAHSA without knowing where our members stand together. Those who know me know that I am not the least bit shy but, over the years, I have learned to be disciplined and check the “hat” I’m wearing before acting. Our association does not have a formal advocacy program or platform on this or other “hot” topics and I don't need to speak out on every social controversy of our times. At the same time, we know the intersection of racism and ageism and its impact on the people who live and work in the senior communities we serve. Underpinning our purpose and faith is the prophetic call to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. Competing values?
What would it look like for PAHSA to start a conversation together about race? How might this conversation help support and equip our members and their leaders? On so many other topics and issues, I have witnessed how the strong relationships among PAHSA members — built on fellowship, trust, and common mission — give courage to share, challenge and even confront when one or more of our members see a better way.
Some of our members are already on this road towards racial justice and reconciliation with intention and strategy. The Presbyterian denominations with which we have relationships have made bold statements and offer good resources. What might we learn from their journeys? I am confident that we can count on these strong relationships to engage in this difficult but important topic.
I'm asking big questions and I don't presume easy answers but I want to imagine PAHSA as common ground where members can talk together on the issues of race and diversity for the benefit of all. As the Strategic Direction Task Force, led by Tim Webster, PAHSA’s board chair, re-starts the discernment process towards our association’s future, I will ask how PAHSA can be a catalyst for member organizations to engage in this and other important public issues from a faith-based perspective and drive meaningful change that emerges from our mission and our faith.
In faith,
Cindy Ray, Executive Director
What a year 2020 has been so far. I try to be a person of faith who thinks and prepares what to say before speaking (or writing). But, so far this year, between COVID and continued civil unrest around race relations, it’s been difficult to find time to think. The velocity of change and constant need for adaptation seem to eclipse the days, weeks and months. Faced with looming issues, the gaps in my own understanding quickly fill with reticence and deference that cause me to sit quietly with competing values in my lap. I wonder if you have felt the same way?
For weeks now, I have contemplated how PAHSA might respond to the issues around racial justice and reconciliation raised by the senseless death of George Floyd, here in the Twin Cities where I live. As horrific as this particular killing was, even more appalling is the fact that George Floyd was one more in a long line of black people murdered by white people in America. When our cities erupted in protest, aggravated by violence; as we were under curfew while National Guard vehicles drove down my street and helicopters flew over my house in St. Paul, MN, my heart was breaking. These deaths and the following unrest lay bare that, for all the blessings we know as a nation, there remain deep wounds that must be healed, barriers and unjust systems that must be dismantled and personal and collective relationships that must be reconciled. As a Presbyterian minister and in my personal life, I have been engaged in anti-racism for many years. Ask me how I feel, what I’ve heard from sisters and brothers of color, and where I stand, and I will tell you.
BUT - I will not presume to speak on behalf of PAHSA without knowing where our members stand together. Those who know me know that I am not the least bit shy but, over the years, I have learned to be disciplined and check the “hat” I’m wearing before acting. Our association does not have a formal advocacy program or platform on this or other “hot” topics and I don't need to speak out on every social controversy of our times. At the same time, we know the intersection of racism and ageism and its impact on the people who live and work in the senior communities we serve. Underpinning our purpose and faith is the prophetic call to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. Competing values?
What would it look like for PAHSA to start a conversation together about race? How might this conversation help support and equip our members and their leaders? On so many other topics and issues, I have witnessed how the strong relationships among PAHSA members — built on fellowship, trust, and common mission — give courage to share, challenge and even confront when one or more of our members see a better way.
Some of our members are already on this road towards racial justice and reconciliation with intention and strategy. The Presbyterian denominations with which we have relationships have made bold statements and offer good resources. What might we learn from their journeys? I am confident that we can count on these strong relationships to engage in this difficult but important topic.
I'm asking big questions and I don't presume easy answers but I want to imagine PAHSA as common ground where members can talk together on the issues of race and diversity for the benefit of all. As the Strategic Direction Task Force, led by Tim Webster, PAHSA’s board chair, re-starts the discernment process towards our association’s future, I will ask how PAHSA can be a catalyst for member organizations to engage in this and other important public issues from a faith-based perspective and drive meaningful change that emerges from our mission and our faith.
In faith,
Cindy Ray, Executive Director
2020 Year in Review
Delivered to the 60th Annual Meeting. May 21, 2020
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." ~Jeremiah 29:11
This scripture has served as PAHSA’s biblical anchor for the past year and girded the theme of our 2019 Spring Conference: “Facing Disruption, Forging Direction.” These words of the prophet Jeremiah are to a group of people held captive; living in exile. He was reminding them that although they’re not where they expected, God has not forgotten them.
A year ago, we reflected on this scripture and how it informed us about God’s activity in our midst. If only we had known. In many ways, as I write this report in mid-May of 2020, I can confidently say that we’re not where we expected. The pandemic is the epitome of disruption. Shelter in place orders, visitor restrictions and cancelled activities probably feel like being in exile to our residents and staff. We may feel held captive by the arbitrary wiles of a tiny virus. But I see more. I watch you navigating unfamiliar territory with no map, yet forging new directions with resilience, swiftness and courage. I know you are working harder, reaching farther and going deeper than you ever imagined. When I see you, I hear of the words of Presbyterian ordination: you are serving with energy, intelligence, imagination and love.
My aim is to reach out to our members when it’s helpful and stay out of the way when it’s not. I keep a daily discipline of prayer for you; naming member organizations, remembering the staff and residents, and you who are their leaders and stewards. Whenever I’m in conversation with a PAHSA member by email, phone, video or in person, I am reminded why PAHSA exists—to form and hold fast our relationships with each other, to be steadfast companions on this journey, to lift and hold each other up, to remember that our work in the service to and company of older adults is a valuable and sacred calling, to seek a more excellent way together, to pray for each other and to remind each other that God has not forgotten us, no matter where we find ourselves.
For 60 years, PAHSA has been a fellowship of leaders committed to serving older adults through mission and faith. While we’re not holding the party we had planned for this landmark anniversary, we can best honor PAHSA’s rich history and promising future by remembering that we stand on the shoulders of leaders who forged the organizations we now serve and that we are now shouldering the way forward. So let us listen again to our spiritual forbearer, Jeremiah, when he assures that God has plans for us, good plans, plans that are filled with a future
and hope.
PAHSA itself is facing challenges in the year ahead caused by COVID-19. I am grateful for the dedicated and wise leadership of our board of directors as we stabilize our programs, finances and operations. I appreciate the grace and forbearance you have extended to me as I make every effort to keep us moving forward. I wonder what our story will be when we hold the 61st Annual Meeting in 2021.
In faith,
Cindy Ray, Executive Director
A year ago, we reflected on this scripture and how it informed us about God’s activity in our midst. If only we had known. In many ways, as I write this report in mid-May of 2020, I can confidently say that we’re not where we expected. The pandemic is the epitome of disruption. Shelter in place orders, visitor restrictions and cancelled activities probably feel like being in exile to our residents and staff. We may feel held captive by the arbitrary wiles of a tiny virus. But I see more. I watch you navigating unfamiliar territory with no map, yet forging new directions with resilience, swiftness and courage. I know you are working harder, reaching farther and going deeper than you ever imagined. When I see you, I hear of the words of Presbyterian ordination: you are serving with energy, intelligence, imagination and love.
My aim is to reach out to our members when it’s helpful and stay out of the way when it’s not. I keep a daily discipline of prayer for you; naming member organizations, remembering the staff and residents, and you who are their leaders and stewards. Whenever I’m in conversation with a PAHSA member by email, phone, video or in person, I am reminded why PAHSA exists—to form and hold fast our relationships with each other, to be steadfast companions on this journey, to lift and hold each other up, to remember that our work in the service to and company of older adults is a valuable and sacred calling, to seek a more excellent way together, to pray for each other and to remind each other that God has not forgotten us, no matter where we find ourselves.
For 60 years, PAHSA has been a fellowship of leaders committed to serving older adults through mission and faith. While we’re not holding the party we had planned for this landmark anniversary, we can best honor PAHSA’s rich history and promising future by remembering that we stand on the shoulders of leaders who forged the organizations we now serve and that we are now shouldering the way forward. So let us listen again to our spiritual forbearer, Jeremiah, when he assures that God has plans for us, good plans, plans that are filled with a future
and hope.
PAHSA itself is facing challenges in the year ahead caused by COVID-19. I am grateful for the dedicated and wise leadership of our board of directors as we stabilize our programs, finances and operations. I appreciate the grace and forbearance you have extended to me as I make every effort to keep us moving forward. I wonder what our story will be when we hold the 61st Annual Meeting in 2021.
In faith,
Cindy Ray, Executive Director
