Some places of worship shy away from discussion of social, political and human rights issues in their congregations, while others dive into advocacy for groups such as immigrants, the LGBT community and Indigenous people.

Following the police killing of George Floyd and with ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, many faith leaders are reflecting on their role in advancing the national movement on racial justice — though for some, this is nothing new.

This was the topic at an event that Old Saybrook March for Justice held July 8, with the Rev. Jack Madry and David W. Good as featured speakers.

Longtime friends, Madry is the pastor of Madry Temple Church, a predominantly Black congregation in New London, and Good was the senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, a predominantly white church, before retiring in 2012.

Along with current First Congregational Senior Minister Steve Jungkeit and New London City Councilor Kevin Booker Jr., Madry and Good have been holding Zoom calls recently with a focus on "building bridges" between the churches, and between urban and suburban communities.

"We have to get out of our comfort zone of 'This is my church, this is your church,'" Madry said, adding that it's "imperative that the churches must involve themselves in churches of different cultures, whether they're Jewish, whether they're Christian, whether they're Muslim."

He rejects the notion that religion and politics don't go together, speaking of how the Gospel tells people to provide for their brothers and questioning how the political system can be used to provide more resources for housing and education to inner cities.

But Madry didn't always consider his church a political one: He said it was "lax" until 2016, when he became more vocal about encouraging members to vote.

Good said he thinks faith communities need to address segregation in schools and in housing, and to lift up the stories of Black civil rights activists outside of just Black History Month.

He knows that not everyone feels this way.

"I think part of the pandemic is that a lot of people are in retreat mode," Good said. "They're saying, 'Wake me up when it's all over,' but that's not new to the pandemic."

For example, he remembers a comment a minister from California made on a visit to Connecticut during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Good recalls that in response to a question on how or whether churches should be involved in the struggle, the minister spoke of churches being like a "spiritual Switzerland" — neutral.

Both Good and Jungkeit spoke of the responsibility predominantly white churches have in this moment to sit back and listen to Black leadership.

Jungkeit said racial justice has been a topic in conversations he's had with community leaders in New London and Hartford, in sermons on Sundays and in virtual reading groups the church has formed, which he said will be discussing "White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo, "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi and "Tears We Cannot Stop" by Michael Eric Dyson.

Jungkeit said the Bible passage he has been turning to the most lately is 1 Corinthians 2:2, when the Apostle Paul says he is determined to know nothing but Christ and Christ crucified.

"Somehow God is particularly identified with those moments in human history and human culture where a body is suffering and suffering unjustly," Jungkeit said.

Last Sunday, First Congregational Senior Associate Minister Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager gave her sermon about Crystal Caldwell, the Black woman attacked by a white couple while working at a hotel in Mystic on June 26.

Also speaking last Sunday at First Congregational, as a guest giving a scripture reading, was Booker. He does not belong to a particular church but is a man of strong religious faith, and is working on a panel discussion called "Sunday: The Most Segregated Day of the Week" for an upcoming Zoom call.

From a biblical standpoint, Booker said he and the others on the bridge-building Zoom calls "are beginning to understand and really brainstorm what 'help thy neighbor' really looks like in practice."

'Justice, justice you shall pursue'

Standing for racial justice is nothing new for All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London. The Rev. Carolyn Patierno noted that the church has been holding a Black Lives Matter public witness weekly for five years, which involves starting with a reading and then standing with a banner outside for a half-hour, sometimes engaging with passersby.

That was interrupted during the pandemic shutdown but resumed after George Floyd was killed, and Patierno said she has preached on matters concerning race twice since Floyd's death.

Patierno said social justice is at the heart of the faith tradition of Unitarian Universalists in general, but she was also one of people from multiple denominations to come together in a video statement the Greater New London Clergy Association posted last month.

Seventeen church leaders from Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist, Congregational, AME Zion, United Methodist, Unitarian Universalist, Reform Jewish and Conservative Jewish congregations read a statement naming Black people killed by police, shunning neutrality when it comes to racism and encouraging people to be anti-racist.

One of the participants was Rabbi Marc Ekstrand of Temple Emanu-El in Waterford, who had a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the length of time a police officer knelt on Floyd's neck — during a Friday night service on Zoom.

"For me, just as a rabbi, I always have to balance my message, because there are many different voices in my congregation," Ekstrand said. "But I also have to stand up for what I see is the right thing, the moral thing, for our community, and that drives me in a certain direction; that drives me to have the 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence. It drives me to get people to be civically engaged."

He said issues of race and inequality have been important to Temple Emanu-El as a Reform Jewish congregation for a long time, and noted that he gave a sermon about Colin Kaepernick a few years ago.

Ekstrand cited the Torah passage, "Justice, justice you shall pursue," which Jerry Fischer, former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, had on a placard when he participated in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New London. Fischer said he went to demonstrations with his daughter three Saturdays in a row.

"Even though it was the Jewish Sabbath, we both felt the place we were supposed to be was at a demonstration in New London, and that was more vital than anything else," he said.

Fischer also said he found it "heartwarming" to see Hasidic Jews — a group he has found too insular in the past — march in support of Black Lives Matter in Brooklyn.

From the Islamic Center of New London in Groton, Imam Mahmoud Mansour said he has talked about racial issues recently with other clergy and in a meeting held by the City of Groton Police Department.

Like Madry, Booker, Good and Jungkeit, he spoke of the importance of removing barriers between towns and is against isolation.

e.moser@theday.com