Rev. Lawson’s TED talk at TEDxCrenshaw in 2015. The seats are available for the next TEDxSouthCentral event in October 4, 2025.
Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” – John 3:3
Dear Pastor Lawson,
We miss you.
On this your 97th heavenly birthday, we remember and celebrate your life, witness and spirit as our pastor. Many regard pastors as either prophets or priests. Prophets proclaim the need for repentance from injustice and cast vision for God’s preferred future in creation. Priests steward the temple with care for the congregation and teach the sacred lessons of spiritual vitality and maturity. Pastor Lawson, you stood in the great tradition of prophetic priests and priestly prophets who led with care for their congregations and communities while calling for God’s justice in the world. As you often said, you were “just a pastor,” yet for all of us, your witness defied convention.
I’m reminded of a mentor who charged, “the community is your congregation” and to paraphrase Methodism’s founder, “the world was your parish.” Here in the Los Angeles area, Holman Church was your base for decades yet your local congregation extended to the workers and leaders of organizations such as Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP), the faculty and students of UCLA Labor Center, countless clergy, community organizers and freedom fighters who you mentored, prayed for, challenged and encouraged to live more fully into the “spark of God” that resides in all creation.
As a prophet and priest, a pastor, who has joined the ancestors, we’re thankful that your calling continues. Your voice continues to ring with God’s call for the way of nonviolence to co-create “a new heaven and a new earth.” As our prophetic priest, we hear your voice reminding us how ineffective and impractical violence is toward the flourishing of humanity. As our priestly prophet, we hear your charge that nonviolence is more powerful than violence and we all have the ability to tap into this creative power to resolve conflicts and heal, restore and uplift our communities.
As the structures of “plantation capitalism” fester, as white supremacist forces attempt to rewrite history to justify their bigotry, as the United States federal government terrorizes its residents and workers with family separations and deportations, as global powers (from Gaza to Sudan) abide in the lie that military might makes right, we hear you, Rev. Lawson. We hear your charge to confront this demonic activity and channel divine power in our protracted struggle for peace. We hear your channeling of the Hebrew prophets and Jesus of Nazareth in your charge to love our neighbors, love our enemies, and to to love ourselves.
On this your birthday, we strive to be “born anew” in the movement for peace with justice. May your spirit fuel our practice of nonviolence, that we all may do our part to make this old world, a new world for this generation and generations to come.
We miss you, Rev. Lawson. We love you. We hear you.
Happy heavenly birthday, Pastor.
Rev. Victor Cyrus-Franklin
Lead Pastor
Holman United Methodist Church
