WHAT IT TAKES: "To Turn Toward Neighborliness"

"The choices are easy...living them ain't easy." (Cassandra Wilson)

POEM: "Still the Steeple"

STILL THE STEEPLE
on the rededication of the renewed steeple,
at the Community Church of Durham, NH

18 October 2026 / Dave Grishaw-Jones

For Doug Bencks

When a wandering soul wanders free,
Having paid a dear price for his own liberation,
Now seeking shelter for his freedom and courage for his spirit,
    Still the steeple.

When a curious student asks of a strange God
If there might be a place at Her table,
A sanctuary for unscripted grace and sweet renewal,
    Still the steeple.

When a two-spirit sibling risks religion’s history,
Having heard a rumor about Jesus, open and affirming,
And trusts new friends for a feast that truly satisfies,
    Still the steeple.

When a solitary singer aches for other voices,
Dreaming of a song that confounds all despair
With beauty and rhythm and holy chutzpah,
    Still the steeple.

When a child with unanswerable questions and
A heart breaking with love and restlessness
Wants simply a friend, a reason to hope,
    Still the steeple.

No relic of irrelevance,
No artifact of ancient days.
No signpost of surety,
No bright white line between us and them.

Still the steeple.
Always the gospel.
Forever opening the doors of our hearts to a
World of hesed and agape,
And God’s own promise of justice and peace
For us all.

SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES: "Guns to Gardens"

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE

I bumped into a neighbor at the grocery store yesterday, a neighbor who is also an elected representative to our state's House of Representatives.  She sighed in noting how toxic things are in government these days, due to the vicious and premeditated cruelty of "free" staters and an unhinged Republican Party.  

Then, this news: that the Rev. Alexis Simpson, a United Church of Christ minister and leader of the state's Democratic Party, has received a death threat from the NH Libertarian Party.

What must you and I do, citizens of the state, leaders and neighbors?  First, we must vote and we must insist that our neighbors and congregants vote.  Vote, vote, vote.  Do not give in to intimidation...from any quarter.  Vote, vote, vote.

Second, as they say at the airport, "When you see something, say something."  Or, "When you hear something, say something."  Do not let these awful, dangerous threats go unchallenged.  Do not let them pass in conversation.  We are better than this.  We have to be better than this.

To be a democracy we must all engage: generously, bravely, without violence, and in neighborliness.  Vote, vote,, vote.

LET THEM LIVE: "What Genocide Cannot Erase"

SAY NO MORE TO: "WE GROW WAR"

ON POWER: "At the Doorstep of the Military Industrial Machine"

My Remarks at the Sig Sauer Protest:

Saturday, October 10, 2026

Newington, NH

I wanted very much to be with you all today, but Covid had other plans for my weekend. I wanted to add my voice to yours and demand that Sig Sauer recognize its complicity in Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians. That genocide hasn’t happened and couldn’t continue without Sig Sauer’s weapons and others like them. And it hasn’t happened and couldn’t continue without our American blessing and financial backing. If Sig Sauer’s complicit, we’re all complicit. And you’re all here today to change that. To say no more!

With Sig Sauer’s grotesque machinery, and this technology is indeed demonic and grotesque, Israel continues to terrorize Palestinians of all ages, obliterate whole families, and enact a rightwing vision of a land cleared of Palestinians once and for all. My Palestinian friends in the West Bank say that Israel aims to crush their spirits: day by day, drone by drone, death by death. Their resistance is a sign of grace.  A reminder of the steadfast spirit of life itself.

As a Christian I believe in human kindness (of course, I do) and I preach loving service as our purpose together on this planet. But what you’re doing today, my friends, takes my faith to another level, and challenges my commitment to take another step forward. A consequential step forward. What you’ve done in confronting Sig Sauer this year, and now together in their neighborhood today, is powerful work. It’s powerful work. And it’s not the power of the fist or the gun. And it’s not the power of hatred and contempt. And it’s most certainly not the power of devastating drones outfitted with AI-operated machine guns. What you’re doing today manifests in public the power of a people committed; the power of a people committed to collective liberation and a just peace for all; and the power of many kinds of people doing the hard work of organizing, and strategizing, showing up together, and making sacrifices of time and energy for a future worthy of our children and all children. You aren’t just talking about peace, you’re making peace today. You aren’t just writing another wonderful op ed today. You’re putting your bodies where your convictions stand. Together. Nonviolently. As one people. United.

You know, as I do, that this is just one day, one leg on a much longer journey. You know that. But, my friends, we will bring the American war machine to an end by building this kind of power together. Right here in tiny New Hampshire. Right here at the polished doorstep of Sig Sauer. Wherever corporations and governments have sold their souls for profit. Wherever CEOs and Boards of Directors have betrayed their obligation to children and life and the common good. We will bring the horrific Israeli genocide to an end by continuing the invest in relationships, like those you’re looking at right here; by continuing to invest in hard work, like the work that brings us to this place today. We will bring this genocide to an end by continuing to invest in nonviolent traditions that we know work. And we will do it all together. Not as single, heroic individuals. But in a movement of kindness and love AND power. Yes, power.

So my little congregation in Durham stands with you today; some of us are here in the flesh, others are with you in spirit. But our entire congregation has committed itself to ending apartheid in Israel, joining efforts to boycott Sig Sauer and any other company profiting from death, and destruction, and genocide. You can count on us. And I know we’re counting on you.

Because we are not powerless. Not by a long shot. We have only to build our power, one day a time, one conversation at time, one disciplined campaign at a time, one called-out company at a time. We have only to watch and learn and use our God-given power to transform violence into new life, to turn our own country from a madhouse of war into a garden of justice. We have only to show up again and again and again for every Palestinian and every Israeli who yearns for the only freedom that really matters. The freedom that is ours together.

God bless you, all!

The Rev. David Grishaw-Jones
Pastor, Community Church of Durham, NH

United Church of Christ

ONE GUN AT A TIME: "Guns to Gardens"

EVENT: Guns to Gardens Event

DATE:    Saturday, October 17, 2026

TIME:      9 am to 12 noon

PLACE: Community Church of Durham, 17 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824

“Guns to Gardens” in collaboration with the Community Church of Durham is providing an opportunity for Granite Staters to remove unwanted firearms from their homes without putting them back on the market.  Instead, these guns are transformed into garden tools and beautiful arts and crafts—objects more useful, and less harmful, to our community.

All are invited on Saturday, October 17, between 9 am and 12 pm.  You’re invited to bring unwanted, unloaded firearms in the rear of vehicle.  If you’re unsure whether the firearm is loaded, you’ll let our volunteer know.  Your identity will remain anonymous.  Trained volunteers will then dispose of your gun safely, using ATF guidelines.  Scrap metal and wood from dismantled firearms will be given to artists to be transformed into functional works of art and garden tools.  

Under state law, NH law enforcement is prohibited from destroying firearms which come into their possession.  Any firearm surrendered to police may only be used by the police, stored, or sold at public auction, thereby returning them to use in the community.

Guns to Gardens – NH provides an alternative.  Whether it’s a veteran disposing of a firearm they no longer want in the home, a new parent eager to protect children, a gun owner removing firearms from easy reach of friends in crisis, or a community member generally wary of escalating gun violence, previous participants have made it clear this is a valuable program for New Hampshire.

$25 gas gift cards will be offered to the first 30 participants.  For more, see: https://www.ccdurham.org/guns-to-gardens-10-17-26/ or https://www.nhcucc.org/mission-groups/guns-to-gardens; or contact the Rev. David Grishaw-Jones at the Community Church of Durham...DavidGJ@CCDurham.org.

A JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE!

COALITION-BUILDING IS THE WAY: "Apartheid Free!"