Vice President Kamala Harris

As we turn the corner from Black History Month to Women’s History Month, it felt right for our final spotlight to highlight a modern Black woman who’s recently made history and happens to share our Baptist heritage.

Born the daughter of immigrants, her father emigrated from Jamaica to pursue a PhD in economics while her mother emigrated from India to pursue a PhD in biology, Harris attended both a Baptist church and a Hindi temple as a child. In these two very distinct religious communities, she discovered a common thread “that all faiths teach us to pursue justice.” Later she would see that same thread in the Jewish tradition after marrying her husband who is Jewish.

Harris pursued a career in law and traces her commitment to protecting women and children as a prosecutor from a high school friend’s experience of sexual abuse. After serving as the District Attorney of San Francisco and then the Attorney General of California, Harris was elected as the junior Senator from California, becoming only the second African American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate. A little over a month ago, she made history as the first woman to be sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States.

She took this historic oath of office with her right hand resting on two Bibles. One belonged to the late civil rights icon and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The second was the well-worn, personal Bible of family friend Regina Shelton, whom Harris called a “second mother” to her and her sister.

Two years ago, Vice President Harris wrote an essay honoring how Mrs. Shelton helped her become the woman she is today. Reflecting on her experience attending church with Mrs. Sheldon, Harris wrote how “Mrs. Shelton would bring her Bible to church every Sunday. Sitting alongside her, I was introduced to the teachings of that Bible. My earliest memories were of a loving God, a God who asked us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” and to “defend the rights of the poor and needy.” This is where I learned that “faith” is a verb, something we must live and demonstrate through our actions.”

This is a good word for us to always remember—that faith is a verb. It’s not just what we believe, but how our beliefs prompt and direct our actions to care for others and love our neighbor. Whether we blaze a trail or walk a well-worn path, let us remember that being people of faith means being people who work to make the world a more just and peaceful place.

In Love,
Pastor Annette