good morning. welcome to mosaic. i am ron swisher. it's a privilege to host mosaic. and on behalf of my cohost elizabeth ekdale we welcome you into the new year. this begins my 19th year as cohost of mosaic. and my good colleague and friend the late hugh burroughs asked me a few years ago i would love to say this is my 20 year. but it's my 19th. one of the things he did about six times in that time, was that he asked us to give a

highlight of some of the top religious and secular stories of the previous year. i did that last year with two of my colleagues and friends. and i am sighting them back this time i welcome again reverend dale witherspoon of easter hill united methodist church. >> happy new year. good morning. >> and reverend jim hopkins. >> good to be here. >> some people know your churches and know where you are. but what i discovered i did not ever ask you, your family background and some of your family. i know you have spouses and you have children. so, tell us begin with you, dale,. >> i am married to reverend deb by weatherspoon a unitedmethodist pastor work on her doctorate of ministry. i think in the area of engaging faith in the public square. and have two sons teenagers, wesley who is a senior and graduatesoon year at el

cerrito he and younger brotherjustice. and i have a brother and sifter that live in the sacramento area and a cousin that lives here in oakland. i am a native san franciscoan. >> great to have wesley with us nets audience. >> he is. >> great to have him. and jim. >> karen and i, my wife, have been married 41 years. we have three adult kids. aaron who is a physical therapist, kristin who is a registered nurse and ethan completing his program to be a journeyman electrician in the alameda county electrical workers union. and we have four grandsons and my -- my pastor jim to some but my grandsons i am hop pop. >> that's good. well, it's great to have you both. we have had you before. but i realized i wanted to get

the audience your background and your relationships with family and so forth. think that's very important. before we go on a break, soon, what are one of the two other top stories you think are important from last year. let's go with you jim. >> certainly the relationship of the evan jell can christianity and the embrace of the president, their seemingly unfailing brace of the president no matter what is a story that needs to be examined and questioned. about 81% i think, still. >> he seems to fight for their causes. and regardless of his inability to tell the truth, his absolutely immoral immigration policies, his massage any that seems to be very little of that will separate him from his base and religious base. . >> christianity article, they

seem to push back on it. >> just ated end of the year. mark galley said come on, trust matters. how can we trot this person? and a lot of the leading evangelical voices said yeah, but look what's done for us and the judges he appointed. his stand to be anti-abortion. this is the best president we have ever had. and. >> dale. >> well your story. >> i think along same lines. i think the impeachment. and how much time has been spent dealing with the issues of impeachment. thinking about dr. martin luther king and talking about how important character is. and so, it seems in this impeachment we are overlooking character and immorality just dealing with a policies and so, this impeachment fight is going to go on into 2020. and i think that this is taking away from our government

officials caring for the people in the nation those that are homeless. so i think impeachment is a big story taking up the news. >> thank you, both. we will be exploring further in the next segment. i am so glad you are both here. >> good to be re. >> join us with dale witherspoon of easter hill united methodist and jim hopkins of a lake shore baptist.

. welcome back to mosaic. the historian doris concern goodwin has said that leadership is five qualities how millity, empathy, resilience, self-awareness and self-reflection. i think my colleagues have these qualities and so i am glad they are here with us. dale and jim, tell us a little more about some of the stories of this past year that i felt were important to our societyand world. >> reflecting on our conversation last year as we ended the year, a story that continues in the news is the shootings. the mass shootings. and i think it's been intensified where we are having more shootings in places of

worship. and so, it seems like not a week goes by we have the shooting in texas. the other day. and it's bringing into question whether parishioners should be carrying firearms in the churches or not. and so, that's still a disturbing as it is becoming a new norm. >> every from synagogues to mosques to christian communities. >> every place of worship. every faith. . >> i just don't understand the tribalism that goes on that creates that violence. but it's prevalent. >> yes. >> in society and the world. . >> what about you, jim? >> certainly that's a very important story, and the anti- semitism is an ancient evil that seems to be experiencing a resurgence right now. we saw it with the shootings in pittsburgh last year. and at the synagogue in poway this year and stabbings at the hanukkah celebrations in new

york. and the whole relationship between religion and violence. it's very complex relationship that you would think religion would be a clear voice against violence, but we have also embraced it in a lot of ways. that's the next story. the sexual violence that continues in the church in the name of the church the perpetrated by church leaders. >> yes. >> on vulnerable members of their congregation. certainly, it's the catholics have received most of the news, but the baptist church. >> southern baptist, number one. >> and i am not a southern baptist and it's not just the southern baptist. >> true. >> that are theology that tends to elevate male over female, really makes us very vulnerable to that sort of abuse and inability to address the abuse.

>> and, united methodist, with our not embracing the lgbtq community is a make issue with us. and we still blocking people gay marriage to being open and inclusive and in terms of ordination. it's a huge issue for us. >> it's very huge issue. we had a special general conference in february of 2019. it was the general -- that special general conference was on one issue. and the vote came to the traditional plan which was to retain the language of not welcoming lgbtqia persons into the church. continuing to have our clergy brought up on charges and trials, and so as we enter into 2020, january 1, some of those laws prohibitions we will see if we will have more trials. there's lots of movements to resist to resist all kind of ways to say no, all folks are

welcomed into the church. and when we have our general conference in 2020, in minnesota, we will see how this falls out and if we can change the language or if there's going to be split in the united methodist church. >> that's the next question. tremendous struggle over the last 40, 50 years and now even here possibly -- possibility of a split. >> lots of talk about disaffiliation. how to retain your property, what's that going to look like? that's going to be a huge conversation for the united methodist denomination. >> what about you, jim, and your church? >> well, our church lake shore avenue baptist church, we were disfellow heship in 1996 by our regional body. because we were charter members of the association of welcoming and affirming baptist a organization that says there's place for sexual minorities and their friends and families and allies in the church. and that was a hard period of time. i wouldn't want to go through it again. neither would i trade it for

anything. but -- those struggles, those questions, those battles, they are addressed week in and weekout congregations large and small across the united states. and it seems less a matter he of pronouncement from on high, but each congregation coming to accept the truth that in our pews and membership and our communities, in the beloved community, there is a wide range of healthy sexual expression. >> i was leaving the bookstore and saw a book on the history of notre dame and we know it was almost destroyed in april, and the writer took a little bit of the history. i did not know it was built in the 1100s. took a hundred years to build. the dingof it. ciped in and i think since 1803, it's the first time it didn't have a

christmas eve service. >> i read that. >> yeah. >> that struck me as a major story. >> notre dame is a major symbol of the christian faith globally. and for it to see the smoke billowing up, that was. >> almost destroyed. >> it was an attack on the soul of a lot of folks. >> that's right. five years to rebuild, they say. >> that's a long time. >> that's optimistic, i would think. >> probably so. we are coming to the end of the segment, anything else before we close and come back? anything else. >> certainly we need to talk about immigration policy. >> yes immigration policy.climb change. >> separation child separation. >> right. >> and that immigration issue. >> okay. thank you for being with us. >> yes. >> join us in our next segment as we look at further stories that have impacted our lives.

. welcome back to mosaicic. i am ron swisher. before we look at the stop stories of the past year i asked my colleagues to mention a few books they would recommend for you to read. so, let's go with you, jim. . >> my favorite book this year has been gentlemen and moscow. just a sweep of philosophy and russian history and human air -- interactions actions and dignity is a very good ensight into what's happening in a lot of lives across the united states of america. >> i thought i knew my books. didn't know the last one. >> yeah. >> that's pretty good. and you, dale? >> right now prayer ministry on saturday morning, we are reading another book written by

brian mccleric called naked spirituality a light with god in 12 simple words. and we are into chapter 12. and it's been a powerful book, and chapter 12 words that stuck out how we need to be able to say i am sorry. how we live with honesty and humility and compassion. and i think that that's something that our leadership of our nation is lacking humidity and compassion as we are leading and causing more harm. and so, this naked spirituality is helping us to take a look at our own souls. and how we have the walk of face. >> he does a great john. >> he does. we finished reading walking by faith. >> yes. >> and that was another excellent book. >> i brought few, also. >> all right. >> universal christ by richard rohr is outstanding. franciscan priest. joan chistier. now is the time she talks about

being a spiritual prophet opened to all of us. i told you talking to strangers, matthew cladwell. and malcolm cladwell. excellentp. and this other one that's new, the color of compromise. he talks about how racism and slavery influenced the church. we talked about before closing the last segment, immigration and we talked about climate change. you want to say a word about either? >> well, we were mentioning with immigration comes this whole terrible practice of family separation. how can that be morally, spiritually justified in anyway, any shape? any form. regardless of party, regardless of background taking babies from their parents, come on. that's -- that should unite folks from the across the religious spectrum. >> sure. >> anything one of those things

here looking at folks they are going back 20, 30 years to find out they had a misdemeanor or some other charges, and using that as a basis to separate their kids where they have lived a clean life, a decent and hard working life. the separation of families is just unconscionable. >> o sour ministers say don't talk about politics. in the pulpit and you addressed that in an article recently. >> i wrote an article about how christmas really is profoundly political: there's taxes and empires and housing shortages, there's immigration. christmas is political and it's about the uplift of people. that's political. it's not partisan. it's not about any one party or but politics is a ongoing negotiation of how we are going

to live in a society that thrives. and that's a -- politics are profoundly religious. >> thank you for that. greta. . >> greta. a climate change, standing up for the climate and standing up for the climate and it's an intergenerational movement. >> 16. >> 16 and she is sparked a consciousness of america. even working with someone like jane fonda and lealry tomlin. they are out there on fridays and so, we are trying to say this is a generational issue. we are trying to save the nation. we are trying to save the environment and the scripture says a child shall lead them. there's greta. and in parkland shootings the parkland students that were leading. the young people are passionate about the country. >> that's right. i read where 7 million people have been misplaced because of climate change. and the environment. and we know we have amazon,

concern about and all of that. >> all of the fires. >> fires. >> the fires we have had especially here in california. >> yeah. >> all the wild fires kinkaid and gettys. >> she sparked us to try to address this. and decades to come because there's millions of people misplaced if we don't address this now. >> right. >> yeah. >> we have monday more segment and so, we will close out with hope flay word of hope and inspiration, which is what we truly try to do here. >> amen. >> thank you. please join nuts last segment with dale witherspoon and jim hopkins.

. a composer said that tradition is not worshiping ashes. but preserving the fire. and i see that or hear that as

the fire of the spirit. a spirit of hope. joy, love, this is what my colleagues bring to this segment and i am thankful for them. as we close this segment, let's say few more words about our hopes for the future in this 2020. >> i was watching a comedy special with tiffany haddish the other day, and she was trying to do teaching. and as she was closing out her segment she talked about babies crying. and how when a baby cries, people go to that baby and they hug that baby or change the baby or feed the baby. they give the baby love. and she with a saying we have a lot folks today that are hurting, adults that are hurting, and we want toinstitutionize them, criminalize them. instead of going to them and just letting them know that they are loved. giving them a hug. paying attention to them. and i think for me, we are get to being more of an individualistic society. and we need to reclaim

ourcommunal roots. we are in this together. we still don't know our neighbors. we have locks, we have locks on it and gated communities. and so why are we fearing folks instead of understanding that we are living together. so i would encourage folks to just get to know your neighbors on the right and left and across the street. >> talking to strangers. >> yeah. and community. be a community. we seem to come together in times of natural disaffidavitsers, fires, earth quakes but why do we have to wait for natural disaster instead of making it part of our every day living. getting to know someone new. >> thank you for that. jim. i love that. the power of community especially the power of beloved community. and as we talked tob the top news stories of the year. we talked about the failings of religious communities. and those are well documented. but the enduring life giving power of faith communities also needs to be lifted up and noted this is airing on january 12th.

it's the baptism of jesus. >> right. >> jesus raised his hands, stepped in the waters and said i want to be in that number. that's a community be. and, brthe power of our communities, to mitigate against loneliness and find hope and seek justice. there are religious communities, christian jaou ishes, mustlism. buddhist across the -- around the globe and across the country that are doing wonderful things and are bringing people together to create the beloved community. >> well, that's wonderful, my friends. that's why i keep inviting you back. keep that spirit and tell us again where your churches are so people can come visit you and worship with you let's go with you dale. >> easter hill united mert difficulty church. 3911 cutting boulevard in richmond, california. we have worship services at 8 a.m., sunday school at 9:15.

and 10:30 rship service al welcomed. we have plenty of good room for you. >> and jim. >> lake shore avenue baptist church, 3534 lake shore manda corner of lake shore and mandana. sunday worship at 10. bible stud yates 11:30 sunday. 6:30 tuesday evening, and 10:30 wednesday mornings. and, we try to live out the beloved community welcome for all. >> amen. >> amen. >> i hope you've been with us and inspired by the two great pastors and all they bring. we lost so many people last year. entertainers and actors and activists, many levels and i thought of tony morrison, the african american woman who won the noble prize for literature in 1993. and she said that great literature along with great

jazz music has three qualities. memory, history, and imagination. >> yes. >> use our emergencies manages as well as -- imagination as well as understanding the history and may our memories keep your active and alive. thanks for joining us, i am ron swisher. . vertual reality is change how brain surge. it has imagey that has a 3 due view of the brain helping doctors people are and rehearse for complex surgeries resulting in safer and more precise

procedures and faster recovery. tom steyer will beat donald trump on the economy. his people over profits plan makes a living wage a right. creates thousands of good paying green jobs in california. and provides a 10% tax cut for everyone making under $250,000. tom's plan also makes health care a right, by adding a public option to obamacare. protects union negotiated plans. and ensures californians can make their own health care choices. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message.

. live from the cbs bay area studios, this is kpix5 news. . >> a bay area couple is alive and well after spending more than a week lost in west marin county. how they managed to survive. senator. senator bernie sanders with a strong strowing in the nevada caucuses. democrats are turning their attention to south carolina and super tuesday. a pedestrian is dead after she was run over in san jose's midtown. a second victim from the same accident is in life-threatening condition. it's 6 a.m. on this sunday february 23 drd. good morning i am devin fehely. emily turner has the morning off. let's start with a check of the weather. my observation is chilly. yes. and you are a south bay man. >> yes. >> so coming up from san jo