PORT JERVIS – It was standing room only in St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Saturday morning, as between 200 and 300 people, many carrying signs with a wide range of thoughts and messages, turned out to take part in the Fourth Annual Women’s March in Port Jervis.
The local gathering was one of many Women’s March Day events held across the nation on January 18, 2020.
Locally, the theme “Justice & Unity for All Families; Building a Bigger Table” was addressed first in a community fair, then speeches, musical presentations, and a mile-plus snowy march through the city.
Agencies were on hand at the fair to assist with information and to provide direction for struggling families and individuals. Speeches prior to the march addressed topics of unity, social issues, support and acceptance of individuals and families, and praise for the inclusion of all promoted at Saturday’s gathering and mission.
“The Women’s March of Port Jervis believes support for our community’s marginalized members uplifts and improves the community as a whole,” said Margaret Spring, a march organizer from the Town of Deerpark. Spring, along with fellow organizer Melissa Martens, also participated in leading the mile-plus snowy Saturday afternoon march through Port Jervis.
Pastor Ann Akers, Presbyterian minister, is currently ministering for First Presbyterian, St. Peter’s Lutheran, and Deerpark Reformed Churches in Port Jervis. Akers said she believes the church serves an important role in advancing social justice, and she is dedicated to interfaith bridge-building. “We are a spiritual community with Christians who also care about these issues. As the Dalai Lama said, there can be good anger, anger that helps bring correction to social injustices. And as Martin Luther King said, it takes love not hatred, and that we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends,” Akers said. “People fear each other because they don’t know each other, because they haven’t communicated – they haven’t sat at the bigger table together.”
