WELL FOLKS, appearing in the 1 January 2026 The Landmark– https://www.thelandmark.com/ — is the Sterling First Church Lefty Governance Board’s 2026 Communist Manifesto, also posted on the Sterling First Church Facebook page. It is reproduced below. That Governance Board, spewing out unsubstantiated generalities, suffers from an obvious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).
A Position Statement of the First Church in Sterling (2025)
At this time of political, economic, and social upheaval in our country, we are witnessing the dehumanization, vilification, and scapegoating of our immigrant, disabled, poor, and LGBTQIA+ neighbors. Violence, and threats of violence, are being used to harass and intimidate the most vulnerable among us. Innocent people are being blamed for societal ills and for manufactured crises. Bigotry and racism are being disguised as security and justice. The wealth of the few is being prioritized over the good of the many.
As a congregation gathered in the Spirit of Jesus and committed to creating heaven on earth, who strive to live out the Gospel command to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39), First Church in Sterling cannot stay silent. We must stand up and cry out our moral opposition to every form of injustice in which human dignity is denied, truth is twisted to serve power, or communities are targeted by hatred, violence, fear, and lies. Such acts are an affront not only to our democratic ideals but, more heartbreakingly, to our Christian values. Values like truth, radical love, and justice are not optional. They are essential to our mission of creating heaven on earth.
First Church has been a pillar of the Sterling community since World War II and has long offered support and safety to the vulnerable while bringing hope in the darkest times. We know that the Scriptures are filled with calls to defend the orphan, the widow, and the stranger (Deut. 10:18–19; Isaiah 1:17); that all people are created in the image of God and endowed with inherent dignity (Genesis 1:27); that mercy, compassion, and justice are at the heart of God’s desire for the world (Micah 6:8); and that love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). We are committed to living into these values and opposing today’s climate of division and fear. However, we know that the antidote to division is not the elimination of difference or dissent. The answer to division is connection, consensus, care, and a commitment to inclusion and equity for everyone God loves – in all our amazing, beautiful diversity.
It is in this spirit, and with Love, that we resolve:
To continue speaking out, collectively and individually;
To commit our resources, energy, and presence to partnerships and programs that prioritize the care and dignity of immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, people of color, and all who are marginalized;
To strengthen our ongoing work of education by hosting and attending trainings, classes, talks, and public gatherings;
To collaborate with other congregations, faith communities, civic leaders, neighbors, and especially those most affected by injustice, so that we may join our strength to theirs;
To remain open to new and creative ways of expanding our engagement in pursuit of justice and peace;
To foster courageous conversations in our community that can lead to better understanding – meeting in the middle rather than retreating to ideological extremes;
To avoid partisanship, instead pursuing truth and opposing hatred, injustice, oppression, and violence in our communities, systems, and institutions regardless of the source;
To heed Christ’s call to love our neighbors, guarding against our human impulse to hate that which we fear or which angers us, remembering that every person is our neighbor and a beloved child of God.
To avoid imposing our Christian beliefs, but to embody our Christian values in solidarity with people of all faiths or no faith, who share in the work of building a more just and loving world.
May our witness be bold, timely, and faithful, and may all who hear our call – neighbors, partners, and friends – choose to join us in this holy work.
The Governance Board of the First Church in Sterling
Sarah Goodwin, Chair; Shawn O’Reilly, Pat Keay, Gereda Burger, Doug Davis and Rev. Robin Bartlett
Let’s decipher and address these bald, unsubstantiated assertions.
A. ILLEGAL ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES IS A FEDERAL CRIME. ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE SUBJECT TO DEPORTATION/PROSECUTION
The First Church crowd are fond of spouting, and lawn signs pronouncing, tautologies and platitudes such as ‘No Human Is Illegal’ that are deliberately off-point, but the fact is that there are 20-30 million illegal immigrants/criminal aliens in the United States squeezing legitimate U.S. citizens when it comes to housing opportunities, health care availability, and educational opportunities, and many of the illegal aliens are outright criminal thugs preying on U.S. citizens.
SEE GENERALLY:
https://www.cato.org/blog/what-there-were-more-30-million-illegal-immigrants
EVERY SINGLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT/ILLEGAL ALIEN HAS A COMMITTED A FEDERAL CRIME– https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325
Under the Trump Administration they are now being rounded up and deported or prosecuted, RIGHTLY. So cry me a river, First Church Governance Board. I say get rid of them all.
B. THE DISABLED AND POOR ARE BEING DEHUMANIZED, VILIFIED, AND SCAPEGOATED??? BULLSHIT!
The First Church Governance Board did not cite a single example of the disabled or poor being dehumanized, vilified, or scapegoated. They, therefore, have ZERO credibility. Perhaps, however, they are alluding to the 31 December 2025 termination of [N]Obamacare subsidies. WELL, in October 2025 even Leftwing The Washington Post editorial board, about 15 years late, admitted that “Obamacare Was Never Affordable.” The Washington Post is paywalled, but you can read about it here:
The real aim of [N]Obamacare was to expand the dependent class–those dependent on taxpayer-funded benefits–or, in other words, the DemocRAT Party voter plantation. Well, that gravy train is winding down, and none too soon.
SEE ALSO: https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/its-not-just-minnesota-or-just-daycares
C. ‘LGBTQIA NEIGHBORS’ ARE BEING DEHUMANIZED, VILIFIED, AND SCAPEGOATED??? QUITE THE CONRARY— LGBTQIA WACKJOBS HAVE BEEN MURDERING REAL CHRISTIANS
The First Church Governance Board did not cite a single example of ‘LGBTQIA neighbors’ being dehumanized, vilified, or scapegoated, UNLESS they are referring to the murderous LGBTQIA wackjobs who have been condemned by all moral, ethical, rational beings. I didn’t see or hear a peep out of the outright hypocritical First Church Governance Board when REAL CHRISTIANS were murdered by LGBTQIA wackjobs. Perhaps the following will refresh their memories:
And how about THESE LGBTQIA wackjobs, the ‘Armed Queers’?!–
D. ‘PEOPLE OF COLOR’ ARE BEING MARGINALIZED??? WELL, MAYBE THE SOMALI FRAUDSTERS.
The First Church Governance Board did not cite a single example of ‘people of color’ being marginalized, but perhaps they are referring the Somalis being revealed as endemic, pervasive fraudsters:
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/somalis-gonna-somali
Of course, we can’t rule out the First Church Governance Board as having empathized with the Boston Haitian SNAP fraudsters:
So Sterling First Church Governance Board, spare us your selective, hypocritical, sniveling, faux empathy and faux moral outrage. For all practical purposes you’ve demonstrated that Sterling First Church is not really a church—it is merely another DemocRAT Party organ.
J.G.
STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS, OVERWATCH 