10/16/2026
A pastoral response to what a proposed streamed ex*****on says about all of us, from Rev. Phil Hodson, Minister, Missouri Mid-South Conference, United Church of Christ.
Dear Friends and Colleagues in Ministry,
I've been thinking a great deal about the recent announcement that the federal government intended to make an ex*****on available for public viewing. Today, we've learned that the decision to livestream that ex*****on has been reversed. I welcome that decision. But I also believe the fact that it was proposed in the first place raises important questions about who we are as a society, and what our faith calls us to be.

I want to share why I find this so deeply troubling, both as a citizen of this country and as a follower of Jesus.
I recognize that we don't all agree about the death penalty. Faithful Christians have reached different conclusions about capital punishment, even as the United Church of Christ has long opposed it. But I don't believe we have to resolve that disagreement to recognize that something is profoundly wrong with turning the taking of a human life into a public spectacle. And the decision not to broadcast this ex*****on, while welcome, doesn't resolve the larger questions about justice, punishment, and human dignity.
We follow a Savior who was publicly executed.
Crucifixion was not simply Rome's way of putting someone to death. It was intended to be seen. It was designed to humiliate, intimidate, and remind everyone watching who held the power. The suffering was part of the message.
And it was into that reality that God entered in the person of Jesus.
When we look at the cross, we are not witnessing a celebration of the state's power to take life. We are witnessing what happens when violence and humiliation become instruments of authority. And we encounter a God whose response is not more violence, but a love that refuses to give up on humanity.
That ought to matter to us.
Our faith teaches that every human being is created in the image of God. Not just those whose lives we admire, or whose actions we understand. Every human being. Even those who have done terrible things.
Accountability matters. Justice matters. The lives of victims matter, and their families deserve our compassion and care. But we can insist upon accountability without taking pleasure in punishment. We can condemn terrible acts without denying the humanity of those responsible.
And we can recognize that making someone's death available for public consumption serves neither justice nor human dignity. Even without a livestream, we ought to be concerned when the taking of a life is presented as a demonstration of governmental strength.
Our own history should make us particularly attentive to this moment.
Many of our Missouri Mid-South congregations were founded by German immigrants who brought with them the traditions of the Evangelical and Reformed churches. They came to this place, built communities, established churches, schools, and institutions of care, and invested themselves in the future of their neighbors.
They believed that faith was more than something professed on Sunday morning. It was something lived in relationship, expressed through service, and made visible in the communities they were building.
And within our Reformed heritage is the conviction that the church must always be willing to examine itself, to grow, and to be reformed in light of the gospel. We do not simply preserve what has been handed down to us. We take responsibility for what we are handing on.
Our ancestors were not perfect. Neither are we. But their willingness to build something better than what existed before them is part of the inheritance we carry.
And I believe that inheritance asks something of us now.
American history offers a troubling reminder of what happens when human suffering becomes a public event. Public ex*****ons once drew enormous crowds. In fact, the last widely recognized public ex*****on in the United States took place in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1936, when thousands gathered to witness the hanging of Rainey Bethea. Ninety years have passed since that event, a reminder of how long our nation has been moving away from treating ex*****ons as public spectacles.
And our nation's history of racial terror lynchings, including here in Missouri, reminds us how the public display of violence has been used to intimidate, humiliate, and demonstrate power.
A lawful ex*****on is not the same thing as a lynching. That distinction matters. But our history should make us deeply cautious about inviting the public to watch another human being die, or suggesting that such a display might serve some useful public purpose.
There is a civic responsibility here, too.
Our Constitution places limits on the power of government, including its power to punish. We should expect transparency and accountability from those who exercise that authority. But transparency is not the same thing as spectacle. The public's right to know that justice is being administered does not require the public to watch someone being killed.
I am grateful that the proposed broadcast will not happen. But I worry about what it says about our public life that such a proposal could be seriously entertained. What are we teaching ourselves, and our children, about justice, about governmental power, and about the value of human life?
Friends, this is not a partisan question. It is a theological and moral one.
The church has a responsibility to speak when the practices of our society come into conflict with the values we profess. That responsibility is woven into our history, our covenant, and our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
We are a people who believe that God is still speaking. That means we are still listening, still learning, and still being called to participate in the transformation of the world around us.
I hope our congregations will make space for these conversations. I hope our clergy will help people think carefully about justice and mercy, accountability and compassion, the responsibilities of government and the dignity of every human life.
And I hope we will remember that our calling is not simply to preserve the churches our ancestors built, but to continue the work they began: building communities where people are valued, where justice is pursued, and where the love of God is made visible in the way we treat one another.
The cross is not an invitation to watch someone die. It is an invitation to recognize what happens when human beings mistake the power to kill for the power to save.
And the resurrection reminds us that death and violence do not have the final word.
That is the story we have been entrusted to tell. And it ought to shape the way we live.
We can do better than turning human death into a spectacle. And as followers of Jesus, I believe we are called to expect better.
May we be a people who seek justice without surrendering mercy, who practice accountability without abandoning compassion, and who continue the work of building a world that more fully reflects the love of God.
Blessings,
Board Members:
Rev. Dr. Dane R. Sommer
Dave Weerts
Kathleen Hamilton
Julia Hicks
Greg Schmelig
Curtis Filer
Karen Miller
Duana Russell
Elaine Tebbenkamp
James Fuller
Sylvie Bowen-Bailey
Email from Missouri Mid-South Conference UCC   The Cross & The Public Spectacle of Death Dear Friends and Colleagues in Ministry, I've been thinking a great deal about the recent announcement that the
