The View from Bolton Street
E-Faith@8, 2/14
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
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The View from Robert Street
God is Here
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Isaiah 40:21
Sometimes a thing is so obvious, too obvious, that we don’t notice it. The prophet Isaiah reminds us of the one simple truth that underlies all of our existence.
God made this.
Genesis 1 starts out “In the Beginning, God”
John 1 starts out “In the beginning, the Word”
In the beginning, God was already there. From the foundations of the earth, knitting us together in our mother’s wombs, God has always been there. Through floods and fires, God has been there. Through plagues and wars, God has been there. At the crucifixion, when Christians were fed to the lions and hung on crosses, God was there. Through crusades, and darkness, God was there. Through wars of religion and division, through the spanish flu, all the way up to the present day, God was there.
And God is here now.
As your (and my) frustrations rise over human error around vaccine distribution and disease management and mask adoption — we should heed Isaiah’s reminder that God is here. God hears our cries, shares in our frustration and anxiousness, and wishes for us all to be whole and together soon.
If we are patient, if we are prayerful, If we listen and discern to what God is calling us towards — God will provide.
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
In 2017 when we started talking about racism and the Church, there was no agenda. Though we all had human inclinations to ‘fix it’ — as a body we were patient, prayerful and discerning. We listened to God’s still small voice, we heard the cries of ancestors in the stillness of our own hearts, and we noticed the fissures and cracks in our own hearts.
So when we finally moved towards reparations, we did so understanding God’s place in that work, and our role as well. It doesn’t mean it will be easy! But it does mean we are clear that Jesus is walking with us in this work.
What other parts of our lives could we slow down in? Listen? Pray? Wait? Hope?
Where else do we need God’s clear presence in our lives?
Perhaps as we struggle to find our way in a post-COVID world, a we figure out how to re-open, to prioritize our schedules, and wait for vaccines, we can do some prayerful consideration of where is Jesus in this moment and how do we go about following him.
Because this is God’s world. We just live here.
E-Faith@8, 2/7
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
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Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
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E-Church 10:30am, 2/7
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2) Please mute yourself unless you have a speaking role in the service. And if you find you are muted, please don’t unmute yourself unless asked. However - even when you are muted, please do respond to the prayers and readings, as we are all worshipping together.
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E-Church 10:30am, 1/31
To join us, all you need to do is click on the link below. We will have the order of service up on the screen to follow along. We recognize that all of us have different levels of comfort with technology - we will do our best to help everyone do what they need to feel comfortable and participate!
Two tips for Zoom worship:
1) Let us see your face! If at all possible, please start a video feed so we can see each other face to face, even across distance.
2) Please mute yourself unless you have a speaking role in the service. And if you find you are muted, please don’t unmute yourself unless asked. However - even when you are muted, please do respond to the prayers and readings, as we are all worshipping together.
Join Zoom Meeting
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E-Faith@8, 1/31
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83309554789?pwd=czZUbWt6Yk1WVmgvNlAwNExQUWc5QT09
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
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Passcode: 214106
The View from Robert Street
We Did It!
This past Sunday we took five huge steps forward to act on Memorial’s commitment to Justice through reparations!
We announced the Guy Hollyday Memorial Justice and Reparations Fund - a five year commitment to a minimum $100,000 a year in outward facing justice programs focused on housing inequality, education reform, climate justice and civic engagement.
We authorized a $50,000 (10%) withdrawal from the Parish's endowed funds to jumpstart the Hollyday Justice and Reparations Fund immediately.
We adopted our 2021 budget that includes an additional $50,000 which, together with the endowment funds, will ensure that we meet our new $100,000 annual commitment to Justice and Reparations ministry this year.
We launched the "Memorial Makes Room" campaign to prepare our sanctuary for a post COVID reality where we are making room in our sanctuary for Faith, Justice and Community by repairing and replacing the floors, adding lights and installing a modern HVAC system.
Finally, we commemorated the removal, deconsecration and re-installation of the Memorial Plaques in the Rectory Garden; acknowledging that the presence of the plaques memorializing slave owners does continued harm to our African-American members and all who enter our sanctuary.
I am proud to stand with all of you on such a momentous occasion and it would not have happened without all of your prayers, intentions, and actions over the last few years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So you are probably wondering.... What's Next?
We are in the process of identifying an advisory committee to help direct our attention and efforts - made up of both Memorial and Community Members. The committee will include representatives from BOND(Building our Nation's Daughters), The No Boundaries Coalition, The Madison Park Improvement Association and St. Katherine's. Their first task will be to help us identify a justice organizer to help guide our efforts and to build a detailed Justice and Reparations Action Plan.
The organizer will be crucial in providing full-time support for the Justice and Reparations Ministry in several ways:
Raise significant grant funds for the Ministry each year for projects identified in our Action Plan that will focus on black led organizations in West Baltimore in general and our zip code in particular
Staff, organize and mobilize around concrete justice initiatives in the 21217 zip code
Facilitate connections between our organization partners and support from a broader base of local and state organizations directed to Hollyday Fund priorities
Next, We will reform Memorial's justice committee with a focused study on Justice and Reparations from January-May. We will publish a reading list for the rest of the congregation to participate in. Informed also by the Hollyday Advisory Committee, we should conclude in June with a summary of findings for the parish about where we believe God is calling us as a body to engage in justice work.
The work of the Advisory Committee and the focused study referenced above will provide the foundation for the vestry to meet this spring and make decisions to allocate the first funds from the Hollyday Fund. Some of this will go to the Diocesan Reparations Fund, but most of it will go directly to support the work outlined in the Action Plan in our communities right now.
A generous donor from the congregation has come forward with a gift of $10,000 annually for the next five years to the Guy Hollyday Justice and Reparations Fund. While the endowment contribution will help us meet our 2021 $100,000 commitment and grant funds will further ensure meeting that commitment each year, we think it very important that the congregation itself meet at least half of the $100,000. If you would like to help us match it, you can donate here.
Memorial Episcopal Announces $100,000 Reparations Initiative
The Guy T. Hollyday Memorial Justice and Reparations Initiative will support Black-led justice work
Baltimore— Jan. 25 — Yesterday, Memorial Episcopal Church unanimously approved an act of reparations with the creation of the Guy T. Hollyday Memorial Justice and Reparations Initiative seeded a withdrawal of $50,000. The figure represents roughly 10% of the endowed wealth of the parish. The parish will add an additional $50,000 from its operating budget. The church has committed $500,000 to justice and reparations over 5 years.
“Since 2017 this parish community has focused on uncovering the truth of our past and studying the true impact that Memorial inflicted on our neighbors through housing segregation and redlining, disenfranchisement of Black voters, and inequity in school and youth programs here in Baltimore. As a faith community dedicated to social justice, we acknowledge how our history has shaped our present reality. This initiative is one more step toward repairing that harm,” said Rev. Grey Maggiano, Rector.
While many believe that the “past is in the past,” the current congregation of a church formed as a memorial to slave-owners acknowledges that as a parish, city and country we are not far removed from that past. In fact, the current congregation includes both Rev. Natalie Conway who discovered her ancestors were enslaved by the family of the founders, and Steve Howard, an indirect descendant of that same family. Both have shared their stories and helped the congregations and others on a path toward healing.
In addition to deep study and conversation about the legacy of past actions, the church has removed plaques dedicated to the founders, covered art within the sanctuary, and commissioned a local artist to create a piece for outside the church commemorating the families enslaved by the founding rectors. The physical changes remind the parish that Memorial of this century will not be like the past. The financial reparations, the Guy T. Hollyday Memorial Justice and Reparations Initiative, will be invested in community partners that are doing justice-centered work to undo inequality in housing, education, environmental justice and civic engagement.
###
About Memorial Episcopal Church
Memorial is a Justice-Focused, Jesus-Centered Community in the heart of Baltimore. Memorial seeks to be a diverse and inclusive home for all those seeking a deeper relationship with God. We strive to follow Christ's commandments by actively working to make each other, our community, city and world better. Located at 1407 Bolton Street, all are welcome to participate in services. Services are at 8am and 10:30 am on Sunday and are currently live-streamed due to COVID-19.
https://www.memorialboltonhill.org
About Guy T. Hollyday
Guy T. Hollyday was a living embodiment of the work of Justice and Reparations. A short tenure as a city housing inspector after World War II opened his eyes to the gross inequalities and inherent racism in Baltimore. Guy became a staunch advocate for justice: working for Civil Rights, advocating for the LGBTQ movement, and supporting ex-offenders. Guy taught GED classes in the city jail, and encouraged his students to write and share poetry. He continued those classes after their release and helped hundreds of returning citizens find their voice. Guy was also a tireless advocate for environmental justice; identifying sewage dumps in Baltimore’s waterways and the lack of trees and greenspace in Baltimore’s poorest communities.
Do-Over
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Jonah 3:1-3
Sometimes we get a do-over. Sometimes we mess up. We fall flat on our faces. We find ourselves cast to the outer darkness, or stuck in the belly of a fish. Sometimes we find ourselves embarrassed. Ashamed. Sad. Angry.
If we are lucky - God will call to us out of the depths, pull us back up and invite us to try again.
Jonah got a do-over.
Jonah was told to go prophesy to the Ninevites. To call them back into a relationship with God. To guide them in repairing and restoring their relationship with God. To end their evil ways, their selfishness, their recklessness.
But Jonah hated the Ninevites. He wanted nothing to do with them. You know the phrase ‘Go jump in a lake’? Well Jonah literally chose to JUMP IN A LAKE rather than go prophesy to Nineveh.
But….. he got a do over.
In our individual and collective pasts we have all made similar choices. To run from difficult conversations, to hide from what God is calling us to do. We have heard God’s call to say ‘go be with those poor/minority/liberal/conservative/younger/older/muslim/jewish/rich/white/male/female who need me’ and we said NO.
Memorial said NO to black members for 100 years.
The Episcopal Church said NO to women on the Altar for 200 years.
This neighborhood has said NO to poor people for 150 years.
I have said NO to MAGA supporters for 6 years.
You have said NO to…. Who? For how long?
Today America gets a do over. And we do to. What is God calling you to repair, restore, renew today?
This morning a young poet named Amanda Gorman spoke to the world these words from Micah 4:
Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
Perhaps it is time for us to stop being afraid and to see if God is asking us to try again. Try again in repairing relationships; Reconciling broken communities; and mending broken hearts. May we too study war no more.
You see, Jesus does not believe in ‘Cancel Culture.’ Everyone has the possibility for redemption. In this life or the next. It is my fervent prayer that some day soon I am privileged to sit at a table where Hattie Cromwell and Nancy Davis and the other enslaved men and women held by the Johns and Howard families sit down with Rev.’s Howard and Johns to tell their story, to share their hurt and pain, and their joys and hopes. This is only made possible by our loosening of these things here, so that we may be joined together in heaven.
Don’t be afraid to set free the things you have bound too close to you, the relationships, family, stories, histories that you hold on to. Especially the hurtful ones. Too often the Church has told people to stay in abusive relationships or to ‘reconcile’ with people who continue to hurt and abuse them. That is the kind of binding that can suffocate our hearts and souls. By loosening those bonds you free yourself from the abuse and from the power those memories have over you. More importantly you open up yourself to healing and perhaps offer the other an opportunity to heal as well.
And in the loosening you can breathe new life into that story and make possible a reunification here on this earth or perhaps in the hereafter.
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E-Faith@8, 1/24
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83309554789?pwd=czZUbWt6Yk1WVmgvNlAwNExQUWc5QT09
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106