The View from Bolton Street

A New Year brings with it moments of hope, opportunity and joy — it also brings with it ... lots of stress! And that is compounded by unseasonable weather, half-frozen school buildings, frozen pipes and perhaps an emergency or two.

As we enter into the new year for Memorial, things are much the same. Lots of excitement about new projects, new ideas, new energy and new people in our community — and all the stress that comes with that.  At least a few of us (your rector included) are dealing with frozen pipes at home, and perhaps a few other stressors and challenges as well.

It is perhaps a good time to reflect on the Christmas story once more as we head into Epiphany.  The baby Jesus has been born and the initial excitement and joy have, perhaps, been set aside for worry about more mundane details — what does this kid eat? Why won’t he sleep? How are we going to get home? CAN we go home? What about Herod? I hear Egypt is nice this time of year! And then these three strange men show up.

Bearing strange gifts. 

When, in busy or exciting or stressful or worried times, we are presented with similar strange situations, we have essentially two choices.  To ‘lean in’ to the oddity of the moment and see where it takes us ... or to push it aside and say we are too busy. Too busy for your odd clothes and your odd gifts, we have priorities, people!

But a lot of interesting things can come from odd gifts. It is my fervent hope that this Epiphany season and perhaps all of this next year Memorial may be blessed with some odd gifts — and that we will be challenged to think how we use them, take advantage of them, and live in to God’s call for us.  And I pray for some odd gifts in your life as well.  An untimely visitor at work, an unexpected invitation to a dinner or a conversation, or maybe just a lot of frankincense (which will make some of you quite happy). 

Whatever those gifts are, I pray that we embrace them the same way Mary and Joseph did. With joy and wonder. With open hearts and open minds. And with a willingness to go where the Spirit and this newborn baby led them.  May it lead you somewhere special this year.

Bag-Warmth collection for Diocesan Youth Group Overnight Lock-in for MLK Day

On Sunday evening the 14th of January, the youth of the diocese will once again assemble at Memorial for an evening of prayer, service, and fellowship followed by marching in the MLK Day parade down MLK Boulevard. That evening, after the Taize service, they will be assembling "Bag-O-Warmth" care packages containing things like:

• Canned chicken or fish
• coffee
• tea
• hot chocolate
• gloves
• hats
• scarves

Memorial is requesting that you consider bringing one or more of these items to church this Sunday, or the office any time before Saturday the 13th. Memorial will provide bags, and the kids will provide the labor, if we provide the materials.

This has been a wonderful outreach for the last four years, and we encourage all to get involved and show the young adults who come here how Memorial gets involved.

*Please note the image above is purely for inspiration and should not be construed as representing our final product for delivery :)

Creation Care team: Environmental Epiphany film series

Memorial will be spending the Epiphany season focused on the environment with the following free film series in conjunction with the season. All films will begin at 5 p.m. and be followed by a light supper and discussion. 

Child care will be provided in Lower Farnham Hall - if you are planning to bring a child, please RSVP to office@memorialepiscopal.org

January 13 Chasing Ice is the story of photographer James Balog’s mission to deploy high-tech time-lapse cameras across the Arctic to gather undeniable evidence of the world’s shrinking glaciers.  Balog’s hauntingly beautiful cinematography compresses years into seconds, capturing ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. (2013, 76 minutes)                                                                                                     

January 20 Before the Flood features Leonardo DiCaprio on a journey as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, traveling to five continents and the Arctic to explore the realities of climate change. With unprecedented access to scientists, political and thought leaders around the world and Pope Francis, DiCaprio searches for hope.  (2016, 96 minutes)

January 27 A Plastic Ocean begins with a search for majestic blue whales, but turns into an epic global adventure seeking the sources of plastic pollution fouling the whales’ habitat and uncovering the devastating effects of plastic on the ocean and its inhabitants.  (2016, 100 minutes)

February 3 An Inconvenient Sequel  A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought the climate crisis into popular culture, former Vice President Al Gore is still traveling around the world, influencing international climate policy while training new climate champions.  Gore preaches powerfully that human ingenuity and passion can overcome the perils of climate change. (2017, 100 minutes)

February 10 Dirt! The Movie brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that healthy and unhealthy soil has on places and people. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.  (2009, 86 minutes)

And if you cannot wait until January 13, you should know that Homewood Friends is showing Chasing Coral this Friday, January 5, at 7 p.m.

BUILD training: Making a plan to act on violence in Baltimore

What: BUILD Training--Making a Plan to Act on Violence in Baltimore

When: Saturday, January 13

Time: 10am - 1pm

Location: TBD

At BUILD's Citywide Action Team meeting on December 7th, BUILD leaders took up the charge to be the 'Nehemiahs'of Baltimore, people who will take responsibility to rebuild their city and make it a place of safety and opportunity. We ratified major issue areas that came out of our listening 1,000+ person listening campaign, including: youth trauma and youth opportunity; addiction recovery; policing; and jobs and economic opportunity.

On January 13th, we will embark on a series of trainings that will teach people how to turn large-scale problems like these into concrete, actionable issues that we can act on as an organization and as a city. These trainings will support the work of research teams that will be attached to each of our four issue areas.

The first training will include an in-depth discussion of how power works and how things get done in Baltimore. We will use the tool of power analysis, or the process of mapping relationships between institutions and individuals in Baltimore. We'll then apply this tool to the specific issues of youth, addition, policing, and jobs. We will also introduce practical relationship-building tools that attendees can use in their own institutions and networks to help increase our collective power to act in these areas.

Christmas Eve - a look back at the pageant and the traditional services

At about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, the 24th of December, in the year Two Thousand and Seventeen, many, many children and not a few frazzled parents gathered in Lower Farnham Hall to don costumes and pray for remembered blocking and lyrics as the youth of Memorial Church readied themselves for the Christmas pageant. Having spent all of Advent in Sunday School and Children's Chapel learning and rehearsing, it was now go-time. And go they did. 

The appreciative crowd of 140+ was treated to the story of the Nativity as narrated by Kate Gorman and performed by as many as 20 children (the final count was beyond the capabilities of this poor reporter. Kids move fast). The children portrayed the roles of Mary and Joseph and angels and animals while singing hymns and carols to flesh out the story of the Word Incarnate. It was a beautiful service and the children did a fabulous job.

At 10:00 the nave rang with the sound of the Memorial Choir as we began the final hours before Christmas. With thirty minutes of music before the service, a candlelight rendition of "Silent Night," "Angels we have heard on high," and "Joy to the world," it was just the sort of traditional service many of us remember from our own childhood. Descants rang, and at just about the stroke of midnight the joyous hundred went "forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit."

If you were unable to attend this year, we hope that this brief recalling of the evening will help you feel like you were there, and we invite you to join us next year.

Service spotlight: The Altar Guild

Have you ever looked up at the altar before, or during, a service, and wondered about how it is laid out, and who does that? Does the priest? The deacon? The verger? It is the dedicated members of the Altar Guild who set up, break down, clean up, and order all the supplies at every Eucharistic service. We have eight trained members in the Altar Guild, and two serve each week.

Each week before the 10:30 service one member will bring out the linens, the chalice and paten, the bread and wine, and the candles and set everything up in a precise order so that the celebrant can easily reach everything needed for the Eucharist. It is the responsibility of the Altar Guild to make sure we have the correct seasonal color set out -- the purple in the picture above is for Lent.

After the service, everything is removed to the sacristy, the small room just by the elevator, and the chalice and paten get sterilized while the linens are collected to be taken away and washed (also by a member of the Altar Guild). 

The Altar Guild manages our supply and orders wafers, wine, and candles as needed. Many thanks are due to them all for their dedicated service. The Altar Guild is in good shape for the foreseeable future, but if any of this sounds interesting, or helpful in deepening your connection with the church, please feel free to reach out to Becky Clark to see about joining the ranks.

Vestry Nominees - Class of 2021

The Nominating Committee of Memorial Church hereby puts forth the following slate for Vestry Class of 2021:

• Fred Demers 

  Fred Demers has been a Memorial Church member since 1981, when he and his wife, Barbara, came to Baltimore. Attracted to Memorial by Barney Farnham’s leadership, our Diocese’s first ordained clergy woman and Memorial Assistant Rector Phoebe Coe, and Memorial’s shining example of community outreach. Since then, Fred has served as Junior Warden, vestry-member, Treasurer, Sunday School teacher, Samaritan Community Board member, member of various parish committees, and Chair of the Diocesan Compensation & Benefits Committee

  He now lives in Bolton Hill and is active in BUILD (as a coach in its Turn-Around-Tuesday community program), Vice Chair of the Board for Integrace retirement communities (formerly EMA – Episcopal Ministries to the Aging), and is in year two of the Education for Ministry (EfM) education program at the Diocese.

  Fred has two sons, Ben in Washington, D.C., Peter in Brooklyn, New York, daughter-in-law Angela, and beautiful baby boy / grandson, Leo (two months old!).

• Bill Roberts

Bill Roberts has been at Memorial Church since 1998.  He is a registered nurse who leads the Pastoral Health Ministry, and its Partners in Care program.  He is co-chair of the Pastoral Care Committee.  He feels called to share God’s abundant love through the healing arts, and seeks to assist others to understand and manage their health care, through education, advocacy, and spiritual care.  He has presented on health-related topics at several Liturgy and Living forums.  He also serves on Memorial’s Justice Committee, where he focuses on immigrant/refugee and public education issues.  He volunteers with the Episcopal Refugee and Immigrant Center Alliance (ERICA), a project of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, and is a member of Memorial’s Strong Schools Maryland Team of Ten.  He lives in the village of Oella, with his husband and partner of 29 years, Jesse Millan, Jr. 

• Daviedra Sauldsberry

Daviedra began attending the Rite One, 7 a.m. service at Memorial in 2002. After searching for a comforting place to worship, she was drawn to the biblical structure of the service and began regularly attending. Daviedra was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, in May 2006, six months after she and her husband, Woody, were married on November 12, 2005 in Sedona, AZ. While not a “cradle Episcopalian” but raised in the Baptist denomination, Daviedra enthusiastically adopted the Episcopal Church sacraments, rituals and ceremonies and has continued her Christian growth by attending the Inquirer’s Class, Wednesday Night Classes, and the first year of EfM. She currently serves as a chalicist, and she and Woody have prepared the Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner for the past few years. Daviedra and Woody live in Baltimore City and enjoy spending time with their 12 year old niece, Raina and 15 year old nephew, Bradley. Professionally, Daviedra is the director of marketing for Baltimore City Community College.

• Bill Wells 

  Bill is a researcher and government / nonprofit consultant at the University of Baltimore and lives in Bolton Hill with Stacy and their two children, Nathaniel and Mary Anne.  While born, baptized, confirmed, and then married at Memorial, Bill has never served on the Vestry.  Growing up in Memorial Church, having gone to Sunday School at Memorial, served as an acolyte, chalicist, ultimately being confirmed at Memorial, Bill served as co-chair of the Festival on the Hill for several years ( a lot of fun after growing up enjoying the Festival every year!), served as Co-chair of Memorial's "Rise up Ye Saints" capital campaign and chaired the Buildings and Grounds Committee for many years.

  Bill was previously very active in Diocesan and Provincial youth ministry, designing, staffing, and running weekend and week-long youth and young adult conferences at the Bishop Claggett Center, collaborating with the Diocese of Virginia at Shrine Mont center near Orkney Springs, VA.  In high school, Bill was fortunate enough to represent Maryland at Provincial youth events and conferences, was a participant at the 1990 Episcopal Youth Event in Missoula Montana, and co-Chair of the Diocesan Youth and Young Adults Committee.

  In looking forward to Vestry service, Bill hopes to help continue Memorial's commitment to young adults, families, and youth and their role in ministry and social justice here and the rest of the world.

We will vote to approve the slate after church on January 28 at Annual Meeting in Upper Farnham Hall.

Environmental Epiphany

Saturday, January 6th, at 5:00 pm we will celebrate Epiphany with our liturgical kickoff to Environmental Epiphany. The environmentally focused Eucharist will be based on the Sunday evening Taize service rounded out by selections from years past. Taize is a chant based service designed to promote a meditative state of mind and ease of prayer. It is wonderfully appropriate to the season - encouraging all to discover new insights for themselves. 

The eucharistic liturgy is rooted in themes of Creation, Water, and Light. The service, however, is not the end of our Environmental Epiphany. Each Saturday in Epiphany we will be hosting an environmentally focused film in Upper Farnham Hall, and then host a discussion of the film's subject the following day at Liturgy & Living after coffee hour in Upper Farnham Hall. All are welcome to join us for this free series of films, and for Liturgy & Living.

The complete list of Films will be updated in this space soon, so keep your eyes open!

The view from Bolton Street

Merry Christmas!

As we wind towards the end of 2017 and approach Christmas, time (finally) begins to turn a little slower.  School work is slowing down, businesses are rushing to close out year-end reports or taking some much needed rest before the new year. You may be making last minute arrangements to visit family or friends, or just planning some quiet time at home. For more than a few folks this is a well-deserved, even necessary, break from an otherwise busy and hectic year.  A time to take stock of the year that was and what is to come.

National and international politics has left us more divided. Violence and inequality locally continue to hurt our neighbors, friends and our whole city. A rise in ‘hate’, new voices carrying old messages of racism, bigotry, homophobia and xenophobia has left many of us a little more scared and a little less hopeful this holiday season. 

It has also, I suspect, been a good year for many of you personally. New friends, new opportunities, new connections in unexpected places.  Maybe some new love, new joy brought into your life.  It certainly has been a good year for our parish community — a renewed sense of purpose around justice issues, community and children and youth; new members, new programs, new faces in the pews and I hope, a lot of new joy. 

As we wrestle a bit more than usual with the tension between the good and bad, between fear and hope I want to invite you into the ‘Upside Down’ world of the Christmas Story. 

You see the story of Christmas is the story of the birth of a Savior. A King! But royal births should have been in Rome or at least Jerusalem. They should have royal courts. And royal announcements. They should have clear lineages with high born parents. The world should take notice.

But what ‘should be’ for us is rarely what ‘should be’ for God. And Jesus - born lowly in a manger, surrounded by animals, heralded by shepherds, of dubious origin came - is here - to save us all.

So don’t worry if your world feels a little ‘upside down’ right now. Jesus was born into that upside down reality in order to turn us all right-side up.  And as you take stock of the ending year and start looking toward the year ahead ‘fear not!’ Don’t worry if you don’t have the accolades, the wealth, the power, the prestige being projected from Washington, Rome, or City Hall - but instead look to the still small signs of hope and resurrection in your life, and in our common life, that tell us a new day is ahead.  Take joy in knowing that the Light of the World comes amidst the darkness, in unexpected places, and in humble ways.

That is our Merry Christmas Story.

Bible Study in January