The View from Bolton Street
Funeral Arrangements for Mary Ann Lewis
With a heavy heart we write today to let you know that following a short illness our beloved friend and longtime Memorialite Mary Anne Lewis, wife of Gus and mother of Kate and Walker, has passed away.
Mary Anne was an active and engaged member of Memorial Church for decades. A lifelong giver and listener, she was instrumental behind the scenes in helping to establish Memorial Church as a center for outreach to our community. We will never forget Mary Anne's kind demeanor, her genuine warmth, and her deep love for everyone around her.
Prayers ascend on behalf of Mary Anne Lewis and her family.
Funeral services for Mary Anne will be held on Tuesday, January 23, 10:30am at Memorial Episcopal Church.
Watch this space for more information regarding meals for Gus.
MLK Day Parade
Monday the 15th of January would have been The Rev. Martin Luther King's 89th birthday. We hope he would have been delighted to see the transformation of the Boulevard named in his honor to a pedestrian zone lined with smiling and happy, if cold, faces. An energetic crew of Memorialites and Diocesan youth joined the parade and as you can see from the pictures below, a great time was had by all.
Special thanks to Monty Howard for doing all of the behind-the-scenes work to get us a spot once again. Also thanks to the youth of the Diocese of Maryland and Kate Riley who have turned up each of the last three years to spend the night at Memorial in fellowship and service and then join us on Monday morning to march, thereby lessening our average age by a considerable margin!
Our ESC interns were also out and leading everyone in song and chant. If you missed the parade this year, we hope that the pictures and stories (ask anyone who was there - they'll tell you!) will make you consider coming out next year.
Our last round of thanks is to all the people we didn't know who came out and lined the parade route and made the whole thing such a joy.
The View from Bolton Street
Greetings, friends:
While our Rector and his family continue to grieve over the sudden loss of his mother, this new week brings us yet another loss to grapple with, that of our beloved parishioner Mary Ann Lewis. Cynics might assume that these two deaths, both happening suddenly and so close to each other, might serve to lessen our commitment to communal worship, and drive us away from each other and our beloved Memorial Episcopal Church.
NOT A CHANCE.
Paradoxically, these shocking events instead remind us of the importance and strength of our worship community, and the need we all have to gather at Jesus's table with a rich diversity of people, be they skeptics, seekers, questioners, or believers.
Many ask right now, "How can I support the Maggianos?" or "What can I do for Gus Lewis?"
A powerful gift you can offer both families right now is to SHOW UP at Memorial.
Attend one of our three services this Sunday (8am, 10:30am, 7pm), or try out the Peace and Justice Eucharist on Tuesday at 7am.
An important service not to miss is the following Sunday, January 28, 10:30am which will end with our Annual Meeting. You will learn about the many and astonishing achievements of 2017 yet will also be challenged as you learn of ambitious goals for 2018. Deepen your connection to this community - and to the Maggiano and Lewis families - by being a part of our worship, whenever you can.
Recently, I consulted a child psychologist friend for advice about helping a grieving child. At the end of our conversation, she looked at me and said, "You know, you are really lucky to be a person of faith. Grieving is never easy and is an incredibly long and painful process. But experiencing that pain in the midst of a worship community means that your time with the pain will be so much shorter. I wish I could prescribe attending church for all my patients."
No prescription is needed here, people!
See you this Sunday, and for many Sundays to come, I hope -
Beth
Beth Drummond Casey, Senior Warden
(410) 790-8820
Funeral arrangements for Laurie Anne Maggiano
Laurie Anne Maggiano (Jan 3 1954 - Jan 7 2018) passed away this week after an unexpected cardiac arrest. She is fondly remembered by her four brothers and sisters, many nieces and nephews, her two children Chase and Grey, their spouses Chris and Monica and her two grandchildren, Nicolas and Isabella.
A service of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, January 20th at 11 am at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA. Memorial will be carpooling to The Plains that morning. If you would like to go and need a ride, please contact the office. If you are planning to go and have extra seats, please also contact the office.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to two organizations she cared about and embody her life's work of helping others:
Emmanuel Church Middleburg — Memo: The Andy Bergner Center. Named for her father, the Andy Bergner Center is a free place of respite for adults in need, caregivers and the community.
Or:
Heifer Project International, where every year she donated sheep and goats and pigs and ducks to struggling communities around the world in honor of her family and friends.
MLK Jr Day Youth Lock in Packing List and Parental Consent Form
Must Bring!
- Your favorite snack to share with 8-10 people
- Sleeping bag and pillow
- Pajamas, slippers, robe
- Toiletries (e.g., toothbrush, tooth paste, dry shampoo, deodorant, hairbrush)
- Your regular, prescribed medication(s)
- Water Bottle
Optional
- Books, writing materials, Bible
- Board and/or card games
- Camera
- iPod
- Homework
Please do not bring items that will be sorely missed if stolen or broken. (i.e. tablets, game systems, cash)
Valuables may be collected at the beginning of events to ensure their safety and returned at the end of said event.
Cell phones may be used during the weekend for pictures and sharing, but those on their phones instead of interacting risk having those phones taken by staff for safe keeping until the retreat is completed.
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.