Into the Woods - Strike
Into the Woods - Strike! - Once the final curtain descends (well, if we had one it would...) it is time to put away all the stuff. Just as it took many hands to raise the stage, it will take many more to reduce it to its constituent parts and put it away. Strike begins immediately following the close of the show on Sunday the 29th, and will continue on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday starting at 4 pm each day. Please consider lending your labor to this process so we can be finished by Thursday!
The View from Bolton St.
of Vines and Vinegrowers
In the Gospel this week Jesus introduces us to the image of the vine and the vinegrower. The vinegrower is judicious in his pruning, cutting back the branches that don’t bear any fruit so that the rest of the vine can bear much fruit.
Now, as I have told you before, I do not have much of a ‘green thumb’ - that is, I’m not very good at keeping plants alive. In fact some of you helped me with my Facebook rumination about how to rescue some bulbs and rose bushes from my parents house before it is sold. Anyone who has had to go through a similar process with their family knows how difficult this can be. Often something strange and kind of out of the blue becomes the focal point for your anxiety around grief and loss and for me it is certainly ‘Papa’s Roses.’ My grandfather, who passed away in 2015, was a quiet man who seemed to carry most of his own grief and worry from surviving the Great Depression and World War II in two very green thumbs. Which left us with beautifully timed gardens that stay colorful all spring and summer, and some very beautiful rose bushes.
And while I may be able to recover some bulbs and planting’s from Papa’s Garden, the reality is I did not ‘abide in him’ nearly enough while he was alive to maintain such a beautiful garden (nor do I have the space here in Bolton Hill!) and so in some sense, that part has been ‘pruned away’ and I will have to work awfully hard to get it back.
Fortunately, I did abide in my Grandfather in other ways, particularly his faith, his devotion to his family, his patience with and care for others, his perhaps intense frugality, and his delight in taking things apart and putting them back together again. So I do not lament too much in the loss of the garden, because Papa’s roots still run quite deep in me.
As Christians, we are invited into a similar relationship with Jesus the vinegrower and the large vineyard of the Christian tradition. There is nothing wrong with trimming parts of the tradition off that have outlived their usefulness (or perhaps shouldn’t have been there at all!) There is no room in the Church for misogyny, homophobia, racism, sexism, or judgement of others based on their age, gender, or identity. I am grateful that Christ has worked very hard pruning back the Episcopal Church in order to allow a stronger vine to grow.
But we also must ask how close we are to the vine, in order to ensure that we are not in danger of being pruned ourselves. An important question to ask in this regard is ‘how central is Jesus Christ to your daily life?’ While some prefer the (in my opinion heretical) question ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ I prefer the query ‘Where is Christ in this?’
‘Where is Christ in this?’ When I yell at the guy running the stop sign for the umpteenth time. ‘Where is Christ in this?’ As I prepare to make a caustic remark to someone in person or on social media. ‘Where is Christ in this?’ As I contemplate skipping out on a community cleanup or neighborhood event because I’m too tired. These questions matter because no matter how right our politics are - ultimately it is faith that people come seeking at church, relationship with Jesus and with other Christians. That is the fruit they are seeking, and that is what Memorial is so very good at offering.
If we keep ourselves close to vine, and seek a deeper relationship with the vinegrower, I have no doubt we will bear much fruit.
No Boundaries Coalition - The Mayor's Kick Off 2018
Join Friends, Neighbors and Community Organizations this Saturday to take part in a Day of Service with the No Boundaries Coalition.
Meet at Laurens and Pennsylvania Avenue at 9 am or join Neighbors walking over — meet at Memorial at 8:30 am.
You can bring gloves and bags or just yourself and they will have everything ready.
Open Worship Committee Meeting
Join us for an Open Worship Committee Meeting Next Wednesday, May 2nd at 6 pm
If you would like to be a part of helping us re-visit worship, join us on May 2nd for an Open Worship Committee meeting to discuss plans for Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, as well as Summer worship plans. We need everyone’s input and energy.
For more please see Father Grey’s Reflection:
https://www.memorialboltonhill.org/blog/2018/4/18/the-view-from-bolton-st
Book Club - May 8
Next book club is May 8 at 7:30 in the Memorial Rectory.
The book selection was made by Tiz and is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
(Summary from Amazon)
If you are interested in dinner we will be eating at the Dizz again at 5:30 before hand.
Movies that Matter
Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 6 pm
Memorial Episcopal Church
1407 Bolton Street
Baltimore, MD 21217
An evening of films exploring powerful themes through the lens of some of Baltimore's finest youth filmmakers from Wide Angle Youth Media.
We will screen and then discuss each with the creative teens who made these films.
Void
Addresses the circumstances of teenage depression with a rare power.
Violence in Baltimore: A Community in Chaos
Provides insight into the ways young people are challenging dominant narratives and seeking peaceful, de-escalating methods of conflict resolution.
"Why Black Lives Matter"
Selection of short films that explore themes of intersectionality and how different systems impact race in Baltimore.
The event is free and open to the public. We will pass the hat to raise money for programs that support youth, so please come prepared to be generous.
Screening co-sponsored by the Public Justice Center and Memorial Episcopal Church.
Look Back: Earth Day at Memorial
By Dick Williams, Creation Care Team Co-Lead
Earth Day along the sidewalks of Memorial was marked by two colorful Planet Earth 22” Bubble balloons tethered to hand railings. The idea included marking our W. Lafayette and Rectory entrances for neighborhood and other visitors who might be unsure of where to enter for Tom Pelton’s presentation at Liturgy & Living.
Or, in the Rectory meeting room, for Lisa Schroeder’s pre-show reception and talk about some important projects at Parks & People Foundation which also included JoAnn Trach Tongson’s and my presentation about the butterfly micro-habitat/garden classroom at Mount Royal Elementary/Middle School.
In case you missed Tom Pelton’s presentation, his talk about the Bay and environmental regulations brought cheers and a standing ovation for his work. Yeah, true! A great turnout by Memorial’s tree huggers. Many bought one or multiple copies of Tom’s new book, The Chesapeake in Focus: Transforming the Natural World. I have a few copies that I’d sell to you at $20/ea. with all proceeds going to our Creation Care restricted account at Memorial. Incidentally, I recommend you add Tom’s “The Environment in Focus” weekly radio show on WYPR to your list of news sources. I find it valuable.
Lisa Schroeder talked about 6 new parks built by Parks & People in neglected East and West Baltimore, meant to help reconnect neighbors with one another. Beyond the ubiquitous swing sets and the like in neighborhood parks, she told us surveyed residents wanted chess boards. And, that’s exactly what’s been provided. She described 8 Equity Goals of the foundation. Goal #8 was important to me: “…implementing a performance management process that includes developing outcomes, indicators for success and program evaluation methods.” While the turnout was small, much deeper networking among people who do green in Baltimore City was afforded. My expectations are high for results from the networking.
Thanks to all of you who attended one or both presentations! Much learning about Creation Care was offered.
Glistening: Nature mirrored through video art
I strongly encourage you to consider spending some time taking in the show “Glistening: Nature Mirrored in Video Art” at Maryland Hall in Annapolis. It closes on Saturday, May 5th. Details about it may be found at this link.
What’s captivating about the video art is how Nature has inspired the artists to consider it through the medium of video art. It’s one of the most stunning and beautiful art shows I’ve seen in the recent years. And, as the artworks are loaned by a private collector couple, you won’t be able see it after the show.
It’s on our shared topic of appreciating Nature for all of its wonders. And, how such appreciation must for the faithful translate into caring for it.
Look Back: Thomas Sunday with the Jazz quartet
This year ‘Low’ Sunday was anything but!
The Sunday after Easter Memorial was joined by Katherine Gorman, Isaac Chang, Lola Stevenson and Cameron Thomas - four students from Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) who took us on a ‘Closer Walk’ so that we could ‘Wade in the Water’ with ‘St. Thomas’ and feel a little ‘Sunny’ in this colder than usual April.
In many Episcopal Churches, the Sunday after Easter has low attendance, a guest preacher, and Some exhausted clergy and staff.
But Memorial is not your typical Episcopal Church. Jazz Music, new hymns and service music from ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, and an energetic sermon challenging all of us to ‘get Resurrected’ kept the hopefullness and the energy going after Easter Sunday.
We are hopeful that ‘the BSA Quartet’ can join us again at least once more before the year is out. And if you couldn’t be with us on Sunday, a sample of their playing is included below.