This past Sunday we joined with Linden Park Apartments for a Souls to the Polls party; registering voters and providing transportation to early voting over at the University of Maryland. Here are some photos from the day.
Every month, in this space, we will hear from our new director of Music, Justine Koontz, about what we’re doing, where we going, and get a glimpse into the planning going on. Read on!
In some ways, choral conductors are the envy of the musical ensemble world. Choirs and vocal ensembles have been around for a very, very, very long time. The modern orchestra only came into being in the mid 18th century and concert bands came along in the following century. But we know that choral music was probably first performed by the ancient Greeks. Our modern SATB choir isn’t so modern—this standard ensemble first appeared in the Renaissance era. This makes the task of choosing music a lot of fun because there is so much music to choose from. This also makes the job very hard because there is so much music to choose from.
I’m very grateful to have found a wonderfully creative musical space at Memorial Episcopal. Memorial values a high-quality music program and has, in the past, drawn on the beautiful historical canon of the Anglican church. However, recognizing that there is much more to sacred music than the Anglican tradition, Youngjin, the choir, and I are working to diversify the musical offerings at Memorial.
You may have noticed an increased number of spirituals and more music taken from LEVASII. Youngjin has played from the Western canon of piano and organ music, but has also folded in some non-western pieces including a Korean folksong arrangement. I just placed a music order including music from South America, written by women composers, and African-American spirituals. If we want our church to reflect the diversity that is Baltimore, then our music should, too.
Becoming Beloved Community - Part 4: Repairing the Breach in Society and Institutions
This Sunday after coffee hour we will meet in Upper Farnham Hall to engage the fourth, and last, part of the Becoming Beloved Community program. The core questions we will be looking at this Sunday are:
What institutions and systems are broken?
How will we participate in the repair, restoration and healing of people, institutions and systems?
We hope that many of you will stay after coffee hour and join in this important discussion.
Get Out The Vote (GOTV) was energetic and successful after church last Sunday. Steve produced names and addresses of hundreds of people who have a mixed record of coming out to vote. Hannah produced a comparable number of postcards. Nearly two dozen Memorialites put the addresses on about 850 cards. So if the press reports a surge in turnout this year, you know the source.
It was fun. It was productive in a very important election season. Many at the table are deeply involved in the election in a variety of ways. It's all part of Memorial's on-going commitment to connect personally to the quest for Justice. The next Justice event will be on October 28 at Linden Park as we gather to share fellowship and offer rides to early voting. Volunteers are still needed to help with both rides and fellowship. You may contact Hannah Hutchens for more information.
On November 5 at 6:30 pm we will hold an Election Eve prayer service. We hope all will come, pause in the midst of a very divisive campaign, finding peace in the Memorial community and pray for thoughtfulness as we vote and wisdom for those we elect.
This week after coffee hour we will be diving in to Part 3 of the Becoming Beloved Community program: Practicing the Way of Love. The questions we will be asking ourselves this week are:
How will we grow as reconcilers, healers and justice-bearers?
How will we actively grow relationship across dividing walls and seek Christ in the other?
We hope you will join us as we continue this process and continue to examine who we are and who we want to become.
All Saints’ Day combined service with
St. Katherine of Alexandria
On Sunday, November 4, we will celebrate the Feast of All Saints. This year we will be joined by the congregation of St. Katherine of Alexandria, and will have a special preacher - The Rev. Melanie Mullen, the Presiding Bishop’s Officer for Racial Reconciliation, and a Seminary classmate of the our Rector.
We will have combined choirs, Brass Reflections, and a festive coffee hour following. We hope to see you there.
Rev. Melanie Mullen serves as Episcopal Church’s Director of Reconciliation, Justice & Creation Care – charged with bringing the Jesus Movement to the concerns of the world. Prior to joining the Presiding Bishop’s staff she was the Downtown Missioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, leading a historic southern congregation’s missional, civic, and reconciliation ministries.
Before the ministry, Melanie worked in campaign fundraising and development, raising more than $10 million for leadership PACs, the Congressional Black Caucus, and US Congressional and gubernatorial races from Louisiana to Connecticut; and she served as Development Associate for the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, with a focus on poverty advocacy.
She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, with a Bachelors in History.
“The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:23-28
“Let it Go” Frozen
In the instant Disney Classic (at least for anyone with small children in their lives from the years of 2013-2016) ‘Frozen’ - the Princess turned Queen Elsa is holding on to a terrible secret, and rather than confront it (and her enemies) directly she runs away, builds a literal fortress of solitude and belts out her isolation anthem ‘Let it Go!’ Of course, she is as yet unaware that this ‘Let it Go’ advice is very good advice that she herself is unwilling to take! Until she is able to ‘Let Go’ of the hurt and fear of the past and deal honestly with friends and enemies alike, she never quite gets where she needs to be.
Moving on is an important skill. But often one we as humans have trouble with. We can get stuck on events or people in the past, we can continue to rehash our old conflicts, or worse we can just try and sweep them under the rug and ignore them and hope they will go away. But this week’s reading from Hebrews reminds us that the only thing that is forever is Jesus. And all the other priests, all the other stories, all the other things that have plagued our past will pass away.... if we let them. And more importantly BECAUSE Jesus is the one constant in our lives - Christ is always available to help work through those things we can’t handle on our own. If Elsa is the one shouting ‘Let it Go! Let it Go!” Jesus is responding “And I can help!”
The Former Priests in Hebrews after all include a fair number of bad priests. Ancient Israel, like any society, had its share of bad leaders, as has the United States, and most any society, or religious institution for that matter. The Episcopal Church endured long periods where much of its leadership were British sympathizers, confederate sympathizers, and later on ‘White Moderates’ - in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet we have been able to move beyond these periods because we recognize Jesus as our Lord, King, and great High Priest, and only in him do we see perfection. Part of the challenge of Christianity is acknowledging that you are not perfect. And that we are in a constant process of repentance, redemption, reconciliation, and trying again.
When the Church is at her best, we are constantly seeking amendment of life and trying to present a better way of carrying out God’s work in the world. When we are at our worst we are unwilling to admit our role in the evil around us and unable to imagine a new way of being outside of ‘what we have always done’. This week after Church we will discuss the third piece of ‘Becoming the Beloved Community’ — Repairing the Breach. Repairing the Breach requires us to recognize that no matter how much we love who and what has come before us, it was problematic. And that in order to repair the damage done, in order to cross the boundaries between us and neighbors and friends who seem so far from us, we need to seek repentance and reconciliation in Jesus.
And that is hard.
BUT it also is extremely fruitful. I hope you will join us for our Litrugy and Living Hour this week to contemplate what ‘Repairing the Breach’ looks like within the Memorial Community and between us and the communities around us.
See you in Church.
This Sunday, October 28, at 1 pm we’ll be having a voting party at Linden Park. We need people to volunteer to help with serving food and driving people to early voting. The party will run from 1 pm to 4 pm and any time you can give would be most welcome. Please contact Hannah Hutchens if you can join us Sunday afternoon. This is among the most important things you can do for our voter drive - all are encouraged to help out!
The Seminarian’s Corner
October 24, 2018
Sisters and Brothers,
I want to take a minute and introduce myself! My name is Jill Williams and I am a seminarian. This means that I am in the 4th year of a 5 year process to become an Episcopal priest. I attend Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, where I am studying to earn a Masters of Divinity, and will be the seminarian intern here at Memorial until I am ordained in 2020. I hope to use this space each month to tell you a little about what I’m doing or what I’m learning, or just to share some thoughts with you. I hope to hear back from you with any of your thoughts or reactions at jillwilliams1904@yahoo.com. And if I haven’t met you yet, please introduce yourself! I really want to get to know everyone.
This Sunday will be the first time I am preaching at Memorial. Preaching is serious business. I’ll be talking about scripture and I’ll be talking about our lives. And I want you all to know that I take the responsibility seriously and promise to always do my part to pray fiercely and study with great discipline about what is to be preached, and reflect with love and integrity what I hear God saying to us all. I hope to see you all Sunday!
