The View from Bolton Street
Liturgy and Living-TONIGHT! 6/8 6:00pm-"Baltimore Protests 2015-Today"
Join us for an in-depth conversation with Catalina Byrd, a local community leader and activist. We will discuss the last week of protests, how it feels to have been a leader and a mediator in 2015 and today, and what changes we might see in Baltimore as a result, and more importantly what we need to do to get there.
Catalina Byrd is a native of Baltimore, MD that has been an active community advocate, journalist, and political consultant for over 15 years. In the last 10 years Catalina has been featured on numerous radio and television programs and has hosted 4 radio programs of her own, specifically targeting the engagement of millennials in the voting process. One of few women of color covering politics at her age has always set her apart from her colleagues and has earned her their respect as a voice that can speak to and for many different demographics. Simply put she speaks "the people's language". Ms. Byrd became a widow at the age of 26, which left her as a single mother of one son, an experience that Catalina credits as sharpening her focus that much more on the needed change in our society. Life experiences such as being a domestic violence survivor and relative of those suffering from addiction have lead Catalina to also be passionate about domestic violence legislation reform, increased access to treatment options for impacted families and communities, and ex-offender resources for those returning to their communities, as they have all been things that she has watched loved ones struggle with.
Topic: Liturgy and Living
Time: Jun 8, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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E-Church 6/7, Trinity Sunday
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.
Topic: Sunday worship
Time: Jun 7, 2020 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88261536800?pwd=NWFCenZvM0dneFoxUkM3MHRsdGZ1Zz09
Meeting ID: 882 6153 6800
Password: 532981
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The View From Robert Street
Matthew 24:9-14
9 ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10Then many will fall away,* and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this good news* of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.
Today is the feast day of the Martyrs of Uganda. In 1886, 32 christian young men were burned alive because they refused to renounce their faith. This spurned a huge growth in Christianity in Uganda, almost all of which was done underground by Ugandan men and women on fire for Christ.
In Africa, like so many places, Christianity began as a protest movement and believers put their lives on the line for their faith.
As you reflect on today’s reading from Mark, consider the Christian roots of protest. our origin of being hated, put to death, the lawlessness that will make love grow cold. What does it mean for Christians to protest? How far are we from the roots of our faith? How closely connected do you feel to the protestors? What sacrifice does this reading ask of us? And what is the promise offered?
At Memorial we ave done a good job of having open and honest conversations about how institutional racism, White Supremacy, tacit support for police violence, class divisions anti-thetical to the gospel and general ignorance about the reality of growing up black in America, lead to a church that is at best deaf to the calls for justice and at worst antagonistic to any cultural change that might impact our current way of life.
Today those conversations continue in the context of a global health epidemic that in America has disproportionately impacted black and Hispanic Americans, in spite of those two populations being a small percentage of the overall population. Inequality and race based disparities are baked into our system. Perhaps no more obviously than in healthcare and the justice system.
I encourage you all to visit the diocesan webpage Click Here for a growing list of responses from clergy around the diocese.
Perhaps now it is time for us to move from talk to action. To identify black led organizations and businesses that deserve our support. To advocate with city leadership for a better quality of life for citizens on the other side of Eutaw place, and to partner with groups doing that work. Perhaps now is the time to stop talking like Jesus and start living like Jesus.
A word about white supremacy:
The first time I heard that phrase - to be honest the image in my head was of Nazi-Skinheads. White nationalists. the KKK. Avowed and open racists who celebrate their racism.
I had no concept that this term could apply to me or my world.
So what IS White Supremacy?
to quote Scholar Frances Lee Ansley
“By ‘white supremacy’ I do not mean to allude only to the self-conscious racism of white supremacist hate groups. I refer instead to a political, economic and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings.”
This is a system that made jim crow possible. that made school segregation, housing discrimination, and the segregation of every part of common life in some parts of our country possible.
It is a system that has resulted in an even more segregated educational system today than when Brown v. Board of Education was passed.
It is a system that makes a black man 5% more likely to be incarcerated than a white man. and that their sentence for the same crime will statistically be longer and less likely to receive parole.
and one that makes it possible for a police officer to kill a black man in broad daylight and the system to assume that ‘they must have done something’
It is a system that means that a white person born anywhere in this country has a leg up from their birth, all other things being equal.
Now. I am not advocating any particular policy response. and it should be noted that the many many laws passed over the years - some tried fully and some not fully tried - have not succeeded in overcoming the reality of white supremacy.
as Eddie Blue reminded us at our last convention -- passing a resolution doesn’t do anything if we don't change our hearts.
I am also not saying that white people can’t be poor, can’t bear misfortune, can’t suffer at the hands of the state, and are not subject to bad schools, broken neighborhoods, or an unjust justice system.
We still say, in 2020, that when a black kid from Baltimore makes good they ‘beat the odds’.
We haven’t worked to change the Odds.
Today in 2020 America still operates under the assumption of White Supremacy.
Despite being only 14% of the population African Americans make up close to 50% of the incarcerated population and 2% of American presidents.
Despite only being 14% of the US population, African Americans are 3X more likely to live in poverty. and only 1% of fortune 500 ceos.
As Christians we are called to see Jesus in the disinherited. To see victims of police violence in Jesus on the cross. And to work to lift them and the whole body of Christ up in the process.
On George Floyd, Auhmad Aubrey and Lament
From Psalm 13
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
This lament from the book of Psalms is one of the oldest cries for justice in any tradition. The 18th century preacher Charles Spurgeon referred to this as ‘The Howling Psalm’. It has been invoked throughout generations by people suffering under the weight of oppression. From slavery, to the Holocaust, to the civil rights movement, up to today.
As I listen to the voices of black friends, parishioners, and colleagues it is this same lament. How long? Where are you God? Or the simpler refrain - I Am Tired.
As a white man, as a white pastor, I listen to these laments. I hear the cries. They break my heart. But I cannot fully comprehend them. Not because of a lack of compassion, or a lack of sincerity. But simply because I was born into a very different America and a very different world. We frequently talk about there being Two Baltimores, but there are also two Americas.
One America where it is safe to interact with the police, where you can call on them if you are fearful or in trouble without worrying about your own safety. An America where it is assumed and guaranteed that you can protest, even loudly, obnoxiously, even threatening violence and your rights will be respected.
An America where when your sports team wins you can light a couch or two on fire and it’s all in good fun. Where charges are thrown out, sentences lightened, leniency given because ‘you’re a good kid.’
An America where you wake up knowing you have reasonable access to a good education, a safe school environment, healthy food to eat and access to basic healthcare. An America where the American Dream is a real, living thing. This is the America I, and most white Americans know. The one we value and cherish.
And then there is the other America.
The America where the police don’t exist to protect you, but to protect other people from you. The America where you are born ‘fitting the description’ because of the color of your skin. The America where there is no such thing as a peaceful protest because any gathering of more than 10 people invites/requires police intervention.
The America of mandatory minimums. Of no parole. Of ‘tried as an adult.’ The America where a black man is 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white man. The America where Blacks and Hispanics make up 32% of the population but more than 50% of the prison population. Where Blacks and Hispanics make up 80% of COVID-19 infections in Georgia, and 60% of COVID deaths in Maryland.
The America of food deserts and failing schools. The America of no banks, clinics or grocery stores in your zip code. The America of imaginary bootstraps and presumed guilt. The America of reservations, projects, ghettos and trailer parks; of imaginary borders to protect ‘them’ from ‘us’.
The America of high infant mortality, of untreated chronic illness, of disproportionate death rates for everything from heart disease to HIV, from cancer to COVID-19.
The America where a police officer can put his knee into your neck and everyone assumes they will get away with it.
The America where dreams are deferred.
When white America sees protests and riots explode across your screen this week it is important to recognize that it comes from that second America. From the other Minneapolis. The other Atlanta. The other Baltimore.
As Christians we follow a savior who instructs us to be one in the Body of Christ. And for 2,000 years we have a pretty iffy track record of listening. We can’t even be united on Sunday Morning, let alone in our calls for justice. If your response to George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests is ‘What they did was wrong but...’ you are not hearing those cries of lament, How Long, How Long, How Long.
Because it is not Jesus hiding his face from Black America - but us.
It is not Jesus who is withholding Justice - but you and me.
We are the enemies rejoicing. Rejoicing in ‘Law and Order’. In ‘Peaceful protest’. In the arrest of ‘Outside Agitators’.
But it is Jesus offering steadfast love to George Floyd. To Freddie Gray. To Sandra Bland. To Tamir Rice. To everyone crying out ‘How Long O Lord, How Long?’
And that same Jesus will deal with us as well. Bountifully if we make one choice, and justly if we choose the other.
E-Church 5/31, Pentecost Sunday
For Pentecost we will be worshipping a little differently this year but we will still have a holy and spirit filled gathering. We hope you can join us!
So to celebrate with us, here’s some things you can do:
1) Wear Red! Red is the liturgical color for Pentecost and it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So deck yourself out.
2) Put up a “Pentecost” Virtual Background
CLICK HERE FOR VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
To put up a virtual background, right click on the image you like, save it to your computer or phone, and when you open zoom click on the ‘video options’ and then click virtual background to upload the image. It will be great to look out on Sunday morning to see a sea of pentecost!
3) For Kids - join Hannah for Friendship hour at 9:30 to do a homemade Pentecost craft you can make at home and wave during the service.
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.
Topic: Pentecost!
Time: May 31, 2020 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89832235596?pwd=RWhiWmFPSHJpLzVXZE9pZGxzN3RMQT09
Meeting ID: 898 3223 5596
Password: 578331
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Meeting ID: 898 3223 5596
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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbgrhWsMiK
Liturgy and Living - Mondays at 12:30
On Monday June 1st, we will hear from our resident artist John M. Seeley, DNSEP, MFA: “An Introduction to Appreciating and Reading Icons.”
John will discuss the history of icons, traditional techniques used in writing icons, and then will actually read a few of the different types of icons. He will have a slide presentation full of illustrations to guide our reflection.
John studied European Art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Quimper in France, receiving a Diplome National Superieur d'Expression Plastique in 1988. Upon returning to the states, he studied sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, Rinehart School of Sculpture, obtaining a MFA ('91) in Sculpture. He taught sculpture for 23 years at various institutions in Maryland. In the “90s and early 2000's John dabbled in iconography in an attempt to unite two of his passions art and Christianity. In 2012 he studied Practical Iconography at the Bethlehem Icon School in Palestine.
Topic: Liturgy and Living
Time: Mondays at 12:30 Eastern
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Meeting ID: 852 8275 3173
Password: 009402
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Meeting ID: 852 8275 3173
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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdqWgBnFZA
E-Church 5/24, Ascension Sunday
This Sunday's worship will be followed by a congregational meeting!
Please stick around after the 10:30 service to participate. We will have updates from the vestry, talk about what Memorial’s plan may be for moving forward towards ‘reopening’, and more!
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.
Topic: Sunday worship
Time: May 24, 2020 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 876 9436 6639
Password: 729226
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Dial by your location
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+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 876 9436 6639
Password: 729226
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdoU8Ii34Q
Audio Bible Study: Lectio Divina
In response to the continuation of our shelter-in-place lives, we recognize that some people are a little “Zoomed-out.” As such, we’ve adapted our Bible Study structure to be less screen-heavy and more flexible for you! We are now offering short reflections with Lectio Divina on scripture passages of the day. These will be posted every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, but you can listen to them at any time!
The View From Robert St
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts
“You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."Luke
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”Matthew
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”Mark
We are given four accounts of Jesus’ ascension in the New Testament; one in Acts and one in the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Each is unique, but they all involve one common element - a sending out. Go! Go therefore! I am Sending you! To the ends of the Earth!
That sounds almost impossible these days doesn’t it? Many of us are terrified to go anywhere and many countries are afraid to let Americans in at all. But the Great Commission persists and there are many who still find ways to make Christ’s presence known, and who seek and serve all persons. Here in our own community many of you have been supporting or volunteering with Samaritan community as they carry out the great commission with those in need here in Baltimore.
I hope you will join us for our service tomorrow at 6 pm for the Feast of the Ascension as we honor Samaritan’s work and take up a collection to help them keep it going in these strange and difficult times.
Ascension Day Service 6PM, Thurs. May 21st
Ascension Day service 6:00 pm May 21st
Come celebrate with us and Samaritan Community on Ascension Day! Ascension day celebrates both Jesus being raised up and ‘The Great Commission’ - our being sent out into the world; so it seems a perfect time to join and support Samaritan Community as they carry out the Great Commission in this time and place. We will be taking an offering and hoping to raise $2,500 to support Samaritan’s COVID Response efforts.
It will be a joyful service with music, speakers and great community!
