The View from Bolton Street

Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

Acts 2

This week one of our own experienced a tragedy, but one that is far too common here in Baltimore.  Anthony Francis, our reparations organizer, was sleeping when he felt the ground shake on Monday.  When he went outside the house at the end of his block had collapsed, falling on top of the Harlem Park community garden that Anthony and other neighbors have maintained for many years. 

The next day he was startled by a loud banging on his door at 8 am as the Housing Department said he had 20 minutes to move his vehicle or the city would tow it so they could demolish that house and the two next to it. WMAR covered the story.

It is an all too common story: a vacant home, owned by the city since the 1970’s, collapsed because of institutional neglect, damaging a number of other properties and possibly Anthony’s own home.   The startling part (for me) is that when I drove over on Tuesday morning to see what was going on things were… empty.  No one really cared. Despite tons of toxic materials thrown into the air next to an elementary school, the destruction of one of the few safe community spaces and multiple owner occupied properties at risk, the city just yawned.  

I took some photos, a short video, and shared the story on social media.  Within an hour multiple press outlets reached out to get more information. WMAR ran a story on the 11 O’Clock news and by this morning the City Housing Department had set a meeting with Anthony to discuss next steps.  

Let me be clear. This is not a story about me being a hero.  It is a story about people and places that do not speak a common language; about a lack of trust between resident and government in certain zip codes and census tracts that require an outside voice to intervene to get attention.  

This is a story about broken relationships. About the need for reparations. We talk all the time about ‘Smalltimore’ but once again the need for reparations, particularly around housing and environmental justice, is brought to our church’s doorstep.  

This week we celebrate the feast of pentecost — a day when we see the Holy Spirit make plain to the world the salvific power of Jesus Christ.  Stories and moments and traumas and healings that were hidden from view for so many communities were suddenly made plain. 

This is what we need to do here in Baltimore. Make plain the reality of the need for reparations and the work ahead of us here in Baltimore.  So I want to invite you to take part in Reparations Month this June.  Every Sunday we will have a different focus — Criminal Justice, Housing, Environmental Justice and Education.  It will be reflected in the prayers, the homily, and in a post church coffee and conversation in the Parish Hall.  See the flyer below for more details. 

This week we will welcome Donna Brown from The Citizen’s Policing Project (CPP) who will share some urgent advocacy efforts at the city and state level regarding Consent Decree here in Baltimore and community oversight over police accountability efforts.  I hope you will join us. 

The View from Bolton Street

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Matthew 19:13-15 

Once more for the governor of Texas, the U.S. Senate, and the National Rifle Association….

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Matthew 19:13-15 

If America is indeed a Christian nation, we are not a very good one, at least when it comes to how we treat our children.  We pretend that school shootings are an unpreventable and unpredictable phenomenon rather than actually do something to stop them. 

Rather than blame guns we blame mental health—but then we cut mental health supports in schools. 

Rather than blame guns we blame broken homes—but refuse to change incarceration policies that result in the overwhelming percentage of the incarcerated being young Black men. 

Rather than blame guns we blame a lack of prayer—but then we tell anyone gay, trans, foreign, non-english speaking that they are not welcome in Church. 

Rather than blame guns— we say we need MORE GUNS. More guns in schools, in malls, in churches, everywhere.  In Lakeland there was a ‘good guy with a gun’ who could not stop the bad guy with a gun. In Uvalde, Texas there were two.  They were not able to prevent the murder of 18 children in an Elementary school. 

What must Jesus think when he looks down at this supposedly Christian nation who continues to sacrifice children’s lives on the altar of gun rights?  He weeps, I am sure for the Children lost.  But even moreso he weeps for us. 

The Kingdom of Heaven does not belong to Colt, or Smith, or Wesson. It belongs to the Little Children - and the rest of us stand little chance of gaining admission if we don’t change something. 

The View from Bolton Street

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The collect (A collective prayer said in all Episcopal and most Anglican Churches around the world) this week is hopeful, uplifting, and an important reminder of God's never failing love for us, even in difficult times. 

It also serves to gently prod us that we need God's help in everything, even loving God! Pour into our hearts such love towards you. It is reminiscent of the prayer the desire to please you does please you. We often desperately want to love God, but can't quite bring ourselves to do it on our own.  

Love may have been the last thing on your minds when you read, or heard, or saw the news of the shooting in Buffalo this week.  As a community that has been so focused on racial reconciliation and seeking Jesus' help in exterminating white supremacy and racism from the church, it is particularly painful to see how far we as a nation are, and to see innocent black communities suffer because of endemic racism in our society. 

I know our natural instinct as people of faith is to pray when bad things happen, and we should!  But what exactly should we pray for?  For those who have died? Why? They are already with Jesus, they have received their reward.  Instead we need to pray for ourselves.  All of us.  That God may pour God's love into our hearts so that we can stop turning a blind eye to the petty indignities of white supremacy and then be surprised when it takes off the mask in these acts of terror.  

This didn't happen just because one man was radicalized by bad people over the internet.  It happens because as a culture white america is indifferent to the continuing reality of the legacy of slavery until blood is spilled, and then we can't run fast enough to any excuse to not change how we live, work, move, or have our being. 

This happened because we tolerate underfunded schools in black neighborhoods, because we ignore radical disparities in sentencing and incarceration rates, because we laugh when someone assumes the black person is the assistant, the janitor, the help, the client in a diverse group of people.  

This happened because we have allowed our children and our children's children, protestants and catholics, to forget about the dream, and settle for watching someone else's nightmare.  Because the bottom line really is the bottom line, and the only place that black truly matters is on a balance sheet. 

In this weeks Gospel Jesus comes across a man who has dragged himself to a pool filled with healing waters, only to have everyone step over him to get in as soon as the waters are prepared.  No matter how hard he tries he cannot heal because no one sees him as worth being healed.   Instead, they, we, shout 'Physician heal thyself' 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' 'this is the land of opportunity' while we forget that we opportunistically took this land from someone else who was kind enough to share it.  

The funny thing about this story is that Jesus doesn't help the man get in the water.  He doesn't do what is expected of him. He doesn't uphold the status quo. 

He just tells the man to get up and walk and sends him on his way.  He repairs, restores, and heals him - not for one day, but for all time. 

Now I am not Jesus, and neither are you.  But we have the same opportunity - to move away from doing the same things that have gotten the same results and instead repair relationships, restore streets, and heal broken hearts. 

And the only way to do that is love.  

But first we have to pray. Pray God will help us to love, because this we cannot do on our own. 

The View from Bolton Street

Okay on the one hand…

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. 

John 13:34

And on the other…. 

Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Leviticus 19:18

Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the almighty

Job 6:14

Psalm 41:1

Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.

“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Psalm 82:2-4

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

Proverbs 3:27

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 14:31

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity

Proverbs 17:17

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah 1:17

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

This is what the Lord Almighty said: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”

Zechariah 7:9

And that is just a small sampling of the many, many examples of Old Testament commandments to love one another.  

So…. Is Jesus, wrong?  Did he forget?  Skip these lessons in Hebrew School? 

Certainly, certainly not.  

After all, Jesus has said multiple times in his ministry before this last supper scene that we should ‘love our neighbor.’  Jesus knows the law. The Disciples know the law.  

It is us, I am afraid, who do not know the law. 

In this moment Jesus is speaking specifically to his disciples, his closest followers, telling and showing them how they will make it through the trying difficult times ahead.  By staying united. Staying together. 

When we are confronted with big external stresses and fears, it is tempting for us to turn on each other.  Argue about which of us is the purest, who we should follow, who caused all this mess!  Instead of banding together.  

It is not an accident that the physical representation of this kind of love is foot washing.  A humbling and less than dignified act that requires the participants to acknowledge they are not superior even as they acknowledge their love for each other.  

In that sense, it is a new commandment.  Not for all humanity, or Christians, or the Jewish people, but for communities of faith working through difficult times.  

Have you ever noted this behavior in yourself, or people you care about?  A tragedy affects a family, a church, an organization, a movement - and there is an immediate push to identify who is at fault within the community and strive towards some kind of ideological purity.  Often this strife can mean the end of the Church, family, or movement. 

Rather than fighting over who is the greatest, the purest, the rightest — perhaps our move should be to reach out in humility and love to each other, re-develop the bonds of affection that have perhaps atrophied or gone slack so that we are able to work as a community of love to overcome those stresses and pressures that seek to pull us apart. 

Jesus knew his disciples would be pulled apart, so he wanted to prepare them with the antidote.  And prepare us as well. That antidote is love.  Humble, sacrificial, love. 

The View from Bolton Street

Now in Joppa, there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time, she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

So, Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 

Acts 9

Peter, the Rock on which Jesus builds his church - travels to Joppa to see a gentile apostle named Tabitha, prays for her. and raises her from the Dead. 

Jairus’ daughter, the hemorrhaging woman, the Samaritan woman at the well, Mary and Martha, and Mary again all benefit from Jesus’ healing in his earthly ministry. Lydia and Junia, both apostles of Saint Paul, are leaders in the early Church after having their own encounters with Christ’s salvific love. 

Tabloid Christianity might have you forget the voice of these early women theologians and apostles, but they are not forgotten to the Church or to God.  Perhaps now as much as ever we need those voices in our midst as we process the anger, uncertainty, worry, and fear around the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent criminalization of abortion in much of the United States.   So, is God Pro-Life? Pro-Choice? Agnostic? Abstaining? 

God is the creator and redeemer of all humankind, of course, God is pro-life, though not in the narrow, small way it is defined in our public discourse. For God is pro ABUNDANT life, in all of its fullness. In her book Pro-Choice and Christian, the Rev. Kira Austin-Young talks about the need to seek abundant life for all. “A Consistent pro-life Christian ethic should have as much to say about every death-dealing, anti-flourishing scenario as it does about abortion…a consistent pro-life ethic would be as concerned with the quality of life of any particular child as it is with that child’s birth, and we need a broader conversation on what that looks like.”(Austin-Young. 92) 

I am a pro-abundant-life Christian, which means that I acknowledge that people of faith have a responsibility to support the fullness of life for all of humanity, not just those in the womb. That there are times and reasons and seasons where a woman may not be able to bear a child; these moments are heartbreaking, but they are not prevented or ameliorated by outlawing abortion. If anything they are made worse. 

As priest and  pastor, I would like to offer a few prayerful reflections in this most tender time.  

No matter what the Supreme Court does or does not do - our responsibility as people of faith does not change. It is to care for the lost, to bind up the broken, to lift up the lowly.  A repeal of Roe v. Wade  will not dissolve the need for abortions, nor will it resolve the economic, social and societal pressures that make abortions a reality.  Theologians, politicians and others can pretend that this is the case– but we should know better.  

Jesus calls us to care for each other, to find Christ in each other. To love, first and foremost. To pray for those who are lost and need to be brought closer to God. There are many who need our prayers today.

Those who would demand a child be born while celebrating removing the safety net that allows that child to flourish are very lost indeed, very far from Christ.  And so I pray for those celebrating today. 

Those who have endured abortions, proudly, quietly, or sadly, find themselves judged today in the public square by people who claim to speak for Christ.  And so I pray for those mourning today. 

Those who support women and families making these most difficult decisions, providing care, counseling, support, and love - often while their own lives are threatened by radicals on the other side - are hurting today.  And so I pray for the helpers today.

Those who don’t know what to say, who are scared to say anything for fear they won’t be able to hold it together, or are terrified of what someone they love will say in response are lonely and scared right now.  And so I pray for the isolated and alone today. 

Those who have quietly led lives of grace and dignity living out God’s call of abundant life, discouraging abortions while also providing food, shelter, job training, support and love for mothers and young families. Who sit vigil at execution chambers and write thousands of letters asking for clemency, for release to the captives, for an end to the death penalty.  And so I pray for those who have the courage to live out the fullness of their convictions today. 

Our public discourse is so broken that it is almost impossible to hold a public opinion on abortion that is not at one end of two extremes.  And so I pray for all of us today. 

A lot can happen in a few months,  nothing from the Supreme Court yet is final and the various motivations and strategies being used to fight this battle are mostly unknown to you and me. And so I pray that cooler heads prevail today. 

But mostly I pray for you. And me.  For ears to listen to the voices of female saints and theologians past and present; For hearts to embrace those we love and those we disagree with and sometimes those are the same people; For legs to carry us forward; and For arms to pick each other up when we falter.  So that we may all come eternal, abundant life with Christ our savior. 

The View from Bolton Street

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

Acts 9:3

For the last few days, Monica, the kids and I have been living out of a hotel in Hunt Valley while our floors are being redone.  Like any good historic home renovation, a two day job is now going into week two.  So as I gaze out the fifth floor of a building overlooking Wegmans and the Interstate, I had an epiphany not unlike Paul’s road to Damascus moment.

Between walks in Oregon Ridge and take out from Chain Restaurant X,Y and Z, and the pristine shopping environment of Wegmans and an all you can eat hotel breakfast….

I am beginning to go blind. 

Blindness is not a miracle limited to Paul and a few other prophets and disciples in scripture.  Blindness can happen to any of us when we are so focused on doing one thing that we forget to open up and see everything else at play.   

Sitting out here at this high perch the thing I am going blind to is… Baltimore. But I’m not blind to the need, or the poverty, or the inequality.  I can’t be blind to the crime and misery because the news shows me that every night since we don’t have Netflix out here, and our youngest is suddenly obsessed with watching “the news”(this takes lots of careful curation). 

What I am blind to is the community.  The beauty of Baltimore as a place and a space where people gather, people share, and people lift each other up. This is what Saul/Paul was blind to - that the community of Christ followers was a community of God’s people that would gather, share, pray, grow, laugh, cry, fight, argue but always seeking to come back together and move forward.

He only saw the headlines.  He missed the people. He missed the light.

This is not (entirely) a plea to encourage everyone to move into the city.  But it is a plea for us as a church community to explore ways to better root ourselves in this community.  So that we do not become blind to those around us, and so they do not become blind to us. 

You see - Paul was not ‘bad’ and then became ‘good’.  He was always about the work of salvation, he was just blind to the fact that Salvation could look different for different people.  That a cookie cutter approach to life and ministry does not serve any of us well.  

Maybe you are blind to this?  When you close your eyes and picture success… does it require letters after someone’s name?  Does it mean living in a particular zip code? Does it mean a particular sized bank account?   When you picture someone who is capable and talented…. What do they look like? What do they wear? How do they talk? What do they do?

You see the secret is that Paul was not struck blind on the road to Damascus.  He was always blind.  It was only through the bright light of Christ that he was finally able to see.  To see the possibility and joy and salvation among this nascent Christian community, and more importantly to finally see his actions and beliefs for what they were. 

Maybe we should all take a moment to consider our blindness, so that we too can see.

The View from Bolton Street

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Easter Message 2022

The View from Bolton Street

“The door was locked for fear….”

You may not be aware that Holy Week, historically, is the most dangerous season for the jewish people.  With millions of people around the world reading about the death of their savior, it is tempting to cast blame on someone, anyone, other than ourselves.  

Due in large part to the translation of the Gospel of John this has almost always been directed at the Jewish people.  This was true up until the Shoah (the holocaust) and in some parts of the world is still true.  We see reflections of this today in the Holy Land - as this year with the overlap of Lent, Passover and Ramadan there has been markedly more violence directed at Jews in the palestine. 

This year the Episcopal Church has approved a new translation of the Passion of John that seeks to restore the original understanding of John’s Gospel, largely replacing the translation for Jews with Judeans.  You can read more about these changes here - but a brief summary is that the distinction in the Gospel is not a religious one, but a geographic one.  After all, both the disciples and the hearers of John’s Gospel are jewish.  They do not ‘fear the Jews’; they fear the Judeans, because they are from Galilee - a poorer region of the Palestine - and are being persecuted by the wealthier and more connected Judeans.  

There are other instances where the translation is shifted to the ‘Jewish authorities’ because it is the Jewish leaders with whom Judas negotiates. This summer, the Episcopal Church will consider among other resolutions, one focused on Anti-semitism. The resolution acknowledges both our church’s past anti-semitism and commits the Church to more thoughtful engagement with our Jewish siblings.  

Why? You might ask. We aren’t anti-Semitic! We love our Jewish neighbors.  

Because while the issue of Anti-Semitism may seem far off, the compulsion to blame our own failings, shortcomings or distance from God on someone else is not.  Bigotry, homophobia, racism, often originate from a place of fear.  Fear that we are too far away from God. From success. From hope.  So we need someone else to be culpable to make us feel better. 

This Holy Week I encourage you to consider where your anger and frustration goes when you feel shame. Who shoulders that blame?  Trump? Biden? The Police? The City Council? Your Rector? Your family?  

Feeling lost and far away is a lonely and scary place to be.  And if you have gotten this far in this reflection, you would be tempted to think that the alternative to blaming someone else is to blame yourself.  “I MESSED UP.”  

But that is not it at all.  

The message of the passion and the Gospel is that no matter where we are Jesus is there too.  Whether we are locked in the upper room, asleep in the garden, alone and scared by the fire, or at the foot of the cross, Jesus is there waiting expectantly for us.  

Jesus is not interested in judgement.  His last words on the cross are not “you guys are gonna get it!” But rather “forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

You are already forgiven.  We are already forgiven.  

Whatever you think is keeping you from a deeper relationship with God is… not.   Jesus is waiting for you - to wash your feet, to meet you at the cross, to show you the empty tomb, to meet you on the way to Emmaus and to break bread with you.  

So what are you waiting for? 

Lenten Reflection 6

This month's Poem of the Month is "Daybreak in Baltimore" by Aiyana Thomas, who highlights the strength that is grown through negativity. This poem was published in our very first volume! The art we selected to feature with it is entitled "World's Greatest Discoveries," a drawing by Elijah Furr that captures the beautiful progress the world made.

Happy National Poetry Month!

CHARM community

Walter Montgomery Howard Graphic Design
1420 Mason Street, Baltimore Maryland 21217 | 410-949-4630

The View from Bolton Street

A Report from the Wardens

Your Vestry at Work

April 5, 2022

Over the past two years, it was necessary for us, as a church community, to curtail virtually all of our in-person activities, or at least move them to a virtual space.  This involved pain and sacrifice, yet it served to keep us healthy during the worst of the pandemic.  During that time, your elected vestry focused mostly on the issues that we had to confront in order to keep us together as one body, despite all the hardships.  Having now come through that difficult time, the vestry has been praying, discerning, and discussing what lies ahead for Memorial Church, as it appears that we can begin to do many things more “normally” again. 

We have been asking ourselves what God is calling us to do as leaders, and, by extension, what God is calling Memorial Church to do.  Over two sessions in February and March, we engaged in a retreat to consider our individual roles as vestry members, our working relationship with the rector, and to establish mutual ministry goals, or priority areas to work on, for the year ahead.  We also reached out to a quite a few members of the congregation with questions about what has been and remains important to you about this community of faith.

We came away from this process with strong perceptions about our shared experience of Memorial Church:

o   Our membership cares deeply about Memorial, and feels a firm sense of shared values.  We have found our center, and we treasure our sense of mission.

o   The strength of our commitment to our mission of justice and inclusion keeps us coming back to Memorial as a place where we feel we belong. 

o   The “stickiness” of our commitment to our mission has drawn many of us back to Memorial at times when, for various reasons, we have been temporarily drawn away.

o   Our collective commitment to the mission of Memorial may be, at least at times, stronger than our commitment to worshipping together. (We realize this may be a triggering statement for some folks.  Please know that this was our observation, and that it is shared with you devoid of judgment.)

o   We may not be able to be everybody’s church always.  (Again, no judgment.)

o   It is important to invite people to have a role in carrying out the mission.  Memorial is what it is because that tradition took root here.

With the understanding that it is the job of a church to 1) gather people together, 2) transform them, and 3) send them out into the world to do God’s work, we established three attainable mutual ministry goals that as a vestry, together with the rector and congregation, we will endeavor to achieve during the remainder of this year.  They are:

o   Improve the organization, information, and format of the church’s web site, to make it more reflective of the scope of Memorial’s ministries, more useful for internal and external communication, and a more effective tool for inviting people to come in;

o   Enhance our youth programs, aiming to include children across the age spectrum;

o   Revive regular adult formation programming, with regular get-togethers for families of all descriptions to work, learn, and play together.

Finally, the members vestry, after prayerful discernment, agreed to take leadership in one or more specific areas vital to our forward momentum, as follows:

o   Welcoming newcomers and returners

o   Alice Peake, Sarah Rice, Bill Roberts

o   Christian formation – children and adults

o   Sara Rice, Ryan Sturm, Kaite Vaught

o   Stewardship Campaign, 2022-23

o   John McIntyre, Alice Peake, Stacy Wells

o   Transformation of our worship space (continuing the pandemic-interrupted work that began with removing the plaques and changing the altar art work)

o   John McIntyre, Alice Peake

o   Liaison to the Guy T. Hollyday Justice and Reparations Initiative, and to Linden Park Apartments

o   Keenan Dworak-Fisher, Steve Howard

o   Liaison to the Buildings and Grounds Committee

o   Beth Torres, Stacy Wells

o   Liaison to the The Samaritan Community

o   Wendy Yap

It is our hope, as your wardens, that we have laid the groundwork for moving ahead in the remainder of 2022 with the “gladness and singleness of heart” for which we pray at the conclusion of each Holy Eucharist.  We pledge to keep in touch.  We ask you to prayerfully consider what part you will play as we nurture this holy ground that God has given us, that we might spread God’s love in the world.

Bill Roberts

Senior Warden

Stacy Wells

Junior Warden