The View from Bolton Street

A Big THANK YOU! to everyone that assisted with Sunday's annual meeting, particularly all the staff and volunteers that worked hard on annual reports and new programs and materials.  Special kudos to Candice Willie our parish administrator for herding all the cats and getting the paperwork together for the meeting and the website updated.  If you have not read through the annual reports and watched the children's report I hope you will do so very soon. It is well worth your time!  

Reparations:

Since we launched the Guy T. Hollyday Justice and Reparations fund, we have raised over $130k and distributed $92,742.  Significant beneficiaries have been Building our Nation’s Daughters, Black Women Build, The Diocesan Reparations Fund, Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development, St. Katherine’s Episcopal Church, Kindred Coaches, Dad’s United, and underwriting the Division and Unity History display at the Unity Hall produced by Nanny Jack, Inc.

Worship: 

We are in the process of rebuilding our worship post-pandemic.  It has of course been hampered by the delay in the renovation work, but also by the continuing shift in who we are and how we gather.  While our worship is outlined by the Book of Common Prayer, the blank space in the prayer book offers a lot of space for flexibility. Music, prayers, silence, singing.  As we continue to ask what our worship should look like, exploring these blank spaces will be an important part of our worship journey.

Youth: 

Over the summer, due to the collaboration between Miles Weeks and Kathleen Capcara, we substantially rejuvenated our youth program with more consistent curriculum, expanding programming to include more ages, and we have begun to see the return of our pre-COVID children and youth programming. I am looking forward to what Miles and other volunteers are able to do in  the new year. 

Urgent Needs: 

As has been our practice over the last few years, Memorial has been very flexible in our ability to reach out and support urgent needs in our community and the wider world.  From September 2021 through the middle of 2022, myself and some other dedicated volunteers partnered to provide support and assistance to Afghans fleeing the Taliban regime.  All told, we were able to evacuate more than 160 Afghans via air and land to safety, almost all of whom have since made it to the U.S. or European countries where they have received sanctuary.  We also worked with a local partner Luminus and Brown Memorial and Beth Am Synagogue to provide for the Afghan families that have settled in Reservoir Hill. 

The excitement about the annual meeting and how far we have come in the last year was tempered of course by the sobering financial report.  Due to a number of circumstances, including quite a few unpaid 2022 pledges and lower than expected special appeal revenue numbers in 2022, we ended the 2022 year with a large deficit - over $100,000.  The good news is many of those missing pledges have been paid up since our meeting Sunday and we are confident there are more to come. 

However, there is also a lower than expected number of pledgers making their commitment to 2023. Because of this, the finance committee did not present a budget at the annual meeting. The vestry and I concurred, and we proposed a special meeting for March 5 during which the congregation will consider and vote upon a budget for 2023.  On Sunday, members voted to approve the proposal. 

In the interim between now and March 5 we will work on bringing in more pledges so that 2023 spending isin line with reasonable revenue projectionss. The good news is that several 2023 pledges have come in since Sunday. The finance committee and staff will work hard over the next few weeks ensuring our 2023 budget is substantive and responsive to our current reality. 

Some of you had questions about the temporary budget resolution to carry us through March 5th, so let me offer a few clarifying comments: First, the vestry is the chief fiduciary authority of the parish, and as such have, since November, instituted a "only necessary spending" policy, so any spending between now and March 5th will be mainly to keep the lights on and the staff compensated.  Second, we are continuing with the “Memorial Makes Room” work (construction re-started this week!) and don’t anticipate any further delays. Third, our primary focus will continue to be worship and music, youth and justice and reparations. A clearer focus on our core strengths will lead to better budget stability and confidence in the mission of Memorial. 

I should also say that while we would never protest increased pledges, the problem is not really about how much you all pledge.  You all are exceedingly generous in your support of this place and our average pledge is higher than many other churches.  Our principal challenges are two-fold: 1) recovering lost building revenue post COVID, and 2) getting more people in the pews (and additional pledges to support our work).  While this may seem daunting I have no doubt that if we trust the spirit and continue to serve God and our community these things will materialize. 

I look forward to presenting to you a fuller picture of the budget in March including a 2023 budget that serves our communities’ needs and will not leave us in the same position we have been in at the end of every year -- concerned about a deficit and unsure of the next year's revenue.  If you see anyone from the finance committee please tell them thank you for their extraordinary efforts in making this happen. 

The View from Bolton Street

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

If there is a better reading to mark our annual meeting, I can’t think of one.  After all, what else is required of us but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God? 

Such simple statements and yet one could spend a lifetime perfecting them.  Justice. Kindness. Humility.  Maintaining these in balance, however, is critical to maintaining our relationship with Jesus and with each other.  Too much justice without humility and we think we have all the answers, too much kindness without justice and we end up only helping people like us. Too much humility without justice or kindness and we find ourselves the victims of abuse.  

In Micah, God is speaking to outcasts, loners, sinners, and said you will be the ones to rebuild this Kingdom.  And how will they do it? Through justice, kindness and humility.  They didn’t believe it then, and it is quite possible you do not believe it now! It is hard to believe that one little church could make a difference. Especially in a place with problems like Baltimore.  And yet if we look back through scripture, history and our own stories - that is where it always starts. 

As I am contemplating the joys and challenges of our racial reconciliation journey over the last few years, I want to offer a few reflections on how this passage from Micah can speak into what comes next. 

Kindness: Be kind to yourself.  Racial reconciliation and reparations work is a new space and an uncomfortable one, especially for white people. We are going to make mistakes as a community and as individuals.  When we do, we need to be gentle and forgiving with ourselves so that we can learn from those mistakes. 

Humility: Let others lead, but don’t force it.  Seek to empower new leaders and new voices who bring different perspectives to the table.  Acknowledge your blind spots based on your social location and seek out new voices to fill that space.  You don’t have, or have to, have all the answers.

Justice: Remember the work is not about you. It is about us as a collective.  There may be times where you feel like you the individual are losing something: status, power, control, or other things.  But we as a collective are growing stronger at the same time.  Building new bonds of trust, developing new leadership, new identities, new understandings of how God has brought us together. That is justice work.  

So friends I hope to see you Sunday ready to do nothing more or less than to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God and with each other. 

The View from Bolton Street

CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE CHILDREN’S PRAYER

The View from Bolton Street

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

John 1

When you came to church for the first time, or the first time as a semi-competent adult, you were looking for something. Or many things. You may have come looking for spiritual fulfillment. You may have come looking for community. You may have come for connection.  You may have come because it felt like the right thing to do. 

You may have come because you missed your mom.

Because you wanted your kids to be formed.  

Because you wanted to get married.

Because you were looking for peace. 

As we enter the season of Epiphany, now is as good a time as any to reflect on that question: “What are you looking for?” Like these soon to be disciples in the Gospel, you are quietly following Jesus around, seeing what he is up to, curious and perhaps confused about the whole spectacle when suddenly Christ turn to you and says: “What is it YOU are looking for?” 

What are you looking for today in your relationship with God? Depending on how long you have been involved in the Church, that might be a different answer than it was initially! That’s okay! 

But you are looking for something, and when you are able to put words towards it that is the beginning of a prayer. An ongoing prayer between you and God for whatever it is that you think you lack or need right now. 

And God is listening. So what are you going to say?

The view from Bolton Street

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1

The season of Epiphany is upon us! A new light in the world. New opportunities are before us. New joys and new possibilities for growth. The wise men traveled hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles to greet the infant Christ – you only have to make it to 1407 Bolton Street. 

Because this Sunday you have your own opportunity to find new opportunities for joy, for service, and for community at Memorial.  We are having our first ever ‘Try it before you buy it’ Sunday - where you can stay after church and try out one of our ministries - acolytes, altar guild, lectors, ushers, choir, vergers, flower arranging and possibly a few other things.  (this was MY design for a flyer - fortunately Candice saw the wisdom of creating her own)

If you are new to Memorial please join us this Sunday and see if there is a place for you on the altar or in service to the community. If you are not so new, but are ready to take a step out of the pews (or chairs as it were) I hope you will come as well.  

We have some VERY DEDICATED volunteers who have carried our worship and ministry through the COVID era, but they could use a break, and WE could use someone like YOU on the altar.  

Why? 

Because of the incarnation.  Because the power of this moment was people all over the world recognizing God in a newborn baby.  That looked just like all of us.  

When you  walked into this church the first time, did you see someone like you on the altar? In the choir? In the leadership?   If so - you know how important that is to feeling like you belong when you come in the door.  

And if not, don’t you want to see if you can make it a little easier for the next person who comes after you? To make sure that people see the face of God and their face in Church when they join us?  I hope so.  

One other thought on acts of service. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. The wise men brought gifts from far away. The disciples walked. The Israelites walked through the red sea and carried the ark across the Jordan. Joshua marched around Jericho with trumpets and flags.  The bible is filled with stories of people using their bodies in service of God, and getting more deeply connected to God in the process.  

I don’t ask you to serve on Sundays because we need warm bodies.  I ask you to do it in the hopes that it becomes a part of your spiritual work.  That it offers you an opportunity to offer a gift to God and receive God’s gifts in return.  After all, that is what the season of Epiphany is all about. 

The View from Bolton Street

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night…

We love Christmas music in our house.  Love it.  It is embarrassing how early in the season we start listening to Christmas music. It is shameless really. We love them all, from White Christmas to Dominick the Donkey to Christmas in Hollis we appreciate the whole canon of Christmas Carols. 

Except for one.  

Whenever ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ comes on there are lots of groaning.  A LOT.  And all that in spite of it having a pretty epic video to go with it.  

There is something about the idea of ‘praying for the other ones’ and asking if they even know it is Christmas in Africa that just rubs me the wrong way. I mean, there WILL be snow in Africa, and there is plenty of water that isn't tears, and they will get better gifts than life! 

However, the idea that famine and drought are geological problems and not man made problems still persists in the world. As does the concept that what people need is just a little food or water or love to get them through this crisis, and not a drastic re-ordering of the entire economic system. 

Did you know that famine is rarely the result of a lack of food, but rather that food is often taken from those with little and given to those with much?  

Did you know that drought is often the result of water being stolen or diverted for swimming pools and resorts and not because there hasn’t been ‘enough rain this Christmas’? 

When the shepherds re-orient their lives towards Christ, they take their flocks with them. When the wise men arrive they bring signs and symbols of their world to the Christ Child.  When we come into contact with the divine in our lives, our hearts, minds, souls and ‘stuff’ should be re-oriented towards Jesus.  Have you re-oriented all of your life? 

When we look a little closer to home, we often find the same attitudes exist and persist.  We all feel a pang of guilt around the holidays realizing how good we have it compared to ‘the other ones’.  But instead of appeasing ourselves with toy drives and food deliveries, perhaps you should consider what you can do the rest of the year to change that reality.  To make ‘the other ones’ less other and more neighbor.  To make the stranger less strange and more family.  

I remain incredibly grateful that Memorial and so many others have embraced our reparations fund, which has set out to do just that.  That as a community we have decided we value the building of relationships, of the strengthening of communities and community partners more than simple charity work.  If you have not supported these efforts yet I hope that you will, with your time, talent and your treasure.  

And if you are worried it is too late, that you have not done enough please don’t worry.  Bono, the lead singer of U2 has gone from cringely crooning ‘tonight thank God it’s them instead of you’ to being universally acknowledged as one of the most generous people in the world and one the most active in causes of justice and equality the world over. There is always time to repair, restore, and reframe how we understand ourselves in the world and there is no better time to start than Christmas.  

The View from Bolton Street

Naming our Heroes

You might have noticed that I have been referencing superheroes more often than usual in my sermons.  Jesus and John the Baptist as Batman and Robin? Or is it Cyclops and Wolverine?  Magneto and Professor X? Or Iron Man and Captain America?  This is not JUST because the new Black Panther movie has recently come out, but also because I have been reflecting a lot about heroes during and following my sabbatical. 

The vast canon of Hindu deities, after all, offers lots of heroes to consider.  King Arthur flour bears that name for a reason, and any travel through the American West is a reminder of many people we have seen and heroes and how complicated those hero narratives have become.  It turns out conquering the American west may have been more than just surviving snake bites and cholera. As a child, I was raised on Arthurian Legends and cowboy movies.  The hero ideal for a ten-year-old me was a lone knight/cowboy surviving in the desert, saving the innocent women, locking up the bad guys, and making it home in time for supper. 

It turns out that it was never quite this simple.  

Not only did our heroes rarely, if ever, do it all alone, but they also sometimes hurt people, sometimes a lot of them, in the process. 

Our heroes aren’t always heroic, I guess. 

Maybe there are really no good people or at least no perfect people, but really only good decisions. Good choices, good moments. 

The biggest change in how the Marvel superhero universe has been presented to the world recently is that the characters are no longer two-dimensional. Not only are the movies vivid 3-D narratives, but the characters are more than just good and bad.  More often than not we find ourselves rooting for the bad guy or mad at the good guy in the story. 

The Bible is full of these kinds of heroes, as is the story of our faith.  Men and women who have done amazing things in the name of God and yet who also set some really bad examples made some really bad decisions. 

What separates out those we call heroes often has as much to do with location than anything else.  What did they do when given the opportunity to follow God more closely? Did they get closer? Or run away? 

The Shepherds and the Magi got closer. Herod went the other way. Paul got closer. The roman emperor went the other way.  

When given the opportunity to follow God more closely will you get closer? Or will you go the other way?  This is the question being asked of us this Advent as we prepare for the birth of Christ. 

The View from Bolton Street

John McIntyre's call to stewardship at the Dec. 4 service

Let me tell you a story. For more than a century, Memorial Episcopal Church was a white, racist, segregated parish. It was in living memory, in 1969, the year I was a senior in high school, that Barney Farnham opened those doors and invited Black people to worship here.

As time went on, Memorial became a place where divorced people who were not wanted in other Episcopal parishes found a welcome. The first woman ordained to the priesthood in Maryland served at this altar, and the first openly gay priest in the diocese also served at that altar.

But we are not perfected, and the story goes on. When you pledge your support to this parish, you say that you want to be part of this story. And we want you to be part of the story with us, because there is much still to be written.
--
John

The View from Bolton Street

“Take off the works of Darkness and put on the Armor of light” 

This line, from the Collect for the first Sunday of Advent, and the book of Romans, has been read in the Church since the 1500s and circumscribes our journey between now and Christmas. 

A mistake we make, of course, is thinking that light and dark are just opposites here and as long as we keep to the light we will be just fine thank you.

Except God works in the darkness of clouds in Exodus, in the void of the whirlwind in Kings, in the Belly of the whale in Jonah. Jesus does some his best work at night! In the garden, in the boat, in the late of the day when he feeds the 5,000. 

Darkness and light are realities of creation. The two first things God creates. There is nothing intrinsically evil about dark spaces or dark places. Our over reliance on light has led to, among other things, a false sense of purity, a denigration of the poor and the needy, and a judgment that might (and light and white) make right. 

There are times when we may be called to work in darkness. And God is with us in that. But this season of advent is a journey towards the light. Towards that first star of the morning, to the light of Bethlehem, and to the new light kindled in the birth of our savior Jesus. 

Let’s not forget however that that light leads to a back alley stable filled with animals surrounded by muscular, scary shepherds and strange looking foreigners. Not perfectly decorated Christmas Trees with tons of presents and a roaring fire. The light of Christ leads us to love and to discomfort. To joy and to wonder and some confusion too. 

I hope it leads you back to Church. For this season of advent and for the Christmas Season as well. 

The View from Bolton Hill

Gratitude 

On our dining room table we have a (stuffed) Turkey we use to decorate in the fall. It has detachable tail feathers that you can write on, and so as the season goes we add things that we are thankful for leading up to thanksgiving.

Over the years the content has changed, from diapers and sleep, to coffee, to school and my teachers, to vaccines and masks.

But a few things are always there - faith, family and friends.

These constants - which are sometimes blessings and sometimes… not so blessings - remind us of who we are and where we came from.

The thanksgiving readings include one of my favorite lines from Deuteronomy - when you make your offering before the Lord say “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number.” You may have much to give thanks for this year, you may feel you have very little, you may have a full house or a half empty table, but as you gather take a moment to consider our faith story and your own story.

That we came from a wandering aramean, whose family grew in great numbers, until they found themselves exiled in the desert. They came into a land of promise, until they were exiled again. Kingdoms waxed and waned, wealth has come and gone. Saviors born and crucified, prophets celebrated and tortured, but through all of that we have always had faith, family and community.

As Christians we do not judge ourselves by the standards of the world or by our present circumstances. We consider the whole of the story, and give thanks for all of it.

Today I give thanks for Memorial’s story, and I hope today you will take a moment to give thanks for your whole story.