The View from Bolton Street

Matthew 5:17–19

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Where do we find HOPE in the midst of chaos?  Jesus promises faithfulness to the end, as we read above, and yet we look at the world, we wonder, where is Jesus.  Where is that faithfulness? Don’t you see what is going on down here?!?!

Whether you are worried about upcoming elections, violence in our city, the presence of evil in our world, your struggles and worries, or just the frustration of everyday life… I hope you will join us the next Three Wednesdays for our Lenten Dinner program with Brown Memorial and Corpus Cristi. 

The Program is entitled Finding Hope in Uncertain Times

With the myth of the inevitability of progress wrenched from dominant public discourse, many are facing the painful reality of a world that seems to be drifting away from the future that our faith promises. How do we find the energy to continue building toward that holy vision when things get worse, not better? How do we persevere when our actions for a just world seem inconsequential? Join members of Brown Memorial Presbyterian, Memorial Episcopal, and Corpus Christi Roman Catholic churches for dinner at 5:30, followed by education and discussion on these questions of finding hope in uncertain times.

In moments of chaos and uncertainty, it is most important to not feel alone.  Coming together as a community is a wonderful way to ensure you are not alone!  

So please do join us.

The View from Bolton Street

8 is Great! 

"You can hold it this way, you can hold it that way, It's still eight." 

The Count is right. Eight (years) is indeed great. This Sunday I celebrate eight years serving here at Memorial, and it truly has been a joyous and exceptional eight years.  

I am grateful to all of you who have been a part of this journey, which is really... all of you reading this reflection. Memorial has a long history and I am aware that I only play a small part in that story (My photo isn't even on the wall yet!) but let's consider all that we have accomplished in this time.

We went from a staff of four to a staff of eight, adding a bookkeeper, parish administrator, youth minister, and justice minister. 

Even with the pandemic, we have increased our attendance substantially, close to 20%. 

We have revitalized the entire physical plant; rehabbing the rectory, air conditioning and modernizing the sanctuary, and painting and air conditioning both of the parish halls.  

We are also in the process of putting new floors in the basement and rehabbing to create a Sunday school classroom and a more friendly and inviting space for the Samaritan Community. 

We began a first-of-its-kind reparations program in the middle of the pandemic, and are leading the diocese and the country in showing how Churches can process their complicated histories and continue to serve God and the community in the future.

We have distributed close to $150k in reparations funds to West Baltimore nonprofits, and many times that in volunteer hours and additional support. 

We have revitalized our music program, featuring exceptional musicians and vocalists, and a music minister who regularly composes new offerings not just for us but for the glory of God around the world. 

We have become more diverse as a congregation and in our staff and leadership, better reflecting the community around us and what we hope the Kingdom of God looks like. 

We helped more than 100 people escape the Taliban and find sanctuary in Abu Dhabi and Pakistan and provided critical legal and humanitarian services to refugees here in the U.S. who are trying to make a new home.

The Rectory went from a lightly used storage space to a home for the Episcopal Service Corps for multiple years and is now a home for refugee families resettling here in Baltimore. 

We have borne witness to what it means to believe in Jesus and share Christ's love with the world to our neighbors in Bolton Hill and beyond.  

We have been home to multiple non-profits and community-oriented programming that seek to make life more livable here in Baltimore for all. 

And perhaps most importantly we have crafted a community of love. One that does not always agree on everything but that does find common ground in the love of God and sharing that love with the world.

Thank you all for eight wonderful years. Looking forward to many more. 

The View from Bolton Street

Reflection Lent 2

No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Genesis 17:5-7

I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. That is a lot of responsibility, Abraham. I do wonder how Abraham would feel about this multitude of nations today. Despite this everlasting covenant with God, despite God’s commitment that it would be everlasting, we seem to be doing our best to test God on this particular agreement. 

It isn’t just Gaza, though that is a convenient scapegoat for some of our worst thoughts and fears. Consider how much you know about Judaism. Or Islam? How many friends and colleagues do you have of different faiths - and that you have in depth conversations about faith?

We are told from the beginning that we are family.  All connected through Father Abraham.  But we often act more like estranged cousins than children of the same God.  Real dialogue can be hard, and often we prefer superficial connection than actual conversation.  So I want to offer a few ways to encourage real dialogue in the midst of conflict and difference.  These come from Catherine Cornille, a theologian at Boston College and is a helpful model to follow. 

Before we see any dialogue across difference we must first demonstrate: 

Humility -  We may have strongly held beliefs, thoughts and feelings - but we also acknowledge that neither our tradition nor our faith has all the answers, and that we may have something to learn from others.

Commitment - We do believe something.  And we understand that belief enough to dialogue with someone else.

Interconnectedness - we commit to seeing the commonalities in our traditions, like, for example, Abraham! 

Empathy - We seek to listen with our whole heart, and mind and soul to the other, putting ourselves in their shoes and seeking to see the conflict from their perspective. 

Hospitality - and finally, that we offer welcome, sustenance, and shelter to all those who seek to dialogue with. Sharing a bit of ourselves as we share what we believe lightens the tension and proves we are invested in the relationship and not just winning an argument.

I hope these guidelines can help you in your own journeys towards healing, reconciliation and renewal, however you may understand them. 

The View from Bolton Street

Gathering in Lent: In our modern Christian tradition, we tend to think of Lent as a season of individual devotions.  Whether we are taking something on (Bible study, devotionals) or giving something up (chocolate, soda, alcohol), we view it as something we do on our own.  We focus on our own sinfulness, our own distance from God, and (often unwittingly) pull away from the broader Christian community.  

However, we are entering an election year and coming out of a very isolating pandemic, and all we have to do is look around to see more and more division.  War. Conflict. Partisanship. Racism. Bigotry. Anti-Semitism. Everybody wants to know what side you are on.  

All of this division can be well, quite isolating.  For that reason, this Lent at Memorial we are going to focus on how to come back together.  You will notice some small changes in worship: we will kneel together at the altar rail for communion; we will allow some additional time for prayerful silence during worship; and we will sing, pray, and eat together - including a weekly formation program hosted by the vestry after the 10:30 service.  

Of all the things we can do this Lenten season, let's be a community. 

The View from Bolton Street

A Time for Transfiguration

Why go up the mountain?

The story of the transfiguration is one of our treasured stories from the gospels. We hear differing but not competing accounts of this story in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Yet we never get an answer to the question of why. Why does Jesus go up the mountain? Why does he bring some (but not all) of the disciples with him?

Does Jesus know what is going to happen? Was this all a carefully orchestrated event that was preordained? Or was it a happy accident? Jesus and his disciples needed a break, they went for a hike and then all this happened?

Fortunately or unfortunately, we are not told.

I say fortunately because for us it means that both can be true! As we seek to bring about our own transfiguration as a community of faith, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus’ transfiguration happened without any clear plan, and yet the Holy Spirit was definitely present in that moment! And we can also challenge ourselves to say that we should not run from the opportunities God has put before us. Or (as Peter attempted) to be content to just stay where we are.

This Sunday we have Mark’s version of the transfiguration story as our Gospel text. You have probably noticed that the veil has been lifted from the Triptych in the rear of the Church and you can expect to see more dialogue about this particular transfiguration in the coming weeks and months. As you may be aware, two years ago the vestry voted to veil the triptych until a decision could be made about its reinterpretation or replacement. The painting is a memorial to the Rev. Dr. William Meade Dame and his wife, Susan. Dr. Dame served for 45 years as rector of Memorial Episcopal Church and during his tenure aggressively sought to keep the church, the neighborhood, and the city of Baltimore segregated. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Confederate causes here in Baltimore, advocated taking the vote away from Black men, and supported a church and a community that invented housing segregation in the U.S.

It is not a bad painting on its own merits. It certainly could do with some restoration, and is a unique example of a minor late 19th/early 20th-century American painter, Frederick Lincoln Stoddard, who mainly painted murals and as a result, this is one of the few remaining examples of his large-scale works. It is, it must be said, a very white Jesus and the painting does not reflect who we are as a community or who we would aspire to be. It is possible that restoring the painting would bring out other colors, dulling the ‘white Jesus’ at the center, but the cost of such a restoration, $30,000 or more, maybe beyond our appetite or limited budget.

As we consider how might our sanctuary space be ‘transfigured’ - I invite you all to consider all of the transforming and transfiguring this community has undergone in the last 8 years. New members, revitalized worship spaces, new knowledge of our story and history, new programs, and new initiatives. We have changed how we worship during a pandemic, how we make music, and how we are led. How would you depict the transfiguration today? When you remember that Christ was transformed on a mountain, that his face changed, that he was blessed by our ancestors and by the Holy Spirit…. What does that look like to you? How would you draw that?

The View from Bolton Street

A Retreat? Already? Didn’t the vestry just START WORKING? WHY DO THEY ALREADY NEED A BREAK?

Okay, hopefully you aren’t thinking this, but maybe you are?  Why a retreat?  

Something that the vestry has noted over the last few years is that, in large part due to COVID, the connectivity between members of the vestry has really gone down.  We don’t get as much time together, don’t know each other as well, and don’t work as well together as we used to.  You might find this is true in other parts of your life as well.  Collective work, whether in the home, church, job or in the community, requires strong relationships, ‘bonds of affection’ as they are referred to in scripture.  No matter how much we think we can do things on our own, the reality is, we cannot.

In some ways, communal or collective work is like preparing a meal.  Lots of ingredients, different inputs, different methods, different inspirations all coming together to put food on the table.  So for the vestry, we need to get ‘back in the kitchen’ as it were and practice cooking.  Which is why I am very happy to have Derrick Weston joining us again this weekend both to facilitate our retreat and to preach this Sunday.  Derrick and his colleague The Rev. Anna Woofenden have just written a book called “The Just Kitchen” which can help all of us do just that.  

The vestry will be reading this this year and I hope you will consider joining us in this practice.  A few copies will be available for purchase this Sunday after services and you can also of course find a kindle version on Amazon. 

The authors helpfully remind us that every week we gather as a community of faith, set the table, and share a meal together.  But we don’t always come as prepared to the meal as we should.  This book invites us back into the kitchen to ensure that when we do come to the Eucharistic Feast we do so with Godly intentions of Justice, Peace and Community. 

Thank you Derrick for sharing with us and I hope you all can join us on Sunday.

The View from Bolton Street

Why An Annual Meeting?

When we gather this Sunday for our annual meeting, we will be taking part in a long Christian tradition dating back to the very beginning.  You might think that the Book of Acts is a record of the apostles ministry after the resurrection, or the story of the birth of the Church, or the story of Paul’s conversion and ministry to the Gentiles. And sure, those things are all in there - but it is REALLY about annual meetings (okay maybe not just that).  

Consider the decisions made at meetings in the book of Acts: the election of a new disciple, the first stewardship ingathering, the first church discipline, the election of Deacons to leadership, important decisions about what it means to be a Christian, what you can eat, how we worship, and how we live together. All came about because of… meetings.  

In Memorial’s own life, Annual meetings have marked significant moments in our common life.  In 2021, we committed to a five year reparations initiative, in 2018 (and 19 and 22 and 23) our youth voted for a zip line in the Church. We welcome new members, set priorities, affirm our leaders, and vote on changes large and small.  

I don’t know if Sunday’s meeting will be as exciting as some of those first meetings in the book of Acts, but it is important work in the life of the Church.  I am looking forward to it and looking forward to seeing you all there as well.

The View from Bolton Street

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Jesus?!?

Well that is unexpected! The beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Mark seems to start in a very ‘un-Jesus’ way. 

Repent! Believe! 

We tend to, especially in the more liberal, mainline Churches, focus on the forgiveness, love, and compassion side of Jesus.  The loving the sinner, welcoming the outsider. This is the Jesus of the good Samaritan, The Gerasene demoniac, the prodigal son, the woman at the well, and so many other powerful parables from scripture. As a result, we don’t always know how to react when presented with the repent and return Jesus we see here. 

But can there be forgiveness without repentance?  Doesn’t the prodigal son have to first return home? The good Samaritan to cross the street? I know Christmas has just ended, but we are only weeks away from Lent, the perfect time to consider a ‘return’.  So I invite you to return to Church, return to a life in Christ, and return to deepening your relationship with the divine. It may not seem like quite the right time, but then again, when is? 

Yesterday’s snow day was a great example of this. Did I have all the snow gear ready? No. Did I even have a pair of gloves that fit me? Also no.  But it was time to go out in the snow because when else might I have an opportunity to play in the snow with my kids?  We don’t exactly get a LOT of snow around here!  So I went out for snowball fights, and shoveling and sledding, not because I was prepared, or even because I wanted to! But because this was the moment.  

Maybe this is your moment; to repent and return, to profess and believe, and to turn towards each other and love.  

The View from Bolton Street

“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”

1 Samuel 3:1

The introduction to Samuel’s “call story” (how he came to follow God) says quite a bit in only a few words. 

Vision is rare. Gods presence is lacking. Certainly much the same could be said of this day and age. We see few leaders casting visions of a hopeful future and more and more threatening the return of a problematic past.  We see fewer and fewer leaders listening for God’s word and more and more telling God what to say. 

What do we make of this modern world? Where everything is fixed, and any change - from positions to opinions to work to life - is seen as a threat? What do we do with a culture where mystery is frowned upon and the divine is increasingly circumscribed to a few hours on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday depending on the flavor of your faith? 

From time to time it is good to remind ourselves that we are not robots. That, in spite of our widget producing society, we are all thinking, feeling living beings who are filled with emotions, opinions, ideas, dreams and fears. That a call moment, like Samuel has here, can be a destabilizing moment.  And that God’s intervention in our ordered lives is likely to feel destabilizing, disorienting, confusing. 

Maybe you are feeling some or all of those emotions right now. Maybe God is calling you to something new. Maybe it is time to call back and say “Lord what would you have me do?” 

If you are interested in dipping your toes in the water, now is as good a time as any to explore some new volunteer ministries at Memorial. Have you ever considered what the view is on the other side of the altar rail? Could you serve as an acolyte? Aa chalice bearer? In the altar guild?

Is justice your passion? Talk to Lateya about joining the reparations committee? 

Are you a planner? Budget finance and buildings and grounds all need assistance. 

We are a small church - but a vibrant community. To stay that way we need everyone to pitch in and volunteer one way or another. So please prayerful consider how God may be seeking to use you at Memorial in the coming year.

The View from Bolton Street

2024 - Epiphany

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”

We are watching my two year old niece this week and so I find myself singing a lot of old songs to her. There are of course classics like “bananaphone” and “row row row your boat”, and some family favorites like “the Marvelous toy” and “the unicorn song”, but one that really resonates with me this season is “this little light of mine.”

Maybe it’s because we are entering Epiphany, maybe it’s because we haven’t taken down the Christmas tree yet, maybe it’s because the Presiding Bishops movie is coming out soon, or maybe it’s because we are having a successful stewardship season and Memorial’s light can shine a little longer.

But I’d like to think that maybe, just maybe, it is because when everything is dark, and clouded and confusing a little light is a massive act of resistance.

Light in the darkness. It’s why I love silent night on Christmas Eve, it’s why the Gospel of John still sings to us, and it is how we offer hope to a hurting world.

By being the light.

I hope you will join us this Sunday and all of 2024 as we continue to bring light to Bolton Hill, West Baltimore, and the world.