Author: David Dykes

Categories
Social Justice

Learning From Others

8/31/19

By Beth Crow

August 24th marked the 400th anniversary of when 20-30 enslaved Africans, the first Africans to be brought into slavery in America, were sold to the English colony of Jamestown, VA. In commemoration of this anniversary, The New York Times has produced a deeply moving and inspiring collection of writings, “1619,” on the history of black America.

While listening to the NYT Podcast of Nikole Hannah-Jones retelling the story of slavery and its impact on her own life, I was reminded of the Episcopal Church’s Sacred Ground.  Both of these collections of storytelling through video, audio and written language reflect on race in America, and how the issues of race impact all of us.

If you are interested in being a part of Nativity’s Sacred Ground series, which Nativity will be hosting starting September 9th, please send an email to Beth Crow at bcrow2@gmail.com.

Categories
Social Justice

Pauli Murray Walking Tour Report

6/19/2019

By Dee Wallis

One recent lovely Saturday morning a group from Nativity joined a walking tour of downtown Durham to explore Pauli Murray’s home, family and history. Pauli Murray, the first black, woman, lesbian Episcopal priest, grew up in a house built by her grandfather that was full of family, expectations, work, and achievements. That house is now the center of a history project that aims to protect her legacy of civil rights activism and promote the justice that she worked for during her life. The Pauli Murray Project is an active effort to preserve her home and legacy, and to involve the community in understanding this important history. The Project presents animated walking tours beginning at the house and meandering around other important sites, as young actors, dancers and historians bring this all to life.

I found the presentations to be unexpectedly vivid and moving. The young, black actors who portrayed Pauli and members of her family in their neighborhood brought to life an experience that we can only imagine.  Pauli came from an interracial family when that was scandalous. They achieved prosperity when prosperous blacks were severely repressed.  She achieved education, accomplishment and respect when those were routinely denied to women, blacks and gays. We saw for our own eyes a bit of how that might have looked and felt. We walked, we sang, we saw details, and our imaginations were engaged.

Next year, the Pauli Murray Project hopes to open her home as a historic monument and as a resource for social justice. You can learn more about this at https://paulimurrayproject.org. You can also learn more about this historic home at https://savingplaces.org/places/pauli-murray-house. And you can learn more about the walking tours, and perhaps book one of your own by clicking here.

In addition, all are invited to the Annual Pauli Murray Service at St. Titus Episcopal Church in Durham on July 1st at 7PM. This is a community wide gathering to lift up the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray at 400 S. Moline Street, Durham.  Bishop Sam Rodman will celebrate and preach. The purpose of the service is to honor Pauli Murray as a saint, since the Episcopal Church voted in 2012 to include her in Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. She will be honored every July 1 on the church calendar. St. Titus’ Episcopal Church is the church Rev. Dr. Murray attended while growing up in Durham.

   

Categories
From the Clergy Uncategorized

Parish Coordinator Update

06/06/2019

Welcome Megan

We at COTN are happy to welcome Megan Miller as our new Parish Coordinator! She is very excited to join the staff and looks forward to supporting our volunteers and helping everyone feel connected to the parish. Megan earned her MBA and worked in fundraising before starting a family. She moved to Raleigh with her husband and three children in 2015 after living in Alabama, Texas, Florida, and Greensboro, North Carolina. When she is not volunteering and playing chauffeur for her children, she loves reading, planning trips, and playing tennis.

Thank you, Liz

Sadly, as we say hello to Megan, we must say “good-bye” to Liz Jones who has been serving as our interim parish coordinator for the past few months. Liz has done a wonderful job keeping the administration of the parish going in the office while our search committee looked for a permanent person. We give great thanks for all her hard work, and wish her well on her move!

Categories
Social Justice

Sacred Ground: A Film-Based Dialogue Series on Race and Faith

05/29/2019

By Pete Crow

What do you do when you find yourself living in the midst of a grievous wrong that you did not commit? A wrong that, against all that you may wish, has become part of the foundation of who you are? Not just your own house of being but many other houses as well? Your school, your office, your government, your church.

Beginning in the fall, Church of the Nativity will offer an opportunity of prayerful learning and small-group dialogue around our nation’s long record of racial and ethnic injustice, a record some of us are privileged to ignore, but none of us is privileged to escape. The ten-part series examines ideas such as whiteness, melting pot, racism, and the American Dream. It looks again at American history, but through the lens of indigenous Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos. Throughout, the series emphasizes personal story-sharing and deepening relationships among the participants. Most importantly, the series is a journey, one that begins with “Stepping Onto Sacred Ground” and ends with “Becoming Beloved Community.”

The series was developed by the Episcopal Church as part of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s focus on Becoming Beloved Community. The lead researcher and organizer is acclaimed documentarian Katrina Browne, producer of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.

If you are interested in participating in this series at Nativity or have questions, contact Beth Crow <mary.crow@me.com> or Becky Showalter <jbshow@bellsouth.net>. We anticipate the group will meet twice a month on a weekday evening. More information will be forthcoming in the fall. For now, we are alerting the parish of the opportunity and gauging interest.

Categories
Social Justice

Juneteenth…What’s That?

05/20/2019

By Becky Showalter

Two years ago, I was out of town in a hotel room that actually had cable (gasp!) . . . and flipping through the channels, I happened to find the season premiere of Black-ish on ABC.  It’s a super funny show and honestly, I hear something new every time I watch it.  But to the point, that episode they talked about choosing to celebrate Juneteenth.  Huh?  I had never heard of Juneteenth. . . so what do you do these days when you don’t know something?  Google – it’s is a wonderful thing!

Juneteenth (a mash up of June and Nineteenth – Juneteenth) is the oldest nationally commemorated celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation and the freeing of all enslaved people in the United States.  Although Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Declaration January 1, 1863, it was not the law of the land in the south until the Confederacy surrendered to the Union Army in April 1865.  During those two years, as the war raged in the Southeastern states, many slaveholders took asylum with their slaves in the state of Texas in hopes that the momentum of the war would turn.  At the time of the Confederate surrender, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.

Stories vary as to why the slaves of Texas did not learn of their freedom for another two and a half months (April to June).  One says there was a murder of the messenger, another that sympathetic Union soldiers allowed Texas plantation owners to get one last harvest in before the announcement, and another attributes the delay to  a simple fear that there would not be enough Union soldiers to enforce the decree if it was announced immediately.Whatever happened, on the morning of June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger stood on a balcony in Galveston, Texas and announced to the world the total emancipation of those held as slaves.  First hand stories described dancing in the streets and as you can imagine great joy and great hope!  The next year, in 1866, freedman organized their first Juneteenth celebration to remember the day they became free, and they have continued!

Juneteenth celebrations remained relatively local to Texas and the Southwest US until the late 1960s when the celebrations began to grow in number across the country.  Juneteenth celebrations are usually anchored by a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, a celebration of black accomplishment, and any combination of food, games, and remembrances.  Today, 43 of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday, ceremonial holiday, or a day of observance.

Historically, the knowledge of Juneteenth, and the participation in these celebrations, have almost exclusively been limited to African American communities, and I guess that’s understandable.  But doesn’t this seem like something that ALL of us should celebrate?  Slavery was a dark chapter in our national history, and celebrating its end, celebrating a moment in time where a wrong was tried to be made right, would be worthwhile for ALL of us.  To promote healing and unity, and with God’s grace, a chance for us all to move forward together – understanding where we’ve been and finding the will to create the world God has waiting for us . . . and more specifically, just celebrating that one day where we got something right!  I was glad I got introduced to Juneteenth, and for the first time this year, my family and I are going to make a point to honor it.  It just seems right.

For those of you who are interested in celebrating Juneteenth this year, Stagville Historic Site (and former plantation) in Durham is hosting “Juneteenth at Historic Stagville” on June 8 from 12-5pm.  Come out for reenactments, guided tours, children’s activities.  If anyone would like to go as a group, please contact me, Becky Showalter, at jbshow@bellsouth.net and maybe we can make an afternoon of it together!  See the links below for details.

https://www.discoverdurham.com/includes/calendar-of-events/Juneteenth-at-Historic-Stagville/95846/

https://www.facebook.com/Stagville/photos/gm.1923885047718243/10161695966945162/?type=3&theater

Also, Durham will be hosting its 15th Annual Juneteenth Celebration in downtown Durham the next Saturday, June 15th from 1-10pm.  Come on out for a “fun filled, educational and uplifting event, with entertainment throughout day featuring national recording artists & local performers, food & merchandise vendors, health fair, kids’ zone, exhibitors & more!”

https://www.discoverdurham.com/includes/calendar-of-events/NC-Juneteenth-Celebration/97195/

   

Categories
Caring for Creation

Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change and Biodiversity Decline

Field Margin Bee Insects Clover Grass Wildlife

As the risk from dangerous climate change continues to rise, along with the realization that nations will find it difficult to achieve necessary greenhouse gas emission reductions, nature-based solutions (NbS) 1 are being emphasized as a means to remove carbon dioxide from the air.2

To be most effective NbS must include strategies for protecting and restoring biodiversity and habitats. Climate disruption will cause species extinctions and vice versa. 3

Current extinction rates are about 1000 times higher than estimated background rates.3 The overarching causes for these declines are human overpopulation, continued population growth, and overconsumption. 4

A recent alarming report on the worldwide insect populations indicates that 40% of species will become extinct over the next couple of decades. 5   Insects are “essential” for the proper functioning of all ecosystems. The main drivers of insect species decline appear to be in order of importance: 1) habitat loss, conversion to intensive agriculture, urbanization, 2) pollution, mainly by synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; 3) biological factors, including pathogens, and 4) climate change. 5  

Despite a century of conservation science, advocacy and education, extinction rates and habitat loss continue to increase greatly.9

The Paris Agreement on climate change calls on all parties to acknowledge “the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including oceans, and the protection of biodiversity, and 66% of signatories to the agreement commit to ‘green’ or ‘nature-based solutions’ in their climate pledges. 6

Biodiversity decline will be hardest felt by the 70% of the world’s poorest people who depend directly on ecosystem services for their survival. 3,6

Finding natural solutions is not just a task for scientists; government agencies, businesses.  Conservation organizations around the world are putting forth proposals for NbS. 7

The faith voice is also addressing our ecological challenges. The Rev. Dr. George Clifford asked in a recent Ethical Musing, how will we as people of faith be involved? How can we turn our “dreams into reality, work in our parishes, dioceses, provinces and The Episcopal Church to deliver the projects, programs, and other initiatives we have designed to heal a broken, hurting world desperately in need of God’s transforming love?”8

And, in his rich theological essay, Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, David Bookless also calls people of faith to take action to reverse biodiversity decline, when he says, “in an age of ecological depletion, Christianity offers ultimate hope both for people and biodiversity, rooted in the redeeming work of Christ for all creation.”  He says “Christians [and all people of faith] should work with others to seek ways of living which give witness to a sustainable and biodiverse future for God’s world.” 9

Finally, on Sunday, April 8th, Emilie and I attended a worship service at St. Bartholomew’s New York (our church home away from home). In his sermon The Rt. Rev. Dean E. Wolfe preached about how people resist accepting the “new”. He ended by saying “there is a cost to holding onto the old things – we need a new way, we need a new way!” I could not agree more. One can begin that journey by visiting www.zerowastechurch.org.

Written and submitted by Carl Sigel

Notes and References:

  1. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which address societal challenges (e.g. climate change, food and water security or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
  2. IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 C (eds. Masson-Delmottee, V, et al.), World Meteorological Organization. Geneva, 2018.
  3. I. Pimm et al., (2014) The Biodiversity of Species and Their Rates of Extinction, Distribution and Protection, Science, 344, 987-997.
  4. Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, Dirzo R. Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2017; 114: E6089–96.
  5. Sanchez-Bayo, F. and Wyckuys, K. A. G., (2019). World decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers, Biological Conservation, 232, 8-27.
  6. Seddon, N., et al., (2019). Grounding nature-based climate solutions in sound biodiversity science. Nature Climate Change, 9, 82-87.
  7. Mace, G. M., et al., (2018). Aiming higher to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Nature Sustainability, 1, 448-451.
  8. George Clifford, (April 3, 2019) What’s Next?  Retrieved from http://blog.ethicalmusings.com/2019/04/whats-next.html.
  9. Bookless, (September 2014), Let everything that has breath the Lord: The Bible and biodiversity. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/14914427/Let_Everything_that_has_Breath_Praise_the_Lord_-_Biodiversity_and_the_Bible.
Categories
Outreach

New Ministry Opportunity For Church of the Nativity

Nativity has learned of a need connected with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (IFFS). Windsor Spring, an affordable housing complex in Northwest Raleigh, offers 39 apartments for qualifying low-income adults age 55 and over. These residents struggle with food scarcity and rely on IFFS for help. The Shuttle is able to deliver only 1 bag of food per month to each of the 39 units because of lack of volunteers. The need is for a second delivery during the month, so each family unit has adequate food for their meals.

Nativity’s Outreach Team has taken on this challenge and is asking COTN parishioners to be a part of this effort. We need 6-8 people on the 3rd Saturday morning each month to meet at the IFFS warehouse and bag-up 39 bags of groceries. The staff from the Shuttle will be there to provide the food and guide volunteers; the process should take about an hour. When the bags are completed, we will deliver the groceries to the apartments that same morning.

If you choose to help, you can participate based on your schedule – maybe once a year, twice a year, or every month! Maybe a group at Nativity would like to work together one Saturday. We will have a volunteer signup link on our church website shortly.  If you are interested, please contact Lillis Ward at 336-529-3133 or Email Lilis Ward.

Blog written and submitted by Lillis Ward

Categories
Outreach

Nativity’s Chatty Yarns Group Helps Kids Attend YMCA Summer Camp

Leesville Elementary School was the recipient this school year of a grant from the YMCA that provided after-school tutoring for a number of students who needed extra academic encouragement. These students have received special learning opportunities as well as an after-school snack and transportation home after the tutoring session is over. The goal has been to help these students reach their potential in the classroom.

In addition to the tutoring, the YMCA is going to provide these same students and their siblings with the opportunity to attend a seven-week YMCA camp this upcoming summer at a cost of $35 per student for the summer. The school put out a plea for help to raise this camp money and Church of the Nativity’s own Chatty Yarns Group heard about the request and responded. They donated $800, their proceeds from the “Day of Giving” event last December, to Leesville Elementary School for this camp. That donation provided 23 students with camp tuition.

When I delivered this generous check to the school principal, Mr. Cohen, he told me that because of the amount of the money Chatty Yarns donated, the school will now be able to send additional children to the camp. He described these children as NEVER having been to a camp and really having no idea what they have to look forward to. Each child will receive a morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and transportation to and from the camp. The day will be filled with planned productive activities that will enrich these children’s lives for 7 weeks. Parents will know that their children are safe and being well cared for. If not for the camp, many of these children would be hungry, unchaperoned, and left to their own devices for the day and summer.

Many churches were contacted seeking donations toward this effort, but at the time Nativity’s check was delivered, we were the only church to respond. In addition to Chatty Yarns’ generous check, the Outreach Committee contributed money from their budget, which is funded by your pledges. Please know that your financial contribution to Nativity is at work in these young people’s lives. Thank you for your generosity.

Written and submitted by Lillis Ward

Categories
Caring for Creation

Church of Nativity Wears the “Green Jacket”

This time of Spring always reminds us of new beginnings with the flowers blooming, trees budding and our grass a hue of Emerald Green.  It also garners in a very busy time for the Church with Holy Week.  It many ways we have a heavy heart as we ponder the pain and anguish Jesus was facing in his plight to death and ultimately resurrection for us all.  A key take-away is through death comes life.  Yea trust me it is hard hitting, but when we sit down and think about it something new always comes from something old.  We often think of death as an ending point, but it is just the beginning of a journey.

To parallel this to something we have all had occur in our lives, we can all look back at what we felt was a perennial failure, something that crushed our psyche.  Whether that may be job, family, community, faith, friendship—really the list is endless.  The failure shows us something that died within us only to develop into something new, that may be a future opportunity or pathway to another course we take.  In many ways the failure was more important than the success, as humans we feel we must always gauge or measure by accomplished goals, but just maybe the failure was the more important part of the equation.

Such a great position of the Church is our renowned accomplishments around the stewardship toward Ecological well-being.  A big shout out goes to the countless efforts around the Environmental Team.  As we approach this coming weekend and probably the most well-known golfing event on our planet “The Masters” we need to recognize that the Church of Nativity, as it gets the great accolade of putting on the “Green Jacket”.  In many ways I think of a powerful image that all of us have seen at some point.  The astronaut that is given the ultimate experience to sit in space and peer out the window at mother Earth.  This is so powerful and resonates especially with children as it is an awesome moment.  I think that as Jesus rose from the Earth there was a place marker that he looked upon it, as a beautiful creation, that should be loved and cared for just like each other.

Blog written and submitted by Cuyler O’Connor