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Fall Reporter 2006
(250k. Click here to access color, illustrated version in PDF file format)

Old South Church
Boston MA 02116
http://www.oldsouth.org

What's inside? (Text only version)


Why Media Matters

by Robert Chase

There is an old African Proverb, “Until the lions can tell their own story, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

Intuitively, the United Church of Christ, and those who have come before us—like our forebears in Old South, have understood this parable. Until the voiceless are granted voice, their hopes and expectations, triumphs and tragedies will never be articulated, leaving us and them to wonder—like the sound of a tree falling in the forest that no one hears—if they really ever existed at all. So, for us, this is a question of justice. And that’s why media matters.

This congregation has seen many “firsts,” in the media. You are the proud owner of two copies of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published on this continent. Your first minister, Thomas Thatcher, wrote and published the first medical tract in North America in 1677. In 1704, Old South member Bartholomew Green launched the Boston News-Letter, the first continuously published newspaper in North America. Forty years later, Thomas Prince founded the first religious journal printed in North America. Samuel Sewell, a deacon at Old South published the first anti-slavery tract in 1770. And, in 1773, Phillis Wheatley, baptized and confirmed at Old South, became the first African American published author.

You are no strangers to understanding the importance of media. It is in your DNA. Hundreds of years later, we celebrate these firsts and recognize their importance as incidents that shaped colonial society and fostered principles that became foundational for our nation. Whether it be 18th century pamphleteers or their latter day cousins in the blogoshpere, you understand how media helps us form who we are, and what we say and believe about ourselves and one another. That’s why media matters.

Fast forward almost 200 years. In 1959, my predecessor in the UCC—Dr. Everett Parker—formed the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc.—an independent organization within the UCC whose express purpose was to ensure that historically marginalized communities—especially women and people of color—had access to the airwaves. In 1967, based on a suit filed by the UCC, the Federal Appeals Court ruled that WLBT television in Jackson, MS—the strongest station in the mid-south—must forfeit its FCC license because of its failure to serve the African American community in Jackson. WLBT would routinely eliminate news and information about the civil rights struggle that was swirling about them, replacing news feeds with the slate, “Sorry, Cable Trouble.” In addition, the court established standing on behalf of the public before the FCC. Prior to this, only corporate entities could challenge license renewals, but in UCC v. FCC, this new precedent empowered citizen groups to petition the FCC. That’s why media matters.

Fast forward another 40 years. When the networks refused to let us air our commercial a year ago December—and then refused again this year—we were given a gift. Through a controversy not of our choosing, the UCC was suddenly catapulted into the limelight in ways that we never could have imagined—or paid for. Since the campaign began, we’ve had more than 2,000 stories written about the UCC in major periodicals around the country, and even overseas. Last spring, there was a ten-day stretch where the UCC was prominently featured in four unrelated articles in the NY Times. Before the campaign, we had 80,000 unique visits per month on our web sites. Now we have 700,000, almost a ten-fold increase. We’ve had ¾ of a million people visit our find a church function. We’ve had people in prison and people on death’s door contact our pastors because of this exposure. We’ve had thousands of e-mails in our offices in Cleveland, saying thank you for your welcoming message. I’ve had more than one person tell me that they wept when the ad came on. That’s why media matters.

For those of you visiting or who are new to the UCC, you may recognizing the branding we use: our red and black banners, large commas and the phrase “God Is Still Speaking.” We have used these distinctive marks to proclaim who we are and what we believe. Focus groups in preparation for the commercials we produced revealed to us how wounded people have really been by the church. Our commercials, in response to that learning, use evocative images like night club bouncers and church pews equipped with ejector buttons to make one simple point: Jesus didn’t turn people away; neither do we. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. This principle is magnificently represented in this historic congregation, in the heart of this historic city—a church whose doors remain open all week to all who would enter in. The networks’ rejection was based on the notion that the ad was too controversial—an advocacy ad because among those whom we welcome are gay and lesbian, bisexual and trangendered persons. Hence, network executives in New York were determining what kind of religious message could be seen over the airwaves—a dangerous development for our democracy. There is no incident in recorded history where religious freedoms were denied while personal freedom was honored. That’s why media matters.

Larry Hollon, my counterpart in the United Methodist Church says, “in a media saturated culture, if you are not on TV you do not exist.” The UCC as a denomination and congregations like Old South seek to engage this reality and proclaim the distinctive witness of the United Church of Christ in bold and exciting ways so that, like the prophet Habakkuk says, “those who run may read it.”

Some say this effort is trite, based on a bumper sticker theology. One quick story can illuminate the depths to which we are called to b e faithful. Vicki McGaw is Director of Christian Education at Pilgrim Congregational UCC in Ohio and a trainer for the stillspeaking campaign, learned about the rapidly deteriorating health of a man in her congregation who was desperately in need of a kidney transplant or would need to go on dialysis to stay alive. Vicki took a test and discovered she was a match for this man and, after prayer and conversation with her husband Mike and their kids, believed that God was speaking to her through this situation. She decided to donate her kidney to this man.

A week before the operation, Vicki and I were talking about the training session she was about to do for the identity campaign, and the conversation shifted to her upcoming operation. As I spoke in awe of her generosity, Vicki said “It’s really only another expression of hospitality.” Another expression of hospitality! This is the depth to which we are called in this effort. This is the openness with which Christ challenges us to be faithful, that we would literally give a part of ourselves to another, and see it as an expression of welcome.

In his 1994 inaugural address, Nelson Mandela proclaimed, “Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God, your playing small does not serve the world.”

But how do we take the gift of our historic legacy, how do we marshall the extraordinary talent among our members and move into the future in this complex, media-saturated society in which we live? When confronted with such cosmic questions, I often find it helpful to look to scripture. I see the beginning of an answer to that question in the 12th Chapter of Genesis:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. .

The Genesis writer offers us a good three point sermon.

The first point is God’s command “to go.” Dr. Ephraim Agosto from Hartford Theological Seminary speaks of an intense study undertaken around the Hebrew word that has been translated here. Experts from across the country gathered and offered papers and perspectives. After significant scholarly input and intellectual deliberation, the conclusion was that the Hebrew word translated as “go” actually means “GO.”

Simple. Direct. Don’t just sit there. Go.

The second point is that God does not say where to go—“to a place that I will show you.” At the time of departure, there is no land of milk and honey, but there is a “promised land” because God says that God WILL show Abram where to go…just not yet.

The third point is that God offers Abram greatness, a blessing, if he goes. He will not be able to hide in the shadows but his light will shine on the hill.

The implications for the ministry that lies ahead of us seem obvious. Because, as Genesis says—Abram went. No hesitation, no elaboration. He just WENT. And his name became blessed.

If we are to be faithful, we too are called to risk, to go forward boldly and creatively into a world where we will be unable to hide from media exposure, even though we cannot predict our final destination. We must proclaim who we are and offer Jesus’ extravagant welcome all along the way. We must engage the society that surrounds us. We must speak truth to power. The time is now. The task is ours.

Why? Because the moral values debate in this country has been hijacked by a relative few, who would lead us to believe that they speak for Christians everywhere. They have set the parameters of the debate and we have not been invited to the table.

We did a study recently on the Sunday morning talk shows. Over the past eight year, we discovered that Gary Bauer, Richard Land, Pat Robertson, Gerry Falwell and James Dobson had more than 40 appearances among them. How many appearances were there among the leaders of the 35 mainline Protestant churches that comprise the NCC, representing 100,000 congregations and 45 million members? NONE! The religious voices that dominate the media landscape don’t represent people who live day by day in the trenches of real ministry. It is time your faith story is told, because the hijackers of the moral values debate don’t want the things you care about to get an airing. That’s why media matters.

Forty-six million people don’t have health care and are led to believe that somehow it is their fault. Is that your moral value? . . . .

Black and brown kids are assaulted with images on TV of super-predators that are—black and brown—characters carefully crafted by media execs driven only by the bottom line. Is that your moral value? . . .

Between 1990 and 2002, for every additional dollar earned by taxpayers in the bottom 90% of the population, those in the top one-one hundredth of a percent made an additional $18,000. Is that your moral value?  . . .

Thousands have died and the hundreds of billions dollars have been spent on a war in Iraq based on sloppy intelligence, a first-strike philosophy and an intimidated press. Is that your moral value?

The media is essential to our understanding of who we are and how we relate to one another, so if we are to demonstrate extravagant welcome or evangelical courage in our age, we must engage the media, invoking all the wisdom, all the sensitivity, all the compassion, all the talents, all the resources, all the energy, all the imagination at our disposal for this task. We can do no less.

Perhaps, it is imagination that is key: that human quality that moves us to dare to dream, that emboldens us—that dimension of our heart and mind and soul that, when coupled with faith, moves us to ever deeper understandings of ourselves and our God: Imagination.

I close, not with the words of a futuristic communications expert, or some internet guru, or a cutting edge film director, but with the words of a freed slave. For those who have ears, may you hear Phillis Wheatley’s poem, On Imagination, and understand why media matters:

Imagination! Who can sing thy force?

Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?

Soaring through the air to find the bright abode

Th’empyreal palace of the thund’ring God

We on thy pinions can surpass the wind

And leave the rolling universe behind:

From star to star the mental optics rove,

Measure the skies, and range the realms above.

There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,

Or with new worlds amaze th’unbounded soul.

The Rev. Robert Chase has served as Director of Communication of the 1.3-million-member United Church of Christ, since 1999. He is an award-winning video producer with more than 100 productions to his credit. In his present position, he is responsible for directing and providing vision for the UCC’s

communication efforts in public relations, marketing and education through radio, video and emerging electronic technologies. He also serves as Executive Director of the UCC’s Office of Communication, the denomination’s historic media justice agency. You may read or listen to this sermon in full at

                                                <www.oldsouth.org/sermons/sermons.html>.



Abazungu

By Meghan O’Brien

“Abazungu!” Locals yelled the Kinyarwandan word for white person when they spotted me in town, as if my pale freckled skin and red hair had not already given away my foreigner status. Dry red dust flew as wide-eyed children clamored to touch my skin, rubbing it, smiling, and running off to rejoin their colorfully clad mothers. Car horns honked loudly to announce their arrival at intersections where traffic lights are a rarity. This was a typical scene when I’d venture into the capital city of Kigali during my five-week stay in Rwanda.

I had been looking for a summer opportunity to make a difference. I traveled by myself to Rwanda to volunteer at an elementary school as a girls’ soccer coach and teacher assistant. My aunt, who had done extensive work there, connected me with a host family. My host family was wonderful: Senator Aloisea Inyumba, her husband Richard (assistant to the Prime Minister), and their two children Nicole, age 9, and Noah, age 2. They live about a fifteen-minute car ride from Kigali center. The family has four servants, all of whom lost family members during the genocide of 1994. This is typical for Rwandan families, housing and helping those who need jobs. After the genocide, jobs were created for those who had nothing left: gate-opener, car washer, gardener. Maria the cook had lost her whole family. Though my host family did not particularly care for the repetitive diet of rice, beans, potatoes, and a meat-vegetable soup, there was nothing they could do. Aloisea told me of her dilemma: she sometimes thought about firing Maria, but will never bring herself to do it because Maria has no other way of life.

The Kigali Parents’ School is English based and about 40 percent of the students are orphans. When I first met the soccer team, a group of 9-12 year old girls, they applauded when I took out the deflated soccer balls and a pump I had brought. They only had one soccer ball at school, dingy and lacking air. At home they used woven grass balls. The field had wooden goal posts but no nets. Neighboring cows sometimes made their way onto the field. I wondered what position they would play.

        
While in Rwanda I lacked many comforts that I take for granted at home. For example, I was given a bucket filled only a few inches deep of amaz, or water for bathing. The house only had running water a few days a week. It scarcely rained while I was there, so the rain water receptacle in the back yard was mostly empty. Workers would carry bright buckets to a centralized water faucet up the street, fill the buckets, and walk back home to boil the water.

 
No one talks about the genocide because Rwandans consider it an embarrassment to the country. The 100 days of torture have been replaced by the annual 100 Days of Hope. Concerts and other special events mark the anniversary. Touring the genocide memorial was particularly difficult and moving. One exhibit displayed victims’ recovered clothing. I saw a pair of Adidas sweatpants. I have the same pair. I saw a dirty Cornell University sweatshirt, full of holes. And a baby’s blanket.

I also visited an orphanage in a village outside of the capital city. The World Cup was going on during my trip there and one ten year old boy had a poster of British soccer star David Beckham on the wall of his room. He was obviously a big soccer fan, and we had an animated conversation through the help of an interpreter about his favorite players and teams. Though I speak two of the three national languages, French and English, I sometimes ran into difficulty if a person only spoke Kinyarwanda, like this boy. However, gestures and the few Kinyarwandan words I picked up helped.
 

Before I left for Rwanda, people here wondered if I would be safe. Rwanda is no longer a country of fear and war, but a country in development. There are many exciting projects going on, such as the Millenium Village and a new girls’ school in Nyamata, 3 hours from Kigali. I was glad to be able to contribute in a small way with my volunteering. I left for Rwanda with the intention of teaching and helping others. I came back having learned much myself about this hopeful country.

I can’t wait to go back

 

Meghan O'Brien is a senior at Somerville High School

and has been an active member of the

                                                                              Old South Church school all of her life.

 


Feed My Sheep

by Mary Kohak, LC

Several months ago (and in answer to prayer, I think) a dear friend invited me to join the board of the Blue Mountain Project (BMP). This is a group which is dedicated to supporting the people of Hayley Gap, Jamaica. Blue Mountain Project programs include the establishment of a health clinic, improving recreational and educational opportunities, working with Engineers Without Borders on the local bridges, and finding sustainable ways of getting more food to the people. Though the needs are intimately and inextricably connected, I (as an RN) have agreed to chair the health care committee.

I arrived at the Kingston airport (looks rather like Casablanca in the old Bogart movie) in the evening of June 16*. As my introduction to the difficulties which our in-country staff sometimes encounter with Jamaican red tape, my two suitcases (full of donated supplies) were detained at the airport. (This was because, though BMP staff and volunteers have always brought donations into the country without taxation, the particular customs agent who processed me was convinced that the law required her to detain my suitcases unless I gave her $250 (U.S.). The amazing and good Jamaican resident who directs BMP advised me to leave my suitcases at the airport until she could get a friend in the Ministry of Health to rectify the situation.) I was relieved, after this, to get in the van with my BMP friends and head to the rural home of our director, Denise Cayley-Jefferson.

The goodness and hard work of BMP, and the people of rural Jamaica, as well as the challenges we face, became clearer to me in the following few days of meetings. Then, on June 20th, I got to go to Hayley Gap to finally see the place, and meet the good people, on whom we have placed our focus.

As our van completed the treacherous drive into Hayley Gap, I was touched by the warm welcome which the people gave us. Many smiling children came running. One was fascinated by my camera and, with my permission, thrilled to take several pictures. Knowing that this (my initial) visit to Hayley Gap was to be brief, I went right away to the clinic. I was impressed. Together with local residents and volunteers through our Service Learning Project, BMP has (in the space of one year) transformed an old woodworking shop into a clean, reasonably well stocked and lit first aid clinic, Thus far, it is staffed by a Jamaican practical nurse who does amazingly well. A brief review of charts taught me much. The people are hungry. Hypertension and diabetes cause much morbidity and mortality because they go largely untreated. There is no PTSD treatment or legal recourse for rape. I was told that people look the other way if you kill a gay person, etc. I took a break for supper and was well aware of the hungry children watching me, hoping I’d give them my leftovers. chicken bones and they will enjoy eating them! Even, I’d been told, give them your I felt embarrassed to say the least. .

Back in America, and relying on God’s help, the goals of my committee include:

1. Find a clean water supply for the clinic.

2. Find a Jamaican attending physician for the clinic

3. Find volunteer MDs (English-speaking) for the clinic

4. Find a Jamaican attending dentist for the clinic

5. Find volunteer (English-speaking) dentists for the clinic

6. Re-instate the de-worming program for schoolchildren.

Whenever someone asked Mother Theresa about her work, she would simply say, “Come and see!” -- So that’s my invitation to you. Come to our website <www.bluemountainproject.org> come to Jamaica, or contact me at <marykohak@mindspring.com>, if you wish.

 


Living Covenants!

Part III. Enduring Practices of Association

and Christian Presence in our

Metropolitan Boston Association (MBA) - UCC

by Elizabeth Rice-Smith

In the Summer 2006 Old South Reporter , in “Living Covenants”(Part II), we concluded with OSC Pastor Emeritus Jim Crawford telling us . . .“Because each congregation is its own ‘Bishop’ [able to act independently], the authority of the MBA Council to make changes, to intervene in local congregations in a way that might really solve a problem is, of course, nil. Nonetheless, in considering troublesome ecclesial issues, the Council can assist in the covenental process of moving through church conflict issues with all deliberate speed, mitigating sharp edges, and seeking agreement enabling a troubled congregation to move beyond crisis.. . . The MBA Council is a body helping to grease wheels, to deepen the covenant, indeed, to exercise covenant among our MBA congregations. If we didn’t have it, we’d have to invent it!”

It is hard to gain a sense of this body without knowing who comes together for these Council meetings, and “who sits where.” The Officers of the MBA are elected for a one-year term, usually at the Spring meeting of the Association, and include a Moderator, Vice-Moderator, Scribe, Treasurer, and Registrar. When the Moderator, at any given time, is an ordained minister, the Vice-Moderator is a lay minister, and vice versa. The Moderator (one year term) presides at all meetings of the MBA, the MBA Council, and Ecclesiastical Councils.

Ecclesiastical Councils are called usually (but not only) for the purposes of examining candidates for ordination by delegates from a specific UCC Area, and lay and clergy representing other local congregations are convened. That’s right, in addition to the advisorial and preparatory discernment conducted by the each local congregation where a candidate is a church member and by the MBA Committee on the Ministry, before any ordination of a woman or man to be a pastor/teacher in our United Church of Christ, the candidate is also examined by a delegate group of lay people and ordained ministers who convene for this specific purpose. And this has been going on for hundreds of years!

Further, the Council Moderator serves ex-officio as a member of all MBA Committees, instruments, and task forces, exercising all other duties which normally fall to that office. In the absence of the Moderator, the Vice-Moderator presides at all MBA meetings, Council, and Ecclesiastical Council. The Scribe keeps the record of meetings of the MBA and the MBA Council. The Treasurer keeps the accounts of the MBA, collecting funds from member congregations, receiving donations and gifts, disbursing monies as authorized, and submitting periodic reports to the Council and the MBA. The Registrar keeps the roll of the churches and ministers under the direction of the Committee on the Ministry, and assists the Moderator in the conduct of Ecclesiastical Councils.

In addition to the Officers of the Council, the MBA Council is further constituted by any members of the MACUCC Board of Directors who live in the Metropolitan Boston Area, any paid staff of the MBA and the Associate Conference Minister, a representative from each of the Committees on the Ministry and the Committee on Ministerial Standing, and the Executive Director of City Mission Society. Further, Members-at-Large are elected to three year terms from each of the regional “sectors,” i.e., urban, metro west, metro north, etc. In any given year, the MBA Council meets at least five times. The Council has the duty of coordinating the activities and plans of its committees to ensure a unified program results.

The MBA Nominating Committee

Jim Crawford is on the mark when he says, “If we didn’t have it, we’d have to invent it!” And that is exactly what the MBA Nominating Committee works to do . . . “inventing” (so to speak) the groups of UCCers who will collaboratively “grease the wheels, deepen the Covenant and, indeed, exercise the Covenant among our MBA Churches.” The MBA Nominating Committee is responsible for seeking out volunteer leadership to serve on the MBA Council, Committee on the Ministry, and Committee on Ministerial Standing, nominating leaders for election at each Spring meeting of the Association. In conducting this work, the Nominating Committee seeks to coordinate its work in a mutually supportive way with the Nominating Committees of the Massachusetts Conference UCC and City Mission Society. The MBA Nominating Committee is constituted with nine members, three elected each year for a term of three years. As is the case in the other “bodies” of the MBA, Tom Clough is an active presence on the MBA Nominating Committe.

Most of the work of the MBA Nominating Committee is done each year between December and March, at a mutually convenient location. The workload of the Committee and the progress made towards the final report determines the number of meetings needed, usually about three. Meetings, however, may be called at other times to fill vacancies as they occur. If such a vacancy exists, the Nominating Committee will forward the name of a nominee to the MBA Council, which acts for the MBA. While over the years I have served in other capacities for the MBA, the Massachusetts Conference, and National Church bodies, I am currently serving on the MBA Nominating Committee. In the work of this committee, we seek out members of UCC churches in the MBA who will take on these challenges and responsibilities. We identify those whom we will ask to carry out these tasks, talk with them, talk with each other at committee meetings, and present our “slate” to the MBA for a vote, each and every spring.

In all this, we reflect on the range of identities, skills, qualities, and perspectives necessary to fulfill the MBA mandate. Who is “at the table?” Who is missing? And why? In the life of the MBA, we ask: what kind of leadership has been important in the past, what kind of leadership is important now, and what kind of leadership will grow us forward? How do we sustain longstanding commitments, treasured and significant in the life of the City of Boston (the many “firsts” of the recent past as well as the long-ago past)? And what will it mean to integrate these longstanding commitments with current efforts? What are the “firsts” we hope and pray will be realized in the future? Recognizing that God is acting in history, acknowledging our “still speaking God,” we anticipate what is important now and might well be important next.

While most of the work of the Nominating Committee is carried out during its meetings held between the months of December and March each year (with the goal of constituting a slate for the Spring Meeting of the Association), our “search” for leaders with vision, skill, faith, and wisdom — deep and wide — is a never-ending treasure hunt.

 As a member of this committee, what do I do? I am always hoping to find people who will protect, defend, and extend our UCC history, ministry, and vision. People who know that God is still speaking. People who are really listening. Who? I talk with pastors and lay leaders, on the phone and face to face. I talk with seminary professors and students. I visit other congregations. I talk with UCC newcomers and oldtimers. I think about who has served before and who has never served. I think about who we need at “the table,” now and in the years ahead. I consider what skills we need. I ponder: “Whose vision do we need?” “How do we build a sound, welcoming, tolerant, inclusive, just, and faithful MBA?” “Who will contribute to this effort?”

I read UCC publications — print and electronic. National. Conference. Local. Who? I review websites from MBA churches. Who? I read newsletters written and published from our UCC congregations, from organizations carrying out the justice and mission work of our congregations, and from other associated efforts. Who? I find that I am always hoping to find people, people passionate about our progressive, reformed and reforming faith, creating and upbuilding the Church, advocating for justice.

As an example of how this can work in terms of the MBA Nominating Committee process, one vignette might give some clues. I regularly receive “Spotlight” messages online (you can subscribe at <www.macucc.org>) from the Massachusetts Conference United Church of Christ, messages to tell stories of the wonderful and many ways the diverse peoples of our congregations extend the warmest and most extravagant of welcomes to those who visit and otherwise find their way into our congregations. I enjoy all the “Spotlight” stories but last fall, one story really caught my eye. At St. Mark Church, Congregational UCC in Roxbury, one of the members of the congregation, Ms. Sherley Phillips, noticed a man who was beginning to attend church. Not wanting him to slip away, unacknowledged and unwelcomed, she “tapped him on the shoulder” and began to welcome him to St. Mark. I was so glad to read that this woman was extended herself and the life of that congregation in the name of Jesus, and I found I was also interested to know more about her! Always seeking out clergy and lay leaders for our MBA committees, I wanted to know more about her and her pastor, the Rev. Carl Thompson.

Over many years past, I have known a number of UCC leaders from St. Mark Church, and I am eager for the witness, wisdom, and skill which St. Mark leaders can offer in our UCC-MBA. So, I made several telephone calls to that church, and spoke with St. Mark’s pastor. When I told him why I was calling, asking about Ms. Phillips, who “tapped visitors on the shoulder.” Rev. Thompson was very enthusiastic and told me about her UCC commitments. “Oh, you want to meet Sherley Phillips! Yes, she is very active, and she is very UCC-savvy!” I asked the Rev. Thompson if he would ask Ms. Phillips if she’d be willing to talk with me, and he agreed to do that. And when I did contact Ms. Williams, I discovered how very UCC-savvy, how very committed she is in her faith. Sherley Phillips and I had several long conversations, during which she told me that she has most recently been serving on the MACUCC Committee on Education, a committee which, conference-wide, considers the educational and training requirements for candidates for ministry. When I asked her if she had any interest in serving on an MBA Committee, Ms. Phillips declared, “Why, my goodness! Yes I am interested. I am very interested. I have been asking for several years now about how I might serve the MBA.” Now, through this process of speaking with Rev. Thompson and Ms. Phillips, I was also in touch with our Nominating Committee Chairperson, the Rev. Kathy Musser, and the MBA Area Minister, the Rev. Tom Clough, and others on the committee. And so it came to be that Ms. Sherley Phillips was joyfully nominated and elected at the Spring 2006 MBA Meeting to serve on the MBA Committee on Ministerial Standing.

Now, my friends, this is very close to my idea of “fun!” The most fun! God is good. And we are grateful for Sherley Phillips and her contribution, enlivening our Covenant of faith in the MBA.

Providence is finding good people willing to tend to our UCC institutions — our congregations and other entities — which carry forward the spirit and promise of God. I pray about all of this. I pray for these people. I pray that we will find them. Earnestly. I pray earnestly! And during our meetings of the MBA Nominating Committee, altogether, we pray. We consider the range of skills, qualities, identities, experience, and commitments necessary to embody, enliven, and carry forward the mission of our — united and uniting — UCC congregations in the Boston metropolitan region and in the wider church. We try to identify people who carry those qualities. People who say, “Here I am, Lord,” and mean it.

Next Issue: the conclusion of Living Covenants:

God is Still Speaking!

 

Solomon DeGefe Teruto, a brief history

by Duane Day

Solomon DeGefe, child of God, Ethiopian, Old south Church member, politcal refugee and multiple accident survivor. Despite the many challenges Solomon has faced, he is ever the optimist and never complains. Solomon presently resides in the Rosscommon Nursing Home at 5060 Washington St. in West Roxbury, MA.

Solomon was born on June 23, 1965 and grew up with his family in Addis Abbeba, Ethiopia. While Solomon was still a youth, Halle Solassi was deposed by the Russian Communists. His father was a loyal Ethiopian government worker who was assassinated by the Communists. He also lost an older brother to the Communists. Solomon was a good student. The Russians ordered Solomon to go to Russia and study agriculture. Solomon had little interest in agriculture but he complied and excelled in his studies and eventually was granted a pass to visit East Germany, Berlin. While in Berlin, Solomon journeyed to West Berlin and found refuge in a Church World Service Refugee Camp. This was during Reverend Robert Christenson's ministry to Old South. Bob received an appeal from Church World Service to sponsor political refugees and help them establish a new life in the USA. Bob brought this appeal to the Old South Christian Service and Outreach Committee. The Committee agreed to sponsor a single male refugee who could speak English. Subsequently, Solomon was assigned to Old South. When he arrived in the early 1980s, Rev. Christianson arranged for him to be temporarily housed at the Andover Newton Theological Seminary in Newton Center. After the Committee met with Solomon and discussed his interests, we arranged for Solomon to attend the ITT Auto Mechanics School in Chelsea. Solomon did well at ITT and upon graduation received a good mechanics job at Commonwealth Honda in Brookline. The Committee helped Solomon find an apartment in Brighton not far from Commonwealth Honda. Solomon became an excellent auto mechanic and was promoted by Commonwealth Honda. He met Lilly Motta, an Ethiopian young lady here in Boston. They were married and subsequently had a baby. Unfortunately, the baby died in infancy and Rev. Jim Crawford officiated at a burial service.

Solomon repaired a broken Honda and acquired ownership. Unfortunately, he was involved in a bad accident and suffered a severe brain injury. Before that accident Solomon and Lilly had visited and dined with Janice and Duane Day in Derry, NH. After the accident Solomon was hospitalized for many months. When he eventually healed enough to be discharged, Lilly had found a job and an apartment near the hospital in Brighton where she and Solomon lived for several months. However, it was hazardous to leave Solomon alone in the apartment as he became easily disoriented if he left the apartment while Lilly was at work. Lilly resolved to send Solomon home to Addis Abbaba for a visit with his mother. Lilly's father came to America on business frequently and Lilly purchased a one way ticket and sent Solomon home with her father on one of his trips. She also promised to send Solomon a return ticket after his visit home. Solomon never received a return ticket from Lilly and his family helped him with a ticket as he wanted to return to America. A few days after his return Lilly informed him that she wanted a divorce. Solomon declined and I brought them both to Old South one afternoon for a counseling session with Reverend Rick Chrisman.

A few days after this their apartment caught fire.

Lily escaped unharmed but Solomon couldn't get out and was severely burned. After many months in intensive care, Solomon was eventually released to a Sunburst Nursing home on Park Street in Brookline. Behavorial issues resulted in Solomon being transferred to a Nursing Home in Randolph, MA which eventually closed and Solomon was again transferred to the Rosscommon Home in West Roxbury where he presently resides. Solomon has no family and few friends and seldom gets out of Rosscommon except when I bring him to the 11 o'clock worship service at Old South, which he enjoys and looks forward to. It would be helpful if there was another able-bodied Old South member who could visit and escort Solomon to church occasionally. Solomon joined Old South on February 1, 1987.

The best news Solomon has had in many years came in July 2006 when word came that one of his sisters ASTER was coming from West Germany where she works and lives for a short visit. Aster arrived in Boston on July 9 and returned to West Germany on August 13th. Rosscommon has no guest facilities for patients visiting. Needing a place to stay while in Boston, Ginny Crane volunteered to host Aster in her Dorchester home while she is here. Thank you Ginny!

The purpose of this brief history of Solomon is to acquaint more Old South members with Solomon's situation and help us become better neighbors for Solomon.

 


 

Old South & HIV/AIDS:

A Journey of Faith

by Kenneth H. Orth

 

In her inspiring sermon of September 10, 2006 our senior minister, Nancy Taylor, reminded us of our vocation as people of faith:

            -to respect and protect the dignity of ourselves and each other

            -to hold compassion as a central value in our common life

            -to work toward the reconciliation of the whole human family

            -to practice love toward one another in all things.

These tasks are central to us as we mark the 25th year that HIV/AIDS has been a reality among us in our world. On June 5, 1981, the Center for Disease Control issued its first report on the disease that would later be called AIDS. As we prepare to acknowledge and participate in World AIDS Day on December 1, we remember the declaration on December 1, 1988, the first World AIDS Day, that called us to compassion, hope, solidarity, and understanding around HIV and AIDS throughout the world.

We remember that people living with HIV/AIDS experience many emotions including fear, loneliness, shame, anger, and hopelessness. We realize that the greatest fear of people with HIV/AIDS was (and often still is) being rejected by the people they love most: relatives, friends, and their church family. HIV/AIDS makes us look at our attitudes around disease, sexuality, discrimination, illness, and death—issues that make us uncomfortable or call us to make changes in our lives. In the face of this, we are challenged to live out of love and compassion, not fear and judgment.

As we confront change, we may be reminded of W. H. Auden’s poignant words:

            “We would rather be ruined than changed.

            We would rather die in our dread

            Than climb the cross of the moment

            And let our illusions die.”

HIV/AIDS calls us to release our illusions about the world in which we live and our lives in it. We are called to grow in our ability to love one another. We must understand that love at times is simple and sweet, but at other times can be harsh and dreadful, asking us to stretch in our reaching out to one another.

While the pandemic of AIDS throughout the world is staggering in its statistics and implications, let us remember that we are participating in Christ’s ministry each time we offer compassion and participate in an act of loving kindness. In Matthew 25: 31-40, Jesus reminds us in his parable of the sheep and goats that we are called to acts of kindness and compassion: a cup of cool water or food to eat, an article of clothing, a prison visit, a prayer with one who has lost hope. These are the foundation of the community that Christ has gathered. These are the marks of a faithful life.

Some of us remember well the incredible discrimination that was based on fear, which pervaded the early years of HIV/AIDS. Old South stood as a beacon of light shining in that shadowed time. Many churches were unwilling to receive those who had AIDS, even refusing for them the dignity of a funeral. People came here saying, “I am looking for a church that will help me live and die with dignity.” Old South responded. One of the very first HIV/AIDS Healing Services in the city was held here, with thirteen churches participating.

In 1989, in response to the request of an HIV-positive church member, the Healing Prayer Group began as a tangible answer to prayer itself. The member felt that although he had available to him the most sophisticated medical treatment and psychological resources, his spirit was in need of a place to share his prayers. Acting on this request, Rev. Arlene Nehring gathered a group interested in praying together as a witness to the unconditional love of God to all of those infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The group met in her home, for confidentiality purposes, such was the stigma carried by an HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Together the group learned to focus on the healing power of God, whether that was healing into life or healing into death. What was recognized was that healing has more to do with allowing God to companion us in all things, recognizing that “neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

This was the origin of our current Healing Prayer Service. While the character of the group has expanded and changed greatly since its beginnings, it remains a place in which anyone seeking a safe place to share a time of prayer, silence, and “practicing the presence of God” is welcome and encouraged to attend. We currently meet the second Sunday of the month at 10:00 a.m. in the Children’s Chapel. Please consider joining us.

Another important response by Old South to the reality of HIV/AIDS has been the Walk for AIDS: “From All Walks of Life.” For twenty years, Old South has had a presence in the walk. Jim McDonnel has helped us form “AIDS Walk Teams” for most of those years, and for many years the Old South team has had the distinction of raising the most funds from a religious organization. We have raised these much-needed funds for the AIDS Action Committee as well as other groups that offer support to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. As importantly, the AIDS Walk raises our awareness of the need for us to demonstrate solidarity with those living with this disease. I Corinthians 12: 25-56 reminds us “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care for one another. And whether one member should suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.” As a reconciling body of believers, we hold before us the understanding that there should be no division in the faith community between those who are HIV infected and those who are not. We are all members of one body. From this, we have often heard the phrase, “we are a church with AIDS.” This symbolizes for us that we are all to be aware of and sensitive to the fact that any distinctions we make can beget the fear, shame, loneliness, and hopelessness that has surrounded those with HIV/AIDS. When one suffers, we all suffer. To create two classes of members divides us in ways that reverberate through the whole community.

As we ponder this upcoming World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006 let us reflect upon and pray with these ideas from “The Atlanta Declaration” and “The African American Clergy’s Declaration on HIV/AIDS:”

We are called by God to affirm a life of hope and healing in the midst of HIV/AIDS. We are called to proclaim hope and celebrate life and healing in the midst of suffering and pain. HIV/AIDS is an affliction of the whole human family, a condition in which we all participate. It is a scandal that many people suffer and grieve in secret. We seek hope amidst the moral and medical tragedies of this pandemic in order to pass on hope for generations to come. These are responses we are called to make in the spirit of God’s unconditional love:

1.      We are called to love. God does not punish with sickness or disease but is present with us as the source of our strength, courage and hope.

2.      We are called to compassionate care. We will work for non-judgmental care, respect, support and assistance for all those with HIV/AIDS.

3.      We are called to witness and do justice. We are committed to transform public attitudes and policies to protect and support all.

4.      We promote prevention. We encourage accurate and comprehensive information be offered to all youth and adults.

5.      We acknowledge we are a global community. We recognize, pray for, and work toward the relief of suffering throughout the world in this pandemic of HIV/AIDS.

6.      We deplore intolerance and bigotry. We realize HIV/AIDS affects men, women, and children of all races and backgrounds. We reject the bigotry that has caused many to blame those infected, and become preoccupied with issues of sexuality, worthiness, class status, or chemical dependency.

7.      We challenge our society. Because economic disparity and poverty are major contributing factors in the AIDS pandemic and barriers to prevention and treatment, we call upon all sectors of society to seek ways of eliminating poverty in a commitment to a future of hope and security.

8.      We are committed to action. We will seek ways, individually and within our faith communities to respond to the needs around us.

May our prayers and reflections upon these important points allow us to take action and step into the possibility of being a healing force at Old South, in our city, state, and nation, and throughout our world. As we continue to pray together, may we continue to share with each other support, strength, courage, and energy. Together, we share the shadows and light that are a part of all human life. Together, we continue to resist despair or cynicism, finding new ways that God offers us alternatives and hope. Together, may we journey toward that which has been promised, keeping our eyes on our Savior, who himself will be our leader as we walk through the valley of the shadow. Together, may we allow ourselves to be opened to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit who leads us into Truth that sets us free.

Kenneth H. Orth is a pastoral counselor and spiritual director in Winchester who has been member of Old South Church since 1991. He serves on the Congregational Care and Support Committee and convenes the Healing Prayer Service. To reach him with questions about the Service, please call him at (781)-643-1112 or e-mail him at ken.orth@comcast.net


                                               

                            25 Years

In that time                               In these times

there were                                there are  

those who believed                   who believe

       that just the nearness of our breath, the touch of our hands would contaminate them..

   

   In that time                            In these times

   we were                                we are

        the ones they condemn for how we live, how we love.

   

   In that time                            In these times

   we held                                 we hold

      one another in prayer, in steps together forward, in speaking out, in listening in.

   

   In that time                             In these times

   we lived and died                   we live and die

         we built and we sustain sanctuary.

   

   In that time                            In these times

   we were-                               we are-

       we work anxiously, expectantly (God, we call to you) for a time when we will no longer have to be

                        a church with AIDS.

 

-- Lucy Garnet     September 2006

 

 



Our Tower Bell Keeps Ringing     

   (New hymn text to tune of Endless Song, NCH #476)

Our lives flow on in endless song;

Above earth’s lamentation

We hear the sweet though far off peel

That hails a new creation:

Through all the tumult and the strife

We feel that bell a'swinging;

It shakes the rafters of Old South

Our Tower Bell keeps ringing!

 

We lift our eyes; the rope goes high;

We see Dave Vogan pull it;

And week by week the Bell does toll

Jeff Makholm did rebuild it!

The peace of Christ makes fresh our hearts,

A fountain ever springing:

All things are ours since we are His—

Our Tower Bell keeps ringing!

 

What though our joys and comforts die?

Our Savior still is living!

Though loved ones die and life is brief

God brings them home to heaven!

No storm can shake our inmost calm

While to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of Heav’n and earth,

Our Tower Bell keeps ringing!

                -- Nancy S. Taylor, September 2006