A Bit of History: Absalom Jones and the Episcopal Church

Yesterday, February 13, the church celebrated the life and ministry of the Rev. Absalom Jones. He was born in 1746, enslaved. As a young man, he bought the freedom of his wife Mary, then himself. Toward the end of his life, he became the first African American Episcopal priest.

The Rev. Absalom Jones

Black Episcopal Churches

Absalom Jones and his friend Richard Allen were on fire for the Holy Spirit. They increased the membership at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia—too much for the white leadership’s taste. The white vestry started segregating the Black members to the balcony.

After the Black worshipers walked out in protest, they founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, the first Black Episcopal church.

Stories like this are prevalent in the history of our denomination (see also: Trinity Church on the Green and St. Luke’s in New Haven, Connecticut). As a diocese last year, we asked each church to begin uncovering the stories of their parish’s past: the beautiful and the challenging alike.

Jones' Ordained Ministry

The Rev. Absalom Jones

When the Rev. Jones was ordained a deacon in 1795, Eli Whitney had only just patented the cotton gin, thus increasing the value of enslaved labor. Slaveholders could cross state lines to pursue the enslaved people fleeing them, and it was illegal to help someone fleeing enslavement.

What was it like for him to enter into ordained ministry at that time?

The Rev. Jones built up the body of Christ at his church as a talented preacher and pastor, preaching God’s word of liberation for all oppressed people.

From the Episcopal Church’s book of saint commemorations, Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2018), I offer this prayer this weekend:

Set us free, heavenly Father, from every bond of prejudice and fear; that, honoring the steadfast courage of your servant Absalom Jones, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true freedom of the children of God, which you have given us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Snow Business!

There’s no business like snow business, like Snow business I SNOW! (Apologies to Ethel Merman and her song “Show Business”...here is a picture of her cameo from the movie Airplane!)

My, what a winter storm that was this past week. Everything was quiet, and then WHAM. It just goes to show you how quickly our circumstances can change from one day to the next.

Something that does not change, however, is God. Here is how one of the prayers from our Compline service in the Book of Common Prayer puts it: Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

At any rate, a happy February to all of you! Have you ever wondered where the word 'February' comes from? It comes from the Latin word 'februum', which means 'purification'. (Check Wikipedia if you don’t believe me!) It was named after a Roman ritual of purification, way back in the 700’s BCE. That’s fine for then, but I wonder if 'purification' could have any February meaning for us this year? I believe the answer is yes. Usually the answer would be obvious: the liturgical season of Lent begins this month, in less than two weeks. That is a wonderful opportunity to purify ourselves!

The state of our lives and our world might give us another way in which to consider purification, however. As some of us get the COVID-19 vaccine, and others wait for their turn, we hope to be purified of fear. Fear that we or our loved ones will get sick or die. Fear that our lives can never return to a more casual and close way of life.

And yet, that kind of aspiration is misguided. Someday we and our loved ones will die. It is inevitable. Also, while our lives will get something approaching 'normalish', we can never go back to where we were, not really.

However, there is hope that can be a source of great strength and joy! 1 John 3:3 says "And everyone who thus hopes in God purifies themselves as God is pure." (English Standard Version and adjusted to be gender-neutral.) Now we are getting somewhere! If we have hope in God, then we will be purified. That’s a wonderful message isn’t it? Let us have hope this February. Hope in God’s goodness and love towards us and all of God’s children. Hope in the ability of the human race to be better today than we were yesterday. Hope that the glowing embers of our faith will continue to burn brighter, day by day. I have those hopes, and I pray you do as well. Some days our hope will feel stronger than others, to be sure. On those days when my hope wanes, I’ll be looking to lean on you. And if you have days where your hope seems thin, know that you can lean on me. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, "hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." (Romans 5:5, NRSV)

Be well my friends. The One who is eternally changeless is with you. Peace!

Create a Prayer Altar at Home

Because of the pandemic, we continue to pray in our homes, cars, and other places—but not the pews. But if you’re sitting in the same spot on the couch whether praying or watching TV, you’re not helping yourself to enter a prayerful space.

“Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks.” Philippians 4:6

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

In this anxious time, our relationship with God can be one of our central pillars (along with mental health, community, etc). One way to draw closer to God in our daily lives is to have a dedicated prayer space at home.

In a couple weeks, we’ll build prayer altars in our houses. You’re welcome, of course, to start now.

The easy part:

You don’t need a whole room, or even a whole table. Any dedicated space can become a prayer altar: a window sill, an end table, the top of a short bookshelf.

You also don’t need to leave it there forever. You could start with a Lent prayer altar. Maybe you can’t always spare one part of your kitchen counter, but it seems doable for 40 days?

The hard part:

There is no hard part! You already have everything you need, probably scattered across your home. The idea is that we’re gathering it together in an intentional way.

Here are some suggestions for "ingredients," all of which are optional:

• Something alive: a plant or fresh flowers

• A candle with matches (not if little ones can reach them)

• Something to that reminds you of God

• Something to represent your family or community

• Something to hold/touch

• Fabric for underneath everything, maybe in a liturgically appropriate color

• A Book of Common Prayer

• A Bible

Gather these ingredients, and join us after 10:15am Zoom Morning Prayer on February 14! We’ll talk about the practice of building a prayer altar, discuss how to use our altars, and then start putting them together.