St. Philip s Episcopal Church 730 Bestgate Rd. Annapolis, MD 21401 410-266-9755 phone 410-266-0802 fax saintphilips@verizon.net www.stphilip.ang-md.org PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Fr. Randy Callender, Minister 4103536263 (cell), randycallender@yahoo.com ST. PHILIP S EPISCOPAL CHURCH TO FACILITATE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT BLACK LIVES MATTER Public Invited to Community Discussion and New Banner Hanging Celebration Annapolis, MD December 2, 2015 After the Black Lives Matter banner at St. Philip s Episcopal Church was defaced in October, the congregation is inviting the public to join in opportunities for education and celebration related to the Black Lives Matter movement. The church will take the lead in Annapolis to host and facilitate a community conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement and rehang its second Black Lives Matter banner at a public event with the support of many local church communities. The Black Lives Matter sign on St. Philip s property delivers a message that wakes us up from racism and causes us to be alert and attentive to the roadblock that divides us all. The hanging of our Black Lives Matter banner, will bring us into solidarity with our brothers and sisters at area churches who say they will stand with us and we will live into God s dream that unites us, explained Father Randy Callender, Rector at St. Philip s. The educational discussion on December 19 at 1:003:00 p.m. at St. Philip s will be based upon a model used by Coming to the Table, (www.comingtothetable.org) an organization that provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted 1
in the United States history of slavery. Annapolis Alderwoman Rhonda PindellCharles will be a guest speaker and present a historic perspective on racism. Interested participants should contact the church at 4102669755 or email SaintPhilips@verizon.net with questions or to register. There is no cost. All are welcome the following day, Sunday, December 20, to the Black Lives Mattersthemed service at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. and/or the bannerhanging event at 1:00 p.m. Two neighbor churches, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis and the Annapolis Friends Meeting will also join the St. Philip s congregation in celebration. Additional area churches who have offered support for the sign and/or will attend the workshop include: St. Martin s in the Field Episcopal Church, Severna Park; Asbury United Methodist, Annapolis; Asbury United Methodist, Broadneck; St. Luke s Episcopal Church, Eastport, United Church of Christ, Annapolis, Fresh Start Church, Glen Burnie and First Presbyterian Church, Annapolis. For over 144 years in Annapolis, St. Philip s has lived out its mission to restore people to unity with God and each other in Christ by promoting stewardship, community outreach, diverse worship services, church growth and the involvement of youth and young adults in the development of a crossgenerational church family. St. Philip s is part of the Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is comprised of 109 dioceses in 16 nations. For more information, please visit the St. Philip's website at www.stphilip.angmd.org. # # # 2
BLACK LIVES MATTER: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q: What is Black Lives Matter? A: Black Lives Matter is a USbased international movement cofounded by three black women: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The #BlackLivesMatter movement began as a hashtag for Twitter, after George Zimmerman's acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013. It gained momentum after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, the death of Eric Garner, and subsequent events that continue to this day. Q: What are the goals of Black Lives Matter? A: Justice, end to all forms of discrimination and the full recognition of human rights for Black people are what the movement includes in its vision for a New America. The movement calls upon the United States government to acknowledge structural violence and institutional discrimination and to recognize the full spectrum of human rights and obligations under international law. The focus is an end to police brutality and the murder of people of color and the oppressed, mass incarceration, and demilitarization of US police departments. Other objectives include: Full, living wage employment; Decent and affordable housing fit for the shelter of human beings; An end to the schooltoprison pipeline by providing quality education for all; An aggressive attack against all laws, policies, and entities that disenfranchise any community from expressing themselves at the ballot Ultimately, the goal is to address harm and conflict in our communities through community based, restorative solutions. (Source: www.blacklivesmatter.com) Q: But don t All Lives Matter? When we ignore the word Black and we quickly replace it with the word All, it is a refusal to acknowledge the hateful things that we hear, the division in our country and it is an attempt to divest us from the responsibility of creating a world, where all lives actually do matter. Q. What is the Episcopal Church s stand on Black Lives Matter? In July at the 78 th general convention of Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, UT, a Legislative session focused on racism and Black Lives Matters signs were on display from Christ Church Cathedral in the diocese of St Louis (home of Ferguson and Michael Brown). Several resolutions were passed for churches to on evolving the conversation about racism and Black Lives Matter when they returned home. This included the challenges that every church leader should have antiracism training and to create an antiracism program within their congregation for young people. Black and white citizens of good will throughout this nations are outraged that black lives seem to matter less than other lives in our communities. We are enraged that we have to have rallies and hold signs that say, BLACK LIVES MATTER. The Right Reverend Eugene Sutton, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland 3
Q. What other local clergy and congregations support St. Philip s in our Black Lives Matter initiative? The Rev. Bruce McPherson, St. Martin s In the Field Episcopal Church, Severna Park "Black Lives Matter is an important chapter in the very long and arduous Civil Rights movement. Black Lives Matter now because there is ample evidence that black lives don't always matter and it is our Christian and moral responsibility to change that." Rev. McPherson The Rev. Diana Carroll, St. Luke s Episcopal Church, Eastport "The statement, Black Lives Matter, is a recognition there continues to be deep disparity in the treatment and lived experiences of people of color in this country in comparison with those who are identified as white. We need to acknowledge that racism is alive and well, both explicitly and implicitly, at all levels of our society, and that we still have a lot of work to do to heal the wounds of injustice and mistrust that continue to separate us from one another." Rev. Carroll The Annapolis Friends Meeting, Annapolis As Quakers we believe in "that of God in every person" certainly and consequently all lives matter" is a given. But it is in this fervent please for special and urgent recognition, in view of a very troubling incident in Baltimore, and incidents throughout our nation, that we rally behind and strongly believe. The Rev. Ryan Sirmons, United Church of Christ, Annapolis Many of the people in our church have the privilege of implicitly knowing that our lives matter, simply because we re white. Through study and partnership with our black sisters and brothers, we ve grown aware of the reality that black lives do not matter to the society that privileges us. Until black lives matter, we have a responsibility and Christian moral duty to leverage our privilege so that black, brown, and poor lives matter not only in statements, but through cooperation and solidarity in actions that help make it a reality for black lives to matter. Until we live secure in the wisdom that these lives matter, people will continue to be judged by the color of their skin, and not by the content of their character, to reverse the quote by Martin Luther King, Jr." Rev. Sirmons The Rev. Carletta Allen, Asbury United Methodist, Annapolis The Rev. Stephen Tillet, Asbury United Methodist, Broadneck Bishop Craig Coates, Fresh Start Church, Glen Burnie The Rev. Fred Muir, Unitarian Universalist Church, Annapolis The Rev. Bill Hathaway & The Rev. Heather Shortlidge, First Presbyterian, Annapolis The Rev. Jerry Colbert, John Wesley United Methodist, Eastport The Anne Arundel County Branch of the NAACP # # # 4
Please join us in a Sacred Conversation about our Community, Relationships, Healing and Reconciliation and Black Lives Matter Saturday, December 19, 2015 1:00 p.m. - 3:00p.m. Coming to the Table was founded by descendants of enslavers and the enslaved committed to constructively address the legacy of slavery in the spirit of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr s Dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. Vision Our vision for the United States is of a just and truthful society that acknowledges and seeks to heal from the racial wounds of the past from slavery and the many forms of racism it spawned. Mission Coming to the Table provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted in the United States history of slavery. Approach The CTTT approach to achieving our vision and mission involves four interrelated practices: 1. Uncovering History: researching, acknowledging, and sharing personal, family and community histories of race with openness and honesty 2. Making Connections: connecting to others within and across racial lines in order to develop and deepen relationships 3. Working Toward Healing: exploring how we can heal together through dialogue, reunion, ritual, ceremony, the arts, apology and other methods 4. Taking Action: actively seeking to heal the wounds of racial inequality and injustice and to support racial reconciliation between individuals, within families, and in communities Values The Values upon which Coming to the Table operates are Inclusion, Respect and Tolerance, Honesty, Truthfulness and Transparency, Compassion, Mercy, and Forgiveness, Love, Peace and Nonviolence, and Reconciliation. Hosted by: St Philips Episcopal Church Annapolis, MD Reserve your seat today (410) 266-9755! For more information visit: www.comingtothetable.org www.comingtothetable.org 5