Dixwell Q House ribbon cutting is this Saturday, Nov. 6, 11am-1pm! Registration at dixwellqhouse.org by today, Wed. Nov. 3, is required to attend.
The Dixwell Q House is is a community space long-beloved by African-American New Haveners, and is being reopened as a community center with programs aimed at all ages. Cornell Scott, where I work, is renting clinic space in the building which will help with its financial stability; the Stetson Branch library will move there; there will be senior programming; and other offerings include basketball courts, a teen center, a demonstration / catering kitchen, and various other community spaces. The organization LEAP which may be familiar to some will be managing the Q House for its first 3 years. The building is architecturally beautiful and its original design was by the first black graduate of the School of Architecture. More details are available here, here, and here.
Please join us. Several of us from St. John’s will be attending
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
111 Whalley Ave.
New Haven, CT 06511
Healing Compline & Open Prayer Space in a time of Racial Conflict: Five nights of prayers & story sharing starts April 19
For five nights in a row this week, the St Luke-Trinity Reconciliation Group will offer Healing Compline & Open Prayer Space in a time of Racial Conflict. This service will combine the ancient Monastic service of Compline with an open prayer space to offer people a place to voice their hurts and concerns in this trime of tension and conflict.
We are set to start at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 19 – the day that jury deliberations start in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for charges arising from the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. We will continue for five nights.
We invite you to join by phone or computer.
- To call in, Dial 1 929 205 6099 US (New York) or 1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) and use: Meeting ID: 870 0973 0432
Passcode: 8205011400
- To join online, https://tinyurl.com/uhdtymns,
Meeting ID: 870 0973 0432, Passcode: healing_21
Since Mr. Floyd’s death, Black men and boys have continued to die at the hands of America’s police officers. Other men of color have died in the epidemic of gun violence that plagues our nation. At times, it is unsafe for a person of color to step outside their home. At times it is not safe even in their own home.
We are offering this Healing Compline & Open Prayer Space series in a time of Racial Conflict to help people cope with the justifiable and real fear that faces people of color in America today. We will begin with a brief service of prayers or Compline. Based on an ancient monastic service, Compline tends to be a contemplative prayer service that emphasizes spiritual peace. We will then provide an Open Prayer Space so that people can share stories and seek strength.
“The Work Ahead, The Work Within: Reflecting on King’s Dream”
Event time:
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 – 7:15pm to 8:30pm
Event description:
Zoom registration required at https://bit.ly/3qhNGf0
The University and Greater New Haven communities are invited to attend this year’s intercollegiate virtual MLK Commemoration that honors the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This year’s event is co-hosted by Yale University’s 2021 MLK Commemoration Planning Committee, Gateway Community College, Quinnipiac University, and Southern CT State University and will feature Patrisse Cullors (Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter & Best-Selling Author of When They Call You a Terrorist) and Yamiche Alcindor (White House Correspondent for PBS NewsHour & NBC and MSNBC Political Contributor).
This virtual event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please visit this site to register: https://bit.ly/3qhNGf0.
Visit https://mlk.yale.edu/event/work-ahead-work-within-reflecting-kings-dream for more information.
St. John’s Mural Community Project on the theme of racial justice and Micah 6:8:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Mission:
Over the summer, the racial justice, healing, and reconciliation team wrestled with creating inclusive and intentional platforms for racial justice within and outside of the church. As a group, we would like to invite the congregation to participate in creating a collaborative mural. In doing so, each participant will create an oil paint image of their understanding of justice. The mural’s theme is Micah 6:8, which reminds believers of justice’s theological and ethical importance. Micah 6:8 reads to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.””
What does Micah 6:8 mean to you? Rather than just talking about it, we invite you into a contemplative and artistic response by displaying your thoughts through words, images, or symbols.
Tips: Please do not worry about whether or not your canvas will align with others. This mural is fueled by creativity to illustrate diverse interpretations of Micah 6:8.
Materials:
● canvas paper (provided)
● acrylic paints
● Paintbrushes
● personal creativity
Week 1: Starting September 27, 2020
Distribution of materials.
Week 2: October 11, 2020
Host an outdoor painting day. (optional)
Week 3: October 18, 2020
Complete your canvas.
Week 4: October 25, 2020
Submit your completed canvas to St. John.
For further information, please contact Rev. Deacon Shancia (shancia.jarrett@yale.edu), Michele Sigg (mmsigg5@gmail.com), or Jennifer Brown (jeebrown99@gmail.com).
Online lecture by Dr. Al Tizon – “Peacemaking as Mission: Challenging Racism Near and Far”: Sept. 29, 4-5:30 pm
Online Lecture: August 13th, 12 pm, FB Live
WATCH LIVE AT: https://www.facebook.com/religionunplugged/
Racial Justice Series, Summer 2020
Our Racial Justice series ends this coming Saturday (7/25). This page contains details of all the sessions, including this week’s.
Seeking Racial Justice, Part 1: Christians Listening
A Four-Week ZOOM Series:
Saturdays, June 27, July 11, 18, 25, 6:30-8:30pm
Co-Led by Jennifer Brown, Shancia Jarrett, and Michele Sigg
Organizer: St. John’s Episcopal Church, New Haven (400 Humphrey St.)
One Saturday in early May, members of St. John’s started to sense a “troubling of the waters” during the discussion of a documentary on revival and renewal in Fiji. There, unified Christians had come together in humility and repentance to pray for deliverance from evil. God had responded and healed their land. During the discussion that evening, one person spoke of her pain at racial injustice after the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Another felt convicted of her family’s sin of white supremacy and left that week on a pilgrimage of repentance to pray over former slave trading sites from Virginia to Georgia. This series was born out of those troubled waters and out of a desire to seek God’s face.
Series Description: “Seeking Racial Justice, Part 1: Christians Listening” is a 4-week film and discussion series over Zoom that will explore the roots of institutional racism in American society and the church, racial trauma, and Black Christian identity from the perspective of our responsibility as Christian brothers and sisters. The four sessions (details) will cover the following topics:
Week 1 (6/27): Systemic racism in the US: Historic Roots and Generational Trauma
Week 2 (7/11): Examining Racism in the American Church
Week 3 (7/18): Ancient African Christianity and Black Christian Identity
Week 4 (7/25): The Politics and Socio-Economics of Racism
Participant Covenant: We ask that all who attend prayerfully agree to the following:
“I will strive to open myself to learning by (1) listening first, (2) showing respect at all times in word and attitude, (3) asking honest questions, and (4) exercising humility when I speak.”
Goals. It is our hope that participants will
- Courageously and honestly engage with the materials and with each other
- Become aware of the core issues at the root of American racism
- Confront erroneous understandings of the Bible and in the church
- Gain a deeper understanding of white supremacy
- Grow in compassion and empathy for the suffering of all victims of racism.
Meet the Co-leaders:
- Jennifer Brown is library assistant at Gateway Community College Library in New Haven and an amazing resource guru. Her views on race are heavily influenced by the writings of intellectuals like Frantz Fanon, Richard Wright, Stokely Carmichael, and James Baldwin, tempered by the love of Christ.
- Shancia Jarrett gets her natural charisma from her Afro-Caribbean heritage. She is a candidate for Holy Orders to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church and she serves as an Affordable Housing consultant for the city of New Haven.
- Michele Sigg, PhD trained in the study of World Christianity and African Christianity at Boston University. She is Associate Director of the online resource Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.DACB.org) that seeks to restore the history of Africans who spread Christianity across Africa.
Life Together 