January 16, 2008
Greetings to all!
With the Martin Luther King Jr., holiday before us, Peter Gomes invites us to remember some of the people and events that set the stage for Dr. King's work.
Race is America's unfinished business. William E. B. Du Bois said as much when, in 1900, ....he wrote, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line." Sadly, events of the past hundred years would prove him right. For one shining moment, however, at mid-century, as a result of improved conditions and increased social agitation to secure civil rights for black Americans, it looked as though the problem of the color line was finally to be resolved, with liberty and justice for all. Between the wars, and often under less than ideal conditions, the race project was prosecuted by Dr. Du Bois, the NAACP, and hundreds of other reform-minded blacks and whites. When Marian Anderson gave her song recital at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday afternoon, 1939, after having been denied use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution - which denial caused First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign her membership in the DAR - at the very heart of the nation's capital a symbolic blow for civil rights was struck. The admirable service of black soldiers, sailors, and airmen, in a still segregated American military, in a war against totalitarianism and racism around the world forced President Harry Truman to issue the executive order by which the military was desegregated. Then followed the series of court cases, acts of civil disobedience, and the moral confrontations that came to their symbolic head in the great march on Washington on August 27, 1963, the very day on which Du Bois died at age ninety-five in Ghana, where he had gone to live after renouncing his American citizenship. The next five years, from 1963 to 1968 and the death of Martin Luther King Jr., would witness the second American civil war, this time led not be generals and ground troops but by preachers, students, social agitators, and the combined consciences of young and old, white and black. For many, these years were the defining years of their lives, and for the nation and the century it was the defining moment of the American experience.
(from The Good Life, by Peter J. Gomes)
The Scripture lessons for Sunday, January 20:
Isaiah 49:1-7
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42
Sunday Conversations regarding the lessons for the day (see above) continue this Sunday, January 20, 10am, in Trinity Hall. Feel free to join the conversation, enjoy a cup of coffee, or just listen in.
Men's Coffee - Walnut Hill men are invited to gather for coffee on Saturday, January 19, 8am, at Paneras (Richmond Road). Feel free to stop in for as long or short a time as your schedule permits. No rsvp required.
Confirmation Classes will be offered this Lenten season (February/March) for middle and high school youth who are ready to make their profession of faith and enter into church membership. Interested youth and/or their parents are invited to contact Lauren Fouts for more information about the confirmation process.
Men's Dinner: Dr. William "Beau" Weston will be our guest for the next Walnut Hill Church Men's Dinner on Thursday evening, January 31, 6pm, at Applebee's Restaurant (Nicholasville Rd. at W. Tiverton Way). Dr. Weston is Associate Professor of Sociology at Centre College and author of the recent book Leading From the Center. Professor Weston will offer informal remarks titled, "Success in the Religion Market," exploring why conservative churches are generally more successful than liberal ones. You may rsvp for the dinner by contacting Gene Brockopp, the church office, or via the sign up sheet in the sanctuary.
Jesus Today, a book discussion, will be offered on Wednesday evenings in Lent, beginning Wednesday, February 13, 7pm. Copies of the book (Jesus Today, by Albert Nolan) are available at Walnut Hill, or by purchase through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.
Thanks, news, etc...
*Thanks to...David Sharrard for leading our Sunday conversation last Sunday; the Hormans, the Bowlings, the Spencers, and the Stewarts for providing our after worship refreshments.
*Late last week, Walnut Hill delivered a check in the amount $6,975 to the Athens Chilesburg Elementary School to fund sponsorships for 15 students to participate in the 5th grade class trip to Washington, D.C. Several thank you notes have been received from A.C.E. students/families and are posted on the bulletin board in Trinity Hall. Thanks to many for their individual donations of this effort and to all for your support of the project through your General and Community Fund donations.
Peace to all.
Mike Ward
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