40 And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to say to him. 41 He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” – Mark 14:40-41 NRSVUE
Over the past six weeks, we have been on a Lenten journey that we make each year, because of one that was taken 2000 years ago. The journey of the Dismantling Racism and White Privilege mission team, though begun within the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy more than 40 years ago, was revived during the trip taken by the people in the picture above to Montgomery, Alabama, in the Fall of 2019. As has been recounted in previous installments of this blog series, it was their shared experience of the history of injustice presented at the Legacy Museum and Memorial https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/museum and other Civil Rights sites in Montgomery that led to the writing of the Apology, https://glpby.org/wp-content/uploads/DRAP-Apology-1.30.20.pdf, adopted by the Presbytery in 2020, and the Overture “An Apology to our African American Sisters and Brothers for the Sin of Slavery and its Legacy” https://www.pc-biz.org/#/search/3000895, accepted and approved at GA225 in 2022.
DRAWP is currently focusing on three specific areas of work: education, relationships, and advocacy. From Diane McCullough, Elder, Webster Groves PC, DRAWP Committee member, Co-chair of the Overture and Apology writing team, and Co-chair of the DRAWP Educate team-
“If you have been reading John’s Lenten blogs, you have read a lot of excerpts from “An Overture of Apology to African Americans for the Sin of Slavery and its Legacy.” The Educate Team of DRAWP has been working on a full curriculum around the Overture. This will give GLPBY members the opportunity to explore the deeper meanings of this document. There will be discussion of both the Overture and of current issues. There will be prayer and scripture reading to help us have brave interchange of ideas. Our aim is to work toward freedom to talk honestly with one another – freedom from fear so that we can move toward unity of spirit – freedom to think creatively to undo harms that have affected the lives of our African American siblings. Our first task was to write “An Apology to our African American Sisters and Brothers for the Sin of Slavery and its Legacy.” This was passed at the GLPBY Gathering in February 2020, only three months after our return from Montgomery. It was always our dream to take it forward as an overture to the PCUSA General Assembly. We were able to convene via Zoom beginning late summer 2021 and, as you know, the Overture was passed in July 2022. It has been a blessing to work with the original writing team and with the new Educate Team members on the curriculum. Opportunity to live in community and work together for the greater good is both exhilarating and humbling. We pray that we are doing Matthew 25 work, listening for the Holy Spirit as we do our work and committing ourselves to God’s will.” – Diane McCullough
The Advocate team is continuing participating in training through the Presbyterian Peace Mission to participate in Guns to Gardens events later this year in the Presbytery. There is an upcoming meeting on Thursday, April 13th from 11:00-12:30, and if you would like to attend please contact me at johnnorthrip@att.net. More about the program can be found at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/pcusa-other-congregations-join-in-national-guns-to-gardens-day/.
The Relate team is planning to gather at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in Afton to revisit the new “Slavery in St. Louis” exhibit https://www.nps.gov/articles/series.htm?id=FC06B6BD-EEEA-067B-B56FD792A36DEDAD and at 2:00pm hear a presentation by author Ken Ellingwood on his book First to Fall, The Twin Crusades of Elijah Lovejoy, Abolitionist and Martyr to Press Freedom. More about this presentation can be found at https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/event-details.htm?id=30160727-A201-B570-98C7EE72A5A296E9. Ken Ellingwood will also be speaking about this book at Faith Des Peres Presbyterian Church, 11155 Clayton Rd., Frontenac, MO, on Sunday, April 23, at 2:00pm https://glpby.org/wp-content/uploads/First-to-Fall-Author-Event-2.pdf.
The next DRAWP Zoom meeting will be Monday, April 17th, at 7:00pm, and if are interested in joining us please contact me at the links below. I’m grateful to be part of this group, especially for this opportunity to share the DRAWP journey through this blog series, and I’m hopeful that some of you will find a way to join us as we go into the future, and to make this story part of your own. We have come a long way, and just as those followers of Jesus 2000 years ago, we may be weary. But unlike them, we know that the story doesn’t end, and that the path we choose goes on forever.
40 And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to say to him. 41 He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” – Mark 14:40-41 NRSVUE
Thanks,
John Northrip
johnnorthrip@att.net
314-401-1735
