things new Winter 2015 - Episcopal City Mission

winter 2015
Building Communities through Par tnership
AllThingsNew
The Newsletter of the Episcopal City Mission
From the Executive Director
Ruy O. Costa, PhD
A New Civil Rights
Movement Emerging?
Y
ears ago I made a major mistake
when applying for a public policy
position with a statewide ecumenical organization. In my application essay
I stated that I was proud of the leadership
role of the churches of that state in the
Civil Rights movement.
The search committee
picked on my statement
and lectured me on
how little the churches
had actually done,
except for some historical Black churches.
I got the job anyway.
As I served that organization I also
learned that there is a deep sense of modesty in some Christian communities about
their capacity to effect social structural
change with a positive impact on racism,
sexism, and class issues. Churches are complex organizations.
In most churches people of meager means
and some who move in the circles of power
meet on their knees, hands cupped, as
supplicants at the altar rail for the Eucharist. As we share the broken bread and the
poured wine we are called to share each
other’s burdens and carry the cross of
self-giving sacrifice for the redemption of
the world. To share in the comfort of the
bread and the wine alone without the
surrender of the soul for the healing of the
world, is to fail at a most critical point of
our incarnational theology. So, regardless
continued on page 7
ECM Supports Social Movements
across Massachusetts!
Distributes over $230,000 in grants
to community organizing groups
T
he Burgess Urban Fund (BUF), a grants program of ECM supports grassroots community
organizing in response to social injustice in
Massachusetts. In 2015 we will celebrate 40 years
of supporting the work to improve the lives of those
in need. BUF defines community organizing as a
process that develops the power and capacity
within a community to improve members’ lives.
The 2014 grantees are focused
on organizing work in six areas:
• Housing/Tenant Rights
• Faith Community
• Immigrants’ Rights
• Poverty Programs
• Workers’ Rights
• Youth Rights The 2014 BUF grantees with ECM board members and staff.
Episcopal City Mission is a faith-based ministry which promotes social and
economic justice working through congregations, community-based organizations and people within
the Diocese of Massachusetts, with special emphasis on the urban poor and oppressed.
2 ■ All Things New ■ Wi nte r 2 0 1 5
The 2014 BUF Grantees
Agencia ALPHA, Boston
Boston Youth Organizing
Project
Brazilian Immigrant Center,
Brighton
Brazilian Women’s Group,
Brighton
Brockton Interfaith Community
Centro Comunitario de
Trabajadores, New Bedford
Community Economic
Development Center of
Southeastern Massachusetts,
Fall River
Dominican Development
Center, Jamaica Plain
Dorchester Bay Economic
Development Corporation:
Youth Force
Dr. Ruy Costa, ECM's
Executive Director,
welcomes the 2014
BUF grantees.
Ex-Prisoners Organizing
for Community Advancement,
Worcester
Greater Four Corners Action
Coalition, Dorchester
Massachusetts Community
Action Network, Dorchester
Merrimack Valley Project,
Lawrence
MetroWest Worker Center,
Framingham
MetroWest Worker
Center and WATCH
accept awards.
Student Immigrant Movement,
Boston
United Neighbors of Fitchburg
WATCH, Waltham
Women Encouraging
Empowerment, Revere
Worcester Homeless Action
Committee
Youth on Board, Boston
Katie Campbell Simons, ECM's
Assoc. Director for Community
Partnerships and Public Policy,
with Patricia Sobalvarro of
Agencia ALPHA.
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4th Annual Grantee Gathering HUGE success!
O
n Saturday, November 15, 2014
at Christ Episcopal Church in
Needham, ECM along with our
partner, the Haymarket People’s Fund
hosted our 4th Annual Grantee Gathering
for our current Burgess Urban Fund grantees and Haymarket’s funded organizations. Over 130 people from 40 grassroots
community organizations came together
to be inspired and energized in their mission to bring about justice for all people.
This year, ECM opened the invitation to
our parish grantees and other Episcopal
partners; we were so glad that some of
them were able to join us for a day of
sharing and learning about organizing
for social justice.
This gathering is an opportunity for
groups to come together with other organizations working on similar issues from
across New England. The objective is to
provide an opportunity for our grantees
to share their work and learn from other
organizations about their missions, thus
deepening efforts to build a social justice
movement across New England. This year
we had the privilege of hosting Carlos
Saavedra, from Movement Mastery. Carlos
is a seasoned organizer and facilitator
who has been trained in leadership and
organizing by the most prominent institutes and coaches in the field of social
change. Carlos led the group through
exercises and dialogue focused on rela-
tionship building, types of organizing,
and movement ecosystems!
It was an inspiring, emotional and
thought-provoking day. We thank our
partners at the Haymarket People’s Fund
for working with us on this event and
look forward to hosting many more.
Grantees
share ideas.
Jaime Smith and Karla Nicholson of Haymarket People's Fund with ECM's
Katie Campbell Simons, Carlos Saavedra and ECM's Dr. Ruy Costa.
Carlos Saavedra of Movement Mastery is keynote.
Participants of the 4th
Annual Grantee Gathering.
4 ■ All Things New ■ Wi nte r 2 0 1 5
ECM Engaged in Public Policy & Advocacy
W
e have been busy working
through our partnerships on
public policy initiatives! ECM
continues to support and engage
in workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, and
the rights of the marginalized. We’ve seen
some exciting victories, and we hope for
similar stories of success in the campaigns
that are now gaining momentum. These
are some of the efforts we’ve been
following:
Raise Up MA – On January 1, 2015, the
minimum wage in Massachusetts was
raised from $8 to $9 an hour, following
the victory of the Raise Up MA campaign
in 2014! This is the first of three annual
$1 increases to the minimum wage,
thanks to the tireless work of the Raise
Up MA Coalition. We also eagerly anticipate the establishment of earned sick
time for all employees in MA on July 1,
2015 following the push for “Yes On 4”—
saying “yes” to Question 4 on the
November ballot.
Boston Religious Leaders for the Long
Island Refugees – After the closing of
the Long Island Shelter that provided
beds for 440 people every night and
housed 57 percent of Boston’s substance
abuse treatment beds, a group of Boston’s
religious leaders rallied to call for action.
This group of religious leaders advocated
for the community of people who have
lost access to shelter by organizing an
interfaith prayer service on the Boston
Common, sending 1,000 postcards to
Mayor Walsh’s office requesting a meeting with him, and the opening of a day
shelter at Old South Church from
January 19–March 31, 2015.
Beloved Community – ECM worked
alongside the Youth Jobs Coalition to increase voter education and participation
in low-income communities leading up
to the November 2014 elections. We will
continue discussions with the Youth Jobs
Coalition, the Leadership Development
Initiative, BPEACE, and Life Together to
The Youth Jobs Coalition hosted a youth-led
gubernatorial forum on October 29th, 2014.
learn how to live into the name of “Episcopalians for Racial and Economic Justice.”
Jobs Not Jails – Following the work of our
Burgess grantees, ECM is paying close attention to the work of the Jobs Not Jails
Coalition. On January 16, the coalition
filed a criminal justice reform bill entitled
the “Act to Increase Neighborhood Safety
and Opportunity.” This issue has been
affirmed by ECM’s Public Policy Advisory
Committee as an area of interest for the
coming legislative session. On January 31,
Mary Beth Mills-Curran, ECM’s Coordinator
of Church-Based Ministries, and Lydia
Strand, ECM’s Life Together Emmaus Fellow, attended an energizing gathering of
the Jobs Not Jails Coalition to help craft
the group’s vision statement.
Then,
Gubernatorial
candidate,
Charlie Baker,
attended the
youth-led
gubernatorial
forum in
October.
Meet Our Legislator Events
In 2015, ECM is partnering with parishes to host a get together for conversation
with local legislators. These events will create time to get to know your local
representatives and for your representatives to get to know you!
To learn more, please contact ECM’s Emmaus Fellow, Lydia Strand @
[email protected] or 617.482.4826 x 227.
5 ■ All Things New ■ Wi nte r 2 0 1 5
Pa r i s h G r a n t s
ECM Hosts Forums on the
November 2014 Ballot Questions
I
n October 2014, the Ecumenical Advocacy Coalition, of which ECM is one
of five organizations, hosted four nights of Faith & Ballot: Forums on
the 2014 MA Ballot Questions. About 100 people joined us at churches
in Worcester, Sudbury, Quincy, and Boston to enjoy food and meaningful
dialogue on how faith and the questions on the 2014 MA Ballot intersect.
Attendees watched campaign videos for every question from each side of
the debate —from eliminating gas tax indexing, expanding the beverage container deposit law, expanding prohibitions on gaming, to establishing earned
sick time for all employees. The Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director of the
Massachusetts Council of Churches, led listeners in considering these angles:
“Who might be left vulnerable if this law passes?” and “Who will benefit from
this law?” Then, in small groups, people brought their own voices to the table.
In rounds of conversation, participants shared stories from their faith traditions
and personal experiences that would influence their votes on the various
questions and dialogued around the questions introduced by Rev. Everett.
Resources assembled for the events—including the campaign materials,
theological framing, and discussion guides—were distributed to those who
attended the events to share with their respective congregations and
continue the conversations.
The Faith & Ballot Forums successfully provided space for people of faith to
do the important work of intentionally engaging the MA 2014 ballot questions
and of inviting dialogue with others.
Above:
ECM's Mary Beth
Mills-Curran
addresses those
gathered.
Above Right:
A guest reviews
ballot questions.
Right:
Guests in Worcester
watch campaign
videos.
ECM closes out 2014
with $50,000 in Grants
to Parishes!
E
very year ECM makes grants to parishes
to support work that fights poverty
and injustice in their local community.
We focus on supporting groups that challenge the systems that allow poverty to
thrive. This year we gave grants to four parishes. We are especially excited to welcome
Trinity Church, Haverhill and St. Andrew’s
Church, New Bedford as new grantees!
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Boston –
St. Stephen’s was awarded a grant for their
continued work with the BLOCS Program
(BLOCS = Building Leadership; Organizing
Communities and Schools). The program
engages teens, young adults, and community residents in the school partnership with
the Blackstone Innovation School and mobilizes parents and teens around neighborhood
concerns, including community safety.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, New
Bedford – St. Andrew’s is examining how they
use their after school program as a springboard for social change. They will be hosting
community dinners and conversations with
various stakeholders in their community
and in their ministry to children. They will
attend the All Our Children Conference,
which focuses on church-school partnerships.
Trinity Church, Haverhill – Trinity Church
is an urban parish in a community that
struggles with poverty. They are working
with many partners in the city and in the
Merrimack Valley to improve the health and
well-being of children and families. They will use the money to support community
meetings and one-to-one meetings, as well as leadership training for the team.
Ecclesia/common cathedral – Among
many things, Ecclesia promotes the leadership development of homeless and formerly
homeless people. The leadership development in this community is an important
steppingstone from which many go on
to advocate for themselves and their
neighbors.
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Save
These
Dates
ECM’s and the Episcopal Diocese
Spring Learning Event
Mobilizing the Church:
From Dreaming to Doing
Saturday, March 7, 2015
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Christ Church
1132 Highland Avenue, Needham Heights
$15 registration fee includes lunch. Discounts available.
To register, visit our website and click on upcoming events.
We know that growing congregations have effective clergy and lay
partnerships in leadership, tell their faith stories and do projects that
generate excitement. We also know that community organizing
promotes similar outcomes through the practices it teaches. Come
join one another at this intersection of faith and action and be
stirred by what the Bible says about social justice.
The day includes: Workshops, Networking, Real Stories of Change,
A Panel of Practitioners, Theological Grounding
ECM’s 2015
Annual Dinner
A time to celebrate ECM’s work
and the 40th Anniversary of the
Burgess Urban Fund.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Boston University’s George
Sherman Union
Speakers: Alexie Torres-Flemming
Activist, community organizer, advocate,
urban planner and Executive Director of
Access Strategies Fund
Dr. Mark R. Warren
Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy
and Public Affairs, McCormack Graduate School
at UMass, Boston
Reflections:
Bishop Alan M. Gates & Bishop Gayle E. Harris
ECM’s Mission Discernment Day
for Merrimack Valley
Keynote Speaker is Sister Simone
Campbell, a Sister of Social
Service, an attorney and a poet
who works for social and
economic justice. As the
Executive Director of NETWORK,
she became known nationwide
as the creator and leader of
“Nuns on the Bus” tours.
It’s a day to come and learn about everything that ECM has been up to
and to talk about what “Mission” means to you and your community.
To buy your table(s) and ticket(s),
please visit our website.
26 White Street, Haverhill
Saturday, March 14, 2015
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Trinity Episcopal Church, Haverhill
To register, visit our website and click on upcoming events.
7 ■ All Things New ■ Wi nte r 2 0 1 5
From the Executive Director
Ruy O. Costa, PhD
continued from page 1
of one’s perceived power to address
privilege it becomes imperative that when
the opportunity emerges, we engage our
resources, our passion, our faith, our hope.
So, moved by the conviction that
change requires intentional investment
of time and effort, and knowing that
movements emerge from many small
and large action efforts to address a
situation, it becomes our moral obligation
to embrace the opportunity and make
something happen. The question shifts
from the power to address a problem,
to the call to do it. When I share in that
urgency, I want to go to the streets and
I want to invite you to come too.
PEOPLE IN MISSION continued from page 8
way that lets us off the hook, but in a real,
lived-out “the Jesus in me is committed to the Jesus in you” sort of way.
And then, a month or two later, they’re
standing up at worship to tell their story,
or giving away hot coffee at a rained-out
Dyke March, or shouting at the top of their
lungs during a #blacklivesmatter demonstration, or finding beds for the Long Island
Refugees, or helping someone change his
or her legal gender marker at our Saturday
name change clinics, or throwing down
with slam poets, blues singers, and firespinners at our annual Easter Vigil.
Community transforms lives, and while
we can’t promise that life in Christian
community will always be safe, easy, or
comfortable, we’re pretty confident that
it’ll never be boring.
How do you think the work of building
community and the work of social
justice are related?
Social justice, spirituality, and community
need each other to thrive. I’ve seen really
effective non-profit groups fall apart
because they didn’t bother building
community among their volunteers. I’ve
seen congregations wane because they
lacked an urgent sense of purpose. I’ve
seen groups of friends drift apart because
they had no rhythm of ritual to keep
them together.
That’s why community-building
matters, and it’s why worship matters.
Prophets can’t sustain the church on their
own—we need prophets, mystics, and
pastors to be God’s presence on earth.
What Can Episcopal City Mission
Do With Your Parish?
Parish Grants Program
Designed to foster parish partnerships and
increase parish presence as agents of change
in the community.
For more information, please contact
Mary Beth Mills-Curran at 617.482.4826 x 207 or
[email protected].
Organizing for Advocacy
ECM can help your parish host events intended
to build relationships with your elected officials
as well as your neighbors such as “meet and
greet” your legislator, “town meeting” type of
discussion with elected officials and/or other
thought leaders, legislative breakfasts when a
particular issue is emerging at the State level,
etc. From time to time, ECM organizes and
leads a “lobby day.”
For more information, please contact Lydia
Strand at 617.482.4826 x 227 or lydia@Episcopal
CityMission.org.
Educational Events
The ECM staff is available to visit your parish
on a Sunday morning for an adult forum exercise
or discussion. We have offered “world café” style
discussions, presentations on particular issues,
reports on the work that we do, etc.
To schedule a Sunday visit, please contact Mary
Beth Mills-Curran at 617.482.4826 x 207 or
[email protected].
Discernment Listening:
Designed to help a parish discern its mission
in light of its faith and the contradictions of our
times, this process can be implemented in a oneday retreat or along a series of weekly meetings.
For more information, contact ECM Executive
Director, Dr. Ruy O. Costa, at r.costa@
EpiscopalCityMission.org.
AllThingsNew
The Newsletter of the Episcopal City Mission
Episcopal City Mission
138 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02111
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Boston, MA
Permit No 14471
winter 2015
Episcopal Cit y Mission
Executive Director:
Dr. Ruy O. Costa
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR community partnerships & PUBLIC POLICY:
Katie Campbell Simons
operations Manager:
Lucena Daley
coordinator of church-based ministries:
Mary Beth Mills-Curran
Life Together emmaus Fellow:
Lydia Strand
All Things New welcomes letters to the editor.
Contact: ATN/Episcopal City Mission, 138 Tremont St.,
Boston, MA 02111. [email protected]
Learn more about ecm and the work we do. Visit our website and facebook pages.
www.EpiscopalCityMission.org | www.facebook.com/EpiscopalCityMission
PEOPLE IN MISSION
Isaac Everett
Minister of Liturgial Art at The Crossing
To those that don’t know you, how do
we best introduce you (personally and
professionally)?
handed the lowest wages of any generation in living memory. We’re told that democracy means our voice matters, then we watch a deadlocked government
accomplish little other than fundraising
for years on end. We line up to watch fantastic stories about amazing people,
then we’re sedated into believing that
we’re too poor, too young, and too ordinary to have lives that adventurous.
Is there any doubt why a millennial’s
greatest temptation is to give up and
check out?
Religious community is the best antidote I know for checking out. When people
discover The Crossing, they realize that
they can be really and truly loved—and
not in a vague “Jesus loves you” sort of
I’m the Minister of Liturgical Arts at The
Crossing, an incredible community of activists, homeless, students, pilgrims, heretics, and incognito clergy who gather
Thursday nights downtown at the Cathedral. My work ranges from coaching
preachers to producing podcasts to writing woodwind parts for plainsong/
pop mash-ups. I love every minute of it.
What are the core convictions of your
faith that inform your actions/work?
Our culture demands that young adults
live in loneliness, apathy, and cynicism.
We’re told that independence is the primary mark of adulthood, then we’re
Photo: Katie Ernst
continued on page 7