The Welfare of the City The Rev. Donald L. Hamer
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Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford
Pentecost 21 – Year C – October 13, 2013
It was in the sixth century before the Christian era when Jeremiah shares the word of the Lord to the exiled Israelites in Babylon: “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” (Jer. 29:7).
It’s a good Sunday for us at Trinity Episcopal Church to reflect on our relationship with the City that is our home, Hartford, Connecticut. True, we are not exiles here – we are here by choice. And it’s for that reason that we need to pay particular heed to Jeremiah’s words this morning as we contemplate how we as, individually and as a congregation “seek the welfare of the city” where we find ourselves.
Why is this important? Well there are a whole host of social reasons we have learned over the past decades why the suburbs cannot just sit and snuggle as bedroom communities and ignore the welfare of the city. We have come to learn that having vibrant cities as a cultural hub of the surrounding communities enriches everyone’s quality of life in city and suburb. Similarly, we have learned that when cities experience problems, people in the suburbs cannot insulate themselves from those problems.
One of those problems is the remarkable gap in achievement levels between many students in our city schools as compared with their counterparts in suburban schools. There are many factors involved in this reality, and I want to be clear that none of them really have to do with a lack of quality or commitment of the teachers or the staffs who care for our children in our urban schools. It is primarily poverty and the constellation of factors that go along with it that make the challenges of improving educational outcomes in our cities so daunting.
And so as we celebrate Episcopal Schools Week throughout the
Episcopal Church, I want to lift up this morning the tradition we have here at Trinity of supporting education in the city. When you think of it, virtually every major mission initiative that Trinity has made in the past two decades has involved education:
n In our Church School, in our Journey to Adulthood and Confirmation programs, and even in our Adult formation classes, we are blessed with a full cadre of volunteer educators who selflessly devote their time and talents to helping us grow in our Christian faith.
n The Light and Peace program served young children in the Asylum Hill neighborhood with a family meal, an interactive Bible story and activity time for many years before the Boys and Girls Club started serving supper. Until that time, there was a regular parade of children who marched to Trinity from the Boys and Girls Club each Monday evening.
n The TAAP program served older children in the neighborhood with a creative arts focus for several years, ending shortly before I arrived here.
n As long as anyone can remember, Trinity members have volunteered as tutors at West Middle Elementary School and after school at Connectikids and Asylum Hill Learning Zone.
n Since 2001 Trinity has been supporting high school level students at our partner parish in Tabora, Tanzania, making it possible for more than a hundred students over the years to rise beyond a likely future of subsistence farming.
n For more than a dozen years, what is now The Choir School of Hartford has provided a first class musical education to students from throughout the metropolitan area, including piano lessons for each student – and every student receives a full scholarship to participate. Each Sunday we hear the fruits of their work, and this morning we will honor three of our Choir students who are being promoted for achieving new goals in their musical education.
n For the past two years, Trinity has sponsored Trinity Episcopal Day School on Asylum Hill, one of only 15 Episcopal schools in the United States specifically addressing the achievement gap of our urban schools. Together, these 15 schools form the Episcopal Urban Schools Alliance in trying to create a new dimension to traditional Episcopal Education.
All of these educational initiatives share some uniquely Episcopal characteristics: We make opportunities for students to wrestle with matters of faith – to help them to understand that life-long learning isn’t limited to reading, writing and arithmetic. What does that look like? Well, on one of the unfortunately few occasions when I have made it in to join our Day School students for lunch, one of the students asked me what God looked like. I could have just said I didn’t know, but instead asked the student what she thought God looked like, and that of course led into a lively discussion about the nature of God.
Or there was the day that Mr. Landman asked the students what the word “sacred” meant, and the consensus was that it meant something that you weren’t allowed to go near. That led to a great discussion of what makes something “holy” or “sacred.”
And, oh, by the way – every student in Trinity Episcopal Day School for the academic year ending this past June advanced at least two grade levels in reading and writing skills. That’s making a difference in the achievement gap. That is an example of caring for the city in which we find ourselves. That is an example of the welfare of each of us being improved by tending to the welfare of others.
In our diocese, Bishop Douglas is following in the footsteps of Bishop Smith in calling all Episcopalians to be “God’s people on mission.” That means being attentive to the needs of the communities in which we find ourselves – the communities in which our houses of worship are located. This Tuesday evening, a group consisting of our Vestry and the combined boards of the Choir School and Trinity Day School will gather for a dinner meeting with a representative of Partners for Sacred Spaces, who will discuss with us additional ways in which we at Trinity can use our gifts – our own time and talent, our financial resources, and our beautiful church, our buildings and grounds – how we at Trinity can use all of these gifts from God to advance the welfare of our city and with it, enhance the quality of life not only for our children but for our entire metropolitan area. We take up virtually an entire city block in the heart of the city – we can, and should, be a resource and a stabilizing influence in the City. Programs like the Choir School and Trinity Day School already serve this function, and partnering with others, we are called to do more.
At the same time, our Mission Discernment Group has had its first meeting, and it, too, will be looking at ways in the coming months that we can use our gifts to partner with God in mission in our surrounding community – an effort that is but a first step to a broader effort that should eventually involve our entire congregation.
In this morning’s Gospel, taken from the proper for Episcopal Schools Week, Jesus tells us that when we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, invite the stranger in, give clothes to those who don’t have them, care for the sick, or visit those in prison, we do it for Jesus himself. One of the ways we serve Jesus is through the care and nurture of our children, whether it be in faith formation, in music, or in our day school. Today and every day, I ask your continued prayers for our ministries to all of God’s children. Amen.