Dear People of St. James’,
Recently, I have been reading the book What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana. This book brings the reader into conversation with six of the more than 100 million people displaced from their homes and countries by violence and the ravages of climate change. It has gotten me thinking about the hidden historians in our midst who are carrying stories through the little things and the imperfect materials of life, that can become something new when we look upon them with “the eyes of creation.”
What we remember shall be saved, and there is salvific, healing work to be done in the collective art of remembering. Last year, in 2022, St. James’ formed a subcommittee called the Art & Identity Committee in order to take a look at the things we have collected as a congregation that participate in the art of remembering. This group, comprised of people from all of our various services took time to walk around the campus with “the eyes of creation” to notice the things that speak welcome and belonging into our spaces. They also did some wondering about how St. James’ might tell its sacred stories and communicate welcome in new and healing ways.
Some questions kept re-emerging from their work:
How do our shared spaces speak welcome and belonging for Spanish speakers?
What parts of our St. James’ story do we need to communicate more artfully and clearly through sign and symbol?
Both of these are ongoing conversations, but we have sprung into action:
1) We wanted to place a sign of welcome for Spanish-speaking visitors in the narthex, where Absalom Jones and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the “Wherever you are in your journey of faith, you are welcome in this place” signs greet us from week-to-week. So, we worked with members of our Spanish-speaking community to identify the image they desired – an image of Maria, the Virgen de Guadalupe. In December 2022, as we celebrated her feast day, we dedicated this image and gave it a prominent place.
2) We noticed that we did not have an image of Myra McDaniel, after whom our Union of Black Episcopalians Chapter was named. On this past UBE Sunday, we dedicated a portrait of Myra McDaniel and gave it a prominent place in the hallway between the sanctuary and Founders Hall.
3) As we walked the grounds and building, we recognized that much of our signage is inaccurate, monolingual, falling apart, construction grade as opposed to permanent, poorly placed given current campus usage, and missing information about the organizations that share our campus. We saw a tremendous opportunity to communicate more effectively with our surrounding community and those who come to our campus for the first time. We also saw a critical opportunity to do something that the other churches around us don’t do – to express our welcome to the Spanish-speaking community. This got us started on a signage project, and we hope that you will see the fruit of this project in mid-2024. This project was dreamt of by the late John Butler even before the Art & Identity Team got to work.
4) We gathered some observations and ideas that can be pulled into a Master Plan Process in 2024, which will finally move us to complete the Columbarium and a mural of the Saints of St. James’ (God willing and people of St. James’ assenting).
I am excited for this timely work. When you are on campus next, take a moment to slow down to look with the eyes of creation at some sign or symbol of God’s grace in our midst and with us. You are part of a sacred and living story.
Rev. Eileen
