stories, part one

Dumbarton is also a place that values the power of telling and re-telling stories.

Sometimes a preacher who is especially sensitive to her or his parish will do this in sermons in ways that engage and communicate with the parish out of the stuff they are experiencing.

Here, the whole church uses liturgical seasons and retreats to focus on stories, current and past, to illustrate the parish's journey.

Two from its distant past:

At some point in the early 19th century, the church made its worshipers of African descent to sit in the balcony. Only the white people sat on the floor of the church. This upset the people in the balcony who were not allowed to participate fully in the worship, so they started secretly withholding gifts from the offering plate. Some of these people were slaves, others were freed. Eventually, they saved enough money to start a new church and they announced this to the white folk. Because District law required a white person to oversee any assembly of Africans/African Americans over the number of 10, a white pastor from the church had to oversee the new church as well.

Today, three blocks from Dumbarton is Mount Zion United Methodist Church. It was the first church started by black people in the District.

The distruption of those two parishes have echoed to this day. For Mount Zion, it is a point of pride and self-determination. For Dumbarton, it is a story of shame that had led to it embracing an open door policy of welcome that is continually reexamined. I am sure that most folk either parish know this story.