Action on MLK Day

I have spent my whole life working in soup kitchens and food pantries, building houses for Habitat for Humanity, running tutoring programs, and volunteering at homeless shelters. There is no question that Jesus asks us to care for the most vulnerable among us and so I respond. Even as I do the work, however, I always pray for the day when charity will end. Charity will end when - as an American people - we finally choose to take responsibility for the poor, the sick, and mentally ill in ways that accord full respect to the basic needs and human dignity of all people.
On Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day - January 21 - I want to encourage you to resist the pleas to do charitable service and take up the banner of action instead. King was not an advocate for more feeding programs. He worked tirelessly for changes to our laws that would create a more just order where feeding programs would not be so necessary. He worked to created the conditions where all people could exercise self-determination and self-sufficiency, for themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods.

This is why St. Martin’s is inviting our members to participate in actions on King Day that look forward to a future of economic justice. You will see the invitation below. I encourage you to begin with worship at the Unitarian Society of Germantown. Worshipping together with people from across the Northwest is an action that speaks of solidarity and equality. Recently I worshipped on Christmas morning with my wife’s congregation which is from all over the world - Africa, Asia, Latin America, India, Europe, and North America. I was inspired to see the real complexion of Christ’s diverse body and reminded of the poverty of worshipping only in a homogenous group.

Next you will have a chance to join me at the McDonald’s near Chelten and Germantown Avenue to advocate for a living wage in the state of Pennsylvania. Structurally, our economy will never reach full employment, and left to itself it will not produce enough living-wage jobs. We must intervene as citizens for a more equal distribution of wages.
Finally, you are invited to a People’s Assembly with POWER to discuss and vote on an agenda for social justice for our region. We will gather as citizens and people of faith to advance a vision of a more just order in education, environment, economic dignity, and racial justice. Our Beloved Community work calls us to cross racial divides, shed our white privilege, and engage with our neighbors on an equal footing. POWER assemblies provide the rare place of that engagement. I encourage you to attend.

Blessings,
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
Rector

MONDAY, JANUARY 21- MLK DAY OF ACTION

Partnering with POWER Philadelphia

We encourage you to choose one or all of these events to attend.

9 a.m. - Sermon by the Rev. Greg Holston
Germantown Unitarian Society, 6511 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia
This is a non-denominational worship service focusing on Rev. Dr. King’s life and accomplishments led by the Rev. Kent Matthies with preaching by the Rev. Greg Holston, Executive Director of POWER. The service will be held at Unitarian Society of Germantown, 6511 Lincoln Drive. The parking lot GPS address is 359 W Johnson Street Coffee and bagels will be served beginning at 8:00. They expect a crowd, so get there early to get a seat.

11:30 a.m. - Raise the Wage rally
Outside of McDonald’s located at 29 E. Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19144
Last year a rally was held in front of CVS on MLK Day. This was one of the actions that led CVS to increase wages to $11 an hour in April 2018. St. Martin’s Deacon, Carol Duncan is particularly interested in this action. Fast food workers are often vulnerable to poor working conditions. Their hard work is often unrecognized and little rewarded. The rally is organized by Economic Dignity team of POWER with Sen. Art Haywood and Rev. Kent Matthies. It’s really POWER’s Northwest community’s MLK Day expression. You will hear that PA has the lowest possible minimum wage, and that ALL surrounding states have a higher wage. This is an action to respect the dignity of the workers and show them their neighbors support their efforts to improve their lives.Learn more, get updates, and share.

1:00 p.m. - MLK Day Teach-In & Rally
Bible Way Baptist Church, 1323 N. 52nd St., Philadelphia, PA
This is the main POWER event of the day, the People’s Platform event. Attenders will contribute to an electoral platform that will build a better Philadelphia and hold our elected officials accountable. Get directions. Learn more, get updates, and share.

From Our Interim Rector: Labor Day

It’s Labor Day weekend. Monday, we’ve got a holiday in honor of our workers. (Yes, St. Martin’s office will be closed on Monday.)

When I lived in Australia, we celebrated Labor Day in March and the old-timers still called it “Eight Hour Day”. They were celebrating that in 1856, their workers had been among the first in the world to win an eight-hour work day. They were lucky the day had such a peaceable origin.

In this country, Labor Day came into being in 1894 after a particularly nasty confrontation between labor and business: the Pullman Company was losing money, so it laid off workers and cut remaining workers’ wages without lowering what it charged them for housing and necessities in the company town. The workers went on strike and refused to work on trains carrying Pullman cars. The strike spread across the country, and involved 250,000 workers. Chaos ensued. President Grover Cleveland sent 16,000 troops to quell the strike. Both sides used violence. By the time it was over, there were thirty dead and $80 million dollars in damages. Six days after the strike ended, the President declared Labor Day a federal holiday. Labor Day was President Cleveland’s attempt to bring peace between labor and business.

We continue today to try to support the interests of both our business community and our labor force. But the more we work at it, the more we discover just how complicated it is. Protecting or increasing the profits of a company enough to make the business a desirable investment may mean cutting jobs. Supporting workers’ rights to fair wages and benefits may cause the company to go out of business or move overseas. It’s complicated!

It’s also messy. I remember a garbage strike in Philadelphia with weeks’ worth of stinking trash piled up in a park near us. At the same time, I recognize how valuable union support has been to members of my family when they were being treated unfairly in the workplace. I have struggled with vestries and non-profit boards to come up with raises the employees both need and deserve, when we are also struggling to keep the buildings functional and the mission vibrant. I know how awful it feels to have to let a valued employee go because there just isn’t enough money to go around. It’s complicated! 

That’s why I like the Episcopal Church’s prayer for Labor Day. It asks God to guide all of us in our confusion:

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives with one another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessings,
Rev. Phyllis Taylor