This Sunday, starting at 9 AM, you can join in a Virtual Walk to support the Louis D Brown Peace Institute.  The Walk will be Livestreamed and will be found on our website,   www.kings-chapel.org on Sunday at 9 AM.  This is their major fundraiser of the year, and King's Chapel is one of the major teams highlighted this year.  We are proud to be a sponsor, and hope that you will help to support them too.  Donations to the King's Chapel team can be made here. 

Also at 9 AM we will offer our Morning Light service via Zoom.  Join us for a brief service; we will offer prayers for loved ones, and Skip Lewan will be with us to offer music.  Contact david.waters@kings-chapel.org to receive the Zoom access code. 

Our worship service will be found on our website at 11 AM, and will offer prayers and music in honor of mothers. Read more below in From the Minister, and From the Bench.

As you may recall from ancient calendar drafts, we had planned a May 10 benefit recital at 2 PM for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute as a complement to our involvement in the Mother's Day Walk for Peace. 

The concert has now moved to the virtual realm, and will take the form of a YouTube playlist that will be available for you to listen to at your convenience anytime. It will be curated by the choir members who were slated to sing, in collaboration with Heinrich. The theme is "Women's Voices" - we are aiming for a broad swath of beautiful music by women on the topics of motherhood, peace, and much more. You will find this on Sunday afternoon on the King's Chapel YouTube channel. 

Leading up to Mother's Day, o n Thursday May 7, the weekly "Conversations with the Educators" focused on Mother's Day as well. History Program Director Faye Charpentier not only shared the stories of two generations of mothers in King's Chapel history, but also discussed the history behind the holiday itself and how the roots of Mother's Day as we know it today emerged from community organizers and activists. Boston's own roots of Mother's Day, linked with poet and abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, urged women to unite to advocate for peace, aligning the historic roots of this holiday with the actions taken today by participants in the Louis D. Brown Institute's Mother's Day Walk for Peace

For Mother's Day, Please Pray for Tina Chery's Mother

 

This Mother's Day, we especially hold in our prayers Tina Chery, the mother of Louis D. Brown, who was killed at age 15 by gun violence in Boston. Adding to that burden, Tina's own mother has COVID-19 and is in critical condition.

 

Let's join in prayer and in action to support Tina Chery, one of our community partners, who founded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute after Louis' death. Tina's goal is to support the surviving family of murder victims, and to transform how society responds to homicide. She is determined to teach peace, and to stop the ongoing cycle of fear and revenge that so often follows violence. City leaders say she has made a difference.

 

This year, thought, I was afraid the Peace Institute wouldn't be able to raise enough money to support its staff because their annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace must be "virtual". Rather than the thousands of us who march and raise funds, I feared many fewer might participate. Tina said the "human" part of her was also worried, but the "spiritual" part trusts God. That doesn't mean Tina sits passively by - rather, she invites in more and more people to be God's hands at work. So we at King's Chapel are more determined than ever to pitch in with our support. At this Sunday Mother's Day Worship Service we'll show a parade of photos of any of you with a sign - as if you were virtually marching.

 

My sign's above: "the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Teaches Me How to Forgive.," because every time I come closer to the LDBPI, I learn a lot and grow spiritually. Other lessons for me have been about Courage and Faith. For Amanda Pickett, it's about Hope. For Carol Genovese, about Justice. And you? The principles of the LDBPI for transforming how society responds to homicide are: Love, Unity, Faith, Hope, Courage, Justice, and Forgiveness.

Our scripture lesson this week is about Stephen, a Greek-speaking disciple in the early church who asked God to forgive those stoning him to death. Stephen seems like an anachronistic, unreachable model. But Tina Chery has forgiven her son's murderer, and that man now speaks to youth about choices they can make. Tina believes God can transform any of us, maybe even me.

 

This is the 7th year in which King's Chapel will march to support Tina's work. Pray for her and their work, and that we might continue to learn from them, and for her mother, on this Mother's Day.  And show us your sign!

 

Joy

SCAM ALERT: If you have recently received an email from Rev. Joy Fallon with "Stay Blessed" in the subject line: DO NOT OPEN. 

This email is not from Joy and should not be opened. 

Keep those pledges coming!  We are getting closer to our goal of $206,000 in our pledge drive, which ends next Sunday May 17, at our Annual Meeting.  Look for more emails to follow!

David and Joy are hosting an informal virtual gathering for King's Chapel members and friends on Friday night, May 8, 5-6 PM. We'll meet by Zoom (each of us in our own zoom "block", hence the name). This is a fun way to catch up with one another, see old friends, meet new ones, and ask your questions about the goings-on around the church. We'd love to provide you with the famous King's Chapel party hospitality, but in the circumstances, you'll need to bring your own drink and snacks.

 

For log-in information, via either your computer or phone, contact Laura at  laura@kings-chapel.org   

For those less familiar with Zoom, David and I will log in ten minutes early so you can test out the system, adjust your picture and voice volume, etc. Why not give it a try?

On Wednesday, May 13th at 6:15-7:30 PM, we will gather virtually to study Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 66:8-20, 1 Peter 3:13-22, and John 14:15-21.

Bible Study regular Dorothy Waldron says: "It is a highlight of my Wednesdays now!  I think we have really interesting discussions which manage very well to include everyone's thoughts and it is a wonderful respite from the usual!"

If you are interested in joining in on our ongoing discussions, please email Tim Nelson-Hoy at  tim.c.nh@gmail.com

Join staff from the History Program on Thursday May 14 at 12pm for the next installment of "Conversations with the Educators." This week, the presentation and discussion will celebrate National Preservation Month by highlighting aspects of King's Chapel's right architecture and material culture. Discover what you see on Sundays is original, what's not, and why King's Chapel is a National Landmark!