Monday, January 30, 2006

Remembrances and New Beginnings

Remembrances and New Beginnings

This past Saturday marked the 20th Anniversary of the Challenger disaster.

On the morning of January 28, 1986, STS-51-L exploded 73 seconds after liftoff above the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral. All seven crew members were killed.

Meanwhile, Kelly and I have started attending Epiphany United Church of Christ in the Benton Park neighborhood. We're not members yet, but I think we will eventually go down that road.

Epiphany is a very progressive church, with a diverse and active membership including many same-sex couples, among them our state representative Jeanette Mott Oxford and her partner Dorothy.

There are also a number of folks who have been members for decades, since Epiphany was created by the 1964 merger of the former Ebenezer German Evangelical Church (originally "Ebenezer Deutsche Evangelische Kirche" and located at the current Epiphany site since 1891) and St Andrew's German Evangelical Church (formerly located at Juniata and California).

It's not a huge congregation, but this Sunday they voted to appoint a new permanent pastor: Rev. Mary Albert, who lives in the neighborhood and was already a member of the congregation.

This is a pretty exciting time to consider joining such a progressive, activist community.

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