This summer we welcome our neighbors to come and share about their lives, work, passions, spirituality and inspire us about how we can serve “our neighbors as ourselves,” following what Jesus called the second greatest commandment (Leviticus 19:17-18, Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28). See speakers list below.
NOTE: After worship this Sunday, we strongly encourage you to join us for a site visit to Saint James Episcopal Church in Porter Square, Cambridge, 12:30-1:30pm and see the amazing work they’ve done with a local developer to transform their space and property for financial and missional sustainability. It will inspire you! Ride sharing available.
People think of Brookline as an affluent town. Housing prices are crazy and constantly rising. People take pride in the education level of the public schools. Some of the top richest people in the Commonwealth live within our boundaries.
But that’s not the whole story. About 10% of our residents live below the federal poverty threshold. An estimated 25% of our residents are considered financially vulnerable. And many of them are neighbors right around our church building. These are just some of the findings of the Brookline Community Foundation’s latest edition of their Understanding Brookline series (see more here).
BCF’s mission is to create opportunity and promote equity in the town through philanthropy and partnerships. Since 1999, they’ve invested $11.5M in the town to fortify the local safety net, create new pathways out of poverty and maintain a vibrant, welcoming community.
On Sunday, we’ll reflect on a first-century letter to the churches of Galatia and the instruction to “carry one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2-10) as we welcome BCF’s new Executive Director, Aba Taylor, to talk with us about what this research means to her, how her spiritually motivates her to take part in this work and how we can be a good neighbor in joining BCF in this work of equity and justice.
Join us Sunday to be elucidated and inspired!
In faith,
Kent
Summer Worship Series: Who is Our Neighbor?
August 27 — Aba Taylor, Executive Director, Brookline Community Foundation
September 3 — Arlene Hill, Brookline Housing resident
Previous speakers:
July 2 — Tommy Vitolo, Massachusetts State Representative, 15th Norfolk
July 9 — Raul Fernandez, former Brookline Selectman
July 16 — Rachel Silverman and Erin Venkatesh, Thrifty Threads
July 23 — United Parish Mental Health Group
July 30 — Reverend Carrington Moore, Executive Director, common cathedral
August 6 — Reverend Erik Hoeke, visiting pastor
August 13 — Raana Mumtaz and Faiza Khan, Brookline Muslim Friends
August 20 — Matthew Kossack, Executive Director, Artbarn Community Theater
Image credit: Brookline Community Foundation
