Who? What? Where? Why?

The mission of the BANA Fellows (Build a New America) trip to Massachusetts

At the heart of Jesus’ teaching is a call to serve others and to address the oppressive institutions in society. The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer and Main Street Missionary Baptist Church are embarking on an ambitious mission trip to do just that. It is a program of transformative learning around the issues of institutional racism and classism in our country. We are 7 adults and 20 young people at this time. The ages of the young people are 13 to 17. The crux of our program is a plan to travel to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to help paint and refurbish a school that is hosted by Grace Episcopal Church in Lawrence. The city is a predominantly, Spanish speaking, immigrant community with limited financial resources. We will help Esperanza provide a tuition free opportunity for young girls to attend this school that promotes excellence in education by contributing to the maintenance of the facility and the beautification of the classrooms. A similar group from the communities of Lynn/Salem/Marblehead, Massachusetts will travel to Mississippi in June to work on rebuilding homes in East Biloxi. Together we hope to learn ways for our young people to Build a New America.

Within the context of a service project, we will begin to engage and to address issues of racism and classism in our society. “Ism’s” are driven by a sense of difference and separation. But the Gospel teaches us that we are all cut of the same Divine cloth, all created in God’s image. It is our life experiences that create the sense of separation. The systems of prejudice and the privilege harbored by those who abuse power in a society are exactly the institutions against which Jesus spoke. To find strength in solidarity, to overcome the loneliness of separation, and to name and address the oppressive systems of power are some of the hopes of our mission. To this end, we have engaged in serious conversation around the assumptions we make about each other and about our life experiences. The common denominator for our young people is that they all want to make a difference in their own lives and in their communities. They know that the crucial element in that vision is their commitment to stand together and to serve others. As we continue to meet in community after our return, we will begin to look at how we can - together - encourage each other as well as other young people to make good healthy choices in their lives and to be a positive influence in their communities.

Our experience will include Mississippi Day at the National Cathedral, the Freedom Trail, the Museum of Science, and a Yankees game in the Bronx . We are grateful to the Companions of the Holy Cross (Adelynrood), Youville Hospital - Cambridge, and the Museum of Science – Boston for offering us hospitality.

As our work begins on May 23 we will post a journal of our travels and experiences. We invite you to enter this journey with us as we follow where the Holy Spirit leads.