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Comments by Russell Brackett, in church 10/31/05 on Stewardship

Good morning!

My name is Russell Brackett and I am the Chair of your Stewardship Committee.  My wife, Cristy Ballou is, among other things, the head of our Nominating Committee.  The second of these two statements has a causal relationship with the first.

One of the toughest jobs of the Nominating Committee is to find someone unabashedly enthusiastic about being chair of the Stewardship Committee.  The process can extend for months with endless phone calls and meetings.  More often than not, the process ends without a new candidate.  I stand before you today, as I have for the past three years as the candidate of last resort.  So it is that I would like to begin my comments today with an urgent plea for the replacement of my loving and tireless wife as head of the Nominating Committee.

Mind you, the efforts of the Nominating Committee to find volunteers for broader Stewardship Committee this past year have met with unqualified success.  We are, Pam Wood, Brian Crounse, Wes Marple, Glen Strehle, Will Brote.  Please give these folks your full support in the coming campaign.

It's been a busy year for me in some unusual ways.  I left a job which I had held for over thirteen years for one that didn't require so much travel.  Since I landed in a new position, I have spent three of the last four Sundays on the road.  Go figure.

The time off gave me the opportunity for some relaxation and reflection.  Then in the second week, I found myself deployed as the assistant Mom, but that's O.K., at the same time I was promoted to first chauffeur.  I did find time to rebuild an old Boston Whaler that I had purchased on eBay.  As a family, we hiked the Grand Canyon and climbed Yosemite.  And, I found time to read.

For the most part, I read books about John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Brothers our great nation.  The character I found most interesting was Alexander Hamilton.  As a child, growing up in the small town of Hamilton, NY, I had often wondered about our town's namesake and the biography, some would say hagiography, written by Ron Chernow provided ample depth on the subject.

Let me give a brief summary of the accomplishments of the man whose image is on our $10 bill:

  • He was a foreigner - Born in Nevis, West Indies in 1755
  • He was educated at King's College (now Columbia University)
  • By the age of 22 in 1777 he was General George Washington's Aide-de-Camp and remained so through crucial stages of the Revolutionary War
  • He was the leading critic of The Article of Confederations that first bound our states into a loose union, arguing instead for a strong central government with an executive branch.  For this, he was branded a monarchist.
  • He was an early proponent and ardent supporter of the Constitution and, with the help of John Jay and James Madison, wrote the Federalist Papers which outlined the arguments for our Constitution's validity; arguments that were ultimately responsible for its ratification
  • He was the first Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington and was easily the most influential member of Washington's Cabinet advising the president on almost all matters of import and writing a number of his speeches including his famous Farewell Address.
  • He was Inspector General of the Army
  • He founded the Bank of New York and also the first Central Bank of the United States.  He single-handedly designed the U.S. financial system built on the full faith in credit of the central government.  All this done with uncanny foresight for what was to come and midst a horde of vociferous detractors (notably Jefferson and Madison)
  • He was an almost singularly unambiguous abolitionist standing in stark contrast to those founding fathers who advocated the abolition of slavery on one hand while keeping their own slaves in the other.
  • He has been called, and I think without undue hyperbole, "the true forebear of modern America.  The foremost figure in American history who never attained the Presidency, yet he had a much deeper and more lasting impact than many who did."

Now you might be starting to wonder just what Alexander Hamilton has to do with Stewardship.  Well, in a very profound way Alexander Hamilton was the creator of many of the institutions that are central to our government.  For two centuries, he was under appreciated, yet his institutions endured.

In a similar way, we at First Parish benefit from the institutions established by our under appreciated predecessors here at First Parish Church. 

For instance, we have been a Unitarian Church since the time of Reverend Joseph Fields who served this Church from 1815 - 1865. Prior to that, we were a covenanted congregation whose direction belonged to our local members.  The adoption of Unitarianism was probably a reflection of the relatively liberal beliefs of the congregation at that time.  Yet today, it has become core philosophy for the church.  Unitarians believe:

  • There's no biblical dogma which supports the notion of Trinity including Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  There is but one God - a unity, hence Unitarians
  • They practice religious toleration believing that Faith is a Gift of God

In 1961, our Unitarian denomination merged with the Universalist's, so named primarily because they believe in universal salvation.  They believe that God has unconditional love and they reject the notion of Hell, citing the paucity of Biblical references which they believe orthodox Christians had grossly misinterpreted.

Moreover, Unitarians and Universalists were united in the belief (and now I'll quote from the UUA) that "A dogmatic Calvinist insistence on predestination and human depravity seemed to liberal Christians irrational, perverse, and contrary to both biblical tradition and immediate experience.  Liberal Christians believe that human beings are free to heed an inner summons of conscience and character. To deny human freedom is to make God a tyrant and to undermine God-given human dignity."

Pretty heavy stuff!  And, though I know that our Denominational Affairs conscience, Ken Fish, would say it's insufficient, some small portion of your annual contribution goes to our support of the UUA denomination.

Another essential institution of this church is volunteerism.  Our church school relies on the tireless efforts of dozens of volunteers.  Some 200 children are registered and well over a hundred are regular attendees.  Countless hours go into shaping a liberal Christian curriculum that enables and empowers our children to heed their own inner summons of conscience and character.

Another important aspect of volunteerism has been the Benevolent Alliance founded in 1941.  They have, in turn, been responsible for our annual Christmas dinner, the post service coffee hour and the Sports Exchange to name but a few.  Sadly, the Benevolent Alliance has ceased operations in the past year because they have been unable to recruit new volunteers.  And while the Sports Exchange and Christmas dinner will continue, other activities and services provided voluntarily by the Benevolent Alliance will have to be supported by you collectively through this year's Stewardship campaign.

Perhaps one of the most substantial and durable institutions of this Church is one of which few are aware.  The Roxbury Weston Program's pre-school has shared space with our Church School since shortly after it's inception in 1965.  Initially founded by families from inner-city Boston and Weston, the program enjoyed active sponsorship over the years from First Parish Church.

Remember as context, the events of 1965 and issues of Civil Rights and desegregation.  It was the year of the Selma to Montgomery march in which our own Reverend Harry Hoehler participated.  To hear retelling of the circumstances of Reverend Hoehler's participation would bring tears to your eyes.  The Roxbury Weston Preschool grew out of that environment and is today the oldest, desegregated, preschool institution in continuous operation in the United States.  Though little if any of your contributions go directly to support Roxbury Weston Programs, they are a significant benefactor of your collective generosity and munificence.

Our Stewardship challenge this year is to sustain these and other institutions of our Church where, "In the love of truth and in the spirit of Jesus Christ, we join for the worship of God and the service of humankind."  For this, I beseech your support.