The April Edition of the Parish Life

The April edition of our parish newsletter, The Parish Life is now available online.

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Saint Luke's Episcopal Church Slideshow....

Road honors educator's journey toward equality

A story about Episcopalian Austin Merry. The Reverend Sean Ferrell dedicated the new Austin Merry Boulevard in celebration of his service to God and the church. Original story here.



By NICHOLAS BEADLE
nbeadle@jacksonsun.com
• February 27, 2009

Local leaders and dozens of Jackson Central-Merry High School students and Merry High School alumni gathered on Royal Street Thursday morning to watch descendants of Austin Merry unveil markers dedicating the road in the pioneering black educator's honor.

After concerns about an initial proposal to outright rename Royal Street's five-mile stretch for Merry, the Jackson City Council approved a plan last year to place dedication markers along the road and a plaque explaining Merry's accomplishments. That plaque was unveiled Thursday at the intersection of South Highland Avenue and South Royal Street.

Merry is credited with formalizing black education in Jackson and Madison County around the turn of the 20th century.

Last fall, city leaders closed a street named after him a few blocks northwest from the new plaque, but not without the City Council promising Merry's descendants that they would find another road to honor him on.

City leaders praised Merry for his work. Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said Merry was "instrumental to getting us where we are today, especially in our education system."

In attendance was a mixed-race crowd of students from JCM, the modern-day descendant of the high school originally named for Merry.

Councilman Harvey Buchanan, who worked to get the markers approved, asked those students to "have a yearnin' and a burnin' for learnin'" so they could become the city and county's next generation of leaders.

"Education is not black and white. We are proud of that fact today," Buchanan said after the ceremony about the students who attended. "... If it hadn't been for the vision of Austin Merry, though, I don't know where African Americans would be in the education system in Jackson now."

Merry's descendants talked about how his passion for education has echoed through the family for generations. His great-granddaughter Shayla Merry, a 26-year-old medical student, recalled how as a child her parents checked her homework assignments and asked her to make revisions before turning the work in.

Gwendolyn Merry- Coleman, who asked the council to find another street to bear her grandfather's name, said the markers unveiled Thursday highlight the accomplishments previous generations made against segregation, intolerance and racial strife.

"This is bigger than Jackson and bigger than West Tennessee - it's even bigger than black or white," Coleman said. "It is a global accomplishment. ... That is what we call change."

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- Nicholas Beadle, 425-9763

The March edition of The Parish Life

Our parish newsletter, The Parish Life is now available online.

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Ash Wednesday at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Jackson, Tennessee

Congregants begin season of sacrifice By TRACIE SIMER

tsimer@jacksonsun.com
• February 26, 2009

The bells of St. Luke's Episcopal Church rang at noon, declaring the beginning of the church's first Ash Wednesday service. About 30 people listened to Father Sean Ferrell, rector of St. Luke's, deliver an Ash Wednesday sermon. Then everyone came forward, and Ferrell marked everyone's foreheads with a small ash cross.

The ritual of placing an ash cross on the forehead is where the name Ash Wednesday comes from, Ferrell said.

"While the ashes are placed on each person, I recite, 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,'" he said.

Gary and Linda Wood attended the noon service at St. Luke's. Gary said one reason they come to the service is because it is a tradition.

"This reminds us that this is a solemn season," he said. "Which will culminate in a great service for Easter."

Linda, who's giving up chocolate for Lent, said the ashes are special. The ashes come from the same palm leaves they used last year during Palm Sunday. Those leaves are burned and saved for next year, she said.

Ferrell said Palm Sunday is the week before Easter, and references Christ's triumphal entry to Jerusalem on a donkey, a few days before his crucifixion. The people, who were happy to see him at the time, greeted him by waving Palm branches.

Gary Wood said both services then are tied together.

"That makes it a continuation from year to year," he said.

Ferrell said Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and remembrance. "It's a season where we give up things and are reminded of our sinfulness and mortality," he said. "It prepares us for Easter. You can't understand the resurrection without it."

The 40 days roughly parallel the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan. Christians in the early church used this time to prepare by performing acts of repentance, Farrell said.

For many Christians, this is a time for folks to make a lifestyle change.

"They take on a personal discipline," he said. "They use this as a spring board for giving something up."

Traditionally, Christians fasted during Lent. Catholics give up meat on Fridays, eating only fish or vegetables. Eastern Orthodox Christians give up oil, nuts, eggs and other items, Ferrell said.

"With us, it's up to the individual what they give up," he said. "It can be a good time. For example, when you feel a craving for caffeine, it's a reminder to pray."

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- Tracie Simer, 425-9629

Original article