MemChurch Update
September 4, 2021
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Photo slide show of the first Sunday service of the Fall Term with the Rev. Matthew I. Potts, Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church; First-year Convocation for the Harvard Class of 2025; and Morning Prayers with Harvard President Larry S. Bacow.
Music by members of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra and
Memorial Church organist David von Behren.
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From the Memorial Church
Dear friends,
After 18 months of near silence in the sanctuary of the Memorial Church, the many voices of our choir, clergy, students, and community once again fill this graceful space in the center of Harvard Yard with beautiful sound. For a peek inside, watch the video slide show above.
Today's edition of our weekly newsletter features the Rev. Matthew Potts' Sunday sermon, "Welcoming the Lost, Lonely, and Forgotten." We also introduce three new members of our staff, and keep you updated with a schedule of upcoming events.
Please join us tomorrow for Sunday worship in the sanctuary of the Memorial Church, or streamed live on WHRB 95.3 FM beginning at 11 a.m. Our preacher this week is the Rev. Potts, Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church. We look forward to seeing you Sunday.
The Memorial Church of Harvard University
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MEET THE NEW MEMBERS OF OUR STAFF
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There are new faces in the halls and spaces of the Memorial Church. Join us in welcoming recent staff additions Anna Burnham, the Rev. Calvon Jones, and Theresa Lungu to the MemChurch community.
 Anna Burnham, MDiv '20: Anna serves as the Student Program Coordinator at the Memorial Church. Her experience in community and political organizing led her to Harvard Divinity School where her study focused on religion, politics, public life, gender, social movements, Catholicism, and popular culture.
While a graduate student, Anna served as a First Year Proctor in Holworthy Hall. She is passionate about working with students and building sacred community that is both nourishing and equitable. She was formerly the seminarian at United Parish in Brookline, Program Intern at the Glasgow Women's Library in Scotland, and Research Assistant for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School. Anna is from Pennsylvania and attended Villanova University.
 The Rev. Calvon Jones: Calvon is Assistant Minister at the Memorial Church. Most recently, he served as the Youth Pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. His ministry is centered in the love of Christ, striving to be a light of love, justice, peace, and inclusion.
The Rev. Jones, a religion and history major at Morehouse College, graduated in 2015 Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a Master of Divinity in 2018 from Yale Divinity School where he was a William Sloane Scholar, and recipient of the William Hallam Tweedy Prize for exceptional promise for pastoral leadership. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Ministry at Duke University with a concentration in theology, homiletics, and youth studies.
 Theresa Lungu: Theresa is the Program Manager at the Memorial Church. A graduate of Boston College and recipient of the Dean's Award for Creative Writing, Theresa's academic career started in Zambia as an administrator in the Ministry of Higher Education. She was previously the Program Manager for Harvard University's Presidential Public Service Fellowship, and a Zambian languages instructor in the University's African Languages Program.
Theresa is the founder of Books for Zambia and the author of novels: Twilight in the Morning and Torment of an Angel; and contributing editor for Children and AIDS: Sub-Saharan Africa.
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SUNDAY SERMON
Welcoming the lost, Lonely and Forgotten
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By the Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts, Ph.D.
Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church
Plummer Professor of Christian Morals
Faculty of Divinity
Excerpt from Sunday, August 29, 2021
"So over the next year, you all are going to get to know my family, I hope fairly well. They're sitting in the front pew here, Colette and Cami, Sammy, and Danny. I like to start my sermons with a story about them. I was wondering if I should do it today, but there's this one that seems so apropos that I thought I would tell you a little bit about my youngest son, Danny. He's seven now. He has a bow tie on today. And he's a talker. He's always been a talker. I think he knows this about himself. He's giving me a smile right now. I can see through his mask.
He's a talker and he's always been that way. And about three or four years ago, he had just learned that God made everything, right? We just told him, "God made everything." Right? And he had some questions about this, very practical questions like, "Hey, Dad, did God make this truck I'm playing with? Did God make this table? Did God make this plate?" And we would just kind of get into long conversations, which are basically just questions about material items in his near vicinity. "Did God make this? Did God make that?" He wants details, right? And I tried to explain, "Well, actually a craftsperson made that or that was made in a factory, but by extent..." He's the son of a theology professor, so it gets messy quickly in these conversations, right?
And then one time I remember we were in the kitchen and he said to me, he would ask me these questions. Right? And I was just kind of trying to wrap up the conversation nicely. And so I looked at Danny, I said, "Danny, you know what I made?" And he said, "What?" And I said, "I made you." And then he said, "No, you didn't. You just made the rules of me."
Our lesson today is about rules. And I promise you, our gospel lesson today is about rules. And I promise you, I did not pick this lesson because it talks about hand-washing and we're in the middle of a pandemic. It's pure coincidence. We are following the common lectionary this year. We're sharing lessons with most other Christian churches around the world and reading the same lessons that other Christian churches are reading. And this week they are reading this lesson where the Pharisees come to Jesus and they ask him why his disciples don't wash his hands.
And I have to tell you, in all honesty, if I could have chosen a lesson to begin this new year and my new ministry with you, I would have chosen a different lesson because this lesson from Mark is not one that sits well with me, if I'm honest. First is this confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus. If you're familiar with the New Testament and familiar with the gospels, you know that Jesus is often in antagonistic conversation and relationship with the Pharisees."
A link to the full sermon by the Rev. Potts, delivered Sunday, Aug. 29 2021, is below.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND SERVICES
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WORSHIP
Sunday Worship
September 5, 11 am
First Sunday of the Fall Term, Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Preacher: The Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts, Ph.D., Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Faculty of Divinity. Anthems: Williams: O Clap Your Hands: Paulus: The Road Home. The service will in the sanctuary of the Memorial Church and broadcast and streamed on WHRB 95.3 FM. A recording of the service will be available on our website.
Morning Prayers
September 1, 8:30-845 am in Appleton Chapel
Monday: (University holiday); Tuesday: David N. Hempton; Wednesday: Rakesh Khurana; Thursday: The Rev. Calvon Jones; Friday: Timothy Patrick McCarthy '93.
Sunday Worship
September 12, 11 am
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Preacher: The Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts, Ph.D., Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Faculty of Divinity. Anthems: David Conte: “O Sun” from September Sun; Ruth Watson Henderson: “Darkness Sang to the Light”from From Darkness to Light.. The service will in the sanctuary of the Memorial Church and broadcast and streamed on WHRB 95.3 FM. A recording of the service will be available on our website.
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