Racial Justice Taskforce - March Update

The Racial Justice Task Force thanks all our members who completed the congregational survey.  Your responses will be invaluable in helping us discern our next steps as a congregation in the work of racial justice.

One of the things we are doing is looking at our church’s history:  how have we contributed to systemic injustice in the past, and how have we been active in working for justice. We would love to know what YOU may know about MAPC’s history.  For example, did you know that Rev. Allan Wright, Choctaw, was a member of MAPC’s precursor, 11th Presbyterian Church, went to Union Theological Seminary, was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, and elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw Tribe, serving from 1866-70. Since very little in life is ever straight-forward, he also served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Believing the Confederacy’s promise to create a Native American state should they win the war, the Choctaw Nation and other southern tribes aligned themselves with the Confederate States.

And we recently learned from The Rev. Derrick McQueen, pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, that they have a photo from 1933 of a combined choir with children from MAPC and St. James—we don’t know the story  behind this yet, but that is an early date for such an inter-racial event.

 If you are aware of interesting historical information that speaks to MAPC’s past in terms of issues of race, racial justice (or injustice) and social justice, please share your stories with Rev. Bartlett, Ruth Schroeder, or Nickie Christin.