Practicing Resurrection:
Beauty
Carol Holler and Leah Grundset
May 4, 2008
(Audio)
Remembering the Beauty – Carol Holler
Good morning, I am Carol Holler the archivist for Calvary Baptist Church.
On May 28, 1862, sixteen men and seventeen women met to organize another Baptist Church in the city, where there were already five Baptist Churches.
At this time the Nation was engaged in the Great War between the States. DC remained the seat of the Union Government, with Virginia a part of the Confederacy on our southwestern border. The City was in great turmoil, however one year after the war ended, on Sunday, June 3, 1866 this beautiful Church was dedicated.
I want to tell you about two very beautiful and special Sunday school classes here at Calvary.
In the fall of 1888 Francis W. Vaughn age 49 and a twenty-year member of E Street Baptist Church had observed a large number of young men in DC both residents and strangers looking for a place for religious instruction and good fellowship. He talked to Calvary’s Superintendent Pierson H. Bristow and Pastor Samuel Green about starting a young men’s Sunday school class at Calvary. His church had turned him down. Both Bristow and Green said yes.
After he became a member of Calvary, in February 1889, the Vaughn Class started and was known as class 11 with five young men, they were given pew 52 in the Auditorium where they held their class, along with other adult classes. By 1894 they had outgrown the Church auditorium with and average attendance of sixty. In the same year the class changed their name from 11 to the Vaughn Class and four months later to the Vaughn Class Club.
They choose seven class officers, the officers and committees were responsible for all activities, including the devotional and fellowship time, which preceded the teaching period.
In February 1897 the Vaughn Class Club decided to find employment for class members out of work. Later the effort was expanded into the “Vaughn Class Service Bureau“, with an office in a building next to the church. They were able to assist many class members search for jobs and/or in need of relief. These functions were dropped when governmental agencies took over the task. Also in 1897 The Vaughn Class Club organized many athletic activities, including, baseball, bowling, and intramural sports.
By 1906 they had 325 active members and more than 3,000 ex-members in all parts of the world. “Once a member always a member” was their saying.
Mr. Vaughn died in 1913, at that time the class was reported to be the second largest men’s Sunday school class in the world.
The Vaughn class relocated, from the rest of the department in 1917.
Three musicians moved with them, and four more musicians joined them, they formed the Vaughn Class Orchestra, which continued for many decades.
In 1979 the Faith Class, of young married couples and the Vaughn Class joined together to form the Vaughn-Faith Class. In June 2008 the Vaughn-Faith Class will be retiring.
The second class.
Jessie Burrall a 34 year old young woman from Minnesota came to DC in 1915 to work for the National Geographic Society. Concerned over the vast number of young women coming into the city to serve their government during World War I. Jessie with her magnetic personality started gathering young women for a new Sunday school class.
In November 1917 with six young women, class 24 was formed. In two years they had outgrown all the facilities at the Church and moved to the Realto Theater across Eighth Street from the Church. In a little over three years their enrollment was 1,638
On May 16, 1920 when the Southern Baptist Convention met in DC 1,604 people flocked to hear Miss. Burrall teach.
The class and its attractive brown eyed teacher drew nationwide attention.
The widely circulated magazine Good Housekeeping, carried the thrilling story Jessie Burrall-a Girl’s Girl in there November 1920 issue.
When Jessie moved to Columbia, Missouri in January 1921 the attendance was 1,137. When Dr. Abernethy arrived to begin a new pastorate in the fall of 1921, Jane the pastor’s wife accepted the Class invitation to become its new teacher. The class continued to flourish.
In 1929 the class left the Realto Theater to go into their new class room in the Samuel Greene Memorial Building. In 1944 Marion Hays the wife of Congressman Brooks Hays became the teacher. The class continued to prosper for many years. On November 4, 1999 after 82 years the class retired.
I want to invite you to come to the library to see and learn more about this beautiful Calvary Baptist Church and its wonderful history.
Knowing your history and understanding where you have come from, will help you prepare for the future.
Anticipating the Beauty – Leah Grundset
Almost two years ago to the day, I stood before you pretty nervous, looking out at a sea of unfamiliar faces. You all knew who I was—the young, seminary intern who came to work with Pastor Amy, but I had no idea who any of you were. Pastor Amy briefed me about proper pulpit attire, how to project my voice and at what points I should stand up and sit down up here in front of everyone. Right after the service, my mind was swirling with questions like, “Did I read the passage from Mark with enough emphasis? Did I look at all three sections of the congregation?”
Right after the service, Nancy Renfrow grabbed me, took me down to the offices in Kendall Hall—this was before the new offices opened and she pulled out a HUGE camp folder. Ever so quickly, Nancy explained the ins and outs of Camp Fraser, how important this camp was to the mission of Calvary and to the city at large and how more or less, I was supposed to make a lot of things happen in my first week at this new church. I was shocked. I had just been thrown into the middle of this historic, amazing ministry that Calvary had and was trusted to make it happen again with the help of Mary Andreolli.
And that’s the beauty of this place. A few months ago, my friend John Salazar stood up here and during the invitation to give he said, “There are no spiritual benchwarmers at Calvary.” And that’s true. I hadn’t even had a second to get comfortable in the pew before I was thrown into the midst of ministry here. This spirit of service, devotion to the community and deep conviction to justice issues are just a few of the things that drew me into this place. Of course, having a wonderful pastor who mentored me, several trips to visit the long-time member Laura Hughes and invitation after invitation to go to dinner at Green Spring with the Nielsens, well that makes anyone feel like this is home.
And this is what this church has become. Calvary has become my home-- and largely because of the story that Carol already told us. The history of the congregation overwhelms me. The commitment of so many long-time members to daily walk in the ways of Jesus Christ is not only encouraging, but it is practicing resurrection. This church was founded by abolitionists in the 1860s. Not only is that hope-filled and against all odds, it is the story of a group of people who chose to not stick with the culture and instead practice justice—practice resurrection.
In December, I graduated from Truett Seminary and had no desire to be anywhere except Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Even in Texas, people talk about this congregation—something is happening there, they say. More than once a random person would hear about my connection to Calvary and they would stop me and ask me something about the way we live life here. When I found out that I would be able to come back here this spring, I knew that it was the answer to my prayers and even more that I would get to participate with you all in the Spirit’s leading to this new place we are all going.
We are not that different from those early days, which Carol talked about already this morning. Something is happening. It’s happening again. People are coming from around the city to worship in the place and find community. Of course, it looks a little different now, than it did then, but it is the core of this congregation to reach out to the city. The Spirit is prompting us to reach out to the LGBTQ community and people are coming to church because they find Calvary to be the type of family of faith for which they have been searching. This place is swinging wide the doors and welcoming all people in to worship God and live life together.
When I come on staff in a couple weeks, much of my pastoral time will be spent working with the development of small groups within our church body. Already this spring, we had a small group called “Lent in the Living Room” launched. I heard lots of people asking, “But WHAT living room?” Well, the answer is that we met all over the metro area in different living rooms, sharing our lives, eating meals, studying scripture and sharing our burdens. I experienced Calvary in a new way this spring. And those people immediately jumped on board and got knee deep in ministry. It’s beautiful and it’s gospel.
I see all of our stories intertwined now. Carol’s story is my story and my story is Carol’s story. Laura Hughes’ fingerprints are all over this place. Bill Harwood and Eric Bebber both love this church and spend hours a week pouring their lives into the ministry here. Harold Ritchie and Amy Dale serve in different ways, but Harold’s story is part of Amy’s story and Amy’s story is part of Harold’s story. We all exist as part of each other’s story. This is the beauty of this place. When I look to the future, I see a place that is filled to the brim with hope. Little droplets of hope are spilling out everywhere—within small groups, in Sunday school classes, in impromptu dinners and at Camp Fraser. We are a people called to live a radical, gospel life. This city is lonely and often times hopeless, but we are a community of faith who offers inclusivity and hope around every corner of this church building. Hope and beauty shine in the face of Maya Harvey. She is our littlest reminder of beauty in this place. Hope and beauty shine in the faces of every single person who has devoted his or her life to this church.
We are in such an exciting place. I see the legacy of this place as our foundation as a faith community. And I see Holy Spirit preparing this place to have the doors blown wide open. My prayer is that as we celebrate Pentecost next Sunday that we open ourselves up to the Spirit of God and allow that Spirit to guide us, push us and comfort us toward being the resurrection people that we claim we are. May we open ourselves to the beauty of God that surrounds us in this church, in this created world and in the faces of the people who walk beside us. I anticipate beauty in ways that I cannot even imagine as I come on staff here. I hope you’ll join me in watching for the beautiful moments, leaning into them fully and living like resurrection people. Amen.
