St. Paul's Episcopal Church
  • About
    • Welcome
    • Mission & Vision
    • Clergy
    • Staff
    • Vestry
    • St. Paul’s Preschool
    • Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
  • Worship
    • What to Expect on Sunday
    • Children at St. Paul’s
    • Baptism
    • Eucharist
    • Confirmation
    • Marriage
    • Past Homilies (Sermons)
    • Live Service Archive
  • Ministries
    • Get Involved
    • Adults
    • Children
    • Youth
    • Outreach
    • Pastoral Care
    • Memorial Garden
    • Ministry List
  • Preschool
  • News
    • Coming Up at St. Paul’s
    • Weekly Parish Updates
    • Adults
    • Children
    • Youth
    • Community Events & Outreach
    • Worship & Music
  • Give
    • Donate to St. Paul’s
    • Make Your 2023 Pledge Today
    • Endowment
  • Resources
    • St. Paul’s Connects
    • Ministry Leader Resources
    • Racial Equity Education Resources
    • Site Map
  • About
    • Welcome
    • Mission & Vision
    • Clergy
    • Staff
    • Vestry
    • St. Paul’s Preschool
    • Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
  • Worship
    • What to Expect on Sunday
    • Children at St. Paul’s
    • Baptism
    • Eucharist
    • Confirmation
    • Marriage
    • Past Homilies (Sermons)
    • Live Service Archive
  • Ministries
    • Get Involved
    • Adults
    • Children
    • Youth
    • Outreach
    • Pastoral Care
    • Memorial Garden
    • Ministry List
  • Preschool
  • News
    • Coming Up at St. Paul’s
    • Weekly Parish Updates
    • Adults
    • Children
    • Youth
    • Community Events & Outreach
    • Worship & Music
  • Give
    • Donate to St. Paul’s
    • Make Your 2023 Pledge Today
    • Endowment
  • Resources
    • St. Paul’s Connects
    • Ministry Leader Resources
    • Racial Equity Education Resources
    • Site Map

News

“Hope is a song in a weary throat.”

Hope is a song in a weary throat.
Give me a song of hope
And a world where I can sing it.
Give me a song of faith
And a people to believe in it.
Give me a song of kindliness
And a country where I can live it.
Give me a song of hope and love
And a brown girl’s heart to hear it.

Selection from Pauli Murray’s “Dark Testament, Verse 8”


The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray has plenty of accolades to commend her: a friend to prominent figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Bayard Rustin. A civil rights lawyer whose magisterial States’ Laws on Race and Color (1951) was called the “bible” for civil rights’ legislators by none other than Thurgood Marshall. The first Black person perceived as a woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest in 1977.

I find myself drawn to their creative writing, though. Murray’s poems leave an indelible mark, and their family history, Proud Shoes (1956), is a book to which I return often when I think about what it means to tell the American story. Murray is a figure that represents so much to so many, and yet their story is undeniably human — which is to say that Murray cannot be reduced to whatever aspect of their identity we would like to emphasize at any given moment. In a world where we paint our public saints and heroes with a broad brush, Murray’s witness invites us to delve deeper.

On Saturday, May 21, St. Paul’s parishioners are invited to take part in a traveling performance through Durham’s West End neighborhood, the home of Murray and her ancestors. You can sign up here if you’d like to attend—only a few spots left!

–Fr. Javier

 

 

Liberating God, we thank you for the steadfast courage of your servant Pauli Murray, who fought long and well: Unshackle us from the chains of prejudice and fear, that we may show forth the reconciling love and true freedom which you revealed in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect for the Feast of Pauli Murray (July 1)

Tags: From the Clergy, Hope for the Journey

You might also like

  • Easter Forums 2023: The Acts of the Apostles - April 29, 2023
  • Lenten Forums 2023: Faith and Leadership - March 8, 2023
  • Sunday Forums in January: The Gospel of Matthew - December 20, 2022
  • Advent Forum Series: Joyful is the Dark - November 23, 2022

Weekly Update May 13, 2022: A Letter from the Rector

Roots & Soul: Walking with Pauli Murray

2023 Stewardship

Pledge Online

Direct Donation

Weekly Updates

➤ St. Paul’s Connects
➤ See Past Parish Updates

Worship

➤ What to Expect on Sunday
➤ This Week’s Prayer List
➤ Sunday Bulletin

Photos

View parish photos on Smugmug.

Search Site

Recent Homilies

Easter Hope and the Ticking Clock

Easter Hope and the Ticking Clock

May 21, 2023
  • by Rev. Alice Graham Grant
In John’s Gospel, the Easter promise is both about what happens after we d
St. Stephen: Deacon and Martyr

St. Stephen: Deacon and Martyr

May 7, 2023
  • by Rev. George Adamik
St. Stephen was one of the first called forth from the early Christian community
Beholden

Beholden

April 30, 2023
  • by Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista
On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Fr. Javier reflects on the nature of belonging i

Archived Homilies are here.

Contact

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
221 Union St., Cary, NC 27511

Phone: 919-467-1477
Fax: 919-467-0152
Office Hours: M-F 9-3

Worship Schedule

7:30 a.m. Sunday Service
9:00 a.m. Sunday Service
11:15 a.m. Sunday Service

View information about our services and COVID-19 guidelines.

Join us for our livestreamed service at 9:00 AM on Sundays on Facebook.

Site Map
Copyright © St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cary, NC