On Wed., July 1, at 7 PM at St. Titus' Episcopal Church in Durham there will be a service to commemorate the life of The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray.
This will be a service of Holy Eucharist, with Bishop Michael Curry as the celebrant and Sarah Woodard as the deacon. The preacher will be Courtney Reid-Eaton, parishioner of St. Joseph's and Director of Exhibits at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke; she will compile and read selections from the sermons & writings of Pauli Murray.
Courtney testifies: “Pauli Murray has been a significant character in my life over the past few years. She was a Renaissance woman; a courageous person of action, intellect, and spirit, who used her gifts to further social justice and who strove to live as a fully integrated human being. She spoke her truths persistently. I am humbled to be invited to share her words and ideas with our community. Please hold me in your prayers over the next few weeks as I prepare.”
Please join in this celebration!
The following week, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church will consider a proposal to add The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray's feast day to the church calendar. The following biographical sketch was included in that resolution:
The Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray was a leader in the struggle for equal rights for women and African-Americans in the United States and throughout the world. She was also a lawyer, writer, poet, teacher, co-founder of the National Organization for Women, and the first African-American woman to be ordained priest by The Episcopal Church. Dr. Murray grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and on February 7, 1977, celebrated her first Eucharist in the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where her grandmother, Cornelia, had been baptized as a slave child. Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Shori celebrated the Holy Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross on February 7, 2007, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of that ordination.
