Gathering Together
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
June 20, 2026
The Consecration of the North Cemetery
Isaiah 61:1-4
“Dark Testament Verse 8,” by Pauli Murray
Revelation 21:1-5
John 6:37-40
Some of you may be familiar with the Jewish idea of tikkun olam, which translates to “repairing the world.”
Tikkun olam – repairing the world.
In Judaism, there are many different interpretations and understandings of tikkun olam.
I’m simplifying, but some mystics have imagined that the universe shattered at the moment of creation – and these mystics believed that some of God’s light remained in the material world – little sparks of God’s light in all these shattered and scattered pieces – God’s light in and among us.
And, of course, the universe continues to shatter each time we choose hate instead of love, greed rather than generosity, fear over hope.
And these mystics believed that our task is to gather together all these pieces of God’s light, to repair and restore the world to the wholeness that was always intended.
And we do this “gathering together” through prayer and worship, and by doing good works, by easing pain and hunger, and by seeking the lost.
For us, Jesus models this work of repair.
His great desire is to draw the whole world to himself, that we might be one as he and the Father are one, offering an everlasting embrace to all of us, but especially to the poor, the suffering, the outcast.
And Jesus promises that not even death can separate us.
It is so good for us to gather together here this morning.
Today we celebrate the next step in a journey that, in one way, began long ago, when enslaved people were first buried in land near our church – a journey that, in another way, began about four years ago, thanks to a couple of parishioners – Bob and Carla Kenyon – who are here today all the way from Kansas!
As Bob and Carla made their way to and from the parking lot and the church, they began to ask about the handful of monuments standing just outside the churchyard wall.
What was once called the “Colored Cemetery” was not a secret – there’s a passing mention in our official church history and, in fact, burials continued into this century – but most of us knew little or nothing about the history of that land and the identities and lives of the people who rest there.
And so, with the full support of our wardens and vestry, we began this work of repair, this work of remembering, this work of re-membering, of gathering together parts of our community long separated and forgotten.
Jean Baker connected us to Malissa Ruffner, a brilliant historian and genealogist. And we commissioned Malissa to learn as much as she could about what we now call the North Cemetery, to research the history of that land and the lives of the people buried there.
And she pieced together a complicated story of interconnected families, a story of land passed down through the generations until it finally came into our possession in the surprisingly late year of 1954.
We brought in a ground penetrating radar company whose scans discovered more graves in that small strip of land than we might have imagined.
Malissa, and also Chris Runice, learned the names and stories of some of the people buried in the North Cemetery, enslaved people and their free descendants.
And in a few minutes, Malissa and Chris will read those names – but we know there are many others whose names – whose sparks of divine light - are unknown to us, but are never truly lost, never forgotten by God.
We spent quite a lot of time pondering how best to honor the people in the North Cemetery – and early on there was some discussion of moving the churchyard wall to include those graves.
That would have been a powerful symbol but after much reflection we recognized that, while that move might have made us feel better, it would have erased part of our history that we should not, must not, forget.
Instead, thanks to the leadership and persistence of Frances Rockwell, we have a new North Cemetery gate, new plantings, and a simple but beautiful monument that will inform, or remind, anyone making that well-worn trip between the parking lot and the church, that this is holy ground.
The North Cemetery is and always has been sacred, of course, but we don’t know if it’s ever officially been consecrated.
So, we are all very grateful that Bishop Carrie is here with us today, to lead our service and to offer the prayer of consecration.
And it’s especially appropriate that our bishop is here because part of the bishop’s vocation is to gather us together, to be both a symbol and builder of unity – our unity with the people of our diocese and with the church around the world.
Gathering together today is just the next step on our journey of repair, of remembering, of re-membering.
We cannot fully heal the wounds of generations past.
We will not complete this work – our song of hope and love must go on – but I pray that today, here at St. Thomas’, the world is a little less shattered, that the world looks a little more like what God has always
intended and dreamed.
Amen.
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