I hugged my pastor on Sunday.
So did hundreds of others after (and before) the services at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham on Oct. 29, 2017.
It was the Rev. Shannon Webster’s retirement service followed by potluck with fried chicken and more pasta salads, fruit plates and macaroni and cheese than you could shake a big spoon at. The abundance was threatened by appetites and attendance.
After more than a decade here, Shannon will be soon leaving Birmingham with his wonderful wife, Lou Ann, a social worker, for his beloved home-state New Mexico. See AL.com story.
Tears flowed as tributes were made.
The church stakes claims on it being the oldest church in the city of Birmingham with roots going back to the 1850s before settling into its current place at 2100 4th Ave. North in the late 1800s, and I couldn’t believe that my first attendance was only about two years ago.
I’ll soon be a very regular attendee as my wife, Catherine, begins working there as interim associate pastor. She’ll be working with the Rev. Catherine Goodrich,acting head of staff.
Trust me when I say that they will be one dynamic duo.
Like Shannon, the two fit right into the historic church’s legacy of pursuing social justice causes. Shannon and the church were a big factor in the battle against unfair payday lending practices. The church started the women’s shelter, First Light, on the same street.
Social Justice is in the church’s DNA. .The mostly white church stood up for civil rights in 1963 and paid a price for it, including the pastor, Dr. Edward Ramage’s job. Ramage was one of the clergy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed in his letter from Birmingham jail. The letter was like a revelation, an epistle from Paul, Ramage said. Clashes within ultimately ended Ramage’s tenure there.
Shannon, a guitar playing, singer songwriting, New Mexican, wrote a song about Ramage which was featured on handouts with music and verse on this day, his last Sunday. Here’s part of ‘Peace of the City’:
Generations down the years have steadily accrued, both the faults and fears of ancestors and the gifts and good they knew
So the prophets still call us to God’s will and its of their names we sing Shuttlesworth, Ed Ramage too and Martin Luther King
So, on this special Sunday I was thinking about the irony that I was once again at the intersections of 4th Avenue North and 22nd Street (and 21st St. N. There’s actually two intersections and adjacent blocks but i’m using the ‘city block’ as a literary device).
This city block is the place where my journalism career began, the place where I started playing basketball at the downtown YMCA and now the place where I have found solace in my church home .
After living (in order) in Maryland (born), Texas, Alabama, Minnesota, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, California, and now Alabama again, I realize something keeps calling me and my family back.
And it’s not just the state, it’s this city block.
Like the canyons and mountains of New Mexico are calling Shannon and Lou Ann.
Shannon, here are some words to a song by your favorite theologian, Kris Kristofferson, to take us out of here, then listen to Kris sing it..
Was it wonderful for you was it holy as it was for me
Did you feel the hand of destiny that was guidin’ us together
You were young enough to dream I was old enough to learn something new
I’m so glad I got to dance with you for a moment of forever