Telling Our Stories Differently

I am a big fan of theater and try to make it to New York at least once a year to see a few shows on Broadway. This week, I was fortunate to get cheap tickets to the Broadway sensation, "Hamilton," which is playing in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre, which many of us Chicagoans remember as the Shubert Theatre. It's a bit like the Sears Tower. It will always be the Sears Tower. Wrigley Field will always be Wrigley Field. Right? And I can never remember what we're calling Comiskey now. Let's go, Cubbies! Let's go, Sox! One of the great achievements of "Hamilton" is that it tells the story of a great American's life in a new and unexpected way, probably very differently than we had learned in high school. I don't recall my American history textbook mentioning Alexander Hamilton's infidelity, his son's death in a frivolous duel, or the shady back-room shenanigans and horse-trading that led to our current form of government. But mixed in with the brokeness, heartache, and scandal is the story of a passonate and commited idealist who was instrumental in founding our nation. "Hamilton" also challenges our established way of understanding this Founding Father by using hip-hop and R&B as the musical styles for his story and by casting African Americans and Latinos in many of the key roles, including George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and of course, Hamilton himself. And this was true for the women, as well, such as Hamilton's wife, Eliza Schuyler. We too are going to be telling our story in different and innovative ways at St. Helena's. I am pleased to announce that the Episcopal Church has awarded us a $2,000 grant for 2018 throught its national Episcopal Evangelism Grants Program (see below). This will provide us much needed funding to grow the parish and transform lives by telling our stories, and encouraging others to tell their stories. We, too, will undoubtedly be called to see things in new ways, to name things differently; and yet the substance of who we are will remain and grow. Abundant blessings, Fr. Ethan+