Keynote speaker, Mia Birdsong, moderator, Fred Shropshire, and panelists Jordan Brooks-Adams, Rev. Dr. Ben Boswell, and Raquel Lynch. gathered for conversation about how we address the challenges faced by individuals and families striving for economic opportunities in our community. Watch here

When it comes to closeness, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an exercise in contradiction. We’ve experienced the toll of both isolation and intimacy. We’ve reckoned with the pain of loneliness and of conflict with others. We’ve never felt closer to some people – and further from others. | Continue reading . . .

Last week we reached a significant milestone when we surpassed half a million COVID-19 related deaths in the USA. That said, the trend of positive case numbers and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to drop nationally. Combined with vaccine efforts, there is cautious reason for hope.

With the clearing of ‘tent city’ it may be timely to reiterate CDC recommendations during COVID-19 that have been ignored:

Q: Should homeless encampments be cleared?

CDC A: Connecting people to stable housing should continue to be a priority. However, if individual housing options are not available, allow people who are living in encampments to remain where they are. | Read more

Have you received the COVID-19 vaccine? We want to hear your story too. Contact Rev. Carrie Veal at [email protected] and share your experience and photo if you have one.

“Can This Ground Forgive?” | John 8:1-11 

Each tree limb represents the juxtaposition of stories. Stories of abandonment, brokenness, and divestment share the same space as stories of family, resilience, and care. Which story will we take with us? Which story will live on?

Where are the bones from? Come and discover the answer at the Valley of Dry Bones exhibit on the Sanctuary front lawn starting Ash Wednesday. You can stop by whenever you like to discover, prophesy, pray, . . . .

Conjuring a different story takes different words. But we’ll all have to, like Ezekiel, “prophesy to the bones.” To give them new life, to bring them rattling back together, with sinews and tendons and flesh will require specificity in naming the wounds that have left our souls parched in a valley of dry bones.

Join us this March for a Lenten Book Study led by Christy Cobb, PhD. We will be diving into the life and legacy of Mary Magdalene, one of the most misunderstood women in the Bible, and one who lived during the time of Jesus’ ministry. The book, co-authored by Jane Schaberg and Melanie Johnson-Dauberfre, explores the silence, conflation, and distortion that characterizes Mary's afterlife in text and image. There is Mary the Whore, the Demon-Possessed Madwoman, and the Penitent. All give glimpses into the significant social anxiety generated by women's sexuality, intelligence, and spirituality--power.

Dr. Cobb is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Wingate University. Her research interests include Luke-Acts, ancient novels, slavery in the Greco-Roman world, feminist hermeneutics, literary theory, and the Apocryphal Acts. Buy your book on Amazon (or Amazon Smile to support MPBC) or at your local book store!

The term "antiracism" is in the zeitgeist, but what does it really look like to become an antiracist institution? This series consists of three stories from three congregations from three traditions about how they are working intentionally and purposefully toward becoming antiracist. | Read more

March 8 | St. Francis Xavier (College) Church | St. Louis, MO

March 22 | Touro Synagogue | New Orleans, LA

Our Artist Theologians in Residence (learn more about Dawn Anthony, Helms Jarrell, and Greg Jarrell) will be asking you to engage with them in surprises, imagine unexpected connections, allow yourself to discover, make generative use of sustained uncertainty, and experiment with new possibilities. The artistic process has unique power to unlock entrenched attitudes and open up new ways of seeing. We look forward to this experience with you.

To get you started, They are providing some companion materials. Continue reading . . .

This are just a few of the questions we’ll be interrogating beginning this summer! Through Rev. Mia McClain’s participation in Foundations of Christian Leadership through Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School, we have received a $3,500 Innovation Grant to foster a collaboration between the Ministry of Faith Formation and the Ministry of Music and Worship. The research for the project has already begun and 4-session learning groups will open up beginning in May. Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes, professor and author of Liturgies from Below and What’s Worship Got to Do With It? will be sharing with us this summer in a virtual forum on postcolonial theologies of worship, and there will be a special creative project for those who complete the 4-week course. Stay tuned for more details!

As people walk away from the church in droves, Russ Dean hopes to tell the old story in a new way. | Read more

We are here for you. Please contact Rev. Joe Aldrich at 704.560.0422 or [email protected].

We have several opportunities with varying time requirements. Contact Rev. Joe Aldrich at 704.560.0422 or [email protected] for Congregational Care options and Rev. Carrie Veal at [email protected] for Community Life options.

With cases and other key metrics trending downward in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced the state would ease gathering and occupancy restrictions and end its 10p statewide curfew as of Friday, Feb 26. Find out what's new and what restrictions remain. | Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has had clear and irreversible effects on the relationships in our lives, including these serendipitous relationships we don’t always think about. As part of a series on the pandemic’s effects on Charlotteans’ relationships, CharlotteFive explored how COVID-19 has affected casual relationships — and revealed how important they were all along. | Read more

Ever heard expressions like “Your English is so good” or “I don’t think of you as Black”? Welcome to the world of microaggressions. This article is all about these ever-present, pesky splinters of hostility. Read on to learn what to do if you or someone you know is experiencing these stigmatizing slights and how to put a stop to them once and for all. | Read more

COVID crippled Charlotte’s economy as it did every other American city’s. But artists, entrepreneurs, hoteliers, and the officials who run the city’s main economic engine, the airport, got big things done even in the pandemic’s shadow—and continued to build our city’s reputation as a place people want to visit. | Read more (Charlotte Magazine)

Now through March 7, the Rail Trail celebrates local art with never-before-seen, interactive light installations. There’s no better way to experience South End. Stroll down the Rail Trail, enjoy one-of-a-kind art, take great photos, grab a bite to eat or a drink. The trail spans from Carson Blvd. to Atherton Mill. | Read more

The Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan is the long-range plan that will guide the development and investments made in our city over the next two decades. Part of the process is getting feedback from Charlotte residents. One of the ways that the organization has engaged the community to think about the future of Charlotte is through a board game called Charlotte Future City-Building Game. It provides an interactive way for residents have fun while learning about the 2040 plan. It can be played with two to four players, you decide what to build and where to build it. In the end, the player with the best city wins the game. Play virtually or get a free physical copy. | Learn more

These fun, in-person workshops give kids a chance to build a simple (usually seasonal) toy or accessory. The workshops are free and teach kids basic building skills, as well as safety. | Learn more

Inaugural list of Charlotte residents who have used their power, platforms, and influence to make our city a better place. | Read more

You’ve likely heard the names John Belk and Hugh McColl in conversations about Charlotte’s storied history. But what about lesser-known, but just-as-important, Black pioneers like Daniel Sanders and Harvey Boyd? Many notable Black Charlotteans shaped the Queen City as we know it, and we’re still benefiting from their contributions. Read about Black men and women whose courage shaped Charlotte, then and now. | Charlotte's Got A Lot article

We need to talk about white belief by Oluwatomisin Oredein

"Many white Christians believe that being in the same church building as racial minorities is a spiritual accomplishment. Their understanding of a reconciled community is filtered through the lens of their imagination and desire, and racial reconciliation is wrongly equated with the presence of ethnically minoritized peoples in white churches." | Continue reading

“When James Baldwin came to Charlotte, shortly after Counts left Harding, the city appeared calm. He described it as ‘a bourgeois town, Presbyterian, pretty – if you like towns.’ He summed up the racial atmosphere in measured tones: ‘I was told several times, by white people, that ‘race relations there were excellent,’ he wrote in Partisan Review. ‘I failed to find a single Negro who agreed with this.’” | Read more