The Lead

The efforts of the Dioceses of Washington and Maryland to establish a liturgical feast day for Thurgood Marshall moved closer to fruition yesterday as the General Convention "call(ed) upon the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to add Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to the liturgical Calendar of this Church now."

Barbara Miles of the Diocese of Washington gave the supporting speech. And here it is:

Madame President,
I rise to support this resolution which was passed unanimously by the House of Bishops.

I will never know what it means to be black in America, but there are plenty of people in my diocese who do, and what the consistently tell me is that before there was a Martin Luther King, there was a Thurgood Marshall—and he’s an Episcopalian

Thurgood Marshall belongs on our calendar because he was all about unbuntu before unbuntu was cool—55 and 60 years ago, it was deadly dangerous.

This resolution is a cordial invitation from the bishops, people and parishes in the mid-Atlantic—who knew Marshall well—to join us in a commemoration we have been keeping for many years now.

Your gracious response is requested—vote yes, and join our celebration.

The resolution is here.

The vote cleared the way for three years of development and dissemination of liturgies commemorating the late Supreme Court Justice. Marshall's name will be placed on the calendar if it receives a second approval in 2012.

Comments (5)

Thurgood Marshall was certainly a leader in American race relations and a prominent jurist but I've never heard much about his faith or contribution to the church or even if he was an Episcopalian.

Other than his obvious appeal to black Episcopalians, can anyone enlighten us as to why he is being considered a "Saint."

Posted by Paul Woodrum | July 17, 2009 9:49 PM

Paul, Thurgood Marshall was an active Episcopalian Christian whose faith informed his abiding commitment to and long years working for civil rights and a system of law that works for regular folk. His appeal is not only to African Americans or specifically Black Episcopalians but to many of the rest of us who greatly value his contributions to the common good and especially the disenfranchised. I am proud to say that he was an Episcopalian. Hopefully we in the pews will now have an opportunity to hear more about his life's work in the context of his faith.

Posted by Sarah Lawton | July 18, 2009 2:27 AM

Thanks for the enlightenment. I don't know what criteria Liturgy and Music use for proposing these observances that are beginning to clutter the calendar.

I would hope that before a persons name be submitted that he/she has been dead for at least 50 years so that an objective evaluation can be made. I would also hope they had something to do with building up the Body of Christ and not just contributing to the welfare of society.

Marshall has only been dead 16 years and I have yet to hear what contribution he made to the church.

Posted by Paul Woodrum | July 18, 2009 8:55 AM

The church does not exist for itself; it exists for the world. Thurgood Marshall devoted his life to living out the baptismal covenant. His actions helped inch us closer to the kingdom. His life was informed by what he learned in the church. To honor such a life of service and ministry does not "clutter" the calendar. It holds up an example that we all can learn from.
tricia Templeton

Posted by Tricia Templeton | July 18, 2009 11:48 AM

Thank you, Sarah and Tricia!

'To honor such a life of service and ministry does not "clutter" the calendar.'

Yes, and we can learn from all these saints, honor their lives, their service to God and humanity. Put their lives in the context of church and non-church history, too. We also must remember that Mr Marshall grew up in a church that was racist (and still is challenging its racist history). The idea that there are too many is just plain ridiculous. Think of the hope Mr Marshall gives to younger people in TEC, too. 'Read, mark and learn from it,' and I'm not just talking about Sunday school lesson plans around his Feast Day, either. Thanks for this post. - Jay Vos

Posted by dutchfox | July 20, 2009 9:16 AM

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