UCC - King holiday gives Maryland interfaith youth opportunity to learn, contribute

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

King holiday gives Maryland interfaith youth opportunity to learn, contribu te

> Written by Jeff Woodard
> February 17, 2011

On the calendar, it looked like a long holiday weekend away from school.

But for an interfaith contingent of 60 youth and
chaperones from Frederick, Md., a Martin Luther
King Jr. Day experience in February proved an invaluable history lesson.

Representing Protestant, Catholic and Jewish
faith traditions, the group made the five-hour
trip to Whitakers, N.C., to participate in three
days of work projects and educational
opportunities at the UCC?s Franklinton Center at Bricks.

?Franklinton provides a great foundation for
having a conversation,? says the Rev. Barbara
Kershner Daniel, pastor of Evangelical Reformed
UCC in Frederick, whose group was joined by youth
and adults from St. Katharine Drexel Roman
Catholic Church and Congregation Kol Ami Temple.

?You have to necessarily experience some of our
nation?s history related to slavery and racism
when you?re there,? says Daniel. ?It?s about
where we see that kind of dynamics and
discrimination going around today. Is it around
religion? Race? Gender? Orientation??

Located on a former plantation, the Center?s
roots began at the founding of Franklinton
Christian College in 1871 and Congregationalist
Bricks School in 1895. The schools merged in the
1950s, creating Franklinton Center at Bricks,
which is managed by the UCC?s Justice and Witness Ministries.

The Center educates church leaders, young people
and community leaders with programs focused on
rural justice, community development,
environmental racism and workers? rights.

The Frederick group shared breakfast with

neighbors of Franklinton, who spoke of life under
segregation, workplace discrimination, difficulty
exercising voting rights and lack of health-care
access ?? all racially motivated. Children of
black sharecroppers told their stories on what
was formerly a plantation that housed slaves.

In its three days at the Center, the Frederick
group repaired a ramp, replaced a kitchen counter
and a sink in a dormitory, constructed a roof,
painted, and sorted through historic documents
and files. Vivian Lucas, the Center?s executive
director, thanked the group for its work, noting
how it ?modeled? the vision of King ?? both by
its interfaith composition and in the way it worked together.
Noting that the Evangelical Reformed UCC segment
of the group comprised primarily ninth-graders
who were confirmed last year, Daniel says, ?This
was a great experience for us to find activities
where we have common ground, then have a conversation.?

Part of that conversation, she says, started on
the evening before the group returned to
Frederick: ?Rabbi Dan Sikowitz (of Kol Ami) was
reflecting, and he told the whole group that
interfaith settings aren?t always the most
comfortable for people of Jewish faith. But he
said, ?Not once during this trip did any of our
group feel uncomfortable or like we were not welcome.??

A shared sense of community was particularly evident on the trip, says Dani el.

?Any of us who has done work trips or mission
trips know that something special happens when
you get people away from their homes ? when you
are cooking meals together, cleaning together,
working together,? Daniel says. ?You have a common goal and purpose in  mind.?

Mackenzie Smith, a 14-year-old from St.

Katharine's, says she enjoyed learning about the
center?s history and traditions of the other
faiths. "You just learn so much more when you're
with other religious groups,? she says. ?It was
really cool to meet those people."

Cell phones were off limits during the weekend,
but the Frederick youth lit up social media
outlets upon their return home. ?They were all
over Facebook,? says Daniel. ?Some kids were
friending me, which made me feel good because all
these kids now see me and the other adults who
were there as a resource in their lives.?

As for a reprise next year, Daniel says their request has been made.

?We hadn?t even started packing to leave when the
kids ? all of them ? started saying, ?We gotta do this next year.? ?

<http://www.ucc.org/franklinton-center>More

information on the Franklinton Center at Bricks