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Mary Orndorff News Washington correspondenter March 17, 2003 WASHINGTON -- Alabama preachers and politicians co-mingled Sunday in the religious heart of the nation's capital to hear a sermon that put Alabama's constitutional crisis before an international audience. It was Alabama Day at the Washington National Cathedral, where worshipers of any denomination congregate for an Episcopal service by and for Alabamians. U.S. senators read Scripture and a congressman made the offertory, but the most prominent Alabama feature of the nearly two-hour service was the sermon by the Rev. James Evans of Pelham. Standing at the Canterbury pulpit where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last Sunday sermon, Evans wove the week's biblical message about sacrifice into one about Alabama's 102-year-old state constitution. Building on the story in the Book of Genesis about Abraham's willingness to give up his son, Isaac, Evans said the document was originally written to the disadvantage of blacks and poor whites, and to the advantage of the few and the wealthy. Those effects linger today, even after more than 740 amendments, he said. "Jesus is our teacher here, and Abraham is our model. In order to achieve the sort of environment we want in our state, we must climb that lonely mountain and let go of our vested interests. The more we try to save ourselves, our standing, our economic advantage, our place of privilege, the more of our soul we will lose," Evans said. Evans also commended Gov. Bob Riley for initiating a process to update the parts of the charter that dictate how tax dollars are spent and centralize power in Montgomery. "But while his plan doesn't go as far as I would like for it to go, at least he is making the effort to get this albatross off the necks of the people of our state," Evans said. Near-record turnout: More than 1,100 people attended the service, where the Right Rev. Henry Parsley Jr., bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, was the guest celebrant. Cathedral officials estimated between 350 and 500 of the guests were Alabamians, a near-record turnout for a "state day." One state is recognized every Sunday, but once every four years each state has a "major state day" that includes the guest preachers, special tours and a reception. "Our public schools are woefully under-funded. Our state struggles to provide other basic services for the citizens of our state. And now in a time of economic crisis, as we search for revenue to deal with this situation, we find that our hands are often tied by the tangled cords of our outdated state constitution," Evans said. Ironically, a good portion of the Alabama crowd was in Washington for the Alabama Farmers Federation annual conference. The organization, which has traditionally opposed home rule and property tax increases, has been skeptical of rewriting the constitution but it does have a representative on Riley's reform commission. Asked to respond to Evans' sermon, the federation's executive director, Mike Kilgore said, "I'm glad to be here to worship our Lord and savior. That's what I came for." The Very Rev. Nathan Baxter, dean of the Washington National Cathedral, called Evans' sermon "prophetic and pastoral." His "word challenged us all as citizens of these great United States," Baxter said. A lesson on sacrifice: Evans said he has known for months he would take Alabama's constitution issue to the pulpit of the world's sixth-largest cathedral, well before he learned the farmers' group would be in the audience. "The setting for today is to pray for Alabama. What could be more urgent? Why not pray for those people who are hurting and struggling?" Evans said afterward. Several hundred in the audience were not from Alabama, as the Gothic cathedral is a popular tourist destination for American and world travelers. Evans tried to leave them with a larger message about sacrifice. "Our gut instinct is to conserve, to hold on, to grasp tightly what we have out of fear that we will lose what we have or get something worse," Evans said. "But if we read the Gospel correctly, there is a real chance that in striving to save what we have, we will end up losing what we really care about: a solid future for our children, adequate care for our elderly, and an economic environment that will allow the poor in our state the chance to work their way out of poverty." There are several Alabama links to the cathedral. Tuscumbia native and disability pioneer Helen Keller is interred downstairs on the crypt level, the site marked by a bronze plaque with a message in Braille visibly worn from reading. A hand-stitched kneeler on one of the chairs is dedicated to Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington. Agricultural inventor George Washington Carver, who was a Tuskegee faculty member until his death in 1943, is depicted in the stained glass window in Humanitarian Bay, on the left side of the nave facing the altar. Return to: Constitutional Reform ~ In the News Return to: Editorial Index |
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