St. Stephen's and All Saint's Celebrate The Rev. Pauli Murray

For our Lenten Series, St. Stephen’s Sweetwater and All Saints Colorado City usually join together for soup suppers and a program related to Lent, such as topics of prayer, faith, and spiritual practices. Last year, we studied Kate Bowler’s new book The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. We had great discussions on how these blessings speak to our daily lives when they are not always perfect and not always easy. This Lent, we went for the same Soup Suppers and program layout. However, our program was a little different than the year before. With Lent this year falling in the middle of two historical months, Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March), Father Bryan wanted to introduce the congregations to Pauli Murray, a historical figure most do not know outside, and sometimes inside the Episcopal Church. St. Stephen’s and All Saints Lenten series was a soup dinner, and watching the documentary My Name is Pauli Murray. Over four weeks, we watched the documentary and held discussions at both churches. All the attendees did not know who Pauli Murray was before entering the Lenten series, but by the end, they learned of the great lawyer, civil rights leader, and Episcopal Priest. During the discussions, most, if not all, attendees were in awe of Pauli Murray and all that they had accomplished in their life. One question that was asked multiple times was, why had I not heard of Pauli Murray before? If that isn’t the question and reason that all should watch this documentary. On that note, I recommend this documentary to all Episcopalians and, more than that, to all Americans.