Podcasts about Old North Church

What's up Theology Nerds! Today on the podcast I'm joined by my brilliant friend Diana Butler Bass for another edition of "Ruining Dinner" as we mark the first 100 days of Trump's second administration. We dive into some fascinating new data on religion and politics in America that just dropped, examining everything from unexpected consensus on religious liberty (a rare bright spot!) to disturbing trends in support for political violence among Christian nationalist adherents. Diana shares her recent adventures lighting the Old North Church green for Bill McKibben's "Sunday" climate initiative, while I update her on my site visit to St. Paul (not Minneapolis!) for Theology Beer Camp and my new life as a chicken dad. We explore how competing narratives of discrimination reveal deep divides in American Christianity, unpack the dangers of executive overreach, and discuss what Lindsey Graham's papal nomination trolling reveals about our political moment. This conversation was originally for our Substack members, but we're sharing a portion with all of you – join us at The Process This or The Cottage to catch future episodes live!  Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America's most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality. The Interlocking Crises of Religion & Democracy Faith in a Toxic Public Square The Resurrection of Jesus 2024: The Sequel The Christology Ladder The Indictment Edition of Ruining Dinner American Saints in a Cynical Age Ruining Dinner… and Date Nights Welcome to the Post-Christian Century Ruining Christmas Dinner Ruining Election Night Dinner The Over-Rated Genie God Bad Blood, Civil War, and other Soothing Topics Shall the Fundies (Keep) Winning?, Abortion, and Black Holes Theology and Spirituality in a Time of Rupture White Evangelical Theopolitics, John Shelby Spong, & Jesus 20 Years of Religious Decline Jesus After Religion and Beyond Fear Ruining Dinner with Diana Butler Bass and Robyn Henderson-Espinoza Evangelical Decline, the Supreme Court, and the Horizon of Possibility Debating, Praying, and Living with Tyrants Religion, Politics, & the Elephant in the Room  ONLINE CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT: The Many Faces of Christ Today The question Jesus asked his disciples still resonates today: "Who do you say that I am?" Join our transformative 5-week online learning community as we explore a rich tapestry of contemporary Christologies. Experience how diverse theological voices create a compelling vision of Jesus Christ for today's world. Expand your spiritual horizons. Challenge your assumptions. Enrich your faith. As always, the class is donation-based (including 0), so head over to ⁠⁠ManyFacesOfChrist.com⁠⁠ for more details and to sign up! _____________________ ⁠⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 45 classes at ⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠. ⁠⁠Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Revolutionary War Rarities takes you inside the steeple of the Old North Church!  We discuss Paul Revere, Concord, and Lexington as we celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the start of the American Revolution.  Please watch and listen to this special episode of Revolutionary War Rarities, the podcast from the Sons of the American Revolution.  Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, follow us on your favorite podcast application, and check out our website at fastfunhistory.com.

This is the second of two "Sidebar" episodes in honor of the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's famous ride, which we will celebrate on the night of April 18 by putting two lights in a window of our house.  Last time we explored the prelude to the ride in the months before the final crisis that triggered the march of the British "Regulars" on Lexington and Concord. This episode is the story of Paul Revere's "midnight" ride on the night of April 18-19, 1775, including the famous lanterns of Old North Church, the fraught trip across the Charles River under the guns of HMS Somerset, his spectacular horse Brown Beauty (one of the great equine heroes of American history), the "waking up the institutions of New England" that night in raising the alarm not just on the road to Lexington and Concord but throughout eastern New England, and his astonishing capture and release. And, sure, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott. Maps of Paul Revere's Ride X/Twitter – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – The History of the Americans Podcast – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere's Ride John Hancock's Trunk o' Papers

"Had Revere failed that night, America's revolution might have died before it began." Author Kostya Kennedy reveals how history pivoted on a silversmith's midnight journey and the astonishing betrayal by the British general's American-born wife who may have leaked crucial military plans. On the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's ride, "The Ride" uncovers what history books missed: how Revere demanded his own court-martial years later, the massive warship whose timbers still rest in Cape Cod sand, and why a Massachusetts police officer couldn't bring himself to ticket Paul Revere's descendant for speeding near Lexington. Listen as Kennedy shares what he discovered climbing the treacherous Old North Church steeple and why Paul Revere was more than just a man on a horse with a message. Links: "The Ride" Book: https://amzn.to/3RDK7Qh Kostya Kennedy Website: https://kostyakennedy.com/ Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qgkoGSrZx2U _ Produced by Podcast Studio X.

We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!John Spooner – Financial Advisor & Author of "Wake Up: A Lifetime of Lessons From Smart Women" joined Dan.Boston Marathon Prep – How runners prepare for challenges of running a marathon such as training, weather, and injury prevention. With Dr. Adam Tenforde - sports medicine physician at the Spaulding National Running Center – one of the only centers in the United States exclusively dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of running-related injuries.Also checking in with Dan was Bill Pennington – Founder of Run For The Troops – Cornhole for a Cause Upcoming Event – Sunday, June 8th!Nikki Stewart - Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, which operates Old North Church Historic Site told us April 18, 2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's famous “two if by sea” lantern signal in Old North Church's steeple & Paul Revere's Ride.Two powerful public events that bring Revolutionary history to life in Boston's North End:Event 1: Wed. April 16th – Celebration Breakfast Marking Old North Church's Famous Lantern Signal.Event 2: Fri. April 18th- Revolution's Edge: Costumed Reading of the Hit Play – free and open to the public.Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!

He's known as a silversmith, a messenger and a patriot. But Paul Revere's role and contribution to the American Revolution was much more than a midnight ride.We take a walk through Revere's neighborhood and visit two pivotal locations – the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church – to learn more about the revolutionary and the world in which he lived in honor of the 250th anniversary of his famous ride.

In this episode, we begin our exploration of the greater Boston area and institutions that are connected to the MHS through shared collections. We first visit the Old North Church located in the North End to speak with Nikki Stewart, Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, and Patrick Gabridge, the producing artistic director of Plays in Place. We learn more about the building, its significance to the American Revolution, and its relationship to the Society's collections.  Learn more about episode objects here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/season-4-episode-2-old-north-church  For more information on the staged reading of Revolution's Edge, please visit oldnorth.com. Email us at podcast@masshist.org. Episode Special Guests: Nikki Stewart currently serves as the Executive Director of Old North Illuminated. Since 2020, Nikki has led the organization through a transformation that includes a new mission and interpretive plan, extensive research into Old North's Black and Indigenous communities, and the creation of new on-site and classroom programming. Patrick Gabridge is the producing artistic director of Plays in Place, a site-specific theater company that creates new plays in partnership with museums, historic sites, and other cultural institutions. They've created engaging theatrical experiences at Old North Church, the Massachusetts State House, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and many other sites around New England. This episode uses materials from: Sanctuary by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)        Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)        Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)

In this episode, we're chatting with Nikki Stewart of Old North Illuminated. She tells us about the history of this Freedom Trail icon, the legend of Paul Revere, and the evolution of Revolutionary-era storytelling in Boston. Plus, a Sheetz versus Wawa debate. Kylie Kelce, America's princess? Philly Pretzel Factory has a franchise in Revere. The story of Garlic Expressions. Explain Boston to Me on the African American Trail Project. Have feedback on this episode or ideas for upcoming topics? DM me on Instagram, email me, or send a voice memo. Especially if you have ideas for the Jordan's Furniture episode!

The results are in for Mass DOT's "Name a snow plow" contest, Mayor Wu sticks with her commitment to the white stadium renovation project, Another lever of paul revere's connection to "Old North Church" in Bostons north end has slowly been uncovered.Stay in "The Loop" with #iHeartRadio.

282: How Can Strategic Planning Transform Your Nonprofit? (Nikki Stewart)SUMMARYThis episode is brought to you by our friends at Armstrong McGuire & Associates. Check them out for your next career opportunity OR for help finding an interim executive or your next leader. How do you transform a strategic plan from a daunting task into a powerful tool for leading your nonprofit? In episode 282 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, we explore the transformative power of strategic planning with Nikki Stewart, Executive Director of Old North Illuminated. Nikki shares how the pandemic reshaped her organization's approach to planning, from confronting drastic revenue losses to rebuilding with a focus on a more inclusive narrative around history. She emphasizes the importance of crafting a roadmap that balances innovation with operational needs, and how to engage both funders and staff. ABOUT NIKKINikki Stewart is a creative and collaborative leader with over 15 years of nonprofit management experience. She serves as the Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, which operates Old North Church & Historic Site, a role that blends her strategic leadership and fundraising expertise with her passion for connecting audiences to local history. Nikki previously served as the VP of Development at United South End Settlements (USES), where she led the organization's fundraising and communications efforts through an ambitious growth phase that included the implementation of a five-year strategic plan and launch of a capital campaign. AFP Massachusetts named Nikki the 2019 Outstanding Fundraising Rising Star. She launched the Change Maker Dinner series, which was awarded the Get Konnected GK10 award in 2018, naming it one of the top 10 ideas advancing racial equity in the City of Boston. Nikki received a Juris Doctor and bachelor's degree from Northeastern University. She is a graduate of the Course in Exponential Fundraising at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, as well as the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES Ready for your next leadership opportunity? Visit our partners at Armstrong McGuireFour Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi  Have you gotten Patton's book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector – Now available on AudibleDon't miss our weekly Thursday Leadership Lens for the latest on nonprofit leadership

We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about! Nikki Stewart - Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, which operates Old North Church & Historic Site with Friday the 13th: After-Hours Crypt Tours Begin Below Old North Church and run through Halloween weekend.The Freedom Trail Historic Lantern Tours Are Back! With Bill Benson -Freedom Trail Player/Actor.Mass General Brigham Doctor Urges Men to Get Recommended Screenings for National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Dr. Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, MBA, co-founder, Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic at Mass General Brigham & urology surgeon checked in!Alberto Vasallo – Owner of El Mundo on Hispanic Heritage Month - El Mundo Boston Hispanic Heritage Breakfast on Friday, September 20th.Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio!

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1122, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: 3Rd Graders Know This Stuff 1: Zero divided by 6 yields this quotient. zero. 2: Of I'm, they've, you're or won't, the contraction that lost the most letters. won't. 3: The predicate of a sentence tells what this part is or does. the subject. 4: The size of this body part changes, depending on the light. the pupil. 5: The 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 24th and 26th ones of these are specifically concerned with voting. constitutional amendments. Round 2. Category: Churches 1: Famous signal lanterns were once hung there, and the oldest colonial peal of bells is still there. the Old North Church. 2: St. Etheldreda's, built in 1251, survived Henry VIII and is London's oldest church of this faith. Roman Catholic. 3: From the Latin for "raised place", originally it was where offerings were placed or sacrificed. an altar. 4: Milan's Santa Maria Delle Grazie features what's left of this mural masterpiece by Leonardo. "The Last Supper". 5: They're small churches often used for weddings, funerals or private worship. chapels. Round 3. Category: Castle Life 1: It's usually a body of protective water spanned by the drawbridge. Moat. 2: Under feudal law this 4-letter word was the general title for the owner of a manor or castle. Lord. 3: Term for the trainer of a predatory bird used for hunting. Falconer. 4: 2-word term for the big chamber that was the main meeting and dining area. Great hall. 5: Crossbows were stored in the balistraria and these were stored in the chandlery. Candles. Round 4. Category: Literary Title Characters 1: In this novel inspired by a painting, Griet is the title 17th century portrait sitter. the Girl with a Pearl Earring. 2: The name of this Sinclair Lewis Minister is a byword for hypocrisy. Elmer Gantry. 3: 1851:A white whale. Moby-Dick. 4: A whale of legendary size and ferocity, tormentor of Ahab. "Moby Dick". 5: Devil-dealing doctor-turned-necromancer. "Dr. Faustus". Round 5. Category: Small Jobs 1: This little Roman love god performs his matchmaking job with a bow and arrow. Cupid. 2: The Munchkins toiled as slaves for this woman until a house fell on her. The Wicked Witch of the East. 3: To find a leprechaun, follow the tapping of his hammer as he busies himself making these. Shoes. 4: In the "Dilbert" comic strip, he's the evil director of human resources. Catbert. 5: Describing his job, this Shakespearean sprite says, "I jest to Oberon and make him smile". Puck. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

A historic marble bust of George Washington, carved in 1790, is getting a facelift. WBZ's Mike Macklin reports.

Four historic wood-carved angels are back on their perch at the Old North Church after a months-long restoration project. WBZ's Kyle Bray explains.

William Gaston, the composer of North Carolina's anthem, “The Old North State,” was also instrumental in building the state's first Catholic church, St. Paul's in New Bern. (“Cradles of Catholicism” series, no. 20, North Carolina)

In town for some college visits, we took in the sites on the Freedom Trail and then had some great food in the North End! Freedom Trail map

On this episode of Our American Stories, in this dramatic reading, American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized Old North Church and Paul Revere in American folklore and cemented their place in American history. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 987, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Tough-Pourri 1: Students are allowed to bring a toad, a cat or an owl to this fictional boarding school. Hogwarts. 2: This last Ivy-League school to win this college football bowl game was Columbia University in 1934. the Rose Bowl. 3: When "Face The Nation" premiered in 1954, this first guest was grilled over comments he had been making about the Army. Senator Joe McCarthy. 4: In 1907, the first 4 groups in this org. started in England were the Bulls, the Wolves, the Curlews and the Ravens. Boy Scouts. 5: On this date in 1999, England's Guardian newspaper announced a coup in the nation of San Seriffe. April 1st. Round 2. Category: Nonmetals 1: General Foods first introduced this nondairy dessert topping in 1966. Cool Whip. 2: Fake flowers Marie Osmond sang about in 1973. "Paper Roses". 3: Little Boy Blue slept under one. haystack. 4: The Hebrew name for this taboo meat is basar chazir. pork. 5: Encarta says clothes with a high content of this plastic fiber "became popular in the 1970s". polyester. Round 3. Category: Vice 1: If you don't care if it's Godiva or a Clark Bar, you've got to have it, you're this, a word dating back at least to the 1960s. a chocoholic. 2: Ulysses S. Grant smoked these, including Cheroots, to the tune of 20 a day. cigars. 3: In this movie Paul Giamatti plays Miles, whose vice is wine, especially his prized 1961 Chateau Cheval Blanc. Sideways. 4: A 1998 study showed release of dopamine, a pleasure-bringing neurotransmitter, in subjects during a tank-driving one of these. a video game. 5: The book "Aristocratic Vice" examines the vices of the 18th century English nobility, including these "affairs of honor". a duel. Round 4. Category: Addresses 1: This animated family lived at 201 Cobblestone Way in Bedrock. the Flintstones. 2: At night you'll have no trouble spotting this stadium at 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago--it's now lighted. Wrigley Field. 3: Whether travelling by land or sea, don't miss this attraction at 193 Salem St. in Boston. the Old North Church. 4: President Hoover was among those dedicating this NYC building at 350 Fifth Ave. on May 1, 1931. the Empire State Building. 5: You'd find this at 1313 S. Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, CA. Disneyland. Round 5. Category: Eat Like A Horse 1: Horses love this fruit of the genus Malus; does one a day keep the vet away?. an apple. 2: Though they're vegetarians, many male horses have 4 of these long "doglike" teeth used for tearing food. canines. 3: Whether crushed, rolled or cooked, these are a high-energy horse food; too much can cause horsie overexuberance. oats. 4: For joint health, some experts recommend giving horses this oil from fish of the genus Gadus--blecch!. cod liver oil. 5: This protein-rich plant of the pea family is like steak for horses; don't give the little rascals too much of it. alfalfa. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/

Stefan Maier showed up to Old North Church on Tuesday for his 100th tuning of the iconic organ. WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe reports:

Playwright Patrick Gabridge uses theatre to convey the human story of the Revolution and other historic events.  Through his "Plays in Place" he and actors have told the stories of the Boston Massacre in the Council Chamber of the Old State House, the decision for independence at Old North Church, as well as the stories of abolitionists and others at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  The scenes are local, the human dimension is universal.  He is also the author of non-historical plays, screenplays, and novels, and an engaging story-teller using the power of place to tell America's Revolutionary story.http://www.gabridge.com

The Old North Church has stood proud in Boston's North End for 300 years, and it's probably best known for its role in Revolutionary War history. However, more than 1,100 bodies have been laid to rest over the years in the church's crypt, which recently underwent a major restoration project. Director of Education Catherine Matthews has details on the project, which is about to be completed with the final installation of the crypt's restored doors, and a look back at the famed church's impact on Boston.

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 17 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the Old North Church in Boston to explore a story you likely haven't heard. According to a plaque on the side of the building, it was here on September 13, 1757, that John Childs flew from the steeple of the church to the satisfaction of a great number of spectators–he did it more than once. Does that mean that Boston, and not Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was the first in flight? This episode first aired February 15, 2018.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

The Old North Church, best known for its starring role in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem “Paul Revere's Ride,” turns 300 years old this year. Nikki Stewart, Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, joins CommonWealth's Jennifer Smith to talk about the role of myths in teaching history and why the Old North site has been designated as a “site of conscience.”

Best Of BPR 7/12: Opera Singer Jane Eaglen & A Revolutionary Play At Boston's Old North Church

Floods, fires, humidity -- we asked listeners to call in to share how they're handling the summer weather. Margery and Jared talked with medical ethicist Art Caplan about a new Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, and a US task force recommending screening for all adults for anxiety disorders. National security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the rise in extreme weather, flooding in VT, heat in the southwest; and, the latest of Ukraine's bid to join NATO. Nikki Stewart of the Old North Church and Jazzmin Bonner of Plays in Place discussed the church's new original play “Revolution's Edge”. Former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral discussed how the state collects federal benefits meant for children in its care; and the latest on undocumented immigrants getting drivers licenses. Jane Eaglen of the Wagner Society shared a rundown of their summer programming. We're living in a Barbie world. Sometimes fantastic, definitely plastic. We asked listeners whether they are leaning into "Barbie-core" ahead of the new movie next week? And why, after over 60 years, are we so obsessed with this toy?

Kyle Hoffsmith is the Pastor of Family Ministry at Old North Church in Canfield, OH, and in this episode of the Rooted Youth Ministry Podcast he speaks with Tucker Fleming as part of our Foundations of Youth Ministry series about the benefits of teaching and preaching theologically. A hesitation for many when it comes to teaching theologically in a youth context is the concern that students won't be able to keep up. Hit play to hear Kyle flesh out why he teaches and preaches theologically, and why you should as well.Resources:Rooted Resources on Theological DepthFollow @therootedministry on InstagramJoin us for our 2023 conference in Nashville, TN!

Running from now until September, Old North Church is hosting its first ever original play called "Revolution's Edge." It's a dramatic imagining of a conversation between three men, at the church, on the eve of Paul Revere's famous ride. We speak with someone from Old North, as well as the play's author, and one of its actors.

The new play “Revolution's Edge” will debut at Old North Church in June 2023. It tells the story of three Bostonians and their families on the eve of the Revolution. Mather Byles is the Loyalist rector of Old North Church, Cato is an African American man who's enslaved by Byles, and John Pulling is a whiggish ship's captain and member of the Old North vestry. The three men have very different stations in life, but they all have young families with intertwined lives, and on April 18, 1775, they all had very different decisions to make about those lives. My guests this week are Patrick Gabridge, producing artistic director of the Plays in Place theater company, and Nikki Stewart, executive director of Old North Illuminated. Together, they'll tell us how this, um, revolutionary new drama came to be. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/276/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

What does the myth of American “chosenness” mean for different communities and the rise of Christian nationalism? Episcopal Bishop and Cherokee nation member Carol Gallagher, Baptist minister Rev. Darrell Hamilton, and Dr. Michael Hober­man, a scholar of early American Jewish literature and culture, engage in a conversation moderated by the Rev. Dr. Jaimie Crumley, a minister and professor of gender studies and ethnic studies. Dr. Catherine Brekus of Harvard Divinity School joins them, too, as they react to her lecture about how the myth of “chosenness” leads to much of the religious nationalism in our country today, including how scriptures were used to justify colonialism. SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:40): Context for this panel Hear Dr. Catherine Brekus' presentation in episode 23, or watch it online. Meet our panelists: The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher, Ph.D. serves as the assistant bishop in the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Massachusetts. An enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Bishop Gallagher previously served the diocese as a regional canon. Before that, starting in 2014, she served as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Montana, developing relationships with Native leaders and congregations there; educating and training clergy and lay leaders on issues of race, gender and inclusion; and leading the Task Force on Native Issues. Dr. Michael Hober­man teach­es Amer­i­can lit­er­a­ture at Fitch­burg State Uni­ver­si­ty. He is a grad­u­ate of Reed Col­lege and earned his Ph.D. from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts Amherst. His pre­vi­ous books include A Hundred Acres of America: The Geography of Jewish American Literary History and New Israel/New England: Jews and Puritans in Early America. The Rev. Darrell Hamilton is an ordained Baptist minister and graduate from Wake Forest School of Divinity, where he earned his Master of Divinity in 2017. He earned his degree in Political Science from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2012. Currently, the Rev. Hamilton serves at the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain as Administrative Pastor and as Protestant Chaplain at Babson College. The Rev. Hamilton was a BJC intern in spring 2016. The Rev. Dr. Jaimie Crumley (moderator) is an Assistant Professor of Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. During the 2022-2023 academic year, she is the Research Fellow at Old North Illuminated in Boston. Old North Illuminated is the secular 501(c)(3) that preserves the Old North Church and interprets its history. Her research, teaching, and writing consider the themes of historical memory, race, religion, gender, and abolition. Jaimie is an ordained minister whose ordination is recognized by the American Baptist Churches USA. The Rev. Dr. Crumley is a member of the BJC Board of Directors and of the 2016 class of BJC Fellows. This presentation was the 2023 Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lecture on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State, an annual lecture series sponsored by BJC. It took place at Old North Church in Boston.    Segment 2 (starting at 1:39): The panel conversation You can also watch the panel at this link. During the conversation, Dr. Crumley mentioned this piece by Dr. Brekus on American “chosenness.” Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC. 

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 820, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: early america 1: Carpenters in this colony's city of Savannah went on strike in 1746 for better working conditions. Georgia. 2: This colony of James Oglethorpe banned the importation of rum and brandy, and forbade slavery. Georgia. 3: In 1723 in Boston, construction began on this church, one of the first Georgian churches in the Northeast. the Old North Church. 4: The second of these legislatures drew up the Articles of Confederation. the Continental Congress. 5: Hot on the trail of 7 magnificent cities, Estevanico called the first one this, entered it and was killed there. Cibola. Round 2. Category: animal common bonds 1: Angora,Flemish giant,cottontail. rabbits. 2: Schipperke,borzoi,bichon frise. Dogs. 3: Thresher,nurse,whale. Sharks. 4: Bufflehead,Eider,Teal. ducks. 5: Black,brown,spectacled. bears. Round 3. Category: jewel 1: The Pinctada maxima, or silver-lip oyster, is the largest oyster capable of cultivating one of these. pearl. 2: The Aztecs showed their rank in society by wearing this bluish-green December birthstone. turquoise. 3: A variety of smoky quartz, cairngorm is a gemstone that comes from the Cairngorm Mountains of this country. Scotland. 4: The bulk of the world's peridot is mined from Peridot Mesa on the Apache Indian Reservation in this state. Arizona. 5: The American ruby and the Cape ruby are not rubies, but red varieties of this mineral. garnet. Round 4. Category: warner bros. cartoons 1: "Carnivorous vulgaris" is one of this Roadrunner-chasing rascal's "scientific" names. the (Wile E.) Coyote. 2: This "scent-imental" skunk was named after Charles Boyer's character in the film "Algiers". Pepé Le Pew. 3: This "fastest mouse" made his debut in 1953's "Cat-Tails for Two". Speedy Gonzales. 4: This "roughest, toughest he-man hombre that's ever crossed the Rio Grande" could never beat Bugs Bunny. Yosemite Sam. 5: This animal is the symbol of the new Warner Bros. network. Michigan J. Frog. Round 5. Category: "down" the hatch 1: This highly undesirable event can occur when a nuclear reactor's core overheats. Meltdown. 2: If you're hunting by scent, it's where you want to be, relative to your prey. Downwind. 3: The New England Primer popularized the bedtime prayer beginning with this line. "Now I lay me down to sleep...". 4: It describes the "trampled" masses. Downtrodden. 5: In 1902 Battling Nelson inflicted 42 of these on Christy Williams, who finally stayed on the canvas. Knockdowns. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/

For Black History Month, we're dropping a classic episode into the feed as a bonus every few days... Last winter, the Old North Church historic site hosted a series of conversations about radical Black abolitionist David Walker, and his book An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. As part of their Digital Speaker Series, education director Catherine Matthews moderated a discussion between artist, educator, and activist L'Merchie Frazier and playwright Peter Snoad on December 15. This edition focused on the text of the Appeal as a piece of rhetoric that pointed out the brutality and hypocrisy of slavery and urged the enslaved to rebel by any means necessary. Thanks to our friends at Old North for allowing us to share this panel with you. Original show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/240/

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. DNA occupies much of the show, so David begins with another DNA discovery that is rocking the worlds of two families… and it's not the usual fare. Then, in 1872, a virus, that didn't affect humans, shut down many of the major US cities. Catch what happened. The historic Old North Church which signaled Paul Revere on his famous ride is having an inspection of a most unusual type. Hear what it is. Did you ever think a flush toilet could be 2,400 years old? Apparently so! The guys have the details. And finally, there's a party house in Rome that has been determined to have gone back almost as far as the toilet! David will fill you in. Next, over two segments, Your DNA Guide, Diahan Southard, joins Fisher to talk about DNA research “process.” What are the steps that can ultimately lead you to success? Diahan will take you through them. Then, Diahan talks about courses she'll be teaching at RootsTech, and her thoughts on the upcoming Salt Lake City megaconference. David then returns for Ask Us Anything, answering your questions. That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show!

Plus, we talk comics and culture with Joel Christian Gill, and we learn about the Black and indigenous parishioners of Boston's Old North Church.

New research shows the experiences of Black and indigenous parishioners at Boston's Old North Church. Those experiences and stories are now part of an online video series called "Illuminating the Unseen." The person responsible for series, research fellow Jaimie Crumley, joins us to talk it.

The Context of White Supremacy welcomes Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty. An Associate Professor of History at Western Washington University, Dr. Hardesty is a scholar of colonial America, the Atlantic world, and the histories of labor and slavery. He's written three books about Racism/White Supremacy in the US, and we'll discuss his 2021 offering, Mutiny on the Rising Sun: A Tragic Tale of Smuggling, Slavery, and Chocolate. Gus heard about this book from WGBH Boston Public Radio. They reported on Old North Church and how the three centuries old house of worship was complicit in slavery. Specifically, White church members sat in the pews of Old North Church to network with other slave smugglers/owners. Dr. Hardesty's book examines an 18th century mutiny in the Caribbean, where White pirate slave smugglers were killed by some of their non-white crew members. 15 slaves - mostly black children - had to witness the carnage. Listeners are encouraged to remember Neely Fuller Jr. and Dr. Frances Cress Welsing's commentary about the symbolism and significance of chocolate in the System of White Supremacy. In fact, Dr. Hardesty confessed to being unaware that American icon Jeffrey Dahmer was employed in a chocolate factory. Pay special attention to exchange about the racial classification of Dr. Hardesty's researchers ("hispanic" is not a racial classification #Confusion) as well as the dialog about the rape of "enslaved" black children like Sally Hemings. The work of Harvard historian Annette Gordon-Reed was mentioned again. #MoChocolate INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE 564943#

It's easy for us to agree that we should teach the Bible in youth ministry, but never really pause to think about how that priority shapes the rest of our ministry. In this episode, we talk with Kyle Hoffsmith about what it means to place an emphasis on Bible teaching. Highlights from the conversation include: Who taught you how to really study Scripture, and what did that look like for you?  What are some obstacles that can get in the way of Bible Study in youth ministry? Can you walk us through some of the basics of good hermeneutics?  What role does application plan in Bible Study? Recommended resources mentioned in the podcast: One to One Bible Reading, by David Helm Charles Simeon Trust RYM's Track Series  CPYU Kyle Hoffsmith is the Pastor of Student Ministry at Old North Church in Canfield Ohio, and is one of the hosts of The Word in Youth Ministry podcast which is sponsored by CYPU.  Visit Youth Pastor Theologian's website Join YPT's Facebook group: @youththeologian (make sure you answer the membership questions) Follow YPT on Twitter: @youththeologian Follow YPT on Instagram: @youththeologian Please consider sharing YPT's podcast and our articles with your friends, and leave a rating/review on your podcast subscriber. You can contact us with any questions and recommend both topics and guests on our website's Submissions Page. 

Old North Church , officially Christ Church in Boston, is the city's oldest church--built in 1723--and is still a functioning parish.  It has one of the oldest church organs in the country, four seventeenth-century Belgian angels which were destined for a church in Quebec, and an eighteenth-century clock that still keeps time.  It is most known for two lanterns hung in the steeple on April 18, 1775, but there is much more to the story, as we hear from Nikki Stewart, the Executive Director of the Old North Foundation, which organizes the educational and visitor programs at this venerable place.  We find out more about the history of Old North and its parishioners. 

Independent researcher TJ Todd recently gave a presentation about Old North Church and the sea.  TJ's talk focuses on two notable sea captains, both of whom longtime listeners will remember from past episodes.  Captain Samuel Nicholson was the first, somewhat hapless, captain of the USS Constitution, and Captain Thomas Gruchy was the privateer who captured the carved cherubs that keep watch over the Old North sanctuary from the French.  Exploring the lives of these two famous captains will reveal what life was like for the ordinary sailors and dockworkers who made up a significant portion of Boston's population in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as drawing connections to other incidents from Boston's maritime past, including many that we've discussed in past episodes. Thanks to our friends at the Old North Foundation for allowing us to share this presentation with you. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/255/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

National Tresure Welcome to The Guys Review, where we review media, products and experiences.   **READ APPLE REVIEWS/Fan Mail**Mention Twitter DM group - like pinned tweet @The_GuysReviewRead emails theguysreviewpod@gmail.comTwitter Poll National Treasure Directed: Jon Turtletaub.   Writers: Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley Starring:  Nicolas CageDiane KrugerJustin BarthaSean BeanJon Voight Released: 8 November 2004 Budget: $100,000,000M ($154,735,839.07M in 2022) Box Office: $347,512,318M ($537,726,101.12M in 2022) Ratings:   IMDb 6.9(NOICE)/10 Rotten Tomatoes 46% Metacritic 39% Google Users 86%  Here art thine Awards My Lord Tucker the Wanker second Earl of Wessex. Lord of the Furries. Heir of Lord baldy the one eyed snake wrestler. Protector of Freedom units. Step Sibling with funny feelings down stairs. Entertainer of uncles.  Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2005NomineeSaturn AwardBest Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Best Supporting ActressDiane Kruger   BMI Film & TV Awards 2005WinnerBMI Film Music AwardTrevor Rabin   Jupiter Award 2005NomineeJupiter AwardBest International ActorNicolas Cage   Teen Choice Awards 2005NomineeTeen Choice AwardChoice Movie: Action Adventure   Undine Awards, Austria 2005NomineeUndine AwardBest Young Actress - Film (Beste jugendliche Hauptdarstellerin in einem Kinospielfilm)Diane Kruger   Visual Effects Society Awards 2005NomineeVES AwardOutstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion PictureMatthew GratznerForest P. FischerScott BeverlyLeigh-Alexandra Jacob For the treasure room.  World Stunt Awards 2005NomineeTaurus AwardBest Overall Stunt by a Stunt WomanLisa Hoyle A woman hangs from the open door of a catering truck as it races through the streets. She ... More  Young Artist Awards 2005NomineeYoung Artist AwardBest Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young ActorHunter Gomez Best Family Feature Film - Drama Salutations from Sweden Happy 4th July to Y'all First time you saw the movie? Plot: The story centers on Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage), an amateur cryptologist with a mechanical engineering degree from MIT and an American history degree from Georgetown who comes from a long line of treasure hunters that believe in the legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and forgotten to all but a few. The first clue was given to Ben's great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas Gates (Jason Earles) by Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, saying simply, "The secret lies with Charlotte." Using sophisticated computer arctic weather models, Ben, with his friend Riley Poole (Bartha) and financier Ian Howe (Bean), finds the wreckage of a Colonial ship, the Charlotte, containing a meerschaum pipe engraved with a riddle. After examining the riddle, Ben deduces that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. While Ben sees gaining access to such a highly guarded artifact as an obstacle, Ian finds no problem in stealing it. In the standoff, Ian escapes and the Charlotte explodes with Ben and Riley inside, nearly killing them. They attempt to warn the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and Dr. Abigail Chase (Kruger) at the National Archives, but no one takes them seriously, believing it to be too heavily guarded to be under any threat. Ben thinks otherwise, however, and decides to steal it to keep it from Ian. Ben and Riley manage to steal the Declaration during a 70th anniversary-gala, just before Ian arrives. Dr. Chase, who is holding a replica, is kidnapped by Ian who thinks she has the real one, and Ben has to engage in a car chase to rescue her. As she will not leave without the Declaration, and Ben will not let her leave with it, she is forced to go along with them. Ben and Riley agree that the only place to hide from the police would be Ben's father's (Voight) house. Despite his father's disbelief in the treasure, Ben manages to reveal an Ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration, referring to characters in the Silence Dogood letters. The coded message in the letters leads them to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where they find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin Gates inside of a brick from the building. Ben examines the back of the Declaration with the glasses, to find another clue. After a short chase, Ian gets the Declaration from Riley and Abigail, and the FBI arrests Ben, who has the glasses.When the FBI attempts to use Ben as bait to get the Declaration back, Ian arranges to have him escape by jumping from the deck of the USS Intrepid, into the Hudson River, a feat not too difficult for Ben as a graduate of the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center. Using Ben's father, Riley, and Abigail as leverage, Ian forces Ben to interpret the clue on the back of the declaration, a reference to a secret chamber under the Trinity Church in New York City. When they arrive at a seemingly dead end, Ben's father makes up another clue to keep Ian going, telling him a lantern is the clue to the Old North Church in Boston, referencing Paul Revere's ride. Ian goes to Boston with his men, leaving everyone else to die in the caverns. After Ian leaves, Ben reveals there is another exit that must be through the treasure room. They find a secret passage into another chamber. To their disappointment, they find it empty, and assume that the treasure was already moved. However, they realize a secondary exit must have been created in case of cave-ins. Ben examines the walls of the room, to find a hole the shape of the pipe from the Charlotte. This lock opens a door into the true treasure room, containing artifacts from all periods of history. When they leave through the second exit and the FBI arrives, Ben discovers that the chief investigator, Special agent Peter Sadusky (Keitel), is a Freemason. Ben proposes to give the treasure to various museums around the world, with credit being given to the entire Gates family and Riley, with Dr. Chase not being penalized for the theft of the Declaration. However, Sadusky says that someone has to go to prison for the theft of the Declaration, so they fly to Boston, where Ian and his men are breaking the lock to gain entry to the Old North Church. FBI agents emerge from hiding and arrest them under charges of "kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." The U.S. government offers Ben and his friends ten percent of the treasure, but Ben only takes one percent and splits it with Riley. With his share, Ben and Abigail buy a mansion once owned by a man who knew Charles Carroll, and Riley buys a red Ferrari 360 Spider. The film ends with Abigail giving Ben a map and when he curiously asks what it leads to she just smiles a suggestive grin.  -Nicholas Cage figuring out the "riddle" on the boat with no context clues or anything was crazy.-Ian turns on Ben very quickly when it went from study the declaration of independance to steal it, and Ben wasn't game.-I always hate this, when Ian shoots the guard with the tazer, he passes out... not what happens with a tazer.-Who knows this much about cyphers?-Good chace, but would've brought more attention.-Why would Ian want to meet in NYC when they were already in Philly?-How would a 200 year old torch hold a flame like that?    Top Five Trivia of the movie: TOP 5On the back of the $100 bill, there is an etching of Independence Hall, and the time on the clock tower reads 2:22.The clock on the back of the early-2000s $100 bill (below) was officially documented as reading 4:10, though it does look more like the hour hand is pointing to the two, suggesting a time of 2:22. When the $100 bill was redesigned in 2009, the time was changed to 10:30; this new bill entered circulation in 2013. There is no evidence that either of these times were chosen for a specific reason.Independence Hall was not harmed in the making of this movie.Many of the scenes set in Philadelphia were shot on location, in such landmarks as Reading Terminal Market and the Franklin Institute. But one notable exception is Independence Hall. Rather than filming in the real building, a National Historical Park, the filmmakers substituted the brick-for-brick replica of Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Walter Knott had a love for American history, and his replica which was constructed between 1964-1966 was based on historical records, photographs, blueprints, and exact measurements. So, there was no need for Nicolas Cage to run around a real "national treasure" when a truly exact replica existed.The house of Pass and StowThe bell now known as the Liberty Bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752, but when the bell was struck to test the sound, its rim cracked. Authorities tried in vain to return the bell, so local founders John Pass and John Stow offered to recast it. Their first attempt didn't break when struck, but the sound was disappointing. So, Pass and Stow recast the bell again, and it was finally installed in the bell tower of the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in June 1753.As Ian discovers, the Liberty Bell no longer hangs in Independence Hall. It has its own pavillion across the street, the Liberty Bell Center, which opened to the public in October 2003.The final expansion of the crack in the Liberty Bell occurred on George Washington's birthday in 1846, and the Centennial Bell replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876.According to the National Park Service, the final expansion of the crack did occur in 1846, and the widening was actually an attempt to prevent futher cracking and restore the bell's tone. By order of the mayor, the bell rang in honor of Washington's birthday and cracked beyond repair.In anticipation of the centennial in 1876, a different bell was produced from four melted-down Revolutionary and Civil War cannons. The Centennial Bell was part of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, later recast to improve the tone, and hung in the bell tower ofIndependence Hall, where it remains today. This engraving from The Illustrated London News, 1876, shows the Centennial Bell "In the Belfry, Independence Hall.      5.  Broadway was called de Heere Street by the Dutch.           Originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, Dutch settlers renamed the route traversing Manhattan Island from south to north de Heere Straat, which means the Gentlemen's Street. Much of modern day Broadway follows these original roads. **TRIPLE LINDY AWARD** **REVIEW AND RATING** TOP 5Stephen:1 Breakfast club2 T23 Sandlot4 Back to the Future5 Mail order brides Chris:1. sandlots2. T23. trick r treat4. rocky horror picture show5. hubie halloween Trey:1) Boondocks Saints2) Mail Order Brides3) Tombstone4) Very bad things5) She out of my league  Tucker:1. T22: Tombstone3: Gross Pointe Blank4: My Cousin Vinny5: John Wick WHAT ARE WE DOING NEXT WEEK? Web: https://theguysreview.simplecast.com/EM: theguysreviewpod@gmail.comIG: @TheGuysReviewPodTW: @The_GuysReviewFB: https://facebook.com/TheGuysReviewPod/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYKXJhq9LbQ2VfR4K33kT9Q Please, Subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts from!! Thank you,-The Guys

In this episode, Dan Holohan shares a story about replacing the boiler on the unique heating system in Boston's Old North Church, as well as some Dead Men tips for a false-water-line bottle.

At almost 300 years old, the Old North Church is the oldest surviving church building in our city and one of the most visited sites along Boston's freedom trail. Right now, a new chapter is being added to those three centuries of local and national history -- the Old North Church has hired its first woman sexton. 

Plus, could video games help your kids' mental health?

Those are the opening lines of the immortal poem, “Paul Revere's Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was one of my father's favorite poems and Those are the opening lines of immortal poem, “Paul Revere's Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was one of my father's favorite poems and because of that I memorized it when I was 7 years old. Revere's task was to ride through the countryside and call out the country-folk to arms to resist British tyranny. As the poem said, Revere was across Boston Harbor in Charlestown to watch the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston to see if the British were going to march out of Boston on land or take boats across the harbor and through Charlestown. It would warn the local militia's which route the British would take. If one lantern was hung, then they would march over land, but two would signal the water and across the harbor. Most of April 18, 1775 was cloudy and rainy in Boston, the visibility was not good. Revere was concerned that he wouldn't be able to see “Old North” as it was known. But late in the evening a cold front moved across the region, and by the time of the signal, the weather cleared and the visibility was excellent. Revere saw the two lanterns clearly across on the opposite shore and rode into history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In today's Black History Month bonus episode, we're trying something a little bit different. This fall and winter, the Old North Church historic site has been hosting a series of conversations about radical Black abolitionist David Walker, and his book An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. As part of their Digital Speaker Series, education director Catherine Matthews moderated a discussion between artist, educator, and activist L'Merchie Frazier and playwright Peter Snoad on December 15. This edition focused on the text of the Appeal as a piece of rhetoric that pointed out the brutality and hypocrisy of slavery and urged the enslaved to rebel by any means necessary. Thanks to our friends at Old North for allowing us to share this panel with you. Original show notes: http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/reading-david-walkers-appeal-the-pen-as-the-sword-episode-240/

Today's Black History Month bonus episode revisits our interview with Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty, author of the new book Mutiny on the Rising Sun: a tragic tale of smuggling, slavery, and chocolate, which uncovers the dark web of interconnections between Old North Church, chocolate, and chattel slavery. Dr. Hardesty will explain why a reputable sea captain would become a smuggler, trafficking in illegal chocolate and enslaved Africans; the risks an 18th century Bostonian would take to provide himself with a competence, or enough money to allow his family to live independently; and what it meant in that era to be of but not from Boston. At the heart of the story is a brutal murder and mutiny on the high seas, illustrating the fundamental brutality of life in the 18th century, but the role of the church (specifically Old North Church) in the social and economic lives of Bostonians is also central to understanding the life and death of Captain Newark Jackson. Original show notes: http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/mutiny-on-the-rising-sun-with-dr-jared-ross-hardesty-episode-234/

Boston's Old North Church was cemented in American History by Paul Revere's famous midnight ride. But now the ringers who play these bells in a centuries-old style are adding a twist.READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bell-ringing-chamber-at-old-north-church

The historic church in Boston is exploring its connections to the 18th Century chocolate trade, publishing materials for students on its history. WBZ's Brooke McCarthy reports:

This week, we're trying something a little bit different. This fall and winter, the Old North Church historic site has been hosting a series of conversations about radical Black abolitionist David Walker, and his book An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. As part of their Digital Speaker Series, education director Catherine Matthews moderated a discussion between artist, educator, and activist L'Merchie Frazier and playwright Peter Snoad on December 15. This edition focused on the text of the Appeal as a piece of rhetoric that pointed out the brutality and hypocrisy of slavery and urged the enslaved to rebel by any means necessary. Thanks to our friends at Old North for allowing us to share this panel with you. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/240/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week, Jake interviews Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty, author of the new book Mutiny on the Rising Sun: a tragic tale of smuggling, slavery, and chocolate, which uncovers the dark web of interconnections between Old North Church, chocolate, and chattel slavery. Dr. Hardesty will explain why a reputable sea captain would become a smuggler, trafficking in illegal chocolate and enslaved Africans; the risks an 18th century Bostonian would take to provide himself with a competence, or enough money to allow his family to live independently; and what it meant in that era to be of but not from Boston. At the heart of the story is a brutal murder and mutiny on the high seas, illustrating the fundamental brutality of life in the 18th century, but the role of the church (specifically Old North Church) in the social and economic lives of Bostonians is also central to understanding the life and death of Captain Newark Jackson. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/234/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

For those of who are new to The Payneful Truth, every month or so I have a Q&A style conversation with a friend. It's usually one of the partner-only posts, but this month I thought I'd made it a freebie for everyone on the list. This month it's with my good friend Marty Sweeney, director of Matthias Media in the USA, and a pastor at Old North Church in Canfield, Ohio. We talk about some new books in the pipeline from Matthias Media, about an extraordinary new book not published by Matthias Media, about whether reading is relevant anymore anyway, and about what Marty has learned about building a ‘discipling' culture at his church over the last ten years.The text below is a shorter, edited transcript of our conversation. The attached audio version is considerably longer, with plenty of extra diversions and discussions.Tony: Let me start with a simple one: what are you reading at the moment?Marty: Well, my fun bedside book is the letters between two American founding fathers (as we call them): Thomas Jefferson, and our second president John Adams. They corresponded over the last 14 years of their life, and wrote these exquisite letters back and forth. Their dialogue is just amazing, and one of their big topics was analyzing what true Christianity is and where it's been corrupted. Of course, they would say we've corrupted it! But anyway, that's been a fun read.On the more overtly Christian side, one of my jobs at Matthias Media is to read a lot of manuscripts for publication. And I've recently been reading one by Peter Jensen. We don't know what we're going to call the book (perhaps The Life of Faith), but it is basically a systematic theology. And I just was really encouraged by it. Unlike many of you over there, I never had the opportunity to sit under Peter's teaching, lecturing or sermons. Just to sit for a week and be saturated in the way he threads together doctrine—boy, that was really good. Lord willing, Peter's book will be out sometime in 2022.I also just finished another manuscript—this one by our mutual friend, Ian Carmichael—on the topic of busyness. It's based on some talks he did at his local church, and it's a really helpful look at what busyness really is and how we should think about it in our lives.Today I started on a new book by Craig Hamilton that has just been released by Matthias Media (one of the few I haven't read). It's a follow-up to his really, really helpful book, Wisdom in Leadership. This one's called Wisdom in Leadership Development. I'm only three chapters in, but finding it very stimulating so far.But Tony, let me turn it back on you on the subject of reading. I'm working with a young man at our church. He's a lovely man of God, striving hard to grow, and he's got a normal job that keeps him busy. He's just had his first child.But he recently said to me: “I'm not a reader. I hardly ever read. And I do most of my learning through podcasts or documentaries.”So I'm curious: How much do we allow for that as we teach and train people? How much do we allow for the new technology, and the new way of people's lives? Or should we insist on reading?Tony: I think my first reaction would be that the new technologies and possibilities are enriching and are a bonus, but that they can't replace what happens and how you learn when you engage in long-form reading. And that's because of the way reading works, the way it unfolds an argument. It can unfold an argument at a length and depth that a podcast or a video just can't do (or a sermon for that matter!).They are complementary. Because if you think about it, that's the way learning and growth works in our Christian lives.We hear the word coming to us on the lips of other people—in sermons, in Bible studies, in discussion. But then there's the time when you sit, and read, and reflect, and chew over the word of the Biblein a way that you can't do in a conversation, or by listening to a sermon or a podcast or YouTube clip.And so certainly with the guys and girls that we're training at Campus Bible Study, we're trying to help them learn to be readers and to learn by reading. I'm not a purist who thinks, “We've got to get back to books, and get rid of these ridiculous modern technologies”. It's nothing like that. But to exclude reading, or to think that it can all be achieved without it, scrubs out a massive and irreplaceable medium for learning and growth.Marty: You wrote a resource a couple of years ago, a kind of book-course hybrid called The Generosity Project. It has a book with the content in it, but also videos you can play in your small group (which mirror the content of the book). And I tried a little experiment. I would read through a section in the book and highlight and note the key points. And then I would watch the video—and it was interesting how different things stuck out to me in the video. So yes, I think there's something really healthy about using both forms of communication, and getting the best out of both.Tony: I think there's a lot of potential in that kind of format. In fact (as you know!) we're thinking that this sort of multi-faceted resource will become a regular thing. We're thinking of calling them ‘learn together'books: a book or resource that is not so much for reading on your own but for helping you learn with others in a small group, using a blend of different inputs and activities. There's the conversational, interactive, inductive process of working on the Bible together and talking about what it means for us; then there's the video-based input that provides summaries, teaching and illustrative examples; and then there's also slabs of text to read and reflect on (whether during the group time or afterwards). All part of ‘learning together', and all in the one book (with the videos available free online).So far, the feedback on The Generosity Project—which was kind of the prototype—has been very encouraging. We're going to do a similar sort of thing with the new Two Ways to Live training resources that will be coming out next year.Marty: I have a fun question to ask: what is the book you wish you'd written? I've heard authors say that that's how they endorse a book: “This is the book I wish I'd written”. I'm curious what you would say.Tony: Actually, I have a golf book here on my desk called The Elements of Scoring: a master's guide to the art of scoring your best when you're not playing your best by Raymond Floyd. I really wished I'd written that because that would mean I'd be as good a golfer as Raymond Floyd!But the other book that's on my desk at the moment that I'm really enjoying and learning from is David Seccombe's book, The Gospel of the Kingdom: Jesus' revolutionary message. I guess it's not so much that I wish I'd written it, but that I'm really glad that David has!There's been a lot of debate recently about the gospel. In fact, in The Payneful Truth we've had a bunch of posts about that subject and where apologetics also fits in. And of course, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to summarize and convey the gospel (as part the new editions of the Two Ways to Live material).I'm convinced more than ever about the need to integrate the atoning death of Christ, by which we are forgiven and justified, with the glorious resurrection of Christ as the Lord and King and Judge of all, who now offers forgiveness, to whom we now joyfully submit, and who will return in glory.For many people, it seems like it has to be one or the other. A gospel of forgiveness of sins through the cross, or a ‘gospel of the kingdom' that focuses on the resurrection and the hope of a new creation. The ‘gospel of the kingdom' people often criticize traditional evangelicalism for being too individualistic and making it just about the salvation of souls. “It's really about a whole new kingdom, and a new creation, and the restoration of all things, etc. etc.” And before you know it, the gospel is all about the renewal of the creation—and the idea that Jesus died as a substitute on the cross for your sins has become a footnote on page 27.David has succeeded in showing how in the New Testament itself, these two aspects are not ‘competitors' but part of the same gospel proclamation. It's brilliantly done, and really important for thinking about evangelism here and now.Marty: I just read it with the apprentices at our church. I would say it's as paradigm-changing for me as reading Goldsworthy's Gospel and Kingdom about 20 years ago. It's a fantastic book.Tony: Marty, can I swing it back to you? One of the things that's encouraged me in working with you over many years is the work that you're doing at Old North Church in Canfield, in Ohio—as a kind of laboratory of the ‘trellis and vine' discipleship ministry we've been talking about for so long. You've been at Old North now for…?Marty: Ten years next week.Tony: As you look back, what have been the key things that you've learned about trying to actually implement this kind of ministry philosophy in a church?Marty: God has been very kind. As I reflect back, I am grateful to have gained a little bit of wisdom. I remember hearing Don Carson once say (as a teacher): “Until people get tired of hearing you say the same thing and roll their eyes, you haven't said it enough”. I think I've learned this over the years. You have to keep saying it again and again. So I've taught The Course of Your Life many times, and I keep being surprised (although I shouldn't be) how much I need to keep saying it all again and again and again. I shouldn't be surprised—God keeps having to say the same things to me again and again.So one lesson has been: to spread a new culture of discipling, you have to keep saying the same thing—maybe in the same ways, sometimes in different ways—again and again. And this has meant that, over time, we've come to have a new shared language at Old North. This has been more important than I ever would have thought ten years ago.The other thing I would say is that I've learned the value of breaking down the distinction between what we might call ‘personal Christian ethics' and ‘training in ministry'. What we once might have said is, “You teach people to be godly Christians, to live ethically, and then later on you might train them to be involved in a ministry”.But that's separating two things that belong together. The ethical response to being a Christian is to make disciples. And (to go back to my first point), I've been saying that again and again and again.And perhaps one last thing. I've learned about the need to be patient, to hold people's hands a little more, to help and encourage them over time to implement or execute or whatever you want to say it. I have tended to think, “If I get the message right, and the shared language right, and we teach that repeatedly—then people will go and do it”. But that's not often the case, even for the best of us. And I put myself in that camp! We need encouragement and help and support to put it into practice.So someone who really ‘gets' it still needs help. They still need someone to remind them, “Hey, Beau—why don't you go over there? There's a newcomer. Would you mind following him up?” Something as simple as that. “Could you meet up with this person who's really struggling during this season of life, and read the Bible with them?”Things like that. I think I have underestimated how much we need to do that.Tony: That's really helpful, Marty. It's funny, isn't it? We've heard it 47 times and know what we should do. And yet strangely, we don't do it. We still need each other to keep reminding and encouraging and exhorting each other to love other people in the gospel.And that's what you've done for me (and hopefully our readers and listeners) over the past few minutes. Thank you.PSHope you enjoyed that little chat. Next week (God willing) it's back to finish the series on faith, love and hope as the essence of the Christian life. If you'd like to catch up on that series (and read its exciting conclusion!), you can become a partner/subscriber very easily (and very freely for the first 60 days) by clicking this button and signing up for the free trial: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe

The oldest church bells in the U.S. hang inside the Old North Church's steeple in Boston. They have a special ringing event for Independence Day and WBUR's Andrea Shea has more on their quirky, historic hobby.

Celebrating Boston's historic role during the early days of the Revolutionary War. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nina Zannieri, Executive Director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association which manages the Paul Revere House, talks with us about about the life and legacy of Paul Revere, the Midnight Ride, and Revere's entreprenuerial spirit.

The Rev. Dr. Matthew Cadwell '95, on his journey from Scandinavian Studies and Religion major (Phi Beta Kappa) at Gustavus to Vicar-in-Charge at the venerable Old North Church in Boston, the impact of Covid-19 on Old North, his “theological hero,” the English Christian socialist F. D. Maurice, and the history of and his vision for Old North's congregation. Click here for a transcript.

Never been on the freedom trail? No worried, neither have we! Join Beth and Amelia this week as we take a look at 4 burial grounds along the famous Freedom Trail, King's Chapel Burial Ground, The Granary Burying Ground, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, and the crypt's at The Old North Church!

On this episode of Out of Office: A Travel Podcast, Kiernan and Ryan discuss Boston’s biggest attractions, from educational walks to lovely parks, stellar museums to historic graveyards. And of course, what’s a trip to Boston without taking in a baseball game at Fenway and belting out “Sweet Caroline”? Things we talked about in today’s podcast: Freedom Trail https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/  Boston Common https://www.boston.gov/parks/boston-common  Public Garden https://www.boston.gov/parks/public-garden  Duck Statues https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/make-way-for-ducklings-statue  Ether Monument https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/donate/ether-monument/  Granary Burying Ground https://www.bostonpreservation.org/advocacy-project/granary-burying-ground  Old State House/Boston Massacre site https://www.nps.gov/bost/learn/historyculture/osh.htm  Paul Revere House https://www.paulreverehouse.org/  Old North Church https://www.oldnorth.com/  USS Constitution https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/  Bunker Hill Monument https://www.nps.gov/bost/learn/historyculture/bhm.htm  National Park Black Heritage Trail https://www.nps.gov/boaf/virtual-black-heritage-trail-tour.htm  Beacon Hill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Hill,_Boston  North End https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_End,_Boston  Museum of Fine Arts https://www.mfa.org/  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum https://www.gardnermuseum.org/  Symphony Hall https://www.bso.org/brands/symphony-hall/about-us/historyarchives/the-history-of-symphony-hall.aspx  Little Boy saying “Wow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZetePo1VhYo  Fenway Park https://www.mlb.com/redsox/ballpark/tours  John Adams https://www.hbo.com/john-adams  The Golden Pinecone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_State_House 

Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge discusses the history of Paul Revere and the Old North Church. The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. The Church was built in 1723 and is the oldest standing church in Boston.  It is part of the Freedom Trail. www.oldnorth.com

Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge discusses the Old North Church. Built in 1723, it is the oldest church built in Boston. Old North – or Christ Church in the City of Boston, to give it its official name – is the oldest church building in Boston. It was designed by William Price, who probably copied its architecture from depictions of London churches by Sir Christopher Wren. The church’s first service was held in 1723. The belfry steeple didn’t arrive until 1740, and the bells – they are still there – were installed in 1745, after being shipped from England. A 15-year old Paul Revere signed on as one of the original seven bell ringers. Thirty years later, Revere arranged the famous lantern signal from the steeple that warned of the British and kicked off the American Revolution – “One if by land, and two if by sea,” in the words of the poem by Longfellow.

Boston Road Trips And New England Day Trips Joan and Martin McEntee of Trailblazertours.com join me on the podcast and YouTube channel to plot out four amazing routes to road trip this summer and fall. A point of comedy is that they are clearly from the UK and recording from Boston. I am clearly American and recording from England. It's a bit of a country swap and a pleasant surprise! In normal times Joan and Martin would be divine small group tours both on foot and via luxury vehicles. Now, in the unusual time we are in, they have offered their resources to listeners of Travel Radio Podcast. They would love to hear from you and give you tips for your Boston travel itinerary. BOSTON PROPER SIGHTS: We start with a quintessential Boston tour starting on Acorn street and Beacon Hill. Granary Burial Ground on the Freedom trail offers 16 stops with points featuring the traditional cast of characters from America's founding. Moving to Back Bay and Copley Square this spot offers a great time reflect on the changes of Boston over time. The building in Boston are nearly four centuries old and often surprises Europeans. They simply don't expect to find so many old buildings in Boston. Next at the the Paul Revere house (1860 museum) you can see the origin point of Paul's famous Boston ride with the lanterns. Then in then North End you will have to choose between the best of Boston's Italian Pastry shops. A debate rages... Who has the best cannoli? We are a Mike's Pastry family but I wouldn't say no to a Modern cannoli if you put it in front of me! Instagram shots must be taken on the North End tour with a photo in front of the Paul Revere statue and the Old North Church where Paul Revere hung his lanterns at the start of the American Revolution. Faneuil & Quincy Hall are great places to find yourself at lunchtime. There are choices from everyone including seafood and Boston CLAM CHOWDER! Designed as a meeting and market place Faneuil Hall still operates in that capacity. It is a tourist center and hub with shops on the ground floor and National Park on the top floor. This is a quick stop but worth seeing. This is also a place to watch street dancers and other performers. Boston Harbor is the place to go for beautiful views. Take the Boston Harbor Walk for miles of trails hugging the harbor along the sea looking into the city. There are lots of places to stop for coffee and drinks along the way. At the top of the walk there is the Boston Tea Party exhibit on a docked boat. Learn about how sailors lived on board. Guests can even throw tea into the Boston Harbor. Have your own Boston Teas Party! Additionally, there is an excellent children's museum next door (Boston Children’s Museum). It is not a historic destination but it will burn calories and keep the children happy! Day Trip #1: Leave Boston and drive North! This route goes north of Boston via the highway until Manchester By The Sea and then if goes scenic! Enjoy this route through tiny fishing villages and find yourself in Gloucester Harbor. A board walk will lead you to the Fisherman Statue memorializing all the fisherman of Gloucester lost at sea. Take Atlantic Ave, a coastal back road offering a sea views and even twin lighthouses to Rockport. Once in Rockport you can see a a famous scene from Finding Nemo (think Dentist office). There is also a road named Bearskin Rock. It is a fine min stroll full or art, antique, coffee shops, and outdoor dining! Point back to Boston and stop in Salem. Choose from three different museums telling the stories of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem With Museum feature mannequins and audio effects. They are dated but creepy! Everything is walkable from Salem Harbor to include the House of the Seven Gables. This is Nathanial Hawthorn’s birthplace and visitor center. Take back roads to Marblehead and Castle Rock. Choose to take the Revere Beach Parkway for a last coastal route back to the city. There is also a ferry from Boston to Salem and Salem city center is a short walk from the port. Day Trip 2: Head South of Boston to Plymouth! In Quincy, John Adams had three presidential houses. This includes an unofficial Presidential Library holding 10,000 books belonging to the family built by John Quincy Adams’s son Charles. The rangers on location also offer excellent insight. Have you heard of the Army of Two, the Bates Sisters? If you go to the Scituate Harbor and Lighthouse you will see where two young girls fooled the British Army into think the militia was approaching. One drum and one whistle is all you need! You will also drive past the ORIGINAL Dunkin Donuts! Duxbury is a great stop with one of the oldest wooden bridges in the country. There is a great place for lobster rolls and another for pastries. In Plymouth, the Mayflower II is usually on display. But due to Covid-19 it is postponed. It is an exact replica of the original. It will boggle your mind that they were able to fit so many people on this ship in the original sailing. Plymouth Plantation is a replica village. The actors do an amazing job. At 3pm your kids can enlist into army! Plymouth Rock is much smaller in person that you think. But it is worth seeing. There are several statues worth seeing in the area including a memorial to the Forefather. This is the largest granite statue in the US. If you are a descendent of the Mayflower settlers you can go to the Mayflower museum and have your lineage traced. In Lexington you will find the Minute Man Statue. It is the origin of Paul Revere’s ride and the starting location of the American Revolutionary War. Five mins walk away is a home that John Hancock lived in. The Alcott House is also in Lexington. You can see the house where Little Women was written. From here you can walk to Concord and visit the Paul Revere capture sight. Concord is a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting! The Main Street Cafe is a great place for a bite to eat. Make sure to check out the cheese shop and find out when the big wheel of cheese is arriving from Italy. You won’t want to miss it! Lastly. We head back towards Boston and stop at Walden Pond. Walden Pond is notably famous for Henry Walden Thorough’s 2.5 year residence. He built a cabin and spent his days there writing his book. This is the place to go for autumn/fall! BOSTON VIRTUAL TOURS: You can visually walk through Boston with Martin. Check trailblazertours.com for their Boston Virtual Tours schedule. Guests are welcome to ask questions while Martin is on sight in Boston. Tours are mostly on the weekends. Special Guest: Martin and Joan McEntee.

Het is een symbool van vrijheid geworden, de Old North Church in Boston. Op deze plek, dat nu deel uitmaakt van de Freedom Trail, werden namelijk de rebellen tijdens de Amerikaanse onafhankelijkheidsoorlog gewaarschuwd voor naderende Britse troepen.Uit nieuw onderzoek blijkt echter dat die vrijheid slechts voor enkelen gold: de kerk werd gebouwd door slavensmokkelaars, die ook in Suriname actief waren. Nederlandse historica Ramona Negrón werkte mee aan dit onderzoek en is te gast.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Jennifer Braceras and Steve Kerrigan joined us for our political round table. Braceras is a political columnist, senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum, and a former Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Kerrigan is President and co-founder of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, and former CEO of the DNC. Charlie Sennott discussed the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Sennott is a WGBH News Analyst and CEO of the GroundTruth Project. MIT economist and Affordable Care Act architect Jonathan Gruber discussed Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare For All plan, and the possible ways she might finance it.  We opened our lines to callers to hear your thoughts on Medicare For All.  Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price, hosts of WGBH’s All Rev’d Up, discussed newly uncovered links to slavery at Boston’s Old North Church, as well as rapper Kanye West's latest gospel-inspired album, “Jesus Is King.” TV critic Bob Thompson reviewed the latest season of Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman,” and commemorated the 10 year anniversary of the Balloon Boy debacle.  We re-opened lines to callers to hear your thoughts on whether Halloween ought to be moved to the last Saturday of October. 

If you’ve ever taken a walking tour of Boston’s North End, or if you’ve talked to the old timers in the neighborhood, you’ve probably heard stories about the network of so-called secret pirate tunnels or smugglers’ tunnels that connects the wharves to the basements of houses, Old North Church, and even crypts in Copp’s Hill burying ground. Sometimes the tunnels are attributed to a Captain Gruchy, who’s often called a pirate or a smuggler, and who is portrayed as a shadowy figure. It doesn’t take much research to debunk this version of the story, and yet there is historical evidence for tunnels under the streets of the North End. This week, we’ll take a look at that evidence and try to separate fact from fiction. Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/143

Episode Transcript: My name is Tanya Marsh and you’re listening to Death, et seq. We’ve been talking about funerals a lot on this podcast so far, and I wanted to switch gears this week and talk about one of my favorite topics – cemeteries. I love cemeteries. As my friends and family will attest, I am a semi-professional cemetery tourist. When I visit a new place, I want to check out the historic cemeteries. When I visit a place that I’ve been dozens of times, I still want to check out the cemeteries. So in a new series that I’m going to call “Cemetery Tourism,” I’ll be looking at different clusters of cemeteries that share similar characteristics or a similar history. I’m going to start the series in the Northeastern United States, in two of our earliest urban centers — New York City and Boston. Both of these cities were founded in the mid-1600s, and their early cemeteries share some common characteristics, but they also differed in important ways because of the people who founded those two cities. American cemeteries are different from cemeteries anywhere else in the world, for a couple of reasons. In the colonial era, we were obviously heavily influenced by the law of England and the social norms that had been established there and carried here. The England of the 17th century had an established church – the Church of England. The theology of the Church of England placed great importance on burial in consecrated ground. So the law of England reflected the assumption that all people in good standing with the church and entitled to burial within the church would be buried in their local parish churchyard. There were people that weren’t in good standing, or members of other religions, so allowances had to be made for them too, but the vast majority of people were buried in the local parish churchyard owned by the Church of England. That’s just how it was set up. But colonial America was a fairly diverse place. For example, Puritan colonists from England of course settled Massachusetts Bay Colony, while a more diverse group of English, Dutch, and German immigrants settled the former New Amsterdam, there were all kinds of ethnic groups and faiths on William Penn’s land, and the English Virginia Company established settlements focused on economics rather than religious liberty. Each of the colonies was different from the English system, but they were also each different from each other. These realities forced Americans to innovate. Massachusetts established (and still retains) a law that each town must create a burying ground for the use of residents and strangers. Unlike the English system, these are secular cemeteries, owned and managed by the government. In the densely populated cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, cemeteries were established downtown and despite practices designed to maximize the capacity of cemeteries, soon became overcrowded. In the Chesapeake, where the population was more widely dispersed, family burying grounds were established in addition to more traditional churchyards. Although the location of American burials differed from the uniform English precedent, other aspects of the process were the same during colonial times. Remains were wrapped in a shroud or encased in a wood coffin, then placed in the earth, a family tomb, or a mausoleum. Americans originally followed other European Christian customs—most graves were not individually memorialized and many contained the remains of more than one person. American disposition practices shifted after the Civil War. Embalming was rarely practiced before the war. During the war, a crude method of embalming was used to stabilize the remains of wealthier men, primarily on the Union side, so they could be sent home for burial. After the Civil War, undertakers trained in embalming evolved into funeral directors. Into the twentieth century, death moved from the home to the hospital; and the ceremonies surrounding death moved from the parlor to the funeral parlor. Undertaking had once been a complementary profession for carpenters—they could build the coffin and transport the remains to the cemetery. But the Industrial Revolution moved casket production from small workshops to factories, particularly after World War II. “Modern business principles” were applied to create modern cemeteries, owned by for-profit companies in many states, larger in scale and designed to minimize the costs of maintenance. These companies benefited from laws that gave great deference to cemetery owners—traditionally families, religious organizations and municipalities—to establish their own rules and regulations. Modern cemeteries adopted rules that required concrete and/or steel vaults or grave liners that would encase the coffin and prevent the uneven terrain that follows grave collapse. These companies also adopted rules that limited graves to a single interment. The cumulative effect is a very different set of practices than existed before the Civil War. Nearly all modern graves in the United States are dedicated in perpetuity to the remains of a single individual, memorialized with a tombstone. On today’s episode, I’ll talk about the history and development of cemeteries in New York City and Boston. If you’re interested in photographs and maps, be sure to check out the show notes at the podcast’s website – www.deathetseq.com. The Dutch first settled New Amsterdam, then just the southern tip of Manhattan, in 1624. A detailed city map called the Castello Plan was created in 1660 – it shows virtually every structure that existed in New Amsterdam at that time. In 1664, four English frigates sailed into New Amsterdam’s harbor and demanded the surrender of New Netherlands. Articles of Capitulation were signed that September and in 1665, New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as New York City. The settlement was named for the Duke of York, the brother of the English King Charles II who later became King James II. During most of the 17th century, even after the English took over, the Reformed Dutch Church was the dominant religious authority in New Amsterdam/New York. There were scattered Congregational, Presbyterian and Lutheran churches in the region, as well as Quakers, Catholics, and a few Jews. With the English in 1665, however, also came the established Church of England. One of the first significant cemeteries in New York City was established in the 1630s on the west side of Broadway, a little north of Morris Street. It was referred to as the “Old Graveyard” In 1656, there was a petition to “divide the Old Graveyard which is wholly in ruins, into lots to be built upon, and to make another Graveyard south of the Fort.” Apparently it persisted until at least 1665, when a collection was made to repair the graveyard because it was “very open and unfenced, so that the hogs root in the same.” By 1677, however, the graveyard had been cut up into four building lots and sold at auction to the highest bidder. There is no record regarding where the graves from this “Old Graveyard” were moved, but construction on the site more than a century later uncovered “a great many skulls and other relics of humanity,” so it sounds like perhaps they weren’t moved at all. Some things in Poltergeist are real, people. In 1662, the Dutch established a new burial ground on Broadway, on a parcel that was then located outside the city’s gates. That burial ground became a part of the Trinity churchyard when Trinity Church was established in thirty years later. In 1693, the New York Assembly passed an act to build several Episcopal churches in New York City and “all the inhabitants were compelled to support the Church of England, whatever might be their religious opinion.” In 1696, a plot of land stretching 310 feet from Rector Street to the Dutch burial ground that had been established on Broadway in 1662 was acquired by the Episcopalians and the Charter of Trinity Church was issued on May 6, 1697. The charter declared: “[Trinity Church] situate in and near the street called the Broadway, within our said city of New York, and the ground thereunto adjoining, enclosed and used for a cemetery or church-yard, shall be the parish church, and church-yard of the parish of Trinity Church … and the same is hereby declared to be forever separated and dedicated to the service of God, and to be applied thereunto for the use and behalf of the inhabitants … within our said city of New York, in communion with our said Protestant Church of England.” By the time of the Revolution, the churchyard at Trinity, including the old portion that had been the Dutch burial ground, was said to contain 160,000 graves. In 1847 a proposal to extend Albany Street to connect it with Pine Street would have disturbed the northern portion of the Trinity Church churchyard, part of the 1662 Dutch burial ground. A government report advocated against the extension: “[The burial ground] was established by the Dutch on their first settlement... It is nearly a century older than the other sections of the yard. It was originally a valley, about thirty feet lower at its extreme depth than the present surface, and has undergone successive fillings, as the density of interments rendered it necessary, to raise the land until it reached the present surface: so that the earth now, to a depth of several feet below the original, and thence to the present time of interment, is in truth filled with human remains, or rather composed of human ashes. The bodies buried there were [approximately 30,000 to 40,000] persons of several generations, and of all ages, sects and conditions, including a large number of the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary War, who died whilst in British captivity; and almost every old family that is or ever was in this city, has friends or connections lying there.” In an 1892 guidebook to New York City, Moses King wrote: "Only the established and powerful corporations of Trinity and a few other churches have been able to resist the demands of modern life and business for the ground once sacred to the dead. Hundreds of acres [in Manhattan], now covered by huge buildings or converted into public thoroughfares, were at some time burial-places; over ninety of which have been thus existed, and passed away. Of most of them even the location has been forgotten…” Trinity Churchyard still resides on Broadway at Rector Street, in lower Manhattan, two blocks from Federal Hall, the building where George Washington was sworn in, the “room where it happened” in the very early days of the Republic, and the New York Stock Exchange. The Anglican St. Paul’s Chapel, established on Broadway between Fulton and Vesey Streets around 1766, and its surrounding churchyard still remains in the shadow of the World Trade Center. Many of the other cemeteries that once resided in lower Manhattan are relics of memory. For example: • The Middle Dutch Church, on the east side of Nassau Street between Cedar and Liberty Streets, was surrounded by a burial ground beginning in 1729. The bodies were removed sometime after 1844. The North Dutch Church on William Street between Fulton and Ann Streets had an adjacent burial ground from 1769 to 1875. • The French burial ground on the northeast corner of Nassau and Pine Streets, extending north to Cedar Street (1704-1830); • The Presbyterian churchyard on the north side of Wall Street opposite the end of New Street (1717-1844); • The Old Brick Presbyterian Church graveyard on Beekman Street between Chatham and Nassau Streets (1768-1856); • The cemetery located at Pearl, Duane, and Rose Streets which was leased from the city as early as 1765 but not used as a cemetery until after the Revolution; and • A Lutheran Church and adjacent burial ground on south Pearl Street, a site which had become a vegetable market by 1706. A cemetery on the south side of Houston Street between Eldridge and Stanton Street was used from 1796 to 1851 as the Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery, to provide excess capacity for the crowded churchyards. The bodies were disinterred and removed around 1874. Meanwhile, Puritan colonists from England founded Boston in 1630. Unlike the religious and ethnic diversity that could be found in New Amsterdam/New York City during this time period, the Puritan leaders of Boston punished religious dissenters. Baptist minister Obadiah Holmes was publicly whipped in 1651 and Mary Dyer was hanged in Boston Common in 1660 for repeatedly defying a law banning Quaker from being in Massachusetts Bay Colony. However, prosperity in Boston led to the development of a more diverse community that included Catholics and Quakers and other groups that were initially persecuted by the Puritans. Eventually the Puritans began to accept that they could not have a unified church and state. Puritan burying grounds were often located adjacent to the town’s meeting house. Headstones were expensive and many of the earliest were imported from England. Most often, early burials were marked with wood markers or primitive stones, if they were marked at all. The Puritan burying ground was a utilitarian space simply used to bury the dead. Puritans did not visit graves or maintain them. They were often very disorganized. Graves were tightly clustered and gravestones were often broken or buried as the cemetery became more populated. In many cases, graves were dug deep enough to accommodate 12 or more coffins placed on top of each other to within five feet of the surface. Recall that in the 1650s, there was a petition to remove the Old Graveyard in New Amsterdam because hogs were rooting around. In Boston, the early burying grounds were used as communal space to graze cattle. The oldest burying ground in Boston is King’s Chapel which is not, as the name suggests, the churchyard for the adjacent King’s Chapel. What was originally simply known as the “Burying Ground” was established in 1630 and was Boston’s only cemetery for 30 years. King’s Chapel is quite small, less than half an acre. It was used as a burial ground for 200 years, but estimates are that there are only about 1,500 burials. There are only 615 gravestones and 29 tabletop tomb markers remaining. Most graves include about four burials on top of one another. Excess remains were excavated and the bones were deposited in the charnel house that can still be seen on the edge of the burying ground. A charnel house would be a very familiar idea for the English colonists because English churchyards were similarly overcrowded. When the cemetery authorities ran out of ground for fresh burials, older burials were simply dug up and the bones were placed in a communal pit in the consecrated ground, or catacombs beneath the church. If you’ve visited any European churches, you’re probably familiar with this idea. Although the idea of the charnel house was a feature of English churchyards, King’s Chapel Burying Ground was not a churchyard. It was a community burial ground and included people of all faiths, not just Puritans. It was more like a municipal, secular cemetery than a churchyard. In all of the Boston burying grounds, it was common to have a headstone, highly decorated with the name and sometimes the biography of the deceased, and a footstone with only the name of the deceased. Graves were placed so that the feet of the deceased faced east. This was believed to have been done so that when Christ returns, the dead can simply stand up and walk to Jerusalem. King’s Chapel also includes 29 underground tombs which consist of a burial room made of brick and covered with earth and grass. These are marked with box structures, but the boxes are just markers, not the tombs themselves. When the tombs needed to be opened, the box was removed and the entrance dug up. In the early 1700s, 24 tombs were built along the back fence and in 1738, 23 tombs were built along Tremont Street. These are actually underneath the present-day sidewalk of Tremont Street and their markets and entrances are inside the fence. King’s Chapel Burying Ground also includes a curious structure that looks like the top of a tomb or pit. That’s actually a subway fresh air ventilator shaft that was constructed in 1896. Human remains in that portion of the burying ground were relocated during the construction. It is called King’s Chapel Burying Ground today because in 1686, Governor Edmund Andros wanted to build an Anglican church in Puritan Boston. This was an unpopular idea, so no one would sell him any land. So Andros built his church in part of the existing Burying Ground, right over existing graves. As you can imagine, this didn’t make Andros any more popular with the Puritans of Boston. After King’s Chapel was consecrated, people began referring to the adjacent cemetery as King’s Chapel Burying Ground, which also couldn’t have made the Puritans very happy. In 1660, King’s Chapel was ordered closed “for some convenient season” and new burials directed to the second burying ground. Of course tombs were installed decades later and grave burials in King’s Chapel Burying Ground weren’t outlawed until 1826, although they continued until 1896. The second burial ground in Boston was established in 1659 when the Selectment of Boston purchased ½ acre in the northern end of town. Originally called the North Burying Place or the North Burying Ground, the parcel was expanded in 1711 and 1809. It is now known as Copp’s Hill Burying Ground and is located just down the street from the Old North Church. The City of Boston has counted 2,230 grave markers and 228 tombs in Copp’s Hill but the exact number of burials is unknown. Estimates range from 8,000 to 10,000. This includes an estimate of over 1,000 unmarked graves of African and African American slaves. The third burying ground in Boston is located just down Tremont Street from King’s Chapel. Also established in 1660, the Old Granary Burying Ground is the final resting place of many important figures from the Revolutionary War including Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and the men killed in the Boston Massacre. Benjamin Franklin’s parents are also buried here. Granary is located on 2 acres and contains 2,345 gravestones. In 1922, it was estimated that there were 8,030 burials over its 260 year history. Originally, Granary Burying Ground was part of the Boston Common, which then extended up Tremont Street. It was originally called the South Burying Ground, then renamed the Middle Burying Ground when one was established further south. It was finally renamed Granary Burying Ground because of the 12,000 bushel grain storage building built in 1737 to provide food for the poor and called the granary. The granary was moved to Dorchester in 1809 to make room for Park Street Church. The final colonial burial ground that I’ll mention is the Central Burying Ground, which was established in 1754 on 1.4 acres at the corner of Boston Common on Boylston Street between Charles and Tremont Streets. There are only about 487 markers remaining, but records indicate that approximately 5,000 people are buried in Central Burying Ground, including many unmarked graves of paupers from the Alms House and inmates from the House of Industry. There are some unique tombs visible in Central Burying Ground because they are surrounded by a “moat” on both sides. The first tomb is thought to have been built in 1771. 149 tombs were built on the four sides of the burying ground and nearly half of the burials were in the tombs. But in 1836, Boylston Street was widened and 69 tombs were destroyed – the owners moved the remains either to the 60 tombs in the Dell or to the then-new Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. In 1895, the subway was being constructed along Boylston Street disturbing the remains of approximately 2,000 people. They were reburied in a mass grave in the northeast corner of Central Burying Ground. The last grave burial took placed in 1856, but tomb burials continued until the 1950s. Until 1810, Central Burying Ground was called South Burying Ground, which is when Granary was renamed. Identifying burying grounds by their relative location to one another is clearly a bad strategy, as the constant re-naming of cemeteries in Boston demonstrates. So I’ve described the first four cemeteries in Boston and the most famous cemetery in colonial New York – Trinity. The four colonial cemeteries in Boston were all owned by the government and non-sectarian, even though their practices resembled those of churchyards in England. New York, on the other hand, was dominated by churchyards in colonial days and the early days of the Republic. The challenges that these cemeteries faced in the beginning of the 1800s was similar in both cities, but the way that the cemeteries were changed as a result was very different. All four cemeteries I described are still in the heart of downtown Boston. In lower Manhattan, only Trinity and St. Paul’s Chapel remain. The backlash against the colonial cemeteries was triggered by their overuse and their general lack of organization and maintenance. In 1807, an Englishman named John Lambert visited New York. In his diary, he referred to Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel as “handsome structures” but added: "The adjoining churchyards, which occupy a large space of ground railed in from the street and crowded with tombstones, are far from being agreeable spectacles in such a populous city. … One would think there was a scarcity of land in America to see such large pieces of ground in one of the finest streets of New York occupied by the dead. The continual view of such a crowd of white and brown tombstones and monuments as is exhibited in the Broadway must tend very much to depress the spirits." Some burial places had been closed and relocated in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. But the Nineteenth Century significantly accelerated that process. Overcrowded church yards and vaults (referred to as “intra-mural” burial grounds) were criticized by public health officials as “injurious to health, offensive to the senses, [and] repulsive to the taste of a refined age.” In New York City, the precipitating event to efforts to halt intra-mural burial was the Yellow Fever epidemic that began in late July 1822 on Rector Street. Reported cases spread quickly and when the first cases on Broadway were reported, public health officials feared that if the disease was not contained, it would quickly engulf City Hall and force the government into exile. On August 7th, the Board of Health ordered that an area around Rector Street be quarantined by the erection of fences. The quarantine area had to be expanded quickly. Searching for a cause of the epidemic and an effective way to halt the spread of the disease, the Board of Health began to panic. Prevailing medical thought of the day blamed epidemics on “miasma” and “infected air.” In early August, concerned about the cluster of cases in the area around Trinity Church, the Board of Health appointed a committee to “inquire into the expediency of regulating or preventing the interment of the dead in Trinity Church Yard during the continuance of the present epidemic.” The committee concluded that “the yard of that Church is at times, offensive to persons in its vicinity, and that, in the evening especially, the exhalations are such as perhaps are dangerous to the health of the citizens in its immediate neighborhood.” It was therefore recommended that “no grave be permitted to be opened or dug in Trinity Church Yard, until the further order of the Board of Health, under the penalty of one hundred dollars.” The proposed resolution was adopted by the Common Council on August 22nd. Around the same time, a report from Dr. Samuel Ackerly to the Board of Health recommended that the ban on interments at Trinity be made permanent. Dr. Ackerly related the story of the Cathedral of Dijon, “which [recently] produced a malignant disease in the congregation from the putrid bodies of the persons buried in the vaults of the Church. The disease ceased after the Church was ventilated and fumigated.” This case was presented to the Board of Health as “proof that noxious exhalations may arise from dead bodies.” Accordingly, Dr. Ackerly suggested that the source of the Yellow Fever epidemic may be Trinity Church Yard, where “the ground has been one hundred and twenty-four years receiving the dead, and the evil day has at length arrived. To strike at the root of the evil,” Dr. Ackerly advised, “no further interments should be allowed there. The graves might be leveled and covered with a body of clay, upon which a layer of lime, ashes and charcoal should be placed, and the grave stones laid flat, that the rain may run off and not penetrate the soil to hasten putrefaction and increase the exhalations.” On September 15th, the Board of Health “respectfully request[ed]” that churches with adjacent burial grounds in lower Manhattan cover their graves “thickly with lime, or charcoal, or both.” On September 23rd, Trinity Church Yard was covered with 52 casks of lime. The next day, 192 bushels of slacked lime were spread in St. Paul’s church yard, a few blocks north of Trinity Church. On September 28th, 172 bushels of slacked lime were spread “upon the grave-yard and about the vaults of the North Dutch church corner of William and Fulton-streets. The grounds about this church were not extensive and principally occupied by vaults, which nevertheless emitted very offensive effluvia.” Thirty additional casks of lime were slacked and spread at Trinity Church on October 1st. On October 8th, the vaults of the Middle Dutch Church at the corner of Liberty and Nassau were covered with 40 casks of lime. “These vaults were exceedingly offensive,” the Board of Health reported. It was also reported that “the vaults of the French church in Pine-street in the vicinity of the former church also emitted disagreeable smells.” By late November 1822, the Yellow Fever epidemic had subsided. With an eye towards preventing the next outbreak, the Common Council passed a resolution to consider the future of intra-mural burial. "It appears to be the opinion of Medical Men that the great number of the dead interred in the several cemeteries within the bounds of this City, is attended with injurious consequences to the health of the inhabitants. This subject is therefore worthy of consideration and if the effects are in reality such as some of the faculty declare them to be, ought not future interments be prohibited at least during a part of the year. …" A law forbidding interments south of Canal Street was proposed in early 1823. At the time, there were at least 23 separate burial grounds south of Canal Street, many adjacent to churches. The leaders of the Reformed Dutch Church, the First Presbyterian Church, Grace Church, St. George’s Church, Christ’s Church, and Vestry of Zion Church all presented remonstrances to the Common Council in February 1823 objecting to the proposed law. Over those objections, a Law Respecting the Interment of the Dead was enacted by the Common Council on March 31, 1823. "Be it ordained by the Mayor Aldermen & Commonalty of the City of New York in Common Council Convened. That if any Person or Persons shall after the first day of June next dig up or open any grave or cause or procure any grave to be opened in any burying ground cemetery or church yard or in any other part or place in this City which lies to the Southward of a line commencing at the centre of Canal Street on the North River and running through the centre of Canal Street to Sullivan Street thence through Sullivan st. to Grand Street thence through Grand St. to the East river or shall inter or deposit or cause or procure to be interred or deposited in any such grave any dead body every such person shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of Two hundred and fifty dollars." "And be it further Ordained that no dead body shall after the first day of June aforesaid be interred or deposited in any vault or tomb south of the aforesaid line under the penalty of Two hundred and fifty dollars for each and every offence." Churches south of Canal Street continued to fight the law. On April 21, 1823, the leaders of St. George Church, the Brick Presbyterian Church, the First Presbyterian Church of Wall Street, and Trinity Church requested revisions to permit some burials and entombments in private vaults. But the die had been cast. As the population of Manhattan grew, the Common Council moved the line prohibiting new burials northward, first to 14th Street, then to 86th Street. Without the income generated by burials, many churches closed their doors and relocated their dead to the new rural cemeteries in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Similar complaints in Boston prompted the creation of Mount Auburn Cemetery, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the most important and earliest rural cemeteries. Justice Joseph Story gave the address at the dedication of Mount Auburn cemetery in 1831. Story, then an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court and a professor at Harvard Law School, emphasized “the duty of the living” to “provide for the dead.” He explained that although the obligation to provide “grounds … for the repose of the dead” is a Christian duty, our “tender regard for the dead” is universal and “deeply founded in human affection.” Justice Story explained that Mount Auburn had been founded to cure the problem with the Boston colonial cemeteries. "It is painful to reflect, that the Cemeteries in our cities, crowded on all sides by the overhanging habitations of the living, are walled in only to preserve them from violation. And that in our country towns they are left in a sad, neglected state, exposed to every sort of intrusion, with scarcely a tree to shelter their barrenness, or a shrub to spread a grateful shade over the new-made hillock." Story argued that “there are higher moral purposes” that lead us to establish and care for cemeteries—"[i]t should not be for the poor purpose of gratifying our vanity or pride, that we should erect columns, and obelisks, and monuments to the dead; but that we may read thereon much of our own destiny and duty.” "[T]he repositories of the dead bring home thoughts full of admonition, of instruction, and slowly but surely, of consolation also. They admonish us, but their very silence, of our own frail and transitory being. They instruct us in the true value of life, and in its noble purposes, its duties, and its destinations. … We return to the world, and we feel ourselves purer, and better, and wiser, from this communion with the dead. I hope you’ve enjoyed this first episode in my series on Cemetery Tourism, and I hope that next time you’re in New York or Boston, you take the time to check out not only these colonial cemeteries located in the heart of the old cities, but the beautiful rural cemeteries that were later constructed – Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Green-wood in Brooklyn and Woodlawn in the Bronx. I’ll perhaps talk about the rural cemetery movement in a future episode. If you are interested in having me focus on particular cemeteries, please let me know by visiting www.deathetseq.com or dropping me a comment or a direct message on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you for joining me today on Death, et seq.

Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the Old North Church in Boston to explore a story you likely haven't heard. According to a plaque on the side of the building, it was here on September 13, 1757, that John Childs flew from the steeple of the church to the satisfaction of a great number of spectators--he did it more than once. Does that mean that Boston, and not Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was the first in flight?

We all know how the story of the American Revolution starts--Paul Revere, the lamps in the Old North Church, and the battles of Lexington and Concord. But what happens in the sequel? Boston, like an ex-Navy SEAL who just wants to live peacefully as a cook, comes under siege. For eleven months, the British and the Continental Army stare each other down--spying, sniping, skirmishing, and drinking. A whole lot of drinking. The siege of Boston was the first true test of General George Washington and the fledgling cause of American liberty. Music: Arne Bang Huseby, "Stormy Blues" Contact: Email: coolshitcast@gmail.com Twitter: @coolshitcast

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-376 – Jonathan Runs his Race Part 2  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4374.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-376 Today we follow up on Episode 4-374 where I interviewed Jonathan about his training and attempt to cut close to 30 minutes off his marathon time to qualify for Boston.  He walks us through his first attempt and what he learned from it. It turns out that by taking the longer commuter rail train into the city I can get some writing done in the morning and in the afternoon.  As an added benefit it's about a mile walk from North Station to my office.  This is a nice add of a brisk 15-20 minute city walk past Government Center, the Old North Church and Fanueil Hall to start and end my day.  I could take the subway but it's a nasty crowded ride that would take 15 minutes anyhow. The net result is that I have a nice, long and very special race report from the Baystate Marathon for you.  It's north of 5,000 words.  I'll see how it fits, but it's going to take up most of this show and I'll be brief.  My training is good.  My next events are the local Thanksgiving 5K and the Mill Cities Relay.  It looks like Frank, Brian and I are going to be on a team.  That means I probably won't be the guy running the 10 mile leg.  I'll get one of the shorter legs which are 5 -6 miles.  Hopefully I won't be relegated to the 2.5 mile leg.  … Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned, well I turned older.  I jumped an age group.  I took advantage of the time change and got the 5:30 train into the city.  I ran down to the river and knocked out a set of 5 X 7 minute intervals at a hard effort with 2 minute rests.  The speed work averaged around a 7 minute mile.  Which is neither here nor there, as they say.  I could compare that to my Marathon PR pace of 7:08's and be sad about those slow loss of ability.  I choose not to.  I see it as a gift.  I see just being able to breath the bright morning air into my lungs and push the morning blood through my healthy heart as a gift. And to be able to do it at a pretty good pace and effort is a bonus.  That's a gift to me on my birthday. I also got some attention from the people who love me, and that's a gift, to be part of someone's life and to know you are loved.  And I got messages from c couple hundred of you my friends on the ever-efficient Facebook.  (There's some ironic, snarky comment about robot overlords and birthdays here but I'm going to take the high road.) You thank you, all of you for the gift of your attention, your time and the gift of somehow fitting usefully into your firmament.  On with the Show.    … I'll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don't have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member's only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – BayState Marathon – Part one - Voices of reason – the conversation Jonathan Lieberman My Story: During my residency I was 241 pounds, miserable, and knew something had to be done about my health. So I started slow and short, and revisited my past love for distance running and marathons. Eventually I was turned on to Ironman and found my new love! Teaching myself to swim in the hospital pool and riding a folding bike to work each day, I applied by lottery for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On my 39th birthday, I was selected for and ultimately finished this race…having also completed my first Ironman in Lake Placid just 10 weeks earlier. Consequently, in 2012 I was honored to be chosen for the Runner's World photo shoot issue (video). Training and competing - with *myself* - is my ultimate passion. It has enabled me to face and conquer life's toughest challenges. Ironman has taught me that it doesn't matter what you think, how you feel, or what you say in life - only what you *do*. I live this motto for my children. Section two – BayState Marathon- Part two - Outro Ok my friends you have trained hard a raced smart to the end of Episode 4-376 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Time to hang that medal on the rack and recover a bit.  This train into the city takes about an hour.  A lot of people sleep.  Supposedly there is internet access of a sort but I can never make it work.  This is the express train but it's running slower this morning.  We don't have real trains like Tokyo or London.  Ours are slow and barely keeping their heads above water. I took the early train yesterday and it's a funny crowd.  Those commuters all know each other. It's like a family reunion of bureaucrats, slightly rumpled career office workers in comfortable shoes.  They chat away like a sewing circle.  Thank Steve Jobs for headphones.  Did you se Shalane won the New York City Marathon!  That is amazing.  Amazing.  I have a funny story about the New York City marathon from my commuting experience.  You folks may remember that I ran the NYC marathon in 2014 as a sponsored athlete with ASICS.  One of the amazing things that has happened to me through RunRunLive.  I know, I still can't believe it either.  Why would anyone sponsor a journeyman marathoner like me?  Well they apparently mistook ‘internet famous' for actually famous and sponsored me.  They gave me so much stuff.  If you look at my current Facebook profile picture you'll see the 3D statuette they created of me that sits on the mantle in my living room where they made me look like Will Weaton with a full head of hair.  One of my favorite stories is how I ended up on the front page of the Wall Street journal. True story.  But, I'm still working my way through all the schwag they gave me as a sponsored athlete.  And since I've been commuting into the city I have been wearing the NYC jacket and carrying the NYC backpack for my gear.  I was on the red line train last week heading out of the city and the guy across from me says, “Man you have all the gear!”  I looked up from my book and said “What?” “The New York City Marathon; you have all the gear.” You see, he was running the NYC marathon that weekend, his first, and I just happened to stumble into his awareness zone.  You know what I mean.  It's like when you buy a new thing and then start noticing that new thing everywhere. So I said “Yeah, I ran it in 2014.”  And we struck up a conversation.  I did my best to fill him in on the overwhelming monstrosity that is the NYC Marathon.  At some point I said, “I was sponsored by Asics, because I'm internet famous, which isn't actually famous…” (I know I tell the same jokes over and over and over) And I could see the recognition dawning in his eyes.  “RunRunLive!” he said, as both a statement and a question.  And I, proud and peacocky now stood to shake his hand.  So, Chris, if you're out there.  That was fun for me.  Thanks for making my day.  And, to drag out the tired vehicle, occasionally, I do indeed ,see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-376 – Jonathan Runs his Race Part 2  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4374.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-376 Today we follow up on Episode 4-374 where I interviewed Jonathan about his training and attempt to cut close to 30 minutes off his marathon time to qualify for Boston.  He walks us through his first attempt and what he learned from it. It turns out that by taking the longer commuter rail train into the city I can get some writing done in the morning and in the afternoon.  As an added benefit it’s about a mile walk from North Station to my office.  This is a nice add of a brisk 15-20 minute city walk past Government Center, the Old North Church and Fanueil Hall to start and end my day.  I could take the subway but it’s a nasty crowded ride that would take 15 minutes anyhow. The net result is that I have a nice, long and very special race report from the Baystate Marathon for you.  It’s north of 5,000 words.  I’ll see how it fits, but it’s going to take up most of this show and I’ll be brief.  My training is good.  My next events are the local Thanksgiving 5K and the Mill Cities Relay.  It looks like Frank, Brian and I are going to be on a team.  That means I probably won’t be the guy running the 10 mile leg.  I’ll get one of the shorter legs which are 5 -6 miles.  Hopefully I won’t be relegated to the 2.5 mile leg.  … Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned, well I turned older.  I jumped an age group.  I took advantage of the time change and got the 5:30 train into the city.  I ran down to the river and knocked out a set of 5 X 7 minute intervals at a hard effort with 2 minute rests.  The speed work averaged around a 7 minute mile.  Which is neither here nor there, as they say.  I could compare that to my Marathon PR pace of 7:08’s and be sad about those slow loss of ability.  I choose not to.  I see it as a gift.  I see just being able to breath the bright morning air into my lungs and push the morning blood through my healthy heart as a gift. And to be able to do it at a pretty good pace and effort is a bonus.  That’s a gift to me on my birthday. I also got some attention from the people who love me, and that’s a gift, to be part of someone’s life and to know you are loved.  And I got messages from c couple hundred of you my friends on the ever-efficient Facebook.  (There’s some ironic, snarky comment about robot overlords and birthdays here but I’m going to take the high road.) You thank you, all of you for the gift of your attention, your time and the gift of somehow fitting usefully into your firmament.  On with the Show.    … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – BayState Marathon – Part one - Voices of reason – the conversation Jonathan Lieberman My Story: During my residency I was 241 pounds, miserable, and knew something had to be done about my health. So I started slow and short, and revisited my past love for distance running and marathons. Eventually I was turned on to Ironman and found my new love! Teaching myself to swim in the hospital pool and riding a folding bike to work each day, I applied by lottery for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On my 39th birthday, I was selected for and ultimately finished this race…having also completed my first Ironman in Lake Placid just 10 weeks earlier. Consequently, in 2012 I was honored to be chosen for the Runner’s World photo shoot issue (video). Training and competing - with *myself* - is my ultimate passion. It has enabled me to face and conquer life’s toughest challenges. Ironman has taught me that it doesn’t matter what you think, how you feel, or what you say in life - only what you *do*. I live this motto for my children. Section two – BayState Marathon- Part two - Outro Ok my friends you have trained hard a raced smart to the end of Episode 4-376 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Time to hang that medal on the rack and recover a bit.  This train into the city takes about an hour.  A lot of people sleep.  Supposedly there is internet access of a sort but I can never make it work.  This is the express train but it’s running slower this morning.  We don’t have real trains like Tokyo or London.  Ours are slow and barely keeping their heads above water. I took the early train yesterday and it’s a funny crowd.  Those commuters all know each other. It’s like a family reunion of bureaucrats, slightly rumpled career office workers in comfortable shoes.  They chat away like a sewing circle.  Thank Steve Jobs for headphones.  Did you se Shalane won the New York City Marathon!  That is amazing.  Amazing.  I have a funny story about the New York City marathon from my commuting experience.  You folks may remember that I ran the NYC marathon in 2014 as a sponsored athlete with ASICS.  One of the amazing things that has happened to me through RunRunLive.  I know, I still can’t believe it either.  Why would anyone sponsor a journeyman marathoner like me?  Well they apparently mistook ‘internet famous’ for actually famous and sponsored me.  They gave me so much stuff.  If you look at my current Facebook profile picture you’ll see the 3D statuette they created of me that sits on the mantle in my living room where they made me look like Will Weaton with a full head of hair.  One of my favorite stories is how I ended up on the front page of the Wall Street journal. True story.  But, I’m still working my way through all the schwag they gave me as a sponsored athlete.  And since I’ve been commuting into the city I have been wearing the NYC jacket and carrying the NYC backpack for my gear.  I was on the red line train last week heading out of the city and the guy across from me says, “Man you have all the gear!”  I looked up from my book and said “What?” “The New York City Marathon; you have all the gear.” You see, he was running the NYC marathon that weekend, his first, and I just happened to stumble into his awareness zone.  You know what I mean.  It’s like when you buy a new thing and then start noticing that new thing everywhere. So I said “Yeah, I ran it in 2014.”  And we struck up a conversation.  I did my best to fill him in on the overwhelming monstrosity that is the NYC Marathon.  At some point I said, “I was sponsored by Asics, because I’m internet famous, which isn’t actually famous…” (I know I tell the same jokes over and over and over) And I could see the recognition dawning in his eyes.  “RunRunLive!” he said, as both a statement and a question.  And I, proud and peacocky now stood to shake his hand.  So, Chris, if you’re out there.  That was fun for me.  Thanks for making my day.  And, to drag out the tired vehicle, occasionally, I do indeed ,see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

Rev. Stephen Ayers, Vicar of the Old North Church, talks about the crypt under the historical landmark and the opening of a 200-year-old tomb.

We love going to Boston for a weekend and leaving our car outside the city at a train station. We wear comfortable shoes because we are seeing Boston on foot. Ok we'll take a ride share if necessary. With its rich history, great seafood and ethnic restaurants, and beautiful parks (including Fenway Park) Boston is a world class city you will enjoy visiting.

Few knew the pressure that Sir Thomas Gage was under to put down the rebellious spirit that had swept through Massachusetts Colony. Sir Thomas Hutchinson, and Sir Francis Bernard, who had both aspired to the position of Governor had found that their ambition was ill-equipped for the task in front of them as the Colony always seemed to simmer right near the boiling point, ready, at a moment’s notice, to spill over into violence. Appointed Military Governor by the Board of Trade in 1774, Gage had but one task, to bring those colonists in line by reminding them that they were loyal British subjects by whatever means he deemed necessary. Married into an old American family that has immigrated when New York was still New Amsterdam, many had perhaps hoped that Gage, with his reputation as a fair minded individual, would be more sympathetic than his predecessor had been. He was not. He was there on the King’s business and he would do the Kings business. Now he had received word that the Americans were gathering and storing cannons and gunpowder. In the earliest hours of the morning on April 19th, 1775 British Redcoats gathered under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, with Major John Pitcairn to lead the advance party. Their orders from Gage were to set about in haste, under the cloak of the utmost secrecy and to march on Lexington to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock before turning to Concord to destroy any rebel weapons stores that they may find. As they began to cross the Charles River at Boston Neck, they were perhaps oblivious to the two lanterns that Robert Newman hung from the Steeple at the Old North Church. It was the warning sign of the Patriots, “One if by Land, Two if by Sea”, as the alarm was sounded. What they were becoming aware of though was the fact that the farmhouses along their march, they should have been in the quiet peace of the nights rest, yet they were not. The lights in the windows burned as a bustle of activity seemed to be occurring behind those closed doors. Spies near to the Governor had already shared Gage’s plans with Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the few rebels left in Boston, and Warren turned to William Dawes and Paul Revere to sound the alarm. Just ahead of the British troops they rode, first Revere to the North, slipping past the HMS Somerset docked in the harbor, followed a short time later by Dawes to the South, pounding on the doors of Patriots declaring that “The Regulars are coming out”. By the time Smith and Pitcairn reached Lexington at Sunrise, Colonel John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, and his Minutemen were waiting, well-armed with rifles that had better aim and distance than the bayonet and muskets carried by the Red Coats. Three officers would ride in full gallop, Pitcairn, it is said, yelling, “Throw down your Arms ye Villains, ye Rebels. Why don’t ye lay down your arms?” Defiantly Parker would declare, “Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Suddenly a shot would fire, from where no one really knows. Though the full extent of the gravity of that shot perhaps wasn’t fully understood at that time it would become “The shot heard round the world.” Fighting would erupt at the British charged with their bayonet in hands. Parker’s cousin Jonas would be run through with a bayonet in front of his eyes. John Harrington, wounded, would drag himself home, only to die on the steps at his wife’s feet. As eight of Parker’s men lay dead, Colonel Smith had to realize the gravity of the situation. They had engaged in open hostilities with Colonists, now, regardless of who fired the first shots, they would ultimately need to justify that action to Gage upon their return. They needed to find the weapons stores. They would continue their march to Concord. Perhaps, with what happened at Lexington, they felt that the Patriots had received word and pulled back, or that word of their march had not travelled that far west because it was quiet when they had arrived, almost sleepy when they arrived. It wouldn’t last. Having pulled back to determine the next move Colonel James Barrett and his troops waited over the ridge as Smith and Pitcairn tore into the town. Under the tavern of Ephraim Jones they’d find three 24-pounder long guns. Having had word for some time of the plans of the British they had been buried there, but Loyalists in the town had tipped off the British as to their location, and now, at the edge of a bayonet, they forced Jones’ to reveal where on his premise they were placed. What they didn’t know was that as they searched the town fresh militiamen from Sudbury, Acton and other neighboring towns arrived to aid the small company of Patriots at Concord. With orders not to fire unless fired upon the Militia began their advance on the North Bridge at just before noon. Suddenly the worst fears of General Gage were coming to fruition as the Patriots rose up and charged against the Regulars. The British had no choice but to retreat as the withdrawal turned into a chaotic panic as they fled back to Boston. The American’s would not relent, they would fire upon them, even taking out Pitcairn’s horse, as they engaged in a different sort of fighting than the British Regulars were familiar with, combining marksmanship with Native cover-and-concealment strategy and ambush tactics. The neat lines the British were used to forming were no match for it. Though Smith would try to drive them off, he would find they wouldn’t be moved, inflicting heavy casualties on the British forces as they continued to rain down hell on then. Even the relief that must have been felt as they began to hear the familiar drum beat of re-enforcements was short lived. Worried he had sent too small of a force General Gage had dispatched Lieutenant General Hugh Percy and a thousand additional troops to the field a short time after Colonel Smith began his fateful advance. Now they were meeting as Smith was being chased from the field. Yet even the sight of fresh troops wouldn’t deter the Colonials as they pushed forward undaunted. Now under the command of Brigadier General William Heath they gave no relief as they pushed them back, refusing to give up even an inch of ground. In the end the British army was forced back to Boston and the war was upon them as Massachussets reached out in the struggle for liberty to slap back the long arm of the most powerful Empire in the world. By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set to-day a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. Spirit, that made those heroes dare, To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee.

"Come all my children and you shall hear, all about the ride of Paul Revere." Journey back to Revolutionary War days when Paul Revere saw two lanterns in the steeple of the Old North Church and set out on his famous ride to warn Colonials that the British were coming. The revolution actually began in Lexington and Concord, not far from Boston, when the British fired on the Americans. Though not much has survived since that era, one exception is the Concord Colonial Inn, now a member of Historic Hotels of America. Hear all about it from Sean Smith, GM of the 300-year-old property, and Alida Orzechowski, owner-operator and founder of Gatepost Tours, when they join Dan Schlossberg and Helen Hatzis on TRAVEL ITCH RADIO Thursday, August 18, at 8p EDT. Listen live on iTunes or BlogTalkRadio.com. And call into the show at 914-338-0314.

Introduction Amen. Well this morning as I came to First Baptist Church, 414 Cleveland Street, I came to this place of worship, the sanctuary, which has been such a big part of my life. I was thinking as I walked in here about places of worship that I've been at around the world, and I've had the privilege of being in sacred spaces all over the world, and I've seen a lot of them in Japan, I've seen them in the Orient in India. I've seen them in Kathmandu and Nepal, I've seen them in New England, where I grew up. Probably the most awesome sacred space I've ever seen was Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague, which was started in 1344, it took 600 years to complete. And I'll just never forget just being in there, and just the soaring sense of grandeur, the greatness of the place, and just how much effort went in over the years to make that sacred space the amazing place that it was. I've been in a Shinto shrine in Osaka that was almost a thousand years old. I remember thinking of the antiquity of the place and all of the wood and wondered if it had ever been replaced or if it was original. They had a big iron bell that the priest would clang with this big log. I remember being amazed by that because the priest would clap to get the attention of the gods, and I was thinking about Elijah and the prophets of Baal and "Shout louder, maybe he'll hear," something like that, but we serve the living God, but that's a sacred space for those people in Japan. In Boston, the oldest church I ever worshipped at was Park Street Church right on the Boston Commons. It's the oldest place of worship I've ever actively worshipped in. I've also walked through the Old North Church in Boston. That's the "one if by land, two if by sea" church for the night of Paul Revere's ride. I've stood in the church where John Calvin preached in Geneva and saw that, and it was just an amazing thing for me to be there. Last summer, Calvin and I were at the Wittenberg church where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses. It was under massive construction, it was a bit of a let-down. I remember seeing the cement mixers, and the chain link fence and all that and I wasn't feeling like it was much of a sacred space, but it's the oldest and I would say probably, the most famous Lutheran Church in the world. All of these sacred sites have moved me in different ways. The only biblical place I've ever been to was Mars Hill. I got to climb up that little rocky outcropping there where the Apostle Paul preached his famous message in Acts 17, it's there printed in Greek in a plaque at the bottom. I remember being especially amazed at the top, because the tips of the rocks were all polished like glass. They were shiny like glass. No intention had gone into that, but just the feet of pilgrims over hundreds and hundreds of years, just polished it smooth. The oldest place, sacred space, I've ever been though was right near that. That was the Acropolis which was a shrine to the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom for which the city of Athens was named. It was built around the time of the Babylonian exile. It's the oldest place of worship that I've ever been to. Now all of these sacred spaces, all of these places of worship, are as nothing compared to the heavenly shrine that we're going to be worshipping God at in all eternity. And the significance of the move in the new covenant from a sacred space where you go and where you worship, that one location where the temple was in Jerusalem, where all Israel would come three times a year and make that pilgrimage and go to that sacred space and worship there, that has been fulfilled, that imagery has all been fulfilled in Christ. We don't need to make those kinds of pilgrimages anymore. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Woman, believe me, the time is coming where neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." That unfolds the truth that we learned about God in the Old Testament, the words of the prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah 23:23-24, "‘Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away. Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’, declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?”, declares the Lord." We worship an omnipresent God. We worship an immense God who fills Heaven and Earth, and there is no space that can contain God. Stephen picked up on this theme, when he was proclaiming, effectively, the end of the animal sacrificial system, the end of the significance of the temple there in Jerusalem, he saw it clearly. They killed him for it. But he saw it clearly, and he said this in Acts 7:48-50, "The Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? Or where will my resting place be? Has my hand made all these things?’ And so they came into being." And as Paul said in that very spot that I mentioned earlier, in Acts 17, "The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of heaven and earth, and he does not live in temples built by hands, and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else." So we Christians in the New Covenant, we've come to understand the omnipresent God can and should be served everywhere at all times. Every square inch of the universe belongs to God, Almighty God. Every moment of time is his. Abraham Kuyper put it this way, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence, over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine! Mine!’" And yet, for all of that, there is such a thing as holy ground in some mysterious way. God was every bit as omnipresent back in the old covenant as now, and yet he did say to Moses, "Take off your sandals, for the ground on which you're standing is holy ground." So what is holy ground? What is a sacred space? It's a place where we can encounter the living God, where he's choosing to reveal himself. And we can have a relationship with him, and we can encounter him. So this morning what I want to do is I want to set apart the Christian workplace as a sacred space. A place where we can, indeed, where we must encounter the living God. I want to ennoble your work, I want you to see the value of your labor every moment, and to see that it's an act of worship if you do it by the power of the Spirit in obedience to the Word of God. You are able to offer up a living sacrifice, every moment in the workplace. Not only able but you must. So what that means is sacred space could be for you an office building, it could be a cubicle. It's hard to believe, isn't it? I've worked in cubicles multiple times. I had three different engineering jobs, after I graduated from MIT. I worked for a company that made ion implanters. If you want to know what that is, I'd be happy to tell you. Come after, say, "What's an implanter?" I'll tell you all about it. But I worked in a cubicle there, vertical carpet and all that, that was my sacred space. I also worked for a company that made eye surgical equipment and I worked for a company that made hot chocolate machines, so all different kinds of jobs. And it was my desire as a Christian to be filled with the Spirit every day as I went to the workplace. I wanted that place to be the focus of my ministry, I wanted it to be an evangelistic place, I wanted it to be a place where I could offer up to God my engineering work as a sacrifice. I didn't do it well every day, but that was my goal. So that could be your sacred space. It could be a surgical operating room, it could be a board room. Maybe you're an executive. It could be a counter at Chick-fil-A or McDonalds, if you can believe it. How could a place like that be sacred space? But it's all in the attitude you bring to the work you do. Holy ground. Now here I'm trying to sweep away centuries of false teaching that we see in the Medieval Roman Catholic Church. They established a kind of a hierarchy of value, the holiness of work. And it was captured by fourth century Catholic historian, Eusebius. This is what this man said, "Two ways of life were given by the Law of Christ to his Church. The one is above nature and beyond common human living, holy and permanently separate from the common customary life of mankind. It, that pattern of life, devotes itself to the service of God alone." So, there you have the retreat from the world, the asceticism, the monks, the nuns, the clerics. They're separate from normal life, they're fasting, they're praying. It's a higher way of living. Such then is the perfect form of the Christian life. “And the other more humble, more human permits men to have minds for farming for trade, the other secular interests as well as for religion. And a kind of secondary grade of piety is attributed to them.” We're sweeping all of that away today, that is completely false. Medieval Catholicism there had that hierarchy, there was the sacred and the profane, or secular. That's what profane meant, it's secular. So the sacred would be popes and cardinals and priests and monks and nuns and all that, and they lived a separate kind of life. And then profane, secular, would be everybody else, and they would do work as peasants, as farmers, as tradesmen, different work like that. Now Protestantism came along under Luther and the other reformers and it established what was there plainly in scripture, the priesthood of all believers. And Luther and others took that to the degree of looking again at work, at the work that we do. Martin Luther said this, "When a maid cooks and cleans and does other housework, because God's command is there, even such a small work must be praised as a service of God, far surpassing the holiness and asceticism of all monks and nuns.” Far surpassing, the work of a maid in cooking and cleaning. He also said this, "Seemingly secular works are a worship of God and an obedience well pleasing to God." And again Luther said, "Your work is a very sacred matter, God delights in it. And through it, he wants to bestow his blessing on you." Subsequent generations of Protestants, of teachers of the Word of God, wholeheartedly agreed. The Puritans came along and established this kind of teaching as well. William Tyndale said this, "If we look externally, there is a difference betwixt washing of dishes and preaching the Word of God. Externally, yes. But as touching to please God, no difference at all." William Perkins, another Puritan, said this, "The actions of a shepherd in keeping sheep is as good a work before God as is the action of a judge in giving a sentence or a magistrate in ruling or a minister in preaching." So this morning, I just want to sweep away the idea of ‘secular work.’ By that, I mean secular, and we're seeing that in our increasingly atheistic culture. The word secular means religion-free, God-free, so that your work zone is a God-free zone. We're not bringing God into that. It's secular, it's a secular thing. Well, we Christians should never do that. There should never be secular work or that kind of worldly work, for the Christian view of work is that everything done by faith in Christ by the power of the Spirit for the Glory of God is sacred, no matter what your employment. So I want you to see your workplace as a place of worship where you must encounter the living God, where every action of your employment can be a living sacrifice offered to God. Now look again at the text, if you would, and I want to make some comments about it. Ephesians 6:5-9, reading this time from the NIV, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them, not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly as if you are serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters treat your slaves in the same way, do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." Now, I want to just make an aside about where we're going in the preaching ministry in Ephesians. I'm well aware that in talking about employer-employee relationships from Ephesians 6:5-9 is making a bit of a leap of interpretation. The text doesn't say employer or employee, it says masters and slaves. So what I want to do this morning is I want to talk about work. If I could just sum up this sermon, it's about work. Next week. I want to talk about slavery, and the following week I want to talk about racism. So those are the next three sermons. This morning, work, then slavery, then racism. I feel that these are helpful topics for us, and it will be increasingly helpful. Like next week's sermon, what I want to do is face square on the question, why isn't the New Testament clearly abolitionist? Why does Paul seek to manage slavery here rather than just abolish it? So I'm going to try to give the best answer I can. That being able to defend the Bible as a timeless and living document is going to be increasingly needed in our age. People will bring up slavery and talk about it, especially related to things like LGBT things. It's going to come up and they're going to say, "Look the Bible is clearly obsolete. Look at the topic of slavery." So, hopefully next week I'm going to give you a way to answer any accusations against the Bible, and talk about why Paul doesn't clearly sweep aside slavery. And then the following week, I want to zero in on the phrase, "There is no favoritism," and just address some of the incredibly controversial and hot topics that have been going on this summer and just some of the heritage, the history, and how the Bible answers the issues of racism and where we can go from here. So those are the next three weeks, God willing. I. Understanding Work Biblically Greek’s Faulty View: Work as Punishment Now, let's look at this morning at work and employment. And let's begin by just trying to understand work biblically. The Greeks, into which the culture Paul was writing, looked on work as a punishment. How many of you have ever done that? I look on work as a punishment. I've heard it, I've heard it said by those near and dear to me, people I cherish have looked at work as a punishment. Maybe it doesn't help that we sometimes use work as a punishment, maybe that's not helpful, I don't know, maybe not good parenting. But at any rate, the Greeks did see that. They looked at it this way, that work was a curse, the gods hated mankind and so they cursed us to work while they lay around and eat heavenly grapes and eat ambrosia and drink nectar all day long, whatever that is for them. That was their view. Work is a curse. Even within that, they had a kind of a similar two-tier view of work that I described earlier. There it's not sacred and profane, but it was more intellectual and menial. They would divide it in that way. So Plato and Aristotle, and other philosophers promoted a two story concept of work, that the majority of men should do the heavy lifting, menial labor, that the minority like themselves might engage in higher intellectual pursuits like art and philosophy and politics. So that's the way the Greeks tended to divide up work. God a Worker, Not an Idler Now for us as Christians, we know right from the beginning of the Bible, our God is a worker, not an idler. And so, from the very first verse of the Bible, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and Genesis 1 pictures a very active creative God who creates the heavenly realms and separates the waters above from the waters below, and separates the sea from the dry land, and creates vegetation and creates the animals, and the birds of the air, and ultimately creates man in his image. So God is a hard working creative God and he delights in his labor, enjoys it, finds pleasure, and he looks over all that he's made and behold it's very good. So there's just a beautiful pleasure of God and work, and on the seventh day he rested from his work. So that's how the Bible begins. Then Christ as he comes in, he teaches us some things about God's work that maybe we could have figured out, but that Christ told us in John 5:17 when they're accusing him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said, "Actually, My Father's always working, to this very day, and I too am working." We come to realize theologically that if God ever stopped working, the universe would stop existing. God created a dependent universe that needs his energy and his work. It's not an independent thing, it needs God to work on it to keep it alive, keep it existing. So, he's always working. Work in Eden: The Gift Given And then God gave to Adam and Eve, to the human race, creative work to do. Genesis 1:26-28, "God blessed them, male and female, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it. Rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’" So here's this beautiful fresh perfect world waiting to be explored, waiting to be filled and subdued, whatever that means, but there's going to be this creative labor. And there are certain types of plants that could not spring up apart from human cultivation. And so, God gave us work to do and that was before the fall, dear friends. Genesis 2:15, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to serve it and protect it, to work it and take care of it." And so work is a good gift from God. Our work is not a curse, rather our work has been cursed, and there's a world of difference between those two. Our work is not a curse, but our work has been cursed. Work After the Fall: The Gift Cursed And so in Genesis 3, we know what happened with Adam when he fell into sin, God cursed the ground because of him. And he said, "Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life, it will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field, and by the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return." So we are now laboring and struggling in futility, in cursed labor, to just scrap out an existence because of Adam's sin. And so the greatest curse of all on work is ultimately futility, emptiness, working on something that doesn't come to fruition, that in the end comes to nothing, that sinks back down into the dust. Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 says, "What does a man get for all that toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun, what do we get for all that? All of his days, his work, his pain and grief. Even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless," and this repeated phrase, "a striving after wind," that's the curse on work, you're laboring on something that comes to nothing, dust in the wind. Now as the Bible unfolded after Adam's fall, there would continue to be inventiveness, creativity, people developed metallurgy, they developed different technologies, and the human race has advanced since then. But the work has always been a labor under Adam's curse. Now, in the history of Israel, we know that they fell into bondage, into slavery, and how the Egyptians made their lives bitter with hard bondage and toil, and with the whip of the slave driver, and they worked them ruthlessly, Exodus 1:14. After the exodus, God regulated work in the Ten Commandments, he said, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, do all your work in six days and rest on the seventh, for God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh." So here work is commanded, labor for six days, but it's also limited. Rest on the seventh day as God did. Christ’s Example: Glorifying the Father by Labor Now Christ is the end of the world, he glorified labor. No one has ever been a better example of what I'm commending to you today than Jesus, namely finding joy and delight and relationship with God through your work. Nobody did that better than Jesus. Jesus said, as I already quoted, "My Father is always working and I too am working." In effect, Jesus plainly said "The only work that I do is the work the Father is doing." So, what the Father is doing, the Son joins the Father in it, and they work together. What a beautiful picture of work that is. He actually said at the time in John 4, the Samaritan woman, he said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work." This is My food, it gives me energy, it gives me pleasure to do God's works. And he said at the end of his life, praying to the Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do." Jesus is our role model for work. Work in the New Heaven and New Earth Now as we go on, as we look ahead, you may wonder where are we heading, pastor? Where are we going with this work thing? Are we going to work in Heaven? What about the New Heaven and the New Earth? Will there be work there? Friends, I believe with all my heart there will be work in Heaven, but it won't be cursed. Think about all of the redeemed from every tribe and language and people and nation, remember what God said at the time of the Tower of Babel. If, as one people, speaking one language they've begun to do this, then nothing they propose to do will be restrained from them, they can achieve anything. Imagine though, instead of doing it to serve our own glory, like they did at the Tower of Babel. We would build and construct things in the New Heaven and New Earth for the glory of God to show our capabilities for his glory. And we will be like as one people speaking one language, building for the glory of God. Now I'm going to talk more about this verse next week. But Revelation 22:3 supports what I'm saying, I think. It says in Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, "No longer will there be any curse," amen. "The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and... " Listen, "his servants will serve him." So I'm going to talk more about that verse next week. We're going to work. No failed projects, no deadlines. How cool is that? We are going to labor and it's going to, it's going to work out, it's going to be successful. And what feeling of joy we'll have, not pride, but worship to God that he gave us these hands and these minds to be able to create things. That's what I think we're heading toward. II. Paul’s Commands to Slaves: Serve Christ in Your Work Basic Command: Obey Your Earthly Masters Now, let's look more specifically at what Paul commands to slaves and then to masters. First, the basic command is, “obey your earthly masters.” What we're looking at today is a special category of work which is work done in submission to God-ordained authority. That's not all of the work. There's just some things we do on our own, the work we do around the house or whatever, but here we're talking about work done at the command of another person. So he gives commands to the one receiving the command, the slaves, and then he turns around and gives command to the one that gives the command by God-ordained authority, the masters. So we're looking at commands to the slaves, those in submission to God-ordained authority, and he's commanding obedience, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them, not only to win their favor, when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart, serve wholeheartedly as if you are serving the Lord, not men." So fundamental to Paul's doctrine here is the God-given right to command, that God delegates authority to creative beings, to people, and they have the right to give commands to others. That's foundational to human society. The Workplace: Adding Context to the Command So in the American workplace, in our workplace, it comes down to the boss' right to give work to the employees and the requirement for the Christian employee to do what they're told to do, that we see God in all of that. It is the boss' right to command within the boundaries of the work, and it is the employee's responsibility to obey. Now, obviously, we need to limit this as we've said before. The boss' right to command is not universal. The boss isn't God. Peter said, "We must obey God rather than you." he said that to an authority figure. As I said in a recent sermon in terms of submission to God-ordained authority, God-given authority can never command God forbidden activity. God-given authority can never command God-forbidden activity. So we are going to evaluate the commands given to us and be sure that that's not happening. But in every other respect, when an employee willingly and skillfully and cheerfully does everything commanded by the employer, it is glorifying to God. It's glorifying to God. Now he says, obey your earthly masters, in the Greek it's “masters according to the flesh,” so he's kind of limiting. The implication is, they have a limited scope over you. They don't own your soul. So there's a limit there. And it also implies their authority over you is temporary, it's limited. There'll come a time, it'll be over. But in all of that, we should obey as if we were obeying Christ himself. Look at the text again, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." Verse 6, "Obey them not only to win their favor, when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart." Verse 7, "Serve whole-heartedly as if you were serving the Lord. Not men.” He says it three times, "Just as you would obey Christ,” “slaves of Christ,” “as if you are serving the Lord." It's very plain. So the idea is to look beyond your earthly boss and see Jesus behind him or her. Treat Your Employer/Employee as You Would Jesus I think about this in the Hall of Faith in that great Hebrews 11 chapter, Hebrews 11:27, it says, "By faith Moses persevered... " listen, "as seeing him who is invisible." Hard to do sometimes. I've had some bosses that cast a looming shadow in front of Jesus, and you had to kind of look around and it was hard to see Jesus behind them. It was hard. But we have to do it, we have to do it. So when your boss tells you to do something, eminently reasonable and not immoral, within the job, but it crosses your flesh, annoys you in some way, that's a key moment for you, isn't it? That's a key moment. You should see it as something Christ himself were giving you to do. For example, let's say you serve tables. And the owner tells you to bus someone else's table or do something else. It's not even in your area of the restaurant. And you're probably not going to get a tip from it, and you're probably not going to be thanked for it, but just do it. Key moment! Key moment in your walk with Christ. There's nothing immoral about the command, well within the purview. Well within the rights. Just do it, do it cheerfully, do it by faith, do it for the glory of God, don't expect any earthly reward, expect a heavenly reward. Suppose you're a nurse and your supervisor tells you to take care of... And there are some of these I guess particularly irritable patients who only find fault with the nursing staff. God forbid, that any one of us should be one of those. Say, "Oh God, give me grace to be a good patient." I don't know what kind of patient I'll be. I think there are days I think I'm going to be one of those, I hope not though, I don't want to be an irritable patient. But you're the nurse, and you have to go take care of this. This is a thankless task. And the tendency is going to be to complain, not only about the patient but about the supervisor who constantly gives you the harder patients and all that kind of thing. It is endemic to the American workplace to complain against the boss. Don’t Work Half-Heartedly So we need a faith-filled demeanor, we need to do it, it says with respect and fear and sincerity of heart. Paul literally says with fear and trembling, there's a sense of God in all of this. I want to do this as unto “God the immortal, the invisible, the only wise God, I want to serve him who dwells in unapproachable light.” That's what I want to do, so I'm going to do it wholeheartedly too, every fiber of my being. I want to give to the Lord the best effort I can for his pleasure and his glory. It is so easy to be half-hearted in work to just get by, to cut corners, to skirt. I've seen it done, I've done it myself sadly from time to time. It's easy to mail it in 8:00-5:00, and then the clock turns 5:00, I'm gone. 5 o'clock and zero seconds. Look, I mean, I know the work day needs to end at some point, I'm not saying you gotta put the holy extra five minutes in. Pastor said I had to add five minutes, so I'm not leaving before 5:05. Look, that's legalism. That's not what I'm talking about, I'm saying, But look at your attitude. Is your attitude a minimalist, whatever it takes to check the box and get by attitude? That's what this text removes. No, because that affects the way you do everything you do throughout the day. It also removes shoddy workmanship, shabby workmanship. You know what I'm talking about? Just cutting corners, doing the cheap thing. It's almost as though American workers these days are living for the weekend, they're living for recreation and entertainment and free time and hobbies, and work is some kind of an unwelcome interruption for the true purpose for which we were put here, and that's eat, drink and be merry. I think we've all experienced the frustration of shoddy workmanship in the home. In appliances, Christy and I have some stories to tell about a dishwasher. She'll tell you, she worked hard to replace our remarkably faulty dishwasher. I used to come, and I'd come down in the morning and it had this little error code on it, and I was like, "Oh God, give me strength." The one good thing about that appliance, it's the one you can kind of muddle through without. The washer and dryer, not so much. Kind of hard. But at any rate, just the frustration of the shoddy workmanship, the planned obsolescence. And the text says, "Not as eye service or man pleasers." It's like only when their eye is on you, you're going to behave at a much better level when they're watching you. When they go away, it's like this kind of thing, as soon as they turn, sticking out the tongue or something like that. I've seen it happen. Maybe not that childish but it's like the face. Oh, what was that? And they turn back. No, no, yes sir, no sir, I'll do it right away, sir. But smarmy and deceptive. I remember years ago, I had a computer-based chess program that I used to play, it had a hotkey that immediately went over to spreadsheet, a fake spreadsheet. It was unbelievable, it was pathetic. And so you're like, you're playing chess at work, and then if your boss comes by, bang, there's this fake spreadsheet. Well, I hope your work has something to do with spreadsheets, because if not, you're fried. And if they take a close look at it, and it's doing nothing, it's just sitting there, it's like, oh man, that's a bad moment. Maybe I shouldn't talk about the bracket challenge and March Madness, but really productivity goes down at least in the state of North Carolina. The kinds of things that happen around that time and I guess it's all excusable, I suppose. Now the life of faith is living as seeing him who is invisible, not eye service, not man pleasers, saying, “I'm trying to offer my work to God.” “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” So what does this mean? Well, it means work fully, give 60 minutes of diligent labor for every hour of work, work honestly, don't steal from your employer. I said in the sermon on stealing, for Walmart and other retailers employee theft is a multi-billion dollar problem. Work, thirdly, skillfully. Develop your craft, get better and better at what you do. Work at it. Study it. How can I be better at X, a year from now than I am now? I'm not talking about making your job an idol and living for it. But I'm just saying be skillful. Fourthly, work wisely, use a high level of craftsmanship appropriate to every level. I remember there was a guy I worked with named Pete, he was a draftsman, a very good draftsman. Very immature, good comedian, did a great Elvis impression. I remember that. Boss came in seeing him do it. That was an awkward moment for Pete. But Pete made this elaborate drawing, that was back before we used computers, before we did CAD, this elaborate pencil drawing of an electronic connector, took him two and a half hours to draw it. It was like Michaelangelo had drawn it. It was spectacularly beautiful. The boss was rightly angry at the waste of time. That thing, there's a certain drafting protocol that it could have been drawn in 10 minutes. So, just work wisely, work energetically, full energy. And I mean even an hour after lunch, I know it's hard. 2:30 in the afternoon, everyone's sleepy, but just say, "Lord give me strength. I want to work as unto You, I want to give a full day for You." Work respectfully, don't gossip or demean the boss. Don't talk behind his or her back. Don't tell jokes or demeaning stories. If other employees do, don't join in with it. Work thankfully, be obviously, clearly thankful you have a job. I mean just be thankful you live in this country, and that you have a job where your needs can be met like this. Be thankful. Thankful for every task you have to do, and work spiritually. Do it with a sense that your work is an act of worship to God. Work to Make the Gospel Attractive Now, in all of this, we want to make the Gospel attractive. Put the Gospel on display. I think the workplace can be one of the greatest places of evangelism there is in America. It's hard to know strangers in America these days. If you just start talking at the gas pump or the convenience store or whatever, if you're funny and interesting and don't ask for anything, they'll talk to you. But at the workplace now you can develop relationships, long-term relationships with non-Christians. I had a list of all of the people in the engineering department and I prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel with all of them, and God was faithful. I think I actually had good full Gospel opportunities with three-quarters of the engineers and the technicians that worked in that department. I went after it, I prayed for it, I was patient, I looked for opportunities. But the workplace can be a great place to make the Gospel attractive. Remember the Day of Judgment Well, all of this, we should be doing with an eye to Judgment Day, we should know, as it says in Verse 8, "The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." he's going to return to you by saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." he's going to give you rewards. You don't need to be noticed by your boss. You don't need to do it so you can get a raise or get ahead. If that comes, that's a sidebar. What really matters is God was pleased with you today, he will reward you. And you're storing up treasure in Heaven every day by that kind of labor. Masters Will Be Judged Now let's talk to the masters. Verse 9, "Masters, treat your slaves in the same way, do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." So Paul connects the commands to the master, is what he just said, in the same way. In other words, "by faith, as seeing Jesus, as seeing the invisible one, please treat your slaves that way, knowing that Jesus is behind them, just like he's behind you." See Jesus, see Christ in those that report to you. Understand you have a master in Heaven named Christ, he sees everything you do, he will evaluate everything that you do. And he says, “do not threaten them,” or perhaps even literally give up threatening them. I just use a how much more argument. We're going to talk about slavery next week, but all the excesses of the chattel slavery system, how do they miss this command? Don't threaten them, but you can beat them. I could easily go into that whole topic now, I'll wait 'til next week. But clearly, the command here is don't deal with them having forgotten they're human and having forgotten perhaps they're redeemed by the blood of Christ. He's giving commands to Christian masters here. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ, equal to you in redemption and in reward in Heaven. Remember that. These are temporary roles we're playing here. So, keep looking at them by faith. In 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe published the second edition of her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. And that was obviously a very clear depiction of the abuses of African people in American slave system. Well, that addition, the deluxe edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin was published with artistic renditions of many of the most poignant scenes in the book. In one of the drawings, the wicked master Simon Legree is beating Tom savagely, while Tom is praying and crying aloud to Jesus. And in the rendition Jesus is behind watching the beating though unseen by Simon Legree. So that's the idea, it's like you're being watched all the time. Everything you do is being seen by Jesus and he is the true King, the true master. And some day you're going to have to give him an account. You're going to stand before your Judge, and give him an account for everything you've done. There is No Favoritism With God And it says in Isaiah 11:3-5, speaking of Jesus, "he will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with justice and righteousness he will judge the needy and with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the Earth. He will strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist." We are going to be called before the Judgment Seat of Christ. We're going to give an account for everything done in the body, whether good or bad. Masters need to keep that in mind. And so, practically, bosses should carry themselves humbly toward their employees, they should not think of themselves in any way superior to them. I've meditated on "There is no favoritism with God." It's not an easy phrase to understand biblically. But I think it at least means this: They are every bit as human as you are, every bit as accountable to the judgment seat of God as you are, every bit as rewardable as you are for your works, every bit as redeemable by faith in the blood of Christ. In that way there's no favoritism, everybody gets treated the same way. So keep that in mind, supervisors should make sure the workplace is fair and equitable, in which employees have a chance to excel and grow and be developed and be rewarded for their labors. Supervisors should evaluate the performance of their workers with justice and equity and reward it. I was reading an article about Asian sweatshops in a region in the world where there's a surplus of unskilled labor, those unskilled laborers can be greatly taken advantage of, because they're immediately replaceable. And they are often greatly taken advantage of, unhealthy, unsafe working and conditions. Limited bathroom breaks. Some of these sweatshops eliminate all talking between employees during the work day. Companies like GAP, Liz Claiborn, a clothing line for which Kathy Lee Gifford was the spokeswoman. Nike, Walmart. All of these have come under criticism for using goods that were put together in these kinds of sweatshops. Do Not Withhold Wages The greatest injustice an employer can do toward an employee is to withhold appropriate compensation for the work. Wages, appropriate wages. So James 5:4 says, "Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty and he will judge." So the chance of injustice in wages is greater in an age of or an area of undocumented aliens. We were at a meeting yesterday, concerning ministry to refugees, undocumented aliens, and all that, same issue, same problem. The employer can know that the undocumented aliens are undocumented and therefore vulnerable and fragile and can be taken advantage of. That's wickedness, and God will call people to account if anyone does that. The implication is you should treat your slaves the way you want to be treated, and the way you will wish you had treated them on Judgment Day. Treat your employees that way. So it says in Colossians 4:1, "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a master in Heaven." What is right and fair? Wages for their labor. Respect and commendation for a job well done. And some day you're going to give an account to your master, and there's no favoritism with him. And we're going to talk more about that going forward. Application Application, we just start by saying trust in Christ, trust in Christ, the ultimate worker for us is Jesus. His works and not yours, save your soul. We are justified by faith and not by our works, not by our career, not by our skills, not by our labor, we are justified by simple faith in Christ's work on the cross. His perfect obedience to his Father, his works save us, not ours. So, I prayed at the beginning if God might have brought someone here who's unregenerate, you know that you're outside of Christ, trust in Christ, put your trust in him, and then having done that, you'll have a whole lifetime of good works that you can do for the glory of God, but not for the forgiveness of your sins, but to glorify him. And then, for all of you who are Christians, just offer up your work to him, offer up your works, the rest of your day, the rest of your week, offer up your labor to him as a fragrant offering, a sacrifice. If you're in a particularly challenging work environment, I've been in some, I had a boss that hated me and I think it was because I was a Christian. I came back from my honeymoon and we had a Bible study going, we had a bunch of things. This guy was an aggressive non-Christian, shut all that down, was a very difficult person to deal with. I've had those kinds of bosses. I'm not saying it's easy. But if you're able to imbibe the teaching here, God will give you grace to offer up a sacrifice that's pleasing. And get a big picture of your work, your career, all of that and see how God can use it for the building of Christ's kingdom. Let's close in prayer. Prayer Father, we thank you for the time we've had to look at Ephesians 6:5-9, through the lens of the employer-employee relationship, Father. Help us to take the timeless principles that are here. They're still relevant, even though chattel slavery is now illegal all over the world, but yet these verses are not thereby obsolete, but that we can draw principles whereby we can work and give you glory. And Lord if you give us time next week to look at slavery and beyond that, at racism, give us grace to hear what you would say to us so that we can live beautiful fragrant lives here in this culture in an age that just so deeply clearly needs the teaching of the Word of God. In your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Strange things happen. Fish sometimes fall from the sky. Unexplained lights perform strange maneuvers in the night sky. Children claim to 'remember' past lives. While all of these must be taken with more than a modicum of suspicion, there are strange occurrences in history which are without a doubt real and actual events. The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 is one such event. Be careful. Though you might be tempted to laugh at the idea of a flood of molasses as  ludicrous and unbelievable, the series of tragic events that took place on January 15, 1919 left twenty-one people dead and a score of people injured. As strange and as sickeningly sweet as it sounds, Boston experienced the world's only known disaster caused by a sugar by-product. Molasses was a staple food in colonial New England. Slave ships emptied their cargo in the West Indies and filled their holds with barrels of molasses and then headed to the colonies. Sugar was one of the most expensive staples in the colonial pantry, so molasses was a welcome and much less expensive alternative. Colonists used it in the production of beer and rum and you cannot have true New England Baked Beans, brown bread or pumpkin pie without it. Most people are unaware that molasses had a very important role to play during wartime and it had nothing to do with food. As any home brewer will tell you, sugar and yeast together create something very powerful: alcohol. Ships from Cuba, Puerto Rico and other islands in the West Indies would dock and pump out thousands of gallons to later be carried by rail car to the Purity plant in Cambridge where it underwent the process of conversion to industrial alcohol. Then, the alcohol could be used in the mass manufacture of munitions and explosives, adding to the war effort and making a lot of money for the United States Industrial Alcohol Company. Since the outbreak of war in 1914, overseas demand for alcohol had strained domestic resources and the British, the Canadian and the French governments could not get enough. With a paltry twenty percent of the molasses shipped to American converted into rum, a whopping 80 percent of the substance was turned into a major ingredient of weaponry, especially of dynamite, smokeless powder and other explosives. In order to facilitate the collection and distribution of the molasses, the company built a massive holding tank, fifty feet high and ninety feet in diameter capable of holding as much as 2,300,000 gallons of molasses. The tank stood in the North End, near Boston Harbor and the historic section of town that housed the Old North Church and Paul Revere's House. The tank was very to close the Copp's Hill Burying Ground and Commercial Street. It was one of the largest structures in the area and it towered over many houses and commercial buildings in the area, always in the background. It was built the same way that metal ships like the Titanic were built at the time with sheet steel and rivets overlapping at the edges. Like the Titanic, the Boston tank had a major flaw in the steel common to all steel manufactured in the early part of the century: it was made with very little manganese, an element that strengthens steel making it capable of withstanding great pressure without cracking. From the very beginning, people became used to seeing the dark brown stain of molasses running down from rivet holes all over the structure. Children would be dispatched with containers to visit the plant and collect as much of the run-off as they could. Though most of the people who actually lived in the area were Italian immigrants and therefore out of the mainstream of Boston life, it became a problem for the company that owned the tank. They did not want word to spread that there was a problem with it. Something had to be done. In their wisdom, the people at the US Industrial Alcohol Company found a way to fix the issue: they ordered the structure to be painted a molasses brown, so the leaks could easily be masked. Although the structure was only ever filled to capacity three times before the accident, it was on constant use and was never shut down and emptied for a complete inspection. Perhaps no one could imagine that a substance so obviously harmless as brown liquid sugar could ever be deadly in another sense, a very real and overwhelming sense, without ever being converted into alcohol. January 15, 1919 should have been a quiet day at the molasses tank. The ship Miliero had unloaded her cargo two days ago. It had taken everything that the pumps had to urge the semi-solid sticky substance through the tubes in freezing weather, but after this unloading, there wouldn't be another ship for at least three months. During those three months, the molasses would be slowly shipped to the Purity plant to be converted into alcohol bound for munition factories. A few who survived the event can remember hearing the shifting and gurgling that occurs when molasses is actively fermenting and perhaps that process helped speed along the final conditions that led to the failure of the hoops at the bottom of the tank and the rivets along the seams. At 12:41 PM, the tank gave way. The headline of the Boston Daily Globe for the next morning read "Molasses Tank Explosion Inures 50 and kills 11. Death and devastation in wake of North End Disaster." By the time they found all of the bodies glued to the ground in the muck and immovable mire, the number of dead had risen to twenty-one.  What happened directly after 12:41 was witnessed by hundreds. A black wave of death flowed much more quickly than might be imagined, twenty-five feet high and one hundred and sixty feet wide.The wave was so heavy that it essentially smashed the waterfront like a bomb. One half-mile of Commercial Street was destroyed and it flowed in all directions. Rivets snapped off and turned into projectiles: steel bullets randomly filling the air as the tank continued to break. The Engine 31 Firehouse was ripped from its foundation and almost made it to the dark waters of the harbor. "Men and women, their feet trapped by the sticky mass, slipped and fell and were suffocated," reported the Boston Globe in a remembrance of the event in 1968.  Brick tenements, storefronts, various wooden structures were all torn and shattered. Anything that stood in the path of the oncoming molasses was hit by the heavy liquid hammer of the cascading molasses. What wasn't destroyed or swept into Boston Harbor was glued to the ground or covered by the rubble. Cellars were filled with molasses. Electrical poles and live electrical lines snapped and popped in the thick detritus of the event. The rescuers were stunned when they arrived. How does a person move in waist-deep molasses? It is even possible? Horses were frozen on the ground, drowning in the thick goo and one of the first things that had to be done was to quickly dispatch them, leaving their fallen forms glued to the ground. How could the rescuers tell where a human form might be beneath the deep mass of molasses? So many died because they could not be reached in time or because they were simply overwhelmed and died of asphyxiation. Some were able to rise from the sticky mass and ride on small flotillas of flotsam and jetsam. Rescuers at the Haymarket Relief Station risked death as their boots bogged down in the mire. At the stations set up to process the injured, teams of rescuers worked tirelessly to remove the hardening molasses from breathing passages and remove the sticky clothing of the victims. Doctor and nurses soon became covered in molasses and blood. Nothing like this had ever been experienced before. When the time came to clean the molasses, sea water became the only solvent that was plentiful and able to cut through the thick, heavy goop that covered Commercial Street.  It would take weeks in the wintry weather to even begin to make a dent in the destruction. Boston Harbor went brown. How could this have happened? The company that was responsible for the tank had a theory: anarchists. Italian anarchists were immediately labeled as the mad bombers of their day. Surely, given the disproportionate amount of discrimination that Italian Bostonians had to endure, it was easy to imagine that they might have struck back with such an act. Boston had been the hotbed for Italian anarchist activities. Why not a bomb and why not terrorism? In August of 1919, the US Industrial Alcohol Company lost two of its molasses ships, without a trace. These unexplained losses seemed to point toward the same source again: anarchists. The Boston Molasses Disaster had ramifications that continued to run through the courts and the halls of industry. If no identifiable person or persons could be found, someone would have to bear the burden of the property damages and that had leveled Commercial Street in Boston. The US Industrial Alcohol Company would be taken to court . Valued at today's prices, over $100 million dollars worth of wreckage was claimed. We know from examining the records that no engineer or architect was ever consulted during the design and building of the huge tank. The tank was built quickly with an eye on spending as little as possible. Six years later the good people who lived in the North End and who lost their lives or their their homes, each received around $7000 each from the US Industrial Alcohol Company which had been found liable for all damages by the Massachusetts Superior Court. Never again would the state of Massachusetts allow such a structure to be built without state supervision and construction codes. Could such a thing ever happen again? Surely not. But it did. A more recent molasses spill occurred in 2013 in Honolulu, Hawaii. A faulty pipe poured over 1,400 tons of the sticky mass into Honolulu Harbor. All sea life in the harbor was killed due to the de-oxygenation of the water caused by the molasses covering the entire bottom. Sources Puleo, Stephen, Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919, copyright 2004, Beacon Press, Boston. Schworm, Peter "Nearly a century later, structural flaw in molasses tank revealed," Boston Globe 01/14/2015

March 2015 - Day 13 This is one of 17 recordings I made on October 5, 2013. As you have heard previously on this podcast, I started at Old North Church right after tower bell ringing practice. I then made my way down the greenway, over to Quincy Market and the old State House, back by Government Center, by this park, then over to the Chinatown gate. Quite a long tour! I liked this piano because I thought it sounded a lot like a hammer dulcimer.

Yet another one from the Boston Street Piano Project. This was the first recording I made that day, after tower bell ringing practice at Old North Church. This is one of the fast arpeggiated ones, in the vein of my Davis Square recording.

Summary of today's show: There's more for a Catholic in Boston to see than Holy Cross Cathedral and St. John Seminary. Dr. Phil Crotty takes Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O'Connor on a virtual tour of Boston, the same one he gives to the new seminarians, taking them to sights with both obvious and not obvious connections to their Catholic faith, but also to Boston's and America's history. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O'Connor Today's guest(s): Dr. Philip Crotty, Professor of Latin at St. John Seminary Links from today's show: Today's topics: A Catholic Pilgrim's Tour of Boston 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Chris O'Connor to the show and said they were recording on location at St. John Seminary. They've been recording episodes of the show with some of the great people at the seminary. They discussed their Thanksgiving celebrations. Scot said his family acquired a church organ with an eye toward teaching his children to play so that perhaps someday they might play in church. They then talked about the playing of music in families and how music lifts our spirits. Today's guest is Prof. Philip Crotty, who will talk about the places in Boston that everyone should visit. Fr. Chris said Phil is a man of faith who loves to show off Boston to the new seminarians who arrive at St. John's. He's also a man of great faith. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Phil Crotty to the show. He said Phil's resume is extremely long and distinguished. He asked why at this stage in his life he decided to teach Latin in the seminary. He said because it's a return to his boyhood experiences of Latin. Scot said all of his four Latin teachers he's had all loved Latin. Phil said part of the reason is the historical context. It's not just language, but it comes alive with significance and history. Phil said Pope Benedict has started a new Pontifical Latin Academy in Rome. An American has been appointed to head it and another American, Fr. Reginald Foster, has long been the dean of Latin scholars in Rome. Phil said he often said that it's strange for priests of the Latin Church not to know Latin. Scot said he took it in high school because he thought it would help on the SATs and vocabulary, but he thinks it also helped with math because it taught logic. Phil said he never really understood English as a subject until he studied Latin. Many of his students tell him that they are learning as much English as Latin. Phil said before coming to St. John's, he worked at Northeastern University for 30 years, rising as high as Senior Vice President of Administration. They then discussed a story of how Phil helped a hardworking undergraduate student 30 years ago who has now just made a $30 million gift to the university and credits Phil for helping all those years ago. Fr. Chris asked Phil about his faith. He said when he was 18 he remembers being at Mass on a Sunday and he made a decision that he will always give the Church the benefit of the doubt and not her enemies. He attended Catholic schools, including Holy Cross College. The Jesuits there wanted to prepare you for your profession and make you a Catholic gentleman. He remembers learning apologetics during his freshman year. He internalized his faith in those courses and that stayed with him ever after. He talked about his experiences in the Army, which challenged his moral uprightness, and in industry and then academia afterward, where he didn't find challenges to his faith. In those days, they were still quite friendly to faith. He started on the faculty of the business school in the mid-1960s. At the time the university had about 40,000 students total. 3rd segment: Fr. Chris asked Phil what he loves him about his Catholic Church after all these years. He said the Church is so big, with so much history, culture and music with something in it for everybody. Scot said his favorite saying is “Here comes everybody.” Phil said he's a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, which was founded in 1099 to provide an honor guard to Christ's tomb. The Knights of Malta were founded at the same time to provide aid to pilgrims. They remain essentially true to those missions even today, in different ways. Of places that everyone should see, there are some obvious ones like the cathedral and St. John Seminary. But there are others that aren't obvious. Phil said he starts with , a beautifully maintained and enormous church. Scot noted it's one of only about 70 basilicas in the US. Fr. Chris said a basilica is a church designated by a pope as a church of particular honor. Tradition is that when a pope visits a city with a basilica, he will make that particular basilica. Fr. Chris said there are many crutches hanging in Mission Church from people who have been healed from illnesses. He also said Ted Kennedy was buried from that church. It is maintained by the Redemptorists. Scot said because it's in the Mission Hill area, many people won't see it unless they're going there specifically. From there he takes the tour to , the second oldest medical school in the country after U Penn and Columbia. That complex was built in 1907. It's at the head of Avenue Louis Pasteur. He said Pasteur was from a French peasant family. He related an anecdote of Pasteur's Catholic faith. Phil said he brings the seminarians there as a way to tell this story of faith. Then they go to , the oldest school in the country, founded in 1635. This is Phil's alma mater. It has always been a public school, which has graduated many famous personages in history. Scot asked when Catholics started to go there in large numbers. Phil said the first Catholic headmaster was Patrick Campbell and later became first Catholic superintendent of public schools in Boston in the 30s. So Catholics began going in the early part of the 20th century. They were drawing largely from the city of Boston. Phil said Bishop John Fitzpatrick attended Boston Latin. This was one of the reasons Protestants were so supportive of the building of Holy Cross Cathedral. Next is the . Gardner was eccentric and an art collector and the terms of her will was that nothing in her home-turned-museum should ever be changed. Fr. Chris said her connection to Catholicism was her friendship with Cardinal William Henry O'Connell. After that is the . Phil said it's nice but not really grand as you might think. Then there's the , built in 1907. The Boston wealthy didn't have great wealth but they did much of it. After that is . This is where he usually takes a break on the tour. He points out Horticultural Hall, which is now used for offices. There's also Symphony Hall, built in 1903. Henry Lee Higginson was the major donor for the Hall and the . Then through the Christian Science Center, where he usually tells some stories about the founder Mary Baker Eddy. The building itself is neo-Baroque with a Romanesque building and a cloister, all of which architectural styles come from Catholicism. Next they go to the for a panoramic view of the city. Then to the B. Phil told a story of an Italian pushcart peddler who went to Haymarket every day but spent all his free time in the reading room of the library. When he died, he left $1.5 million to the Boston Public Library, saying all the pleasure he ever had in life, he had in the reading room. Then they look at the . They visit , which is where Massachusetts ratified the Constitution of the United States. then Old Granary Burying Ground and then . This was the first Anglican Church in Boston and then later became the first Unitarian Church in Boston. To this day it's high church Unitarian and they use the Book of Common Prayer. the first Catholic Mass in Boston was celebrated in the basement of King's Chapel, which was a funeral for a French sailor. They go to , whose lower floor is always to be a market by the will of its first owner. Over to the to and then ), which was formerly a Unitarian church that the Catholic Church bought. Cardinal Cushing spent $1 million to restore it to its original historical form from its Protestant days. Then the tour goes to the Old North Church, which is Episcopalian. Phil said perhaps his favorite stop on the tour is Top of the Hub at the top of the Prudential Building for the panoramic view of Boston.

Fodor's Walking Tours: Freedom Trail