Dear Folks,
In 1855 Baltimore was a booming port city: scrappy, exciting, volatile. Like other American cities, extremes of wealth and poverty were common. Successful merchants built grand townhouses around Mount Vernon Square, while Fells Point and Camden pulsed with dockworkers and sailors. Smoke from coal-burning stoves and factories near the harbor smeared the sun.
Horse-drawn wagons packed with goods plied the muddy streets in every direction. “Enslaved people were bought and sold at spaces like Centre Market (Marsh Market), Garland Burnett’s Tavern, and the Vendue Warehouse on South Frederick Street.” (Baltimore Sun, May 4, 2022) Baltimore clipper ships and steamships crowded the piers, and the city was earning its reputation as “Mobtown,” as political gangs and anti-immigrant groups fought over ideologies and turf.
Despite the heavy presence of slavery, Baltimore was also home to the largest population of free African Americans in the United States, who built churches and schools and benevolent societies. Waves of immigrants, especially from Ireland and Germany, added numerous Roman Catholic parishes to the mix, and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation settled into their handsome new synagogue (c. 1845) on Lloyd Street.
Out in the country, near what would become the intersection of Charles and Melrose, the Perine family set aside a portion of their estate to build a place of worship for their family and others living nearby. The Church of the Redeemer had begun.
Because the story of Baltimore is characterized by invention and re-invention, that spirit of transformation is woven into the fabric of Redeemer, as well. Civil War would tear asunder the families and the landscape. Factories would march up the Jones Falls, some of them owned by parishioners. Railroad tracks would be laid, tunnels dug, and highways poured a generation later, often creating economic opportunities, sometimes hardening lines of race and class.
And Redeemer was always engaged. In some decades, parishioners helped to build businesses and methods of international commerce and national transportation, and their faithfulness was expressed through works of charity. As consciousness was raised through the Civil Rights movement and the empowerment of women and other marginalized people, parishioners shifted their frame toward justice. They wondered how God’s dream of love and liberty could be realized here, for all? Engagement with members of St. James, Lafayette Square, a historic Black Episcopal Church, helped Redeemer parishioners grapple with how to offer a faithful response to the injustices of their time. This same spirit led to Redeemer becoming a member of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) in 2016. And the life-giving beat goes on…
Today, we launch a web page which presents the significant work of our History Committee, charting the path of Redeemer from the Civil War to Civil Rights. As 75 parish members discovered and digested the report last Spring in their house groups, today’s further dissemination of our story invites the whole community to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going. Please read it and then join us for a history walk on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 11:30 a.m. and discussion after church on Sunday, Nov. 15.
With a full heart, I offer my thanks to the members of the History Committee, the Vestry, and officers who have led us in this important work.
Love,