Dear Caldwell,
In Sunday’s sermon, we considered the teachings of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu that one of the pathways to joy is to see and to live generously, as Christ taught in Matthew 6:22. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to be people of great means to give away a lot of money. Rather, it is about a life of generosity of spirit, of grace, of attitude and perspective.
Today, we give thanks to God for a man who lived out his faith that way – and how he inspired an entire congregation to act with remarkable generosity that advances a shared dream of caring for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. That individual is our beloved Richard Harrison, whom we lost last year, and that congregation is Myers Park United Methodist Church.
Richard came to Caldwell a number of years ago, drawn by your commitment to social justice, to reaching back for those left behind and for our commitment to follow Christ’s life, death and resurrection. He also loved to sing and anchored or choir. Richard was a bridge builder for his entire life. In an agreement we both acknowledged was appropriately unorthodox, Richard was also – and first – a member of Myers Park Methodist. There he anchored worship, led Bible study, sang, shed light and was a beloved long-time friend of my colleague, Myers Park Head of Staff Rev. Dr. James Howell.
“Richard was active in both churches more than most folks are active at one church,” James correctly says about Richard.
At Caldwell, most recently, Richard served as an elder, chaired the Worship Committee and was a member of the search committee that followed God’s leading to Rev. Gail Henderson-Belsito, In early 2020, he led a trip of members who traveled to Alabama to visit and contemplate several sites that tell the brutal story of slavery and lynching. (You can read at article Gail and I wrote about that trip here.)
If you were around Richard even for a short time, and especially if you heard him pray, you knew were with a man of God, a true “churchman” as he and I said about him.
Richard lived at McCreesh Place, a supportive housing community Caldwell has supported for some time. His dream – our dream – was that Caldwell would provide and become home for those who needed that kind of safe, stable and supportive environment. That dream goes on as Easter’s Home and, thanks to Richard and those he touched, is a lot closer to reality today.
Myers Park United Methodist is announcing today that, as part of a larger capital campaign, it is pledging $1 million to help build Easter’s Home, our 21-unit transformation of the Price Building on our campus. With an estimated total project cost of $6 million, this commitment can hardly be understated. We are immensely humbled by and grateful to our siblings at Myers Park UMC for how they honor and memorialize their friend, our friend, Richard.
As reported to you last week in the Session and 4H update, we will combine this commitment with those of others, including your own pledges and gifts of $650,000. We addyour monetary pledges to other Caldwell funds to extend our commitment to Easter’s Home to $800,000 plus the land and the building. We have recently identified how to receive $1.2 million in Historic Tax Credit funding and are applying to two foundations for another $1.1 million. If received, these funds will be added to other existing commitments, including state and local government grants. We are praying that we will have the total amount needed raised by this fall and can start the project in early 2022.
You have been patient as your HOME team, led by Rob Hammock, Eddy Capote and Elli Dai, have worked through the enormous complexities of this project, alongside our development partners at DreamKey Partners. This is a unique and pioneering effort, one we hope can inspire others to join in solving our city’s and our nation’s deepening housing crisis. So many have been involved for so long, including the original committee led by Gina Shell that researched and shaped this vision.
As for today, our prayers are answered in the name of one Richard Harrison and in the generosity of our siblings in Christ’s service. We are reminded that our sovereign and faithful God will always find a way – and that we are to always remember the words of Psalm 127:1:
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
Yours in Christ,
John