Faith+Works UU welcomes Dr. Khemani Gibson to our pulpit - March 10th 4:00PM
Welcome to Pause to Ponder , the bulletin of Faith+Works Congregation
Bulletin No. 5 March 5, 2024
Welcome to the bulletin of Faith+Works Congregation! Here you will find our spiritual Pause to Ponder, news of upcoming services, and updates on the gathering, gardening and learning that happens on our campus.
Image: A panel from our Tiffany Window, which reads, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.”
Pause to Ponder
I am obsessed with excess, with the unwanted, the discarded and the underutilized. In my work as an artist I seek to repurpose items that no longer have an essential use. Items that were once manufactured in abundant quantities but are now abandoned, superfluous, tossed. When I see materials being disposed of carelessly I see both treasures and mistreatment, and feel an immediate need to resurrect the neglected and disrespected. One of my sculptures, “In Defense of Extraction”, is a contemporary riff on medieval body armor, or a cuirass. It is made of, and covered with, paper images of ore cut out from the pages of a 1960s children’s book depicting minerals from around the world. I “extracted” the minerals from this book as they might be extracted from the earth, thereby rendering the book useless, and heightened the “value” of each specimen by investing additional labor and by giving each one dimension. The idea that mineral wealth might protect us is undermined by the inherent fragility of this sculptural object that I created: there is no such thing as protection from the human habit of extraction. – Kate Dodd, Orange-based artist, from her Faith+Works talk, March, 2023
The art work described above, “In Defense of Extraction,” and more, by Kate Dodd is on view at the Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton, NJ until April 28.
FAITH + WORKS Upcoming services – All services are hybrid.
March 10, 2024 4:00PM: Dr. Khemani Gibson
Dr. Khemani Gibson will be joining us for our March 10, 2024 Faith + Works service. The title of his talk is “On Being Reborn.” Please join us in person at 35 Cleveland Street, Orange, NJ or register for a Zoom link here.
Biography
Dr. Khemani Gibson is a community organizer and historian from Orange, NJ who specializes in researching and teaching of the African Diaspora, Caribbean migration, and racial justice in New Jersey. Dr. Gibson graduated frim New York University with his PhD specializing in history of the African Diaspora and the Caribbean in 2020. Dr. Gibson has held positions at New York University, Rutgers University, Drew University, Fordham University, Barnard College at Columbia University, and now works at Brooklyn College in the department of Africana Studies.
While committed to his work in the classroom, Dr. Gibson is deeply committed to bridging the gap between the academy and marginalized communities. With organizations such as the University of Orange, The HUUB, and The Montclair History Center Dr. Gibson has participated in numerous programs to address the social needs affecting Orange and similar communities throughout the state. It is Dr. Gibson's hope that he empowers and educates the next generation of young community organizers and leaders in the fight to build a more just society for all.
April 14th 4:00PM: Dr. Kathy Kremins and Ysabel Gonsalez, poets
April 24th 6:00PM: Community Seder
May 12th 9:00AM: Flower Communion
June 9th 4:00PM: Darcy Hall, educator
News & Happenings Around the Campus
Darren Tobia wrote a wonderful article in “The Four Oranges” about the restoration of our Tiffany window. The article notes:
In the eye of this gentrification storm is the Cleveland Street church, and its newly restored stained-glass window with the appropriate epitaph, “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” a Bible verse that honors those who work to solve a community’s ills. The window is worth seeing in person and Farrand and his colleagues invite strangers into the parish hall where it is located.
One of the reasons Tiffany’s stained glass became so popular is because of his patented opalescent glass where several hues swirl in a single pane, according to David Bleckman, president of J & R Lamb Studios, the firm that restored the window.
“By doing so, you get different densities and layers when the light strikes it,” he said.
Tiffany’s windows don’t require a direct light source to illuminate the colors, Bleckman said. “Even at nighttime, when you’re inside, you can still see the beauty of the window,” Bleckman said.
Darcy Hall will discuss our window and other wonderful public art in Orange during her Faith+Works talk, June 9th. That weekend will see a special series of events at our campus, observing the 20th anniversary of the publication of Mindy Fullilove’s book, Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do
