Jonathan Myrick Daniels

A VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE AND PROCESSION

FOR THE FEAST OF

JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS

MARTYR OF HAYNEVILLE

AND

THE MARTYRS OF ALABAMA

AUGUST 15, 2020 at 11 a.m.

HAYNEVILLE, ALABAMA

SPONSORED BY EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF ALABAMA EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF CENTRAL GULF COAST TOWN OF HAYNEVILLE LOWNDES COUNTY COMMISSION

The Offering As has been customary at our annual in-person Pilgrimage, the offering is designated for the Lowndes County Board of Education Scholarship Fund. Please give generously to support this Jonathan Daniels’ Scholarship Fund. To give, visit bit.ly/DioAlaGive WELCOME

The Rev. Carolyn Foster, Deacon and Co-chair of the Diocese of Alabama Commission on Truth, Justice, and Racial Reconciliation

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Glenda S. Curry, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Alabama

THE WORD OF GOD The pilgrimage begins in the courthouse square. Pilgrims then process the short distance to the old jail, then to the site of the Varner Cash Store, and return to the square before entering the courthouse.

AT THE COURTHOUSE SQUARE

Celebrant: Blessed be God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. People: And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

Celebrant: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect of the Day

O God of justice and compassion, you put down the proud and mighty from their place, and lift up the poor and the afflicted: we give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ the just one, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Leader: Let us go in peace. People: In the name of Christ. Amen.

2 AT THE JAIL Following their arrest, Daniels was held in the Hayneville jail with Richard Morrisroe and eighteen black compatriots for six days.

A Reading from Outside Agitator

A Reading from a Letter Written from Jail by Jonathan to his Mother The letter was sent to his mother for her birthday. It was his last letter, and was received by his mother the day after he died.

August 17, 1965

Dearest Mum,

An eminently peculiar birthday card, but . . . I have been in jail ever since Saturday – the Lowndes county jail in Hayneville, after being transferred from Fort Deposit, where a bunch of us were arrested for picketing. (As a gun toting Cracker said to me when I observed that we had a constitutional right to picket, “You don’t have any rights in Fort Deposit.”) We are not being bailed out because we are seeking an injunction and trying to get our cases transferred to a federal court. The food is vile and we aren’t allowed to bathe (whew!), but otherwise we are okay. Should be out in 2-3 days and back to work. As you can imagine, I’ll have a tale or two to swap over our next martini! (This damned pencil is about an inch and a quarter long.) Getting some reading, thinking, discussing, speculating (and sleeping) done – but cussed little else!

The card I bought and the present will have to wait, but I sure will be thinking of you with love and prayers! Have a martini for me and a birthday that is gay in some fun way.

With much, much love,

Jon

Leader: Let us pray.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Jonathan Myrick Daniels boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Leader: Let us go in peace. People: In the Name of Christ. Amen.

Remarks from Richard Morrisroe In 1965 Morrisroe was a Roman Catholic Priest and was part of the group that was jailed with Daniels. He was also shot by Tom Coleman on August 20, 1965.

3 AT THE SITE OF THE FORMER VARNER’S CASH STORE Here pilgrims recall the final moments of Daniel’s life, and are invited to kneel and pray at his place of martyrdom. The building at the site of the Varner Cash Store was demolished, and a new building and pavement constructed. In 2015, a historic marker was blessed and dedicated marking the spot of Daniels death. This station includes footage from 2014, before the site was demolished.

A Reading from Outside Agitator

Leader: Let us pray.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Before leaving this site, you are invited to reflect, kneel, and pray in this sacred space.)

AT MEMORIAL ON COURTHOUSE SQUARE The pilgrimage then returns to the courthouse square at the site of a monument to Daniels erected by the Promanji Club and Virginia Military Institute. Jonathan Daniels was a 1961 graduate of Virginia Military Institute. VMI and the Promanji Club have been longtime supports of the pilgrimage.

Remarks from Gene Williams, ’74 Graduate, VMI Alumni Association, and founding member of the Promanji Club

A Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (3:22-28)

The scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God.

4 Leader: Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your holy martyr Jonathan Myrick Daniels: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reign with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

IN THE COURTROOM The pilgrimage continues with worship in the courtroom where Tom Coleman was acquitted of killing Jonathan Daniels by an all-white jury.

Remarks from Hon. Adrian Johnson, Lowndes County District Court Judge

Remarks from Jason Burroughs, Superintendent of the Lowndes County Schools

The Gospel – The Rev. Tricia Spencer, Deacon, St. Cyprian’s Pensacola

Deacon: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

The Gospel: Luke 1: 46-55

Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; For the Mighty One has done great things for me, And holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, And lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy, According to the promise he made to our ancestors, To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Deacon: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Welcome & Introduction The Rt. Rev. Kee Sloan, Bishop of the Diocese Alabama

Keynote Address The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary

Remarks from the Rt. Rev. Russell Kendrick, Bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

The Prayers of the People The Intercessor and the People pray responsively – (Mary S. Webber, Dismantling Racism: “The Task of the People of God Leaders Manual (S. Louis: January, 1993) original, ”Litany for Racial Justice” adapted by Ronice Branding, with permission. Taken from: Fulfilling the Dream, Ronice Branding, Chalice Press. 1995.)

For your household with its blessed diversity of races and ethnicities, We give you thanks, O God.

For your presence with those who suffer the pain of oppression because of racism, We pray to you, O God.

For your forgiveness for our denial and apathy when we have cooperated with powers of dominance and discrimination, We pray to you, O God.

For ears to hear stereotyping in church and community, and the courage to name it, We pray to you, O God.

For eyes to see exclusion to our lives and churches and for resolve to confront it, We pray to you, O God.

For minds to address what the conscience knows, We pray to you, O God.

For hearts freed of cynicism and despair and renewed with hope, We pray to you, O God.

For faith that acts on the certainty of your love for us and on your desire that we honor our differences and live in harmony, We pray to you, O God.

We pray in fellowship with those from this time and beyond time who have witnessed to your call to community. We covenant with you and each other to be your instruments of justice and reconciliation in this time and in this place.

We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in your eternal kingdom, especially Jonathan Myrick Daniels and the martyrs of Alabama and the Civil Rights Movement.

6 The Alabama Martyrs Read by the Rev. Peggy L. Cook, Simpson Chapel AME Zion Church, Greenville, AL. Candles are lit by Josephine Bolling McCall, daughter of Martyr Elmore Bolling “Soon I Will be Done” sung by Rev. Fannie Davis, Refuge Temple AME Zion Church, Montgomery AL The gong is rung by Rev. Carolyn Foster, Co-chair, Commission on Truth, Justice and Racial Reconciliation, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama

Elmore Bolling, December 4, 1947, martyred in Lowndesboro, AL

Willie Edwards, Jr., January 23, 1957, martyred in Montgomery, AL

William Lewis Moore, April 23, 1963, martyred in Attalla, AL

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, September 15, 1963, martyred in Birmingham, AL

Virgil Lamar Ware, September 15, l963, martyred in Birmingham, AL

Johnny Robinson, September 15, 1963, martyred in Birmingham, AL

Jimmie Lee Jackson, February 26, 1965, martyred in Marion, AL

Viola Greg Liuzzo, March 25, 1965, martyred near Lowndesboro, AL

Jonathan Myrick Daniels, August 20, 1965, martyred in Hayneville, AL

The Rev. James Reeb, September 11, 1965, martyred in Selma, AL

Willie Brewster, September 18, l965, martyred in Anniston, AL

Samuel Leamon Younge, Jr., January 3, 1966, martyred in Tuskegee, AL

and those known only to God.

Silence A gong sounds

Closing Prayers & Blessing – The Rt. Rev. Kee Sloan

Closing Hymn – Lift Every Voice and Sing

Dismissal – The Rev. Carolyn Foster, Deacon

7 JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS Martyr of Hayneville 1965

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1939. He was shot and killed by an unemployed highway worker who had been “deputized” in Hayneville, Alabama on August 20, 1965.

From high school in Keene to graduate school in Harvard, Jonathan wrestled with the meaning of life and death and vocation. Attracted to medicine, the ordained ministry, law, and writing, he found himself close to a loss of faith when his search was resolved by a profound conversion experience Easter Day, 1962, in the Church of the Advent, Boston. Jonathan then entered the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In March 1965, the televised appeal of Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma to secure for all citizens the right to vote placed Jonathan where the nation’s racism and the Episcopal Church’s share in that inheritance was exposed.

He returned to seminary but asked for a leave of absence to work in Selma where he would be sponsored by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity. The conviction of his calling was deepened at Evening Prayer during the singing of the Magnificat, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things…”. ”I know that I must go to Selma,” Jonathan wrote. “The Virgin’s song was to grow more and more dear to me in the weeks to come.”

Jonathan was arrested in Fort Deposit on August 14th for joining a picket line and transferred to the jail in Hayneville. On August 20th, he and his companions were unexpectedly released. Sensing that they were in danger and thirsty from the scorching August heat, four of them walked to Cash’s small store nearby.

As sixteen-year-old Ruby Sales reached the top step of the entrance, a man with a gun appeared, cursing her. Jonathan pulled her in front of him and turned around to shield her from the unexpected threats. As a result he was killed by a blast from the 12-gauge gun.

In the days after Daniels’ death, the seminarian was honored at several memorial services and meetings. The Reverend Malcolm Boyd spoke at a requiem Mass in Washington’s Church of the Atonement summing up Jonathan’s life by saying “Jonathan Daniels was the most alive young man in the Church I have met...he was one person who was not afraid of getting involved.”

The final service was held at his home church of St. James in Keene. At the conclusion of the graveside service as people drifted away, a small group of whites and blacks gathered around the grave, joined hands, and softly sang “”We Shall Overcome”.

We shall overcome, We shall overcome, We shall overcome some day

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe We shall overcome some day.

8 THE VERY REVEREND DR. KELLY BROWN DOUGLAS Dean, Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology, Union Theological Seminary Canon Theologian, Washington National Cathedral Theologian in Residence, Trinity Church Wall Street

The Very Reverend Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas was named Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology at Union in September 2017. She was named the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology in November 2019. She also serves as the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Theologian in Residence at Trinity Church Wall Street.

Prior to Union, Dean Douglas served as Professor of Religion at Goucher College where she held the Susan D. Morgan Professorship of Religion and is now Professor Emeritus. Before Goucher, she was Associate Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity (1987-2001) and Assistant Professor of Religion at Edward Waters College (1986-1987).

Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1983, Dean Douglas holds a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Union.

Dean Douglas is the author of many articles and five books, including Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective and Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God. Her academic work has focused on womanist theology, sexuality and the black church.

9 Thanks!

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Glenda S. Curry Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Alabama

The Rt. Rev. Kee Sloan Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama

The Rt. Rev. Russell Kendrick Bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary

Episcopal Diocese of Alabama Commission on Truth, Justice and Racial Reconciliation

Episcopal Diocese of Central Gulf Coast Commission on Racial Justice and Reconciliation

Superintendent Jason Burroughs, Lowndes County Board of Education

The Town of Hayneville

The Rev. Kelley Hudlow Communications Coordinator, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama

Hon. Adrian Johnson Lowndes County District Judge

Lowndes County Commission

Mr. Richard Morrisroe

The Rev. Tricia Spencer Deacon at St. Cyprian’s Pensacola

Mr. Gene Williams, ’74 VMI

Virginia Military Institute and Alumni

10 The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama Commission on Truth, Justice and Racial Reconciliation

The Rev. Carolyn J. Foster, St. Mark’s, Birmingham AL The Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Osborne, Grace Church, Sheffield AL Co-Chairs

Members Dr. Carole Campbell, Holy Comforter, Gadsden AL The Rev. Fannie Davis, AME Zion Church, Montgomery AL Charlie Centerfit Hart, Holy Comforter, Gadsden Mrs. Josephine Bolling McCall Claire Milligan, Church of the Good Shepherd, Montgomery AL Mary Olson, Holy Trinity, Auburn AL The Rev. John Stewart, St. Matthias, Tuscaloosa AL The Rev. Dr. Tommie Watkins, Canterbury Chapel, Tuscaloosa AL

The Rt. Rev. John McKee Sloan, Diocesan Bishop Rev. Dr. Glenda S. Curry, Bishop Coadjutor

11 The Episcopal Diocese Central Gulf Coast Commission on Racial Justice and Reconciliation

Joe McDaniel, Christ Church Parish, Pensacola FL Gary Moore, St. Paul’s, Daphne AL Co-Chairs

Members Nancy Bolton Beck, St. Paul’s, Daphne, AL Dorothy Briley, St. Jude’s, Niceville, FL Jill Showers Chow, Christ Church Cathedral, Mobile, AL Ozie Christian, Christ Church Parish, Pensacola, FL Sonja Crawford, Christ Church Parish, Pensacola, FL Millie Ericson, Holy Spirit, Gulf Shores, AL The Rev. Jim Flowers, All Saints, Mobile, AL Cecil Gardner, All Saints, Mobile, AL The Rev. John C. George, Good Shepherd, Mobile, AL Patrick Israel, Christ Church Parish, Pensacola, FL Clyde Jones, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Daphne, AL Nichelle Jones, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Daphne, AL Susan Miller, St. Stephen’s, Brewton AL Dent Neilson, St. Thomas, Greenville, AL Mary Mullins Redditt, St. James, Fairhope, AL Robbie Runderson, Good Shepherd, Mobile, AL Ken Thomas, Nativity, Dothan, AL

The Rt. Rev. Russell Kendrick, Diocesan Bishop

BLESSED JONATHAN,

PRAY FOR US.