Tidings Bayshore Presbyterian Church August 29, 2013 With Liberty and Justice for All Inside This Issue If asked to identify from “whence cometh” the words in the title of 1 With Liberty and Justice for All this article, without hesitation “The Pledge of Allegiance” springs to mind. For the most part, any graduate of first grade in the 1 This Sunday at Bayshore United States of America is familiar with, and was likely required to Goings On… recite, the Pledge. For those of the Post-World War II generations, 1 standing with hand-over-heart, facing the American Flag and 2 Liberty, cont. repeating these words is an indelible memory of our school days. Interestingly, the man responsible for this iconic ritual has a 3 Special Report from Building and Grounds Tampa connection, having moved here later in life and passing away on August 28, 1931. His name was Francis Bellamy. 3 Birthdays/Anniversaries/Prayers Francis Julius Bellamy was born in Mount 3 Countdown to Visioning Morris, NY. His family was deeply involved in the Baptist church and they moved to Rome, 3 Just Another Day on the Bayshore NY when Bellamy was only 5. Here, Bellamy became an active member of the First Baptist 4 Volunteer List Church; which his father was minister of until his death in 1864. He attended college at the This Sunday at Bayshore University of Rochester, in Rochester, NY and studied theology. 10:30 am Traditional Worship /Communion/ As a young man, he became a minister, and wrapped up in the Children’s Sunday School fervor of the Second Great Awakening, began to travel to promote his faith and help his community. Bellamy's travels brought him to Massachusetts. It was there that he penned the "Pledge of This Sunday, we will receive our 3-cents Allegiance" for a campaign by the Youth's Companion; a patriotic a meal offering. We traditionally circular of the day. receive this offering on Communion Sunday, the day when we partake of In 1891, Daniel Sharp Ford, the owner of the our most important meal. There is a Youth's Companion, hired Bellamy to work basket in the front of the Sanctuary into with Ford's nephew James B. Upham in the which all are invited to come forward and place their magazine's premium department. In 1888, donations during the regular offering collection. the Youth's Companion had begun a campaign to sell American flags to public schools as a premium to solicit subscriptions. *** See page 4 for volunteer list! For Upham and Bellamy, the flag promotion was more than merely a business move; under their influence, the Youth's Companion Goings On… became a fervent supporter of the schoolhouse flag movement, which aimed to place a flag above every school in the nation. FOOD OF THE MONTH By 1892, the magazine had sold American flags to approximately 26,000 schools. By This month’s feature food is: this time the market was slowing for flags, Soup! but was not yet saturated. Canned, dried, microwavable… In 1892, Upham had the idea of using the 400th anniversary of soup is one of the most versatile, Christopher Columbus reaching the Americas to further bolster the and nutritious meals you can name! schoolhouse flag movement. The magazine called for a national Columbian Public School Celebration to coincide with the World's Bayshore has done itself proud over the past several Columbian Exposition. A flag salute was to be part of the official months with demonstrations of inspiring generosity. Let’s program for the Columbus Day celebration to be held in schools all keep up the good work! over America The Pledge was published in the September 8, 1892, issue of the Along with the Pledge, the children were asked to perform magazine, and immediately put to use in the campaign. Bellamy went the so-called Bellamy Salute to speak to a national meeting of school superintendents to promote the celebration. The original Bellamy salute, first described in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, began with a military salute, and after reciting the words "to the flag," the arm was extended toward the flag. At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, "I pledge allegiance to my Bellamy won the favor of the educators and was elected chair of the Flag and the Republic for which it committee which now had the task of spreading the word across the stands; one Nation indivisible, with nation and of designing an official program for schools to follow on the Liberty and Justice for all." At the words, "to my Flag," the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the day of national celebration. He structured the program around a flag- raising ceremony and his pledge. Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the His original Pledge read as follows: side. Not four decades later, when the Nazi’s rose to power and "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and began saluting in a similar manner, Franklin Roosevelt the Republic for which it stands, changed the salute to the hand-over-heart method we see one nation, indivisible, with liberty today. and justice for all" In 1922 Bellamy decided to leave New York City for the remainder of his life in Tampa, Florida, with his second wife. Further permutations were: 1892 to 1923 “I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for His first wife, Harriet Bellamy, had died in 1918. In 1920 he which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” had married Mrs. Marie Morin, who had been a successful business woman in the women's hat business in New York 1923 to 1924 “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to City. the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” In 1926 he began working part time as the advertising 1924 to 1954 “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of manager for the Tampa America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible Electric Company after he with liberty and justice for all.” convinced the management that the company needed 1954 to Present “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of systematic publicity and America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, advertising that he could indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” develop. On July 15,1931, he was fired from this part time job at the Tampa Electric Company and on the same Bellamy commented on his thoughts as he created the pledge, and his reasons for choosing the careful wording: day he applied for and received a similar job with the Tampa Gas Company. He died on August 28, 1931, in Tampa, Florida, at the age of seventy-six. "It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our Sources: national history, from the Declaration of Independence Rayhavey.org, Wikipedia.com, oldtimeislands.org, onwards; with the makings of the Constitution... with the USHistory.org meaning of the Civil War; with the aspiration of the people... "The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the 'republic for which it stands'. ...And what does that last thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation - the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future? "Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity'. No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and Kaaren cell: 727-389-6397 Home: 727-378-8299 justice for all..." Special Report from Building and Grounds Committee The B&G Committee and the Session have been wrestling with how best to deal with BPC’s ageing and deteriorating roof systems since last fall. We know we have multiple roof leaks on all sides of the second floor roof of the Community Room (CR). Some of those leaks may be showing up as ceiling tile damage on the first floor of the CR and we have had electrical circuit breaker trips that may be related. On the pitched shingled roof system of the Sanctuary we know the shingles are old and brittle and we are missing a few. There are also visible clues that the deck may be rotting in places. We aren’t certain about what’s causing the obvious staining of the interior sanctuary ceiling peaks, heat or maybe moisture. We have had leaks over the flat roof portion over the West side of the Old House over the North end of the Nursery Room and stains are still evident after recent repainting. After careful prayer and deliberations we decided to recommend to the session a complete roof replacement after reviewing all of our options. The Session agreed that this act of faith in the long term viability of BPC was the correct action to take. We reviewed bids from three roofers and signed a contract with Milbar Roofing of Dade City.