Marble Easter Offering 2023 – Music in the Heart

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: ...

To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, To make music in the heart.

So wrote renowned theologian Howard Thurman. When the Christmas season ends, the work of the Marble Easter Offering indeed begins. About 50 nonprofits that have been pre-vetted by the Benevolence of Marble Committee (BOM) are invited to apply for grants of $5,000. Those lengthy applications are reviewed by an individual BOM member and the committee as a whole to understand how they are meeting a critical human need.

“BOM does the careful research on organizations that most of us don’t have time for – particularly for small or neighborhood organizations doing critical work in New York City,” notes Jerry Link, who joined the committee in 2010. “BOM checks to make sure the mission is spirit-filled, the work is life-changing, and the finances are sound.”

The goal of the 2023 Marble Easter Offering is $230,000 – an increase from the $217,800 raised in 2022. Marble has done it before – $240,000 in 2019.

The Marble Easter Offering requires the work of many angels. Last year, more than 600 donors made

Engage – Help Others

“music in the heart” through 42 Easter Offering grants. Dr. Thurman acknowledged, “There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathless and beautiful.” Family has been the source of angels for many of us. As longtime Marble Elder Sheila Moses observes: “Thanks to my mother, I have always perceived giving, in all its forms – time, talent, treasures – as a privilege.”

At a young age, the future Rev. Otis Moss III was encouraged to read Thurman’s book, Jesus and the Disinherited. Thurman had a profound impact on Moss, now pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ (UCC) in Chicago. In one sermon, Moss described Christianity as “a tradition of hope unafraid to face horror, a tradition of possibility unafraid to stare down pain.” In the words of 1 Peter 3, Jesus “has caused us to be born again to a living hope.” Pain and possibility are both part of the Easter Offering which addresses the pain of poverty in Sunset Park and South Africa as well as the possibilities for children growing up in Washington Heights and Afghanistan.

The mission of the 2023 Marble Easter Offering is to spread the healing power of love and acceptance through grants in the areas of education, hunger, housing, health, the environment, and reconciliation. As Dr. Thurman observed, “In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.”

Please join the Marble Community in our mission to continue to make music in the heart.

Learn about ways you can be of service to others at Fellowship on Fifth on the 2nd & 4th Sundays after Worship, visit MarbleChurch.org/engage/volunteer, or contact Rev. Susanah Wade (SWade@MarbleChurch.org).

Marble Fights Hunger — We encourage you to bring canned/bottled food whenever you come to Marble. Donations benefit organizations including Icahn House. Drop-off bins are in the 5th Ave Narthex and 29th St Prayer Room.

Youth Volunteer Event: Spreading God’s Love One Sandwich at a Time — Saturday, February 11, 12:45-2:00pm. Please see page 10

Labyrinth Docents — If you’re interested in being a guide to help others walk the Labyrinth, please see page 4.