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Week 5 -- Harriet Tubman, “I Was Free; They Should Be Free” (1820–1913)

By Vicar LIsa

Harriet Tubman—who was born Araminta “Minty” Ross and never knew her birth date. She was the fifth of nine children and born in either late February or early March 1822, on the plantation of Anthony Thompson in Dorchester County, Maryland. 

When she was six or seven years old, Araminta was hired out, first at a nearby farm as a housekeeper and then at another farm as a nanny to a sickly infant. Her mistress kept a whip beneath her pillow, and if Araminta stopped rocking the baby’s cradle during the night, or if her mistress was awakened by the infant’s cries, the young nanny was beaten across the chest, neck, and shoulders, often numerous times in a single night. 

As a young teenager, Araminta was hired out as a field hand on a neighboring plantation, and it was around this time that she received a near-fatal blow to her head, which resulted in frequent seizures and periods of narcolepsy for the rest of her life. 

Slaves were not permitted to attend religious services led by African American preachers, but they were often encouraged or forced to attend the white congregations with their master’s family. Araminta and her family attended Methodist services.   

In 1849, now married to John Tubman, a free black man, Araminta launched a prayer vigil for the soul of her new master, Edward Brodess, begging God for his conversion to Christianity so he would come to see the cruelty of slavery and repent. Soon, though, she heard a rumor that Brodess planned to sell her and her brothers, so she switched strategies and began to pray for her master’s death.  When Brodess suddenly died not long after, Araminta felt terribly guilty.  In addition, his death made things worse because she feared she would be sold by Brodess’ widow to pay off debt.  Despite her husband’s pleas for her to stay, Araminta fled the plantation with her two brothers in September 1849. Her brothers got cold feet and returned to the plantation, but Araminta forged ahead alone to the free state of Pennsylvania. When she got there, she changed her name once she crossed into freedom. She was reborn as Harriet Tubman.

She found work as a maid and cook in various hotels and for families in Philadelphia, where she had settled, and hoarded her earnings, communicating with family members via an extensive network of fugitives, free blacks, and abolitionists all along the eastern seaboard. Harriet continued rescue operations from her base in Philadelphia even after the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850. 

She returned to her home state approximately thirteen times on exceedingly dangerous secret missions to liberate family and friends. As an Underground Railroad conductor, Tubman led seventy slaves to freedom and gave instructions to fifty more who traveled to freedom on their own.  By 1860 Harriet had led dozens of slaves to freedom, including her elderly parents, whom she guided on a dangerous mission to Canada. 

But her work was not done. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, she realized a new role awaited her: first as a nurse serving the Union Army and later as a scout and spy, utilizing her knowledge of covert travel and her survival skills. Her reconnaissance helped Colonel James Montgomery capture Jacksonville, Florida, in 1863, and later that year, Harriet also played an integral role in the famed Combahee River Raid. On June 2, 1863, she guided three steamboats past Confederate torpedo mines to designated spots on the South Carolina shore.

Despite her years of military service, Harriet never received regular compensation and for decades was denied a government pension. As a result, she constantly struggled with debt, even in her later years after she had remarried. Finally, after much discussion and disagreement, Congress awarded her a pension of twenty dollars per month in 1899—more than thirty years after the conclusion of the Civil War, as Harriet herself was approaching age eighty.

In the last years of her life, Harriet was active in the women’s suffrage movement, working alongside leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland. She also opened her home in Auburn, New York, to the poor and needy, particularly African American elderly and disabled people.   Because so few homes for the aged admitted black residents, Harriet decided to fund one herself, and in 1903 she donated a parcel of land she owned to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn, with the stipulation that it should be used for a home for “aged and indigent colored people.”

On March 10, 1913, Harriet died in a room in the Harriet Tubman Home, the residence for the elderly she had founded years prior. Shortly before she took her last breaths, she quoted verses from John 14 to those gathered at her bedside: “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you also may be”— fitting final words for a woman who had prepared a place of freedom, comfort, and security for so many in her lifetime.

8th Sunday after Pentecost, July 23, 2023 

10 a.m. Outdoor Worship (weather permitting) with Holy Communion

 

Announcements:

  • Next Sunday:  On Sunday, we will be doing Godspeed and Farewell to the Pierce family who are moving to Montrose.  We will also do a laying on of hands and prayer for Bethany Pierce who will be leaving the United States for a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps and will be stationed in Uganda. At that service, we also will collect freewill offering to help support her on this journey.
  • Summer Hiatus: Sunday morning Bible Study, Friday Women's Bible Study and Centering Prayer all are on summer hiatus. Watch for schedule updates in e-formation, the newsletter, and worship bulletins.
  • First Sunday Potluck: Join us the first Sunday of each month for our potluck lunch. All are welcome. Our next potluck will be Sunday, August 6. 
  • Temple Talk:  Temple talk has been moved from August 6 until August 13.  Lana Geier will be sharing information about ACTS and the Samaritan Clinic.
  • Outdoor Services: We will continue Summer Outdoor Worship through August. Each Sunday, we need people willing to help set up and to help clean up after worship. We have lists of what is needed to guide you. Please let Vicar Lisa or Sharon Sorensen know if you are willing to help.
  • Garage Sale: Zion's annual garage sale will be Saturday, Aug. 5. See Julie if you would like to help.
  • Save the Date: Zion's 135th Anniversary celebration is Sept. 23-24. If you would like to be part of this committee, please see Vicar Lisa. 

 

Council Meeting Notes, July 9, 2023:

Zion's Lutheran Church Council met for their regular meeting on July 9.  Reports by the Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and Trust Fund Officer were approved with a few corrections to the Secretary's report.  

Vicar Lisa asked for opinions on outdoor worship.  We will continue to try to keep the bugs away by mowing the lawn ourselves if need be and spraying the lawn prior to services.  The Trinidad Ministerial Association (TMA) is planning to do something for kids at the Rodeo over Labor Day.  We discussed how we could participate as members of Zion's.  Lana Geier will discuss ACTS and her work at the Samaritan clinic at the August 6 temple talk.  

It was noted that the recycle bins need to be emptied.  We are still working on installing a smoke alarm in the sanctuary.  The kitchen "refresh" is almost complete.  The Audit Committee report was reviewed, and it will be sent out to all voting members for their review as well.  We thank Connie Hass, Melodie Lanosga and Ruthie Culpepper for their time spent on this important task.   

Plans for the 135th Anniversary (Sept. 24) were discussed.  This committee met again after the council meeting.  Preliminary plans are to have a special worship service, an outdoor picnic-type dinner, and live music.   

The organ still needs a few repairs.  Connie Pallone has the contact information for Rocky Mountain Organ Services and will arrange a time to get estimates on the additional work.   

Julie is heading up our garage sale this year (Aug. 5).  We discussed the advertising and help we will need to set up and price the items, clean up, and a few people to help during the sale.  This is always a fun event, please let Julie know if you would like to help.   

Vicar Lisa will discuss the Council Behavioral Covenant at the next meeting.  The group assigned to review our constitution and by-laws is scheduled to meet on Friday July 14.  These items were something recommended by Pastor Diana Linden-Johnson from the Bishop's Office who facilitated our Leadership Retreat a few months ago.   

We are looking for ideas for a God's Work Our Hands project.  Please let any council member or Vicar Lisa know.   

Respectfully Submitted, Julie Wersal 

E-formation - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, July 23, 2023

The parable we hear this coming Sunday is about a field in which both wheat and weeds are growing—which is a way to describe the church, the world, and even ourselves. Come to worship, so that hearing the word and eating the supper of the Lord can nourish your “wheat” and stifle your “weeds.”

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Much of Matthew’s Gospel describes Christians as living in righteousness. Yet the parable of the wheat and the weeds warns against our tendency to identify who is evil and who is good. Christ, the Son of Man, is the judge.

Isaiah 44:6-8

The poem from Isaiah is chosen to parallel Matthew’s word that God, not the community, is the judge. As if in self-defense during a court trial, God claims to be the ultimate authority.

Romans 8:12-25

The reading from Romans expands this Sunday’s picture of God, who is not only the righteous judge, but also the welcoming father. Believers are not only part wheat, part weeds, but also adopted children, who await both divine judgment and glorious freedom.

Zion's Lutheran Church

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785