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Week 2 -- Elizabeth Fry Quaker Prison Reformer (1780–1845)

by Vicar Lisa

Elizabeth wasn’t an obvious candidate to be a spokesperson and a hands-on champion for prison reform. She was considered “delicate” as a child. Illness, anxiety, and depression plagued her from youth through her old age. She suffered from nervousness, stomach upset, and relentless toothaches. She was socially awkward and withdrawn.

Elizabeth also struggled spiritually. She was inclined toward religion yet constantly battled what she considered worldly temptations and was torn between duty and pleasure. When she allowed herself to enjoy such pleasures like dancing and socializing, she was quick to reprimand herself in her journal.

She was skeptical of religion, fearing that if she gave way to it, she may be led away. And, in hearing the American Quaker William Savery, she was. As she sat in the front row and listened to Savery advocate for peace, Elizabeth was transfixed. His preaching sparked a new and exciting religious fervor in her. She began to attend Meetings twice on Sunday in the tradition of the Plain Quakers. She adopted the bonnet and began using the “thee” and “thou” language of the Plain Quakers. She finally convinced her family that her Quakerism was no passing whim. By the time she met her future husband, banker and Quaker Joseph Fry, whom she married in 1800, Elizabeth was a Plain Quaker in heart, speech, and dress.

By the time Elizabeth was twenty-four, she had three children under the age of five and questioned whether she would ever have a role beyond that of wife and mother. Her father’s death in 1809, however, changed the course of Elizabeth’s life. 

Before, when attending Quaker Meetings, Elizabeth had never testified publicly. Even thinking about it caused her so much anxiety that she trembled uncontrollably, and she feared she would faint.

However, upon her father’s death, she was released from his disapproval of her religious choices and was psychologically free to speak. She began to preach and in 1811, one month after giving birth to her seventh child, Elizabeth was formally acknowledged as a minister by the Society of Friends. 

Although her brothers John and Daniel disapproved of her public speaking and her sisters criticized her for neglecting her family, her husband supported her, taking on more and more of the household responsibilities while Elizabeth’s role expanded.

When Stephen Grellet, a French aristocrat who had converted to the Society of Friends, visited London’s Newgate Prison in 1813 and surveyed the appalling conditions, he immediately summoned Elizabeth, who was known by then for her compassion for the city’s poor.

When Elizabeth first entered the prison, in the dimness, she saw three hundred women were packed into two rooms, most of them in tattered rags, their hair matted, faces streaked with grime. Some were attempting to cook in the cramped quarters, while others hunched over buckets of dirty water, trying to do their washing. Many sprawled motionless on the filthy straw. The smell was horrific. Babies screamed, and as she stood there surveying the scene, she watched as two prisoners stripped off the clothes of a dead infant to clothe a living one.

Elizabeth Fry left London’s Newgate Prison that day, went home, bathed, and changed into fresh clothing. The next day she returned, this time with armloads of flannel baby clothes, blankets, and clean, thick straw. She and a friend distributed the supplies, comforted the mothers, and helped to dress the babies in warm flannel. Her lifelong ministry as a prison reformer had begun.

By 1817 she had firmly established herself as London’s foremost prison reformer. Not only did Elizabeth advocate for better prison conditions, including more space and adequate clothing and food, she also persuaded the authorities to allow her to launch an education program for the imprisoned women and their children. 

As her work in the prisons progressed, Elizabeth grew increasingly opposed to the death penalty. At the time, criminals could be executed for more than two hundred offenses, including stealing something as small as a pair of stockings or passing a forged bank note.

After her death from a stroke in 1845, Elizabeth’s daughters scoured forty-four volumes of her journals to remove all traces of their mother’s struggles and weaknesses. She was canonized by biographers and viewed by many as a saint. Yet while the original, unedited versions of these journals and the biographical portraits produced in more recent years divulge Elizabeth’s flaws, they also reveal a more complex, real, relatable woman. It’s in the spotlight of these very weaknesses and character flaws that we see and relate to the true Elizabeth Fry.

She struggled her entire life with anxiety and depression. She wrestled with her faith as well as with her role as a wife and mother, and she suffered the criticism of many who disagreed with everything from her prison reforms to her parenting. Yet she persevered, courageously defying societal expectations, weathering sharp and often vicious criticism, and forging ahead, determined to fulfill what she believed was her God-given calling.

Sometimes, as in the case of Elizabeth Fry, God calls us to step out of our comfort zones. The choice is ours to answer yes.

5th Sunday after Pentecost, July 2, 2023

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

Worship Leaders: Vicar Lisa Rygiel, Julie Wersal

Lector: John Rygiel

Musicians: Connie Pallone, Melodie Lanosga & Sharon Sorenson

Ushers: John Rygiel and Tracy Wahl

Communion: Ann Rasmussen

Flowers: Donated by Doris Blalock in celebration of July 4

 

Announcements:

  • 5 Loaves: Thank you to the volunteers who helped with 5-Loaves set up on Friday and with meal delivery on Saturday. We were able to serve almost 200 meals to more than 100 individuals and families in the Trinidad area.
  • Outdoor Services: Outdoor services will continue through summer weather permitting. Bring a lawn chair and a cold drink. Bug spray provided. Thank you to all who come early and help set up!
  • First Sunday Potluck: Join us after worship on this Sunday, July 2, for a potluck lunch and Temple Talk following worship. The topic of the Temple Talk will be about Church Council and how they operate.
  • Garage Sale: Zion's annual garage sale will be held Saturday, Aug. 5. See Julie if you would like to help.
  •  Save the Date: Zion's 135th Anniversary celebration will be held September 24. We have begun the initial planning for this momentous event! Following Sunday service that day, we will have a cookout, outdoor music, and an ice cream social. There are lots of activities to be coordinated (food, music, decorations, communications, etc.) If you would like to be part of this celebration, please see Vicar Lisa.
  • Flower Update: We share heartfelt thanks for our flower guild and the beautiful additions they make to our worship. You can support their work by dedicating the flowers on a Sunday. The recommended minimum donation is $35, so sign the flower book today.

E-formation

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 2

This coming Sunday is “a cup of cold water” Sunday. Come to worship, to remember the cold water of your baptism and to be strengthened to offer water to a very thirsty world.

Matthew 10:40-42

The church is called to trust that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, God will reward those who live as faithful Christians. Matthew’s belief that Christian preachers speak the words of Christ and bear the power of God has continued to figure in controversies over church leadership.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Matthew wrote about true and false teachers against the backdrop of his knowledge of Jewish religious history, which he saw as continued in the ministry of Jesus. Like Jeremiah, Jesus and the evangelist warn against false words that sound religiously pleasing. Just as Jeremiah suffered, so did Jesus, and so will contemporary believers.

Romans 6:12-23

The church receives the message from Paul as a true word from God: lives of sin lead only to one’s own death, but eternal life comes through incorporation into the death of Christ Jesus. Freedom is other than the popular idea that I can do anything I want to do; rather, the freedom of baptism is slavery to the righteousness of Christ.

Zion's Lutheran Church

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785