Jan 14 & 15 Open Door transition party from Atlanta to Baltimore.... message from Ed Loring
Frank Cordaro
Open Door Community
910 Ponce de Leon Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
Please Join the ODC
Saturday Jan 14 &
Sunday January 15
Radical Memory: Celebration of a Past in Atlanta
Radical Hope: Anticipation of the Future in Baltimore
Sunday January 15 (MLK’s Birthday)
4:00 Worship at Central Presbyterian (in the basement)
March around the State Capitol (home of the death penalty) Supper after the March
Vegetarian Chili/Salad/Bread
Fellowship Time - Lies and Laughs
Street Parking. Not crowded on Sunday Afternoon Evening
Saturday January 14
ODC 910 Ponce Leon Ave NE
11 AM to 5 PM
Food, Stories & Old Friends from Far and Wide
Photographs from the past.
Free Books. Special voices from time to time through the day
3PM to 5PM: The Past Remember/The future Envisioned
Parking: a few spaces behind the ODC.
Street Parking on Barnett/Maiden Lane/St. Charles Ave.
December, 2016
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Dear Readers of Hospitality,
Dear Advocates/Allies for our Prisoners and the Oppressed,
As you are most likely to know, we are moving the Open Door Community to Baltimore, Maryland. We were unable to recruit long term younger members to live and work in the household here at 910. This property is for sale. We plan to move on February 15, 2017.
Four of us from ODC/A (Open Door Community Atlanta) are moving and continuing a portion of our work named Open Door Community Baltimore (ODC/B). Murphy Davis and Ed Loring, founding partners 36 years ago, are leading the way. Robert Lee and David Payne are joining the move. Robert is on our Leadership. David is on the Leadership Team and our Board of Directors. They are faithful, gifted, called and ready for the new life with the Spirit of Fire in Baltimore.
We four folks will share housing. We are hopeful to find a house with two apartments. We will work, worship, meet together, and share some meals.
Our Aims and Purposes will include several of the works we do now. We shall work to be formed and to practice a shared life of radical/progressive discipleship: Bible Study; Culture Critique; worship with Eucharist and foot washing. We will have a new focus on involvement with Democratic Socialism and non-violent movements to disrupt the American Empire.
Murphy Davis will continue to lead us and others in our Georgia Prison Ministry. The monthly Hardwick Prison Trip shall continue. Death Row letters, support and occasional visits are a part of our Works of Mercy as well as our Journey for Justice. The Christmas packages (670 this year) will be delivered. We will come to Atlanta quarterly to perform these works and share the love and preparation with beloved friends from New Hope House, First Presbyterian Church Milledgeville, and Central Presbyterian Church Atlanta.
Murphy’s other work will be to write her book “Surely Goodness and Mercy”. She has accomplished much already, but now is the time for more quiet and fewer interruptions. Her work will be a major contribution to our movement as we battle mass incarceration, health care, the death penalty and the scourge of cancer.
In addition, Murphy and Ed will be present to Hannah and Jason Murphy Buc and our delightful granddaughter Michaela. Michaela is named for the radical, powerful, wild peace maker Mike Vosburg-Casey. Mike lived for 2 years at the Open Door Community and then fell head over heels in love with Amy Vosburg. Hannah, Mike and Amy were very close friends. As Mike was dying with cancer Hannah and Jason decided to name their first child for Mike. Our granddaughter is a girl; so she is Michaela!
The Hospitality Newspaper will continue. We have an excellent group of writers who reflect a life of feisty experiences out of which their writings are born. We will continue to ask you for support in each issue of the paper. If you are not receiving the paper; or if (God forbid) you want to be taken off the mailing list, please let me know. (eduard...@opendoorcommunity.org)
The ODC/B will find a way and a place to feed the hungry. As yet we do not know what the work will be. We want to tabernacle on the streets. We shall see how the Cry of the Poor and the Cry of the Black Jesus bring light to this journey.
David Payne and Robert T. Lee will be part-time staff of the community. They will receive a stipend. They will have part time jobs in the city to supplement what the ODC/B can share with them. Murphy Davis and Ed Loring will receive no income from any donation given to the ODC/B. Ed and Murphy will have an income of approximately $45,000.00 per year from Social Security, Presbyterian Annuity Fund, and a stipend from the Presbyterian Foundation. The ODC/B will pay for medical insurance for all four members of the community. The ODC/B will also pay for the needs for the mission (eg computers for Hospitality Newspaper and business issues) and for the mission (eg food for feeding/support for prisoners). We are preparing an annual budget for 2017 which we will be pleased to share with donors and friends.
As said above we are moving to Baltimore on Feb 15, 2017 (Deo Volente). Please support us as we move. We will need a couple of months to rest and learn who we are and what to do in this new location. As has been true for the past 35 years: We need you. We cannot live our lives without your helping hand, compassion heart, and supporting gifts.
After February 1, 2017 please use this new address:
Open Door Community
PO Box 10980
Baltimore, MD 21234
Call: 404 673 0824 or 404 304 1483
Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all,
Ed Loring
For us all: Murphy Davis, Robert T. Lee, David Payne
