Monthly Archives: March 2025

Improvisation

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This week, we’re continuing rehearsals for the Easter Play, and I’m excited to incorporate some drama-therapy-based character work into the process. Through a series of movements and prompts, participants will step into their characters to explore their desires, motivations, and challenges through light improvisation.

This will be my first time facilitating exercises like these, so I’ll admit I’m a bit nervous.   I know, however, that the only way to improve is by practicing; and honestly, I couldn’t think of a better group to practice with.

If time allows, I’ll continue with my superhero interviews, but otherwise I’m taking it easy this week. Looking forward to seeing where all of this leads!

– Mary Schwabenland

Reckoning with History: The First Step toward Racial Reparation

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March 22, 2025

Addressing the historical harms of slavery starts with facing up to a good deal of uncomfortable truth. What does this mean for white Americans like me or for members of an historically white American church like ours?

We must acknowledge first that the truth has been hidden from us. Participants in the “Stolen Beam” course on reparations that Connie Holmes and I teach will sometimes say, Why was I never taught this? We must seek information from unaccustomed sources, which requires effort and research.

For many of us this research may stir up internal resistance and denial, as well as underlying guilt and shame. These emotions can lead us either to turn away or to become self-congratulatory about our awareness. Such reactions may hinder our ability to address the situation effectively.

To avoid such emotional fragility, we need to rely on our spiritual resources, starting with knowing by faith that we are already forgiven. With insight also we recognize that our involvement in oppressive systems has not been entirely voluntary; external forces compromised our moral clarity. Even more reason to undo the harm that has been done through us!

We forgive ourselves not to ease discomfort but to move past blame and stagnation. This allows us to act from a place of truth and grace as we reclaim our essential connection to all lives across enforced divisions.

But repentance and conversion require collective effort. We need one another for this work. As we connect across our divisions, we find that, even as we let go of the false securities of privilege, we don’t fall into oblivion but rather find instead the supportive embrace of beloved community.

Initially, this may involve a small group of committed individuals, a circle of trusted companions on the journey with whom we can hold the true sight of who we truly are – children of a loving God – while also holding one another accountable for our actions.

Will you join us?

–The Reverend Steven Bonsey

(Steven is the former Canon Pastor at the Cathedral Church of St Paul and current co-facilitator of the “Stolen Beam” course for Episcopal City Mission.)

–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

Preparation for Our Easter Play

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This week, back from my spring break, I’m feeling refreshed and ready to dive back into creative collaboration here at common art.

First up is the kickoff meeting for our Easter Play! My plan is to start with a warm-up activity to break the ice and get everyone engaged before we do a read-through of the script, written by our beloved community member Richie Berman.  Since this script is shorter than our December play, I’m hoping we can spend more time having fun with it rather than getting too caught up in staging logistics.

Over the next few weeks, I’d love to incorporate more character work and acting exercises (with a therapeutic lens, of course), which you might see in a traditional theatre group.

Beyond that, I’m still continuing with the superhero interviews; and people are coming up with some truly creative responses. Last time, we had one superhero whose power came from sandwiches and another whose strength was fueled by friendship bracelets.  I loved seeing how much fun everyone was having with it.

That’s all for this week.  I’m excited to see where these projects take us!

Spectrogram

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Last Wednesday, I decided to do a performance-based workshop with my common art poetry group, using Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. We mixed things up with some acting exercises, which had everyone laughing and really brought the poem to life. It was such a great reminder of how performance can transform poetry into something so dynamic and engaging. The energy in the room was contagious! Continue reading →

Boston’s Home for Aged Colored Women

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March 3, 2025

To honor women’s history this month, we turn to a story of little seen women in Boston at the time Emmanuel was being founded. The Boston Globe published an article about the discovery of a marker for the Home for Aged Colored Women (1860-1944) in Dorchester’s Cedar Grove Cemetery (“From a mass grave in Boston, unearthing Black women’s lives” by Karilyn Crockett (February 3, 2025)

The Home, founded in 1860, was among the Boston institutions that offered shelter and support to women who did not have financial or other family support. In the case of the Home for Aged Colored Women, historical news accounts and the organization’s records (located at the Massachusetts Historical Society) state that women of color applied to the Home after not being welcomed at almshouses and other benevolent institutions.

We discovered that Emmanuel parishioners were benefactors of the Home from the 1860s onward (among them was Susan Coombs Dana (Mrs. Wiliam R. Lawrence).

We invite you to explore these sites which explore the Home’s history in more detail

—The West End Museum site.

—The National Park Service’s page about the Home.

–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

Interviews with Superheros

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Last week, I had the chance to try out my superhero interviews, and I’m happy to report that they went really well! I ended up conducting four interviews, which felt like a great way to explore and practice my therapeutic skills in this setting. Since each person interprets the questions differently this format really gives me an opportunity to guide them through the conversation. It’s a mix of reflecting back what they’ve shared, offering new words or ways to summarize their experiences, and asking for clarification or digging deeper into certain themes. It feels like a collaborative process in which we’re both learning and discovering.

One of the things I loved most was that every superhero I spoke to had a power that was rooted in helping or healing others—whether through music, seeing people’s truths, transforming darkness into light, or offering protection through faith.  Considering how much passion, kindness, and community-mindedness I’ve witnessed in this space, I’m not surprised but still find myself awed and inspired.

Since I find the superhero theme naturally lends itself to storytelling,  I can’t help but feel creative potentials percolating in my mind. Imagine an Avengers-style crossover of common art superheroes, here to bring the world towards healing and wholeness. That’s a story I could get invested in.

As for this week, I’m diving back into my poetry group. While it’s not superhero-themed, I’m hoping some of the creative energy from the interviews will carry over. I’ve planned some fun acting exercises to incorporate.  I’m excited to see whether they spark creativity and engagement in the group.

This Friday is Boston Warm’s first movie day of the year!  I’ll be leading a discussion after we watch “West Side Story”, which offers  so much to unpack.  I’m looking forward to exploring themes that feel especially relevant to our community, such as division and unity, discrimination and belonging, hope and despair, and more. The movie will begin at 9:00am, so feel free to join us if you can!

-– Mary Schwabenland, 26 Feb. 2025