Politician.          Public Historian.          Community Organizer.        Christian. 

These are some of the titles Byron Rushing claims.  They also highlight some of the stories that we will hear as we explore how he has integrated his faith and work throughout his life.  

During the 1960's Byron was active in the civil rights movement--working for CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and for the Northern Student Movement. He directed a group of organizers in Massachusetts, Roxbury Associates, who helped to found the Lower Roxbury Community Corporation, one of the first CDCs in the nation. From 1972 to 1985, he was President of the Museum of Afro-American History, when Museum purchased and began the restoration of the African Meeting House, the oldest extant black church building in the United States.

In 1979, Byron oversaw the lobbying effort in Congress to establish the Boston African American National Historical Site, a component of the National Park Service. Byron  served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2018, where his priorities were human and civil rights, local economic and housing development; and housing and health care for all.  

Within the Episcopal Church, Byron was first elected a lay deputy to General Convention in 1973; the chaplain to its House of Deputies in 1994--the first layperson to hold this position. He now serves as Vice-President of the House of Deputies. During all his career Byron has worked for and with community-based organizations--for greater political participation and against neighborhood debilitation. In his retirement he continues his work to increase the understanding of the history of poor and working class people; and of people of color in The Episcopal Church.

Join us Sunday, February 14 at 6:30 pm ET, for this free, live, web-based conversation. Program hosts Julie Lytle and Melissa Rau will facilitate our story sharing with Byron and online participants. We will highlight the connections Byron makes between his faith and his work in the hope that we each will be inspired to see how the Baptismal Covenant's invitation to "proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ" can be lived.  

Provided by Pathways for Baptismal Living at Bexley Seabury, Sharing Stories of Baptismal Living is designed to offer inspiration and support to all who seek to live lives reflective of their baptismal promises.  Learn more about Pathways for Baptismal Living at Bexley Seabury by clicking here.

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Melissa Rau serves as Chief of Staff at Bexley Seabury and has enjoyed more than twenty years of vocational ministry in Christian formation and education. She's currently pursuing her M.Div and discerning a call to the priesthood. She's a church consultant, a coach, and the host of For People with Bishop Rob Wright, the podcast.

Julie Anne Lytle, PhD is the force leading the launch of Pathways for Baptismal Living at Bexley Seabury Seminary as Director of the school's Distributive and Lifelong Learning Initiatives and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership. Best known for her mantra "Message, Method, then Media," she delights in finding ways to integrate theology, educational pedagogies, and contemporary media. Her goal is to ensure that people have access to the resources, education, and training they need to respond to God's call and live life abundantly. 

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Sharing Stories of Baptismal Living is designed to offer inspiration and support to all who seek to live lives reflective of their baptismal promises. These free, live, interactive, monthly web-based conversations will occur monthly on the second Sunday, 6:30-7:30 pm ET. Our goal is to provide opportunities to explore the extraordinary ways ordinary people have answered God’s call.  In the process, we hope to inspire and offer sustenance to all who seek to respond to God’s activity in their lives.

 Pathways for Baptismal Living at Bexley Seabury Seminary provides resources that educate, form, and catalyze the Body of Christ to blaze new pathways for prophetic and pastoral service in response to God’s call.  The most current recording will be posted on the Pathways for Baptismal Living website here; Other recordings can be found on our Vimeo page here.