05/28/2026
CAC Conference Minister, Freeman Palmer's Reflection from today's edition of Happenings...
āAnd let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25 NSRVUE).ā
Three weeks ago, today (Thursday) I attended an arts show presented by the residents of Earlās Place, one of two housing programs for unhoused men operated by Cornerstone Community Housing (āCCHā) . According to itsā website, āwe are dedicated to helping men experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives and to changing attitudes toward homelessness through outreach and education.ā Incorporated in 1993, CCH was the vision of a longtime minister in the Chesapeake Association and former CAC Board of Directors member Rev. Eugene (āGeneā) Bartell. The ministry was birthed out of a feeding program at First United Evangelical UCC called the Supper Club. The programās namesake, Earl Johnson, and other guests inspired Rev. Bartell and other volunteers to create Earlās place as a transitional housing program. It is based on the awareness that the unhoused needed not only food, but shelter and supportive services such as health care, education and job training, and assistance in securing housing. Founded in 1997, Earlās Place is still going strong under the faithful and committed leadership of Sheila Helgerson, a Commissioned minister in the UCC and member of Immanuel UCC in Catonsville. If you want to know more about Cornerstone Community Housing or support its good work, you may go to its website here: https://cchbaltimore.org/
Thursday was the thirteenth year of this Art Show, held at a bookstore very close to my home in Baltimore. It was a wonderful event, with a crowd to capacity, good conversation , ample refreshments, and artwork including paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the residents of Earlās Place. The event began with a rousing rendition of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas classic āDancing in the Streetsā by a live band, which, true to form, transformed the patio into an impromptu dance floor. Following the music, William Freeman a former student with the Goucher College Prison Project and friend of Earlās Place, stepped to the microphone as the emcee for the program.
Freeman was very able to fulfill the task assigned. In fact, I think he could have hosted any event in Baltimore and beyond. Yet as great as he was in his role, Freemanās own story was greater. Freeman shared that he had been incarcerated, sentenced to a life imprisonment and twenty years if memory serves correctly. Remarking on his own journey to that microphone thanks to his experience at Earlās Place, Freeman made the following statement that hit to the heart with its profundity: āWhen people are resourced by community, they can come back from anything. (Please excuse typographical or wording errors as this was sent from my iPhone).ā
Freemanās declaration reminded me of the power that lies in supportive, empowering, and beloved community. And itās not just power. It is resurrection power. I have seen, and you more than likely have seen as well, people who have come back from all kinds of trials and tribulations of life thanks to those around them who were sources of comfort, encouragement, and restoration. In fact, thanks to the community at Earlās Pace , William Freeman experienced resurrection in his life thanks to people who saw his potential. His testimony reminded me to never underestimate the salvific power found in community, whether gathered in churches, synagogues, mosques, streets, in person or online.
Last Sunday we celebrated the coming of the promised Holy Spirit and liturgically, the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost. That day contained several miraculous events ā rushing wind - tongues of fire ā uneducated and āunculturedā Galileans suddenly fluent in other languages. Yet at the end of Lukeās Account of Pentecost in Acts 2 is an event I have always found equally miraculous. That miracle was community. Following Peterās eloquent and compelling sermon, Luke writes that āAll who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[j to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home[ and ate their food with glad and generous[ hearts.(Acts 2:44-46 NRSVUE).ā What was the impact of communal witness? Luke writes further that āAnd day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (Acts 2:47a).ā It was the witness of community that saved lives, and later that flawed but faithful community of the early Church changed the world. May we remember that when we gather together in Beloved community, however flawed but faithful, we still have the power of the Holy Spirit to do the same.
Faithfully yours,
Rev. Freeman L. Palmer
Conference Minister
CACUCC
