From ENS-As the lunch crowd dwindled, three men stood in a huddle and pulled out white boxing gloves. The Rev. Renee McKenzie-Hayward emerged from her office and greeted them.
Soon, the priest was gloved, taking practice jabs and right hooks — and laughing.
“Fighting for the life of this community, we want to maintain the African-American rich cultural history. The Advocate is central for that. It’s a hub for that,” McKenzie told Episcopal News Service the day before, as she sat in her office painted in African violet. “People can come here to organize, and I say you come here to get stronger and then go out to work.”
You have to be tough, yet warm and welcoming, to do McKenzie’s job at George W. South Memorial Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In that northern area, the church sits in the Cecil B. Moore neighborhood, named after the civil rights activist and local NAACP president. The neighborhood is predominately African-American and Puerto Rican residents who grew up here, but the ever-increasing influx of college students from nearby Temple University is changing the landscape. A Temple graduate herself who values what the burgeoning college population can offer the community, McKenzie has watched the gentrification change the fabric of the neighborhood. She’s also the university’s Episcopalian chaplain.
More here-
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/article/historic-philadelphia-church-takes-new-approach-serving-oppressed-healing-trauma
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