Title
Honoring the late Reverend David McI. Gracie, who passed away Tuesday, May 22, for 36 years of indefatigable leadership and activism in Philadelphia, concerning civil rights, peace, racial and economic justice; and, because he believed that there is some of God's word in each of us.
Body
WHEREAS, Reverend Gracie came from Detroit to Philadelphia in the mid 1960's to work as an urban missionary and did so for ten years; and
WHEREAS, Rev. Gracie was the Rector at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church at 3rd & Dauphin Streets; and
WHEREAS, With St. Barnabas Church congregation he actively participated in, and led, many activities and campaigns of the Kensington Joint Action Council; and
WHEREAS, He actively worked to end the Viet Nam War; and
WHEREAS, He was dedicated through his faith to work for the poor and working class, and he worked closely with the welfare rights movement and the Philadelphia Unemployment Project; and
WHEREAS, He maintained throughout all his activism a commitment to non-violence; and
WHEREAS, He was active in the civil rights movement; and
WHEREAS, He worked as the Chaplain of the Temple University campus ministry, and was co-Director of the Church & World Institute, and he co-ministered an Episcopal Church in Elkins Park, PA; and
WHEREAS, He was the full time Director of the Peace Education Division of the American Friends Service Committee from 1990 to 1997; and
WHEREAS, He has worked as an Episcopal Priest for 38 years; and
WHEREAS, He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Episcopal Director School in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS, He was a scholar who wrote a book, Gandhi & Charlie, about his friend Charles Andrew's relationship with Mahatma Gandhi; a book entitled Meditating on the Word, a translation of German theologian Bonhoeffen' s work; a biography of Father Paul Washington; and finally, a translation with essays, entitled Militia Christi about an early church pacifist, Adolf Harnack; an...
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