PRESS RELEASE  March 26, 2007
(For IMMEDIATE USE UNTIL APRIL 16, 2007)

ONE OF AMERICA’S OLDEST CHURCHES

SALUTES ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST RACES

Photomontage from Past Years

Nine Flag Salute Old South Church in Boston salutes the Boston Marathon, one of the oldest and greatest races in the world. The nine blue and gold banners flying from the Tower overlooking the finish line, are a salute to the race, to the athletes, and to the international spirit of sport. A tenth banner blesses the athletes in the words of the biblical prophet Isaiah: “May you run and not grow weary, walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40.31). Sport is a language that every culture and nation, every race and tongue can speak and understand. The Boston Marathon brings together people from across the globe in a peaceful competition that celebrates individual achievement without regard to class or caste. In the spirit of God who made all the nations and peoples of the earth from one blood (Acts 17.26) we salute this venerable event. Old South members designed and sewed the banners, and also engineered and installed the poles and fasteners. The banners are each 30 feet long by six feet wide and display the colors of the Boston Marathon. Weather permitting they will fly Thursday, April 12 through Monday, April 16, 2007. As the first athletes turn onto Boylston Street on Monday, Old South’s Great Bell will announce their approach, and ring the winners across the finish line announcing their accomplishment with proper pomp and ceremony. Blessing of the Athletes On the Sunday before the Marathon, April 15, Old South’s festival worship celebration at 11:00 am will include a “Blessing of the Athletes” … a traditional act of blessing in which we ask that the athletes be kept safe from harm or injury, exercise respect for each other, and find the stamina to endure the competition. All athletes are welcome. Background information: Old South Church, gathered in 1669, is rich in history. Benjamin Franklin was baptized at Old South. Samuel Adams, a deacon of the church and one of the Sons of Liberty, ignited the Boston Tea Party from a meeting at Old South. Mother Goose (AKA Elizabeth Vergoose) was a member of Old South, as was America’s first published black poet, Phillis Wheatley. Today Old South is a diverse, lively and welcoming urban congregation. Located on the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets, around this time of year we are often simply referred to as “the church of the finish line.”

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Reverend Doctor Nancy S. Taylor
Senior Minister
Old South Church in Boston
Copley Square
645 Bolyston Street
617.536-1970

Press Release March 27, 2007

Marathon Sunday
Blessing of the Athletes
April 15, 2007 at 11 AM

FOR COMMUNITY CALENDARS
A Blessing of the Runners will be held at Old South Church in Boston on Marathon Sunday, April 15 during the 11:00 am worship service, the day before the 109th Boston Marathon.  All are welcome. Old South is located at 645 Boylston Street, on the corner of Dartmouth and Boylston.
 

OLD SOUTH CHURCH TO BLESS MARATHON ATHLETES

Old South Church in Boston will hold a Blessing of the Athletes on Marathon Sunday, April 15 during the 11:00 am worship service, the day before the Boston Marathon.  All are welcome. Old South’s new senior minister, the Rev. Nancy S. Taylor will preach.

We welcome athletes competing in many and any of the events surrounding the Boston Marathon, or for that matter, any and all athletes! The Blessing of the Athletes will invite athletes will occur during the 11 am Sunday worship service. Athletes will be invited to stand or raise their arms as the minister and congregation blesses them and prays that they be kept safe from injury and harm, exhibit respect for each other, find the endurance to compete well, and receive reward for their discipline and perseverance. (There is no dress code. Come as you are.)

Also in preparation for the Boston Marathon and in the spirit of the event, the church will fly flags from its soaring Tower astride the finish. We will hang our special banner that reads:

May you run
and not grow weary,
walk and not faint
- Isaiah 40. 31

On the day of the Boston Marathon, we will keep a lookout from the tower for the first racers (by wheel chair and later by foot) to appear. We will peal our 1-ton Great Bell to announce that the leaders are in sight, male and female.

Old South is known as a Marathon Friendly Church. We are also known as the Church of the Finish Line because we are located at the Boston Marathon Finish Line. We welcome all: whether racers or bystanders. We welcome all, the swift and the slow. We welcome those who travel by foot, wheelchair, bus, train or car. We welcome those who arrive in running shoes, wing-tips, work boots or high heels. We welcome those who run, wheel, limp, walk or hop and skip.

Gathered in 1669, Old South Church is one of the oldest churches in Boston. Benjamin Franklin was baptized at Old South. Samuel Adams (a deacon and member of Old South) and the Sons of Liberty ignited the Boston Tea Party from a meeting at the church. Mother Goose was a member here, as was Phillis Wheatley, America’s first African American poet.

Old South opens its doors to the city, to tourists from near and far, to the needy, to an array of building users, and to a congregation (of members, friends, and family – both the curious and the committed) who call this their church home.

Old South is a Marathon Friendly Church.
 

CONTACT INFORMATION
Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister
Old South Church in Boston
645 Boylston Street, Copley Square
Boston, Massachusetts
617.536-1970
617.536.8061

<www.oldsouth.org>

Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister
Quinn G. Caldwell, Associate Minister
Brian Jones, Interim Minister of  Music
Tadd Allman-Morton, Ministerial Intern
Patricia Hazeltine, Church School Director