Serving in a Valley

The nature of the church will be completely different due to the current pandemic. Congregating while adhering to social distancing provides its own obstacles. Communion, collection of tithes and offerings, and fellowship will not be the same as before. To ensure safety, sanitation, and continued feelings of hope, Hathaway has begun a “Regathering plan” at UBC.

In the meantime, a Head Start program in the UBC community employs 44 people and serves 175 children. By transitioning from learning programs to feeding programs, all staff are still employed, and children and families are provided with pop-up meals and resources, as well as virtual learning opportunities during the summer months. A partnership was also forged with a KN-95 mask distributor, resulting in 1,000 donated masks to the community. 

Hathaway conveys a sense of hope throughout these trying times, stressing the significance of this new community – this new understanding of our faith traditions – and how we apply them to our daily lives. “During this time we’re going to have to create a community that is moral and just, that has values of equity and equality,” said Hathaway.

Mirroring the legacy of advocacy of Union Baptist Church, Hathaway refuses to retreat from his responsibility to the church’s congregants and community, continuing to uplift the lost and the left-out.

“This crisis has pulled back the curtain on so much of what we have known for a long time about our society,” added The Rev. Dr. Carletta Allen of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis. “So all the disparities that harm people of color, people of ability, and all of the other things in our society that are wrong, have been [made more apparent]…. So the question politically, philosophically, spiritually, religiously is: What does the new normal look like for people who have been disenfranchised and marginalized for centuries? We have this kairos moment to define a new normal that works for people. ”