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07/15/2020 08:48 AMOn July 8, two local ministers—one Black and one White—spoke about a personal friendship that led to an ongoing relationship and partnership between their two congregations. The discussion was sponsored by Old Saybrook March for Justice, which meets each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. at the steps of The Kate. Half-hour teach-ins are now being held each week prior to marching or starting a rally.
Reverend Jack Madry is minister of the Madry Temple in New London, which was established by his father. David Good is minister emeritus of the First Congregational Church (FCC) in Old Lyme. The two met by chance.
“Our first meeting was borne out of sadness,” Good said.
Madry, who is also a jazz pianist, played piano for many years at the Old Lyme Inn.
“We had a young person in our community who loved to hear him play,” Good said. “But sadly she died...and her family, knowing that she loved to hear Jack play, invited Jack to lead the funeral services.”
Goode attended the funeral and “was so impressed and grateful for Jack’s sensitivity and compassion to the family, that I asked the family to introduce us,” he said. “So we had lunch together at the Old Lyme Inn and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and a beautiful relationship between our two communities—quite different communities, I might add.”
The Start of Partnership
FCC is predominantly White and very privileged, according to Good, whereas the Madry Temple is a predominantly Black congregation.
“We decided that we wanted to forge a friendship, a relationship between our two communities,” Good said. “Yes, we need to work on all the big issues that are out there but we first of all need to understand and get to know each other as human beings, free of all the stereotypes that we carry around with us.
“So we broke bread together, we had potluck suppers together, we had church picnics together, we played volleyball together, we had jazz concerts together,” he continued.
And the two ministers preached at each other’s churches.
The two congregations then worked together to address the need for affordable housing. Through Habitat for Humanity, they built a house together in East Lyme on land donated by FCC members.
“And then we also got to know a wonderful, extraordinary woman named Rachel Robinson, the wife of Jackie Robinson, a great baseball player,” Good said.
Robinson donated land in Salem and invited the congregations to build another house together. Representatives of both churches then traveled with Robinson to South Africa through the Jimmy Carter Work Project.
“And in one week, along with people from around the world, we were able to build 200 houses,” Good said.
Creating affordable housing is necessary in order to “address racial injustice in the shoreline area,” he continued. “Imagine committing ourselves, the faith communities of this area, to building 200 houses. And if we could do it in one week, that’d be terrific. And if we could do it in one year, that would be terrific, also.”
Good turned to a religious perspective, saying about the breath that we all breathe, “We like to think about this as being the breath of God.
“And so, as we feel that precious breath coming in and out of us, it’s a reminder that we are all called to be children of God and that we all have dignity and sanctity coursing through our veins.”
Good spoke about the video of George Floyd, in which Floyd is telling the police officers, “I can’t breathe,” as a police officer kneels on his neck and kills him. As a pastor, Good said, he has seen many people nearing the end of their lives.
“And hopefully that can be a peaceful transition from this life to the next,” he said. “But I also saw more than my fair share of people who died much too young, some victims of violence.”
When Good takes part in marches, he doesn’t quite join in with chants of “I can’t breathe,” he said.
“[F]or me, if you stand close enough to me, you’ll hear me say, “I can breathe, and I will breathe, and I will not be silent about issues of injustice,” he said.
‘A Homemade Salad’
Madry brought his love of music into his discussion of civil rights, racial justice, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“You all look so good,” he told the assembled group. “You look like a homemade salad.
“I’m not the guy that just gets some lettuce and tomato and croutons,” he said. “On my salad I put the purple raisins and I put the golden ones on there, some grated Parmesan cheese, some croutons, I usually put some olives on there because I like the sweet, bitter taste and I mix it all up and when I look at it before I eat it, I thank the Lord because this is just so pretty, just like y’all.
“We’re all here, different colors, different backgrounds, but we’re here to support Black Lives Matter, a movement that started years ago by three women who engaged in this process to get us to the point where we are today,” he continued.
Madry said he is asked how his feelings about deaths like that of George Floyd express themselves in his music.
“The tragic incidents that happened to Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor and to Mike Brown and up to George Floyd, even as far back as Emmett Till...How do you put together music, when you see something like this happen?
“Do you wait, do you let it fester in you, do you think of a song, do you think of music, does it come out later on?” he asked.
“More poetry will be written as a result of the death of George Floyd,” he said. “New songs will be written. Dramas will be more dramatized about the life of George Floyd, about Trayvon Martin.”
Jazz music helped foster the Civil Rights Movement by connecting people despite their racial differences, Madry said.
“These players would get together and they would play and they would lay aside all their differences...for the sake of music, that rhythm, that tone, that pulse,” he said. “[T]hey were playing at a time when dogs were being chased after black people. They were playing at a time when [people were turning] their hoses on black people. They were playing at a time where blacks were getting lynched. But they came together when...they weren’t supposed to be together and put forth a common cause like this beautiful gathering here tonight.
“We’re fighting for social evolution,” he continued. “We’re fighting for social reform. We’re fighting to keep voting and not have gerrymandering and redistricting. We’re fighting for reform in housing. We’re fighting against police brutality. We’re fighting for justice. We’re fighting for equality. We’re fighting for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
“And what I love about this thing is you’re doing it,” Madry said. “No one called you to come out here in this predominantly White town. You came out here because you wanted to be out here with me.
“My children are going to live a better life because of you,” he said. “My children’s children are going to live a better life because of you.”
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misspelled David Good as David Goode.