The Reverend Elizabeth Marie Melchionna, Rector of The Chapel of the Cross, "The Dignity of Every Human Being"

 

The Dignity of Every Human Being

 -The Reverend Elizabeth Marie Melchionna

That spring morning brought cold and damp to Denver. Grey skies and low clouds gave the thirty-four degrees rainy morning a rather grim feel. Inside the walls of the cathedral spaces, folks were bustling from a morning service after being dismissed - making their way to formation, parents were dropping off children for church school, and choristers were preparing to rehearse for the 11am service. Looking down the long aisle of the nave, I noticed a man making his way to a pew, a long shoelace trailing behind his shoe, damp, frayed. And from his lips came the sharp, tangy smell of smoke as he puffed and exhaled on his cigarette. I went to the man to welcome him, and also to invite him to finish his cigarette outdoors, which he did. And we began to talk. As our conversation continued and the cigarette was finished, I invited him to sit inside. Parishioners joined us, with one serving him a cup of coffee, and another bringing a plate of food, which he ate, seemingly ravenous.  Mostly he talked, a cascading story of encounters and mis-encounters with family members, acquaintances, and law enforcement. There was an urgency in the way the man spoke, as if he needed reassurance that he was there and that we were there, emphatic that we know his name, almost as if he thought that should we call him by name, he would secure his footing in the world. As he continued to talk quickly and in circles, it seemed as if he had a frail grasp on this world. He needed to be seen. Or perhaps I needed to see.

That Sunday was designated for baptisms at the cathedral. Part of that ritual includes our baptismal covenant, where the congregation is asked, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?” The community responds, “I will, with God’s help.”

The dignity in which we are called to recognize all people in our baptismal covenant resonates deeply with the Dignity Model of professor and conflict transformation practitioner Donna Hicks. In this model, she identifies the ten essential elements of dignity and explores how such a model leads to health by engaging one another on an interpersonal, organizational, or community level. These elements include:

  •     acceptance of identity;
  •     recognition;
  •     acknowledgement;
  •     inclusion;
  •     safety;
  •     fairness;
  •     independence;
  •     understanding;
  •     benefit of the doubt;
  •     and accountability.

One seeks to live into these postures and to turn from the temptations to undermine another’s dignity.

Our guest at the cathedral was not terribly steady on his feet. A parishioner and I walked on either side of him as we accompanied him down the front steps to meet the city’s mental health first responders, whom he’d been glad for us to call. My hand was tucked up under his arm - I could feel the heat of his body and the warm damp of his cotton sweatshirt. As he made his way to the sidewalk, he turned around, before entering the vehicle and looked at us. Really looked at us. He looked from us, to the building edifice, and back to us. “Oh, I see. I see.” he voiced, almost at a shout. “I see now, you are Christians. You were being kind to me. It’s been a long time since someone has been kind to me. I see now.”

In the decade since that encounter, the cathedral community I served has collaborated in constructing permanent supportive housing on land across the street that the congregation owned, now known as Cathedral Square. I do not know that the gentleman I met that morning found a home there, but I like to imagine that it is possible, possible that he now lives in a community where he feels his dignity is recognized. While I have heard of efforts to increase the amount of affordable housing in the Chapel Hill community, I wonder what it would look like for us to explore permanent supportive housing—affordable housing with the wrap around voluntary support services on site needed for one to retain housing, vital health and mental health services? How might people of faith work to support such services so that those in our community might live with their dignity upheld?

1 https://www.bcponline.org/ 

2  https://organizingengagement.org/models/dignity-model/

3 http://www.sfcdenver.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SFC_Housing_Flyer_23.pdf



The Rev. Elizabeth Marie Melchionna began serving as the 29th Rector of The Chapel of the Cross in August of 2016.Elizabeth Marie holds degrees from Davidson College (magna cum laude)and Yale University’s Divinity School (summa cum laude). Additionally, she holds graduate certificates in Anglican Studies (Berkeley Divinity School at Yale), Liturgy (Yale Institute of Sacred Music), and Conflict Transformation (Eastern Mennonite University). She and her husband, North Carolinian Will Roberts, parent three wonderful sons.

 

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The Clergy and Mental Health Blog is a forum for faith leaders to share insights and observations, sometimes speaking from personal experience, about faith and mental health.  We welcome diversity of thought and perspective.  The view of authors are their own and do not represent the views of the blog as a whole.

 

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