By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal

Two historic churches during the Civil Rights Era will commemorate events from 50 years ago during a special Palm Sunday service.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Selma and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham will hold a service of reconciliation on Sunday, March 29.

“This is a service that is specifically designed for the 50 years since the march from Selma to Montgomery,” said the Rev. Jack Alvey of St. Paul’s.

The two churches will reflect on what happened when members of St. Mark’s were not allowed to worship at St. Paul’s because some in the church identified them as “outside demonstrators.”

Other church members are said to have walked out and joined St. Mark’s members outside, where they said the General Confession together on the steps of the church.

Later that month, the church’s vestry reaffirmed that the no one would be excluded from worship based on race, color or ethnic origin.

“It seems appropriate to revisit those steps and say together again the General Confession,” Alvey said. “But instead of parting ways, we will share and worship together.”

Alvey said members of St. Mark’s who were there that day have since worshipped at St. Paul’s.

“In a way this is an outward and visible sign of what is already going on in the life of the church,” Alvey said. “But it is also a commitment to continue to move forward because we know that the work is not finished.”

Alvey said he hopes the two churches can identify ways for others to come together.

“I hope together St. Mark’s and St. Paul’s can build on this worship service and create a forum where we can work for peace and reconciliation in our community and in our church together,” Alvey said.

Before Palm Sunday, St. Paul’s is also sponsoring a Lenten lecture series called “Opening Doors” each Wednesday night following Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18.

“I think the Lenten speaking series will give us a way to listen and reflect as we prepare for what God is doing in Selma and St. Paul’s,” Alvey said.

A different speaker will be featured each Wednesday night from Feb. 25 through March 25. Dinner will start each week at 5:30 p.m.

“The speakers represent a variety of different stories from that era and today’s era,” Alvey said. “There are a lot of different witnesses to that, and I want to honor the past by hearing from a lot of different people.”

The five guest speakers for the lecture series are:

•The Rev. Doug M. Carpenter, son of the Rt. Rev. Charles C.J. Carpenter, former Episcopal Bishop of Alabama (Feb. 25)

•Sharon J. Jackson of Brown Chapel AME in Selma (March 4)

•The Rev. Charles L. Fischer III, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta (March 11)

•The Rev. Candice Frazier of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery (March 18)

•Ruby Sales, founder of Spirithouse Project in Atlanta and Selma to Montgomery march participant (March 25)