Faith communities urge U.S. to resettle more Syrian refugees

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Fr. Peter

Syrian refugees in Hungary. © Daniel Fekete/Hungarian Interchurch Aid/ACT Alliance

Church World Service (CWS), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and other faith communities are urging the U.S. government to resettle 100,000 Syrian refugees this coming fiscal year, in addition to increasing the total U.S. resettlement commitment to 100,000 refugees from other parts of the world.

The CWS and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service are cooperative ministries by churches based in the United States, including member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

“More than 60 million people have been displaced from their homes,” said Erol Kekic, executive director of the Immigration and Refugee Program for CWS. “Syria is the largest crisis we are facing but let’s not forget Somalia, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Faith communities worldwide have noted that the world is seeing the largest number of displaced people since World War II. “But our response in the U.S. is nowhere near what it was so many years ago,” said Kekic.

The U.S. has resettled 1,517 Syrian refugees since the beginning of the conflict.

“This is the crisis of our generation and we have a moral responsibility to do something about it,” said Kekic.

CWS is urging people to sign a petition — already signed by more than 60,000 people as of 9 September — to demand the U.S. do more in response to the refugee crisis. CWS has a goal of gathering 100,000 signatures before 30 September.

Lifting our heads out of sorrow

As the U.S. ends its fiscal year on 30 September, the petition will send a clear message to the U.S. government that the nation needs to increase its resettlement efforts, said Linda Hartke, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration Service (LIS).

Many in the U.S. expressed sorrow and outrage when news photos were published of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s body washed up on a beach in Turkey after his family tried to reach safety as they fled violence in Syria.

“Yet each of us is called to lift our head out of sorrow and weeping and ask, ‘What can I do to help refugees like Aylan and his family?’” said Hartke.

As CWS, LIS and other WCC member churches in the U.S. are advocating for the U.S. government to do more to resettle refugees, they are also offering aid to those refugees who have managed to arrive in the U.S.

Doris Peschke, general secretary of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME), commended U.S. churches that have helped to resettle refugees and also those that continue to advocate for a stronger response to refugees from the U.S. government.

“I hope that churches that are working to resettle refugees in the U.S. will share their stories with churches in Europe as we all unite on a pilgrimage to help our neighbours in need,” said Peschke. “We have a voice that is now being heard by our governments, by our faith communities, and most of all by the refugees themselves — a voice that says we will not stand silent as countries shut their doors.”

Response to the CWS petition has been overwhelmingly positive, said Kekic. “This response counters directly the narrative we’ve been having from outright racist groups,” he said. “There are groups in the U.S. who are saying they only want Christians. They fear everything and anything that isn’t them.”

As petition signatures continued to accumulate each day, Kekic believes that change for the good is possible. “This is incredibly encouraging. This is the real United States of America. This is who we are as a nation.”

Petition to Resettle Syrian Refugees in the U.S

Message from the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

WCC member churches in the United States of America

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 345 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.

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Civil War Reconstruction @ 150

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Fr. Peter

A new blog has been launched that will chronicle the effects of the period after the Civil War known as Reconstruction. The authors purpose for writing this blog is set forth in the first post.

The purpose of this blog is to stimulate public awareness of America’s post-Civil War era, known as Reconstruction. By offering reflections on events that happened 150 years ago, I intend it to follow the “sesquicentennial,” or 150^th anniversary, of Reconstruction as it unfolds.

This is an often overlooked period of US History and I am glad that someone is taking it on. I look forward to following this blog.

Here is a sample of the first post.

The idea to create this blog came from two sources. In 2010, the New York Times started a “Disunion” blog to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Almost daily from November 2010 to April 2015, “Disunion” tracked the timeline of secession and war. The contributions of journalists, professional historians, and independent scholars brought to a wide readership the voices of the past and their own historical analysis. When “Disunion” wound down in April 2015, several followers of the blog suggested that the Times should continue the project into Reconstruction through a “Reunion” blog. The Times has not pursued this idea, though it did follow up with a few posts on the war’s aftermath and a debate on how Reconstruction should be remembered.

A second source of inspiration includes scholars of Reconstruction (see one of several) and leaders in the National Park Service who continue to call for greater engagement with the public over the sesquicentennial of Reconstruction. Though Americans may not be attracted to the complex and frequently discomforting stories of these years, Reconstruction raises questions that resonate with our own time, including questions about citizenship, the rule of law, and national character.

Reunion Blog

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The Pope is Coming

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Fr. Peter

A cartoon by illustrator Thomas Nast in 1870 reflected fears by some Americans that the papacy might seek to expand its power in the United States. (Courtesy American Catholic Historical Society)

Any discussion of the United States being founded as a Christian nation needs to include the definition of what a Christian actually was. How we, Christians in America that is, define who is a member of the club today is much different than it was during the time of the founding of the Nation. For the most part, Protestants were in charge and feared the Roman Catholic Church to a point where anti-Catholic sentiment was pretty wide spread.

Historian John Fea has pointed out an article by Thomas Rzeznik in Catholic Philly about this anti-Catholic sentiment in Philadelphia.

For much of the 19th century, anti-Catholic hostility was fueled in part by a belief that the Vatican was plotting to take over the country and subvert our democratic institutions.

Contributing to the 1844 Nativist Riots here in Philadelphia, for instance, were rumors that Catholics, under order from the pope, were working to have the Bible removed from public schools. The “Bible defenders” saw the need to rally to protect the country from foreign “Popish banditti,” as one broadside asserted.

But perhaps no one depicted these alarmist views better than Thomas Nast, the political cartoonist famous for his critiques of New York City’s Tammany Hall political machine. In an 1870 cartoon titled “The Promised Land,” he depicted the pope standing atop the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he made to look like a ship’s crow’s nest. From that vantage point, the pope and an entourage of clerical minions look across the Atlantic to American shores with an eye for conquest.

Read the Rest

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Eldership in the Church

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Fr. Peter

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 1 Peter 5:1-4

It is my belief that one of the things lacking in the Church today is the sense of eldership, not just from the clergy, but from the laity.

There are few passages of Scripture that more clearly show the importance of eldership in the Church than this periscope from 1 Peter. It is to the elders that Peter is writing to, and he does not hesitate to call himself a fellow-elder. To fully understand this concept of elder it will be helpful to gain a better understanding of the background and history of this important office in the Church. I will preface this by saying that the elders should be chosen from the most worthy of people in the Church and not just because they are willing to serve. They need to understand the importance of this role and, like the clergy, need to live spiritual lives that set the example for those they have been chosen to lead.

Jewish Background

Eldership has a Jewish background. The Jews traced the beginning of eldership to the days when the children of Israel were on their journey through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Moses felt that the burdens of leadership were too much for one person to bear and so seventy elders were chosen and set apart to share in the administration (Number 11:16-30). After this elder became a permanent part of Jewish life. They are friends of the prophets (2 Kings 6:32); as the advisers of kings (1 Kings 20:8;21); as the colleagues of the princes in the administration of the affairs of the nation (Ezra 10:8). Every village had elders at the gate to distribute justice to the citizens (Deuteronomy 25:7). The elders were the administrators of the synagogue; they did not preach, but they saw to the good government and order of the holy place, and they exercised discipline over the members. The elders would have formed a large section of the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme court of the Jews. In the Book of Revelation, we see in the heavenly places twenty-four elders around the throne. As we have seen elders were woven into every aspect of Jewish life, civil and religious.

Greek Background

Eldership has a Greek background. Elders in the Egyptian communities handled the conduct of public affairs, but life our city councils are today. Women who had suffered assault will appeal to the elders for relief and justice. They handled the issuing of public edicts, leasing land for pasture, and for taxation. Even in the pagan communities elders are found who handled discipline.

What is apparent is that long before Christianity took it over elder was a title of honor both in the Jewish and the Greco-Roman World.

Christian Background

In every community that Paul went to it was his custom to ordain elders to run things for him. On the first missionary journey, elders were appointed in every church (Acts 14:23). Titus is left in Crete to appoint elders in every city (Titus 1:5). The elders had charge of the financial administration of the Church; it is to them that Paul and Barnabas delivered the money sent to relieve the poor of Jerusalem in the time of famine (Acts 11:30). The elders were councilors and the administrators of the Church. They can be found taking a leading role in the Council of Jerusalem when it was decided to open the doors of the Church to Gentiles. At this council, the elders and apostles are spoken of together as chief authorities in the Church (Acts 15:2, 16:4).

When Paul came on his last visit to Jerusalem, it was to the elders that he reported, and they suggested the course of action he should follow (Acts 21:18-25). One of the most moving passages in the New Testament is Paul’s farewell to the elders of Ephesus. Paul sees the elders in Ephesus as overseers of the flock of God and the defenders of the faith (Acts 20:28-29). In the Letter of James, the elders had a healing function in the Church through prayers and the anointing with oil (James 5:14). In the Pastoral Epistles, the elders were rulers and teachers, and by the time of the letter they were paid officials (1 Timothy 5:17).

When a person enters into eldership in the Church, no small honor is conferred upon them, and they should remember that they are entering into the oldest religious office in the world with a history that can be traced to Christianity and Judaism for four thousand years; and no small responsibility falls to them for they have been entrusted with being a shepherd of the flock of God and a defender of the faith.

Today’s Challenges

One of the greatest challenges of the Church in the 21st century is leadership both clergy and lay, but the laity will play a much larger role as more and more churches move to part-time (or tent making) pastorates. The words of Peter are important for us to think about as we think about leadership in the Church.

The Perils and the Privileges of Eldership

Leadership in the Church is a mission and a ministry and needs to be looked at that way. A person should not be elected, or selected, to serve in leadership just because they are popular and will gain the most votes. The life and example of the leader are essential in their role as they will set the example of those that will follow. It’s not just about passing the budget it is about leading the entire church both spiritual and physical.

In the passage quoted above, Peter sets down in a series of contrasts the perils and the privileges of eldership. What he points out is applicable not only to eldership abut also to all Christian service inside and outside of the Church.

The elder is to accept the office, not under coercion, but willingly. This does not mean that one should seek or grasp after the office or enter it without self-examining thought. Any is Christian should have a certain reluctance to accept high office because they should be aware of their unworthiness for that office. Peter does not say that a person should be conceitedly or irresponsibly eager for office; but that every Christian should be anxious to render such service as they can, although fully aware of how unworthy they are to render it.

The elder is to accept the office, not to be a petty tyrant, but to be the shepherd and example of the flock. Human nature is such that for many people prestige and power are even more attractive than money. There are those who love authority, even if it is to be exercised in a narrow sphere. The significant characteristic of the shepherd is his selfless care and sacrificial love for the sheep. Anyone who enters office with the desire for pre-eminence has got the whole point of view upside down. Jesus said to his ambitious disciples, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But is shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be a slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44).

One of the interesting phrases in this passage is the phrase “petty tyrants over those allotted to your care.” This phrase that has been translated “those allotted” is curious in Greek; it is ton kleron, the genitive plural of kleros that is a word of extraordinary interest.

It begins by meaning dice or lot. It is used this way in Matthew 27:35 telling how the soldiers beneath the Cross were throwing dice to see who should possess the seamless robe of Jesus.

Second, it means an office gained or assigned by lot. It is the word used in Acts 1:26 telling how the disciples cast lots to see who should inherit the office of Judas.

It then comes to mean an inheritance allotted to someone, as used in Colossians 1:12 for the inheritance of the saints.

In classical Greek, it very often means a public allotment or an estate of land. The civic authorities distributed These allotments to the citizens, and very often the distribution was made by drawing lots for the various pieces of land available for distribution.

Even if we go no further than this, it would mean that the office of eldership and, indeed, any piece of service offered to us is never earned by any merit of our own but always allotted to us by God. It is never something that we have deserved but always something given to us by the grace of God.

What an idea. What a condemnation. It is our task to show to people God’s forbearance, his forgiveness, his seeking love, his illimitable service. God has allotted to us a task, and we must do it as he would do it. That is the supreme ideal of service in the Christian Church.

One of the lovely things about this passage is Peter’s attitude throughout it. He begins by taking his place beside those to whom he speaks. “Your fellow-elder” he calls himself. He does not separate himself from them but comes to share the Christian problems and the Christian experience with them. But there is one difference; he has memories of Jesus and these memories of his color this entire passage.

Peter describes himself as a witness to the sufferings of Christ. Although we may think that since Peter denied Christ he was not, in fact, a witness to his sufferings but he followed Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house and it was there that, in a time of weakness, he denied the Master. After the trial was over, and they were leaving Jesus out, we come to see one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter… and Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22L61-62). In the one look, Peter saw the suffering of the heart of a leader whose follower had failed him in the hour of his bitterest need. Peter is the witness of the suffering that comes to Christ when we deny him, and that is why he was so eager that his people might be staunch in loyalty and faithful in service.

He describes himself as a sharer in the glory that is going to be revealed. This statement looks back and forwards at the same time. Peter had a glimpse of that glory during the Transfiguration. But he also knew there was glory to come, for Jesus had promised his disciples a share in his glory when he comes to sit on the throne.

There can be no doubt that when Peter speaks of shepherding the flock of God, he remembers the task that Jesus had given him when he had told him to feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). The reward of love was the appointment as a shepherd, and Peter is remembering it.

When Peter speaks of Jesus as the Chief Shepherd, many memories must have filled his mind. Jesus compared himself to the shepherd who sought at the peril of his life the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:4-7). He had sent out his disciples to gather the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6). He was moved with pity for the crowds, for they were without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34).

Above all of this he compared himself to the Good Shepherd, who was ready to lay down his life for the sheep (John 10:1-18). The picture of Jesus as the Shepherd was a precious one, and the privilege of being a shepherd of the flock of Christ was for Peter the greatest opportunity that a servant of Christ could have.

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Joy and Judgement

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Fr. Peter

When invitations to a great feat, like a wedding feast, were sent out the time was left off of the invitation. When everything for the feast was ready, servants would be sent out to let those invited know it was time. This parable reminds us of the great feast that God prepared for us, long ago, and sent out his servants, first Moses and those with him, then the prophets, both of whom initially invited the Jews, and the third group represents the Apostles being sent out to the Gentiles. We see the shift of the invitations from the Jews, who ignored God’s call, to the Gentiles, who accepted it.

Two things need to be pointed out.

This parable has a local meaning to it. Its local sense was a driving home and an accusation against the Jews. The guests who when the time came refused to come, stand for the Jews. Ages ago they had been invited by God to be his chosen people; yet when God’s son came into the world, and they were asked to follow him, they contemptuously refused. The result of this refusal was that the invitation of God went out direct to the highways and byways; and the people in the highways and the byways stand for the sinners and the Gentiles, who never expected an invitation to the kingdom.
The parable has much to say on a wider scale.

It reminds us that the invitation of God is to a joyous feast as joyous as a wedding feast. God’s invitation to us is to joy. To think of Christianity as gloomy giving up everything that brings laughter and the sunshine and happy fellowship is to mistake its entire nature. It is to joy that the Christian is invited, and it is joy we miss if we refuse the invitation.

It reminds us of the things that make us deaf to the call of Christ are not necessarily bad in themselves. One man went to his estate; the other to his business. They did not go off on a wild carousel or an immoral adventure. They left to administer their business life. It is very easy for us to be so busy with the things of time that we neglect the things of eternity, to be so preoccupied with the things which are seen we forget the things that are unseen, to hear insistently the claims of the world that we cannot hear the soft invitation to the voice of Christ. The tragedy of this life is that it is so often the second bests that shut out the bests, which it is things that are good in themselves shut out the things that are supreme. A person can be so busy making a living that they fail to make a life; they can be so busy with the administration and the organization of life that they forget life itself.

It reminds us that the appeal of Christ is not so much to consider how we will be punished as it is to see what we will miss if we do not take his way of things. Those who did not come to the feast were punished, but the real tragedy was that they lost the joy of the wedding feast itself. If we refuse the invitation of Christ, some day our greatest pain will lie, not in the things we suffer, but in the realization of the precious things we have missed.

It reminds us that in the last analysis God’s invitation is the call of grace. Those who were gathered in the from the highways and byways has no claim on the king at all; they could never by any stretch of imagination have expected an invitation to the wedding feast, still less could they have ever deserved it. It came to them from nothing other than the wide-armed, open-hearted, generous hospitality of the king. It was grace that offered the invitation and grace that gathered them in.

Don’t be like those who refused the invitation because we are too busy, accept the invitation with grace and enter into the feast of joy with joy.

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Church as a Reflection of the Community

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Fr. Peter

When churches were being built in America they were often built in communities by people who live in those communities. What happens when the church no longer reflects the community?

Ron Edmondson asks this question in a recent article on the website Ministry Matters. In the article he lays out three options, and he stresses the fact that these are only his opinions but I think they are good ones.

Become like the community
Leave the community
Slowly die in the community

There is a lot of great information in the article and I suggest giving it a read.

When Your Church no Longer Reflects Your Community

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Ken Burns Civil War

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Fr. Peter

The documentary film, Civil War by Ken Burns, was my first real experience with the Civil War and is probably the reason I am as interested in this period of American history.

Originally produced in 1990 it aired to 40 million viewers on PBS and was honored with more than 40 awards. The film uses more than 16,000 pictures, paintings, and newspaper clippings as a backdrop to tell the story of America’s bloodiest war. The film was remastered in 2012 but remained in standard definition and in 2015 it was remastered again in high definition digital and will air starting on September 7th.

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What religious freedom isn’t

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Fr. Peter

The idea of religious freedom is a bedrock of the American experience but has been used by both sides in a way that I do not think it was intended. America, whether we like it or not, is a pluralistic society and finding the balance between the rights of one religion, while not infringing on others is perilous at best.

The editors of New Century have penned a piece about this topic and I think it is spot on.

These days social conservatives are all about religious freedom. As the wider culture has tacked left, the right has shifted to a rhetoric of conscientious objection. The free exercise of religion, once championed most prominently by minority faiths and their liberal defenders, has become a prime conservative talking point.

While some liberals are broadly dismissive of such arguments, we Century editors are not. Religious freedom is a bedrock of American pluralism and its fertile religious soil. When religious rights conflict with others, such as the right of LGBTQ people not to face discrimination, finding a solution will not be easy. Competing rights must be balanced, which requires that we seek creative compromise. (See this issue’s news story.)

Yet some advocates of religious freedom seem to have something in mind besides free exercise for all. For example, some Christians trumpet religious freedom but seem uninterested in the rights of Muslims near Dallas who face fierce opposition to their plan to build a religious cemetery or in the rights of Apaches in Arizona who are fighting for a sacred site threatened by mining interests. When Christians decline to defend such groups, they betray their selective dedication to the religious freedom cause.

Read the Rest

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Faith Without Works is Dead

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Fr. Peter

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Martin Luther was not a fan of the Letter of St. James mostly for the reason that it sort of took the wind out of the sails of his argument that we did not need works for salvation. I love the Letter of St. James for many reasons but mostly for the exact reason Luther did not, it requires us to actually have to do something with our faith. It is simply not enough just to have faith we have to be moved to do something with it or we are doing it wrong.

In response to the question from the young man asking Jesus about salvation, Jesus told him to love God and love neighbor. We do not love our neighbor by ignoring his situation. We do not love our neighbor by blaming him for everything. We do not love our neighbor by not sacrificing the gifts that God has given to us to help him. I will point out that the last part of that passage, and the one often left out, is “as yourself.” In other words, treat others as you want to be treated. Want people to ignore you? Ignore them. Want people to step over you if you ever, God forbid, find yourself on the street? Ignore them. I will also add that we love God by loving our neighbor the two go hand in hand.

This is not to say that our worship should not be beautiful and edifying but that worship, no matter how beautiful it may be, is empty and worthless unless it send us out to love by loving our neighbor.

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The Amazing Story of Deborah Sampson

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Fr. Peter

Hunting around for something to watch on television I stumbled upon the program Mysteries at the Monuments. I like history, so the idea of finding out of the way monuments and showing their story was appealing to me. On this particular episode, there was a story about a bronze statue located in front of the public library in Sharon Massachusetts. Dedicated one of its famous residents, the figure depicts a Revolutionary War hero. What makes this sculpture unique is that it represents a woman, dressed in uniform and carrying a musket off to war. That woman was Deborah Sampson.

Deborah Sampson was born in Plympton Massachusetts in 1760. Her mother was a descendant of William Bradford, once the Governor of Massachusetts and her father was a descendant of Myles Standish, the military leader of the Pilgrims. Patriotism was in her blood from both sides of her family.

Reading about the horrors of war, the patriotic Deborah decided that she had to try and enlist. Enlistment of women into the army was prohibited so she cut her hair, bound her breasts with bandages, took on the name of her deceased brother, and enlisted in the military as Robert Shurtliff Sampson in 1782. She had no trouble, she was five feet eight inches in height, unusual height for a woman in the 1780’s. She became part of a light infantry company of the 4^th Massachusetts Regiment and was sent off with the regiment to fight.

On July 3, 1782, outside of Tarrytown New York, Deborah was wounded with two musket balls in her thigh and a large gash on her head. Knowing that if she were transferred to the hospital should be discovered, she begged her comrades to let her die rather than be sent to the hospital. They sent her anyway, and after her head was bandaged, she left the hospital. She treated the musket ball wounds herself with a penknife and a needle and thread. She was only able to remove one of the balls since the other ball was too deep.

After her recovery, in 1783, she was promoted and served as a waiter to General John Paterson. During this time of service, Deborah was stricken with malignant fever and was sent back to the hospital. Unconscious when she arrived the treated physician, Dr. Barnabas Binney. While the doctor was examining her, he noticed the bandages around her chest. Assuming it was from some other wound; he removed them and was taken by surprise by what the bandages were hiding. Knowing that she would be discharged immediately, the doctor did not betray her and took her to his home where his wife and daughters nursed her.

In September of 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the war was over. Dr. Binney asked Deborah to deliver a note to General Paterson, and she thought for sure that her story would get out and she would be thrown out of the Army. This was not to be and on October 25, 1783 she was given an honorable discharge at West Point New York from General Henry Knox, given a sum of money to cover her medical costs, and sent home. She boarded a ship from New York to Providence Rhode Island and walked the rest of the way home to Massachusetts.

Deborah Married Benjamin Sampson in 1785 and had three children. The family fell on hard times and in June of 1792 Deborah petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature for a pension for her service in the Army. In granting her a wounded soldiers pension the Massachusetts Legislature wrote that she, “exhibited an extraordinary instance of female heroism by discharging the duties of a faithful gallant soldier, and at the same time preserving the virtue and chastity of her sex, unsuspected and unblemished.” She was given a pension of 34 pounds plus interest dating back to her time of discharge.

The family was still on hard financial times and in 1804 Paul Revere wrote to Congressman William Eustace asking him to petition Congress to grant Deborah a military pension writing, “I have been induced to enquire her situation, and character, since she quit the male habit, and soldiers uniform; for the more decent apparel of her own gender…humanity and justice obliges me to say, that every person with whom I have conversed with her, and it is not a few, speak of her as a woman with handsome talents, good morals, a dutiful wife, and an affectionate parent.” In 1805, Congress granted her a military pension of four dollars a month.

She continued her fight for the pay that was supposed to have been given her as a veteran of the war but was being withheld because she was a woman and in 1809 she petitioned Congress again asking that her pension given in 1804 would be retroactive to the date of her discharge. The petition was initially denied in until 1816 when the Congress approved her request, and she was granted a full and complete army pension.

Deborah Died of Yellow Fever on April 29, 1827, at the age of 66. Deborah remembers not only for her fighting, and the fact that she was wounded and treated her wounds, but the fight that she waged the war for equal treatment not only for herself but for all veterans of the war.

I am glad I stumbled across that television program and glad was I was introduced to this heroine of the American Revolution. I took some time the other day and stopped by her final resting place to say a word of thanks and to offer a prayer. This simple patriotic woman, defying the odds and the establishment, did what she thought was right and fought for her country.