First Baptist’s 66th Annual Christmas Candlelight Carols will be held Sunday, December 8 at 4:00 pm. Capture the joy of the season with this beloved First Baptist tradition featuring organ, brass, and the First Baptist Church Chancel Choir. We will collect a benevolence offering to benefit Ward 2 Mutual Aid, a grassroots, neighbor-led effort to take care of each other and our community. After the service, you can enjoy hot beverages and cookies. Invite your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors.
D.C. Ward 2 Mutual Aid
Each year, the Compassion and Justice Ministry Action Team at First Baptist Church recommends a mission parnter in the DMV area to sponsor through a special collected offering at Candlelight Carols. This year, Ward 2 Mutual Aid is the selected beneficiary of tonight’s special offering.
Based at Luther Place, Ward 2 Mutual Aid is part of the the DC Mutual Aid Network (DCMA). This is a grassroots community-led effort that takes care of each other and keeps our city as safe as possible. Ward 2 Mutual Aid has concrete activities that include staffing a warming hotline, delivering groceries, dropping supplies to unhoused neighbors, organizing local residencs, preparing students for school with books and clothing, and supporting high risk and immuno-compromised individuals.
Mutual Aid is a practice and politics that emphasizes solidarity rather than charity. It recognizes that our well-being, health, and dignity are all bound up in each other. It understands our survival depends on cooperation, not competition. In this particular moment, it sees that our health is also dependent on other people’s health, and that individuals can literally save each other’s lives. Rather than disengage and feel powerless, mutual aid allows the community to plug in where the most impact can be made — locally.