drum majors fund for justice

We are pleased and excited to announce that the Saint Barnabas’s vestry has launched a project titled The Drum Majors Fund for Justice: A Prophetic Preaching Series in Tribute to the Rev. W. (Will) H. Mebane Junior. The fund will be used to bring guest preachers to Saint Barnabas’s on a regular basis in the coming years.

The Drum Majors Fund honors the life and work of Rev. Will, who is retiring this fall after serving as rector at Saint Barnabas’s since October, 2018. The Saint Barnabas’s community and the Falmouth and Cape Cod community at large have heard Rev. Will’s prophetic voice calling our attention to issues of social justice. Beyond the Cape, Rev. Will is a nationally sought-after preacher and speaker who has delivered the message of social justice in multiple venues, including many outside the church. The Drum Major’s Fund is intended as a permanent endowment that will ensure that Rev. Will’s commitment to gospel-based social justice will continue to challenge and inspire the Saint Barnabas’s community long after his retirement.

The Saint Barnabas’s vestry and your wardens are committed to raising funds to endow the Drum Majors project to ensure that we will continue to hear prophetic voices from our pulpit. You are invited to join us in the effort – a brochure is enclosed with details about how you can make an initial contribution to the fund.



An additional fund-raising event is scheduled for Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 when we will host A Residency with the Theodicy Jazz Collective, a group that is arguably the nation’s foremost liturgically based jazz ensemble. Theodicy has led services and workshops at venues such as Washington National Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, and Oxford and Yale universities, and we are excited to host them for a concert under the tent on the Saint Barnabas’s lawn and on Sunday morning in worship. Tickets will go on sale on May 1st..

The Drum Majors Fund takes its name from the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who hoped to be remembered as a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness.