St. Thomas’ Parish, Croom is the home of St. Pauli’s Alliance. Through community-based programs and collaborations with other parishes and non-profits, the mission of the alliance is to promote racial reconciliation and healing in the diverse communities of MD and DC. 

The alliance is named in honor of Pauli Murray, who was a major figure of the 20th century civil rights movement. In 1977 Pauli Murray was the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, and in 2018 Blessed Pauli was added to the Episcopal calendar of saints by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. A graduate of Howard University Law School (J.D. ’44), and Berkeley (J.D.M. ’45), her work provided pivotal research for Thurgood Marshall’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). She was the first African American to receive a J.S.D. (’65) from Yale Law School. Along with others, she was a founding member of the National Organization for Women (’65). She was the first African American, and the second woman to have a college named in her honor at Yale University, dedicated in 2017. Her deep and abiding faith strengthened her lifelong vocation to promote justice for all people.