September at Saint Mary’s

September 2004 brings for our community services of remembrance for our city and the victims of the terrorists attack of September 11, 2001.  We are also looking forward very much to the joyful event of at the Cathedral on Saturday, September 18, when Matthew Mead is to be ordained priest.  In addition to the Sunday Masses, two important feasts occur this month.  Holy Cross Day is Tuesday, September 14.  The Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels is Wednesday, September 29.

Sometime after the attack of September 11, 2001 and as we began to be aware that there really would be no survivors found in the burning wreckage, Citibank asked us to hold a service for the families of the victims who were Citibank employees.  We are honored that we have been asked to do this again this year.  Because September 11 falls on a Saturday this year, Solemn Evensong & Sermon will be offered on Thursday, September 9, at 5:00 PM.  All are welcome.

We will remember the victims of the attack at three more Masses.  On Friday, September 10, at 12:00 PM there will be a Solemn Requiem Mass.  The regular 6:20 PM Mass on Friday afternoon, September 10, and the 12:15 PM Mass on Saturday, September 11, will also be said Requiem Masses.

Holy Cross Day falls on Tuesday, September 14.  The Mass ordinary, Mass for Four Voices, William Byrd (1543-1623), will be sung by the choir of Christ’s Church, Rye, and the Reverend Canon Susan B. Harriss, rector of Christ’s Church, will be preacher and concelebrant.  I’ve asked Father Jay Smith to assist that night as Father Mead will be away at a pre-ordination retreat.  A relic of the True Cross is on loan to the parish.  It will be in the chancel during the Masses of the day.  As is our custom, at the end of the Solemn Mass it will be carried to the Lady Chapel where the faithful may come forward to venerate.

Saturday, September 18, is the date of the Ordination of Priests in the Diocese of New York.  Nine are to be ordained at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.  The service begins at 10:30 AM.  On Sunday, September 19, Father Mead will be celebrant and preacher for the first time at the Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM.  There will be a reception in his honor following the Mass.  And because it is his first Mass, gifts to Saint Cecilia Guild have made it possible for us to have our choir here.  (The choir season starts on the first Sunday of October.)  The Mass ordinary will be Missa ‘Saeculorum Amen’ by Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599).  The anthem, Ave Virgo sanctissima, is also by Guerrero.

Saint Mary’s has two members who are in the ordination process, R. William (Bill) Franklin and Ryan Lesh.  Bill is serving on the staff of Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts.  Ryan is a student at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  Ryan will be back from California to attend the ordination.  He will also be preaching at the 9:00 AM Mass on September 19.

On Michaelmas, Wednesday, September 29, we are delighted to welcome back the Reverend Robert Rhodes, curate, Saint Martin’s Church, Ellisville, Missouri.  Father Rhodes was graduated from the General Theological Seminary in May 2003.  He was with us as seminarian for his last two years at General.  He will be celebrant and preacher for the Sung Mass at 6:00 PM.

The parish’s Board of Trustees will be meeting on Saturday, September 25, for the third session of their long range planning for the parish.  The moderator for the board’s meetings is the Reverend Canon Hannah Anderson, who is one of three canons for congregational development on the bishop’s staff.  The board has a commitment to the growth and the future of this congregation.  Clearly Saint Mary’s must grow to survive.  As rector, it is exciting for me to see the leadership of this parish so focused on the opportunities of the future.  Stay tuned for details.  Stephen Gerth

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Bob who is hospitalized, and for Penn, Donna, George, Samuel, Paul, Peter, Charles, Mary, Mark, Steve, Gilbert, Matthew, Robert, Gloria, Margaret, Jason, Harold, Bart, Hugh, Margaret, Marion, Rick, Gene, priest and Charles, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Bruce, Paul, Brenden, Jonathan, Jeffrey, Ned, Timothy, Patrick, Kevin, Christopher, Andrew, Joseph, Marc, Timothy, David, Colin, Christina, David, Nestor, Freddie, Matthew and Bennett and for the repose of the souls of Marianne and Paul . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . .September 5: 1964 Joseph Henry Schuman; September 6: 1989 Martha McKelveen Jones; September 8: 1952 Gwendolyn Eugenia Sands, 1989 Ruth M. Hinckley.

LITURGICAL NOTES . . . The Sunday Proper: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 1, Philemon 1-20, Luke 14:25-33 . . . Confessions will be heard on Saturday, September 4 by Father Beddingfield . . . On Sunday, September 5, the Rector will be the celebrant and preacher for the 10:00 AM Mass and the Solemn Mass 11:00 AM.  Father Beddingfield will be the celebrant and preacher at the 9:00 AM Mass and the 5:20 PM Mass.

NOTES ON MUSIC . . . This Sunday at the Solemn Mass, the prelude is Trumpet Tune in D by David N. Johnson.  Johnson was an American organist and composer; he specialized in writing “Trumpet Tunes” and “Voluntaries.”  This form of organ music was especially popular in the English Baroque period, particularly in the works of such composers as Henry Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke and John Stanley.  Johnson’s pieces are unmistakably from the 20th century; however, the listener hears a clear echo of the earlier period.  This particular piece is often recognized as the theme music from the weekly radio program “With Heart and Voice,” hosted by Richard Gladwell.  The postlude is Chorale Prelude on St. Ann’s by C. Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918).  The cantor is Mr. William Eddy, tenor.  A regular member of our choir, Mr. Eddy holds the bachelor of music degree in vocal performance from the Boston Conservatory.  For nine years he was a member of the celebrated a capella quintet Five O’clock Shadow, a professional men’s ensemble that toured and recorded internationally.   Mr. Eddy’s wife, mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy, is a rising star in the world of opera and made her Metropolitan Opera this past spring.  The anthem at Communion is Litany to the Holy Spirit by English organist and composer Peter Hurford (b. 1930).  Robert McCormick

AROUND THE PARISH . . . The parish office will be closed on Monday, September 6, in observance of Labor Day.  As is our custom on federal holidays, the church will be open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  The only services of the day will be the Noonday Office at 12:00 PM and Mass at 12:15 PM . . . The Attendance last Sunday 147.

MEMBERSHIP NOTES . . . Sometimes it only takes a little paperwork to formalize the church membership of someone who has been a part of the Saint Mary’s community for some time.  That is the case with three “new” members this week.  Ruth Cunningham sings in our choir and sang the lovely improvised settings of the Mass several weeks ago.  For ten years Ruth sang with the acclaimed women’s vocal quartet Anonymous 4, and now spends much of her time offering workshops and clinics on healing with sound and music . . . Doreen Swan is a native of Wallsend, Northumbria (that’s the end of Hadrian’s Wall, of course) and has been in the United States since 1961.  Among the many interesting things Doreen has done, for some years she helped a certain well-known diet doctor buy and organize works of art . . . Lana Mullen Dougherty and Michael Dougherty were married at Saint Mary’s in 2002 and she has been an active friend of our parish since then.  With many talents in graphic design and the arts, Lana now has her own graphics design firm.

WHAT IS VIA MEDIA? . . . “Via Media” is Latin for “the middle way,” a phrase used through history to explain how Anglicans often view questions about God.  Via Media is an eight-week course at Saint Mary’s that allows us to ask fundamental questions about faith in an atmosphere that doesn’t judge questions, but encourages them!  Each Monday night in October and November begins with coffee & tea at 7:00 PM and the viewing of a video.  Each video includes a diversity of people sitting around a table talking about some aspect of the Christian faith, from a particularly Anglican perspective. Pick up a brochure at church or call or email Father Beddingfield to register or find out more.

WOMEN AT SAINT MARY’S . . . .The Women and Spirituality Group, which normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month, will not meet in September because of the Solemn Mass on Tuesday, September 14.  The Reverend Canon Susan Harriss, rector of Christ’s Church, Rye, New York, is the preacher that evening . . . The Women’s Day originally scheduled for Saturday, September 25 has been changed into a new event that will meet the next month.  On Sunday, October 17, Saint Mary’s will offer a Tea & Talk for the women of the church from 3:00 PM to 4:45 PM.  Our guest will be Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Matalavea, the Anglican Observer to the United Nations.  Archdeacon Tai will speak on women and global issues.  She will also be our preacher that evening at Solemn Evensong.

LEARN HOW TO HELP SAINT MARY’S GROW . . . Spreading the good news about our church can only happen if we have many, many people involved in the effort.  The Magnetic Church is a workshop on evangelism (including strategies for marketing, publicity and advertising) that is especially geared to help laypersons think about their church’s visibility and effectiveness at outreach. Please consider attending with Father Beddingfield the two workshops offered at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on Friday, October 15 from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM and on Saturday, October 16 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM.  For more information see Father Beddingfield or check the diocesan website at www.dioceseny.org.

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday              The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Monday                     Weekday

Tuesday                     Weekday

Wednesday               The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday                   Constance, Nun, and her Companions    1878

Friday                     Parish Requiem: Victims of September 11, 2001         Abstinence

Saturday                Parish Requiem: Victims of September 11, 2001

The Parish Clergy

The Reverend Stephen Gerth, rector,

The Reverend John Beddingfield, The Reverend Matthew Mead, curates,

The Reverend Ian Bruce Montgomery, The Reverend Rosemari Sullivan, assisting priests,

The Reverend Canon Edgar F. Wells, rector emeritus.