From Father Beddingfield: Making Connections

Throughout the writing of E. M. Forster there runs a subtle theme of two words: “Only connect.”  The phrase is most overt in Howard’s End as Margaret is trying to help Henry connect his “prose with his passion.”  But the phrase also has a lot to do with the interactions of characters and the connections or lack of connections made across every kind of divide.  In spite of differences in gender, education, nationality, class and sexual orientation, Forster suggests that the key to living fully, to loving fully, is found in the mystery of that little phrase, “only connect.”

In just a few weeks, we will have an unusual opportunity to practice connecting.  On Tuesday, September 13 from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Saint Mary’s will be the host for Homeless Connect NYC.  This is a program that has grown out of connections between Common Ground Community, the Times Square Alliance, social service providers and volunteers.  The goal is nothing short of housing Times Square’s homeless. 

Modeled after Homeless Connect in San Francisco, this one-day event will be a kind of housing fair, bringing together an almost unimaginable array of services, all at Saint Mary’s.  Using Saint Joseph’s Hall, the kitchen, Saint Benedict’s Study, the Choir Room, and even several of the chapels in the church, services for the homeless will include help in accessing benefits (SSI, PA, Veterans), identification and legal assistance, medical assistance, TB and HIV testing, substance abuse treatment and referral, psychiatric help, housing and shelter placement, food and hygiene kits. 

During the coffee hours following Solemn Mass on August 28 and September 4 we will be showing a video in Saint Joseph’s Hall that chronicles Homeless Connect in San Francisco.  Listening to the words of formerly homeless persons, the volunteers and the organizers, one gains a new appreciation of the power of connecting, especially the power of connecting with those persons from whom we are often separated by all kinds of cultural and social boundaries.

We need volunteers to make the day go smoothly.  Homeless Connect NYC needs around 300 volunteers on the day of the event.  I hope that you may consider volunteering your time.   some volunteers will conduct street outreach and others will provide support and assistance to participants throughout the day.  Also needed are professionals to volunteer their medical and legal expertise.  Outreach volunteers will be trained on how to engage with chronic homeless individuals and invite them to come to Saint Mary’s on Tuesday.  The best way to volunteer is to visit http://www.homelessconnectnyc.org/connect.html.  

We say and sing that our faith is one that has “lifted up the lowly and filled the hungry with good things.”  May the Lord connect the words of our lips with the evidence of our lives and may we see the risen Christ again and again in our connections.  John Beddingfield

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Betty Ann who is gravely ill,  and for Macie, Derek, Eugene, Kamil, Donna, Lloyd, Mikhail, Deborah, Anita, Erika, Rosemary, Luis, Rich, Lou, Michelle, Charlton, Virginia, William, Mary, Virginia, Tony, Ibo, Penn, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Henry, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest, and for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Marc, Joseph, Timothy, Christopher, David, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Derrick and Christina, and for the repose of the soul of Patty . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . .August 29: 1959 James Edward Emanuel, 1961 James B. Thornell; September 3: 1965 Carol Jean Kearins.

CLERGY NOTES . . . This summer two transitional deacons, Mother Clare Nesmith and Father Bill Franklin, have been with us many Sundays.  Father Franklin and his family have moved to Rome.  He will return to New York for his ordination to the priesthood on Saturday, September 17, and his first Mass here at Saint Mary’s on Sunday, September 18.  (Bill will also be with us for the Solemn Mass on Holy Cross Day.)  Sunday, August 28, will be Clare’s last Sunday with us.  She begins work as curate at Saint John’s of Lattingtown on September 1.  Clare has been a part of our parish community since before entering seminary from the Diocese of Newark.  In addition to assisting at the altar, Clare has nurtured the women’s spirituality group, given many hours working with a textile curator and documenting our vestments, has taught classes and provided a compassionate ear for parishioners and clergy alike.  We are going to miss her in so many ways.  S.G.

NOTES ON MUSIC . . . This Sunday at the Solemn Mass, the prelude is Pastorale, Opus 229 by Darius Milhaud (1892-1974).  The postlude is an improvisation on ‘Grafton’, the offertory hymn.  The cantor this Sunday is Ms. Mellissa Hughes, soprano.  The solo at Communion is Aus Liebe from Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).  Robert McCormick

ROBERT McCORMICK IN BERKELEY . . . On Sunday, September 11 Robert McCormick will kick off this year’s organ recital series at St. Mark’s Church, Berkeley, California.  For friends of Saint Mary’s in the Bay Area who might like to attend, Evensong is at 5:30 PM and the recital follows around 6:10 PM.  Father Louis Weil, a great friend of our parish and professor of liturgy at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, assists at St. Mark’s.   

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Special thanks to Penny and Michael Allen for the wonderful reception after Assumption . . . The Rector will be on vacation Thursday, August 25 through Thursday, September 8 . . . On Saturday, August 27, Father Mead will hear confessions . . . On Saturday, September 3, Father Beddingfield will hear confessions . . . Join Father Mead and others for Movie Night on Friday, August 26 after the evening Mass.  We will watch The Princess Bride, a classic fairy tale adventure.  Please bring a few dollars so we can cover the cost of food and beverages . . . A friend of Saint Mary’s, Joan Baldridge, will give two presentations on Mary Magdalene at Grace Church (Broadway at 10th Street) on Sunday, September 25 and Sunday, October 2 at 9:45 AM in the Reception Room.  All are welcome to attend (before or after Mass at Saint Mary’s, of course) . . . On Thursday, September 8 at 6:00 PM, Saint Mary’s will again offer Solemn Evensong with particular intentions for victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  The service is open to the public and takes place in response to a request by families and employees of Citibank, N.A.  There will be no evening Mass on September 8 . . . Attendance last Sunday 202.

ON ACTIVE DUTY . . . We continue this series to tell the parish community about the men and women for whom we are praying . . . Major Tim Murphy, USMC, is in Baghdad as a military advisor training the Iraqi Intervention Forces in counter insurgency.  Tim had been out of the Marines for several years, after completing his commissioned service, and has been pursuing his career as an artist and an art teacher in public school.  Like many retired officers, Tim re-activated his commission following September 11, 2001, and while he is in Iraq his wife and two children (the youngest was born just August 10th 2005, two days before Tim shipped out) await him at home in New Jersey.  He and his wife are friends of Susan and Rick Miranda . . . Christopher Kamm is the son of Esther and Tom Kamm.  He is a sergeant in the Marine Corps currently serving as a Combat Instructor at the School of Infantry, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  He and his wife, Amy, have a daughter, Mackenzie, who just turned four months old . . . Derrick Eddie is Christopher Kamm’s brother-in-law.  He is a staff sergeant currently serving with the Marines in Iraq.  He is attached to the 2nd Marine Division stationed in Fallujah.  He and his wife have two children: Derrick, who is six, and Christianna, who is seven.  They live in Jacksonville, North Carolina . . .  Christina Crider is a Marine sergeant serving with the 8th Communications Battalion in Fallujah.  She has a son, Ayden, who is not yet two years old and is being cared for by her civilian husband in North Carolina.  Esther Kamm asked for her name to be on the prayer list . . . Freddie Ayguasbiba is a staff sergeant with 2nd Force Service Support Group with the Marines in western Iraq. He is married and has five children who also live near Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.  Esther Kamm asked for his name to be included . . . Nestor Marin is a Marine corporal and is currently serving in Iraq.  He is the son of a man who delivers groceries for a supermarket chain in Jackson Heights.  Nestor is also serving in Fallujah.  Esther Kamm asked for his name to be included . . . David Patten is serving with an Army intelligence unit in Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport.  He is an academic but left to join the Army a few years ago.  He is the grandson of a very old friend of Esther, Tom and Chris Kamm.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION STARTS IN SEPTEMBER . . . On September 6, Father Mead’s Tuesday Night Bible Study begins for the new program year with a study of the Gospel According to John, chapters 7 and 8 . . . Poetic Devotion: Surveying the Christian Lyric in English, from the 17th century to the present, will be offered by Professor Rebecca Weiner.  This class on poetic devotion will focus on reading and reflecting upon the work of numerous poets such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Blake, Rossetti, Tennyson, Browning, Eliot, Sitwell, Auden and many others.  The class meets on Thursday evenings, September 8, 15 and 22 in Saint Benedict’s Study from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM . . . Join Father Mead at 1:00 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study on Sunday, September 11 for An Introduction to the Daily Office.  The class will discuss such questions such as, “How do we know what Psalms to recite each day?  Why do we recite them ‘antiphonally’ – and what exactly does ‘antiphonally’ mean?  Where do the readings come from?  Why do we recite particular canticles each day?”  Whether you pray Morning Prayer every day on the train, occasionally say Compline before bed or have no idea what this paragraph is talking about, come to the class and learn more about prayer in the Anglican Tradition.

LATE SUMMER NEWS . . . The good news is that Saint Mary’s has saved money this summer on air-conditioning for the church (we don’t have any.)  The bad news is that we are behind on paying our pledges.  Please remember your pledge to Saint Mary’s.

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday              The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Monday                     The Beheading of John the Baptist

Tuesday                     Weekday

Wednesday               Aidan, bishop

Thursday                   Weekday

Friday                         The Martyrs of New Guinea                                        Abstinence

Saturday                    Of Our Lady

The Parish Clergy

The Reverend Stephen Gerth, rector,

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

The Reverend Ian Bruce Montgomery, The Reverend James Ross Smith, assisting priests,

The Reverend Canon Edgar F. Wells, rector emeritus.