From the Rector:  Godspeed, Father Mead

As many members of the parish community already know, the Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs, New York, has called the Reverend Matthew Mead as their new rector.  His last Sunday with us will be Sunday, August 16.  He will be celebrant and preacher for the 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM Masses.  Following the 11:00 AM Mass there will be a reception in honor of him, his wife Nicole Mead, and their two sons Liam and Nicholas.  We are going to miss them so very much.

Few young curates ever have the opportunity to help a parish’s leadership move the community in new directions.  Matt came at an important time in this parish’s history.  He was seminarian here in the summer of 2003, just as the Board of Trustees decided to change the position of the third priest from part-time to full-time.  Father John Beddingfield became curate in the spring of that year.  He and I knew that Matt was the right person for the newly created position.  I believe it’s fair to say that with Matt’s arrival we were one of the strongest clergy teams in the diocese.  Matt has been very much a part of the growth we have experienced in membership, attendance and giving ever since he joined the staff.

Holy Week was glorious this year in every way save one: I knew it would almost certainly be Father Mead’s last one with us.  His particular gifts as a liturgical leader were never more clearly demonstrated, rehearsal after rehearsal, liturgy after liturgy.  He’s the son of a priest of the Anglo-catholic tradition.  Like most clergy children, he instinctively cuts through a lot of church nonsense.

As a boy, he was an acolyte in parishes with historic ties to Saint Mary’s.  If you know Father Mead you know he is serious about worship but doesn’t take any of it too seriously.  His contribution to the vitality of our worship and in particular his work with those who serve at the altar, not to mention our core group of lectors, has been tremendous.  His leadership in the renewal and reclaiming of the Mission House for Christian Education and for ministries to the Alcoholics Anonymous community has been outstanding.

As a young father, he has encouraged and led the families of the parish to support professional childcare for our youngest members and, finally, he was here at a time when we once again had enough young children to re-establish Sunday School.  Matt’s an idea person in addition to being a worker.  One of his simple but great ideas now appears on the front page of our parish webpage under every Sunday listing: Childcare is available on Sunday mornings from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

As a colleague, Father Mead has helped me to grow in many ways.  I will miss his and his wife’s generous smiles – and the happy smile of their son Liam.  My guess is that the next time I see their baby Nicholas he will have the family smile too.

As I write on the morning of August 12, I had an email from the first colleague I called after becoming rector here, Father Allen Shin, now chaplain at Keble College, Oxford.  (He and his wife Clara Mun are very well.)  When I reflect on the clergy we have had at Saint Mary’s since I’ve known the parish, I count myself and all of us as blessed.

I know you join me in wishing the Meads all the best in the years to come.  I know you join me in looking forward to welcoming the rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs, back to Saint Mary’s sometime in the future.  Stephen Gerth

SUNDAY PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Frances, Linda, Carol, Aaron, Cindy,  Rosemary, Brendan, Margaret, Eva, Allan, Dorothy, Harold, Marcia, Stephen, Madeleine, William, Gert, Mary, Daisy, Rick, and Allan; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Marc, Omar, Benjamin, Steven, Andrew, and Patrick; and for the repose of the soul of Leisha . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . August 16: 1922 George Ely; 1924 George McDonald; 1935 Leila West Sargent.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Monday, August 24, is the Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle.  There will be an additional celebration of the Eucharist at 6:20 PM, immediately following Evening Prayer . . . The Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, August 17, 6:30 PM, in the Arch Room, on the second floor of the Mission House . . . Friday, August 21, 2009, 1:15 PM, Max Kenworthy, organ (free admission) . . . Father Gerth will hear confessions on Saturday, August 15, and Father Smith will hear confessions on Saturday, August 22.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Flowers are needed for Sunday, September 13, and Sunday, October 11.  Please contact Father Smith or our business manager, Aaron Koch, if you would like to make a donation . . . Used Book Sale:  This Sunday in Saint Joseph’s Hall after every Sunday Mass.  All proceeds are allocated to Father Smith’s discretionary fund and used to benefit those in need.  (Thank you to all those who have donated books to support this project.) . . . Food Pantry: On Sundays, both friends and members of the parish continue to donate non-perishable food items, as well as gently-used clothing for children and adults, for use by the Food Pantry of Saint Clement’s Church.  You might also consider asking some of your friends and neighbors if they would like to make a donation, either of food or of cash – checks should be made payable to the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and “Food Pantry” should be written in the memo line.  We have had a number of folks stop by the church recently asking if they could make such a donation . . . Hospitality: We are very grateful to all those who have donated baked goods for our Sunday morning Coffee Hours.  This has been a great help to the entire parish community and such donations are very much appreciated during this time of budget constraints.  If you would like to make a donation, please speak to Father Smith . . . Saint Raphael’s Guild of Ushers: We are still looking for a few good (and friendly) men and women to join our team of ushers.  We need folks who are enthusiastic about Saint Mary’s and are interested in welcoming visitors and helping us to grow our parish.  If you have questions or if you think such a ministry might be something you’d like to try, please speak to Mr. George Handy, Father Gerth or Father Smith . . . Assumption Offering:  If the parish has your mailing address, by now you should have received a letter about our annual Assumption Day Appeal.  This is an annual asking and most years the proceeds are used for a specific project.  This year we are asking for help to pay for the rebuilding of the front doors of the church and for the doors behind the altar.  The costs are mostly due to replicating the mechanisms used in 1895 when the church was built.  This turns out to be the most cost-effective way to complete these repairs.  Twelve thousand dollars is needed.  If you only read the Angelus on the web or if the parish only has your email address, you can send a check or donate online at the parish website.  Just under the photograph of Mary holding Jesus, you can make a secure donation through “Network for Good.” . . . Attendance: Transfiguration 243, Last Sunday 251.

FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT . . . At Solemn Mass on the Eve of the Assumption this year, the choir will sing Messe du Jubilé by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur (1908-2002), composed between 1959 and 1960.  Known simply as Daniel-Lesur, the French composer was a pupil of the great organist Charles Tournemire.  His most famous work, Le Cantique des Cantiques, is an extremely challenging setting of a text from the Song of Songs for twelve voices. Daniel-Lesur was a lifelong friend of Olivier Messiaen: together, they formed a group, La Jeune France, which was committed to establishing a less abstract form of composition at the time.  Alistair Reid, Assistant Organist at Coventry Cathedral, UK, accompanies the choir on the organ.  The motet is Hymne à la Vierge by Pierre Villette (1926-1969).  Born into a musical family, Villette passed the entry exam to the Paris Conservatiore at age fifteen, with the help of Maurice Duruflé (composer of the prelude music).  The Hymne was written in 1955 and dedicated to the composer’s future wife, Josette.  The sopranos carry the melody, and the lower voices produce sumptuous, chromatic, even jazzy, chords, notably in the final phrase of the work . . . The prelude at Solemn Mass on Sunday is the Fantasia by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625).  The Cantor is Mr. Geoffrey Williams, countertenor.  At the ministration of Communion, Mr. Kennerley and Mr. Williams sing the motet Christus resurgens ex mortuis (“Christ being raised from the dead”) by John Cornysh (late 15th c.-early 16th c.), a very florid setting for two voices, and part of the Ritson Manuscript.  Little is known of Cornysh’s life.  He was a Gentleman of the King’s Chapel Royal from in 1503-04, which was the highest honor for any musician working in the church.  He is probably related to William Cornysh (1465-1523), a more famous composer, who was also a member of the Chapel Royal.  During the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, music, particularly that of the church, was compiled in manuscripts.  Several scribes might have been involved in their copying, which was a highly skilled, time-consuming art.  Printing techniques were non-existent, so a choir may well have had only one copy of the music.  Several choirbooks survive, including this, the Ritson Manuscript, which is a late fifteenth-century example.  Historically, they give us a wonderfully rich insight into the musical and liturgical life of a particular time period or institution.  James Kennerley

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Friday, August 21, 2009, 1:15 PM, Max Kenworthy; Monday, August 31, 2009, 7:00 PM, Baroque 4x4 Concert; Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 7:00 PM, Baroque 4x4 Concert; Saturday; October 3, 2009, 3:00 PM, Ryan Jackson: Maurice Duruflé: The Complete Organ Works; Saturday, November 21, 3:00 PM, Cameron Carpenter: Music by Franck and Demessieux.

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday        The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Monday         Weekday

Tuesday         Weekday

Wednesday   Weekday

Thursday       Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1153

Friday             Weekday                                                          Abstinence

Saturday        Of Our Lady

                        Eve of the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 9:00 AM Said Mass, 10:00 AM Said Mass, 11:00 AM Solemn Mass,

5:00 PM Evening Prayer.  Childcare is available from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM all Sundays of the year.

Monday–Friday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 6:00 PM Evening Prayer.  The Wednesday Mass is sung. The Thursday Mass includes anointing of the sick.  Holy Days as announced.

Saturday: 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Sunday Vigil Mass.

Confessions are heard on Saturdays 11:30-11:50 AM & 4:00-4:50 PM.