FROM ANDREW RAINES: WHO IS JESUS FOR YOU?

Who is Jesus for you?

How one answers this question makes all the difference.

This last spring, I got to teach Confirmation class at my church in Raleigh. 8th-graders are one of my natural predators, and looking over the podium at 37 faux-dead eyes staring back at me left me feeling bare. I felt tremendous pressure to make sure that these kids would come to know and love Jesus like I had when I was their age. But I made clear each class that the sacrament of Confirmation was about their decision whether or not they’d accept the promises made on their behalf in Baptism. That was a choice I couldn’t make for them.

But I tried my darnedest to make the Christian life attractive to them.

On the night we talked about the Holy Spirit, I explained that one of the Spirit’s key actions is to enable us as believers to confess that Jesus is Lord (1 Cor 12:3, cf. 1 John 4:15). So I invited my students to think about who Jesus was for them individually and begin formulating a response.

To give them an idea of what this might look like, I showed them one of my favorite clips. Back in 2019, former Archbishop of Canterbury (spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans) Rowan Williams gave a talk entitled “Jesus Christ: The Unanswered Questions.” During the Q&A afterward, Bishop Sarah Mullally of London asked Williams, “Who is Jesus for you?” He answered,

Who is Jesus for me? The ground of all my hope, the definition of what I long and pray to grow into in terms of obedience to and intimacy with God the Father, the one who holds together a human race that’s always trying to tear itself apart, who gives the breath of his spirit so that we share life not fight over it, the one whose death and resurrection are the centre point of all human history. . . I could go on all night and not say anything really—“if all the things he did were written down, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written,” as somebody put it.

Profound words as always from Williams (the posh Welsh accent helps). The phrases my 8th-graders came up with when I asked them to describe who Jesus was for them weren’t always abounding in poetic feeling like that beloved Oxford don’s, but I was touched by what they produced. For example:

“Kindness embodied.”

“The world’s coolest dude.”

“God.”

“Friend.”

While these pictures of Jesus may not have the theological subtlety of Williams’, they evince the sort of relationships that can carry a believer one’s whole life long.

Personally, although I grew up in a conversionistic denomination that only practiced “believers’ baptism” (the Southern Baptist Convention), I don’t think I can really think back to a time when I didn’t feel tethered to Jesus in that way. I don’t recall a moment when I went from “non-believer” to “believer.” Nevertheless, I remember my Grandma Momma teaching me to read with the King James Bible, “Miss” Hilma Prosser (age 94) teaching me to sing “Jesus, the Sweetest Name I Know,” and my daddy telling me how God created this whole big universe and yet He would still die just for me. The seed of faith naturally planted in me because I was created in God’s image was watered and tended by these—and many more—small lessons in Christian love.

And so, my entire conscious life has been one where I’ve known Jesus as my Master and my Friend. That’s enabled me to weather hard storms (I know I’m young and naïve, but, I promise, I’ve had them) and to be grateful for blessings great and small (of which I’ve had many more).

When I was a teenager, I remember my pastor inviting us to consider C.S. Lewis’ trilemma that Jesus must either be a liar, a lunatic, or Lord:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God (Mere Christianity, 55-56, emphasis mine).

Lewis’ challenge to take Jesus’ claims seriously affected me deeply—and still does. Maybe it’s because of where I was born and when, but nonetheless this strange and magnetic first-century rabbi is a figure I can’t escape. Again, he’s not just a venerable sage; he’s my Master and Friend. He’s the one whom I hope to grow into. He’s the teacher whom I hope to follow so closely that I’m covered in his dust (see John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did).

And because he’s all this for me, I want to share him with you.

So, I invite you—especially if you see yourself as a follower of Christ—to contemplate who he is to you. Is he a liar, a lunatic, or your Lord? Think about what he’s done for you, how he’s changed you. And maybe that’ll move you to share the beauty of that relationship with your friends and neighbors.

I consider myself to be almost as Anglo-Catholic as it gets. But, friends, unless Jesus is Lord, we don’t need to do all this. The pomp is pretty, but what for? Lace, silk, candles, bells, statues, chant, incense (yes, even incense!) mean little if we’re not offering them back to the Love through whom all things were made, the God-Man Jesus Christ.

But if he really is it—then let’s put on a show!

As a child, with youthful exuberance, I chose to hand my life over to the One who gave it to me in the first place. I pray that God grants me the grace to keep choosing the life of love he’s made us for—and that he keeps cleaning me up when I fall. I pray the same for you.

As one hymn I grew up with put it:

If you love him, why not serve him?

Mr. Andrew Raines is a seminarian at the Anglican Episcopal House of Duke Divinity School and is serving as our summer intern until the end of July. Andrew came to Anglicanism in high school after becoming enchanted by the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer. At Duke, he studied history and classics, and he remains there for seminary.

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for an end to war and violence, especially in the Middle East and in Ukraine. We pray for justice and for an end to violence and division in our neighborhood, city, and nation.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, especially Steve, Noa, Shan, Martin, Frank, Susanna, Rolf, George, Joyce, Leroy, Christine, Donald, Richard, Josh, William, John, Robert, Hattie, Tony, James, Dorian, Carl, Nettie, Chrissy, Jan, Mark, Pat, Marjorie, Carole, Luis, Sharon, Quincy, June, Robert, Carlos, Chris, José, Brian, Manuel, Abe, Suzanne, Hardy, Giovanna, Gypsy, Liduvina, Margaret, Rita, and Bob; James, Jack, Curtis, Barbara-Jean and Eleanor-Francis, religious; Ignacio and Lind, deacons; and Julie, Robby, and Stephen, priests.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Steven Sampson, Glenn Bywood, and for those whose year’s mind is on July 14: Bertha Cass Sims (1938); Mary Mills (1943); Ruth B. English (1982).

A VIRTUAL COFFEE HOUR
SUNDAY, JULY 14, AFTER SOLEMN MASS

For months now we’ve been greeting “those who are with us online.”
We’d love to meet and have a chance to talk with all of you!

The virtual coffee hour will begin roughly ten minutes after the conclusion of Solemn Mass on Sunday, July 14. Father Sammy Wood will host the event. To join us, please click on the Zoom link which will be made available on Saint Mary’s website on Sunday morning just below the livestream screen. For those who watch Solemn Mass via Facebook, at the end of Mass, please then go to our livestream page (https://www.stmvirgin.org/livestream) for the link.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US FOR BIBLE STUDY
SUNDAY MORNINGS IN JULY
9:45 AM IN SAINT BENEDICT’S STUDY

Our seminarian intern, Andrew Raines, has very kindly offered to lead a Sunday morning Bible Study during the month of July. He is teaching the Letter to the Ephesians, which we’ll hear at Mass during July and early August as our second reading.

Andrew grew up hearing and reading the Bible, and his love for the biblical texts continues. He writes, “Starting in July, the Sunday lectionary will begin reading through Saint Paul’s Letter to the Church at Ephesus. I’ll be leading a Bible Study delving into this epistle—one of Paul’s most polished (and liturgical!).”

All are welcome to join us on the four Sundays in July and it isn’t necessary to have attended the prior weeks. We meet at 9:45 AM in air-conditioned Saint Benedict’s Study, as we read portions of this important part of the New Testament canon together. Refreshments are provided.

NEWS & NOTICES

Neighbors in Need: The next Drop-by will take place on Friday, July 19, 1:00–3:00 PM. If you would like to volunteer or make a cash donation, please speak to MaryJane Boland. We are also eager to receive donations of new or lightly used sneakers and shoes, in all sizes, for both men and women.

Members of the Flower Guild will be available to arrange flowers for many Sundays this summer. The following Sundays are still available: August 11, 18, and 25. The customary donation requested is $250. Please call the Parish Office for more information (212-869-5830).

Dr. Meredith Linn, the wife of Father Matt Jacobson, recently received tenure from Bard College and is now an associate professor at the Bard Graduate Center. Meredith is an archeologist and focuses on nineteenth-century New York City. Click here to read more about her research. Congratulations, Meredith!

Father Sammy Wood will be away from the parish, attending a Conference of the College for Congregational Development from the afternoon of Sunday, July 28, until the afternoon of Friday, August 2.

Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish on retreat from Friday, July 12, until Monday, July 15. He will be on vacation July 22–25, and August 8–24.

Dr. David Hurd will be away from the parish from July 21-26 to participate in the Church Musicians Workshop at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. The workshop is an “immersive five-day residential program under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Williams that combines the liturgical life of [the seminary] with the expertise of renowned veteran church musicians and scholars to create a vehicle for professional development and personal enrichment that is unlike any other.” Dr. Hurd will be a composer-in-residence and was commissioned to compose settings of Magnificat and Nunc dimittis for unison voices and organ which will be premiered at Evensong during the week. Dr. Geoffrey Williams is Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of Saint Mary’s Chapel at Nashotah as well as a good friend of our parish. Some may remember that Geoff and his wife Emilie used to sing in our choir.

JOB OPPORTUNITY WITH THE FRIENDS OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

From the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in the U.S.: “After many years of incredible service and devotion, our Administrator Assistant has retired. We are looking for someone, ideally in easy reach of New York, to take on this role. It is a part-time role of around 30 hours per month, and much of the work can be done at home, with some support from Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. To obtain the Job Description, please email lhernandez@saintthomaschurch.org. Letters of interest, accompanied by a resume, with the names of two referees should be addressed to The Rev. Canon Carl Turner, Chair of the FOCCUS Board and sent to FOCCUS@saintthomaschurch.org. Because of the financial element of the job, background checks will be required.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY, JULY 14, THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The name of Healey Willan (1880–1968) is well known to Episcopalians because of his Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena, composed in 1928, which appeared in The Hymnal 1940 and was retained in The Hymnal 1982. This setting, which we will sing on Sunday morning, has been sung widely throughout the Episcopal Church, as well as in other denominations, for decades. Willan’s career and reputation, however, went far beyond composing this beloved Mass. He composed more than eight hundred works including operas, symphonies and other music for orchestra and band, chamber music, and music for piano and organ, in addition to a great quantity of choral music. His liturgical music includes fourteen choral Masses, occasional motets, canticles, and hymn settings. Willan was born in England and began his career as an organist in London parish churches. He joined the faculty at Toronto University in 1914, later becoming Professor of Music there. In 1921 he was named organist at Toronto’s Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, a position he retained until his death. Said to have described himself as “English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption,” Willan was a champion of historic liturgical chant and the aesthetic of Renaissance church music. He incorporated these influences and mingled them with an appreciation of the rich harmonic palette of the late nineteenth-century masters. Through his compositions and choral direction, he significantly set the standard for North American Anglo-Catholic church music in his time. In 1956 Willan became the first non-English church musician to be awarded the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus.D. Cantuar.

The cantor on Sunday is bass-baritone, Joe Damon Chappel. During the administration of Communion, he will sing a setting of Love (III) from George Herbert’s 1633 collection The Temple: Sacred Poems by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958). Vaughan Williams’s Love bade me welcome is the third of his Five Mystical Songs for baritone, chorus, and orchestra, all composed for texts by George Herbert (1593–1633) between 1906 and 1911. In setting the Herbert poem, Vaughan Williams distinctively quotes a plainsong melody for O sacrum convivium, a clear Eucharistic reference, against Herbert’s words, “You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat. So I did sit and eat.”

More about Sunday’s cantor:  Bass-baritone Joe Damon Chappel, a sometime member of the Choir of Saint Mary’s, is a native of Nashville and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was a William Warfield Scholar. He has been a longtime member of the Early and liturgical music communities of NYC and for many years was the principal bass soloist with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity (NYC). He has performed with the Bard Music Festival, NY Collegium, Early Music New York, Vox Vocal Ensemble, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Tiffany Consort, now known as Tenet. He has performed internationally, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and as a member of the internationally acclaimed 2012-2016 world tour of Einstein on the Beach with Philip Glass and Robert Wilson. Joe is currently involved in several projects dedicated to addressing issues of social justice within the music industry, including as co-curator of the Open Gates Project, a concert series debuting in 2021 dedicated to featuring underrepresented artists bringing Early music to underserved communities. 

COMING SOON

Michael Petry’s artwork Apollo’s Mirror
will be exhibited in the Wedding Chapel
at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
July 15–August 26, 2024

Opening Night Public Reception with the Artist
Friday, July 19, 6:00–8:00 PM, in the Wedding Chapel

Parish Reception with the Artist
Sunday, July 21, during Coffee Hour after Solemn Mass

Saint Mary’s continues its exhibitions of notable contemporary art with Michael Petry’s Apollo’s Mirror to be displayed in the Wedding Chapel. The work can be viewed whenever the church is open. The exhibit is free, and no reservations or ticketing are required.

We need your help to keep holding our services. Click below, where you can make one-time or recurring donations to support Saint Mary’s. We are very grateful to all those who make such donations and continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

Saint Mary’s is a vibrant Anglo-Catholic witness in the heart of NYC. With our identity in Christ and a preference for the poor, we are an inclusive, diverse community called to love God and each other for the life of the world.

This edition of The Angelus was written and edited by Father Jay Smith, except as noted. Father Matt Jacobson also edits the newsletter and is responsible for formatting and posting it on the parish website and distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt, parish administrator, and parish volunteer, Clint Best.