Clerical Restraint

Last Sunday I made a mess at the altar.  I got carried away during the censing of the gifts.  The thurible (censer) was full and the incense was billowing out.  The music was strong.  I offered incense over the gifts in the traditional way, moving the thurible in the form of a cross three times followed by three circles, two counterclockwise, one clockwise (I have no idea why that's the tradition but it is).  Again, the smoke was heavy.  When I finished censing the entire altar and returned to the center of the footpace (the top step where the altar stands), I realized that the corporal and everything on it was covered with ash.

From the Rector: The Members of Saint Mary's

In the Episcopal Church all laypersons are members of the congregation in which they were baptized, where their baptism was recorded or where their membership has been transferred.  All members are expected to be confirmed or received by a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands; but this is not a requirement for membership.  In addition there are minimum requirements about the reception of Holy Communion, corporate worship and for "working, praying and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God."

From Father Shin:  Dong Kingman, 1911-2000

The priestly vocation has taken me through unexpected encounters and experiences.  Often such occasions involve invitations into significant moments in people’s lives – occasions which call for the rites of passage such as birth, baptism, marriage and death.  I always find it a privilege and an honor to be invited into people’s private lives on those occasions, for these moments call for a meaning larger than our private lives, a sense of connection with God.  Recently I was called to such an occasion and it was indeed an unexpected privilege.

Easter in the Ordinary

Easter this year was different for me.  There was something extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary routines of the Triduum and Easter Day.  Much of it has to do with the new catechumenate process, the Rite of Christian Initiation or Journey in Faith as we have named it.

Services

The first section of the Prayer Book is subtitled “Concerning the Service of the Church.” The text of the section begins:

The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in this Book, are the regular services appointed for public worship in this Church.

Easter Immersion

Before the Great Vigil of Easter I had a few minutes with the Presiding Bishop in the church to discuss some ceremonial details.  One of the things I told him was that he would not be able to get the Paschal Candle into the baptismal font because of the cover.  He sized up the situation and smiled, saying nothing.  Those who were here may recall that he announced during the

Easter Mission

This weekly newsletter is dated using the date of Sunday, the first day of the Christian week.  Church calendrical calculations, however, are not simple.  In the center of the Christian year there is one Sunday that is different from all the others, one Sunday when the principal Mass of the day is the secondary liturgical celebration.  In the great tradition, the principal service of Easter Day is the Great Vigil.

Holy Week Notes

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday . . . The principal liturgy is at 11:00 AM.  We will be generous with the distribution of palms.  I encourage you to be willing to share them with persons we will pass in Times Square who ask for them.  There will be more palms in the church if you give all of yours away.  Despite the solemnity of the day, there is an element of purposeful joy in the procession.  Don't try to impose a sense of northern European order on Mediterranean devotions. 

Easter Triduum II

I know it was the Reverend Jeffrey Lee, now rector of Saint Christopher's Church, River Hills, Wisconsin, who got my attention one day when he said, "I wonder what it would be like if the people took the role of Jesus on Good Friday."  We had been at Nashotah House together.  I can no longer recall when the conversation took place, but it was before my first holy week as rector of Trinity Church, Michigan City, Indiana.  When I first had the chance as a rector to assign the role of Jesus in the Passion to the congregation I did.  There were complaints but they were of the kind that confirmed the insight of this decision.  The people take the part of Jesus on the Sunday of the Passion and on Good Friday.  The purpose of the Easter Triduum is for us to share in Jesus' death and resurrection and to help us live as members of his body.

Easter Triduum I

I begin to write newsletter articles this time of year about Holy Week.  In the past I have always begun at the beginning.  This year I want to say something first about the Easter Triduum, the three days at the heart of the year.  I write primarily with the local parish community in mind.  I want to try to tell you something of what I understand our Christian (and Catholic!) tradition to be.

Trouble

While taking a long walk by myself during my vacation in Houston I found myself thinking about newsletter articles I had written over the years.  I wrote more than 500 newsletters for Trinity Church, Michigan City, Indiana, and I remember three that got me in trouble.  In one, as a young rector, I wondered in print in the gentlest way whether our community really was doing the right thing in baptizing the third child in two families that had no real connection to any church community.

Money

I went to a program about “Funding Current Ministry” at the conference I attended recently in California.  I asked one question of the presenter during the program and it seems to have gotten me in trouble.  At the end of the session I was the recipient of an examination from the presenter about my understanding of the sacramentality of money.

More than One Thing

The most obvious changes that occurred in the wake of the adoption of a new Prayer Book in 1979 were experienced in our worship.  The theological movement of our common worship also affected our understanding of the Church.  Especially in the areas of Baptism and membership.  The Book of Common Prayer states simply, "Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body the Church."

Planning

A few weeks ago Father Shin and I met with the parish musicians and part of our sacristy leadership team to begin to look at the liturgies for Holy Week and Lent.  I know I will be whining in June about how long the season is (Corpus Christi is the last Sunday in June), but right now I am delighted to have a relatively late start to Lent.

Formation for Mission

One of the things that has surprised me about Saint Mary's is how small our congregation really is.  When I looked at the statistics before becoming rector I had a nagging suspicion about how small we really were, how few members of the congregation would regularly be able to be here on Sunday.  I continue to be amazed at how few people have committed themselves financially to supporting Saint Mary's.

Servant

In January I had a meeting with Father Shin and with Chuck Carson and Winston Deane, who had been assigned to serve as MCs at the liturgy on Candlemas.  These things just don't happen and I've expressed before how thankful I am for the great love and work given by so many to worship in this parish church.  There were lots of details to discuss and I'm glad we discussed them.  The liturgy turned out to be wonderful in so many ways.  I haven't yet really had a chance to write about a change I made in the pattern of censing and that's what I want to tell you about today.

Job One

Last year I recall hearing more than a few genuinely helpful comments about the parish's tradition of having a bishop present to be celebrant for the Great Vigil of Easter.  We didn't have one because I was too new to get it organized in time.  This year we are honored that the Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, will be with us to celebrate and preach.  But I don't want you to think that it seems normative to me that a parish church, even Saint Mary's, should have a bishop present for the Easter Vigil - although it is splendid when it can happen.

Pastel

I don't know when I learned to use the word 'pastel' as a negative comment, but I have used it that way for years (along with the word 'beige').  I am making this public confession because I think I now understand the pastel colors in a way I never did before.

ANNUAL MEETING

I am looking forward to the annual meeting of the parish community this Sunday, January 30. A year ago I was in New York on the last Sunday in January but I had not begun work as your rector. At the request of the trustees I did not attend Mass here and I did not attend the annual meeting; I was not unhappy about having the opportunity to worship at Saint Thomas Church and at Saint Bartholomew's Church that day. On January 31 I will have completed a year as your rector.

Winter

It finally arrived, without snow so far but winter is here.  Cheeks are cold; feet are cold.  There seem however to be fewer tourists in Times Square, but I haven't noticed any great reduction in traffic noise at night on West 47th Street when the theaters let out.  At Saint Mary's, the church is a comfortable 64 degrees, so people wear their coats during Mass.  Flowers last longer, but the incense doesn't hang in the air.