Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace Notes
19 March 2015
Today is the feast of St. Joseph,
Our Lord’s foster father. Joseph is
described sparsely in the gospels, as a righteous man (Mtt. 1.19), as a man of deep devotion, open
to mystical experiences (being guided by an angel in dreams), and as a man of
compassion who accepted his God-given responsibility with gentleness and
humility. Joseph the carpenter, in
addition to being patron of those engaged in manual trade, is patron of many
countries, of the Roman Catholic Church, and, of course, of fathers.
Joseph descended from the house of
David. The genealogies given by Matthew
and Luke (mark and John do not mention Joseph) follow different lines: that in Matthew the major line from David,
and that in Luke the minor Nathanic line.
This gives additional credence to the Church tradition about the
authorship of Matthew and Luke. In
addition to both relying on Mark, Matthew and Luke each seem to have had their
own unique sources. (Luke is explicit
that he was not a witness to the events described in his gospel.) From the beginning the Church consensus has
been that Matthew relied on testimony from James, Joseph’s oldest son, and Luke
relied on testimony from Mary. Thus each
of their gospels is told from a slightly different perspective, and in
Matthew’s we get a lot more detail of the kind a man would share with his eldest
son. In Luke we get detail about Mary’s
encounters with the angel Gabriel, with Elizabeth, etc.
We may pray that by the Holy
Spirit we too may accept God-given responsibilities with gentleness and
humility. We may pray that by God’s
grace we too may be men and women of deep devotion, open to mystical
experiences, people of compassion. The
example of Joseph testifies to the reality that those who are open to the Lord
will be equipped by Him to do whatever we are called to do.
Grace abounds: Please
thank:
§
Barb and Bob MacEwen,
Jennifer Pawlus, and Grace Zangara for the Friday simple supper.
§ Traci and Kevan Revis, Katy and Steve Larson, and Caleb Klinzing
for the Sunday coffee hours.
Installation of the Archdeacon: Details are found below on the Chrism Mass,
which will be held on Saturday, 28 March, at the cathedral. This is a wonderful opportunity to gather
will all of the clergy of the diocese, but at Grace we have an extra reason to
be present. Our own Deacon Michele
Whitford will be installed as archdeacon of the diocese. Here is the story from clergy news:
An
archdeacon is a clergyperson with a defined administrative authority delegated
by the diocesan bishop. The archdiaconate dates to antiquity and until the
fifteenth century it was of great importance in diocesan administration. Its
beginnings in the first three centuries of the Church were as a deacon selected
by the bishop for service as an assistant charged with the care of the poor and
supervisor of other deacons. By the middle ages, the position included priests
and much more authority, so much that in the thirteenth century the church
began to limit the archdeacons' independent character and so it practically
became an empty title. For more in-depth treatment of the archdiaconate, click here. |
Deacon
Michele at the Consecration of Bishop Gunter where she helped lead
coordination of arrangements.
|
In the Episcopal Church the position of archdeacon has grown
in the past decades with a bishop assigning limited diocesan administrative
authority to an archdeacon. The position may be held by a deacon or a priest.
An archdeacon is often installed (placed in a stall) at the Cathedral. The
written honorific for an archdeacon is "The Venerable."
The Venerable Edwin B. Smith was instituted
and installed as Archdeacon in 1993 and has served since then as a counselor to
bishops. Most recently he serves as deployment office of clergy for the
diocese. The Venerable Michele E. Whitford will be instituted
and installed as Archdeacon at the 2015 Chrism Mass. She will serve as a
liaison between the bishop and the deacons of the diocese and chair the
Deacon's Council overseeing diaconal ministry.
Podcasts! The
parish is blessed with many gifts that allow for more effective communication
and outreach. We have a truly superior
website (thanks to Jon!), with many useful links; there is a weekly blog; and starting
tomorrow we will add podcasts. A
podcast is a short audio and video broadcast received over an internet
connection, on your smart phone or computer or tablet. We will begin on a Mon—Wed—Fri schedule, with
links posted to the blog and website. On
Mondays we will simply post the Sunday sermon as an audio file. Wednesdays will feature a brief talk that
might involve teaching or discussion of a current issue. Fridays will feature a broadcast of evensong.
In most weeks the Friday evensong
will be for that day, Friday. For our
first podcast we will post evensong for Thrudsay, 19 March, the Feast of St.
Joseph. To begin evensong will be
offered by Fr. Karl and Ben Dobey, two voices, but we are working to turn this
into a four voiced service.
Once you link to the podcast
(found here: http://www.gracesheboygan.com/index.php/resources/podcasts/sermon/37-gec-sounds-2015-03-20 ), you can enter your details to receive the podcasts automatically.
Adult Education:
We are the midst of a “how to” course on the Daily Office. This week we will fosuc on practical
questions that have arisen in the context of your own experiences.
Youth and Family Ministry: "And then God showed up"
This past weekend I participated
in the Happening weekend as a staff member. We had a fantastic time, and My
official role was "Dad", but I actually acted more like
"Roadie/Musician". All I had to do, was to make sure none of the kids
did anything that would cause them harm or get them in trouble, and make sure
the musician knew where to be, when, and what to do when she was there. No
problem.
Seriously, no problem. I have been
on many happenings, I know the program inside and out. I know who is doing what
at any given time, and I can tell you exactly when things "get
heavy". This is because the weekend is designed to create an atmosphere
that allows for youth to comfortably enter into an experience of God with each
other. First we build community. Then we build on the spiritual reasons for
gathering together. Then we provide experiential opportunities that don't
happen very often, if at all, in our home parishes (opportunity for
reconciliation, healing and laying on of hands, having the leaders of the
weekend mimic Christ by washing feet in the context of servant ministry,
one-on-one conferences with an adult who are just there to listen and get to
know you a little better).
Happening, on the one hand, is
very predictable, we have the same progression of talks, and the same flow to
the weekend time in and time out. On the other hand, it is not predictable at
all, depending on your leadership, and the group of kids that are in attendance
makes a huge difference in the energy, pace, and volume of the weekend. But
something happens that is both predictable and wholly unexpected every time,
God's presence manifest.
We sometimes hear the phrase,
"and then God showed up", when we are talking about some spiritual
event. It's interesting that we say it this way when we conceptually understand
that God is always "showed up". God's presence isn't less and more,
however our awareness of Him is. And we can do things that attune us to be
better receivers of His holiness. Prayer, singing, community, focused energy
into the who, what and why of God, time to think about who we are, and our
relationship with Jesus.
This means that even though I have
been on many Happenings, and I don't even have to think about the schedule to
know where and when to be; I don't have a clue when or where or how God will
"show up", or maybe another way to say this is: when or where or how
we will enter into the awareness of God, present with us.
I have seen groups manifest this
presence by a relaxing of everyone's shoulders, and community suddenly becomes
easy. I have seen groups lift each other up in healing and prayer for hours. I
have seen groups sing their hearts out because the thing they wanted most was
more time for worship. I have seen groups be very quiet because the stillness
was so peaceful. This does not mean that a group will stay quiet, or what have
you (far from it), but for that time, God was known in a way that we didn't
recognize before.
My point is, that when we say,
"and then God showed up", I believe what we really mean is "and
then I entered into God's presence". It's what we do to posture our hearts
and minds to the reality of God that allows Him to act within us, and allows us
to be present. God is always "showed up", and for that I am very
thankful.
―Nick
Call for
Contributions: If you have a spiritual reflection to share,
or want to point your fellow worshippers toward a resource, submit your
contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by Wednesday in the week of publication.
Music this week: The Fifth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday)
Prelude Preludes on Passiontide
Chorales:
Ah,
Holy Jesus and O Christ, thou Lamb of
God J. S. Bach
Introit Give sentence with me, O God Plainsong
Mass Setting: Gregorian
Mass X (Kyrie ‘Alme Pater’) Plainsong, adapt. W. Wildman
Offertory Hymn 441 “In
the Cross of Christ I glory” Rathbun
Communion Motet Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks Healey
Willan
Comm. Hymn 691 “My
faith looks up to thee” Olivet
Closing Hymn 457 “Thou
art the Way, the Truth, the Life” St. James
Postlude Toccata in A Johann Kuhnau
Parish Notices
No comments:
Post a Comment