Easter Photos

Here are more shots taken on Easter Sunday!

Bono Cares…Should We?

Many of you have noticed I wear a white bracelet around my wrist. These types of bracelets are trendy ways to show support for certain causes, made famous by Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong campaign to support cancer research. Mine says two words:

One.

Care.

I am a “One Episcopalian.” Someone who thinks poverty should be eradicated. I believe in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). What are those, you may ask? Click here to read all about them.  Here are what the goals actually are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child Mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

I believe that we can achieve them. So does Bono, the lead singer of the massively popular rock group U2. Bono is a co-founder of the ONE, and advocacy group for these goals. He’s said a lot about our responsibilities as human beings. Here is is latest article in the New York TImes (thanks to Fr. Tom for passing this on to me). 

 

I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.

“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.

Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of …

Carnival — rock stars are good at that.

“Carne” is flesh; “Carne-val,” its goodbye party. I’ve been to many. Brazilians say they’ve done it longest; they certainly do it best. You can’t help but contract the fever. You’ve got no choice but to join the ravers as they swell up the streets bursting like the banks of a river in a flood of fun set to rhythm. This is a Joy that cannot be conjured. This is life force. This is the heart full and spilling over with gratitude. The choice is yours …

It’s Lent I’ve always had issues with. I gave it up … self-denial is where I come a cropper. My idea of discipline is simple — hard work — but of course that’s another indulgence.

Then comes the dying and the living that is Easter.

It’s a transcendent moment for me — a rebirth I always seem to need. Never more so than a few years ago, when my father died. I recall the embarrassment and relief of hot tears as I knelt in a chapel in a village in France and repented my prodigal nature — repented for fighting my father for so many years and wasting so many opportunities to know him better. I remember the feeling of “a peace that passes understanding” as a load lifted. Of all the Christian festivals, it is the Easter parade that demands the most faith — pushing you past reverence for creation, through bewilderment at the idea of a virgin birth, and into the far-fetched and far-reaching idea that death is not the end. The cross as crossroads. Whatever your religious or nonreligious views, the chance to begin again is a compelling idea.

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Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin … stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours.

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.

The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”

Well, yes. It is us.

Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates … the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.

Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty-four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us.

A few weeks ago I was in Washington when news arrived of proposed cuts to the president’s aid budget. People said that it was going to be hard to fulfill promises to those who live in dire circumstances such a long way away when there is so much hardship in the United States. And there is.

But I read recently that Americans are taking up public service in greater numbers because they are short on money to give. And, following a successful bipartisan Senate vote, word is that Congress will restore the money that had been cut from the aid budget — a refusal to abandon those who would pay such a high price for a crisis not of their making. In the roughest of times, people show who they are.

Your soul.

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money. Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.

•

Strangely, as we file out of the small stone church into the cruel sun, I think of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, whose now combined fortune is dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty. Agnostics both, I believe. I think of Nelson Mandela, who has spent his life upholding the rights of others. A spiritual man — no doubt. Religious? I’m told he would not describe himself that way.

Not all soul music comes from the church.

Survivor’s Sunday

 

Retirement of Pat Newton

 

When a new church starts, one of the most difficult pieces of the puzzle to put together is the music. From what I understand, when St. Nicholas started, the congregation sang a cappella because they had no musician to lead them. Luckily for that fledgling group, Pat Newton came along.

For the last 8 years, Pat has served faithfully as the organist of St. Nicholas. She plays every week, and rarely misses a Sunday. She has led numerous rehearsals to prepare for special events including Christmas Eve, Palm Sunday, Easter, and many other special worship services. She has played for our Lenten Series, special workshops, and even at my Installation as your new Rector. When St. Nicholas has needed a musician, Pat Newton has been there. Along with her husband Bob, who has also been a vital member of St. Nicholas (in fact, he served as chair of the committee that brought me here), Pat has indeed done more than her share of building this mission church to what it is today.

 

On April 20, Pat made the decision to retire as our organist. Not only has she served faithfully here, but she is currently a devoted music teacher, a poet, and composer. Retiring from St. Nicholas will allow her to focus her energy on those things and most importantly on her relationship with Bob. As she explained her decision, Pat expressed her deep love for St. Nicholas and how much it has meant to be a part of it over the years. 

 

Pat’s last Sunday with us as organist will be May 31, which is Pentecost Sunday, a perfect time to celebrate her ministry and send her forth with our well-wishes and blessings. We ask that you keep Pat and Bob in your prayers. Be sure to thank them for their ministry here and remind them that they will always be a part of the St. Nicholas family. The Vestry and I will be meeting on Wednesday, April 22 and will begin our preparations for an interim musician and our further plans for our music program. Please keep us in your prayers as well.

Pictures of Beverley

Does anyone have any digital pictures of Beverley (founding rector of St. Nicholas for those who may not know her) that they can e-mail me? I would like to add some photos of her to the History page. Please e-mail them to me at fatherjeff@stnicholashamilton.org.

Indeed!

Alleluia!

Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen Indeed!

Alleluia!

I just have to talk about Easter at St. Nicholas. Yesterday, I went over to the church to do a baptism workshop and was so happy to see so many people working on making the church beautiful.

And beautiful it was!

 

There were flowers everywhere! In the windows, on the doors, on the crosses. It smelled like a garden in the church, signaling the return of our King and Lord.

Sue and I (well, Sue, really) moved every possible chair we could get and filled up every space to accommodate everyone. The Bible Study room, my office, even the Narthex had chairs for folks to sit in…and boy did we need it!

Today we broke the attendance record…by about 60 people! Christmas Eve was packed at around 138. Today, we were just under 200! I don’t mention this to brag, but for those of you who have been in our worship space, you know that we’re a tiny church. To have so many friends, family, and regular attendees in the crowd made my heart almost burst with joy. It’s like a homecoming. 

The front of the church said it all, “He is Risen!” on huge banners that run the height of the church.

The acolytes paraded in with beautiful ribbons, swung by Kendra and Abbey. Luckily, no one got smacked in the head. 

The kids found the once-buried Alleluia banner after looking in the “empty tomb” (behind the altar). 

After church, we ate a plethora of goodies at our Easter Reception put on by our fantastic group of ladies (and men who put up tables and tents!).

The kids hunted Easter Eggs and got lots of great candy!

Finally, I came home, put my feet up and rested in the Lord. By that I mean I took a 3 hour nap!

It was a glorious day and once again, I’m so blessed to be the Rector of this wonderful congregation! Thank you all for all your work. I pray it deepened your understanding of the power of the Resurrection.

Now, after a wonderful week, the Jackson Five are headed to Kanuga for an Easter Respite! We’ll be back on Thursday.

Thank you, Lord, for this church, these people, and the time we shared together today. Thank you for the joy of your Resurrection that you put in each of our hearts. May we be resurrected ourselves and go forth to proclaim this awesome message of your love! Amen!

(If you have pictures from today, please e-mail them to me, and I’ll post them on the site!)

P.S. Tai and I were in the Easter article in the Ledger-Enquirer! Check it out by clicking here!

Sponge, Vinegar, and Other Bits of Holy Week Goodness

First, I just wanted to take a second and thank our Altar Guild, our Ushers, our LEMs, our acolytes, our musician, our Bulletin crew, our nursery worker, and anyone else who made Holy Week so meaningful. This was St. Nicholas’ first time doing Monday-Friday services and everyone jumped in to help make it happen. 

As a new rector, there were a lot of things I was learning, as well, and everyone was very accommodating to my thoughts and ideas…and even my mistakes.

After Wednesday’s, the head of our Altar Guild, Liz, asked me when setting up for Maundy Thursday where I wanted the “sponge and vinegar.” I had NO idea what she was talking about. 

Turns out, there is a long-standing Christian tradition of washing the altar after the Stripping of the Altar. Churches wash it in various ways, with water, with holy water, with wine and water, or with vinegar and water. I haven’t found any one way to do it, and all are acceptable. The funny thing was that I had never once heard of such a tradition. My church growing up was fairly high-church and so was my field education site in seminary. Granted, I went to Virginia Theological Seminary, which has a low-church tradition, so it’s not too strange that I never learned about it.

Makes me think about my friend Sam’s experience after serving a church for a few years before someone mentioned, “Back when we used to strip the altar on Maundy Thursday before you came.” Sometimes these details slip past us clergy types!

Of course, this tradition is about preparing the altar for the sacrifice and is also symbolic of preparing the body of Christ (the sacrifice itself). It was incredibly moving to do that.

Like anything, Holy Week was a learning curve for all of us. I appreciate all of you who came to many of the services. We had good attendance at all of them. 

Perhaps the highlight for me was Wednesday as we did Stations of the Cross. I asked the acolytes to help out by reading the Scripture portions of the liturgy. You can never be to sure if you’re “forcing” youth to participate, but not this group. We had 7 acolytes show up and all of them were willing to read. I picked 4 to read and the other 3 carried the cross and torches. They all did an outstanding job and it made the service that much more meaningful. I think we might have a new tradition at St. Nicholas. The Martins videotaped the service, I wonder if we could get it on the internet to share with everyone?

Also, if you missed the services this week, be sure to check out the podcast sermons, especially Monday’s from the Rev. Hal Weidman from St. John’s, West Point, and David Johnson’s reading of “Mrs. Pilate Remembers” from Good Friday. David gave two reflections, but the sound quality in the first one was poor. Sorry David!

As I write this, there’s a storm outside which makes me think about that awful day that Jesus died. However, like a storm, we know that this feeling Good Friday brings is not going to last forever. While we sit and wait in this dark hour, let us keep hope for a new tomorrow!

Easter Egg Hunt

Choir Rehearsal after Maundy Thursday service

Just a reminder that Choir Rehearsal will take place immediately after the Maundy Thursday service tomorrow night, April 9. Hope to see you there!

Episcopal 101

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