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For
the week leading up to Sunday, September 6th, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-seventh installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, September 6, 2009.
Don't Forget…
… this is the first Sunday of the month so we will
be having blessing of birthdays and anniversaries for
September.
… and this month we are asked by the food pantries
to bring canned tuna items, so get your shopping carts
ready and pray for those receiving your gifts as you
pick them from the shelves.
Things you probably didn’t know…
How did we get Labor Day? The nation will observe Labor
Day this coming Monday, letting lots of people to enjoy
the waning days of summer, as well their last chance
to wear white pants without earning a "tsk tsk"
from Miss Manners. But the start was anything but fun
and relaxing.
Though President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day
a national holiday in 1894, it was first observed on
Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. A parade was organized
by the city's Central Labor Union, a secretive labor
union founded in 1869 by a group of Philadelphia tailors.
Apparently the September date was chosen because it
coincided with their conference in New York, guaranteeing
a sizable turnout. It wasn't particularly festive and
more resembled a protest than a parade, with CLU members
required to march in support of the eight-hour workday.
The CLU held the event again the following year on the
same date. In 1884, however, the organization declared
that Labor Day take place annually on the first Monday
in September. In 1887, Oregon became the first state
to make Labor Day an official holiday, with Colorado,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York quickly following
suit.
For a while, Labor Day had stiff competition from May
1st, the traditional day for the labor movement. The
problem was that labor riots, strikes and bloody protests
would sometimes take place on May 1st. (Many of them
were in the battle to gain more rights for workers such
as a day off, 8 hour work day, pension benefits, child
labor laws, health insurance, and other such things,
all of which were virtually unheard of before the American
labor movement.) For example, in 1884, the American
Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions declared
that, by May 1, 1886, the eight-hour workday should
be in effect across the land. When legislators and employers
failed to comply in time, the result was a general strike
and the bloody Haymarket Riot in Chicago, which caused
the deaths of eight police officers and led to the hangings
of four labor activists.
Worried that a May 1 holiday would encourage rabble-rousing
in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot, President Grover
Cleveland used the lead of several states (mentioned
above) to declare the first Monday in September a federal
holiday in honor of the “working man”.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…the children, parents and helpers last Sunday,
along with Sandy Heren and Sharon Parham, to help with
decorations for Homecoming Sunday on the 13th..
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
Bring your opposable thumbs. We have mailing labels
and we have cards and we’re mailing them to all
the families who have just moved into our area, over
600, inviting them to church!
Why do we do that in church?
What’s all the standing and kneeling, and why doesn’t
everyone do the same thing? Ever noticed that sometimes
(during prayers, confession, Eucharistic prayer, etc.)
that some are standing, some kneeling, and some sitting?
Why? Well, a simple answer is the old Anglican adage
about the “devotional gestures” we display
(or don’t display) in church. It goes: “All
can, some may, none must.” Devotional gestures
are important because they can be a reflection of, and/or
an aid to, our devotion. The basic idea is that as we
come before our God we would want to show some sign
of respect and reverence. The difference is that different
practices are helpful to different people! What can
be useful to one, is distracting to another. Therefore,
we have this: “All can, some may, none must.”
But to help out, let’s go through a quick summary
of possibilities.
Standing was the most popular posture for the first
one thousand years of the Church, and that’s just
about all anyone did. (And for our brothers and sisters
in the Eastern Orthodox churches, that’s all they
do still…the whole service…of over 3 hours.)
Today, a more traditional “formula” sometimes
used is that we stand for singing, sit for listening
(lessons and sermon), and either kneel or stand for
praying. The reasons are pretty straightforward.
Standing is a sign of our new status before God, in
that we are loved, forgiven, healed and redeemed. Therefore
we stand to reflect this status of full heirs, accepted
children of God. Kneeling is often a position of prayerfulness,
reflection, and acknowledging our dependence on God.
Jesus knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane. Paul talks
about kneeling in prayer with Christians in Miletus.
Subjects throughout history have knelt before their
King/Queen as a sign of their obedience. And while sitting
has no special reverential significance, it is a position
of ease for listening and came into the Church in the
16th century when pews were introduced to assist people
in listening to in-depth sermons. As you can read, none
of these positions is “right” or “wrong”,
they each have their own purpose or significance.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“ A good name is to be chosen rather than great
riches, and to find favor is better than silver or gold.”
Proverbs (Old Testament) Chapter 22.
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for little Sonya is to receive the sacrament of
baptism tomorrow, and her parents, Katie and Jarrod.
See you in church on Sunday!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, August 30, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-sixth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
August 30, 2009.
Don't Forget…
… we’re having our second driving range practice
session with resident pro David Mielcarek, Join us after
the 10:00 service. We’ll leave for Turnberry around
11:30.
Things you probably didn’t know…
We’re about to enter the month of September. So
here’s an oddity: “September” has the
latin root “sept” meaning “seven”.
So how come it’s the ninth month?
Well, the thing is, September (or the ancient Roman
version of it) used to be the seventh month. Which,
surprise, surprise is why October used to be the 8th
month and December the 10th, with “oct” as
a prefix for eight and “dec” as a prefix for
ten! So what happened?
In 153 BC, there was a calendar reform. The beginning
of the year was moved from the month of the Ides of
March to the Kalends, or January 1. That was one of
the first big calendar moves in western civilization.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Judy Walker and Debi Chakeres, along with Gingy
Harshey-Meade, for completing our financial audit for
the diocese.
And thanks to Pete Parham and Kevin McCarty for twice
moving everything in our narthex and Parish Hall to
make possible the cleaning of our Parish Hall carpet
this week!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…golfers: glove and clubs.
…parents: children to help with decorating for
Homecoming Sunday (Sept 13th)
…grocery shoppers: cans of tomato products
everyone: your prayers and praise.
Why do we do that in church?
What is a diocese? In legal language, it’s a territorial
jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop. In religious language,
it’s the area for which a particular bishop has
spiritual responsibility (and some legal and financial
as well). The term can also mean all the congregations
and church members within that designated area.
Before the church adopted the word it had a long secular
usage. When Rome was an empire, it (of course) had an
emperor. The empire was subdivided into smaller regions
(like our country is subdivided into states, and our
states subdivided into counties.) The empire’s
subdivisions were originally called “prefectures”
because a “prefect” (Latin for “make
in front” or put-in-charge) was in charge of them,
accountable to the emperor. Got it?
Well, around the time of Emperor Constantine, when the
Roman Empire went from a pagan empire to a Christian
empire (after Constantine himself was converted) the
Empire was divided into 12 subdivisions (familiar number?)
and those subdivisions were called “dioceses”.
As the church began to spread (and quickly, now that
it had gone from an underground operation to an imperial
religion) it adopted the secular imperial title of “diocese”
as well and its concept that a person should be responsible
for it. As the prefect was responsible for the prefecture,
the bishop became responsible for the diocese.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone
be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger The
Letter of James, chapter 1. (James, chapter 1)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for our neighbors at the Violet Township Fire
Station, as they go about their daily work of protecting
the community.
See you in church on Sunday!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, August 23, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-fifth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
August 23, 2009.
Don't Forget…
… to reach out to your previous parish (if you
haven’t done so already) and ask for them to transfer
your membership to St. Andrew’s. We’d like
to have as many of our records up-to-date as possible
for Homecoming Sunday (September 13th). Don’t worry.
Most of us don’t think about doing that even if
we’ve been coming to St. Andrew’s for years!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Things you probably didn’t know…
Now that summer vacation is, or almost is, over for
most kids, let’s ask: why did most American school
kids just receive about a three-month summer vacation?
From where does that tradition come? (Notice the preposition
did not end this sentence.)
Short-hand answer? Fiscal limitations, century-old developmental
theories, and outdated medical concerns. The now-standard
180-day academic calendar with a long summer holiday
didn't come about until the early 20th century. It used
to be that urban schools operated year-round with short
breaks between quarters. For example, in 1842, Detroit's
academic year lasted approximately 260 days, New York's
245, and Chicago's 240. But since primary school education
wasn't mandatory in most states until the 1870s, attendance
was pretty low. Brooklyn school officials, for example,
reported in 1850 that about half their students only
showed up for about six months of school each year.
Therefore, poor attendance got some people wondering
if such a long academic calendar was worthwhile. Why
keep schools open year-round if most kids don't even
go? Reformers also warned that kids who did show up
every day might burn out (!) Many physicians at the
time felt that students were too frail, both in mind
and body, for so many days at their desk (!) (But wait,
there’s more….) Too much education, they argued,
could impair a child's health! (This email should have
been restricted to those over 18.)
City school officials began listening to reformers around
the turn of the previous century and gradually shortened
the school year by about 60 days, eliminating the summer
quarter. Now, mind you, reformers could have instituted
a long break in winter, or spring, but instead they
picked summer, and they did so for at least three main
reasons. 1) Poorly ventilated school buildings were
nearly unbearable during summer heat waves. 2) Community
leaders fretted that hot, crowded environments facilitated
the spread of disease. 3) Wealthy urbanites traditionally
vacationed during the hottest months, and middle-class
school administrators were following in their footsteps.
Voila! Summer vacation.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Father Doublday as he joins us this Sunday as
celebrant and preacher for both services.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…for August we are asked to bring canned cooked
tomatoes for our food pantry families to use in preparing
meals for their families. Please be generous and remember
to pray for the family who will receive your donation.
And of course, all non-perishable food items are always
welcomed.
Why do we do that in church?
Why are we called “The Episcopal Church”?
Or more appropriately, why is our denomination called
such? Well, it (we) didn’t always go by that name.
We used to be called the “Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States of America.” (Wonder
if the stationary printing costs grew too high?)
Back in 1780 a conference of three clergy and twenty-four
lay delegates met in Chestertown, (Kent County) Maryland
and resolved that “the Church formerly known in
the Province* as the Church of England shall now be
called the Protestant Episcopal Church.” (You know,
with all their recent nastiness with the British and
our revolution and all, our clergy could no longer pledge
allegiance to the King of England.) Two words in that
name were clearly put forth for a purpose: the word
“protestant” to emphasize that we were a “reformed”
(i.e., not Roman) church with all the reformed traditions**,
and “episcopal” to assert our catholicity
(or connection to the universal church) and our ecclesial
(church) authority through “bishops***.”
But we ended up with “The Episcopal Church”
from a vote in 1967 at the General Convention. (Remember,
it meets once every 3 years and is the governing body
of the Church, and that it just met in Anaheim, CA and
previously here in Columbus.) Through the years other
names had been bunted about including “The Reformed
Catholic Church”, “The American Catholic Church”
and “The American Anglican Church”. But eventually,
they settled on dropping “protestant” and
voting to add a preamble to our church’s constitution:
“The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States of America, otherwise known as The Episcopal
Church (which name is hereby recognized as also designating
the Church)….”
Voila, we were now “The Episcopal Church.”
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his power.”
St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, chapter
6 (Ephesians chapter 6).
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for all the teachers and school employees in all
our school districts as they gear up for another year.
* Remember, before we were an independent nation, we
were a dependent province of England.
** ”Reformed” in the sense of centrality of:
(1) Scripture; (2) Grace; and (3) Faith, virtually a
mantra of the Reformation: (1) Sola Scriptura (Scripture
Alone as God’s authority, vs. authority of the
Roman Church) (2)Sola Gratia (Grace Alone as God’s
gift through Christ vs. channels made available through
the Roman Church) and Sola Fide (Faith Alone, as the
only way to receive salvation, vs. through good deeds)
There are more, but those are enough for now.
*** “Episcopal” comes from the Greek word
“episcopos” which means “overseer”
or “superintendent”. That word comes from
two parts: “epi” meaning “over”
and “scopos” meaning sight, as in telescope
or microscope. “Episcopos” was later translated
into English as “bishop”.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, August 16, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-fourth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, August 16, 2009.
Don't Forget…
… to reach out to your previous parish (if you
haven’t done so already) and ask for them to transfer
your membership to St. Andrew’s. We’d like
to have as many of our records up-to-date as possible
for Homecoming Sunday (September 13th). Don’t worry.
Most of us don’t think about doing that even if
we’ve been coming to St. Andrew’s for years!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Things you probably didn’t know…
With summer weather (finally) here (and just in time
for Back-to-School specials), did you ever wonder where
the phrase “lazy, hazy days of summer” came
from? Well, best I can tell, it’s actually “lazy,
hazy, crazy days of summer” and it’s a Billboard
Charts hit by none other than Nat King Cole! Here are
some of the lyrics:
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer
Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies
Then lock the house up, now you’re set
And on the beach you’ll see the girls in their
bikinis
As cute as ever but they never get ‘em wet
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
You’ll wish that summer could always be here
Trivia question: What year did it make it in
the Billboard top 10, and what was its highest position
on the charts?
Be sure and say thank you to…
…David Mielcarek for his excellent golf teaching
skills. This was such a success we scheduled a 2nd Turnberry
Driving Range practice and lesson trip. We’re headed
out again after the 10:00 on Sunday, August 30th.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…for August we are asked to bring canned cooked
tomatoes for our food pantry families to use in preparing
meals for their families. Please be generous and remember
to pray for the family who will receive your donation.
And of course, all non-perishable food items are always
welcomed.
…also, bring your smile and good cheer, Mom’s
in town from Atlanta and will be at the 10:00 service!
(Practice saying lots of wonder things….)
Why do we do that in church?
Since the Episcopal Church has much in common with both
the Roman Catholic Church and the many Protestant denominations,
does the Episcopal Church practice the sacrament of
Confession or Penance?
That’s a question which has been asked many times,
and the short answer is “yes”. In the Episcopal
Church it is given the name “Reconciliation of
a Penitent” and you can find the service in your
Book of Common Prayer on pages 447-452. While all are
able (encouraged and even commanded) to forgive, the
Episcopal Church holds the same tradition as the Catholic
Church, that is, absolution (a divine freeing of guilt)
is given from God through the ministry of bishops and
priests.
Reconciliation of a Penitent is a sacramental rite*
in which those who repent (are sorry and wish to turn
away from their mistakes) may then also confess those
sins to God in the presence of a priest or bishop and
receive the assurance of divine pardon. The clergy person
would then offer some penance**, or task, to the confessor.
Like what? It may be a psalm or prayer to pray, or an
act of reparation or restitution to make. Why? Basically
to show themselves, and/or the person offended, that
their repentance is serious and as an opportunity (through
the prayer or task) to ponder a little more fully/deeply
what was wrong and how not to make the same mistake
again.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Be careful how you live, not as unwise people
but as wise…. Be filled with the Spirit, as you
sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves,
singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts….”
St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, chapter
5 (Ephesians chapter 5).
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…our Mission Council as we gather for our August
meeting, and as they care for the needs of this parish
community.
See you Sunday!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answer: What year did it make it in the Billboard top
10? 1963. And what was its highest position on the Billboard
charts that year? #6
* Sacramental rite: Remember that a “sacrament”
is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and
spiritual grace.” The outward sign of Reconciliation
or Confession is the oral confession itself. The inward
and spiritual grace is the absolution.
**Penance comes from the Latin word “poena”
or punishment. Early on, it was believed that sins (i.e.,
after Baptism, since Baptism cleansed of all sins) deserved
punishment. The thinking went that it was better to
endure the punishment now in this earthly body, then
forever in our heavenly body. The challenge with that
understanding is that the tasks given were lengthy and
involved (sins must be paid for with a high price).
But the high cost of time and effort for the penance
gave rise to indulgences, since people were willing
to just pay (literally…money) for their sins in
order to skip the lengthy disciplinary action. Of course,
the OTHER problem was that our faith teaches that Jesus
already paid the price for our sins and that forgiveness
from God was available to all who asked. So eventually
(and to this day) penance is more about pondering the
consequences of our sins and assisting us in making
an amendment in our lives.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, August 9, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-third installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
August 9, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…we have our driving range outing after church
on Sunday coming up!
All are welcomed for this Sunday (August 9th) to join
us at Turnberry after the 10:00 service. There will
be free driving lessons by our resident golf pro, David
Mielcarek. Turnberry’s fee for a small bucket (around
25 balls) is $3.50 and a large bucket (about 75 balls)
is $7.00. There’s still room. Turnberry says we
can tell them a final number before we head out.
Things you probably didn’t know…
In honor of our trip to the driving range on Sunday,
here are some fun facts about golf:
It seems there has been an internet myth roaming about
saying that the name of the popular Scottish game “golf”
stands for: "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden."
A better idea is that the word “golf” probably
originates from medieval Scottish and Dutch dialects.
Back in a day before the creation of dictionaries, there
was no standardized spelling of any given word. So it’s
believed that word “golf” originates from
Dutch word "kolf" or "kolve" which
meant "club." Later on old Scots dialect could
have transformed the word into "gouf" or "golve."
Interested in the technical stuff? Here’s what
I’ve been able to find: a golf ball must have a
diameter of no less than 42.67mm and may not exceed
a mass of 45.93g. All golf holes must be exactly 4.25
inches in diameter. A player can carry no more than
fourteen clubs when playing officially by the rules
(usually only enforced at professional tournaments).
And lastly, did you know that four strokes under par
is called a “Condor”? (And best I can find,
it’s only happened a few times…ever…and
that it’s also called a triple eagle.)
Did you know there’s an Anglican connection (sort
of)? In Canterbury Cathedral (the spiritual seat/center
of the Anglican Communion) there is a painted glass
window in which a boy is can be seen holding a curved
stick in one hand and a ball in the other. This painted
glass window was made in the 13th century. The game
the boy was playing was called Bandy and many believe
it was a precursor to golf.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…our Coffee Hour Hosts. Take a look at our Sunday
Ministries Schedule and look down the list. You’ll
see the names of some of our hosts. Please give them
special thanks for their time, energy and money to provide
these treats for us.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…for August we are asked to bring canned cooked
tomatoes for our food pantry families to use in preparing
meals for their families. Please be generous and remember
to pray for the family who will receive your donation.
And of course, all non-perishable food items are always
welcomed.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we altar rails in church?
First, some terms. Altar railings are those items in
our church where we come to receive Communion. For liturgical
churches like Episcopal/Roman Catholic/Orthodox and
many Lutheran churches, these railings essentially separate
the worship space into two parts: (1) the “nave”
(pew area and all area except that around the altar)
and (2) the “chancel” or “sanctuary”,
which is the area around the altar. Why would we do
that?
At a famous church council (the fourth Lateran Council
of 1215, called so because it was at the Cathedral of
St. John Lateran, the cathedral for the diocese and
bishop of Rome) clergy were required “to ensure
that the blessed sacrament was to be kept protected
from irreverent access or abuse”; and therefore
the area of the church used by the lay congregation
was to be screened off from that used by the clergy.
(What’s funny is that this distinction was enforced
by a canon (church) law stating that the construction
and upkeep of the chancel was the responsibility of
the rector, whereas the construction and upkeep of the
nave was the responsibility of the parish.)
This notion of separation has eased of late as the Church
has felt uncomfortable with such stark distinctions.
But altar rails remain, mostly for more practical reasons,
since they provide a place for people to kneel to receive
the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and as well, a
place to kneel for absolution, confirmation and holy
matrimony.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is useful for building up, as there is need,
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”
St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, chapter
4 (Ephesians chapter 4)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…our Sunday School as it gears up for another year!
See you Sunday!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, August 2, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Fifty-second installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington
(Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore, Pataskala,
Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday, August
2, 2009. That means this is our 1st Anniversary, having
started this eNews in the dog-days of summer, August,
2008.
Don't
Forget…
…we
have two outdoor sporting events coming up!
·
Next Friday (August 7th) we’re all headed to Huntington
Park for a Clippers game. Tell Gayland Trim this Sunday
to hold your seats.
·
And guys, the next Sunday (August 9th) we’re headed
to Turnberry Golf Course after church for free driving
lessons by our resident golf pro, David Mielcarek. Turnberry’s
fees for small buckets (around 25 balls) are $3.50,
large buckets (about 75 balls) are $7.00. Tell Fr. Paul
to hold you a place.
Things
you probably didn’t know…
In
honor of our baseball and golf outings, let’s take
a quiz about the Clippers for this week and about golf
for next week.
New
for the Columbus Clippers this year is their new major
league team affiliation and their new field. The Clippers
are a minor league team and they began this season as
a Triple-A affiliate of the C________ I______. The franchise
has been previously affiliated with three other MLB
teams. They were the: _________ P______; ___ Y___ _______;
and the W__________ N________.
Their
new field is called Huntington Park and holds a capacity
of 10,000. The present franchise has been in Columbus
since 1977, when they played in the F_______ C_____
S______, which was renamed C_____ S______, and affectionately
known as the C____.
The
famous alumni of the Clippers can match up to any other
minor league. Can you name nine of these baseball superstars
with the following hints? D___k J____; D__ M_______y;
C____s P___; A____ P_____e; J___e P_____; M______ R____a;
D____n S______; Da____ S_________; and B_____ W________s.
Bonus: One of the famous alums is a pro football star
as well and played in the stadium with the same initials
as the Clippers’ former home. That stadium is ______
_______ _______.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…our
Nave Committee for their continued work. We met this
week and reviewed comments from the congregation about
our worship space. You’ll notice a difference on
Sunday with some minor repositioning of our altar rails.
What
can you bring to church this Sunday:
…for
August we are asked to bring canned cooked tomatoes
for our food pantry families to use in preparing meals
for their families. Please be generous and remember
to pray for the family who will receive your donation.
And of course, all non-perishable food items are always
welcomed.
Why
do we do that in church?
Why
do we have an altar? The short answer is that we have
taken the tradition of an altar from our spiritual ancestors
the Jews, and from the ancient Jewish form of sacrifice
at the altar.
Remember
that in the days before Jesus the altar was the place
in the Temple where animals were sacrificed in order
to pay for the sins of the person/family offering the
sacrifice. It can be rather hard for us to think in
these terms, but it was believed that an innocent animal
(and therefore “innocent blood”) had to be
shed, because only life could be the sufficient price
for life, and blood is the essence of life.
From
Jesus’ words and from the beliefs of the early
church, Jesus was understood as the ultimate sacrifice,
the only perfect one whose blood could be shed, poured
out, for our sins. That ultimate sacrifice on the cross,
then, was seen as a substitute for the continual sacrifices
on the altar. But the symbolism wasn’t lost on
the early church, so they kept the altar as that symbol
of Christ’s sacrifice for us.
With
the added symbolism of Eucharist as a feast, the altar
became the table on which the Lord’s feast took
place. It is the table of the Lord where the bread and
wine are lifted up to be consecrated into the Body and
Blood of Christ. It is the table where the faithful
come to for their food for the journey of life. And
we believe that, in essence, at the table, at the altar,
God shows up, God is really there.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called
to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above
all and through all and in all.” St. Paul’s
letter to the church in Ephesus, chapter 4 (Ephesians
chapter 4)
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…for
Owen and Carter Ferguson who will receive the Holy Spirit
through the sacrament of Baptism this Sunday, and for
Spencer and Heather and the family for God’s blessings.
See
you Sunday!
Quiz
answers:
New
for the Columbus Clippers this year is their new major
league team affiliation and their new field. The Clippers
are a minor league team and they began this season as
a Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The franchise
has been previously affiliated with three other MLB
teams. They were the: Pittsburgh Pirates; New York Yankees
and the Washington Nationals.
Their
new field is called Huntington Park and holds a capacity
of 10,000. The present franchise has been in Columbus
since 1977, when they played in the Franklin County
Stadium, which was renamed Cooper Stadium and affectionately
known as the Coop.
The
famous alumni of the Clippers can match up to any other
minor league. Can you name nine of these baseball superstars
with the following hints? Derek Jeter; Don Mattingly;
Carlos Pena; Andy Pettite; Jorge Posada; Mariano Rivera;
Deion Sanders; Darryl Strawberry; and Bernie Williams.
Bonus: One of the famous alums is a pro football star
as well and played in the stadium with the same initials
as the Clippers’ former home. That stadium is Fulton
County Stadium, former home of the Atlanta Falcons and
Braves. The Columbus Clippers’ former field was
called Franklin County Stadium.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, July 26, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifty-first installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
July 26, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…Mission Council meeting is this Sunday after church!
(You know, all Council meetings are open to anyone who
wishes to attend.) In addition, there is a Nave Committee
meeting next Wednesday (July 29th) at 6:00 PM. If you
would like your voice heard on how the “new”
space arrangements are faring in the nave, you are welcome
to come!
Things you probably didn’t know…
Since “stay-cations” are the new “va-cations”,
what are some fun facts about our own state, in case
you’re traveling around it this summer?
But first: a correction from last week. Apparently there
were SEVEN names for the home park for the Reds. The
name left out was Riverfront Stadium, the name given
before it because Cinergy Field. Thanks Gayland..
The Y Bridge in Zanesville was first built in 1814 to
span the confluence of the Licking and Muskingum Rivers.
The current bridge is the fifth construction at the
same location. "Ripley's Believe It or Not"
proclaimed it the only bridge in the world which you
can cross and still be on the same side of the river.
Ohio is a state of firsts. The first ambulance service
was in Cincinnati (1865), the first cash register was
in Dayton (1879), the first traffic light was in Cleveland
(1914), and the first police cars were in Akron (1899).
And btw, the first police “car” was really
an electric wagon with top speed of 16mph.)
Bucyrus, OH claims to be the Bratwurt Capital of the
World and each August (20th-22nd in 2009) they have
one of the grand-daddies of Ohio festivals, the Bucyrus
Bratwurst Festival. What a way to keep your taste buds
happy….
Catawba Island isn’t actually an island but it’s
surrounded by them. It’s a peninsula into Lake
Erie located near Sandusky and is named after a North
Carolina Indian tribe. One story goes that the vineyards
in Catawba Island can trace their heritage back to vineyards
in that region.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…our ushers and greeters who faithfully welcome
you and our guests each Sunday. Tell them you appreciate
their service.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…try to bring at least 1 can per person in your
family of canned spaghettios, ravioli, and the like.
Our goal is 240, and we can make it. Help send us over
the top!
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we have pews in church? The church didn’t
even use "pews" for over 1,000 years. In those
first years of the church after Jesus’ death and
resurrection they met in homes, so the feeling was family
and community looking at one another, interacting with
one another. The church was small then, and at times
faced persecution, so public buildings and worship were
difficult if not dangerous.
After
Christianity went “imperial” (early to mid
300s AD), becoming the accepted religion of the empire,
more formal spaces started showing up. The first formal
building the church met in weekly was modeled after
the Roman Basilica (law court) and in these buildings
people stood the whole time. There were no seats at
all. (Eastern Orthodox churches are that way to this
day.) So even standing meant interacting and the freedom
to walk around and not be locked into one place. In
the 1400s, some seating was made available; well, if
you consider backless benches made of stone placed against
walls “seating”. Eventually they were placed
in a semi-circle around the meeting room and then eventually
fixed to the floor.
In the 1500s the "pews" as we know them were
introduced, but were not popularized into church architecture
until the 1600s when wood benches with backs replaced
stone seats. Why the change? Remember at this time period
the Reformation was happening. The pulpit (the Word)
replaced the altar (the Eucharist) as the focal point
of church architecture - so the pews then became places
where people took seats to focus on the pulpit and the
sermon. They didn't have Bibles (yet) on their own,
most couldn’t read (yet), so they made rows of
seats to sit and listen to someone preach.
Well, we sinner human creatures always know how to turn
anything into something about money and prestige, yep
even Christian human creatures. Since pews cost money,
they soon were being installed at the expense of the
congregants, and thus became their personal property;
there was no general public seating in the church itself.
In these churches, pew deeds recorded title to the pews
to these families. Their owners sometimes enclosed them
in “pew boxes”, designing and decorating them
to their own taste, almost like a new housing subdivision.
Of course, that got a bit unmanageable and uniformity
was reinserted.
Though pew boxes slowly lost favor, it took an Episcopal
Church in NYC (Church of the Holy Communion) to deal
the first blow to pew rentals, making pews available
to all, without cost or rental fees. (See a previous
eNews about pew rentals and stewardship campaigns.)
While pews are still the standard for seating in churches
today, folding chairs and movable pews are becoming
more common in the US. Some of that change is cultural,
some of it is theological: culturally, to reflect more
casual worship services and contemporary music; theologically,
to enable church (nave) space to be used for additional
ministries, such as soup kitchens or night shelters
or day care. Interestingly, that cultural shift is found
more in conservative Protestant churches, while that
theological shift is more common is mainstream liturgical
churches.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Now to God, who by the power at work within us
is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we
can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.” St. Paul’s letter to the church in
Ephesus, chapter 2 (Ephesians chapter 3)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for our Council members as they continue to serve
you and God in their ministry .
See you Sunday!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, July 19, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fiftieth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
July 19, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…those vacation bulletins. (Which means of course,
don’t forget to worship while away.) And if you’re
in town, we’ll see you here!
Things you probably didn’t know…
Since some of us are spending some of our time with
“stay-cations” instead of “va-cations”,
what are some fun facts about our own state in case
you’re traveling around it this summer?
The nickname for Ohio is the Buckeye State. We all know
that. And we all (or should) know it’s named after
the state tree, the Buckeye tree. But do you know why
it’s called that?
Get your baseball stats out: The first professional
baseball team in America was the __________ ___ _________,
which are now known as the __________ ____. They have
won ____ world series, ____pennants and ____ division
titles. Their playing fields have had six names: they
are _______Grounds, _______Field, _______Field II, _______Field,
________Field, and their new stadium is called _____
________ ____ Park.
Cleveland was founded by General Moses Cleaveland in
the late 18th century (1796). And the city is named
after him. But if Cleveland is named after Cleaveland,
what happened to the “a”?
Ohio has a state motto. And the motto is a Bible verse.
What is it? ____ ___ ___ ______ ___ ________. Bonus:
What is the scripture reference, or where in the Bible
is this verse found?
Answers below.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to Fr. McCoy for his help this Sunday!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…try to bring at least 1 can per person in your
family of canned spaghettios, ravioli, and the like.
Why do we do that in church?
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is meeting
out in Anaheim, CA and is winding down at this time.
Some of you may remember that its previous meeting was
in Columbus. So, what is the General Convention?
Put succinctly, the General Convention (GC) is the governing
body of our national church, The Episcopal Church. It
meets once every three years for worship, debate, legislature,
forums, hearings, and more.
What’s unique is that the national governance of
our church and of our country are quite similar and
each influenced the formation of the other. After the
Revolutionary War, the Church of England in America
had to address several problems, but primary was that
not only was our country no longer a vassal of England,
neither could be our church. Previously, clergy had
to pledge allegiance to the King, and well, that just
wasn’t possible anymore. So the first meeting of
GC was in 1785 in Philadelphia and they began to address
some of these issues. With few precedents for a republican
form of church governance the first General Conventions
determined on a bicameral (two house) assembly, with
houses of Deputies and Bishops, similar to our country’s
two houses of Congress and Senate. And why wouldn’t
they? Most of the signers of the Constitution were Episcopalian!
Also radical? It was determined that bishops were to
be elected rather than royally appointed, as it is still
done in England today.
What happens at GC that cannot happen anywhere else
in our church? Laws in the church are called “canons”
and only at GC can national canons be set. Revisions
of the Prayer Book can only be approved there (and only
if two successive conventions vote their approval).
And only at GC can the Presiding Bishop be elected.
Columbus’s recent claim to fame was the election
of the first woman head of a national church, the Most
Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori. There is a plaque
down at Trinity Episcopal Church, Capital Square commemorating
that historic election there three years ago.
Bishops of the Episcopal Church are entitled to seat,
voice and vote in the House of Bishops. Each diocese
(and the Convocation of Churches in Europe and the Navajoland
Area Mission) is entitled to elect eight deputies to
the House of Deputies, with the four lay persons and
four priests and/or deacons entitled to seat, voice
and vote. (The dioceses themselves elect their representatives
from local parishes.) Keep in mind that in the Episcopal
Church, deputies are not delegates; that is, they are
not elected to represent their electing dioceses, they
are elected to follow their conscience. And as with
our own national government, most of the legislative
work is done in committees prior to and during the GC.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is
our peace…. St. Paul’s letter to the church
in Ephesus, chapter 2 (Ephesians chapter 2)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for Anita and Michael Dohn who are medical doctors
serving the Dominican Republic for the Episcopal diocese
there. We have a long relationship with them at this
parish and have recently started re-establishing it.
You can read their monthly briefing in our monthly newsletter.
Quiz Answers:
The Buckeye tree is so named (say several sources) because
the nuts the tree produces looks like the eye of a deer.
And Buckeye sounds much better than Deereye, right?
The first professional baseball team in America was
the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which are now known as
the Cincinnati Reds. They have won five world series,
nine pennants and nine division titles. Their playing
fields have had six names: they are Avenue Grounds,
Redland Field, Redland Field II, Crosley Field, Cinergy
Field, and Great American Ball Park.
What happened to the “a” in Cleaveland? Well,
in 1832 the Cleveland Advertiser, dropped the “a”
so that the paper's name could fit onto the masthead.
The new spelling stuck.
Ohio has a state motto. And the motto is a Bible verse.
What is it? With God all things are possible. Bonus:
What is the scriptural reference? There are actually
two: Matthew 19:26 and Mark 10:27.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, July 5, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Forty-eighth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, July 05, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…it’s the first Sunday of the month. So if
you have a birthday or anniversary in July come to church
and let’s ask God’s blessings on your new
year.
Things you probably didn't know…
Here are some fun facts about July 4th. Put on your
thinking caps and grab a pencil. Facts are from the
US Census Bureau.
On July 4th in the year ____ the Declaration of Independence
was approved by the ___________ ________ starting the
__ colonies on the path to sovereignty. In that year,
there were (a) 250,000 (b) 2.5 million (c) 12.5 million
people estimated in those newly United States.
On a lighter note: for this 4th, it’s estimated
that (a) 1. 5 million (b) 15.0 million (c) 150 million
hotdogs will be consumed. The states with the most pork
production volume are North Carolina, Iowa and Minnesota.
Which is the largest? ________. And the three states
with the most beef production are Kansas, Nebraska and
Texas. The state with the largest production volume
is ________.
The lettuce on your burgers will most likely have come
from the state of __________. (Hint: their government
issued IOUs instead of some checks this week.) And chances
are your tomato slices (if not from your own garden)
come from two states: the same one as the state in the
previous question and ______ (Hint: also called the
Sunshine State.)
Answers at the bottom.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to Lorrie Stanger and Elaine Vaughan who take
our food donations to the Reynoldsburg and Pickerington
food pantries.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…food for our food pantries! This month, let’s
concentrate on spaghettios, ravioli and other such food
stuffs! Other churches are concentrating on different
products and this type collection helps the pantries
with planning their distributions. (As Elaine Vaughan
wrote, the Pickerington Pantry alone serves 80 families
a month.) Of course, all non-perishable food items are
welcomed.
Why do we do that in church?
This Sunday we will conclude our 10:00 service with
the singing of “America the Beautiful” (O
beautiful for spacious skies).
For many churches, it’s a traditional hymn to include
as we celebrate our nation’s independence. But
did you know there’s an Episcopal connection to
America the Beautiful? Yes, that’s right. And the
connection is the tune. Samuel A. Ward was the organist
at Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Newark, NJ. He
was also an accomplished composer. During the summer
of 1882 after a relaxing day at the beach on Coney Island,
that local beach and entertainment hotspot, he took
a ferry boat ride to travel back to NYC. A tune started
coming to mind on that ride. Not wanting it to get away,
he desperately sought something to write on until a
friend offered to lend him his shirt cuff (they were
often detachable in those days) to write some it down.
(Apparently, it wasn’t that unusual of a request
because incidents like that birthed the phrase “off
the cuff” for impromptu words and last minute ideas.)
He originally titled the tune “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem",
and later gave the work a new name: "Materna".
The words to this hymn come from Katharine Bates’s
stirring poem titled “America.” She had been
inspired to write it on a train ride across the country
from New England to Colorado in 1893, and when you read
the words it’s as if you’re on that trip with
her out in this vast and gorgeous country. Well, this
poem took the nation by storm after it was published
on July 4, 1895 and soon afterwards there was a national
frenzy to find an appropriate tune. There were many
attempts and many failures. That is, until an organist
from Grace Episcopal Church paired that new poem with
a hymn tune he had written 13 years earlier. Interestingly,
it’s taught that both Katharine Bates and Samuel
Ward were each 33 years old when they were respectively
inspired. A lovely article about the pairing of the
poem and the tune can be found here:
http://www.cameronsbrown.com/Resources/Other/america%20the%20beautiful.pdf
including pictures of Ms. Bates and Mr. Ward.
Also, Grace Episcopal Church’s website is here:
http://www.gracechurchinnewark.org .
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Three times I appealed to the Lord about this
[thorn in the flesh], that it would leave me, but [Jesus]
said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for
power is made perfect in weakness.’” The Second
Letter of St. Paul to the Church in Corinth. (II Corinthians,
chapter 12.)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for those traveling this holiday, for those who
serve our country this holiday, and for a thankful heart
for the blessings we enjoy.
See you Sunday!
Answers:
On July 4th in the year 1776 the Declaration of Independence
was approved by the Continental Congress starting the
13 colonies on the path to sovereignty. In that year,
there were (b) 2.5 million estimated in those newly
United States.
On the 4th, it’s estimated that (c) 150 million
hotdogs will be consumed. The states with the most pork
production volume are North Carolina, Iowa and Minnesota.
Which is the largest? Iowa. (Bonus: NC is 2nd and Minn.
is third.) And the three states with the most beef production
are Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. The state with the largest
production volume is Texas. (Bonus: Nebraska is 2nd
and Kansas is 3rd.)
The lettuce on your burgers will most likely have come
from the state of Iowa. (Hint: their government issued
IOUs instead of some checks this week.) And chances
are your tomato slices (if not from your own garden)
come from two states: the same one as the state in the
previous question and Florida. (Hint: also called the
Sunshine state.)
For
the week leading up to Sunday, June 28, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Forty-seventh installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
June 28, 2009.
Don't
Forget…
…to
keep (or start) using goodsearch.com for your regular
internet searches! We're well ahead of last month (thank
you very much), and the last few months have been ahead
of the previous. Remember, if you're a first-timer,
designate St. Andrew's, Pickerington, OH as your charity
of choice.
...and
keep bringing your paper recycling to our bin and your
used print cartridges to our box in the narthex.
We're
increasing our uses in all three areas over the last
few months. Good job. Keep it up.
Things
you probably didn't know…
Now that summer’s here, let’s talk about some
summer things.
Cricket weather reports: next time you hear crickets,
count the chirps over 14 seconds, add 40, and you have
the approximate air temperature.
The
highest recorded temperature on Earth was 136°F
in Libya in 1922.
Fireflies
are a common summer sight. They’re usually found
in warm and humid areas of the world and that’s
pretty much the definition of summer. But what makes
them light up? It seems like the jury is still out.
Most theories point to a control of oxygen to their
“photic organ” creating a chemical reaction.
Another interesting factoid: the energy in its light
is nearly 100% light, and nearly 0% heat. By contrast,
a regular light bulb’s energy is about 10% light
and about 90% heat.
And let’s not forget about all the thunderstorms
and their lightning strikes. Unbelievable as it sounds,
the very center core of a bolt of lightning can be as
hot as 54,000°F, six times hotter than the Sun!
And thunder? The electric bolt coming down from the
cloud superheats the air and creates a channel that
expands so violently that it achieves supersonic speed!
Basically, lightning causes air to break the sound barrier.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…Grant Patterson, Bill Barker, Margaret Patterson,
Andy Taylor, (and through them our visitors Armando
Linares and Carl Hartz) for leading our worship music
last week for Dale as he took a well-deserved break!
What
can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your prayers, your hearts, your voices, your selves.
Remember, God is still worthy of worship and praise
(and still is listening for your prayers) during the
summer.
Why do we do that in church?
Most
of us know that there are various translations of the
Bible. Why? And what translation do we use at St. Andrew’s?
To
start off, most of the Old Testament was written in
Hebrew. (A contemporary form of Hebrew is spoken today
in Israel.) And most of the New Testament was written
in Greek. (Ditto, on the Greek.) So of course, unless
you’re trained to read biblical Hebrew and biblical
Greek (and there are academics who can), then you will
need a translation into English in order to read the
Bible.
Problem
is, no language can be fully translated into another
language. All languages have nuances that are difficult
(and at times nearly impossible) to translate. That's
because all languages have:
colloquialisms (informal words and phrases). In English
we have “y’all”, “gonna/wanna”,
“mash” that elevator button, or that whole
“soda vs. pop vs. coke” thing;
dialects
(regional differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation)
such as Americans saying “attractive” and
Brits saying “smart”, or Canadians say “a-boat”
when we say “about”;
euphemisms
(indirect phrasing) like “she’s in a family
way” “sanitation engineer” or they
had to put the horse “to sleep” ;
and
of course slang like "my peeps”, “kabash”
or “wackjob”.
That's
why you’ve likely heard the phrase “lost in
translation”. Translating the above into another
language will likely lose some of its nuanced meanings.
Having trouble understanding the problem? Try this experiment.
Go to one of the online translation services (Babel
Fish, Translation2, World Lingo). Type in an English
phrase and ask it to translate it into a foreign language,
which it will do word-for-word. Take that answer in
the foreign language and then “cut and paste”
that foreign phrase back into the translator and ask
it to translate it (back) into English. Often, you’ll
be amazed to see the second literal English phrase has
little to do with the first one . "Literal"
translating can quickly "break down."
But
Bible translators are in a dilemma. They are trying
to translate "the Word of God". While none
of them will only translate word-for-word, Bible translators
have to decide when is the literal word better, and
when is a paraphrase better. You've read or heard the
phrase: "The Bible says it. I believe it. That
settles it." But sometimes that begs the question:
which translation?
Here's
a minor, but good example. St. Paul, in his letter to
the Romans (chapter 5, verses 1-2) is translated in
the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) as: "Therefore,
since we are justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and
we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God."
The New International Version (NIV) translates that
last part of the phrase: "and we rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God." I know, I know, "big
deal." But I'm making a point. NRSV tends to want
to translate literally. NIV tends to want to translate
(what it believes to be) the writer's meaning. Well,
NIV thought "boast" was too negative, so they
replaced "boast" with the word "rejoice.'
That's fine. But the actual Greek word written was "boast."
For
the most part, these translation "issues"
are relatively minor and have little consequence to
doctrine, to core beliefs of the faith. But when theologians,
or opposing sides in cultural issues, start "splitting
hairs" about what a passage says, they have to
make judgment calls on whether to translate literally
or translate (what they believe to be) the meaning.
Add a few of these minor translation issues throughout
Scripture together and minor issues can grow into major
ones.
And
that's a very very long way of saying that St. Andrew's
uses the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). As well,
most Episcopal churches use the NRSV. And for my Bible
study, I use both versions because each "brings
something to the table."
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word
is my hope. Psalm 130
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…for the various committees meeting this summer
as we plan for the Fall.
See
you Sunday!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, June 32, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Forty-sixth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
June 21st, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…this is Father’s Day this Sunday. Be sure
and show the Dads in your life (whether your own, or
your children/grandchildren who are Dads) how much you
love them and appreciate them. If your Dad has passed
on, do something wonderful for someone in his honor.
Things you probably didn't know…
And since this Sunday is Father’s Day, here are
a few fun facts about the day and the Dads which it
celebrates.
Apparently, Father’s Day was initially conceived
by a woman on Mother’s Day. (Puns intended.) It’s
told that Sonora Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day
sermon in 1909 and began to ponder ways to commemorate
her own Dad, William Smart. Smart was a Civil War veteran,
a widow, and the father of six children who he raised
on his own.
The mayor of Spokane, Wash., proclaimed June 19, 1910,
as the first Father's day because it was the month in
which Smart was born. But it wasn't until 1966 when
President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to make the third
Sunday in June officially Father's Day. And it took
six more years before President Richard M. Nixon made
it a national holiday.
Elsewhere, in predominantly Catholic countries, Father's
Day is usually celebrated on St. Joseph's Day (March
19). In Australia and New Zealand, Father's Day is celebrated
on the first Sunday in September. And in Scandinavia,
Father's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in November.
Ok, on to a few quiz show questions:
The most popular Father’s Day gift is the _________.
The top four fathers on television are,
#4 Robert Reed as _____ _______ in the show ___ _____
_____
#3 – Fred MacMurray as _____ ______ in the show
___ ______ _____;
# 2 – Dan Castellaneta as the voice of _____ _______
in the show ___ ________;
and # 1 television dad – Bill ______ as _______
_________ in the show ___ ______ ______.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Luther and Carolyn Swavely for the new ferns in
our worship space.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your prayers, your hearts, your voices, your selves.
Remember, God is still worthy of worship and praise
(and still is listening for your prayers) during the
summer.
Why do we do that in church?
You’ve noticed that we have switched our liturgical
color in the church from white to green. What does that
mean?
With the observance of Pentecost Sunday we completed
our observance of the Easter season (with the added
“white” Sunday of Trinity Sunday). Now we’re
in the (church) time of year called “The Season
after Pentecost” or “Ordinary Time.”
Because Pentecost is the day that God poured out His
Holy Spirit on Christ's disciples, the “Season
after Pentecost” is centered on sanctification,
that is, the everyday work of the Holy Spirit in our
day-to-day life as Christians. This is the longest season
of the church year -- lasting from Trinity Sunday until
the first Sunday of Advent. Not a bad idea considering
how challenging it can be for us to learn how to let
God work in our day-to-day lives, and not just on Sunday
mornings. We have to learn to ask God, and listen for
God, and look for God and trust in God…and that
can take a long time. And since the Church loves to
organize things by color, this season is reflected in
the liturgical color of green: the color of life and
growth.
It’s also called “Ordinary Time”. It
is named "ordinary" because it is derived
from the word ordinal or "numbered." And you’ll
notice from here until late November when the season
of Advent begins (preparing us for Christmas) that all
the Sundays will be numbered. Last Sunday was “Proper
6” and this Sunday is “Proper 7”. “Proper”
is another way of saying “fitted” or “fixed”.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to
accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At
an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a
day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is
the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.
Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, chapter
6 (II Corinthians 6)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for our Prayer Net “pray-ers” who continually
lift up our family, friends, and neighbors in prayer.
See you Sunday!
The number one Father’s Day gift is the neck tie.
The top four fathers on television are, from number
4 - Robert Reed as Mike Brady in the show The Brady
Bunch; number 3 – Fred MacMurray as Steve Douglas
in the show My Three Sons; number 2 – Dan Castellaneta
as the voice of Homer Simpson in the show The Simpsons;
and number 1 television dad – Bill Cosby as Heathcliff
Huxtable in the show The Cosby Show.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, June 14, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Forty-fifth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
June 14, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…that though Sunday School is out for the summer,
we still are looking for volunteers for our nursery
throughout the summer. If you would like to join our
group of adults caring for small children during the
10:00 worship, please see the Vicar or Caroline Segelken,
our School Superintendent.
Things you probably didn't know…
We’ve all noticed the days getting longer. And
next weekend we’ll have the Summer Solstice. “Sol”
+ “stice” * derives from a combination of
Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand
still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher
and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.
Of course, the Summer Solstice results in the longest
day up here in the Northern Hemisphere but is the shortest
day of the year “down under” is places like
Australia, South Africa and southern South America.
People have been celebrating this longest day for the
longest time. The Celts and the Slavs celebrated the
first day of summer with dancing & bonfires, hoping
to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese used
to mark the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess
of Light.
Probably the most recognizable ties with Summer Solstice
were the Druids' celebration of the day. Part of its
importance came from their belief that this day was
“the wedding of Heaven and Earth.” Therefore
they believed any wedding in June would be lucky, so
most were held then. (And you thought it was just because
of nice weather.) There are some who say that the word
“honeymoon” comes from the midsummer moon,
and mead made from fermented honey for all the wedding
ceremonies performed around the Summer Solstice.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Dale and our choir for another terrific year and
for their diligence and commitment.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your prayers, your hearts, your voices, your selves.
Why do we do that in church?
Continuing our theme from last week, let’s look
at a few more words that we use in church, these being
ones which have a different meaning in church than out
of it.
Elements: In the Church they refer to the bread and
the wine that are to be consecrated in the Eucharist.
The bread of course recalls the body of Christ, but
it also recalls the work of human hands needed for harvesting,
making, baking, and then sharing. Likewise with the
wine which recalls the blood of Christ, but also recalls
the act of celebration for the benefits to us from Jesus’
sacrifice. Another word used in the Church for bread
and wine is “species.”
Intention: In terms of theology, it’s quite an
important concept.** It means that proper intention
is required of the minister, and/or those involved,
for a sacrament to be valid. For example, a priest might
go through the motions of baptism for a rehearsal or
for a dramatic presentation. But we do not believe that
the God’s presence is called forth even though
the words are all spoken. Same for a marriage rehearsal,
the vows practiced are not valid because the intent
was only for rehearsal. Which brings up a very important
point: a valid sacrament or sacramental rite is not
received against a person’s will. It is why all
sacramental rites (baptism, marriage, confirmation,
etc) require those to receive the sacrament to first
give their consent.***
Presence: A term stating that Christ is present in the
consecrated elements of the Eucharist. It’s also
known as “real presence”, meaning that Christ
is truly spiritually present in the consecrated elements.
Other churches believe in the “corporeal presence”,
meaning that Christ is physically present in the elements.
Anglican and Lutheran Churches believe in “real
presence” whereas the Roman Catholic Church believes
in “corporeal presence.”
Elevation: This refers to the lifting up of the Eucharistic
elements at the end (the concluding doxology) of the
Eucharistic prayer. Today we see that act as symbolizing
their offering to God****. In the Church’s history
(and in some denominations today) it was/is also done
to exhibit them to the congregation for adoration, since
they now contain the presence of Christ.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
So if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see, everything has
become new.” Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians,
Chapter 5 (II Corinthians 5)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For your Council members as they give of their time
and talent and meet regularly to oversee the life of
this congregation.
See you Sunday!
* It all seems to come from Latin, with “stit”,
“stat” being variations of “sistere”,
which means “to make stand.”
** And in theology the concept of “intent”
is married to the concept of “form.” What
is required of sacrament is both “intent”
and “form.” Meaning, what is required are
the proper words as well as the proper intent.
*** For example in baptism, either the person to be
baptized or those speaking for the infants must express
their consent before the service can continue. And remember,
this is also why we have the opening dialogue at the
beginning of the Eucharist. From a past eNews we talked
about how that dialogue is the congregation giving the
celebrant its consent to continue. (“Lift up your
hearts.” “We lift them to the Lord.”
“Let us give thanks to the Lord,” “It
is right to give thanks and praise.”)
****Remember, “All things come of thee O Lord,
and of thine own have we given thee”? We pray that
prayer when we offer up our money offerings. Well, it
also applies to the consecrated elements for we offer
to God what has been given by God, the consecration
of the elements.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, June 7, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Forty-fourth installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington
(Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore, Pataskala,
Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday, June 7,
2009.
Don't
Forget…
…to
add GoodSearch.com to your computer (even as an occasional
replacement of Google, Yahoo, Bing or others) and add
penny per search to our budget! We’re gradually
increasing our numbers each month, so it’s catching
on. But there’s tons of room for growth. If we
all jump in, we could make enough to pay a utility bill
each month. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and type in
“St Andrews Church” in “WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH
FOR?” Scroll through the St Andrews churches listed
till you see Pickerington, choose it, and start searching.
And
while we’re thinking of pennies, don’t forget
to keep your change dropping into the 2 Cents a Meal
boxes supporting HungerNetOhio.org. Father McCoy is
setting up a time for early this Fall for a parish in-gathering
and coin-rolling coffee hour. That money will be given
to Hunger ministries in Ohio. If you don’t have
a box, grab one from the narthex tables.
Things
you probably didn't know…
We’re
approaching summer and vacation time. So thinking of
summer and vacations, ever notice there are different
words for it? For some, “vacation”, “holiday”,
and “bank days” can all mean basically the
same thing. If you’re American, you likely say
“We’re going on vacation.” If you’re
European, you’ll likely say “We’re going
on holiday.” If you’re British, you might
throw in “We’re away on the bank holiday.”
So
“holiday travel” means different things to
different people. For Americans, it means traveling
home for Thanksgiving or to the grandparents for Christmas.
In Europe, it means headed to the beach or out in the
country for your summer’s three (four, five, six)
weeks off. Canadians and Australians can go either way.
You
probably know that, or easily understand how, “holiday”
is a contraction of “holy day”. People were
freed from their work obligations (only) on Church Feast
Days, or Holy Days, thus it morphed into holiday*. Whereas
the word “vacation” arose from two sources.
In the United Kingdom, “vacation” once specifically
referred to the long summer break taken by the law courts
and, later, universities—a custom introduced by
William the Conqueror from Normandy. (It helped with
the French grape harvest.) The French term is similar
to American English: "Les Vacances” and was
called such since many upper-class families used to
move to a summer home for part of the year, leaving
their usual family home “vacant”. (Tough life,
if you can get it.)
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…Tina
Trim, Sandy Heren and Andy Taylor for all their work
on the skits and readings last Sunday for Children’s
Sunday School and Pentecost Sunday. And thanks to all
you kids for making it a special day!
…and
to Sharon Parham and Sandy Heren for making the picnic
fantastic with food and games and toys for the kids.
It was a blast!
What
can you bring to church this Sunday:
…if
anyone out there has a canister vacuum cleaner with
attachments to give away, we would be most grateful
to have it for the church. (You can even take it off
your taxes.)
Also,
if you’re out shopping and see a great deal on
paper towels, the church is always in need of some for
our bathrooms, kitchen and sacristy.
And
speaking of which: if you donate items to the church,
please pass along your receipt or estimated cost of
the donated item to Tim Vaughan. These purchases/donations
can be added to your pledge statement and we can know
how much to budget for such items in the future. Bring
the receipts/records to church or mail them to the church
office.
(With
our parish giving increasing, we hope to have many of
these things in our budget next year.)
Why
do we do that in church?
Ever
been in a conversation with architects or engineers
or bankers or whatever profession, and they start throwing
around a lot of professional jargon? Well, the church
has plenty of jargon of its own. Here are a few examples:
Garth:
A grassy quad or garden surrounded by a cloister walk
in a monastery, church, or seminary.
Gospel
Side: The left side of the altar, as viewed by the congregation.
(It used to be that the Gospel was regularly read from
this side.)
Rubric:
Ceremonial directions given in the Book of Common Prayers.
Look for them in the BCP, they are typically printed
in italics. Comes from the Latin word meaning “red”
since these instructions used to be printed in red.
Tippet:
A large black scarf worn by clergy around the neck and
over their cassock (long black garment) and surplice
(large white vestment with large sleeves worn over cassock)
while leading the Daily Offices (Morning Prayer, Evening
Prayer, Evensong.) During the service of Holy Eucharist,
it is a stole which is worn around the clergy’s
neck.
Chrism:
Consecrated oil (consecrated by the bishop, usually
during Holy Week at a gathering of diocesan clergy)
for anointing those who have just been baptized. The
clergy says “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit
and marked as Christ’s own forever.”
Kerygma:
A Greek word used in the New Testament that means preaching,
or the contents of a sermon. (As opposed to didache,
a Greek word meaning teaching.) Both are used in a more
formal, academic sense.
Orans
Position: The tradition posture of early Christian prayer,
of standing up with the arms raised and extended like
the letter “Y”. In liturgical churches (Episcopal,
Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) it is the posture of the celebrant.
Zuchetto:
A skullcap worn by Christian clerics. Similar to the
Jewish skull cap called yarmulke or kippah. It’s
color designates the order of ministry (bishop, priest,
deacon, etc.) It may be worn during the service, but
must be removed at the eucharistic canon (basically,
the prayer of consecration.)
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work
on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Then
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall
I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here
am I; send me!” Isaiah, Chapter 6
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
For
those traveling this month, for their protection and
their safe return.
See
you Sunday!
*
Which brings us to an item we’ve discussed before:
Some groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Seven Day Adventists,
and some other denominations, observe neither religious
nor national holidays. (And that includes Christmas,
Halloween—All Hallows’ Eve— and Easter.)
Since, originally, these were pagan holy days usurped
by the Church and made Christian, they believe honoring
them gives honor to paganism. And that’s true for
national holidays as well since some of them believe
that by celebrating national holiday we give honor to
governments and not God.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, May 31, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Forty-third installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington
(Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore, Pataskala,
Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday, May 31,
2009.
Don't Forget…
…this
is Pentecost Sunday, which means that it is Children’s
Sunday with our kids’ messages of faith for us,
and our Church Picnic with loads of food and fun!
Things
you probably didn't know…
In
honor of our Church Picnic, let’s spread a few
factoids about picnic foods:
Hamburger,
Swiss Steak, Chop Suey, and Russian dressing all originated
in the US.
Sandwiches
couldn’t (hardly) exist without sliced bread. While
the location of the original sliced bread machine is
debated (between Chillicothe, MO and Battle Creek, MI,)
the “greatest thing since sliced bread” phrase
is attributed to Wonder Bread in the 1930s, using it
in its advertising campaign. (And btw, it was poking
fun at a competitors claim that sliced bread was “the
greatest step forward in baking since bread was wrapped.”)
The
“Pound Cake” got its name from the pound of
butter, pound of sugar, pound of flour and a pound of
eggs that was used to make it. (Is there a cardiologist
in the house?)
A
Mr. Frank Epperson from California invented the popsicle
in 1905 (sort of). He was 11 years old at the time.
He left some soda water powder, water and a stirring
stick in a container on his back porch one night and
after freezing temperatures awoke to a surprise. (It
was 18 years later that he remembered that and added
sugary flavors to make history.)
Mayonnaise
is said to be the invention of the French chef of the
Duke de Richelieu in 1756. While the Duke was defeating
the British at Port Mahon, his chef was creating a victory
feast which included a sauce made of cream and eggs.
When the chef realized there was no cream to be found
in the kitchen, he improvised with olive oil instead
of the cream. A new culinary invention was made and
the chef named it “mayonnaise” in honor of
the Duke’s victory.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…to
Lorrie Stanger, Rose Furlow, Joan Diesler, Elaine Vaughan,
Shelley Sakowski, Kathy Andres, Debi Chakeres, Tina
Trim, Robbin Zaborniak, Sandy Herren and Sharon Parham
for making the wonderful luncheon available to the family
and friends of Peg Smith, as we gave thanks for her
life here on Friday.
What
can you bring to church this Sunday:
…wear
something with Red, as we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.
Why? Pentecost is associated with fire because of the
vision of flames described by the followers of Jesus
on that day of Pentecost.
…also,
bring food for children for our food pantries. Of course,
“healthier” foods are always appreciated.
Why
do we do that in church?
So
we’re celebrating the Church feast day of Pentecost
this Sunday. What is it?
Well,
let’s start with the obvious. “Penta”
is a Greek word meaning “five” and is used
in words like the “Pentagon”. “Pentekoste”
is a Greek word for “fifty”. In Jesus’
day (and later on) Pentecost was a Jewish holiday. It
was a festival to give thanks for the first fruits of
the spring harvest and it was fifty days after Passover.*
Since
Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday, the disciples and
other followers of Jesus started gathering on Sundays
for worship and fellowship even though Sunday was the
first day of the Jewish work week. Well, one of those
first Sundays was the Jewish festival of Pentecost,
which also happened to be 50 days after Jesus’
resurrection. ** Previously (in Old Testament times)
the Holy Spirit would come for a particular purpose
or to a particular person, but only for a distinct time
period, and then would depart. (Examples from the Scriptures
include when Moses selected 70 elders to assist him,
when King David danced before the Lord in spiritual
ecstasy and when the Holy Spirit gave prophetic words
to Isaiah and Jeremiah.) But on this day, 50 days after
Jesus’ resurrection, the Holy Spirit came to indwell
believers for all time, never to depart. Since they
were gathered for the (Jewish) festival of Pentecost,
and since it was 50 days after the Resurrection, this
Sunday began to be known as Pentecost Sunday. And since
this Sunday marked the beginning of a new time when
the Holy Spirit was not just for some of the people
some of the time, but for all the believers, all of
the time, it is also known as the Church’s “Birthday”.
(Our teens will be giving their presentation on the
Pentecost Bible text this Sunday.)
For
those of you familiar with the British keeping of this
day, and the old Episcopal traditions in the States,
this Sunday is also named “Whitsunday” or
“Whitsun Day”. It’s so named because
Pentecost Sunday became a traditional date for baptisms.
The traditional garment worn by those being baptized,
infants and adults alike, was white. White is used for
symbolizing the newly baptized's new given purity. If
you ever do spring traveling in Europe, take the date
of Pentecost into consideration because many businesses
will be closed on that day and the following Monday,
as it is a widespread holiday.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible,
so I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Likewise
the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know
how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes
with sighs too deeps for words. Romans, Chapter 8
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For
those in our parish who have lost their jobs, or whose
jobs have been downsized, and for those who struggle
financially, that God will bring good jobs, good careers,
and God’s blessings to them.
See
you Sunday!
*
For those of you who want to work out the math, it’s
important to keep in mind the way our Jewish brethren
count days in a religious context. First of all, Passover
is not one day but a festival of 7 days (or 8 days in
some of Jewish denominations.) And traditionally, the
first and last days are observed as legal holidays and
as holy days. So when counting is done “from Passover”,
it actually begins on the second day of Passover (sundown
Friday). Therefore, 50 days “after” Passover
would be 50 days “after” sundown Friday, putting
Pentecost as starting at sundown Saturday, and moving
through Sunday until sundown. Thus when the Jewish Christians
were gathered on Pentecost Day, it was a day that started
at sundown Saturday and extended through sundown Sunday.
Now stay with me…
**
However the Christian festival of Pentecost is celebrated
as 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. But the Christian
Church’s “counting” begins with Easter
Sunday as day 1, making Pentecost 50 days “after”
the Resurrection. So, because our counting systems are
slightly different, both the Jewish Pentecost of 50
days after Passover, and the Christian Pentecost of
50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, are still the
same day.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, May 24, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Forty-second installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington
(Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore, Pataskala,
Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday, May 24,
2009.
Don't
Forget…
…that God is to be praised on Memorial Day Weekend
too! Be sure you’re here in worship or if you’re
out of town, be sure you attend worship wherever you
are visiting!
And here's an extra thought: Bring back a copy of the
bulletin where you worshipped! We can collect them through
the summer on the bulletin board (is it weird or what
that it's called a "bulletin board"?) and
we can all see the different places we've been. It's
sort of like the Columbus Dispatch and travelers sending
back pictures of themselves in distant lands, while
holding a copy of the Travel section.
Things
you probably didn't know…
With
Memorial Day Weekend coming up, let’s ask: How
did “Memorial Day” come to be? For this week,
fill in the blanks. Answers are at the end, though there
are hints here. (From The History Channel.)
Memorial
Day was originally known as _________ Day because it
was a time set aside to honor the nation’s ______
War dead by ____________ their graves. During the first
celebration of this day, General James Garfield made
a speech at ____________ National Cemetery, after which
5,000 participants helped to ________ the graves of
more than 20,000 ______ and ________soldiers buried
in the cemetery.
In
1966, the Federal Government under the direction of
President ________ declared Waterloo, NY the official
birthplace of Memorial Day since it had held observances
since 1865. In 1971 the US Congress declared Memorial
Day a national holiday to be celebrated the _____ Monday
in May.
Bonus
Quiz. Veterans Day is celebrated on _______ 11th and
on it the country honors the sacrifices made by all
veterans, living and dead. What is the significance
of this date?
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…Tim
Vaughan for organizing our DELICIOUS Men’s Group
Pancake (Eggs Sausage, Bagels, Cream Cheese, Yogurt,
Coffee Cake, Coffee, Orange Juice, Milk and etc.) Lunch
last Sunday for our hard working Spring Cleaning Group.
And to Eric Andres, Bill Barker and (as honorary Men’s
Group member) Angie Barker, Gayland Trim and Tim Vaughan
for their culinary performances.
…and
of course, thanks to all those who cleaned, who chopped
down, who swept, who dug, who fixed, who organized,
who planted, who sprayed, who wiped, who scrubbed and
more to make Spring Cleaning Sunday a big success.
What
can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your
handwriting to sign up for our picnic Sunday week (May
31st) and therefore help us with a good count.
Why
do we do that in church?
For
those of you who join us for our midweek service of
Holy Eucharist (on Wednesdays at 12:30 PM) you know
that each week we remember a particular saint of the
church, learn about their life, and briefly discuss
what both the lectionary (assigned Scripture lessons)
and their life can teach us about our lives today. Why
do we do that? And, why does the Episcopal Church give
special recognition to saints?
Remember
that the Episcopal Church (and the whole Anglican Communion
around the world) considers itself “the middle
way”, or via media because we consider ourselves
both Catholic and Protestant: Catholic in our liturgical
practices and church organization*, and Protestant in
our belief**. Well, the practice of venerating (honoring)
saints has been a long and regular part of our Catholic
heritage. The reasoning for venerating saints is that
their lives give us living examples of what a holy life
might be like, since they exhibited both a closeness
to God (because of their holiness) but also an accessibility
to us (since they were never perfect!) Also, Christians
have always sought ways to honor those whose lives represented
a heroic commitment to Christ. And since these saints
come in every generation, the Church has sought to honor
some from every age.
Want
to read more about saints? Here are some books I can
recommend: Lesser Feasts and Fasts, a compilation of
the saints honored by the Episcopal Church by the Church
Hymnal Corp; Brightest and Best, a terrific companion
to LF&F by Sam Portaro; All Saints, Daily Reflections
on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time, a collection
of very diverse spiritual characters by Robert Ellsberg,
and The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, a more studious
and quite thorough reference book by Oxford Press.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
[Jesus
in prayer to God in front of his disciples after the
Last Supper] I am not asking you to take them out of
the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil
one. The Gospel of John, chapter 17.
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
For
those who have paid the ultimate price for our country
and for their families who miss them dearly.
See
you Sunday.
Quiz:
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day
because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s
Civil War dead by decorating their graves. During the
first celebration of this day, General James Garfield
made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after
which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves
of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried
in the cemetery.
In
1966, the Federal Government under the direction of
President Johnson declared Waterloo, NY the official
birthplace of Memorial Day since it had held observances
since 1865. In 1971 the US Congress declared Memorial
Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday
in May.
Bonus
Quiz. Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th and
on it the country honors the sacrifices made by all
veterans, living and dead. What is the significance
of this date? While World War I (the “Great War”,
the “World War”) did not technically and completely
end until, under the Treaty of Lausanne, Allied Forces
abandoned Constantinople on August 23, 1923, most celebrate
the end of the War with the date and timing of the armistice
with Germany that was signed on…November, 11, 1918
at 11:00 AM: the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day,
of the eleventh month.
*
Until the 16th Century, the Roman Catholic Church was
the primary Christian presence in the British Isles.
After Henry VIII, the Church IN England, became the
Church OF England, with Henry as the head of the English
Church, dethroning the Pope in England. But Henry had
no desire to rid his “new” church of “Catholic”
practices so it retained (and retains today) many of
the same liturgical practices of the Catholic Church
(which is why Anglican and Catholic services are still
so similar), and we retained the Catholic Church’s
organization of bishops, priests and deacons.
**
We are Protestant in our beliefs because we accepted
many of the Reformation’s new beliefs in opposition
to the Catholic Church’s (16th Century) beliefs.
We accepted (and still do) the Reformation’s principle
tenets that
* salvation is through Faith alone (and not through
our works),
* salvation is through Grace alone (it is a gift from
God, it cannot be earned nor purchased)
* and that Scripture contains all things (info, doctrine)
necessary for salvation (as opposed to added promulgations
of the Church).
An
interesting read is the 42 Articles of Religion laying
out our original doctrinal differences with the Roman
Catholic Church of the 16th Century…and therefore
what made us “Anglican.” You can Google them
to see them. Or you can see the American version of
them, the 39 Articles of Religion, found in our Prayer
Book (pp. 867 -876), They were adopted in 1801, and
are almost word-for-word for the original 42.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, May 17, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Forty-first installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington
(Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore, Pataskala,
Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday, May 17,
2009.
Don't Forget…
…it’s Spring Cleaning Sunday! One Service
(9:00), One Special Music Band (featuring Grant Patterson
and Bill Barker and more), One Great Morning (to put
a shine on our buildings and grounds) and One Delicious
Lunch (kudos to the Men’s Group.)
Don’t worry, if you’re not able to stay for
the Cleaning we want you at Worship!! And if you can
stay, but can’t work, we’ll need Encouragers
on the sidelines, and hungry tummies for lunch! No one
will be left out!
Things you probably didn't know…
Speaking of cleaning, what cleaners are out there in
nature?
Let’s start with oysters. Oysters are naturally
efficient at filtering silt and nutrients, particularly
excess nitrogen from agricultural runoff. When nitrogen
concentrations get too high, oxygen is depleted and
dead zones result. Enter oysters. They have an incredible
ability to clear a lot of water of matter and filter
up to 50 gallons in a day! The removal of silt (to open
up water to sunlight) and nitrogen (to restore proper
oxygen balance) makes it a prime cleaner of nature.
Bacteria. Yep, science is discovering the wonderful
side to nasty bacteria. Cornell researchers discovered
some bacteria living the high life in some sewage sludge
in Ithaca, NY. They noticed that the bacteria broke
down some pollutants into less toxic compounds and are
studying them right now to figure out how they do that
and what else they might be able to do.
And lastly is something that would make Jimmy Carter
proud. (If you’re under 25 and don’t know
who is Jimmy Carter—gulp—ask someone over
25.) Studies are pointing to the benefit of peanut husks,
one of the biggest food industry waste products. They
seem to have the ability to extract environmentally
damaging copper ions from waste water. While Copper
is an essential trace element found in many living organisms,
like nearly everything else, too much of it isn’t
a good thing, and too much copper can pose a serious
environmental threat to marine life. Various industries
like metal cleaning and plating, paper pulp, paper board
mills, wood pulp and fertilizer production sites can
produce enormous amounts of waste overloaded with copper
ions. Grounded up peanut husks are proving to be able
to remove 95% of the copper ions from waster water and
peanut shells are cheap!
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Kevin McCarty, Pete Parham, Dom Sakowski, and
Rick Cox for organizing our Spring Cleaning Sunday.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…jeans or gardening clothes. There’ll be some
gardening gloves and gardening tools, but if you want
to bring your own, bring ‘em on. We’ll also
need a couple of mops, some cleaning rags, cleaning
gloves and some newspapers/paper towels for the windows.
Why do we do that in church?
Recently we’ve been singing the Psalms in church?
Why?
The simple answer is that many of them were written
to be sung. Psalm is the name given to hymns of the
Old Testament. The psalms are found in the Psalter (of
course), a collection of 150 works of songs, prayers,
and poetry you’ll find in the Bible and in our
Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. At the risk of generalizing,
they were a song book of ancient Israel and many of
the psalms were, and still are, attributed to King David,
a noted musician.
They were finally compiled for use in the “Second
Temple” era* and were divided into five parts (1-41;
42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150).** Some guess they were
divided into five books to mirror the Pentateuch (penta
= five, and Pentateuch being the first five books of
the Old Testament, and the most important books of the
Bible to our spiritual cousins, the Jews.) These psalms
were composed for both individual and communal use and
for different liturgical settings. With the use of sung
psalms in both Jewish and Christian worship, it has
given rise to “psalmody”, the art of singing
the psalms. One type of psalmody is called “Psalm
Tone” and is a melodic formula for unison singing
in worship, which is what we have been doing on Sundays.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you.
The Gospel of John, chapter 15
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For our Prayer Net, the dedicated intercessory ministry
of this parish, as they lift up to God prayer requests
from parishioners and friends of St. Andrews.
See you Sunday (at
9:00!)
*The First Temple era was when the Hebrews built their
first great Temple after settling in the Promised Land,
which was after they wandered for 40 years in the desert,
which was after they escaped Egypt. (Got that?) In other
words, Moses lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, they wandered
through the desert for 40 years, they arrived in the
Promised Land, they fought for the land and won, they
crowned kings, and then their third king (Solomon) built
the first Temple. Whew! The Second Temple era was after
the Babylonians took over Israel, destroyed the (first)
Temple and then after the Persian King Cyrus let them
go back and rebuild the Temple (making it the Second
Temple). Remember, I’ve said that most of the Old
Testament is about these stories I’ve just mentioned
above. I’d guess over 85% of it, if I were a betting
man.
**And our Prayer Book is thus divided. If you look at
the Psalter (pp 585-808) the Psalms are divided by Book
and noted as Book One, Book Two, etc. at those dividing
points.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, May 10, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fortieth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Baltimore,
Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading up to Sunday,
May 10, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…that it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday.
Don’t forget to do something wonderful for Mom
over the next few days. If your Mom has passed on, then
do something wonderful this weekend in her honor.
Things you probably didn't know…
Do you know the history of Mother’s Day? Mother
Church, Mother Earth, Mother of gods, our earthly mothers,
all of them have been a part of special honoring of
mothers throughout history. In Greek times the goddess
Rhea, mother of most of the deities, was honored around
the time of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. The Romans,
loving to copy the Greeks, had a similar god and called
the mother of gods Cybele and, of course, also gave
the goddess honor every Spring. Other pagan festivals
arose throughout time to honor Mother Earth.
Well, as Christianity took hold in Europe, the Church
desired none of these festivals to continue. So these
festivals were suppressed and were replaced by festivals
honoring Mother Church, where Christians would honor
the church where they were baptized, their “Mother
Church”. In celebration, the place of worship was
decorated with jewels, flowers and other offerings.
Trying to stay close to the “original” or
pagan schedule (Vernal Equinox), the Church chose the
4th Sunday in Lent, and allowed the Lenten Fast to be
broken on this one day. (To this day, “Mothering
Sunday” in the Church of England is the 4th Sunday
in Lent.)
But the festival made another shift. During the Middle
Ages young people, apprenticed to craftsmen as live-in
servants, were allowed only one holiday a year on which
to visit their families. They chose Mothering Sunday
to go back to their mother church, but that also meant
they were back home visiting family. Since it was the
4th Sunday in Lent, and the Lenten fast was allowed
to be broken for this one day (btw, this 4th Sunday
was also 40 actual days after Ash Wednesday, counting
Sundays) it turned into a real feast day/holiday. Mothers
became the guest of honor and were presented with cakes
and flowers from their returning children. Voila, Mothering
Sunday shifted its attention from Mother Church to Mum/Mom/Mother.
The pilgrims who came to America weren’t too fond
of Christian festivals borrowed from pagan traditions.
(Many of the more conservative denominations today still
aren’t.) So they dropped Mothering Sunday because
of that, but also because times were harsh (couldn’t
take time off) and travel challenging.
The modern American version of Mother’s Day was
a process. Julia Ward Howe (who also wrote Battle Hymn
of the Republic) organized mothers to protest the horrors
of the Civil War, and later organized a Mother’s
Friendship Day after the war to try and unite families
divided along lines of North and South.
In 1908, Senator Burkett (Nebraska) proposed making
Mother’s Day a national holiday. Though the bill
failed, 46 states had hopped on the bandwagon by the
next year. In 1912, West Virginia became the first state
to officially honor a Mother’s Day and in 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson signed into law a national
observance on the second Sunday in May.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Judy Walker, and Emily Velez-Chua, and Lorrie
Stanger, and Diane Tussing, and Joe Cessna, and Sharon
Parham, and Sandy Heren for helping out at various times
with unloading our gorgeous Flower Sale flowers from
the delivery truck, checking them, sorting them, and
safely distributing them to our sellers in the parish.
We’re quite pleased with the quality of our flowers.
I mean, how could they not be fantastic? They were in
the grower’s greenhouse the morning of their delivery
to us!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your RSVP to our Picnic on Sunday May31st. It’s
our Youth Sunday, the last Sunday of the season for
Church School and our Choir. It’s also Pentecost
and a great day for our “Kickoff to Summer.”
Why do we do that in church?
Our parish is named St. Andrew. Who was Andrew? Andrew
was the brother of the more famous disciple, Simon Peter.
A fisherman by trade, his home was in Capernaum* a shore
town off the Sea of Galilee. He was a first a disciple
of John the Baptist, before leaving John to follow Jesus.
He is the one responsible for introducing Peter to Jesus.
Though he’s not listed as being in the inner circle
of Peter, James and John, he figures prominently in
all four Gospels. Especially, he’s remembered for
his share in the feeding of the 5,000 and of the locals
(Greeks) who wanted to see Jesus (John 12: 20-22).
It’s not certain where he preached the gospel after
Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, though tradition
ties him to Greece. What he is most famous for from
the ages is how he became a martyr for Christ, crucified
on a cross in the shape of an X, the Greek letter Chi,
the first letter of “Christ.” Most depictions
of St. Andrew will either show him crucified on an X
or will have an X incorporated in the depiction. Many
churches in Italy and France are dedicated to Andrew.
Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and is commemorated
in the Episcopal calendar on November 30th, the first
saint's feast day of the church calendar (which starts
with Advent I.)
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out
fear. First Letter of John, Chapter 4 (I John 4)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For the several people who have started to step forward
and offer their gifts to the mission of this parish,
to the glory of God.
See you Sunday!
*Capernaum is woven into the fabric of the Gospel. It’s
the place of several incidents with Jesus, including
the healings of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, the
centurion’s servant and the man with unclean spirits.
It’s also believed to have been the hometown of
not only Simon Peter and Andrew, but also James and
John (also fishermen) and Matthew, the tax collector.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, May 3, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-ninth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, May 3, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…that there are several additional ways you can
contribute to the mission and ministry of St. Andrews.
One is by going online to www.goodsearch.com and choosing
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Pickerington as
your choice of charity. It’s a penny-a-click to
the church. Sure that ain’t much. But have 50 people
doing it regularly and you’d be amazed at how much
we could earn for doing nearly nothing but what we’re
already doing anyway! Others apparently have started
doing so because our numbers have slowly been rising
over the last few months. You can watch the count yourself
online at the site.
Things you probably didn't know…
(…you realize we’re going to have a parish-wide
quiz show at some point where your knowledge of all
these factoids will be tested…. I’m sure the
teens can suggest study techniques.)
And so back to the Quiz Show questions we go.
1. In the water, sound travels 4x faster____, equally
fast ____, 2x slower ____, than in air.
2. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and
contains more water than all the Great Lakes combined.
It is located in Russia ____ Brazil ____ Angola ____.
(Bonus question: It is 5,300 ft ____ 15,300 feet ____
25,300 feet ____deep.)
3. Tides are caused by the position of the Sun and the
Moon in relation to the earth, and their gravitational
pull on the earth. The greatest difference in low tide
vs. high tide is in the Bay of Fundy and it can be as
high as 54 feet! Where is the Bay of Fundy? Canada ____,
Ireland ____, South Africa ____.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…our Sunday School teachers who tirelessly work
to provide our children with a Christian education.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
Let’s try one more week of this…we have a
need for colored paper (8 ½ x 11) for our bulletin
inserts. We also have a general need for an extra broom
and dustbin, as well as a used canister vacuum cleaner.
You can bring the paper to the church office and give
the broom and used vacuum cleaner to Kevin McCarty or
Pete Parham at church.
Why do we do that in church?
Continuing from last week, we are discussing the different
Eucharistic prayers we use in our Sunday services. Last
week I mentioned that each of the 4 prayers (A, B, C,
D) in Rite II or our contemporary language rite, have
commonalities in theology and purpose. Remember, what
can be interesting is that we can learn a lot about
what we believe as Christians by looking at these prayers.
They are like mini courses in Christian theology in
themselves. Last week we discussed the Opening Dialogue
(Sursum Corda. ”Lift up your hearts”), the
initial offering Praise and Thanksgiving, the Sanctus
(Holy, Holy, Holy), the Benedictus (Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord), and the Institutional
Narrative (“This is my Body/Blood.”)
The Anamnesis. This refers to what is happening in the
Institutional Narrative. Anamnesis is the opposite of
amnesia. A person with amnesia has lost their identity
and purpose. But our Jewish ancestors were known for
their anamnesis, their constant reminders of God’s
previous works. But there was a hook. An anamnesis of
the mighty acts of God was the Jewish understanding
that what God has done in the past, God is doing in
the present. In other words, what happened long ago
is recreated in the now. So, as Jesus said the words
of Institution (This is my Body, This is my Blood) 2000
years ago, by our remembering and giving thanks for
them in the Eucharist, God makes them real in the present.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is actually brought
forth into the present moment of the Eucharist as we
recall them. It sounds wild, I know, but it is a fundamental
understanding of our Episcopal (and Lutheran, and Roman
Catholic) faith that God is present in the consecrated
Bread and Wine because of this.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness
before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments, and do what pleases
him. And this is his commandment, that should believe
in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.
First Letter of John, Chapter 3 (I John 3)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
Our children in our Sunday School classes and our teachers.
See you Sunday!
1. Surprisingly, sound travels 4x FASTER in water than
in air. But the speed isn’t standard, it depends
on whether it’s salty or fresh, warm or cool, deep
or shallow and much more.
2. Lake Baikal is located in Siberia and is the largest
freshwater lake by volume. Yet it is smaller in surface
area than Lake Superior. It’s also considered the
oldest (25 million years) lake in the world. Bonus question:
it’s 5,300 feet deep.
3. Bay of Fundy (Bai de Fundy) is just north of Maine,
in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Maine, between
the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Not to be outdone, the Canadian province of Quebec contests
that claim, saying that Ungava Bay in northern Quebec
has a deeper “vertical tidal range.” And the
United Kingdom contests both claims with their Severn
Estuary, fed by the River Severn, the longest river
in Great Britain. (Which, btw, flows by Worchester Cathedral,
one of the more glorious Anglican cathedrals in the
world.)
For
the week leading up to Sunday, April 26, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-eighth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, April 26, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…that our local food pantries are asking for Hamburger
and Tuna Helper (or store brand version) boxes for the
next few weeks. Several grocery stories have been offering
them on sale too. Consider picking some up and bringing
them to church this Sunday. And don’t forget to
pray for the family receiving it. (Of course, all other
dry goods are still greatly appreciated.)
Things you probably didn't know.
As I mentioned last week, the Easter season lasts seven
weeks! “We’ve only just begun….”
(apologies to the Carpenters.) So, since we’re
in the middle of Easter, let me throw a few international
Easter traditions your way.
Mexico: One of the more spectacular of the Easter traditions
south-of-the-border is the burning of Judas in effigy…and
filled with firecrackers. It’s a symbol of Judas’
just punishment for his betrayal and sometimes is combined
with quite elaborate Passion Plays staged around the
country. Recently the “Judas”s burned are
effigies of some politicians with whom the locals are
not very happy.
Germany: Easter bonfires are one of the most common
Easter traditions. They’re fueled by branches and
twigs, often from old Christmas trees left over. The
bonfires are a sign that winter is finally over with
the symbolism of driving out of the cold and bringing
back of the warmth. And because burning increases certain
soil nutrients, it’s seen as a sign of new birth,
and therefore, of the Resurrection.
Russian: Easter is a Christian holiday of greater importance
than Christmas in the Orthodox (eastern) Churches. Russians
will spend Easter Eve cooking endlessly, then bring
a portion of their cooking to the Easter Vigil that
evening, spending the entire night at the Church. (I’ve
witnessed this myself and it’s quite a sight.)
No breaking of the Lenten fast on Eastern morn can be
done without the food blessed during the Easter Vigil
being present. And they will bring a lit candle from
the service to mark the door with a holy cross after
which the home itself is thoroughly aired and cleansed
as a symbol of a new start.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Fr. Doubleday for being our celebrant and preacher
this week. Fr. Doubleday is the Associate Dean for Operations
at Bexley Hall Seminary and the Professor of Pastoral
Theology. Also, like Bishop Breidenthal, Fr. Doubleday
was a professor of mine in seminary. I know you will
all be in church on Sunday to worship and to welcome
him warmly.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…we have a need for colored paper (8 ½ x
11) for our bulletin inserts. We also have a general
need for an extra broom and dustbin, as well as a used
canister vacuum cleaner. You can bring the paper to
the church office and give the broom and used vacuum
cleaner to Kevin McCarty or Pete Parham at church.
Why do we do that in church?
We use different Eucharistic Prayers on Sunday mornings.
At Christmas and Easter, we’ve used Prayer D found
on page 372 in our Prayer Book. During Advent we used
Prayer B (p.367) and we frequently use Prayer A (p.
361). Why the different prayers of consecration?
The short answer is that these different prayers (including
Prayer C on page 369) come from different periods in
the history of the church, and represent different parts
of the our theology. This week, we’ll cover some
of the commonalities that all the prayers have and next
week we’ll cover a few more. In the third week
we’ll get into their differences. What’s interesting
is that you can learn a lot about what we believe as
Christians by looking at these prayers. They are like
mini courses in Christian theology in themselves.
In the ancient liturgies of the Church the Eucharist
Prayer is considered one unit, one “action.”
It is one action that the congregation takes together
for the asking of God blessings upon the elements and
for God’s presence to enter them. And how does
one ask for God’s blessings? One gives thanks.
It was so for our Jewish ancestors, and it became so
for us Christians. Therefore, this one unit, one action,
is titled “The Great Thanksgiving.”
The Opening Dialogue (Sursum Corda). “Lift up your
hearts” echoes Jewish forms of blessings and was
a command to stand, to assume the proper posture for
prayer and thanksgiving. “Let us give thanks”
is actually a request by the celebrant for permission
to offer thanks to God in the name of all those present.
Your response “Let us give him thanks and praise”
is your consent for the celebrant to continue.
Praise and Thanks. The principle Jewish blessings then
continued into an expression of praise to God for his
mighty acts of creation, the care of his people and
for redemption. This is true in our Eucharistic Prayers.
And here is where the many theologies of the Church
are expressed, each prayer with its own emphasis.
The Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy). In this praise of God,
the congregation shares what we believe are the songs
of angels offered around the throne of God. It is taken
from the seraphim (the highest rank of angels) in Isaiah’s
account in his vision of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1-3, and
also see Revelation 4:8).
The Benedictus qui venit (Blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord)
This recalls Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem (Matthew
21:9), and his subsequent death, burial and resurrection.
It was expanded by the early church to be the first
part of the invitation in the prayer for all to come
and receive communion, the Body and Blood of Christ.
At this point you’ll notice that some will continue
to stand and some will kneel. Each is an appropriate
response and has been practiced in the Church.
The Institution Narrative. (This is my Body. This is
my Blood.) Here the celebrant recalls Jesus’ Last
Supper with his disciples and his promise to remain
ever present with them. It’s called “Institution”
not as in an organization or building, but as in establishing
a new pattern, custom or law. The practice we are “instituting”
is the recalling of these events.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will
be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this:
when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will
see him as he is. First Letter of John (I John, Chapter
3)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
Our neighbors in the community. It’s good to pray
for those with whom you come in regular contact, whether
or not you actually know them. Pray for our firefighters
next door, the owners and employees of the businesses
across the street, and for those who live and work around
the church. Ask God’s blessings for them.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, April 19, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-seventh installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, April 19, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…that the Easter season has just started! Easter
Sunday is only the first Sunday of our 50 days of Easter
(also called The Great 50 Days, or The Week of Weeks.)
So there are six more Sundays of Easter celebration!
Things
you probably didn't know.
Ever want to know where all those Easter lilies come
from? Believe it or not almost all of them come from
the same place. The “Easter Lily Capital of the
World” is a combination of 10 farms along the California
and Oregon state line and they produce about 95% of
the world’s crop. These 10 farms are only accessible
by a narrow and winding coastal highway, they are surrounded
by forests of those gigantic Redwoods, and they overlook
the Pacific Ocean!
Why there? The short answer is that the area has fantastically
rich alluvial soil (yep, I had to look it up: it’s
rich soil deposited by rivers and therefore has lots
of minerals and is slightly sandy) and is blest with
year round mild climate and consistent rain. Oh, and
all of that in near perfect combination.
These type lilies are native to southern Japan and they
were brought over to the States around the First World
War, (serendipitously) mostly to that California/Oregon
area. When Japan and the US entered into war with each
other, that supply was cut and the species had to be
grown state-side. And thus begin the industry here.
Want to read more? Especially, do you want to know how
to make your Easter Lilies last longer in your home
and thrive when you replant them? Check out this website
and scroll to the very bottom for care and planting
instructions:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/lily/lily.html
Be sure and say thank you to…
… Sharon Parham and Sandy Heren for all the leg
work, hours of organizing and more hours of order-taking
for our Spring Plant Sale. The preliminary results are
that we raised over $700 for St. Andrew’s on our
first try!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…Don’t forgot our neighbors! Please consider
food donations for our Pickerington and Reynoldsburg
food pantries. At the moment they are especially looking
for Hamburger and Tuna helper boxes. And as always,
pray for the family receiving it as you take it off
the grocery store shelf.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we celebrate Easter on a Sunday?
Sounds kinda silly to ask that since we called last
Sunday, “Easter Sunday.” It just rolls off
our lips to say that. But there are reasons it’s
on a Sunday and not a Tuesday or a Friday or such.
The reason is really pretty simple. Based on Biblical
texts, Jesus died on a Friday, laid in the tomb on a
Saturday and rose from the dead on a Sunday*. (That
places the Last Supper on a Thursday, which is why we
have Maundy Thursday services, but I digress….)
Scripture tells us that Jesus rose from the dead “early
on the first day of the week.” Plainly, that is
reason enough.
But it was also on a Sunday (the evening of the Resurrection)
that we have the disciples gathered in the upper room
when Thomas is not there and the next Sunday when Thomas
is there (btw, this is Sunday’s Gospel lesson.)
It was also on Sunday that Jesus met his apostles on
the road to Emmaus. Wait, there’s more. Since the
early followers were gathering every Sunday in remembrance
of Jesus’ resurrection, it was therefore on a Sunday
that the followers of Jesus were meeting when the Holy
Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. Now keep in mind
that meeting on Sundays was counter-cultural. In the
Jewish world of Jesus’ day, Sunday morning was
their “Monday morning” rush hour when the
world went back to business after the Sabbath. Meeting
on Sundays was clearly an intentional choice on their
part.
And the church has met on Sundays ever since.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
My little children, I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not
for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
First Letter of John (I John, Chapter 1)
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For all those who have lost their jobs, or are anxious
about their livelihoods, that’s God’s peace
will be with them and God’s wisdom will guide them.
See you in church on Sunday.
*Keep in mind the Jewish calendar designates a day based
on sunlight. That means after the sun goes down, it’s
the next day. Therefore Jesus died on a Friday (before
sundown) was laid in the tomb on a Saturday (what we
would call Friday evening after sundown) and rose from
the dead on a Sunday (that is, any time after sundown
on what we would call Saturday evening).
And this applies today. For example, Jewish Sabbath
services begin Friday after sunset, though Saturday
is named as their Sabbath. (Passover festivities also
always begin after sunset.) This has influenced the
way we celebrate Christian holidays too. Some churches
hold Easter Vigil services on Saturday evening—or
before sunrise on Sunday morning—because after
sundown on Holy Saturday Easter begins (and Lent ends.).
The same is true for Christmas. Advent ends at sundown
on Christmas (Eve) and therefore some churches hold
Christmas (Eve) services just after dark.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, April 12, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-sixth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…we will have Easter cookies for the children made
by parishioners. Also, don’t forget that you can
bring your Spring Flower Sale orders to church on this
Sunday, or to the church office this Monday and Tuesday,
between 7 and 9 PM.
Things you probably didn't know.
During this time which we Christians are commemorating
Holy Week, our Jewish neighbors are commemorating Passover.
Passover began this year at sundown on Wednesday April
8th and concludes at sundown Thursday, April 16th. Here
is this week’s quiz, it’s about Passover and
some factoids you may not know. As it now is usual,
the answers at the bottom of eNews.
1. The world’s largest Passover commemoration takes
place where? ___Nepal? ___Israel? ___New York? ___Moscow?
___Ethopia?
2. True or False? President Lincoln was assassinated
during Passover?
3. A special Kosher batch of a world famous beverage
is made every year for Passover. Is it ___Gaterade?
___Pepsi? ___Budweiser? ____Coke? ___Evian water?
4. Is Manischewitz a Hebrew word for wine or is it a
brand name?
5. Bonus Question for tomorrow: How is the date of Easter
determined?
Be sure and say thank you to…
… our Choir and to Dale our Minister of Music for
all their wonderful work throughout this Holy Week and
for tomorrow’s Easter Sunday service!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your Spring Flower Sale order forms if you’ve
finished gathering your orders, and your children/grandchildren
to celebrate Easter and to receive Easter cookies!
Why do we do that in church?
Tomorrow’s Easter Sunday services will begin with
the lighting of the Paschal candle and the proclamation
“The Light of Christ”, to which you’ll
reply: “Thanks be to God.” What is a paschal
candle and why do we start Easter that way?
The Paschal Candle is the large candle you see every
Sunday on a stand beside the baptismal font. Put simply,
it symbolizes the risen Christ. It gets its name from
the Hebrew word “Pesach” meaning Passover.
Because the spirit of death “passed over”
the Hebrews (Jews) in Egypt when they placed the blood
of the lamb over their doorposts, Christians began to
see Christ as our passover, with the blood of the “Lamb
of God” causing eternal death to pass over us.
Our faith teaches us that because Jesus overcame death
through his Resurrection, therefore “our passover”
is the risen Christ. Thus the Paschal Candle symbolizes
the risen Christ.
As Easter is also know as the Feast of the Resurrection,
it’s appropriate to begin the service with the
lighting the candle which symbolizes the Risen Christ.
The Paschal Candle is often processed through congregations
on Easter to symbolize the spreading Light of Christ
into the congregation and into the world. Also traditionally,
the Paschal Candle is lit throughout the Easter season,
the season of Christ’s Resurrection. As well, it’s
traditionally lit at all baptisms and funerals, again,
symbolizing new life through Christ’s Resurrection
for the baptized, and for those who pass onto Glory.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“For I handed on to you as of first importance
what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our
sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he
was buried, and that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures….” The First
Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 15 (I
Corinthians 15).
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For God’s blessings on Allison Barr and her parents
Lesli and Rob, and their families, and on Allison’s
baptism tomorrow.
See you in church on Sunday.
Quiz Answers:
1) Believe it or not, Nepal has the largest annual Passover
Festival. Each year members of the Chabad-Lubavitch
movement hold their "Seder on Top of the World"
in Kathmandu (you know, cat-man-du). Last year they
had around 2,000 people. Nepal is located between India
and China. See this link to find it on a world map:
http://www.visitnepal.com/travelers_guide/where_is_nepal.php
2) True. Lincoln was assassinated during Passover, April
14, 1865. Many Jews were in synagogue for the holiday
when news of Lincoln's assassination broke. Altars in
temples "were quickly draped in black and, instead
of Passover melodies, the congregations chanted Yom
Kippur hymns. Rabbis set aside their sermons and wept
openly at their pulpits, as did their congregants."
(Quote from the American Jewish Historical Society).
3) Coke makes a special Kosher batch every year for
Passover. Generally, Coke is a kosher product, but dietary
laws tighten during the Passover holiday. High-fructose
corn syrup a no-no for observant Jews (it really should
be a no-no for everybody all the time, but that's another
sermon topic…). In response, Coca-Cola pumps out
a batch of limited edition Coke that uses (gasp) real
sugar instead of the kitniyot corn. Look for bottles
with yellow caps on them to be sure you're getting the
right one.
4) Manischewitz is a brand name. As a Kleenex is really
a "facial tissue," Q-Tips are actually "cotton
swabs," and Xeroxes are really “photocopies”,
Manischewitz is the brand name, not the generic description.
Founded in 1927 by Leo Star, the Manischewitz winery
has basically cornered the kosher wine market here in
the US with their sweet concord grape wine. Surprise
Fact: Like Coca-Cola, Manischewitz uses corn syrup to
sweeten things up a bit, so surprisingly not all Manischewitz
is actually kosher for Passover!
5) Bonus Question: Easter falls on the first Sunday
after the first full moon after the Vernal (Spring)
Equinox (the day when daylight and night are the same
length). Got that? But wait, there’s more. While
the Vernal Equinox generally falls on March 21st, sometimes
it can fall on March 22nd. But not to worry. The “calculation”
always assumes March 21st. Probably just makes everything
easier. Therefore, Easter can not be earlier than March
22, nor later than April 25th. Oh and one more caveat:
This is the Easter setting for the Western Churches.
For Eastern (Orthodox) Churches, the date is often different
because Eastern Churches use a slightly different calendar
to start with
(Julian, rather than Gregorian—too complicated
to explain right now) and also, they base the starting
point on the actually astronomical full moon, rather
than the “ecclesiastical” full moon. (Which
simply means we set March 21st as start date, whereas
Eastern Churches set their start date on when the Vernal
Equinox actually happens.) WHEW!!
For
the week leading up to Sunday, April 5, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-fifth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…this Sunday is Palm Sunday, also called The Sunday
of the Passion. (We commemorate both on this day.) We’ll
have the blessing of the Palms and the Passion reading
at both services.
Things you probably didn't know. The quiz show
questions keep coming and let’s stay on the topic
of the human body another week. As it’s now becoming
a trend, answers are found at the bottom of eNews.
1. The longest cells in the human body are motor neurons
and can be as long as___ 0.45 ____4.5 ____14.5 feet.
(Hint: they are involved with the spinal cord.)
2. The longest living cells in the body are located
in the __________?
Bonus question: How long can they live? ___5 years ____25
years ____ A lifetime.
3. In a typical home, about what percent of “dust”
is probably dried, flacked off human skin? ____ 1% ____
25% _____ 70%
Super bonus question: In your lifetime, you will probably
shed ____ 4 oz ____ 4 lbs ____ 40 lbs of skin. (Hint:
one answer helps uncover the other answer.)
Be sure and say thank you to…
… your Mission Council representatives and your
Wardens who devote their time and talents to the life
and the health of this community, looking after our
many and varied needs, individually and as a community.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your best stage voice. Each of us has a part in
Sunday’s Passion reading, whether assigned (and
you know who you are) or as The Crowd.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we have that phrase in church: “All things
come of thee O Lord, and of thine own, have we given
thee”?
Well, for starters, it’s a very “Episcopal”
thing to quote this Scripture passage and you’d
be hard pressed to find an Episcopal parish where it
isn’t heard most Sundays. There doesn’t seem
to be a lot of history available documenting how it
came into our “Episcopal lexicon”, and only
anecdotally it could be that it sounds very "King
James Version", very traditional British, and therefore
stuck better in our denomination. Nonetheless, I’m
sure one of you out there may have more information.
Whenever it’s used, it is almost always within
the context of asking God’s blessings on the collection
having just been gathered from the congregation and/or
the bread and wine which are offered for consecration
(blessing) in the Eucharist.
So where’s this Bible verse from? (I’m glad
you asked.) It’s found in the second book of Chronicles,
in the Old Testament*. King David has been told by God
that though the dream came to him to build a Temple
to God** alas he was not to be the one to build it,
and rather, his son Solomon was to build it. Then David
gathers all the people of Israel together and with great
pomp and circumstance he dedicates the plans and much
of the wealth to build the Temple and chapters 28 and
29 in I Chronicles tell about this. After lifting up
a great prayer to God’s praise he tells the people
in verse 14: “But who am I, and what is my people,
that we should be able to offer so willingly after this
sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own
have we given thee.” (King James Version of the
Bible.) King David is saying, Yes, we have assembled
great resources to build this Temple, but really, everything
we have, everything we own, is God’s (he made the
universe and made us) and so we’re really only
giving back a portion to God, what God gave us in the
first place.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
“Therefore God also highly exalted [Jesus] and
gave him the name that is above every name, so that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bend…and
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord….”
Things I can pray for in traffic:
That God will continue to bless this parish and that
we in turn will continue to offer our time and talents
to God through this community.
See you in church on Sunday.
(Quiz Answers:
1) The motor neurons can be as long as 4.5 feet and
they run from the end of the spinal cord to the big
toe.
2) The longest living cells in the body are brain cells
and can live as long as you do. (Gives you a new appreciation
for what you put in your body!)
3) Up to 70% of your household “dust” is dried,
flacked-off human skin and your body can throw off as
much as 40 lbs of skin in your lifetime! (Can this be
true? Yikes!)
*Both the first and second book of Chronicles (titled:
I, II Chronicles) along with the two books of Samuel
(I, II Samuel) and the two books of Kings (I, II Kings)
are history books which mostly describe the time of
the Hebrews (Jews) when they had kings. While that may
not initially sound exciting, these books are packed
full of fantastic stories of intrigue, strategy, compassion,
failure, rebuke, redemption, and bunches more stuff.
This is the time when Israel was strongest, most prosperous,
and most influential and is a great study on the rise
and fall of a dynasty (and the rise again of a new kingdom,
the Kingdom of God that Jesus heralds in its place.)
**This temple, when built by King David's son Solomon,
is enormously important to the Bible, the Jewish people,
to history, and to us today. It’s the one that
is built, destroyed, and rebuilt many times, and is
around which much of the Old Testament was written,
whether directly or indirectly. In the day of Jesus
it is in its apex. It was destroyed a final time a few
decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection and
its destruction signaled the end of priestly Judaism
(with animal sacrifices by priests in the Temple) and
the rise of Rabbinical Judaism (congregational worship
lead by a Rabbi) that we have today. A part of the Temple
survives today and is the “Wailing Wall” you
may have heard about in the news.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, March 22, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-fourth installment of a weekly
e-News bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington (Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester,
Baltimore, Pataskala, Bexley, Columbus…) leading
up to Sunday, March 29, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…to pick up your Spring Flower Sale packets and
your new Parish Directory this Sunday (if you haven’t
already, or forgot to take them home last Sunday.)
Things you probably didn't know. More quiz show
questions and of course, the answers are found at the
bottom of eNews.
1. An adult human body typically has 206 bones. Do children’s
bodies have more or fewer bones than adults?
Bonus question: Take a wild guess at how many.
2. The smallest human bone is the stapes or stirrup
bone and it is found where in the body?
Bonus question: How long is it?
___.01 inches; ___.11 inches; ____1.1 inch?
3. In outer space (the last frontier), can Skylab astronauts
frequently
____grow taller by 1.5 to 2 inches or
____shrink shorter by 1.5 to 2 inches?
Be sure and say thank you to…
…a whole host of people for our terrific time last
Sunday! Thank each other for bringing so many delicious
and different soups and sandwiches! What a treat that
was. Thank Sandy and Sharon for organizing, decorating,
and so much more. Thank Kevin, Dom, and Pete for all
the landscaping and yard work. Thank Lorrie and our
altar guild for preparing, Dale and our choir for singing,
our confirmands for learning, Kevin and our acolytes
for serving, Gayland and our greeters for welcoming,
Elaine for all the bulletin and parish directory work,
all of you who helped serve and provide table hospitality,
and all you who stayed after to clean and straighten
up! And I know there are more!
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
…your opposable thumbs. Thanks to your generosity
in giving we have a budget line item for Newcomers so
we’re able to purchase postcards to send those
whom have just moved into the area, inviting them to
church. This Sunday we’ll have another label-attaching
session. We have 500 cards to send out and need your
help with attaching the mailing labels. For those who
are able, we’ll invite you to take 10 home with
you to stamp, mail, and pray for the people receiving
them!
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we have bishops? Continuing our theme, let’s
chat about some symbols of the bishop which you saw
last Sunday
.
Let’s start with that black chair behind the altar.
You’ll notice it’s always empty…except
when the bishop comes to be with us. As we talked about
last week, the bishop is the head of every parish in
his or her diocese and therefore the clergy of the parish
act for the bishop in the bishop’s absence. But
when the bishop is present, the bishop always preaches
and celebrates (presides over) the Eucharist; it’s
his/her parish. So why the chair? Well, in ancient times
a chair was a sign of the authority to teach. The teacher
would sit in a chair and instruct students who were
sitting on the floor. Of course, that gave rise to the
chair as a symbol of authority, position, and teaching.
(BTW, that’s why we have the term “Chairwomen”,
“chairman”, and “chairperson” as
terms for leadership.) Surprisingly, for a church that
has bunches of fancy names for virtually everything,
the technical name of the bishop’s chair is “the
Bishop’s Chair.” One bonus fact: this same
bishop’s chair in the principle church of a diocese
is called a “cathedra” (Latin word for chair)
and thus the principle church in a diocese is called……..yep,
a cathedral, and the cathedral is the "Seat"
of the bishop.
What was that staff the bishop sometimes held through
the service? Well, it does have a fancy name. It’s
called a crosier (or crozier), and it’s loaded
with symbolism. Bishops are the chief pastor, the chief
caretaker, of the diocese and crosiers are a symbol
of that role. Crosiers are a staff with a hook at the
top. They are made to resemble, and represent, a shepherd’s
staff. Why? Remember the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord
is my Shepherd” psalm? The 4th verse is: Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
shall fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me.” So now think of “pastoral”
---“pastor”, get it?--- scenes of hillside
shepherds. Shepherds use the staff to ward off dangerous
creatures with its blunt end and hook and rescue a stuck
sheep around the neck. On a spiritual, theological,
and organizational level, bishops do the same thing:
they oversee the protection of the faith and beliefs
of those in their diocese, oversee the rescue of those
in peril, and to make sure there is sound teaching and
worship that can be passed on to the next generation
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit
within me. Psalm 51.
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For all the families who will receive our postcards
next week inviting them to worship with us. Pray that
God will bless them, open their hearts to his calling,
and encourage them to seek out God.
See you in church on Sunday.
(Answers: 1. Children have more bones. Many children’s
bones merge with one another as they grow. Bonus question:
approximately 300 bones in a child.
2. The shortest bone is found in the middle ear. Bonus:
It’s usually around .11 inches long.
3. Astronauts grow taller after extended periods in
space’s weightlessness. With the loss of gravity’s
pull, their spinal cord can lengthen by straightening
out.)
For
the week leading up to Sunday, March 15, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Thirty-second installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, March 15, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…we’ll have Deacon Irene Radcliff from the
diocesan Episcopal Church Women joining us this Sunday.
Please give her a warm St. Andrew’s welcome. She’ll
have a few words to say at the announcements about the
work of ECW and will be available at Coffee Hour for
questions.
Things you probably didn't know. Here are a few
Q and A ‘s: (Answers at bottom of this eNews.)
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
Q. If you were to spell out all the numbers, starting
with One, how far would you have to go until you use
the letter “a”?
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield
wipers and laser printers all have in common?
Q. What is the only food that does not spoil?
Be sure and say thank you to…
…our greeters who welcome you and our guests to
church on Sundays. They are the first face you and our
guests see, which makes them pretty darn important.
What can you bring to church this Sunday:
A pen! Don’t forget to sign up for your potluck
item to bring for the bishop’s visit on the 22nd.
As well, be sure we have you updated in our directory,
so fill out our cleverly named “Directory Form.”
And we need a few extra hands….voices…to assist
our Lay Readers during Holy Week so if you would like
to assist in worship during Holy Week by reading Scripture
or being part of our Congregational Passion reading
be sure to sign up for that. Lay Readers, please sign
up too.
Why do we do that in church?
When the altar is being prepared for the Eucharist,
you’ll notice that after wine is poured into the
chalice (cup), water is then poured in too. Why?
After a very long explanation last week on confession
in church and why we have a “general” confession
in the Episcopal Church, this week’s answer is
relatively simple.
It is a bit odd that the Episcopal (and Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and sometimes, the Lutheran) Churches have
this practice of pouring water into the wine-filled
chalice. At the Eucharist we are remembering Christ’s
words at the Last Supper and asking God’s presence
to fill the bread and wine to be our spiritual food
for our spiritual lives. Yet Jesus didn’t fill
that first chalice with wine and then add water. So
why do we?
Well, you’ve heard me say this before, but the
Church has it way of adding symbolism upon symbolism;
not necessarily because we want to complicate things,
though that has occurred at times. But the things we
do in church have so much underlying importance we want
to use the opportunity to teach about many related things
at the same time.
A good example of this is pouring water into the wine-filled
chalice. (BTW, it’s never the other way around,
pouring water in and then wine.) Adding water to wine
gives us two other symbols: First, it’s a remembrance
of what happened on the Cross where Jesus gave his life
for our sins. When Jesus was pierced in the side by
the Roman soldier, the Scriptures tell us that water
and blood flowed from the wound, evidence of his death.
The wine we offer to God for consecration is wine mixed
with water in remembrance of that. Secondly, it’s
an analogy of the union between Christ and his people.
Since the water of baptism is our symbol of full entrance
into the Kingdom of God, the mixing of wine and water
is a symbol that we believers are one with Christ. As
the wine and water are mixed and can’t be separated,
the union of Christ and his believers is a union that
can’t be separated.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
The message about the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it
is the power of God. I (First) Corinthians, Chapter
1.
Things I can pray for in traffic:
Having trouble praying? Try praying the alphabet. Think
of the letter of the alphabet and ask God what you should
pray for, and then see what comes to mind. Then pray
for/about it. It may sound silly, but it can be a tool
to use when you want to pray but just can’t figure
out how to start, or you’re tired and can’t
quite get up the energy.
See you in church on Sunday.
(Answers: Q1: Their hometown. Q2: One thousand. Q3:
Women invented them. Q4: Honey. (However, I know a beekeeper
who says that what will spoil honey is human salvia.
Therefore, never “double
For
the week leading up to Sunday, March 8, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Thirty-first installment of a weekly
e-news bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, March
8, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…to Spring Forward! Turn your clocks forward before
going to bed on Saturday. Daylight Saving Time is this
weekend and we don’t want you to come an hour late!
(And btw, officially, it’s Daylight Saving_ Time,
not Daylight Savings Time.)
Things you probably didn't know. Let’s go
back to random odd factoids for awhile.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every
two weeks or it would digest itself!
An earlier name for butterfly was flutterby. There are
loads of arguments each way as to why. Some say flutterby
was changed because some thought they liked, consumed,
and often carried away milk. Others that they’re
often near the color of butter (hmmm…, not sure
about that one) and others claim that it relates to
the middle ages German word: botterfleoge. Some call
it a “spoonerism”. (And actually “spoonerisms”
are pretty interesting themselves, named after an Anglican
priest who kept mixing up his words.)
And I can’t remember if I posted this one already.
If I have, you can re-remember, but….when you see
a big statue in a town square with a guy (usually a
guy) on a horse, you can figure out how he (remember,
usually a guy) died. If the horse has its two front
legs raised, the dude was killed in battle. If the horse
has one leg raised, the guy died of battle wounds. If
the horse is on all fours, the honoree died of natural
causes.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to our Coffee Hour providers. Each week a family
provides you with refreshments after the 10:00 service.
Don’t forget to show your genuine appreciation
by thanking them for the time, effort and expense they
provide for us all!
What/Who you can bring to church this Sunday:
…a friend, a coworker, a family member who hasn’t
been in church for a while (or ever!), a neighbor, a
new acquaintance, someone you shared some conversation
with in the coffee bar or grocery store line: bring
them or invite them to church! Doesn’t need to
be a special reason other than “just sharin’
the love…”
Why do we do that in church? Recently someone
asked me: “Why do we have ‘confession’
in our Sunday worship services? My friend’s protestant
church doesn’t have a confession in their services.”
Well first, let’s say something about confession.
In the Jewish and Christian tradition confessing, or
admitting, our sins (mistakes) is required for divine
forgiveness. Why? Because the end result we’re
supposed to be seeking is change. Intentionally changing
our behavior and thoughts cannot happen without first
acknowledging that we need to change. And God knows
that. So, we confess that what we have done (or failed
to do) or thought (or failed to think) or wanted (or
failed to have wanted) was wrong. Nothing can happen
without that first step: the “old” way is
wrong and we want a “new” way instead.
But we cannot stop at confession. The next step is regretting
what we have done (thought, wanted, etc). We call that
repentance. We acknowledge something was wrong and we
regret that we did it. Why do we have to regret it?
Because, remember, our end result we are headed for
is change. The problem is that you can admit something
is wrong and NOT regret it. “I stole from that
person, and I know it’s wrong, but I’m still
glad I did ‘cause they deserved it” is an
example of confession that falls short. The person admits
the action/thought/desire was wrong but they would gladly
or spitefully do it again. Therefore they’re unlikely
to change, and therefore the confession falls short.
But wait, there’s more!
There’s one more step. We must also resolve to
not do it again. If we admit something was wrong and
we regret it, but we don’t even try to not do it
again, the confession still falls short. Truly regretting
something generally means truly not wanting to (or resolving
not to) do it again. It can’t be much simpler than
that.
Still…having said all the above, we must remember
God’s mercy. God knows that even our best intentions,
our best efforts aren’t always successful. To truly
confess our sins is a matter of the heart, mostly. It
is our desire to acknowledge that something is wrong,
to regret it, and then resolving to change that makes
it a true confession.
That’s a very long introduction to a short answer.
Why do we have “confession” in our worship
services in the Episcopal Church? Mostly, it goes back
to St. Paul’s admonition to believers to cleanse
their hearts before receiving the Sacrament of Christ’s
Body and Blood. In his first letter to the Corinthians
(I Corinthians 11:27-28) Paul recounts the words Jesus
said at the Last Supper which are repeated at each Eucharist
(“This is my Body….” “This is my
Blood….)” What Paul writes next is a principle
reason why we have confession in services of Holy Eucharist:
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the
cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable
for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves,
and only then [shall you] eat of the bread and drink
of the cup.”
This is not to suggest that we have “general”
(versus a “private”) confession only BECAUSE
of the Eucharist. There are many other services of the
church where a general confession is included. But it
is to say it’s a principle reason why we have it
AT each Eucharist.
One additional point: There are exceptional times
when a general confession is not included in a service
of Holy Eucharist. Those times involve the celebration
of Easter. Some parishes choose to remove a general
confession at Easter Vigil and Easter Day services because
of its unique celebratory nature of Christ’s Resurrection.
At grand celebrations your focus is on rejoicing. Some
parishes will also extend that removal of the general
confession all the way through the Easter season as
a sign of the celebration that is to be carried through
the whole season of Easter.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo
great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the
chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after
three days rise again. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 8.
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…that God will lead you to someone, bring someone
in your life, or remind you of them again, whom you
can then invite to church. If you dare try it…………watch
with amazement who God will bring into your life. You
can also experience God answering your prayer, which
is “no chump change.”
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, March 1, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Thirtieth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, March 1, 2009.
Don't
Forget…
…this Sunday is our first Sunday in Lent. Lent
gives us a chance, and a reminder, to intentionally
ask God to show us what is getting in the way of our
relationship with others and with God.
Things you probably didn't know.
Alright, let’s keep this ball rolling! This week’s
alleged miracle household item: vinegar.
Have too much static cling in your clothes this time
of year? Throw in a cup of vinegar in your next clothes
wash. And while you have your vinegar out, add a cup
of vinegar and run through another cycle to clear out
soap scum and clean out the hoses.
Have to leave your car out at night and don’t like
the “morning ice scrapping routine”? Put three
parts vinegar to one part water in a spray bottle and
coat the windshield.
Trying to save some money taking your lunch (dinner/breakfast,
depending on your schedule) to work? Try hard boiled
eggs. Two tablespoons per quart of water will help keep
the shells from cracking and helps the shells come off
more easily.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Gingy Harshey-Meade for opening up her Ohio Nurses
Association headquarters for our Mission Council Half-Day
Retreat.
…Sandy Heren and Sharon Parham for putting together
our trip to the Norman Rockwell exhibit. What a great
time!
…our Epiphany term Sunday School teachers: Edith
Carr, Toks Ogungbadero, and Bill and Angie Barker, for
their time, efforts and dedication; and our Sunday School
kids for their Youth Sunday presentations!
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…at least one spiritual discipline that you want
to offer up to God for this Lent. It could be to pray
for something/someone each day, work on forgiving someone,
pray the Daily Office, meditate, develop a thankful
heart, do an anonymous good deed each day, repay a debt,
offer encouragement, whatever it is…silently offer
it to God this Sunday.
Why do we do that in church?
You’ll notice some different practices around the
church during the season of Lent. What are some of them
and what do they mean?
A couple of things you will notice right away are the
uses of purple and the veiling of crosses. We discussed
the use of purple in liturgy back during Advent, another
penitential season though not as “severe”
as Lent. Purple symbolizes both penance and royalty.
Penance, because purple is somber and solemn in appearance
and tradition has taken that appearance as an appropriate
symbol for the somberness and solemnity of Lent. Royalty,
in part, because purple used to be the most expensive
dye to make and only the wealthiest could afford it:
thus it became associated with pageantry and position.
The Church uses purple to symbolize royalty because
of our understanding of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord
of Lords and also to remind us of that the suffering
humbled Jesus will become the resurrected glorified
Christ at our celebration of Easter.
So why are the crosses veiled? Different denominations
have different practices and there are different practices
even within each denomination. Still, generally, crosses
are veiled for a theological reason. For most Protestant
Churches, crosses are not crucifixes. That means there
is no body of the crucified Christ depicted on most
crosses. The cross instead is “plain” or “post-Resurrection.”
This speaks to a different (and no better or worse)
general emphasis between Protestant Churches whose theologies
can be more centered on the power we received from the
resurrected Christ, from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox
Churches whose theologies can be more centered on the
suffering and pain Christ endured to take our sins upon
himself. Keep in mind this explanation is a bit over
generalized but it’s sufficiently true for our
purposes here. Now… that’s a long way of saying
that because our crosses point to Christ’s resurrection
(since the crucified body of Christ is not depicted
on them) we can choose to veil them to help us remember
a time when Jesus’ work was not yet done, in history
and in our own life, and we are still “dead in
our sins.”
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous
for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. 1st
Peter, Chapter 3
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for our adults and children who are preparing
for Confirmation and Reception on March 22nd, as they
learn to renew their faith and better articulate it;
and for our two children who will be baptized, and their
families that they can live into the promises they will
be making.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, February 15, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Twenty-eighth installment of a weekly
e-news bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, February
15, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…we have a trip to the Norman Rockwell exhibit
scheduled after the main service on Sunday the 22nd
and Sandy Heren and Sharon Parham would like to know
if you're joining us. They want to make reservations
to get the discounted rate. Adults are $9 and thanks
to a parish donation, all kids are free! Assistance
is available to adults also, so see the Vicar. We want
everyone to go who wants to go!
Things you probably didn't know: I have to say
there was quite a reaction from the Coke suggestions.
It's amazing what sugar, fizz, and assorted unknown
chemicals can allegedly do! So here are some more and
remember, they only refer to regular Coke and not diet
or flavored…
Gum in your hair or in your pet's hair? You guessed
it. Let it soak in Coke for a few minutes. (so…how
do you get your hair into a bowl of Coke?)
Don't like those store-bought grout cleaners and their
smell but got to get your bathroom or kitchen clean?
Throw some Coke on even the worse spots.
Do you have those ubiquitous oil stains on your garage
floor or driveway too? That's right, throw some Coke
on it, let it sit for awhile, and hose it off.
Want to speed up your compost heap? Throw a can's worth
of Coke in the middle of an average sized family compost
heap and turn it monthly. (Would that also bring bees
and ants? Or maybe that's the point?)
And one for the kids and the kid at heart: Get a chewy
mint called Mentos and drop in a bottle of Coke. (and…ummm…
I'd suggest trying it outside.)
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to Bill and Angie Barker for taking the kids down
to Exodus (the diocesan youth weekend retreat) in Dayton
and bringing them back home. They'll be joining the
kids for their closing worship on Sunday and won't be
in church, so put the reminder on your Blackberry (paper
or mechanical.)
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…your teenager, your teenager(s)' friends and their
friends. We're back on the music path! (No, that isn't
a misprint; it's what was listed last week too. We made
progress last Sunday with writing out our new script
about the anti-video video. We have more work to do!)
Why do we do that in church? Last week we talked
about guidelines in the Episcopal Church about receiving
the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood at the Eucharist.
For this week, let's ask this: what happens to the consecrated
elements (the Bread and Wine) which aren't consumed
at the Eucharist? How are they disposed of?
At first look, there is a quick and simple answer. For
Episcopalians the Book of Common Prayer ("BCP",
that red book we use at each service) is the foremost
authority on matters of our Church's worship and doctrine.
In the BCP we find this single instruction on the matter:
"If any of the consecrated Bread or Wine remain…the
celebrant (the priest who "celebrates" or
offers up the prayers at the Eucharist) or deacon, and
other communicants, reverently eat and drink it, either
after the Communion of the people or after the Dismissal."
From that we can understand three directives: whatever
is done should be done "reverently"; that
the preferred method is to "consume" the consecrated
Bread and Wine rather than "dispose" of it;
and that the consumption should be done after the people
have finished receiving Communion or after the service
is over.
We are to "reverently" consume it because
Jesus has said that "This is my Body…. This
is my Blood…." and we believe that the presence
of God is with the consecrated elements. That can make
sense to us all.
But why "consumption" over "disposal"?
First and foremost it is because of Jesus' command to
"Eat it" and "Drink it." But there's
another reason. Remember the phrase the celebrant recites
after the newly consecrated Bread is broken? "Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us". (And the congregation
responses: "Therefore let us keep the Feast. Alleluia.")
Christians understand the Eucharist (Communion) as our
own Passover. That's because we believe that Christ's
Blood (and his payment on the cross for our sins) causes
God's punishment to "pass over" us, just as
for the Hebrews in Egypt, the lamb's blood on the doorposts
caused God's punishment to "pass over" that
household. Well, in the Passover feast for the Hebrews
in Egypt, the Hebrews were commanded to consume all
of the Passover Lamb and to let none of it remain till
morning. The Church chose to use that as its model and
so we too are to consume all the elements, holding over
only that which will be used to minister to the sick.
Of course, as with many directives, there's usually
a Plan B. Plan B is that the Church allows for the reverent
disposal of the unconsumed elements. If the Bread cannot,
or is not consumed, then the remaining Bread is to be
given back to the earth (buried or scattered over the
ground) and the remaining Wine is to be poured onto
the ground or down a piscina. A piscina (pronounced
pih SEE nuh) is the Church's word for a drain that bypasses
the sewer system and empties directly onto the ground.
We have such a piscina at St. Andrew's (and it required
jumping through many governmental hoops to allow it.)
For any one whom wishes, join us in the Sacristy for
further instructions on how to consume any remaining
consecrated elements.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work on
memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for our kids who are attending the diocesan youth
event today, tomorrow, and Sunday, for all the teens
attending, and for St. Andrew's, Dayton which is hosting
the event.
See you in church on Sunday
For
the week leading up to Sunday, February 8, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Twenty-seventh installment of a weekly
e-news bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, February
8, 2009.
Don't Forget…
…we now have additional "2 Cents a Meal"
boxes for those who want to participate, and haven't
pick up a box yet. Fr. David and Terry McCoy have provided
more and they'll be waiting in the narthex.
For those who don't know, this is a way to both remember
those who are hungry, and to do something about it.
For every meal, each person can add 2 cents (or more)
to the box. One cent will go to local food pantries
and one will go for advocacy on the state and local
level. Every few months we'll have a Sunday to gather
the coins and at coffee hour we'll sit down as a parish
and roll them up!
Things you probably didn't know:
With all of us looking for ways to save some money,
here are a few extra things you can do with that regular
Coke sitting around the house. (And then you can drink
more healthful water instead!) For disclaimer sake,
let's call them "alleged":
Hiccup cure: Gargle with a mouthful of Coke for 20+
seconds. (And brush your teeth right after?)
Tire cleaner: Wash and scrub the tires, dry off the
rims, spray onto tires (or dip rag in Coke and rub).
Let dry and repeat. Supposed to make them quite black
and repel dirt better.
Burnt pan cleaner: Boil Coke in it. (If you've got a
couple of liters hanging around…)
Plum Raisins: If you need to "pump them up"
before adding to cake or cookies, soak in Coke rather
than water. It'll leach out less flavor than water and
add some spice and pizzazz.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to Caroline Segelken and her helper Susan Highley
as they work hard each week keeping our Sunday School
up and running smoothly.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…your teenager, your teenager(s)' friends and their
friends. We're back on the music path….
Why do we do that in church?
In the Episcopal Church, people come up to the altar
rail to receive the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood.
Are there rules and regulations, or guidelines, to that
and to receiving the Holy Communion?
Well, in the Episcopal Church there are more guidelines
than there are rules; which will come as no surprise
to many of you. For this parish, the basics are: (1)
that any person receiving the consecrated bread and/or
wine should have been previously baptized by a denomination
professing the belief in the Holy Trinity (God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit), Among others, all
mainline Protestant denominations, as well as the Roman
Catholic and Orthodox churches, profess that belief;
and (2) that those receiving have a respect, for and
a reverence toward, the elements (bread and wine) and
the presence of Christ within them. While there are
differences of opinion within the Episcopal Church regarding
infants and small children receiving Communion, as well
as whether the reception of the Holy Communion should
be open to all regardless of whether or not they have
been baptized, the principal guideline used in the Episcopal
Church and at St. Andrew's is that baptism gives the
individual full rights and privileges within the church,
and the rest is in accordance with your or (for children)
your parents' wishes.
"So then, how am I supposed to receive the consecrated
bread and wine?" Here is where there are some practical
suggestions.
First let's state that it is not necessary to receive
both the consecrated bread and wine to "receive
the presence of Christ through the consecrated elements."
The official term for that is called "communion
in both kinds." Because the presence of Christ
is equally in both the consecrate bread and the consecrated
wine, and because you can not receive larger amounts
of Christ's presence by receiving larger amounts of
the elements, the reception of one, or the other, or
both, is equally sufficient.
When you come to the altar rail you may stand or kneel.
If you wish to receive the consecrated bread, it is
traditional that you hold both palms open and facing
up, with one palm on top of the other. As the consecrated
bread is placed in your hand and the words "The
Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven" (or similar)
are spoken over you and the elements, it is traditional
to acknowledge them with the words "Amen."
"Amen" means "so be it" and can
be a way of professing that you believe the consecrated
bread is the Body of Christ.
If you wish to receive the consecrated wine, please
feel free to help the server guide the cup to your lips.
If you wish to intinct (dip) the consecrated bread do
so lightly without touching your fingers to the consecrated
wine. If you would like the server to intinct for you,
you may leave the bread in your open palm and the server
will do so for you. If you do not wish to receive the
consecrated wine in any form (which is perfectly acceptable),
simply cross your arms over your chest and the server
will not serve you. After the words "The Blood
of Christ, the Cup of Salvation" (or similar) are
spoken over you and the elements, it is traditional
to again acknowledge your belief in the presence of
Christ with the response, "Amen."
This may open up more questions for you. Please don't
hesitate to ask. And feel free to ask in front of other
people. If you want to know, there are others who will
want to know as well.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the
ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to
the faint, and strengthens the powerless…those
who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they
shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run
and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for the family of Fr. Robert Goodrich and the
repose (peace) of Bob's soul. Fr. Bob served as interim
rector here at St. Andrew's, as well as rector of St.
James, Columbus (Clintonville). A memorial service will
be held at St. James on Saturday, February 21st at 5:00
PM.
See you in church on Sunday
For
the week leading up to Sunday, February 1, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Twenty-sixth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, February 1, 2009.
Don't
Forget…
…that
we have a few snowmen centerpieces left for you to take
home and enjoy. Snow outside, snowmen inside.
Things
you probably didn't know:
With
the first Sunday of February falling on the first day
of February, let's throw out a few factoids about the
month:
Did
you know that February 1st always falls on the same
day of the week as March 1st and November 1st? (Well,
except leap years, when its February 1st and August
1st which share the same day.)
And
speaking of Leap Years, in the English speaking world
a folk legend grew that women may propose marriage only
in leap years. Supposedly a 1288 law by Queen Margaret
of Scotland required fines be levied if the proposal
was refused by the man. The story goes that that made
some men sweat out the year, so the tradition changed
to be valid only on Leap Days in Leap Years. (The things
we do for love....)
What's a person called who is born on February 29th?
A leapling or a leaper. According ot DC Comics, Superman's
birthday is February 29th (which, they say, helps him
maintain his youth since technically he only has a birthday
every 4 years.)
And under the "Why am I not surprised?" category:
if you were born on February 29th, there's a web site
just for you: www.mystro.com/leap.htm.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Sandy
Heren and Sharon Parham (and their helpers) for preparing
the parish hall and organizing the potluck luncheon
for our Annual Meeting.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
Food
for our food pantries. We're in that post-holiday slump
period when donations fall off to charities. Let's not
forget those who are facing hard times right now. Be
sure to pick up a few extra items next time you're in
the grocery store and bring them to church.
Why
do we do that in church?
Why
did we have an Annual Meeting after church last Sunday,
why did we elect new officers, and what are they charged
to do?
While
there are no national canons (church laws) that require
a parish to hold an annual meeting, many dioceses and
parishes do provide for such in their by-laws, and St.
Andrew's is one of them. Traditionally there are two
principle purposes for Annual Meetings: (1) the election
of wardens and vestry, (2) and the reporting of parish
finances and business. These two specific purposes of
the Annual Meeting in fact reflect the general calling
and responsibility of the wardens and vestry, so let's
talk about those.
Some
definitions of terms: to clarify for those whom do not
know, a "vestry" is the governing corporate
body of a "parish" and the "wardens"
are its chief officers. The "rector" is the
chief pastor of the congregation. Put another way, the
wardens and vestry provide the managerial oversight
of the parish and the rector provides the spiritual
oversight.
For
congregations not yet financially self-sufficient there
are some substitutions for terms to reflect that a congregation
is a mission of the diocese until it can financially
stand on its own. Therefore, the term "mission"
is substituted for "parish", the term "council"
is substituted for "vestry" and the term "vicar"
is substituted for "rector." The term "warden"
remains the same.
So
back to the purposes of the vestry (council): it has
three primary responsibilities. The first is to manage
the care of the parish's (mission's) finances. The second
is to manage the care of its property. The third has
to do with selections, appointments and elections: it
is to assist in selecting individuals to fill (or run
for) various positions of leadership and representation
for the parish (mission), diocese, and national church.
Those individuals are then to join with the vestry (council)
and rector (vicar) in fulfilling their caretaking duties.
Just
like our elected officials in various level of civil
government, vestry (council) members are elected to
not only represent the interests of all congregants
but also assist in educating, informing, and even persuading
others, so that the parish (mission) as a whole is working
to discover its vision and to provide leadership in
living out that vision.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so I will work
on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, those who
act accordingly have a good understanding. Psalm 111.
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…for
our new wardens and council members, that God will fill
them with wisdom and discernment, and guide them as
they make decisions for us all in the life of this wonderful
congregation.
See
you in church on Sunday
For
the week leading up to Sunday, January 25, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Twenty-fifth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, January 25, 2009.
Don't
Forget…
…to
bring your birthday card for Myra Noethlich (99 years)
and your potluck dish for the Annual Meeting.
Things
you probably didn't know:
So
you think our new president had a rough time at his
inauguration with the flap about flubbed words at the
swearing in? Apparently, he wasn't the only president
with problems.
For
Ulysses Grant, with the temperature at 16, the catered
food froze, the musicians' violin strings snapped, and
100 canaries which were brought in to provide gentle
cooing sounds, froze to death in their cages.
John
Kennedy invited the famous poet Robert Frost to present
a new poem Frost had written for the occasion. The 86
year old poet was blinded by the bright sunlight and
unable to read his poem. Flustered, Frost switched to
an old poem he had memorized and promptly dedicated
it to "the president-elect, Mr. John Finley"
(a classics scholar at Harvard.)
To
prepare for Richard Nixon's 1973 inaugural parade, some
officials applied a chemical bird repellent ("Roost
No More") to the trees along the parade route.
It was supposed to make the pigeons' feet itch and therefore
keep them off the trees. Instead, the pigeons ate the
chemical repellant, leaving Pennsylvania Avenue lined
with dead pigeons.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…our
outgoing Senior Warden Elaine Vaughan and Council Member
Shelley Sakowski for their service, wisdom, commitment
and hours of self-less dedication.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
…an
inquisitive mind (Annual Meeting) and an empty stomach
(you know why.)
Why
do we do that in church?
Many
priests of the church lift up private prayers as they
prepare the elements for the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist. Why do we do that?
You
may have seen me and others offering small prayers as
we prepare the elements (bread and wine) for their consecration.
It is common to see clergy within the more liturgical
churches (such as Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Lutheran)
offering up such prayers.
Part
of the reason is that we liturgical churches have a
"higher" doctrine, or understanding, of Holy
Communion; "higher" not in the sense of better
but in the sense of an elevation above symbolism. (All
this is true for all the other sacraments as well).
For our "lower" church friends (Baptist, Congregational,
Pentecostal, etc.), the practice of the Lord's Supper
is symbolic. The acts themselves have little or no power,
it is the faith behind them that is important. For "higher"
churches, we believe the faith behind them is important
also, and we add that the prayers of the Holy Communion
call the very presence of God into the bread and wine
of Communion. Therefore, because of clergy's and laity's
prayers, the Spirit of God is real and present in those
elements of bread and wine. That is why we treat these
elements with respect and have clear guidelines on how
to consume or dispose of them.
Well,
since we hold respect for consecrated elements, we also
hold respect for those elements before they are to be
consecrated. After the table is set, the priest can
offer God thanks for these elements and prepare them
for consecration. Common among clergy—and what
I do here at St. Andrew's—is before the Sursum
Corda (Lift up your hearts…) a prayer is offered
for the bread, beginning with the Jewish offering: "Barukh
atah Adonai Eloheinu, Blessed are you Lord God of the
Universe, for you give us the grain of the earth, may
it become your Body." And then for the wine: Barukh
atah Adonai Eloheinu, Blessed are you Lord God of the
Universe, for you give us the fruit of the vine, may
it become your blood."
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Follow
me and I will make you fishers of men. Mark 1
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…to
give thanks to God for the abundance of blessings given
to this parish, and for the work and ministry of St.
Andrew's in these communities of Pickerington, Reynoldsburg
and beyond.
See
you in church on Sunday
For
the week leading up to Sunday, January 18, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Twenty-fourth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, January 18, 2009.
Don't
Forget…
…to
sign up for Potluck dishes this Sunday to bring for
our Annual Meeting the following Sunday (January 25th).
Sandy Heren and Sharon Parham are organizing this event.
We will serve lunch immediately after the 10:00 AM service
and will conduct our 2009 Annual Parish Meeting during
lunch.
Things
you probably didn't know:
With
the upcoming Inauguration, here are a few interesting
factoids:
The
first Inauguration set up several traditions that
are still kept. The first president was almost called
"His Most Benign Highness." After George
Washington and John Adams became the first President-
and Vice-President-elect, (from a vote of Congressmen
in NYC, where the Federal Government was first established)
it took several days for Washington to find out he'd
been elected. Meanwhile Adams and Congress were ruminating
on what to call the first chief executive officer.
Adams preferred "His Most Benign Highness."
A congressional committee axed that and settled on
"President of the United States."
After
repeating the constitutionally inscribed words of
his swearing in, President Washington added the words
"So help me God" which were not provided
for in the Constitution. Those words have been voluntarily
added by every president ever since.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…to
our parishioners Shelly Sakowski and Elaine Vaughan,
along with many others who help with the hospitality
for our families whose members are being baptized.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
…a
birthday card! Yes, Myra Noethlich will be celebrating
her 99th birthday this month and St. Andrew's will be
helping her celebrate this special occasion at our Annual
Meeting and Potluck Luncheon (on Jan. 25th)! We'd like
everyone to join in honoring her not only by your presence
but also bringing a birthday card to the event. We want
to start gathering cards this Sunday. If you are unable
to attend this Sunday or next, you can mail your card
for Myra to the church. (Myra Noethlich, c/o St. Andrew's
Episcopal Church, 8630 Refugee Rd. - Pickerington, Oh.
43147).
Why
do we do that in church?
Why
do we have different colors for different seasons and
services? Surprisingly, there is somewhat of a unified
system of colors within "liturgical" churches
such as Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and some
other reformed churches, such as Presbyterian and Methodists.
As with most traditions, these standards developed gradually
and somewhat haphazardly, with common practices starting
to develop around the fourth century. In the 12th century
Pope Innocent III systematized the use of five colors:
violet, white, black, red, and green. The Anglican and
Lutheran churches that emerged from the Reformation
retained these traditional colors. Most other reformed
churches quickly dispensed with them until recently
with a renewed interest in most churches of ancient
church practices.
Colors
serve to enhance and adorn worship spaces but they also
call attention to the nature of the season or festival
being celebrated, expressing emotions and ideas associated
with them. Violet is the ancient color for royalty and
therefore a symbol of the sovereignty of Christ. White
and Gold symbolize purity and perfection as well the
brightness of a new day. Black is a traditional color
of mourning for some cultures. Red evokes the color
of blood but also passion and fire. Green is the color
of growth and of continuity. From these descriptions
can you guess which seasons they are used for?
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
St.
Paul says: "All things are lawful for me, but not
all things are beneficial. All things are lawful for
me, but I will not be dominated by anything." 1
Corinthians 6
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…
For McKenna who will receive the Sacrament of Baptism
this Sunday, her mother Katie Sommers, grandmother Sharon
Reelhorn, great grandmother Peg Smith, and all the family.
And
while we're talking about prayer:
Let's give thanks to Luther Swavely as the coordinator
of our Prayer Net. When prayer requests come to him
or through the church office, Luther delivers them to
a group of people who stand ready to lift up prayers.
If you have a prayer request, and/or would like to join
a sizable group of people pledging to pray, call the
church and let us know.
See
you in church on Sunday
For
the week leading up to Sunday, January 11, 2009.
Hello
to all,
With the upcoming bishop's visit in March, we can now
ask if there are those in this congregation who either
wish to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, or who
wish to be "received" into the Episcopal Church
from another Christian denomination, or who wish to
reaffirm their committment to Christ. In addition there
may be others who don't know if they want this but are
interested in learning more.
If you, or anyone you know, might find yourself/themselves
in one of the above categories, you are invited to learn
more next Tuesday, January 13th at 5:00PM here in the
church office. If you want to attend but cannot make
next Tuesday, contact me and we will make other arrangements.
Confirmation is a sacrament for those who wish to make
"a mature commitment to Christ", as our Book
of Common Prayer describes. Confirmation is a public
profession of faith and a commitment to Christ for those
who were baptized as infants, or at a young age, and
for those who were baptized in another Christian denomination.
Confirmation is a sacrament because it is "an outward
and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace."
The outward sign is the laying on of episcopal (in this
case "episcopal" is used as an adjective,
meaning bishop) hands. The inward and spiritual grace
is the strengh of the Holy Spirit who is received at
Confirmation. What is required of those to be confirmed?
Our Catechism states that persons be "baptized,
are sufficiently instructed in the Christian faith,
are penitent for their sins, and are ready to affirm
their confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord."
It is an expectation that all adult members of the Episcopal
Church in good standing receive this sacrament.
Reception is for those who have already received the
sacrament of Confirmation in another Christian denomination,
and now choose to be received into membership in the
Episcopal Church. Such a person is not re-confirmed
but instead is welcomed into this new family with the
laying on of episcopal hands. Reaffirmation is for those
who have received Confirmation in the Episcopal church
and now wish to reaffirm their commitment to Christ.
As complicated as this may all seem, it is not. And
to explain all of this I encourage you to attend next
Tuesday, or make other arrangements with me.
Blessings,
Fr. Paul
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Twenty-third installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, January 11, 2009.
Don't Forget…
to invite someone to church this Sunday. Why? No reason
other than you want them to meet some really great people
who are also seeking a relationship with God. Can it
be any simpler than that?
Things you probably didn't know:
I'm feeling a little techy this week, with all this
talk about Macworld Expo and iPods music pricing changes
and streaming movies straight to your television. So,
here are three computer related "bet you didn't
know's":
The first e-mail was sent over the Internet the same
year that Sanford and Son premiered on NBC and Apollo
16 landed on the moon………………..........................................…1972.
ENIAC, the first electronic computer, appeared about
50 years ago. How big would you guess it was? Desk sized?
Closet sized? Room sized? Garage sized? .............................Try
House sized. The original ENIAC was about 80 feet long,
weighed 30 tons, and had around 17,000 tubes. Efficient
(by today's standards) it wasn't. By comparison, a run
of the mill desktop computer today can store a million
times more information than an ENIAC, and is about 50,000
times faster. (In the late 70s, you had to take a stack
of punch cards to the college library to have the mainframe
read them and give you a report your cell phone could
probably produce today.)
And a bonus question that isn't directly about computers,
but does involve some computer language: 1's. (The other
is 0's). Know what you get if you multiply 111,111,111
by 111,111,111?…………………………………….....................………12,345,678,987,654,321.
Be sure and say thank you to…
Dale and our choir for all their preparatory work and
the gifts of their music over these Advent and Christmas
seasons. Well done good and faithful servants! As we
march and pray our way into the seasons of Epiphany,
Lent, and Easter, they will again be ready to assist
our praise on Sundays.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…your children, your friend's children, your children's
friends. Church School is back after the Christmas break!
Why do we do that in church?
Now that we've ended our Christmas season celebration
we're entering in the season of Epiphany. What's that?
First of all, "Epiphany" is a Greek word and
we find lots of Greek words in the church since most
of the New Testament was written in it, making it the
mother tongue of the church. (For example, we get other
Greek words like ekklesia, meaning "gathering"
"assembly", from which we get the theological
word "ecclesiastical". Interestingly, Greek
is also where we get the word synagogue, another Greek
word meaning congregation, meeting.)
Epiphany translates into the English words "manifestation",
"revealing", "uncovering" and for
the church it's about the revealing of Christ to the
world, the uncovering of the mystery of how God is at
work. So during this season (which ends with Lent) each
of the Gospel passages will give an example of how the
purposes of Jesus are unveiled, showing who Jesus really
is. It begins with January 6th and the Feast of the
Epiphany. Here the story is of the Magi coming to the
baby Jesus, and is the first revealing of Christ to
the gentiles (non-Jews). In this lectionary year it
continues on with stories such as Jesus' baptism (God's
announcement that Jesus is God's Son), the first person
to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God (Nathanael),
the disciples' catch of a net full of fish after a night
of failures, the rebuking of demons, the healing of
diseases, and the fullest revealing, that of the Transfiguration.
Each of the three lectionary years (Years "A"
"B" and "C") have a variety of Gospel
stories, all with one purpose: how God did and does
reveal Jesus to us.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,
and the earth was a formless void and darkness covered
the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over
the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there
be light"; and there was light. Genesis 1
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for each person and their families who received
articles from our Mitten Tree, that God's grace, comfort,
and strength will be with them and God's wisdom will
guide them in this New Year. And also to give thanks
to God for the many who contributed, and for Elaine
Vaughan who delivered the articles.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, January 4, 2009.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Twenty-second installment of a weekly
e-news bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, January
4, 2009. Sorry for the late and abbreviated edition.
A full edition will return next week.
Don't Forget…
…there are STILL 12 days in this Christmas season,
and they aren't over yet. This Sunday is the last Sunday
in the season of Christmas. Keep the love flowing!
Things you probably didn't know:
English tradition requires that all decorations such
as wreathes, trees, lights and mistletoe be removed
at the end of the twelfth night of Christmas (and often
called "Twelfth Night"). After celebrating
the 12 drummers drumming, decorations are to disappear!
No drooping lighted icicles are allowed to be hanging
on January 7th at good Anglican households.
Be sure and say thank you to…
… to the members of the Altar Guild for all their
work in preparing for this season, including polishing
brass!
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…any last minute mittens, scarves, socks, and hats
before we take them all to Fairfield County services.
This is the last Sunday before we deliver them.
Why do we do that in church?
Why are there 12 days of Christmas, why not 10 or 14
or 40? Last week one theory was presented. Here's another:
there are 12 days in the season of Christmas to wed
the two opposing views that Christmas should be on December
25th (the western church) and that Christmas should
be on January 6th (the eastern church.)
Lay aside the disagreement in the early years of the
church that there should be NO celebration of Jesus'
birth at all (that's a pagan ritual of celebrating emperors'
births and has no business in the Christian faith—a
view still held by some such as Seventh Day Adventists
and Jehovah Witnesses). Also lay aside the debate as
when to celebrate it (many argued for mid-spring). Those
are discussions for another time.
If
observed at all in the early church, the celebration
of Christ's birth was usually lumped in with The Epiphany
(January 6th) and was one of the church's earliest established
feasts. But the eventual choice of December 25th was
probably made by the late 3rd century and it reflected
an attempt to "reframe" other celebrations
by the new power in town: imperial approval of the new
official imperial religion of Christianity. The pagans
had lots of feasts around the winter solstice in December:
natalis solis invicti the Roman "birth of the unconquered
sun"; and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian
"Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular
with Roman soldiers. Those, combined with the many winter
solstice celebrations, were plump for the picking, and
the church sought to use them as ingredients to bake
a new Christmas pie. So they commandeered the date and
introduced a new festival.
But
while the western churches (singularly Rome at this
time) had pretty much settled on December 25th, eastern
churches (Greek, Russian, Syrian, Egyptian, etc.) held
on to January 6th as the date for Christ's birth and
his baptism. Incidentally, the western church also celebrated
January 6th, but as the arrival date of the Magi rather
than as the date of Christ's birth. As the centuries
moved on, both western and eastern churches began taking
on traditions from each other so December 25th and January
6th kept original customs but also added "imported"
ones. As one theory goes therefore, (a bit oversimplified,
nonetheless real) that the 12 days of Christmas morphed
from several centuries of attempts to bridge the two
traditions, churches, and dates.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort
them, and give them gladness for sorrow. Jeremiah 31
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…as these holidays conclude, for the safe travels
and return of the people of St. Andrew's and all their
families and friends.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, December 28, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Twenty-first installment of a weekly
e-news bulletin for parishioners and friends of St.
Andrew's, Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, December
28, 2008.
Don't Forget…
…there are 12 days in this Christmas season. Keep
the love flowing!
Things you probably didn't know:
There's a debate about how the song "The Twelve
Days of Christmas" came about. We know it first
appeared in book form for children with the title "Mirth
without Mischief" in England all the way back in
1780. And it wasn't a song, but a poem as a memory game!
The first player recites the first verse, the second
player recites a new verse but also had to recite the
previous verse(s): quite a feat if you're hearing it
the first time.
Anyway,
some say it originated in France rather than England
(and a lot of the "days" have French origins).
The idea is that French Catholics brought it to England
when Roman Catholicism was banned in England in the
17th and 18th centuries. This version of history says
12 Days was written in as one of the "catechism
songs" to help young Catholics learn the tenets
of their faith. In those days you could hanged or "shortened
by a head" if you were caught with anything in
writing indicating adherence to the Catholic faith.
And
an extra factoid: Originally, it wasn't "four
calling birds" but "four colly birds."
A colly bird is a European black bird. (Colly means
black, probably from "coal-y" or coal-like
coloring.) So four colly birds were probably four black
birds or four Crows! But who'd want a crow for Christmas?
Medieval people did. They were considered a delicacy
and pies of such birds were often a sign of wealth and
social status.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
… Andy Taylor for his earnest work with the Christmas
pageant and Tina Trim and her earnest work with the
costumes!
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…any last minute mittens, scarves, socks before
we take them all to Fairfield County services.
Why do we do that in church?
Why are there 12 days of Christmas, why not 10 or 14
or 40? Once again, we head back to the early church.
But like the song, there's disagreement about how it
actually happened. And I'll give you one version this
week and another version next week.
One version states that in the 4th century, at the time
when the church went from an underground religion to
the big lights and prominence of the official religion
of the Roman Empire, January 6 (Epiphany) was the most
important feast day beside Easter. It's the date the
church commemorated the baptism of Jesus. (Older traditions
stated that many believed that was the date of the birth
of Jesus' soul. Even though that belief was heretical,
it stuck in people's minds.) By the 6th century another
emperor Justinian proclaimed Christmas a public holiday
with 8 days of feasting. In the 9th century, King Alfred
of England lengthened it to 12 days and declared December
25th as the beginning of Christmas. So this version
states that the Christmas season did not start on December
25th and was extended to January 6th, rather it originated
as January 6, and was drawn back to December 25th.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. John 1
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for the safe travels of the people of St. Andrew's
and all their families and friends.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, December 21, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Twentieth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, December 21, 2008.
Don't Forget…
…we're
Greening the Church after the 10:00 AM service
and setting up for Wednesday's Christmas Eve Pageant.
I mean, how much more fun can you have in one day?
Things
you probably didn't know:
Did
you know that technically, all of Santa's reindeer have
to be female?
According
to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both
male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer
each year (the only members of the deer family, Cervidae,
to have females do so), male reindeer drop their antlers
at the beginning of winter, usually late November to
mid December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till
after they give birth in the spring.
Therefore,
according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's
reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolf to Blitzen
... had to be a female.
We
should've known that since they were able to find their
way without asking.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…
all the busy cookiemakers who made it possible for over
$2600 be raised for the ministry of St. Andrew's!
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
…a
hearty singing voice as we worship at the 10:00 AM service
with Advent Lessons and Carols.
Why
do we do that in church?
What
is the service of Advent Lessons and Carols and why
do we have it here?
This
service is exactly what it says it is: a series of lessons
from Scripture, each followed by the singing of a carol.
The purpose of this is to tell a story through Word
and song; and the main theme is the developing story
of the loving purposes of God. The story is developing
because we are remembering the history of God's saving
works while we're also expecting that story to keep
changing our own lives.
So,
why the singing of carols? Well, (as you've probably
started to anticipate each time I talk about the Church's
history) the origin of carol-singing is pagan. "Carol"
probably comes from the word koros, a circle of dancers
and singers. Singing and dancing go together well and
they're a great avenue for telling, remembering, and
celebrating stories, so it wasn't long before they were
combined for the Christian faith. Of course it was only
by the grudging consent of the medieval Church that
Christian carols actually took root in Europe. But take
root they did and by the beginning of the fifteenth
century (1400s), carol-singing was a hallmark of seasonal
worship. Carol singing hit a bit of a snag in seventeenth
century England when carols (AND CHRISTMAS ITSELF) were
banned in England by the Puritans and the Puritan regime
of Oliver Cromwell. (Yes, Christmas—and birthday—celebrations
were banned.) After Cromwell was run out of England,
Charles II was made king. And what did the son of the
decapitated Charles I do? He not only enacted anti-Puritan
laws (which is why so many of them fled to America…)
but he reestablished the Church of England and…carols
and Christmas were back!
With
carols back in style, traditions began forming. One
of the most famous is the "Festival of Nine Lessons
and Carols" established on Christmas Eve, 1918,
in the chapel of Kings College, Cambridge University.
A more gorgeous, solemn and joyful celebration is hard
to find. (You can catch a glimpse of the service's start
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RC34N1TfCQ ) It
was first broadcast by radio in 1928; and, except in
1930, these annual broadcasts have continued to this
day. You can watch it each year on BBC America, buy
countless CD renditions of it or catch glimpses of it
online. And while this is the "mother" service,
Lessons and Carols grew in popularity around the globe
as it spread to English-speaking cathedrals and churches.
What makes it so appealing is its simplicity: telling
a story through word and song.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Then
Mary (the mother of Jesus) said, "Here am I, the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to
your word." Luke 1
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…those
for whom this season is a time of pain and despair and
not joy and community, in both our parish and our neighborhood.
Pray that the light of Christ will shine into their
darkness.
See
you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, December 14, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Nineteenth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, December 14, 2008.
Don't Forget…
…to bring your Christmas cookies to the church!
…that all hands are on deck for the Christmas Pageant
practice after 10 AM worship this Sunday.
…and to come to the Vicar's Annual Holiday Open
House at 5857 Vandeleur Place in Dublin, this Sunday
from 4 – 7 PM.
Things you probably didn't know: While we're
all likely rushing around for shopping, parties, special
events and the like, how 'bout a few gasoline-saving
tips (on the unusual side)
When you buy gasoline, you might want to make your purchase
at night—it could be cheaper. Gasoline becomes
more dense in cooler temperatures, and gas pumps measure
gas by volume.
Also, tighten your gas cap. A leaking or missing cap
can release 30 gallons of fuel per year in the atmosphere.
In California alone, vapors from gas stations account
for enough gasoline to fill two tankers trucks EVERY
DAY.
OK, one really odd factoid about gasoline: In the United
States, when people first noticed oil, they didn't quite
grasp the energy angle. Instead they did what any industrious
American would do: They bottled it, slapped a label
on, and sold it as a health tonic. Several hundred thousand
bottles of the stuff are said to have been purchased
and perhaps (say it ain't so) consumed.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to all the people who come to our church home
on Saturday morning to buy Christmas Cookies. Yes, we're
selling cookies, and we're also ambassadors for Christ.
Whatever we do, like it or not, our guests will associate
with the church and with God.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
Food for our pantries. This is a critical time and the
need far surpasses previous Christmases. And consider
praying for the families who will receive your gifts.
Why do we do that in church? Well, this isn't
exactly what "we do in church" but it might
be interesting to know there's a long history and connection
between Christmas and cookies.
The origin of Christmas cookies lies all the way back
in Medieval European recipes. And it all begins with
ginger. Ginger was probably introduced to Europe in
the 1100s when Crusaders brought it back from their
travels and battles in the East. Not only was ginger
a delicious spice to add to food, but it has natural
preservative qualities, so it was wildly popular. As
time went on its preservative property moved from the
domain of necessity (preserving meat) to the domain
of festivity (preserving pastries).
As it would happen, this use of ginger in breads and
pastries became popular around the same time in which
town fairs were growing in popularity. Soon both ginger
(and its cookies and breads) and town fairs became intertwined
as they spread over Europe. If you lived in Nuremberg
Germany in the early 1600s, for example, your family
would have gone to the Christkindlmarkt (Christ Child
Market) in December. You would have bought carved Christmas
decorations made of pastries flavored and preserved
with ginger. And there arose the famous Nuremberg Lebkuchen
flavored with ginger, which you probably would have
thought was the best in the world. Every house made
or baked cookies in great amounts during the Christmas
season.
But it wasn't just Germany and it wasn't just ginger:
while ginger was the prominent flavor, other sugar and
spices were added or substituted as each family wanted
to outdo the other. As well, the people of Sweden preferred
Papparkakor (spicy ginger and black-pepper delights),
while the Norwegians took to the liking of Krumkake
(thin lemon and cardamom-scented wafers).
Well, as it would happen, the Dutch people brought this
idea of Christmas cookies, and Christmas, along with
them to America. (The English word "cookie"
comes from the Dutch word Koeptje [koekje], meaning
small cake.) But it was during the nineteenth century
that gingerbread and cookies were both modernized and
romanticized, implanting itself into the American psyche.
The Grimm brothers collected volumes of German fairy
tales and shared them with Americans.
One in particular they found was about Hansel and Gretel,
two children who, abandoned in the woods by destitute
parents, discovered a house made of bread, cake and
candies. By the end of the century the composer Englebert
Humperdink wrote an opera about the boy and girl and
the gingerbread house. The Christmas cookie and bread
became part of the holiday story and the rest, as they
say, is history.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in
all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For the guests from all over the community who will
come to St. Andrew's on Saturday. Pray for them and
their families and that the light of Christ will go
with them from this place.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, December 7, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Eighteenth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, December 7, 2008.
Don't
Forget…
…to
get your cookies baked. The world's arriving at our
doors in a week.
Things
you probably didn't know:
sticking with the snow one more week…
…apparently
the idea of Inuit cultures having hundreds of words
for snow is an Urban Legend. (Can Arctic peoples have
"urban" legends?) It seems the truth is that
there are hundreds of Inuit dialects, each with their
own word for snow. Not hundreds of nuanced words, just
hundreds of regional dialects, each with their own way
of saying the same thing. In other words, saying the
Inuits have hundreds of words for snow is like saying
Europeans have hundreds of words for snow.
Did
you know snow can officially make you crazy? (Why is
that a surprise, have they never been cooped up for
4 days after a big storm?) But yes, too much snow can
cause Pibloktoq, a little-understood hysteria seen in
people living in the Arctic. It can cause a wide range
of symptoms, including echolalia (senseless repetition
of overheard words) and running around naked in the
snow.
And
something only Bing Crosby could love: According to
the "snowball Earth" theory, roughly 600 million
years ago our planet was entirely covered in snow and
ice. White Christmas's for everyone!
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…to
all those people listed on our Ministry Schedule. Who
are they? Take a look around at the greeters, ushers,
altar guild members, coffee hour families, nursery care
givers, acolytes, bread makers, lectors and chalicists,
and the stealth church closers. You can see their names
on the Ministry Schedule up on the bulletin board. Give
them a big thank you. Oh…and take a minute to be
one too.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
If
you haven't had a chance to finish up your pledge for
2008, and are able, boy would that'd be a huge help.
Why do we do that in church?
Why don't we have Christmas decorations up everywhere
like "all the other churches do"? Andy Williams
calls this "the hap-happiest season of all."
The malls have been decorated since before Halloween.
Why are we waiting so long?
Though
it may seem inconceivable, the time before Christmas
hasn't always been a celebration. Like the Lenten season
before Easter, Advent was once a solemn preparation
for Christmas. Well, actually, not Christmas exactly.
Originally it was a season preparing for Epiphany, January
6, the adoration of the Magi. (We Three Kings, and all
that.)
Some
people claim Advent was first celebrated by the apostle
Peter, but the exact starting date of the season was
long ago lost. Whenever it started, Advent originally
was a time of fasting and self-reflection (instead of
today's Christmas parties and "thinking about other
people for a change.") In the mid-300s, two events
changed that thinking: Constantine the Great built the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, declaring Jesus'
birthday a national holiday; and Julius, bishop of Rome,
set the date as December 25. Christmas took on a happier,
more celebratory feel and became a time of joyous anticipation.
By the mid-400s most of the Orthodox churches in the
east (you know, like Russian, Greek, Syrian, etc. Orthodox
churches) recognized December 25 as Christmas as well,
though Advent is still much more solemnly observed among
Orthodox Christians, and their season begins a couple
of weeks earlier than western churches!
As
Christmas grew in popularity and in celebratory energy,
there was a lessening of the required fasting during
Advent, though solemnity was still encouraged. (A vestige
of that to this day is our practice of using purple
rather than red and green for our season's colors, as
well as our more penitential nature of prayers and Scripture
readings.)
Another
significant change was the Reformation. Many in the
West had come to believe that the Church (Roman Catholic
at that time) had gone overboard with not only saints
and purgatory and indulgences, but also with an elaborate
calendar piling up too many holidays and days of fasting.
The "Reformed" churches saw Advent and Lent
and other seasons as not only unnecessary but obstructive,
burdening the people with embellishments and under serving
the Christ event itself. So while they destroyed statues
and removed stained glass windows, they also jettisoned
Advent, Lent and just about everything except Christmas
and Easter.
In
the Southern Baptist church I grew up in North Carolina
in the 60s, Advent was seen as "too Catholic"
or "Popish." While many non-denominational,
or charismatic/Pentecostal churches still hold that
view, interestingly there is a gradual, seismic shift
going on in mainstream protestant churches, where Lutheran,
Presbyterian, Congregational, and even some Baptist
churches are recognizing the benefit of preparing for
Christmas (and Easter) with the preparatory season of
Advent (and Lent).
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so
this week I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's
lectionary:
Do
not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord
one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years
like one day. The Lord is not slow, but is patient with
you. 2 Peter 3
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For all the various Scout troops, the children and their
leaders and parents, who use our church most every week
and most every weekday evening. Pray for them, their
programs, and their time while in St. Andrew's.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, November 30, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Seventeenth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, November 30, 2008.
Don't Forget…
…to really, actually, thank God for the blessings
you know and the blessings you don't know about yet,
or won't know until we're all in heaven.
Things you probably didn't know: sticking with
the snow…
First? Snow can keep you warm. Yep, freshly fallen snow
is a fantastic thermal insulator. It's 90 to 95% air,
so essentially, it creates thousands of heat trapping
layers. Practical use? Build snow caves to stay warm.
. http://outdoorswithdave.com/camping/building_a_snow_cave.htm
Check it out.
Second? Snow has incredibly good acoustical properties.
It's said you can hear a normal human conversation across
a flat snowy surface over a mile away.
Bonus:
Largest recorded snowflake? 15 inches in Fort Keogh,
Montana sighted in 1887. That's a bit weird…..
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to all those people who are working on Thanksgiving
Day or "Black Friday" or this weekend who
are there to serve you. They are away from family and
friends for your convenience. You can tell them you
appreciate them.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
No turkey sandwiches! No leftover stuffing! No green
bean casserole! But…don't forget to remember our
neighbors by bringing your gifts of scarves, hats, gloves
and socks for our Mitten Tree.
Why do we do that in church? This Sunday we begin
a new church year with the season of Advent. (Year B
as a matter of fact, out of three, A, B, C.) And we'll
be lighting an Advent Wreath each of the next four Sundays.
So, what's an Advent wreath? Why do we light it? What's
it doing in church?
I know it'll come as a shock that the actual origins
of Advent wreaths aren't really known. There's evidence
of pre-Christian Germanic peoples using wreathes with
lit candles during the cold and dark December days,
and that they symbolized a hope in future warmth and
increasing sunlight of spring.
Of course, by the Middle Ages, Christians adapted this
tradition as part of their spiritual preparation for
Christmas. After all, Christ is "the Light that
came into the world" to dispel the darkness of
sin and to radiate the truth and love of God (John 3:19-21)
so it was a perfect symbol. Why should the pagans have
all the good fun?
New traditions were added to the old ones so now there's
a lot more symbolism in the Advent wreath than might
meet the eye. And these symbols are the reason we have
Advent Wreaths in church.
The evergreens signify continuous life, even in the
midst of darkness and adversity. You'll often see Holly
in Advent wreaths for the same reason because the prickly
leaves are reminiscent of the crown of thorns, also
a sign of continuous life bearing witness against darkness
and hardship. The circle of the wreath, which has no
beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the
immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found
in Christ. And any pine cones, nuts, or seedpods used
to decorate the wreath symbolize resurrection, life
from death.
Then there are the four candles surrounding a center
white candle. The four candles around the circle each
represent a week of Advent, a week of waiting for Christ
to come. Three of those candles are purple, one is rose
colored. Purple symbolizes royalty but it also represents
penance and preparatory sacrifice, making it perfect
for Advent. There is the royalty of the coming King
and there is penance and preparation as we wait. The
rose candle is lit on the third Sunday and that Sunday
is also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin for
rejoicing. As in Lent, the third Sunday in Advent is
a mid-point relaxing from the more somber nature of
the season, and the lectionary readings assigned for
the day have a more celebratory tone. Each week another
candle is lit, raising the hope and anticipation that
Christ, the Light of the World, is soon coming. And
at the celebration of Christmas, the center white candle
is lit. Christ is born.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those
who wait on him. Isaiah 64.
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…consider "praying the radio." It's a
cousin to the practice of "Praying the newspaper."
Praying the radio means lifting up in prayer people
and events you hear talked about on the radio. It can
mean asking God's blessings on the announcers, or people
in a particular story, or a world or local situation,
or something in your own life that the radio talk reminded
you of.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, November 23, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Sixteenth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington,
leading up to Sunday, November 23, 2008.
Don't Forget…
we're
starting up our Christmas Mitten Tree again this year
for Fairfield County Family Services. Please consider
donating new, hand-made, and/or used (but in excellent
condition) mittens, scarves, hats, and/or socks for
both adults and children. You'll find the Mitten Tree
in the Narthex as you enter the church. Just place the
items on the tree and each time the tree fills up, we'll
take them down to Family Services!
Things
you probably didn't know: Since we've already starting
seeing the white stuff outside, here are some factoids:
Did
you know that snow is a mineral, just like diamonds
and salt? Did you know that at the center of almost
every snow crystal is a tiny mote of dust, which can
be anything from volcanic ash to a particle from outer
space? Water crystals start growing around that speck
and the crystals are shaped by humidity, temperature,
wind and so forth, meaning the history of a flake's
fall to the ground is recorded in it!
Oh
and one last terrible factoid. (Those of you under 12
DO NOT READ FURTHER!) Most snowflakes don't look like
the lacy decorations kids cut from folded paper. They're
generally bunches of perfectly symmetrical crystals
stuck together, many of which are identical at first,
and some of the fully formed ones are pretty darned
similar. Each one unique? Well……..
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…to
Fifth-Third Bank and the Episcopal Diocese of Southern
Ohio! Fifth-Third Bank has chosen to forgive over $36,000
of our mortgage loan principal and the diocese is working
out a deal with us to make our total mortgage affordable!
In these difficult financial times, we are blessed.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
If
you're a teen, YOURSELF, if you're not, then your teenager(s)
or your friends' or children's teenagers. We want you/them
to meet our new diocesan youth director Rob Conkel and
we want to go for our next filming of our YouTube video.
Why
do we do that in church? This Sunday is (sort of)
New Year's Eve?
Yep,
that's true. As far as the Church is concerned, this
Sunday is (sort of) New Year's Eve. It's the last Sunday
of the church year. Particularly this is true in the
more liturgical denominations such as Episcopal, Lutheran,
and Roman Catholic ones where we divide the year into
seasons. But why do we do that? Why seasons?
There
are lots of reasons and one main one is that we learned
it from our spiritual ancestors, the Jews. They instituted
a yearly reminder of Passover, for example, God's saving
act while they were slaves in Egypt. It's good to be
regularly reminded what God has done for us because
we can, like they did, get busy, forget, and move on.
Forgetting means we have to learn our lessons all over
again, which is stupid when you think about it. Why
keep going back to Spirituality 101 every time when
you can move to 102, or 202 or Advanced Placement? Another
reason is that having yearly seasons makes it easier
for us to understand the big picture of how God works
in our lives. How? Because the church year is divided
into two parts: incarnation and resurrection, the two
most basic principles of Christianity. Jesus was made
human (cycle one: incarnation, or en-flesh-ment), so
that our separation from God could be healed (cycle
two: resurrection of Jesus and therefore our resurrection
to a new life).
The
incarnation cycle is the seasons of Advent (starting
Sunday week), Christmas, and Epiphany. These seasons
prepare us to welcome Jesus, celebrate the coming of
Jesus, and tell us how Jesus revealed himself to us.
They're all about Jesus coming into the world. Whereas
the resurrection cycle, Lent and Easter, is all about
what happened because he came into the world. Lent aids
us in preparing to receive, or continually receive,
the new life Christ makes available to us. Easter is
the celebration of that new life, what it means, and
what it does. While these explanations are a bit simplified,
their point is to say that the church year isn't a collection
of unrelated events/celebrations/notices, but a continuous
cycling of the salvation story.
But
what about the time after the Easter season, the time
we're in right now? It's called, unsurprisingly, "ordinary
time" from the Latin tempus ordinarii, "numbered
or ordinal time." You'll notice on the sheets with
our weekly Scripture passages that this summer and fall
each Sunday was numbered such as: "Fourth Sunday
after Pentecost" or "Twenty-Sixth Sunday after
Pentecost". Of course I tell you this for the Sunday
which will be the ONLY Sunday during this season when
that isn't true! You'll see it's called "Last Pentecost."
(Wouldn't you know.) But think of this ordinary time,
or numbered time, as the time of the year when we live
out the ordinariness of life, when all the principles
we learn in the incarnation and resurrection cycle are
put to practice.
BTW,
this Sunday coming up is also known as Christ the King
Sunday, the culmination of the year, the celebration
of our belief that Christ will be the final judge, final
ruler of all ages, and it's the last hurray before we
begin the year again.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
(It's a long one, but one of the most beautiful prayers
in Scripture.)
I
(St. Paul) pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom
and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with
the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what
is the hope to which he has called you, what are the
riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
for us who believe, according to the working of his
great power. Ephesians 1
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…all
of those in our community who will be facing Thanksgiving
alone or in despair.
And
if you know of someone like that, consider inviting
them to your home for Thanksgiving.
See
you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, November 16, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifteenth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, November 16, 2008.
Don't Forget… (and there's a whole bunch
to remember this week)
…Newcomer Breakfast at 9:00 AM. Great way to meet
our new folks and welcome them to the neighborhood,
good cookin' and eatin' sponsored by the Men's Group,
fun way to catch up with those people you sit with in
the pews, and of course, it's FREE!
…Youth Sunday at 10:00 AM. Each Sunday School class
has a part to play as they close out their first term,
including the Teens who are showing off their acting
and theological skills in Sunday's sermon.
…Acolyte training after the 10:00 service, those
in the know have received their invitation, but the
training is open to all, including adults.
…and Mission Council meeting after the service.
(Whew.)
Things you probably didn't know:
In honor of our Newcomer Breakfast this Sunday, let's
ask the question: Which came first, the chicken or the
egg ? Are you ready?
Apparently, the answer is "the egg". Why?
I have no idea, but some (evolutionary genetics) experts
from the University of Nothingham in England say that
"simply put" genetic material doesn't change
during an animal's life. (Have they not seen The Hulk?)
Therefore, the first bird that evolved into a chicken
must have existed as an embryo inside an egg and that
"the pecking order" is clear. (Even scientist
can have a [lame] sense of humor.) The living organism
inside the eggshell would have the same DNA as the chicken
it would develop into, so the egg would have to come
first. Apparently a bunch of "eggsperts" (is
there no end to this?) at King's College in London agree.
Well if the Brits agree, I guess we can all fall into
line.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to the guys who bought their way through grocery
stores this week and cooked their way through Sunday's
breakfast,
…to the Sunday School teachers who made this first
term and this Sunday possible,
…to the kids and teens who have worked on their
presentations,
…to Kevin McCarty and his commitment to the acolytes,
…and to the Newcomers who bring so much to this
community!
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…frankly, I'd say a lot of energy and a little
extra sleep, you'll need it thanking everyone.
Why
do we do that in church?
We've previously talked about where Sunday School came
from , let's talk about where acolytes came from. "Acolytes"
is a general term referring to servers at the altar,
as well as bearers of torches (torch bearers) crosses
(crucifers) incense containers (thurifers) and banners
(banner bearers.)
Believe it or not, acolytes are referred to in church
writings as far back as the 3rd century where it's told
they assisted the clergy in setting the Eucharist table.
Only later did their job description expand into carrying
torches (which in those days really were torches) crosses
and the like. By the Middle Ages, they were considered
a "minor" order, a prerequisite step that
led to the "major" orders of deacon, priest,
and bishop. (BTW, also included in that group of "minor"
orders: exorcists and lectors and doorkeepers. hmmmm.)
Here's something for your next party: Acolyte
comes from the Greek akolouthos: "a" meaning
association and "kolouthos" meaning road or
journey. Which explains why they're always in processions.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Therefore encourage one another and build up each other,
as indeed you are doing. I Thessalonians 5
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for the life and health and abundance of this
congregation and our ministries to our neighbors.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, November 9, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Fourteenth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington, leading up to Sunday, November 9, 2008.
Don't Forget…
…(parents) that Youth Sunday rehearsals are this
Sunday after the 10:00 service. Make sure all Sunday
School kids and Teens are here for our practice.
…your Good Faith Effort and Pledge cards if you
haven't already offered them by mail or at the services
last Sunday. Our numbers are encouraging and the bishops
and trustees of the diocese are meeting this weekend
at Diocesan Convention to discuss our case, among several.
We have about 11 families who have not turned theirs
in yet, and we prayerfully need your support, if you
are able at this time. (We also have 14 new pledges!)
Things you probably didn't know:
With this historic election (no matter which side of
the aisle you're on, we can agree on historic), let's
have one more session on presidents. Just think how
much knowledge you'll be able to throw around at the
next office or holiday party.
Q1:
What does the letter S stand for in Harry S. Truman?
Q2: How long did George W. and Laura date before getting
married?
Q3: What is one food that Barack Obama really really
doesn't like?
A1: It stands for S. His full middle
name is S, believe it or not, in honor of his two grandfathers
who both had S in their names.(If both of his grandfathers
had been the II, would he had called himself the IV?)
A2: A grand total of 3 months. (Clearly, he's been "the
decider" for quite some time.)
A3: Ice cream. Ever since he worked as a teenager at
Baskins Robbins, he has wanted to swear off the stuff.
But since we've seen him on the campaign trail with
ice cream, obviously politics trumped taste buds.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…all the families who provide us coffee hour after
the 10:00 service. Our refreshment is their goal. Thank
you for going the extra mile for you and me.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…your tired paper, your poor mail flyers, your
huddled newspapers yearning to be breathe free (as something
else in their next—recycled—life). Apologizes
to Mr. Lazarus and the Statue of Liberty.
Why do we do that in church? This Sunday we will
baptize Isabella Leffler. Why do we baptize people?
OK, there are biblical and traditional reasons. First
of all, baptism is one of the few rites that the church
believes can be traced all the way back to Jesus. Baptism
developed as a rite in the early church following Jesus'
admonition that we must be born "of water and the
spirit" (John 3:5). Not only that, but after his
resurrection, Christians believe Jesus commanded us
to make disciples by baptizing in the name of the Trinity
(Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and then sending these
new disciples all out into the world while teaching
them to "obey everything I have commanded."
Matthew 28:19-20. You can see a pattern. Make disciples,
baptize them, send them, teach them. And it's a pattern
and job description for every congregation. Make, baptize,
send, teach.
It's probably easy to understand the need for making,
sending and teaching, but why baptize? Well, John the
Baptist baptized people (including Jesus) in a symbolic
washing away of sins. People confessed what they did
wrong, and the baptism was a symbol of that confession.
But Jesus and the church took it a step further. Not
only is there a need for us to confess our sins and
turn away from them (repentance) so that we can get
right with God, but we need help doing it. In baptism,
the church believes that there is an actually washing
away of sins. But wait, there's more. There's also a
gift of the Holy Spirit because we can't possibly live
the life God calls us to live, all on our own. We need
help. That help is the Holy Spirit and we believe at
baptism, God gives us that help. Somehow, in some way,
and through some method known only to God, we are changed
at baptism we're given power, we're given ability. Pay
attention to our baptismal service on Sunday and see
how it summarizes all of that for you. Watch how the
candidate (or in this case the parents and godparents,
in Isabella's stead) are asked if they are prepared
and ready to take on these new responsibilities. And
this is always a great time (as with weddings) to renew
your own promises with God.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor
the hour. Matthew 25
Things I can pray for in traffic:
…for your own commitments you have made to God
in the past, that you can restore them, and your relationship
with God.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, November 2, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Thirteenth installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington.
Don't
Forget…
…two
very important things: to bring your Good Faith Effort
and Pledge Cards, and to turn your clocks back on Saturday
night. There are hardly words to express how important
this Sunday will be in the life of this congregation.
Like it or not, it is make or break time. The confluence
of the last two years of struggles, along with the global
financial stresses, has brought us to a deciding point.
Do we continue our newly found growth, educate our children
in the faith, feed hungry families, share the good news
of Christ, provide a safe haven for all seekers of God
and seize our new energies, or do we continue our $2500/month
shortfall with its imminent consequences of loss of
staff or property? I really dislike sounding like those
dreadful and ubiquitous political ads controlling the
airwaves, striking fear with whatever decision is made.
Forgive me for doing so, but this weekend will either
be one of our finest hours or one of our more sad.
Things
you probably didn't know:
Still,
life goes on (You knew that.) The world remains and
we remain in it. (You knew that too.) So let's continue
commenting on this world of ours. In particular, here
are a few oddities surrounding this peculiar institution
of daylight savings time.
>
Benjamin Franklin ("Early to bed, and early
to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"),
when he was an envoy to France, anonymously published
a letter suggesting that Parisians economize on candles
by rising earlier to use morning sunlight, tax window
shutters to encourage less use of them, ration candles,
and use the ringing of church bells and the firing of
cannons at sunrise to wake the public.
>
You would think the "Twin Cities" would
act a little more neighborly and I'm sure they now do.
But in the mid 1960s, St. Paul wanted to follow the
national trend in moving up the date for daylight savings
time, but Minneapolis wanted to follow state law. For
years they didn't agree and for years (at this time
of year) you could cross the street and change the time.
>
There hasn't always been a national consensus about
daylight savings time. Not too many years ago, at its
worst, 23 different pairs of daylight savings time start
and end dates were used in Iowa alone. During this period,
for five weeks each year, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia
were not on the same time as Washington D.C., Cleveland,
or Baltimore--but Chicago was. And, on one Ohio to West
Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches
seven times in 35 miles.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…to
our teenagers for sticking with the program as we try
to figure out "who we are." (They'll know
what that means.)
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
…stewardship
cards and a thankful spirit.
Why
do we do that in church?
This Sunday is All Saints' Sunday. It's when we remember
the lives of the faithful who have gone before us. Why
do we remember saints and do we ever pray to them?
Well,
the practice of respecting and remembering people who
have lived lives of devotion is as old as the church.
It's mostly because our faith teaches that the saints
are both close to God (because of their holiness) and
accessible to us (because they shared our human nature).
The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us of "a
cloud of witnesses" in heaven and our faith teaches
that they pray for us and forever witness the glory
of God. We're encouraged to imitate them, on the idea
that being close to God involves praying and caring
for others, and regularly witnessing to the glory of
God in our own lives and those around us. We can imitate
them because we can learn how they lived and by their
example find our own way. We don't have to make it up
from scratch.
In
the early church there grew a practice of remembering
the really really great saints, the towers of the church.
But as time went on, people wanted to remember the quieter,
less conspicuous saints who were their friends and family
members. Also there became too many towering saints
to remember by name! So the church, in its infinite
wisdom, decided on a "catch-all" day, when
all the saints, known and "those whom are known
to God alone" could be lifted up and for whom thanks
could be given.
Do
we pray to saints? The quick answer is, as Anglicans,
no. We hold them in high esteem; we follow their examples
and learn from their lives. We can even ask them to
pray with us to God, adding their intercessions to our
own. But only to God are prayers to be offered.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible,
so this week I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's
lectionary:
Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they
will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive
mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will
see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will
be called children of God. Matthew 5
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
…those
saints in your life who are, or who have been along
the way, examples and encouragers for you.
See
you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, October 26, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Twelfth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
…our Food Pantry Music Fest tomorrow (Saturday)
at 4:00 PM. Bring some food for our local pantries and
enjoy some homegrown music talent and performances.
Could there be the next American Idol or next America's
Got Talent superstar in our presence? What better way
to cap off your (rainy, dreary) Saturday afternoon than
to do a good deed and have some fun. We'll have light
refreshments to keep you pumped.
Things you probably didn't know: With the approaching
election—heck some of you have already voted or
will vote by absentee soon so it's approached and gone—let's
go back to some presidential factoids with wacky additions.
- The
6th president of the United States John Quincy Adams
spent 50 of his 81 years in public service as a diplomat,
senator, secretary of state, president, and then as
member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He witnessed
the signing of the peace that ended the American Revolution
as well as had his hand in the purchasing of Florida.
And in warm weather, he customarily went skinny-dipping
in the Potomac River before dawn.
-
Warren Harding, 29th U.S. president, was a well-liked,
easy going kind of guy who encouraged the country
in 1920 to return to "normalcy" a ward he
essentially made-up, er, invented. He did have some
problems with corruption in his administration so
I guess it won't come as a surprise to learn he played
poker at least twice a week and that he once gambled
away an entire set of White House china. His advisors
were nicknamed the "Poker Cabinet" because
their regular attendance at the president's extra-curricular
activities.
- The
26th U.S. president Theodore "Teddy" "Speak
softly and carry a big stick" Roosevelt is widely
considered one of the strongest and most vigorous
presidents with a list of achievements as long as
any. When William McKinley was assassinated, Roosevelt
became the youngest man ever to be president at the
age of 42. But to end on a touchy-feely note, the
teddy bear that is the favorite of children everywhere
is derived from Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt.
On a hunting trip in 1902 down in Mississippi, Roosevelt
famously refused to kill a captured black bear simply
for the sake of making a kill, and while her cub was
nearby. Bears and later bear cubs quickly became closely
associated with Roosevelt in political cartoons thereafter
and as with all success, they became a marketing boom.
Be
sure and say thank you to…
…Andy Taylor and all his helpers for our food pantry
Music Fest. As you can imagine, many hours and much
effort is going into this event.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…your pledge cards if you cannot be in church next
Sunday! On All Saints' Sunday, November 2nd we'll have
our Ingathering of good faith and effort pledge cards,
asking God's blessings on our gifts. (Or you can mail
them in if you can't be here this weekend either. Of
course, we'll miss you terribly if you can't join us
two weeks in a row!)
Why do we do that in church? So while we're on
the subject, how did churches raise money in the past?
For those of you unfamiliar with church history over
the last couple of hundred years (I realize there's
only a few) you might be surprised. Churches raised
money by renting pews. In essence, churches charged
for reserving a pew for you. In the 19th century a New
York Avenue Presbyterian Church family would pay a quarterly
rental fee for a pew in the sanctuary. Families who
sat closer to the front paid more, so it was clear to
everyone who were the most prominent givers. From their
bulletin on Easter Sunday, 1901: "Strangers are
cordially welcomed. Every family of this church should
have its own pew. Every regular attendant should have
a stated sitting in the church. Sittings in the gallery
from $4.00 to $13.00, on the main floor from $15.00
to $150.00." And later in 1927: "The Board
of Deacons have requested that the members of the church
plan to be in their pews not later than 11 o'clock in
order that it may be possible for them to seat the visitors
and strangers promptly as they come to the service.
The Board of Session has authorized the announcement
that on Easter Sunday no seats will be reserved after
10:45 o'clock. The membership of our church, we are
confident, will adjust ourselves to this request."
Churches down south were no different. At the Church
of the Good Shepherd in York, SC there were three classes
of pews established in 1855: First class (10 pews near
the front with the best views) was rented at $40 per
year. Unrented pews were left for "strangers"
and therefore called……….. "strangers
pews." And seats in the gallery (balcony) were
sometimes free or at very low cost. They were used by
the choir, by several slaves who became members, and
by some widows still in mourning. But that's not all.
Many southern churches had a bank of lights in the front
of the nave with a family's name beside each bulb. Every
Sunday the congregation's attendance was displayed as
those who had arrived trekked up front and screwed in
their light. (What a great idea!!) Around 1874, Good
Shepherd replaced pew rentals in part by the passing
of a collection plate every fourth Sunday. (Though you
can bet families stayed in "their pews" for
years afterwards.)
Remember last week's e-News and the mention of the (Episcopal)
Church of the Holy Communion that later became (to the
horror of the diocese) the infamous Limelight Club?
This parish was also famous because it was the first
church in New York City to be established as a Free
Pew church.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the
law and the prophets." Matthew 22
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For God's abundant blessings upon St. Andrew's and our
ministries.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, October 19, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Eleventh installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
…to bring your paper recycling! De plane, de plane!!
It's here! The bin has already arrived! (Sorry for the
ancient reference to Fantasy Island.) Tell your friends.
Tell your neighbors. (Hopefully some of them will be
in both categories.) Tell your co-workers who live near
here. Believe it or not, our bin is already filling
up and it only arrived yesterday! Newspapers, mail of
any kind (except cardboard), office, copier and fax
papers, bring it all.
Things you probably didn't know about recycling:
Ok, so they aren't "crazy" things (well one
is), but since we're discussing recycling, consider
these recycling tips for the good of the environment
and us all:
CDs/DVDs/Game
Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs,
and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech
for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223,
www.auraltech.com.
Rechargeable batteries: They are quite toxic
and most are just thrown away. Instead, take them to
the local Circuit City, Home Depot, Radio Shack, Best
Buy or electronics store. Call before you go, of course,
but most will take them for recycling.
Compact fluorescent bulbs: These new energy efficient
are great for saving electricity but they contain mercury
and need to handled carefully (just read any description
about how you're supposed to clean up after a broken
bulb!) Home Depot is starting a campaign or you can
check out Fairfield County's recycling website. Be warned:
tiny print and loads of info to pour through. http://www.fairfieldrecycles.org/
Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible
recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.
Locally? Contact Redemtech, 3650 Brookham Drive, Columbus
614-305-7102. Or look at the provided Fairfield County
recycling website above.
Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.
(Who knew?)
Eyeglasses: The local Lion's Club, LensCrafters
and other eye care chains collect these. Lenses are
reground and given to people in need.
Ink/toner cartridges: Recycle them at church!
We have the envelopes at church for you to mail them
in postage free and it's makes money for St. Andrew!
Be sure and say thank you to…
…to Tina Trim for setting up and managing the ink
cartridge recycling project, to Elaine Vaughn for helping
out with our new paper recycling project, and give yourselves
a pat on the back (if you bring your recycling to church.)
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…well, another obvious answer week. If everybody
brings something each week, who knows, we might fill
this puppy up faster than planned.
Why
do we do that in church? What happens to items used
in church that the church no longer needs or wishes
to use?
In other words what does a church do if it no longer
needs or wishes to use vessels consecrated (blessed)
for the altar, or vestments used by the clergy or worship
leaders? There are three basic choices. One is that
the church may give those items "as is" to
another church so that they will continue to be used
in worship or spiritual practices. Many of the items
we use at St. Andrew came from that very source as a
matter of fact. Episcopal churches in our diocese, the
Diocese of Southern Ohio, gave us altar vessels (chalices,
patens, altar candlesticks for example) clergy vestments
(chalices, stoles, for example.) If this is done, no
further action is needed for the item to be used in
the next parish.
If
they are in poorer condition, another choice is to refurbish
them (restoring the fabric or re-plating the metal)
or give them to a ministry dedicated to that service.
Our parishioner Edith Carr is doing just that with old
choir robes and more. She is taking church items we
cannot or will not use any longer and sending them to
churches in Africa which will restore them and used
the items themselves or donate them to other local churches.
Another service is in New Jersey, call Vestment Exchange
and Sister Elias Freeman (at the Vestment Exchange,
732-636-5111) also performs that ministry.
A third choice is to deconsecrate the item so that it
may be disposed of properly. When items are dedicated
for holy use they are blessed by God through the intercessions
of the clergy and people.
We call that action "consecration." We did
such a thing recently with the acolyte crosses Kevin
McCarty made. But when the item cannot or will not be
used in the service of God at all, it is not appropriate
to merely throw it away. To "toss it" is disrespectful
of its service to God and to the people of God and is
akin to throwing God's blessings into the trash. Instead,
the items should be deconsecrated. Essentially, we ask
God to remove his blessings from it by declaring it
is no longer to be set apart for God's service and may
be used for "secular purposes" or for disposal.
This is appropriate for items used in church as well
as for church buildings themselves. The famous/infamous
NYC night club "The Limelight" was once the
Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion. When a real
estate deal went sour and the building "fell"
into the wrong hands, the bishops of New York quickly
arranged a deconsecration of the church before turning
over the property.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary:
Then Jesus said to them, "Give therefore to the
emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God
the things that are God's." Matthew 22
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For our environment, and for St. Andrew's use of it,
that we can be better caretakers of our blessings and
of our trash.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, October 12, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Tenth (yes tenth, I jumped the gun last
week) installment of a weekly e-news bulletin for parishioners
and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
…to bring Fido, Kitty, Elmer the parakeet and all
those other little joys in your life to church on Sunday.
Pictures of pets and stuffed pet toys are welcome too.
With each and all we will ask God's blessing upon them
and upon those who care for them (which is why pictures
and stuffed toys are welcome). While it may get a bit
noisy at times, don't worry, it's just a reminder of
how wonderful even the untidiness of God's creation
can be.
Things you probably didn't know about dogs:
(We'll make it the top 5…)
· 87% of dog owners say their dog curls up beside
them or at their feet while they watch T.V.
· Number of dogs in the U.S. named as the primary
beneficiaries in their owner's will? Approximately 1
million.
· An American Animal Hospital Assoc. poll found
that 33% of dog owners admit to talking to their dogs
on the phone and leaving answering machine messages
for them while away.
· Bingo is the name of the dog on the side of
the Cracker Jack box. (Remember, There was a farmer
who had a dog and Bingo was his name o…B I N G
O……B I N G O………?)
· It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They
can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans.
It's similar to our vision at dusk.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…those who contributed time and food and money
to our outreach at His Place this Wednesday at St. John's
Episcopal Church on W. Town Street. We served dinner
to over 80 people, met many folks at dinner and had
a great time doing it all.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…well, this one should be obvious. However, if
you don't have a pet but have family or friends who
do, come on up for the blessing too! Together we'll
ask God's blessing on them as well.
Why do we do that in church? Why do we have a
blessing of the animals in the Episcopal Church and
why is it in remembrance of St. Francis?
Well,
there are lots of reasons for each and they all center
on the saint himself. St Francis lived in Italy in the
1200s and was born into wealth. On a pilgrimage to Rome
he was struck by the terrible poverty he witnessed along
the way and in a moment of haste, emotion or pure religious
fervor, stripped himself of all his extraordinarily
expensive clothes, gave them away, and spent a day begging
with the beggars. The experience of being penniless
deeply affected him. Through a whole series of resulting
decisions and actions from that day, he started a religious
community of people who promised to live their life
in poverty so they could give everything to the poor
and serve them.
How does this lead to our blessing of the animals? Well,
his life, now free from many of the ordinary strains
and stresses, could more easily focus on the beauty
that was all around him, rather than on possessions.
Basically, he then fell in love with creation. He became
famous (and infamous) for conversing with and singing
to birds and trees and flowers. He wrote poetry and
one of his most famous was Canticle of the Creatures,
an ode to God's living things. "All praise to you,
Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."
But
still, why do we have blessing of the animals? Anglicans
have long believed that God reveals himself in creation.
That means you can look at the wonderful order within
your body, or the ecology of the planet or the majesty
of a starry night and not only be amazed at it, but
get a glimpse of who God is and what God cares about.
By studying and appreciating it and by being thankful
for it, you can learn about God. St. Francis's love
for creation and our love for our pets fit right into
that understanding. We can see in our pets an example
of unconditional love and a glimpse of what God's unconditional
love for us can be like. We can see how we care for
our pets and get a glimpse of how God cares for us.
And since Anglicans love God AND a good party, having
a church filled with barks, and meows and chirps and
sniffing seems like a good way to celebrate both.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary
Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy
burdens and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For the Humane Society and animal shelters and veterinarians
in our Pickerington/Reynoldsburg area.
See you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, October 5, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome to the Tenth installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
…to start telling your pets, your friends' pets,
and your children's/grandchildren's stuffed pets, (or
of course their caretakers) that our celebration of
St. Francis and the blessing of the animals is around
the corner. It's not this Sunday but next Sunday the
12th. That means there's plenty of time to get the word
out to your friends, co-workers and family about it
and ask them to join us!
We'll be asking God's blessings on pets and those who
love them and that's gotta be something that everybody
would like to know. So go out and spread the word.
Things you probably didn't know:
Ok, this one probably isn't fair but….can you name
the one Vice President sworn in on foreign soil? His
name was William Rufus DeVane King. Back in the 19th
century VPs were expected to run the Senate and keep
a steady hand on the legislative process. So Franklin
Pierce picks this diplomatic kind of guy, King, to be
his running mate. But King gets seriously ill during
the campaign and heads to Cuba (this is the 19th century
after all) to recuperate in the tropical air. Knowing
Pierce would win the election and knowing that King
couldn't be present for the swearing in, Congress passes
a one-time-only law that allows the VP to be sworn in
abroad. Unfortunately, King did not survive his illness
and died within the month and John Breckenridge was
sworn in as our nation's 14th VP.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…Fr David this Sunday for his support, spirit,
and special gifts. We are a fortunate parish to have
him with us and we are grateful.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
A prayerful attitude for our country and our country's
leadership as we are all facing challenging times.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we call our lay leadership "Mission Council"?
The short answer is that the Mission Council is the
lay leadership of a congregation that is not yet self-sufficient
financially. It's called "mission" because
as a congregation dependent upon the diocese, we are
a "mission" of the diocese in this area and
therefore we are a congregation under the direct authority
of the bishop. Also the vicar is the bishop's representative
in the congregation. When a congregation becomes financially
self-sufficient it goes from "mission status"
to "parish status" and the lay leadership
body as Mission Council is changed to "Vestry."
These changes represent a higher level of self-determination
(though as Episcopalians, we always remain under the
authority of our bishop.)
And by the way, "vestry" used to be a term
for a room in a church which was used to store "vestments"
(the attire worn by clergy in services) and other items
used in worship. Since it needed to be big enough to
store a lot of things, many church meeting were held
in that room. Slowly through time as it became more
common to have administrative meetings in the "vestry"…..well,
you get where I'm going with this.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
Beloved,
I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this
one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining
forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ
Jesus. Philippians, Chapter 3
Things I can pray for in traffic:
The Mission Council of our parish. They are responsible
for making decisions for us and always need our prayers
for God's blessings of wisdom and guidance and direction.
See Fr. David in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, September 28, 2008.
Hello Everybody:
Bet you didn't think you'd receive one this week did
you?
Welcome to the Eighth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
...God is to be praised and deserves our thanksgiving
even when the vicar is out of the country, Sunday School
kids need your support, and you'd missed everyone terribly
if you didn't see them anyway.
Things you probably didn't know:
The first CD pressed in the USof A was Bruce Springsteen's
"Born in the USA."
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
…well, don't bring it church just yet, but we've
just enlisted in a paper recycling program that will
raise money for the parish. You've seen some of the
green and yellow bins outside some churches and organizations.
Start saving your newspapers, magazines, fliers, virtually
anything you get in the mail or use to write/print on.
We'll have more details soon. Don't throw them away
or send them away to other recycling places yet. We
should have our bin within a few weeks.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do priests wear stoles? (The long item around their
neck in the color of the liturgical season.) There are
many theories as to the "ancestry" of the
stole. Some say it came from the tallit (Jewish prayer
mantle), because it is very similar to the present usage
(as in the minister puts it on when he or she leads
in prayer) but this theory is no longer regarded much
today.
But
the most likely origin for the stole is a connection
with the scarf of office among Imperial officials in
the Roman Empire. (You see, lots of our traditions go
back to that.) As members of the clergy became members
of the Roman administration, they were granted certain
honors, one specifically being a designator of rank
within the imperial (and ecclesiastical) hierarchy.
The original intent, then was to designate a person
as belonging to a particular organization and to denote
their rank within their group, a function which the
stole continues to perform today. Thus, unlike other
liturgical garments which were originally worn by every
cleric or layman, the stole was a garment which was
specifically restricted to particular classes of people
based on occupation.
So
with all tradtions, the original purpose is then given
spiritual meaning. Today, the stole is seen as both
a symbol of the priestly authority and responsibility
to the parish, but also as a symbol of the binding of
clergy to the gospel.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
"If then there is any encouragement in Christ,
any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit,
any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be
of the same mind, having the same love, being in full
accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition
or conceit, but in humility regard others as better
than yourselves." Philippians 2
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
Our finances here at St. Andrew and to give thanks for
the blessings we already have.
See
Fr. David in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, September 21, 2008.
Hello Everybody:
Welcome to the Seventh installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
...SUNDAY SCHOOL STARTS THIS SUNDAY!! And while
we're into screaming headlines, PARENTS: BRING YOUR
CHILDREN TO THE 10:00 SERVICE!! All children will begin
worship with us. The crucifer will lead the children
to Sunday School after the Collect of the Day (when
we sit to hear the lessons) and will lead them back
in after the announcements and our Offertory Sentence.
The ushers will follow the children with our plate offerings.
AND, don't forget our PARISH PICNIC this Saturday!
Bring your potluck dish and join us for good eating
and good fun at the O'Brien Shelter in Victory Park
in ye ole merry downtown Pickerington. Set-up begins
at 4:30 PM. Online directions are here: http://www.ci.pickerington.oh.us/sections/community/parksRules.asp
Things you probably didn't know:
With all the election stuff going on, let's stick with
the US Presidents...
Both ambidextrous and multilingual (and apparently with
a lot to say) the 20th president of the United States,
and an Ohio boy, James Garfield could write Greek with
one hand while writing Latin with the other.
What
you can bring to church this Sunday:
…pictures and ears. Bring pictures from the picnic.
The craziest picture gets free food at Coffee Hour.
And bring ears to hear the Teens put together what technically
could be called a dress rehearsal of their new, well,
first video.
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we have Sunday School, and where did the idea
come from?
Believe it or not, Sunday School started because of
poverty and rowdiness. And quite literally, it was school
on Sunday. Back in the late 1700s, the public educational
system in England for impoverished children was pretty
bad, with little real education happening. English Church
leaders saw an opportunity and a mission to make a difference
in the world by offering free reading and writing lessons
to poor children on Sunday mornings. Why Sunday? Because
it was the only day most poor kids weren't working,
since many were sent into factories and farms at very
young ages. While Sunday was about the only day they
could learn. it was also the only day they could be
children. Problem was, many were left unsupervised and
their behavior moved from innocent play into crime.
So churches began schools for the poor on Sunday. In
addition to reading and writing, these schools in churches
on Sunday taught Bible lessons and morals. They even
went as far as teaching proper behavior, enforcing cleanliness,
providing Sunday clothing, and reprimanding children
for lying, swearing, talking in an indecent manner,
or other misbehavior!!
The idea was wildly successful. (No pun intended.) By
the mid 1800s, Sunday schools were part of a growing
informal network of free schools operated by most denominations
in both England and America. As time moved on, and public
education grew better in both countries, most churches
slowly shifted their curriculum away from basic reading
and writing skills and focused more on offering Bible
and religious instruction, and offered it for children
regardless of income or social status.
Bonus
fact: 1826, the General Protestant Episcopal
Sunday School Union is formed.
Extra bonus fact: The Episcopal Church
used to be called the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Extra extra bonus fact: 1946, The General
Convention provides funding to completely overhaul church
school programs to emphasize "faith development"
rather than rote memorization.
Extra extra extra bonus fact: The General
Convention is the official national legislative body
of The Episcopal Church, meets once every three years,
and its last meeting was in the Columbus area!
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
"Search for the Lord and his strength; continually
seek his face. Remember the marvels he has done, his
wonders and the judgments of his mouth." Psalm
105
Things I can pray for in traffic:
For all the volunteers who give a few moments or many
hours to the life of this parish and therefore the mission
of God through St.Andrew's.
See you in church on Sunday.
Sunday,
September 14, 2008.
Hello
Everybody:
Welcome
to the Sixth installment of a weekly e-News bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington.
Don't
Forget…
...we are offering up our worship of God at 8:00 and
10:00 AM this Sunday, in addition to the Installation
service at 3:00 PM. The choir has been given a "hall
pass" from the 10:00 worship service to save their
strength for their lengthy afternoon rehearsal, but
we will still give thanks in a quiet setting at both
morning services.
Things you probably didn't know:
The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln,
is often depicted wearing a tall black stovepipe hat.
Apparently he had a good reason. In his hat he carried
the letters, bills, and notes he thought he might need
for that day.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
….any spare Book of Common Prayer or 1982 Hymnals
lying around your house that you borrowed from the church
long time ago. Well, we sure could use them for Sunday.
We have 30 extra of both coming in from St. John's Worthington
but we might could use a few more. If you have your
own, maybe you could bring it too? (Just don't forget
to take yours back with you!)
Why
do we do that in church?
Why do we have an "Installation" of a new
vicar, rector or pastor at parishes?
There's actually quite a history and the liturgy we
will participate in this Sunday has roots up to a thousand
years old. It all started as legal contracts. You see,
in the early church, priests were ordained for particular
ministries so there was no need for induction or installation.
You were ordained and that was that.
But
as with almost everything else, money got involved.
By the Middle Ages, English feudal landowners wanted
priests loyal to their liking and bishops wanted the
same. So each began endowing parishes, or "providing
benefice" to parishes. That endowment (be it land,
crops, taxation, money) was used to pay the expenses
of the parish, including the clergyman's salary. But
with the endowment had to come a legal contract between
the feudal landlord and the priest, or between the bishop
and the priest. Basically, "if you pledge allegiance
to God and me, I will give you access to this endowment."
With money, or access to money, involved there was a
legal "induction" in the rights to, and privileges
of, that endowment. At the induction a letter (contract)
of induction or institution was read stating the rights
and responsibilities of both parties. Once the "contract"
was agreed upon and publicly accepted, keys were presented
to the priest by the wardens for the real purpose of
providing the priest with access to the property. In
response to this induction, the priest pledged himself
to the cure (care) of the souls (lives) of the congregation
and to the allegiance of the bishop, and that pledge
culminated in the priest kneeling before God and offering
a prayer of self-dedication. What's amazing is that
much of that remains to this day. On Sunday a letter
of Institution will be read publicly at the beginning
of the service, there will be pledges and promises made,
keys will be presented by the wardens and the induction
ends in a public prayer of self-dedication by the vicar.
What
has changed is the institution or installation has become
more "devotional and edifying". With endowments
being the responsibility of the parish and diocese now
days, there's less a need for legal contract as there
is for spiritual ones. Yet the pledges and promises
are to be no less real, no less binding than in the
feudal Middle Ages.
I
wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I
will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
"We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die
to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if
we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live
or whether we die, we are the Lord's." Romans 14
Things
I can pray for in traffic:
For
our bishops and their staff at Diocesan House for God's
wisdom, guidance, and strength as they go about the
difficult and rewarding task of leading our diocese.
See
you in church on Sunday.
For
the week leading up to Sunday, September 7, 2008.
Hello Everybody:
Welcome to the Fifth installment of a weekly e-News
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
...to stay after our 10:00 service, NO matter if you've
signed up to teach or not! We're offering teacher training
for our Sunday School but we'll also show you how teachers
pull off amazing miracles with (your) children, exactly
what happens in the classes during Church School time,
what some of the behind-the-scenes workings are, and
exactly how many children does it take to use every
crayon in our collection…ok, well, maybe a guess.
Things you probably didn't know:
The first product Motorola started to develop was a
record player for automobiles. At that time, the most
known player on the market was Victrola, so they called
themselves Motorola.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
Empty ink cartridges for our inkjet recycling program
AND ideas on how to raise money with other recycling
programs. We've contacted one paper recycling vendor
and we're looking for more to investigate. ALSO, don't
forget our food pantries!
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we "pass the peace" in church? Well,
there are two main reasons why we pass the peace and
each is as important as the other. The probable origins
of passing the peace are found in the New Testament.
St Paul gives no fewer than five references to believers
greeting one another with a "holy kiss" such
as his admonition to do just that in Romans 16:16: "Greet
one another with a holy kiss." Since Paul's letters
were written to be read to a congregation (they didn't
have blast emails, listserv, or monthly newsletters)
his request was read in a liturgical or worship service
setting. This way of greeting within a congregational
setting grew in prominence because it was important
to visibly demonstrate to the church gathered, and to
the world at large, that all present were of one faith
and one heart and that nothing stood in the way of their
unity. Therefore, one reason is as a sign of unity.
Another reason comes from Jesus' words in Matthew's
gospel. Basically Jesus says that before you offer worship
to God, you are to be reconciled to your neighbors:
"So when you are offering your gift at the altar,
if you remember that your brother or sister has something
against you, leave your gift there before the altar
and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister
and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24).
The early Church interpreted the "altar" to
mean for them the altar of the table, the Holy Eucharist.
That's the reason why the passing of the peace is always
offered before the receiving of Holy Communion, the
consecrated or blest bread and wine. In some churches
the passing of the peace is offered just prior to receiving
Communion to accentuate its importance. In any case,
the passing of the peace symbolizes your actual or your
intended desire to be reconciled to all present. Therefore,
the other reason is a sign of reconciliation.
A little side note: in the late Middle Ages a wooden
plaque or plate with a handle was used to pass the peace
without personal contact. It was called a Peace Board
(pax brede) and it was first kissed by the priest and
then passed to other ministers and parishioners who
kissed it and passed it along further. Needless to say,
we don't do that anymore because we came to realize
it defeated the very purpose of "the Peace."
However and whenever you pass the peace, remember that
it is not meant to be a "howdy" but a genuine
desire to be unified as a congregation and reconciled
as fellow believers.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week
I will work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
"Owe no one anything, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13
Things I can pray for in traffic:
Our neighbors the Violet Township Fire Department and
especially the women and men firefighters stationed
next door, that God will continually protect and provide
for them and their families.
See you in church on Sunday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August
29, 2008 - Hello Everybody:
Welcome to the FIFTH installment of a weekly e-news
bulletin for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's,
Pickerington.
Don't Forget…
…to encourage our teenagers in their efforts to
re-start their Youth Group and give them special thumbs-up
for their ongoing work on their first video! If you
see one of our teens in church, at school, at the grocery
store, in the mall, tell them how proud you are and
excited about the work they're putting into this!
Things you probably didn't know:
Weatherman Willard Scott (you know, the guy who fills
in for Al Roker and says Happy Birthday to all the 100
year olds) was the first Ronald McDonald.
Be sure and say thank you to…
…each other for all the great work we did last
Sunday moving offices around. It was awesome teamwork.
What you can bring to church this Sunday:
Yourself. It's a big holiday weekend but if you're in
town, come on down and let's worship together and be
thankful for our blessings. (It'll do your heart and
soul good and your cookout will have that extra special
something about it.)
Why do we do that in church?
Why do we use those red Prayer Books in church? Well,
to answer that I'll need to overly generalize. Too much
detail and you'll delete this before you finish.
Basically, it goes back to the Reformation, that 16th
Century revolution against the Roman Catholic Church
and the excesses at that time. When Henry VIII turned
the Church in England to the Church of England the church
itself changed very little. Initially it kept its beliefs,
kept its ecclesiastical orders (deacons, priests and
bishops), and kept its liturgy (the structure and order
of worship services).
What
changed was Henry decreed himself its leader and therefore
the Pope lost his job in England. (Of course a whole
lot more was going on, but believe me, we don't have
time or space here.) Yet the Church didn't stay that
way for long. One of the rallying cries of the Reformation
was the need to make the Bible and worship services
accessible to the people. That meant taking them out
of Latin and translating them into English. But that
wasn't enough.
The
liturgies (worship services) of the Church were a complicated
array of prayers and services with mind numbing regulations
for proper use and only insiders understood how to use
them, much less had the money to buy the myriad volumes
of books required to keep up with it all. The English
reformers wanted to change that too. So they simplified
and condensed the Latin services of the Church, put
them in English and in contained them all in a single,
convenient, comprehensive book that both the priests
and the people could use and understand.
It
rocked the religious world. Not only that, but it was
presented in a gorgeous, fluid poetic style which still
influences services today. (Just the other day I went
to an evangelical Pentecostal Protestant church wedding
service in Pickerington and the service was virtually
word for word out of our Prayer Book. I practically
could have done the service myself by heart.)
These "Prayer Books" become the "Book
of Common Prayer" and these BCPs become a part
of who we are as Anglicans. All of our theology and
liturgy and church structure is summarized and easily
found in our Book of Common Prayer. In essence, they
are what define us as Anglicans, and we use these books
as a sign of our unity.
I wish I knew more about the Bible, so this week I will
work on memorizing from this Sunday's lectionary…
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, preserve
in prayer." Romans 12
Things I can pray for in traffic:
All the children signed up for, or who will be signed
up for, our Church School, and for their parents and
guardians: that God will work in their lives this year
in great and mighty ways.
See you in church on Sunday.
August
24th, 2008 - Hello Everybody:
Welcome
to the FOURTH installment of a weekly e-news bulletin
for parishioners and friends of St. Andrew's, Pickerington.
Don't
Forget… |
