News from the Congregation December 6, 2019
Holiday Blues; Sunday Programs (10 am Bible Study, 10 am Pathfinders Sunday School, 23rd Annual Crafts Fair, Christmas Services, YESS Wine Tasting, Divine Fellowship (LGBTQ+) Film Screening and Q&A, Toy Drive, SAGE Table - Christmas Cards
From Canon Lee
The holiday season can be difficult, especially in New York City. So many of us have moved here in order to "get away" from Back Home, so that we can be part of the Vital Center.
Patrick Dennis: Is the English lady sick, Auntie Mame?
Auntie Mame: She's not English, darling... she's from Pittsburgh.
Patrick Dennis: She sounded English.
Auntie Mame: Well, when you're from Pittsburgh, you have to do something.
This humorous scene from the movie Auntie Mame gives voice to this desire. And the continual immigration of newcomers, from Pittsburgh and everywhere else, gives our adopted city its fearlessness and energy.
But there is a shadow side to moving away from home and starting anew.
In this season from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the world around us--the food we eat, the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the activities we are supposed to want to engage in--all celebrate tradition, rootedness, and family.
We cannot escape remembering what we have lost by making the journey here.
Unfortunately, our faith does not promise an easy cure for this pain.
What our faith does offer, however, is a God who comes to us in the figure of Jesus Christ to share in our loneliness, in our fear of missing out, and in our grief of being far from home, especially when home brings up its own complicated memories.
Remember that the resurrected Christ we encounter every Sunday in the midst of our gathered assembly still bears the visible scars of his wounds, wounds which are even now incompletely healed.
The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar
23RD ANNUAL CRAFTS FAIR AT THE CATHEDRAL
DECEMBER 6 - 8, 2019
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
112TH AND AMSTERDAM
Show Hours
Friday: 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
The Crafts Fair is the Cathedral Congregation's largest annual fundraiser and its most significant source of revenue after individual donations. The income we receive from the Crafts Fair benefits all Cathedral programs, especially its direct service program, Cathedral Community Cares.
CHRISTMAS
AT THE CATHEDRAL
4:00 PM Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols
The very large puppets that for many years have been part of Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve suffered smoke damage in the Palm Sunday fire. New puppets are being constructed but will not be ready for this year. The service, a favorite of families with small children, will otherwise be the same as usual. We look forward to Christmas 2020 and the arrival of our new Christmas puppets.
10:30 PM Christmas Eve Festal Eucharist
Passes for Reserved Cathedral Congregation Seating
LINK
11:00 AM Christmas Day Choral Eucharist
CONNECT
Cathedral Young Adults
Christianity in the Vineyard Wine Tasting
Saturday, December 7, 2019
2:30 pm - 4:00 pmLe Grande Triage1657 1st Ave
New York, NY 10028
RSVP in Realm
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Cathedral LGBTQ+ Community
"Saturday Church" Film Screening
Sunday, December 8 at 2:00 PM
Cathedral House Conference Room
Featuring an introduction and Q&A session afterwards with the Rev. Bo Reynolds, Associate and School Chaplain, The Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Fr. Reynolds will discuss the Art and Acceptance program at St. Luke’s, upon which the film is based.
EXPLORE
Advent Bible Study with Cathedral Clergy
The Gospel of Matthew
10:00 AM
Due to the Crafts Fair, this Sunday's class with Sub Dean Malloy will meet in St. Martin's Chapel.
***
Pathfinders: A Program of Spiritual Exploration for Children at the Cathedral
Due to the Crafts Fair, this Sunday's children's classes will meet at 10:00 AM in St. James Chapel:
Susan Stair will teach Little Pilgrims (ages 3 to 6)
Jennifer Allen will teach the Next Step (ages 7 to 12)
Donna Devlin will teach the Great Adventure (7th grade and up)
For more information and to register, please contact Donna Devlin, Director of Christian Education.
***
Radical Love Live
Sunday, January 26, 2020
7:00 PM
Cathedral Nave
SEE TRAILER HERE (starts at 12:00 minute mark):
https://episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/traveling-way-love-episode-7-learn-0
***
Adult Baptism and Confirmation Class
Sundays, February 2 to March 29
12:45 PM to 2:15 PM
For more information, contact Canon Lee at slee@stjohndivine.org
GIVE
STEP 1: Pledge Online to the 2020 Campaign
http://www.saintsaviour.org/giving
STEP 2: Four ways to Fulfill Your Pledge
Method 1 - Give through Realm (preferred)
Method 2 - Give through Paypal
Method 3 - Give by check
Method 4 - Give with giving envelope***
Contact pastoralcare@stjohndivine.org for help.
***If you wish to fulfill your pledge using a giving envelope, please note that envelope numbers will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. As good stewards of the environment, we are only ordering the minimum number of giving envelopes each year.
SERVE
Christmas Toy Drive
THANKS TO EVERYONE who has already donated to the Christmas Toy Drive for Cathedral Community Cares. The Cathedral Congregation storage closet is ALREADY FULL of toys.
We are continuing to collect toys. Please bring unwrapped toys for children ages toddler to teen. A box will be available to receive the toys after the 9am and 11am Sunday services by the Coffee Hour / Welcome Table.
***
Cathedral LGBTQ+ Community
Invites You to a Holiday Card Writing Party
For Clients of SAGE USA and The Ali Forney Center
Tuesday, December 10
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Cathedral House Conference Room
***
Raising My Voice: A Harlem Re-Entry Initiative
Pilot Partnership with the Cathedral Congregation,
the J.C. Flowers Foundation, and Circles of Support
Begins January 2020
***
Global Mission:
Presentation on the Current Missionary Context in Cuba
Sunday, January 26, 2020
1:00 PM
Cathedral House Conference Room
From Marsha and Tim
Were you in church last Sunday? Although it was the last day of the Thanksgiving weekend and many people were away, the church was quite full for the first Sunday in Advent. Between the services Dean Dan began a wonderful Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. Canons Malloy, Lee and Welch will each lead one session throughout Advent. World AIDS Day was observed with a solemn program including the presence of two panels of the AIDS Names Project quilt. Thank you Kevin de l’Aigle! The names of people associated with the Cathedral who died of AIDS were read out. It was a difficult moment for those of us who are still around and who knew every one of them. We give thanks for their lives, for those who survived and for those who will never contract this disease because of the successful research done and treatments devised. On Tuesday Evening beginning at 7 p.m. members of Sage and of the Congregation will spend some time in the conference room writing Christmas cards for LGBTQ+ youth and older folks who are alone. It’s a lot of fun! Join us if you can.
Today, the Congregation’s chief fund-raiser, Crafts at the Cathedral opens at noon. A group of congregation members have been working on this project for nearly a year and are excited to see it finally materialize. The exhibitors are all artists who make their living by creating things by hand. Yes, there are still people who take a piece of wood and turn it into an object of beauty, people who blow glass, who mold clay, spin yarn and beat silver. Come and admire the work they do. At least 50 members of the congregation have volunteered to help with the show, primarily making and selling food in a café we set up along the south art wall. Your senior warden has been coordinating this show for the past 23 years.
This year I was struck by the number of people working at the Cathedral whose effort supports us in so many ways, but who we never really get to know. A project like Crafts at the Cathedral requires us to work with just about every department on the close. This working for a common purpose enriches the experience of worshipping at Saint John the Divine. I am very thankful, too, that we as a congregation are able to use the proceeds of this fair to support outreach programs at the Cathedral.
Let us pray for a successful event.
Marsha & Tim
DECEMBER 6, 2019