News from the Congregation February 5, 2021
‘The Tyranny of the Bible’; ‘Thank you, Tim!’; | CCC - Raising Funds for Hats, Gloves, and Scarves; Sunday Soup Kitchen Volunteers Needed; Valentine’s Day Cards for Seniors, Saint Saviour’s Annual Meeting | Sunday Programs (11 am Worship Service, 11:45 am Annual Meeting, 12:30 pm Adult Formation on Howard Thurman) |Weekday Programs (M-S Morning and Evening Prayer; Wednesday: Vicar’s Open Space, Bible Study on Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Compline Service, Thursday: EfM Class, YESS Bible Study, Friday: Midday Prayer and Meditation, Vicar’s Open Space).
Canon Lee
This past year has been like no other in living memory. We all can list the reasons: the pandemic, political strife, protests against police brutality and for Black Lives Matter, deepening economic crisis.
This past year has also been theologically significant for the Congregation of Saint Saviour. We have become a different community over the past twelve months.
Now, as my old rector once put it, congregations are communities that move through time. So, by “different,” I mean something more than people coming and going.
The theologian Stanley Hauerwas of Duke Divinity School and Bishop William Willimon of the United Methodist Church write about the nature of communities that are shaped around “togetherness”:
In a world like ours, people will be attracted to communities that promise them an easy way out of loneliness, togetherness based on common tastes, racial or ethnic traits, or mutual self-interest. There is then little check on the community becoming as tyrannical as the individual ego. Community becomes totalitarian when its only purpose is to foster a sense of belonging in order to overcome the fragility of the lone individual.
In other words, if a church community is based only on social ties, it is vulnerable. When belonging takes precedence over other values, anything that threatens belonging—new people, new ways of doing things, new ministries, “too much growth”—must be stopped.
This is an old problem. In the earliest text of the New Testament, written just 20 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, Paul warns the church community in Thessalonica to avoid this temptation. “Do not quench the Spirit,” he tells this young community (1 Thessalonians 5:19). In Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Bible study, we have discussed how the Spirit leads us where we would prefer not to go. The Spirit pushes us toward growth through risk. Hence, the perennial temptation to quench it.
As Hauerwas and Willimon note, a church is a community of people who work to discipline their own desires in the service of a reality beyond themselves:
Christian community… is not primarily about togetherness. It is about the way of Jesus Christ with those whom he calls to himself. It is about disciplining our wants and needs in congruence with a story, which gives us the resources to lead truthful lives. In living out the story together, togetherness happens, but only as a by-product of the main project of trying to be faithful to Jesus.
Note that we discipline “our wants and needs” so that they are “in congruence” with the story of Jesus Christ. Not “Jesus Christ” who serves as a blank screen for our projections. But Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture and tradition.
This means we must first know the story of Jesus Christ. Then, as we learn this story, we must allow it to transform our lives.
The literary critic Erich Auerbach famously noted this power of the Bible when he compared it to the epic poetry of Homer:
The Bible's claim to truth is not only far more urgent than Homer's, it is tyrannical—it excludes all other claims. The world of the Scripture stories is not satisfied with claiming to be a historically true reality—it insists that it is the only real world, is destined for autocracy. All other scenes, issues, and ordinances have no right to appear independently of it, and it is promised that all of them, the history of all mankind, will be given their due place within its frame, will be subordinated to it. The Scripture stories do not, like Homer's, court our favor, they do not flatter us that they may please us and enchant us—they seek to subject us, and if we refuse to be subjected we are rebels.
In any other year, this message is hard to sell. It is easier to proclaim the “mystery of God” in “lofty words or wisdom” than to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). It is much easier to sell the satisfaction of spiritual desires for consumers of the religious marketplace.
But whether we wanted to or not, the pandemic forced the Congregation to change. The Congregation could no longer serve as a community of togetherness. There were no more cookies at coffee hour, no more Second Sunday brunch, no more opportunities for unplanned chats with fellow members after the service.
Instead, by necessity, the Congregation had to focus on essential activities. We studied the apostles’ teaching together, had fellowship together, and prayed together (Acts 2:42). These were the same activities the early Christians did. These were the only activities we could do.
It took a pandemic, but the Congregation has fulfilled the primary function of a church: to form ever-more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Marsha and Tim
Our Senior Warden thanks the Junior Warden:
Thank you Tim Dwyer!
I first met Tim perhaps 20 years ago when he approached me at the Welcome Table after a service to ask about becoming part of the Congregation. A “fallen away” Catholic, he was looking for a church home where he could feel totally included as a gay man. I learned about his partner and the little girls they were raising. Happily he decided to join us and became a vital part of our life at the Cathedral. His daughters both attended Cathedral School and were choristers. When he accepted the position of Head Usher I got to know him much better. He served in that capacity for more than a decade, scheduling and training ushers and handling the large services with competence and grace. Fast forward to 2017 when I became senior warden and he was junior warden. These titles are misleading I think. On many occasions Tim took the leadership. He has many gifts that are essential for being an effective warden--foremost among them is his ability to stay very calm when problems arise, to hold onto a rational approach. He is an accomplished administrator. Most important of all, Tim is a kind and generous human being who cares deeply about the people in our community.
During our first year together as wardens we faced many leadership challenges. At one point, we went five months with no vicar. During this time, we shared many of the duties that the vicar normally assumes. The decision to do a weekly newsletter from the wardens helped us move on as a community. Once Steven Lee was appointed things improved mightily. However we continued to include a warden’s message every week, taking turns writing it. As you may have noticed, Tim is an accomplished historian and his messages tend to have historical information and reflections. We have disagreed on a few things over the years, but there was much mutual respect and only discussions, never arguments. His commitment to the Cathedral and to the Congregation is unmatched and I will miss serving with him, but everyone deserves a chance to rest from his labors!
With affection and much respect.
Our Junior Warden reflects on his time leadership:
Thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Foundation, I was able to attend graduate school in Belgium in the late ‘80s. Being in such a central spot in Europe meant that close by in just about every direction were countless towns and cities with magnificent churches and cathedrals. I visited a ridiculously large number of them. At some point I came to realize that many of the exquisite churches I was touring were no longer in active religious use. They were maintained as museums and/or tourist attractions because of their historic or architectural significance, but their vibrant congregations were greatly diminished or even non-existent. Their religious use appeared to be limited to the occasional wealthy person’s vanity wedding or funeral. Underneath all of their beauty and great age, these places often felt cold and somehow artificial. More Disneyland than Holy Land, they were shells; beautiful bodies whose souls had departed.
Years later I found myself frequently thinking back to my youthful church tourism when I was ushering at the Cathedral. When European tourists would enter our Cathedral, I think that many were expecting yet another church museum. They often seemed surprised to find actual worship taking place. I was delighted to be able to invite them to join us, and quite a few would stick around for coffee hour.
Our Congregation’s relationship to our own Cathedral is very complicated. The lion’s share of our budget goes toward the running costs of the Cathedral, but even that sum doesn’t come close to meeting the Cathedral’s needs. So while we are privileged to worship in such a wonderful space, we have no responsibility for or authority over the clergy, the liturgy, or the building.
Still, we are the primary source of the volunteers who serve as the altar guild, the vergers, the acolytes, and the ushers. In many ways, we are the living memory of the place, too: most of us were here before any of the current Chapter arrived, and a good many of us will be here when they will all have moved on to other roles. Most importantly, we are the steadfast group of people who worship together every Sunday and breath the life into the crafts fair, the coat drives, the vigils, and the celebrations. Yes, we have to share our space with tourists, concerts, graduations, and art installations but, unlike so many of those museum churches, our Cathedral has a soul. That soul is all of you.
When I stepped into the role of Junior Warden, I thought that perhaps I could use my tenure to help iron-out a few of the wrinkles in that Congregation-Cathedral relationship. But that was three Vicars, two Deans, and one pandemic ago. Sometimes you have the opportunity to do the job you showed up to do, other times you have to do the job that is right in front of you.
The last five years could have been a burden, but they haven’t been. I have found them to be an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s been a joy to serve alongside the amazing and loving Marsha Ra, and it has been a great privilege to watch our Vicar Steven hit his stride so wonderfully with this, his very first congregation. And we have an incredibly deep well of love, talent, and energy in our congregation. People who were present at the creation of the Congregation roll up their sleeves next to folks who are too young to remember that guy married to Hillary Clinton. People from an incredibly diverse array of backgrounds come together in common purpose, and it is a really beautiful thing.
As I step off of the Vestry, I encourage each and every one of you to involve yourself in some way, big or small, with our St. Saviour community. The rewards are many. Especially now, with so much strife and turmoil in our country and our world, let us demonstrate through our actions and our community the good that can be done in the name of Christ.
CONNECT
The Annual Meeting of the Saint Saviour's Vestry will be Sunday, February 7, 2021 at 11:45 am. Click here for more information.
Valentine's Day Renewal of Marriage Vows Sunday, February 14, 2021 4:30 PM Cathedral Zoom
All married couples are invited to a simple 30-minute service of scripture, prayer, and renewal of marriage vows. The service will be led by the Vicar and his wife. After the service, attendees are invited to share a toast of champagne or sparkling water over Zoom.
City Event: Covid-19 Town Hall Join our neighbors at Community Board 9 for a town hall about COVID-19 vaccinations hosted by CB9's SGL/LGBTQ+ Task Force and health experts from Black and POC communities. For more information about this important public health event, please click here.
GIVE/SERVE
Valentine’s Day Outreach for Local Seniors: Spread Valentine's Day love to our senior neighbors at Amsterdam House. For information about how to pitch in, please click here.
CCC - Volunteer Opportunity Our friends at CCC are requesting 3 Congregation volunteers for this Sunday 1/7/21 from 8:30am to 11:00am to help with food preparation and distribution. Please arrive no later than 8:30am to help with set-up. (We realize the Annual Meeting is scheduled for 11:45 that day, but you should be done at CCC no later than 11am and still make the meeting.) Everyone will be masked and as distanced as possible. The food prep will be inside, but food bag distribution will be outdoors on the driveway, so dress in layers! To volunteer, please email Kevin de l'Aigle.
CCC - Absalom Jones Project - Raising Money for Hats, Gloves and Scarves
In honor of Blessed Absalom Jones, the Diocese has challenged congregations to raise money for local service projects during February and March. Our chosen beneficiary, Cathedral Community Cares (CCC), has an urgent need for warm gloves, hats, and scarves for their clients. While donations or gently used items is appreciated, we also hope to raise $1,500 so that we can purchase 360 sets wholesale. If you would like to contribute, please click here.
CCC requests warm hats, gloves, and coats for their Clothing Closet clients. The Clothing Closet accepts gently used, freshly laundered clothes. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, clothes MUST be laundered before donating. Drop-off Hours: Monday - Thursday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
THIS SUNDAY, Feb 7, 2020
9:30 AM - Open Space with the Vicar - CANCELLED
Join Vicar Lee and others for 30 minutes of conversation, community, and pastoral support. Come and go as you please!
10:00 AM - In the Beginning: A Study of Genesis - CANCELLED
Join the Vicar for a study of the first book of the Bible. Discover Genesis, not as a collection of ancient mythological stories, but as the Word of God addressing our fundamental and deepest needs. This Sunday will focus on Genesis 7 under the heading: "The Ethics of New Beginnings."
11:00 AM - Congregation Watch Party for Cathedral Worship Service
Watch the Cathedral worship service on Zoom with other members of the Congregation. As a way to maintain a prayerful atmosphere, we will be turning off Zoom chat for the duration of the service.
You can also watch the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org
11:45 PM - Vicar and Friends - Cancelled for Annual Meeting
Join the Vicar and occasional guests right after the service for a brief time to say hello and check in with other members of the congregation.
12:00 PM - Digital Coffee Half-Hour - Annual Meeting
Join us at this week’s Digital Coffee Hour to meet members of the congregation.
12:30 PM - Adult Formation — SOME GLOW: Howard Thurman, Religious Experience, and the Future of America
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Monday-Saturday | 8:30 AM Morning Prayer | 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Wednesdays | 7:00 PM - Open Space with the Vicar
Join Vicar Lee and others for 30 minutes of conversation, community, and pastoral support. Come and go as you please!
Wednesdays | 7:30 PM - Wednesday Bible Study
Join the Vicar for a study of Paul's Letter to the Romans. The source of so many changed lives and pivotal moments throughout Christian history, Paul's greatest epistle invites us to transformation in our own lives and time.
Wednesdays | 8:30 PM - Congregation Compline
Fridays | 12:00 PM - Midday Prayer and Meditation
The Angelus and 10 minutes of silent meditation.
Fridays | 12:15 PM - Open Space with the Vicar
Join Vicar Lee and others for 30 minutes of conversation, community, and pastoral support. Come and go as you please!
Thursdays | 6:30 PM - Education for Ministry
Education for Ministry is designed for lay people who want to delve more deeply but are not necessarily interested in ordination; EfM classes provide a more formal study of scriptures and the history of the faith. Current Topic: “Living into the Journey with God”
Thursdays | 6:00 PM - YESS Bible Study
The Young Episcopalians of Saint Saviour continue their Bible study of the Gospel of Matthew.
Reminder: you can find a directory of weekly programs with links to each program’s Zoom by clicking here.