News from the Congregation January 28, 2022
‘Joy Comes in the Morning; ‘Singing upon an Alien Soil’ | Cathedral Returns to In-person Worship on Feb. 1, 2022, Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, St. Saviour Annual Meeting ONLINE Feb. 6, 2022 | Sunday Programs: 8:30 am Genesis Bible Study (Zoom), 10:30 am Worship Service - Online |Weekday Programs: M-S Morning and Evening Prayer (Zoom), Wednesday: 7:30 pm Romans Bible Study (Zoom)
Canon Lee
The following is the Vicar's report to the Annual Meeting of the Congregation of Saint Saviour to be held on Sunday, February 6 at 1:00 PM on the Congregation's Zoom account.
The word that best describes the Congregation this past year is “resilience.” For the first 9 months of the year, the Congregation could only worship through the Cathedral’s digital media channels. We were unable to receive the Eucharist together, and thus, community life suffered. Our communion with Christ is the foundation of our communion with one other.
In September, the Congregation returned to in-person worship at the Cathedral. After three months of sharing the Eucharist, we experienced a renewal in community life. Then, the Congregation experienced a second challenge. With the recent Omicron variant, we were forced back to online worship and once again, the temporary loss in our ability to share the Eucharist.
The Congregation rose to meet these challenges.
Financially, the Congregation finished the year with a small deficit of about $5,000. Two committees deserve our thanks for this strong result. First, the Stewardship and Communications committee planned and executed a successful stewardship campaign. Donations came in approximately $30,000 higher than budgeted expectations. Second, the Finance committee revised the budget in the spring to reduce expenses, once we realized we could not hold the Crafts Fair, a significant source of the Congregation’s income. The Vestry passed this revised budget at its May meeting. Thanks to these two committees, the Congregation is well-positioned to fulfill its Cost Share obligation to the Cathedral for the coming year.
Despite budget cuts and pandemic restrictions, the Congregation was able to maintain some ministry programs. These essential ministries focused on forming ever-more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ and maintaining our connections to one another. You can read about these ministry initiatives in the Wardens’ report.
The Congregation’s resilience teaches us that even in difficult times, our faith gives us hope. The source of our hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an ever-present reality that reminds us the darkness can never overcome the light. As the Psalmist writes (Psalm 30:6):
Weeping may spend the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar
A Message from the Wardens
Senior Warden Marsha Ra on "Psalm 137—By the Waters of Babylon"
This is one of very few psalms that I can recite by heart. Many years ago the congregation regularly chanted psalm 137 during Lent at special Wednesday night services in Saint Saviour Chapel, and that’s how I was able to memorize it. The psalmist asks “How shall we sing the Lord’s song upon an alien soil?” This was the question asked by Father Michael Lapsley in a powerful sermon he preached at the Cathedral decades ago. Father Lapsley is a South African anti-apartheid priest who lost both hands and an eye when he received a letter bomb while he was living in England. He had been thrown out of his country and living in exile but he was still considered a threat to the forces of evil. Of course Father Lapsley’s answer to the lamenting question is that yes, one can and should sing the Lord’s song anywhere and everywhere. This was one of the revolutionary aspects of the calling of Israel to worship Yahweh, the God of all Being. In Jerusalem, in Babylon, in prison, it is always possible to sing the Lord’s song because the God of all Being is everywhere.
It is difficult for me not to fall into the temptation of believing I can only sing the Lord’s song in my familiar and beloved Cathedral. And sing it I do. But over the bumpy years of my religious life I have, in fact, sung the song of the Lord in several other places. Certainly the chapel at the Holy Cross Monastery has been a place where I experience and sing the song of the Lord. Saint John’s Getty Square in Yonkers where the Order of Urban Missioners met for several years was another familiar point of connection. And there have been many private Masses in friends’ apartments. One very touching experience was at Bellevue Hospital around the bed of a friend and Cathedral verger, Bob Davis, when he was struggling with AIDS. Our Vicar at that time brought several of us with him to visit Bob, and he said Mass right there as we stood around Bob’s bed. Yes, we sang the Lord’s song together on very alien, antiseptic soil. All of these experiences are connected by the Book of Common Prayer, which is familiar and comfortable--so not really alien soil wherever you go. The wonder of the BCP is that no matter the variations in the services, you won’t be confused by the really unfamiliar. Does the priest say the Collect for Purity or invite everyone to join in? No big jolt either way. But go to another denomination and I am stopped in my personal prayer by the unfamiliarity of the service and the need I feel to understand what’s happening. Take me to my sister’s synagogue where they literally dance in the aisles and the prayers are in a language I don’t understand, I can only just sit quietly. I can’t sing the song of the Lord at all. And yet, it’s not as different as you might think. At my nephew’s funeral, at graveside, everyone was chanting something in Hebrew. I felt quite alienated and left out, so I prayed the 23d psalm as he was laid to rest. Guess what: that’s what they were chanting in Hebrew! Yes we can sing the Lord’s song in an “alien land” and from God’s point of view I’m sure there is no such thing.
The fact is that I become overwhelmed with a sense of God’s presence whenever I walk in the doors of the Cathedral. Almost like Pavlov’s dog, I go into worship mode as soon as I walk past Visitor Services. One could suggest that this is the power of the building itself, its massive size and beauty. But I do not think that is the whole story. When I first walked into the Cathedral in 1972, it seemed to be a daunting place. It was huge, dark and almost scary. I knew that God would be worshipped here and I needed to worship, so I gulped and took a seat. It was only after several months of coming every week that I realized how absolutely beautiful this unfinished pile of stone really is.
Yet it isn’t always beautiful. Has scaffolding been erected in the crossing? Is there a huge crane brought in to inspect the ceiling? Are the pipes of the organ laid out on the floor in preparation for shipping out and cleaning? Are there pails set out to receive rainwater pouring in from the ceiling?
In December, 2001, while the City was deeply wounded by the events of September 11, while anthrax was arriving in the office mail and terrorist attacks were expected every day, the Cathedral suffered a serious fire. The whole north transept which housed the gift shop was completely destroyed and the entire Cathedral was covered in soot. As we celebrated Christmas Eve that year, our eyes watered from the ash and chemicals in the air. Sunday after Sunday for several years the place was darkened because of the soot on the windows. Then, during the restoration, an enormous gray wall was erected between the nave and the crossing from floor to ceiling. The Cathedral became bi-furcated. The cleaning took years. At least one member actually left because he couldn’t abide the wall. Once the work was done and the wall came down, we were amazed once again at the beauty of the place, the long sweep of nave, the scale of the building and the play of light on the stone as it is filtered in through the now crystal-clear stained glass. The fact that the stone at the top of the 8 great columns is actually white was a surprise. The marble floors of the chapels were so shiny that they perfectly reflected the stained glass and it was like standing on a frozen lake.
After worshipping in the Cathedral almost every week for nearly 50 years, I find the building not only huge and beautiful; it is much more important to me that it is a place that has been prayed in for over 130 years. For me it is full of memories—memories of the great cloud of witnesses that I have known and prayed with since fall 1972--people with whom I have shared the Eucharist time and time again. People I have argued with; people who have left; people who have stayed just for a few months or a few years; people who have died. Today I am moved by the friendly faces of security guards, facilities guys and visitor services staff and so many members of today’s worshipping community. Yes, this is my home, my village-- the place where I most easily sing the song of the Lord.
Isn’t it wonderful that we won’t have to worship on alien soil much longer? The Cathedral is opening up next week and we can continue praising God and sharing the Body of Jesus together on familiar ground. See you there!
NEWS FROM THE CATHEDRAL - Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (stjohndivine.org)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Memorial Tribute 2/13 - Hybrid Service -
Join the Cathedral and the global community on Sunday, February 13 at 4:00 PM for a memorial in tribute to The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, anti-apartheid activist, theologian, rights advocate, and humanitarian (1931-2021). Joined by The Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, The Right Reverend Andrew Dietsche, Bishop of the Diocese of New York, and The Right Reverend Clifton Daniel, Dean of the Cathedral, this hybrid memorial service will celebrate Archbishop Tutu’s legacy and prophetic voice for justice.
Cathedral Reopens — All GROUP IN-PERSON activities return February 1.
NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE Home - Episcopal Diocese of New York (dioceseny.org)
NEWS FROM THE VESTRY
* NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING *
The Annual Meeting of the Congregation of Saint Saviour will be held on Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 1:00 PM on the Congregation Zoom link. Information about the Annual Meeting, including the 2021 Annual Report and biographies of vestry nominees, can be found on the Congregation website: https://www.saintsaviour.org/annual-meeting
The Annual Report will be posted to the website a week before the Annual Meeting.
GIVE/SERVE
Questions about Realm, the Congregation’s Online Hub for Giving, Volunteering, and Reaching Out to One Another
The Admin team would love to hear from you. Whether you need help making the shift to online donations, setting up your account, or just want to know what Realm can do for you, please contact Laura and Bob at this email address: info@saintsaviour.org
CCC - Volunteer Opportunity at Sunday Soup Kitchen
Join us at CCC's Sunday Soup Kitchen (8:30 am - 11:00 am) to help prepare and distribute food and to staff Saint Saviour's Table. Please CLICK HERE to sign up! Shifts are open through the third week in February. Thank you so much for volunteering!
THIS SUNDAY, January 30, 2022
In-Person Worship at the Cathedral has been canceled. Instead, there will be a livestream, online Ante-Communion “Service of the Word.”
Online Ante-Communion Service - 10:30 am
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Monday-Saturday | 8:30 AM Morning Prayer | 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Wednesday 7:30 pm Bible Study | Paul’s Letter to the Romans | Congregation Zoom Link
Sunday 8:30 am Bible Study | Genesis| Congregation Zoom Link