News from the Congregation January 10, 2020
Remembering Dean Morton at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Requiem Eucharist for Dean Morton; Notice of Annual Meeting, Vestry Candidates, Northern Manhattan Inter-Parish Council Epiphany Party, Saturday Morning Meditation, Sunday Morning Bible Study: Water and Baptism, Radical Love Live
I wandered into the Cathedral for the first time one week before Dean Morton began his remarkable years at St. John the Divine. I was present for his last Sunday and the wonderful celebration of his ministry in December 1996, complete with a high wire walk by Philippe Petite and a performance by the Forces of Nature dance troupe. As everyone probably knows, Dean Morton was both creative and charismatic. He was also funny and loving. The number of people attending Sunday services was pretty low when he arrived and grew dramatically over his tenure.
His passion for social justice was evident from the first. Just weeks after I began attending he invited in the United Farm Workers for a special Sunday service. This was during the days of Cesar Chavez and the lettuce pickers’ strike. The iconostasis at the front of the nave was festooned with their flags. In February, just four months into his ministry he invited Native Americans to the 11 a.m. service during the Wounded Knee Incident. He retained a relationship with this community for years.
With rabbi friends and theologians he put together a conference on Christianity and the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel was one of the speakers. And this brings me to his work on interfaith dialogue and understanding. Dean Morton went way beyond ecumenism, and even beyond worrying about all the children of Abraham, to embrace Hindus, Buddhists, Native American shamans, etc. He went so far that some would question his Christianity. But it was the radical hospitality of the follower of Christ that he was embodying. One story illustrates this perfectly. He had invited Eli Wiesel to preach at an 11:00 a.m. service. Mr. Wiesel was conflicted about accepting the invitation because as an Orthodox Jew and survivor of Auschwitz he felt he didn’t belong in a church. So the Dean compromised: He turned around all the chairs in the nave so that the congregation faced the West doors. A small table was set up for Mr. Wiesel right near the doors and it was from here that he spoke. We finished the service with a Eucharist, using that little table as the altar. I believe this radical hospitality must have moved Mr. Wiesel. The next time he came, he spoke from the pulpit and he even became a Cathedral colleague.
Beside his work on interfaith issues to which he devoted himself after his tenure at St. John’s ended, his passion, beginning in the 1970’s, was for what was happening to the earth, the destruction that human beings were visiting on this blue green ball we call home. St. John the Divine became known as the Green Cathedral. Dean Morton’s passion for both interfaith understanding and for ecology were certainly prescient. It is tragic that the world has only gotten worse on both counts.
I could write reams about the various exciting and moving things that happened during those 25 years: being invited to sit in the dean’s office to meditate with the Dalai Lama; the support for the arts and the artists we were privileged to meet. With Dean Morton’s support, the community that worshipped at St. John’s started a soup kitchen, men’s shelter and clothing closet. What went on in the undercroft was primarily social gospel related while upstairs in the nave Mass was celebrated and many famous artists, scientist and religious leaders spoke to large crowds.
But there was another side to Dean Morton that could get lost in all this: he was a great priest. He could and did relate to everyone from the homeless or drug addicted, to the Park Avenue matron and everyone in between. He was always ready to listen to the individual in pain, to give advice, to help. He would stay up all night at the Maundy Thursday Vigil hearing confessions. He knew what was going on with so many of us. I personally was the recipient of his wisdom when my mother was dying, comfort after her death and help when my career was caught in a political mess. Just knowing I could call and ask for a word was enough sometimes. He was very aware of what was happening with his flock. He built community in his own inimitable style, from the weekly Cathedral nights that began with yoga and ended with the Eucharist, and the very precious Thursday morning Dean’s mass where we used prayers from the Orthodox Church and finished with breakfast at Cathedral House before going off to work. I remember standing in a circle in the St. Saviour chapel and thinking to myself: don’t forget this. You are being fed with love and deep connection. To this day I continue to say a prayer of humble access from the Orthodox Church that Dean Morton used:
Unto thy heavenly banquet O Son of God admit me this day. May I never betray thee, nor like Judas greet thee with a kiss; but like the thief may I cry, “Remember me in thy kingdom.”
And now he is in that Kingdom, singing with the angels. I thank Pamela Morton for her warmth and hospitality over those 25 exciting years and for her sharing him with us.
Marsha Ra
Senior Warden
REQUIEM EUCHARIST FOR THE VERY REVEREND JAMES PARKS MORTON
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
Saturday, January 11, 2020
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
The Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche, Presiding
Welcome by
The Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel III, Cathedral Dean
Words by
James P. Carroll, Author
The Rev. Chloe Breyer, Director of the Interfaith Center of New York
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
Annual Meeting
Sunday, February 2, 2020
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
The Chapel of St. James
Pursuant to the Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Religious Corporation Laws of the State of New York, official notice is hereby given that the Annual Meeting of the Cathedral Congregation of Saint Saviour will take place on Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
Lunch will be served.
In case you are a newcomer or simply in need of a reminder, the Congregation’s Bylaws and the Religious Corporation Laws of the State of New York hold that to be eligible to vote in the election, you must be:
on record as a member of the Congregation
a baptized Christian who is 18 or older
a contributor of record (by pledging or otherwise) for at least 12 months before the election
in regular attendance of worship services at the Cathedral
Nominee for Warden
Tim Dwyer: 2-year term
Nominees for Vestry
Sonia Omulepu: 1-year term
Blake Jones: 2-year-term
Gail Felix: 3-year-term
Winston Nguyen: 3-year-term
Mark Dilcom: 3-year-term
Kevin de l'Aigle: 3-year-term
Candidate Statements
CONNECT
Northern Manhattan Inter-Parish Council Epiphany Party
Saturday, January 11, 2020
1:30 PM
Cathedral House
Meet other Episcopalians from churches in Harlem and Northern Manhattan at this annual Epiphany party hosted by the Cathedral Congregation.
***
FREE FAMILY ICE SKATING
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Upper Playground of the Cathedral
2:30 PM: Performance by Figure Skating in Harlem
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Open Skate
All are invited for an afternoon of FREE ice-skating and a chance to connect with families in our neighborhood. Visit stjohndivine.org for reservations (required).
EXPLORE
Saturday Morning Meditation
January 11, 2020
11:00 AM (new time!)
Chapel of Saint Martin
Join members of the Congregation and public for an hour of quiet meditation on Saturday morning in the Chapel of St. Martin.
***
Sunday Morning Bible Study: Water and Baptism
January 12
10:00 AM
Chapel of Saint Martin
Education for Ministry (EfM) graduate, Sheila Evans, will lead her second Bible Study class on water and baptism. This week, she focuses on the New Testament.
***
Pathfinders: A Program of Spiritual Exploration for Children
Little Pilgrims and the Next Step will meet this Sunday, January 12. 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
TRAILER (starts at 12:00 minute mark)
***
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
Raising My Voice: A Harlem Re-Entry Initiative
Pilot Partnership with the Cathedral Congregation,
the J.C. Flowers Foundation, and Circles of Support
January 6, 2020 - March 23, 2020
***
#HALTsolitary
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
New York State Capitol
Albany, New York
To join members of the Cathedral Congregation for a trip to the New York State Capitol in Albany to advocate for the end of solitary confinement, please email Elizabeth Howard.
***
Global Mission
Presentation on the Current Missionary Context in Cuba
Sunday, January 26, 2020
12:45 PM
Cathedral House Conference Room
***
Pilgrimage to England
With Cathedral Choristers and Congregation
August 2021
The Music Department has invited the Cathedral Congregation to participate in a Pilgrimage to England in August 2021. For anyone interested in learning more or in helping to plan the trip, please email Warden Tim Dwyer.
JANUARY 10, 2020