News from the Congregation June 5, 2020
Carrying the Cross After the Cameras Are Gone; Addressing Food Insecurity; Black Lives Matter Prayer Vigil and March, Sunday Zoom Programming (Bible Study on Job, Worship Service, Coffee Half-Hour) Reading Group, YESS Bible Study, Poor People's Campaign Digital March
From Canon Lee
In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet encounters the living God:
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
How, the prophet wonders, can he endure one more day in the muck of this broken world? He has caught a glimpse of the Lord, sitting upon a throne, high and lofty. What is this world, compared to that dazzling vision?
***
Five days ago, the Presiding Bishop issued a statement, “When the Cameras are Gone, We Will Still Be Here”:
Our long-term commitment to racial justice and reconciliation is embedded in our identity as baptized followers of Jesus. We will still be doing it when the news cameras are long gone...
It must go on when racist violence and police brutality are no longer front-page news. It must go on when the work is not fashionable, and the way seems hard, and we feel utterly alone. It is the difficult labor of picking up the cross of Jesus like Simon of Cyrene, and carrying it until no one – no matter their color, no matter their class, no matter their caste – until no child of God is degraded and disrespected by anybody.
How will we find the strength to run this race?
***
Perhaps we can find the answer to both questions here:
When Isaiah encounters the living God, he becomes aware of his unworthiness. His lips are unclean. This awareness signals the beginning of his journey to redemption and renewed purpose:
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”
Ever since Monday, when I watched the President of the United States use St. John's Episcopal Church as a prop for a photo opportunity, I have been haunted by this question:
How many of us also use the church as a prop, to prop up a system that benefits only some of us, at the expense of others?
If church only provides the kind of peace found "behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows," as Martin Luther King put it, we can be sure it is not trying to change our unjust world but merely gives lip-service to that work.
Having the courage to admit this fact, however, does not signal failure. As with Isaiah, honesty about our unclean lips signals the beginning of our journey to redemption and renewed purpose. We come one step closer to accepting God's call for our lives, which is to bridge the gap, between life as it is, and life as God intends.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Friday June 5 | 6:00 PM - Vigil on Cathedral Steps
The Cathedral Congregation stands in solidarity with the Black community, which is reeling from another murder at the hands of police brutality and white supremacy.
Our faith in Jesus Christ calls us to action, and so, rain or shine, we invite you to gather together on the steps of the Cathedral to say the names of those we have lost; to pray a litany of repentance; and to take a knee, raise a fist, or make whatever gesture of protest you are able to make. We will then march together to the statue of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in Harlem. Remember to wear a mask and practice physical distancing.
To watch online, join the Cathedral Zoom by clicking here.
THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 7
(To access each program on Zoom, click the link in the title.)
10:00 AM - Integrity in Crisis: A Bible Study on Job
Join the Vicar for a series of classes on the Book of Job and learn how this timeless text can address our suffering in this difficult time.
10:00 AM - Digital Sunday School Materials Emailed
11:00 AM - Congregation Watch Party for Cathedral Worship Service
Watch the Cathedral worship service on Zoom with other members of the Congregation.
You can also watch the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org
12:00 PM - Digital Coffee Half-Hour
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Tuesdays | 6:00 PM - YESS Bible Study
Wednesdays | 6:30 PM - Congregation Reading Group
This week, members are asked to bring a poem or short story that seems speak to this moment. For example, the works of Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison.
Wednesdays | 8:30 PM - Congregation Compline
Reminder: you can find a directory of weekly programs with links to each program’s Zoom by clicking here.
SERVE
Join members of the Congregation in participating in the Poor People's Campaign Digital March on Washington on June 20. The Campaign is led by the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, who gave an electrifying sermon at the Cathedral last May, calling for a "Moral Pentecost." The Digital March on Washington will highlight the deep structural inequities in our society, which is making the effects of the global pandemic fall disproportionately on working class communities of color.
Register for the March here.
From Marsha and Tim
Dear Friends,
Last week our concerns shifted from the pain of loss due to corona virus as well as our temporary physical separation as a church and moved to the horror of the murder of George Floyd and the civil unrest it rightly has caused. Several of our members have joined the peaceful protest marches. Even if these protests result in good legislation that addresses many of the problems in our society that keep Black people down (bad schools, bad housing, bad policing, etc.), we will still be facing an economic depression which will especially hurt those who are the poorest among us. I was born before the end of World War II and have seen a lot over the years. This, dear friends, is about as bad as it gets: a pandemic, an uprising which is being coopted to some extent by anarchists and thieves, a looming depression.
The question we face is how to be the church in these times. The President has used the Episcopal Church of Saint John in Washington as a prop for a photo op, after using tear gas and mounted police to clear the church patio of people including several priests. Then he stood alone, holding up a Bible (which he has never read) and smirking for the camera and declaring America the greatest nation. This is not what the church is. The church is not a photo op: it is a community of the Faithful. Period. We love our buildings, but we love each other much more. Furthermore, we seek peace and justice not “greatness.”
Many of us are praying more than usual, taking advantage of the several on-line services. But action is called for and so many of us are stuck in our homes that it is challenging to take steps together. Yet we pray: “Let not the hope of the poor be taken away” Where is that hope?
The most moving and hopeful development for me personally has been the work of the Young Episcopalian of Saint Saviour (YESS). They are providing moving evidence that the Church is alive and well. Nothing seems to stop them from reaching out and trying to embody the Word of Christ, to become His hands and feet on the earth. They work, they pray, they plan and they act.
Last week eight of our YESS members joined the congregation at First Corinthian Baptist Church on West 116th street to distribute a week’s worth of groceries to 350 families who are our neighbors in Harlem. This was the first of three planned distributions including another at a Harlem church and one at an apartment complex not far from the Cathedral. Three weeks and food for 350 families each week. Does it save the world? No, but it helps. Can we find a way to extend this work? I am hoping the Vestry will ponder this question and come up with ways to address the problem of hunger in our neighborhood. The Cathedral Community Cares is handing out lunches every Sunday. Can we extend that? Can we add more days, or more boxes of food for our neighbors? Whatever we come up with, we know that the problems are enormous but that every bit helps. We must certainly all work to change systems of oppression in our society, but we must also see to the immediate needs of those who are struggling.
Blessings from your wardens!
Marsha and Tim