News from the Congregation March 24, 2023

Mar 24

Written By Steven Lee; Marsha Ra & Joan Adams

‘‘Rev Dr Violet Lee on 3/26 for MLK Jr Saint Day‘’ ; ‘Stewardship Hosts Coffee Hour 3/26; Congregation Hosts 3/29 Lenten Mass’ ” | Dates to Remember | Wednesday Mar 29 5:30 Reception and Lenten Mass; Sunday Programs: 10:30am Worship Service In-Person and Online, 11:30am All Are Welcome Coffee Hour | Weekday Programs: M-S Morning and Evening Prayer (Zoom)

Canon Lee

It is wonderful to be back after my two months of parental leave. What a gift to spend time with my baby daughter. Thank you for all your kind notes. She is doing well but will need another procedure sometime in the next few months to correct an issue with her heart. Your continued prayers are much appreciated.

As some of you know, the Dean announced a significant reorganization of the Cathedral staff several months ago. Since his announcement, we have all been working hard to implement these changes, which go into formal effect on April 1st.

On that date, I become the Executive Director of Ministry at the Cathedral. While my role as Vicar of the Congregation remains the same, this new role will give me expanded responsibilities in areas such as liturgy and outreach, along with continued responsibility for pastoral care. Part of the role will be to take a bigger picture view of all our ministry initiatives at the Cathedral and to evaluate them for effectiveness and impact. I will say more about this new role in next week's column.

This Sunday, the Cathedral will commemorate Blessed Martin Luther King, Jr. It is the historic practice of the Church to remember saints on the day of their death. At the Cathedral, our tradition has been to celebrate MLK on the Sunday closest to April 4. This year, the Sunday closest to April 4 is Palm Sunday, so we are commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. this Sunday, March 26.

Our preacher for the occasion will be the Rev. Dr. Violet L. D. Lee. For nearly two decades, Dr. Lee served as the Assistant Pastor and as an Associate for The Abyssinian Baptist Church. She is the first and only woman to have served as Assistant Pastor and the first woman to preside over the ordinances in Abyssinian’s more than 200 years of Christian witness. She presently serves as the Executive Program Minister for Christ Church, United Methodist Church on Park Avenue and is a regular Adjunct Professor/Visiting Lecturer for Union Theological Seminary.

I am proud to call Dr. Lee my friend, and I hope you will join my excitement in hearing her preach from our pulpit. See you in church!

Message from the Congregation

SCC CORNER | Building Community Through Stewardship

Stewardship Committee to Host Coffee Hour This Sunday, 3/26

Join the Stewardship & Communications Committee this Sunday, 3/26 for coffee hour after the 10:30am service, featuring delicious sweet and savory refreshments. SCC members will be on hand to answer questions about sacrificial giving and how to think about the Congregation when we consider our life and legacy. Among the gifts that sustain the Congregation’s mission are bequests from faithful saints from our community who have gone on to glory, and whose generosity keeps their memory alive in our hearts. Have questions about Realm – our safe and secure online giving portal? Come and get answers to all your questions while enjoying delicious food and beverages prepared by SCC members.

See you Sunday!

The Stewardship & Communications Committee

Warden Bob Deming on the Wednesday, March 29 service at the Cathedral

For several years before the pandemic, the Manhattan North Inter Parish Council sponsored a series of Wednesday evening fellowship and prayer services rotating among the member parishes. This Lent, the series was happily resurrected. The Congregation of Saint Saviour will host the final evening on Wednesday, March 29 at 5:30.

Marsha Ra and I attended the sessions at The Church of the Heavenly Rest on March 15 and Saint Mary’s Manhattanville on March 22, taking note of how snacks and refreshments were handled. The meal before the service was a new experience for me and especially enjoyable. We met many people we did not know, including members from St. Mary’s, Saint Ambrose, Church of the Heavenly Rest, Saint Martin’s and the Church of the Intercession. (Coming from an academic background I was well aware of Intersession—the period between terms. I had not realized that Intercession with a “c” refers to Intercessory Prayer.) We also were happy to be seated with Pamela Morton, widow of Dean Morton.

Both services that we attended were meaningful. At the Church of the Heavenly Rest we heard the Bishop-coadjutor elect, Matt Heyd, preach. The responses during the Prayers of the People was “Be still and know.” Heavenly Rest uses Rite I of the prayer book in all other respects. At Saint Mary’s we were treated to a lovely Taize Prayer service led by a seminarian. It was an entirely new experience for me. The responses to the prayers of the people (literally offered by each group at table together) were Gospoli pomiluj, reflecting the international aspect of the Taize movement.

I encourage Congregation members to come next Wednesday March 29th to the Cathedral at 5:30 PM for refreshments and at 6:30 PM for the Service, as we host others in the Diocese for the last gathering in the Lenten series. The likely number attending, estimated from these previous two weeks, will be 60 or 70. It is ever a good experience to get to know our neighbors and feel part of the larger community of faith in New York City.

NEWS FROM THE CATHEDRAL - Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (stjohndivine.org

DATES TO REMEMBER
Feb 22 - Ash Wednesday
Feb 26 - First Sunday in Lent. Adult Baptism and Confirmation class begins.
Mar 29 - The Congregation of Saint Saviour and the Cathedral host the Manhattan North IPC Lenten Service

EASTER FLOWERS AND PASSES

Passes for Easter Sunday: https://www.stjohndivine.org/calendar/44782/easter-day-service
To Donate Easter Flowers: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/easterflowerfund or https://www.stjohndivine.org/get-involved/donate/ and select “Easter Flower Fund”

Young Adults of Saint Saviour Bible Study (Meets once a month)

All members of the Cathedral Community and Congregation in their 20s and 30s are invited to a Bible study hosted by the Young Adults of Saint Saviour. Last month we discussed the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and his call for us to change our hearts.
Immediately after the service, we gather in the nave during coffee hour and walk over to the Chapel of Saint James in the Cathedral.

No preparation or prior Bible study experience is necessary. All young adults are welcome!

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE Home - Episcopal Diocese of New York (dioceseny.org)

NEWS FROM THE CONGREGATION

The Weekly Sunday Hospitality continues.

Research shows that the more you give the more you get. The more you help, the more invested you become in your church and the more it feeds you. Isn’t that amazing? Do you enjoy the coffee and the treats--the time together every week for conversation and welcoming of visitors? To keep this ministry going we need to expand the number of people involved. If you are on the list of helpers and providers of snacks, THANK YOU! If you haven’t volunteered yet— why not join the team? There is nothing exclusive about it. All are welcome to help out. If you can come once a month or every 6 -8 weeks to set up before the service and clean-up after the coffee hour, please contact Marsha Ra or Sue Sobolewski. Or talk to us on any Sunday. We will get you started on this ministry.

AN INVITATION TO MORNING PRAYER AND LENT MADNESS

For the past three years the attendees at Morning Prayer on ZOOM (ZOOM link: 557 741 3337) have been playing “Lent Madness” during Lent. Lent Madness is a bracket game much like March Madness except instead of basketball teams, 32 saints of the church compete against each other, two by two. It is sponsored by the Forward Movement (https://www.forwardmovement.org). Several writers and clergy in the church provide background information on each saint. Players vote to move their favorite saint to the next bracket. By Holy Week only two saints are left and the final vote results in the awarding of the Golden Halo. It’s fun, it’s educational, and must be the easiest, silliest Lenten discipline around. We learn a lot about saints we think we know and saints we don’t know at all.

Last year our recently arrived priest, Mother Eva Suarez, shepherded the winning saint through the process—Jose Hernandez, a doctor in Venezuela whom none of us in the Morning Prayer group had ever heard of. He actually won against Teresa of Avila--what an upset! If you are interested in playing on your own, go to www.lentmadness.org and sign up for daily emails containing information on the day’s competing saints. You can vote with the larger national group of players. Or you can start coming to the Cathedral’s ZOOM Morning Prayer where, after the office is complete, there will be a lively discussion of the day’s saints and an informal vote.

NEWS FROM THE VESTRY

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

THIS SUNDAY

In-Person Worship at the Cathedral
10:00 am - Doors to Cathedral open.
10:30 am - Eucharist Service
11:30 am - All Are Welcome Coffee Hour

You can also watch a Livestream of the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org