News from the Congregation March 18, 2020
Congregation of Saint Saviour in the Diaspora; Musical Meditation with Susan Sobolewski, Sunday Zoom Programming: 10 am Bible Study, 12:30 Adult Formation; Community Notes - Tell Us How You’re Doing!; Radical Love Live; Giving Online through Realm
Canon Lee
To raise our spirits after a difficult week, I invite you to listen to our very own Susan Sobolewski play Bach's Goldberg Variation 15. This recording is part of a new Congregation initiative called "Community Notes," which you can read more about below and which is one of the ways we are staying connected in this age of social distancing.
I miss you all very much and look forward to connecting with you, digitally, this Sunday.
The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar
THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 20
10:00 AM - Online Sunday Morning Bible Study | Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/838851930
This week's Bible Study is led by Canon Lee and will be online by Zoom.
12:30 PM - Online Adult Formation Class | Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/816715234
Join Sub Dean Malloy and Canon Lee as they discuss the theological implications and practical logistics of "doing" church digitally.
To use the Zoom video-conferencing system: Click one of the links above and you will be prompted to download and install the Zoom application. After the Zoom application is installed on your computer, wait until the Bible Study or Adult Formation Class is scheduled to begin. At that time, click the link again to open up a video-conferencing screen, and you will join the Bible Study or Adult Formation class.
CONNECT: COMMUNITY NOTES
In the spirit of "Class Notes" found at the back of college alumni magazines, the Congregation is creating "Community Notes," a new way to hear updates from members who are physically separated from one another and can’t catch up in person. Members of YESS (Young Episcopalians of Saint Saviour) will call and record a 5 to 10 minute audio update with members of any age who want to share how they are doing in this time of pandemic.
If you would like to contribute an update, please email: yess@saintsaviour.org.
For more information, and to listen to the first few member updates, please click here.
EXPLORE: RADICAL LOVE LIVE
Many of you have heard of Radical Love Live, the podcast and live event series about spirituality, developed in partnership with the Congregation. Created by congregation members Mark Dilcom and Kelly Wilson as a space for “spirituality outside the boxes,” Radical Love Live creates content for people across the spectrum of belief, including those who don’t claim a belief or who have been hurt in religious spaces.
So far, Radical Love Live has hosted two live events at the Cathedral, inviting audiences to explore the concepts of Crisis/Change and Marginalization/Wilderness through discussion with renowned thinkers, music from nationally known performers, and thoughtful spiritual practice.
RLL has also produced a podcast series, including conversations about spirituality with Mark and Kelly, as well as discussions with Dr. John Thatamanil from Union Theological, Maria French from the spiritual training center H&Co, David Gungor from the band The Brilliance, educator and activist Alicia T. Crosby, and our own Wisdom Year Resident Jennifer Allen. Upcoming conversations will include author/Atlantic writer Jonathan Merritt, author and “punk rock pastor” Jay Bakker (son of Jim and Tammy Faye), and liturgist Aaron Niequist.
While you are spending time at home or wherever you are “socially distancing,” all of this content is available on the web at www.radicallove.live. You can find video of the live events under the Events link, and audio of the podcasts under the Podcasts link. For those who prefer to stream podcasts on your mobile device, all of RLL’s podcasts are available on most major podcast platforms.
If you’d like to connect further with RLL or share with friends, you can also follow their Facebook page at facebook.com/radicallovelive, follow the Twitter and Instagram feeds (also @radicallovelive on both), or find video content, including the latest video “What is Radical Love Live” on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtdOl3lMmDy5MBrrDWovbw (once we get 100 followers there, we can change the web address to something simpler!)
GIVE ONLINE: REALM
As the church seeks to be a "first responder for the soul" (in the words of the Rev. Doyt Conn of Epiphany in Seattle), we are grateful for your online contributions to the Cathedral Congregation. You contributions enable us to sustain and deepen our community in this time of social distancing. If you wish to make an online gift to the Congregation, you can do so here: http://onrealm.org/TheCongregation/Give
SERVE: SPIRITUAL BALM
In addition to the Task Force commissioned by the Vestry to discuss ways we might use our financial surplus to alleviate urgent needs caused by this pandemic, our souls are suffering too. If you have any ideas, gifts, talents, etc that you would like to share with the Congregation to lift our collective spirits, please contact the Vicar.
Marsha and Tim
Congregation of Saint Saviour in the Diaspora
Dear Friends,
We find ourselves in a strangely familiar land—uncertain about the future for ourselves and our city, nation, world. If we look at a period of a thousand, even a hundred years, this is just one unpleasant blip in the history of humanity. There have been many such blips. We suffered but survived the great plagues that devastated large swathes of the world from Africa to Europe with people literally dropping dead on the streets; the AIDS epidemic, especially at its onset when we were uncertain about how this deadly virus spread and everyone was terrified; the Spanish flu. Some of us have family stories of slavery, lynchings, mass murder. Then there is the economic side to all this. Our grandparents lived through the Great Depression and now we may be about to experience that as well.
We will survive this, of that I am sure. We are a clever lot, the human race, and a vaccine will be developed. These weeks or months will be just an unfortunate, but short period of disruption. Yet as we live these days, there is great personal uncertainty. There is deep concern for people who were already living hand to mouth, homeless on the street, or experiencing food insecurity. There is a picture in our minds of our loved ones dying because there aren’t enough respirators, of ourselves leaving this world not because of the usual ravages of old age but because of a stupid virus. We took all of our shots—flu shots, pneumonia shots, tetanus shots, shingle shots, and now something related genetically to the common cold is about to kill us? Well…enough of that! Worrying doesn’t help. Taking positive action does.
Many members of our congregation have scattered geographically and others are keeping physically isolated. It is a modern Diaspora of sorts. Yet we have the ability to stay connected. Your vicar and vestry are finding ways around physical distancing to bring us together even while we wait on Riverside Drive, Amsterdam Avenue, or London or Paris! We have spent the last several days experimenting with several software platforms that allow for group discussions, prayer, Bible study and committee work. A task force named by the vestry to recommend how to spend last year’s surplus for support of people outside the church will discuss this using ZOOM.
On Wednesday night we had our first congregation check-in with Canon Lee. About 20 people logged in and joined the conversation. We could see each other! I have been in isolation for nearly two weeks so this was really a treat. After about an hour of checking in, Steven led us in Compline, the last office of the night. It was a little ragged but beautiful. It is good to have live streamed or podcast services from the Cathedral and other churches in the diocese. But this was interactive and most of us knew each other or were excited to meet each other. It was really church. It may be months before the virus is defanged and we are safe to gather in our beloved Cathedral. Yes, we love our Cathedral, we love our clergy, but even more do we love our community. I hope as many of you as can, will take advantage of the opportunities to get together in this virtual way.
May God shower his grace upon the Congregation of Saint Saviour in its temporary Diaspora!
Marsha & Tim