News from the Congregation November 12, 2021

Nov 12

Written By Steven Lee; Marsha Ra & Bob Deming

‘Episcopal Futures Initiative Award’; ‘Custody of the Soul’ | Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, CCC Thanksgiving Sunday Food Donations Needed, CCC Holiday Toy-Drive, | Sunday Programs: 8:30 am Genesis Bible Study (Zoom), 10:30 am Worship Service - In-Person and Online, Virtual Coffee Hour |Weekday Programs: M-S Morning and Evening Prayer (Zoom), Wednesday: 7:30 pm Paul’s Letter to the Romans Bible Study (Zoom), Thursday: 7:30 YESS Bible Study (Zoom)

Canon Lee

Last Friday, I learned that the Congregation was chosen to participate in the Diocese of New York Episcopal Futures initiative. About 25% of the diocese applied (46 churches out of a total of 183), and 24 were accepted.

I attribute our successful application to the strength of the Congregation's Episcopal Futures team. I want to thank Akisa Omulepu, the team's leader, as well as members Cynthia Paulino, Darold Cuba, Neil Reilly, and the Rev. Paul Daniels, for all their hard work on the application.

One of the most exciting aspects of this initiative is that Tod Bolsinger serves as the curriculum designer. I have gotten to know Tod in another church context, and I can say that he has profound wisdom and insight about the leadership challenges all churches confront in this time of increasing secularization.

Tod currently serves Fuller Seminary as vice president and chief of leadership formation. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1993, Tod served as senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church from 1997 to 2014. He holds both a PhD in Theology and Master of Divinity from Fuller. He has extensive experience in church and nonprofit consulting and executive coaching.

I highly recommend his book, Canoeing the Mountains, and offer this excerpt as an apt metaphor of where the Church finds itself as it emerges from the pandemic:

As Meriwether Lewis approached the top of the Continental Divide, something within him had to be preparing for what he was about to see. Though he wrote of being sure he was about to crest the hill and find the Columbia River, ample warning signs had already suggested things weren’t going to go exactly as he hoped. The Mandans told Lewis during the winter that there were mountains, not a river, ahead. The men noted in their journals that the steep grade they were slowly ascending made a navigable water route less likely. And they had recorded that they had seen the spine of the Rockies looming before them three months earlier...I’m trying to point out that when we get to moments of deep disorientation, we often try to reorient around old ways of doing things. We go back to what we know how to do. We keep canoeing even though there is no river.

A Message from the Wardens

Bob Deming’s Reflection on Death and Life

I add to a theme that the Senior Warden wrote about at the end of last week’s reflection.

Marsha Ra noted the altars that went up for the three days from Sunday, October 31 through Tuesday, November 2, 2021 of the observances, “Lamentation, Thanksgiving, and Hope.” Marsha brought special attention to the altars that commemorate the Day of the Dead created by the Mexican artist Sebastian Gamez. The displays remain for the month of November and therefore Congregation members will still have a few weeks to experience.

My own experiences revolved around attending the Feast of All Saints Service on November 1 and the All Souls Service on November 2. Regarding the All Souls Service, Peter Ennis inquired if I would be a reader. I arrived early and took the seat designated for the Reader near the pulpit in anticipation of the 12:15 PM beginning time. Once I figured out what I was supposed to do and the material seemed in order, my mind wandered to the various displays. In particular, I focused on the large screen in the nave that was cycling through people who had been lost to Covid. There was a large photo on the screen for a few seconds of a person, with his or her name and the year of birth and death in parentheses. Some were older than me; some were about my general age; and some, sadly, were younger.

As I watched the faces, names and years cycle through, I wondered if I would know anyone. I kept a steady watch for perhaps 15 minutes. These were people new to me, strangers yet also strangely familiar because they lived in the same general era.

Life, or a lifetime, was reduced to an elemental simplicity. My mind wandered from the end toward the beginning. I was not thinking of birth, the beginning of life; I was thinking about the beginning of adulthood because these images on the screen were adults who had died from Covid.

At the turn of the century, I purchased a small book, A Small Guide to a Happy Life (2000) by Anna Quindlen, a former columnist for The New York Times. This paragraph about the distinctiveness of one’s own life sprang to mind:

“But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul” (p. 10).

The Cathedral, and all that goes on at altars and services for the Feast for All Saints Day and for All Souls Day, helps immensely with cultivating the last, your soul.

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

Thanksgiving Sunday Meal
Sunday, November 21
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Cathedral Community Cares (CCC) will hold their annual Thanksgiving meal on Sunday, November 21. Donations of cooked foods (chicken, turkeys, pies, etc.) are always greatly appreciated! If you’d like to make a contribution, it can be dropped off on the 21st between 7:30 AM – 8:45 AM at a table next to the guard booth on the Upper Drive (or in the Undercroft in case of inclement weather). For more info, email Vanessa Greco at vgreco@stjohndivine.org.

CCC - Holiday Toy Drive
Even before the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of hard-working, low-income New Yorkers were teetering on the verge of homelessness and hunger. The economic devastation of the past 18 months has made things even a bit more dire, and the holiday season will be no exception. Cathedral Community Cares knows the best way to help these families is to put a smile on their faces and, most importantly, a smile on the faces of their children. Last year your generosity helped us support over 55 families and 113 children!
What is Needed: Unwrapped toys (children); $20-25 gift cards (teenagers)
Details: Monday - Thursday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM: drop off toys or cards at CCC in the Town Building (south side of Cathedral) and Sunday, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: drop off toys in box at the front of the Cathedral interior entrance
Deadline: November 30

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

NEWS FROM THE VESTRY

GIVE/SERVE

Questions about Realm
Christopher Clowdus and Neil Reilly invite your questions about Realm, the Congregation's giving database, at this email address: stewardship@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 first week in December. Thank you so much for volunteering!