News from the Congregation November 26, 2021

Nov 26

Written By Steven Lee; Marsha Ra & Bob Deming

‘Expectations Not Privileges’; ‘To Give God Thanks and Praise’ | Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, CCC Holiday Toy-Drive, Bishop Dietsche Calls for Coadjutor | 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 Romans Bible Study (Zoom), Thursday: 7:30 YESS Bible Study (Zoom)

Canon Lee

This Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, which marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. A new year suggests new beginnings. One new beginning we can look forward to is Consecration Sunday, when the Congregation kicks off its stewardship campaign for the upcoming year.

People often ask me what it means to "join" the Congregation, as though it were a social club. I remind them that church membership has no privileges, only expectations. In a world where so many of our interactions are based on the logic of fair exchange ("I scratch your back, you scratch mine") this reminder might seem odd--or even offensive. But to those of us for whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (Romans 1:16), this makes perfect sense.

As the Collect for Tuesday Morning Prayer puts it, to serve God is "perfect freedom."

How might you serve God this upcoming year?

A Message from the Wardens

Junior Warden Bob Deming reflects on Thanksgiving:

This reflection brings up Thanksgiving in a few forms.

On a Sunday Service, the Celebrant and the people express the Great Thanksgiving in preparation for the Holy Communion Sacrament. The liturgy, whether spoken or sung, is the following:

Celebrant: “The Lord be with you.”
People: “And also with you.”
Celebrant: “Lift up your hearts.”
People: “We lift them to the Lord.”
Celebrant: “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.”
People: “It is right to give God thanks and praise.”

The last line is my favorite: a reminder that “it is right to give God thanks and praise.”

Thanksgiving is the annual Holiday observed in the United States on the last Thursday in November. Most years during our three decades of marriage, our tradition has been to drive to Wilmington, Delaware on the morning of Thanksgiving to celebrate at the home of my sister-in-law. She would give various family members various tasks. Mine tended to be two: one was to drive to one of the nearby parks with our daughter and our two nephews to collect items from nature that would be used to make the centerpiece; the other was to be part of the cleanup crew after the big feast.

Our family’s Thanksgiving has changed, due to the Covid pandemic restrictions. Last year my wife and I were in New York; our daughter was in Massachusetts; my wife’s sister was in Delaware; the older son was in Philadelphia; the younger son was in upstate New York. We got together, along with other relatives, online on Zoom.

This year’s Thanksgiving also will be different. I am writing this before Thanksgiving, although I know the reflection will be posted on the day after Thanksgiving. My wife and I will be spending the holiday with our daughter in Berkeley, California.

I have little idea what will prove our favorite. I imagine that being together, the three of us, on Thanksgiving itself and over the Thanksgiving long weekend will be a blessing. Family time, due to the age of our now 24-year-old daughter and to the circumstances of the pandemic, is something to be treasured.

Thanksgiving, as the formation of the word implies, is about giving thanks. It seems right to give each other thanks and praise, not only on special occasions, but also regularly.

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

Bishop Dietsche Calls for Election of Coadjutor
Planned Schedule (All at the Cathedral)
Election of Bishop Coadjutor: December 3, 2022
Consecration of Bishop Coadjutor: May 20, 2023
Installation of XVII Bishop of New York: March 16, 2024

In his address on November 13, 2021 to the 245th Convention of the Diocese of New York, the Right Reverend Andrew ML Dietsche, XVI Bishop of New York, called for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor to replace him, ultimately, as the XVII Bishop of New York.

"Four days ago," he said, "I turned 68 (which was kind of shocking: 67 felt like my “mid-sixties; 68 feels like my “late-sixties”). And last month I passed the twentieth anniversary of my coming to 1047 Amsterdam Avenue to serve the Diocese of New York, initially as Canon Pastor. And six days from today will mark ten years since you elected me bishop. These are significant milestones for me, and they necessarily invite reflection and introspection. The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes wrote, 'I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds.' Past and Future have come to me at midnight and awakened with me in the morning, and I have learned from those nighttime meditations how to pay attention to the times and the changes, and to be at peace."

Assuring listeners that his retirement has noting to do with COVID, he continued that at the time of the installation of the XVII Bishop, "...I will be 70 years old, and I will have been Bishop in this diocese for twelve years. This timing seems right. It will be a blessing for Margaret and me, and also I believe honors the trust which you put in me when you called me to this ministry. But be sure that I have no intention of becoming a lame duck. I will continue to be the Bishop of New York as long as I am the Bishop of New York, and I very much hope to hand over as healthy a diocese as I can to my successor. "

"I am not saying goodbye now. But please know that shepherding the two hundred (or so) churches in this diocese has been a privilege which I did not know how much I needed until you called me to it. I could never have imagined - I didn’t know - how deeply I would fall in love with these our churches, and the clergy and laypersons who lead them, and the people who fill their pews. I was no stranger to this diocese or our churches before, but becoming your bishop gave me new eyes and changed my life, and I am grateful to you for everything. And when the time comes to move on, I will bear you with me on my heart."

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!