News from the Congregation October 14, 2022

Oct 14

Written By Steven Lee; Marsha Ra & Joan Adams

‘‘‘ God’s Mission in Unexpected Places’ ; ‘Marking the Day of the Dad’ ” | Dates to Remember| Sunday Programs: 10:30am Worship Service In-Person and Online, 11:30am All Are Welcome Coffee Hour, 4:00pm Evensong | Weekday Programs: Wed Bible Study on Paul’s Letter to the Romans, M-S Morning and Evening Prayer (Zoom)

Canon Lee

One of the ministry opportunities that the pandemic disrupted was the Congregation's nascent efforts to establish a global mission partnership with the Catedral Santísima Trinidad in Havana, Cuba. As you may remember, at the 79th General Convention in 2018, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies both voted unanimously to re-admit the Episcopal Church in Cuba to the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church in Cuba is now a diocese of our church. Furthermore, it is part of Province II, which includes the Diocese of New York.

This Saturday, at St. Thomas Church in Mamaroneck, will be the 6th Annual Global Mission Fair. The theme of the fair is "God's Mission in Unexpected Places," and one of the keynote speakers is the Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado del Carpio, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Cuba.

Bishop Griselda's personal story of faithful and courageous Christian witness in the midst of repression in inspiring. Equally inspiring has been her strong leadership of the church in Cuba, first when it was an extra-provincial diocese, then during negotiations for reunification with the Episcopal Church, and now as a diocese of our church.

I look forward to connecting with Bishop Griselda this Saturday and re-starting our conversation about a partnership between our two cathedrals. I invite your visions and dreams for how we might establish and then nurture this connection. During the pandemic, our Congregation did inspiring mission work in our neighborhood and local community. As we emerge from the pandemic, it is time to begin thinking about how we might engage God's mission in the wider world.

A Message from the Wardens

Senior Warden Marsha Ra on Turning of the Seasons

I was sitting in the dentist chair this afternoon when the dental technician showed me a recent picture of her church in Queens. The church’s lawn was covered with dozens and dozens of orange pumpkins.

The dental technician said that each year when those pumpkins appear she realizes that the season of holidays is about to begin, a season we hurtle through, she said, until suddenly it’s the New Year. Apparently her congregation holds an annual pumpkin sale. As I sat in that chair, I imagined the Cathedral steps covered with as many pumpkins as that church lawn in Queens. I fantasized how we could hold a street fair, selling pumpkins and kits to carve or decorate them. Maybe we could close down Amsterdam Avenue and have hay rides. We could have bobbing for apples and other things that I remember from my childhood when Halloween came around. We would need some bales of hay, and face painting for the kids. All this musing called up simply by seeing a lawn covered with pumpkins. The day dreaming led to feelings of melancholy. Halloween means the days grow shorter, the nights longer. Soon we light candles and put up strings of colored lights. People who suffer from SAD begin their struggle with depression. The orange of Halloween—is it really cheerful or is it not rather feverish?

In the church we start this season when nature seems to die, with the solemnity of All Saints and All Souls—we focus on the dead. The longer we live, the more dead friends and family we carry with us in our memories. We acknowledge them and we pray for them. Many of us believe they are with us, they surround us, yet there is a wall between them and us which we long to break through. For the second year in a row we will be marking All Saints and All Souls with the lovely tradition of Mexican ofrendas, or offerings, placed on colorful altars set up in the bays. This year we are giving members of the congregation an opportunity to assist the Mexican artist in creating the beautiful paper flowers and chains that will decorate the altars. We will weave joy and fun into this season of remembrances. Once the altars are in place we are encouraged to bring offerings unique to own personal dead loved ones. I brought persimmons last year, because my dead husband loved persimmons.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance...”

Creating the ofrendas, is perhaps a way to both weep and laugh, to mourn and to dance!

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

Dates to Remember
Nov 1| All Saints Day Service
Nov 2 | All Souls Day Commemoration
Nov 6 - Cathedral Trustee Sunday
Nov 11 to 12 - 246th Annual Diocesan Convention at Westchester Marriott, Tarrytown, New York
Nov 13 - American Poets Corner Evensong honoring 2022 Inductee Lorraine Hansberry
Dec 3 - Special Convention to Elect Bishop Coadjutor at the Cathedral
Dec 6 - Episcopal Charities 25th Anniversary Tribute Dinner at the Cathedral
Dec 21 - Performance of El Nino, an opera-oratorio by John Adams, at the Cathedral

Columbarium Visits - Please Schedule in Advance
Due to cleaning and ongoing construction at the Cathedral, some areas may occasionally be inaccessible. Anyone wishing to visit a loved one in the Columbarium is strongly encouraged to schedule their visit in advance via this Columbarium Visit Registration form.

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF FOR UKRAINE

Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting Action by Churches Together (ACT Alliance) as it provides critical assistance to support people affected by violence in Ukraine. Working through ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) and other local organizations, ACT Alliance is providing emergency assistance such as food, shelter, water and basic supplies to refugees and people displaced within Ukraine. Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund will help the organization and its partners continue to provide assistance to people displaced by the crisis in Ukraine.

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.

NEWS FROM THE VESTRY

The Vestry voted to donate $15,000 over 3 years ($5,000 per year) to the Proposed New York Episcopal Federal Credit Union. an independent, federally accredited credit union to serve the communities within the Diocese of New York. The Credit Union will open banking services to the underserved, while providing low-cost emergency loans and financial counseling. From Staten Island to Poughkeepsie, traditional banks exclude our people through financial requirements and unreasonable fees. The lack of access to basic banking tools disproportionately impacts people of color and New York’s most vulnerable, from formerly incarcerated individuals to survivors of domestic violence. The chartering process is almost complete. The very last step is to gather the final $350,000 in donation pledge commitments from across the Diocese as required start-up capital.

If you would like to make an individual pledge to this diocesan-wide fundraising effort, please email Canon Lee.

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
4:00 pm - Evensong

The Cathedral requires those entering its buildings to wear a mask.

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