News from the Congregation September 17, 2021
‘Communion’; ‘Peace and Grandeur at the Cathedral’ | Global Mission Fair; Congregation Fall 2021 Retreat Info, Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, | Sunday Programs 8:30 am Genesis Bible Study (Zoom), 10:30 am Worship Service - In-Person and Online |Weekday Programs M-S Morning and Evening Prayer, Wednesday: 7:30 pm Paul Bible Study.
Canon Lee
It was so wonderful to be with you last Sunday at the first in-person Sunday worship service since March 2020. As Canon Malloy is fond of saying, the Eucharist is not something we get, but it is an experience we share. What we share is Jesus Christ, encountered in the Word and in the sacraments.
This is the foundation of our community: a real-life encounter with the real presence of Jesus. The foundation gets stronger with every encounter.
I look forward to seeing you in church.
A Message from the Wardens
Junior Warden Bob Deming reflects on the Cathedral as a place of peace and grandeur:
This is my first Warden reflection after the summer interlude. The timing coincides with the starting of the in-person Sunday service, after an 18-month interlude due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The theme I choose is returning to the Cathedral. What might that mean? In my mind, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine is a place of peace and grandeur.
Peace seems to me to be the default. Generally, there is peace, yet occasionally there is a stark contrast. One scary incident involved the shots fired by Luis Manuel Vasquez Gomez on the steps of the Cathedral after a Christmas concert on December 13, 2020, where the police in turn fired and killed Vasquez. I was not in attendance at that event, but I heard about it at a subsequent Vestry meeting from some who were there.
Grandeur comes with the architecture of the Gothic Cathedral. The grandeur is associated with the indoor space, but also is linked to the clergy, the services, the music, the culture, and the overall atmosphere.
I contextualize these two attributes of peace and grandeur in terms of my immediate family’s experience twenty years ago. The Cathedral is a meaningful part of the story.
Our day started very early. The time might have been 11 PM September 10th, 12 AM or 1 AM September 11th: whatever the exact hour, my wife and I received a middle of the night call from our babysitter indicating that she would not be able to come to work in the morning. She had been admitted to the hospital in lower Manhattan, having experienced early labor pains. She was seven and one-half months pregnant, so this news made us nervous. The condition turned out to be Braxton Hicks and her pregnancy continued without complications, but at the time we did not know that. There was the practical matter of childcare for our three-year-old child the upcoming day. My wife and I had an arrangement of taking turns babysitting in the event of problematic circumstances. It was my turn and, furthermore, the 11th is my wife’s birthday. I therefore would be the one to call in “sick.”
The next unusual moment occurred around 9:25 AM. My wife called from work and told me to turn on the television. Two planes had struck the World Trade Centers. All hell was breaking loose in lower Manhattan, but she was okay. Her school, where she was a teacher, was about three miles from the World Trade Center, and she could hear the sirens of emergency vehicles descending toward that area. While our daughter continued to play, I watched the TV, trying to grasp the situation.
The first plane had crashed into the north World Trade Center Tower at 8:45 AM and the second plane had crashed into the south World Trade Center Tower at 9:03 AM. Video replayed the second crash over and over. My brother and sister-in-law also worked downtown in the vicinity of the World Trade Center Towers. All these thoughts crowded in.
The one person oblivious to the situation was our daughter, and I preferred to keep it that way. After watching TV news reports for about 45 minutes, I decided that going outdoors was better than staying in our apartment. I realized that I did not want the messages that included references to people jumping to their deaths on TV to reach her consciousness. We could switch to cartoons or put in a children’s video: deep down, however, I did not want to turn away from the adult world. An alternative was to go to the park. There was some risk involved: our location was in Manhattan, and who knew when another attack might occur. Nonetheless, the fresh air felt safer, and more natural, than an apartment overrun by media coverage of a calamitous event.
Outdoors, an unusual sound prompted a detour. We lived close by to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and a solemn church bell rang, every five seconds or so, the same note, over and over. We walked to the Cathedral to investigate. Indoors the vast space was as usual for a weekday morning, dimly lit, quiet, contemplative, and largely empty. The meaning of the bell tolling began to make sense: it was a sign of respect to those who had perished that morning, and perhaps also a signal that God needed to be part of the scene amidst all the horror and fear. We left the Cathedral and proceeded a few blocks to the park, where we stayed about two hours. Our daughter played with other children, and I spoke to adults, comparing notes about what we knew about both towers on fire and collapsing.
I choose to share our experiences on the morning and midday of 9/11/01 not because they stand out. What we faced does not, compared to the many acts of heroism displayed on that tragic day. Our story, however, does highlight an unusual role that I was cast into. I was trying to protect innocence, and the Cathedral and the park helped in that regard.
Looking ahead, I hope others in their return to the Cathedral experience peace and grandeur as well.
(For engagement or for communication about something of note, my email address is available in the Realm Directory, under my name Robert Deming.)
NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE
Episcopal Charities recently awarded a $6,000 Bulk Buying Food Grant to the Congregation of Saint Saviour for Cathedral Community Cares (CCC). This grant allows CCC to buy additional food for their soup kitchen clients.
Episcopal Diocese of New York - 5th Global Mission Fair
Saturday, October 16, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
In-person at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (also available via Zoom)
Featuring: The Rt. Rev. Dickson Chilongani, Bishop of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika in Tanzania; A Conversation Between The Rev. Paul Anthony Daniels
Assisting Clergy at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and The Rev. Ranjit K. Mathews, Canon for Mission Advocacy, Racial Justice, and Reconciliation. The Episcopal Church in Connecticut; Voices of the worldwide Anglican Communion including a performance by the renowned Youth Choir Young at Arts and a presentation of international music by the Choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Click here for more details and to register!
CONGREGATION FALL RETREAT LETTING GO – AND TAKING HOLD
October 29 - 31, 2021
Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York
For more information and to register, click here.
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 October. Thank you so much for volunteering!
THIS SUNDAY, September 19, 2021
In-Person Worship at the Cathedral
10:00 am - Doors to Cathedral open.
10:30 am - Eucharist Service (apprx. 1 hour)
The Cathedral requires those entering its buildings to show proof of vaccination and 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
11:30 AM - Digital Coffee Half-Hour (Cathedral Zoom Link)
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Monday-Saturday | 8:30 AM Morning Prayer | 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Wednesday 7:30 pm Bible Study | Paul’s Letter to the Romans, (begins Sept. 15) Congregation Zoom Link
Sunday 8:30 am Bible Study | Genesis Congregation Zoom Link