News from the Congregation September 11, 2020
Say Yes to Jesus!; Homecoming Sunday - Learn about Fall Programs, Sunday Programs (9:45 am Visiting with the Vicar, 10 am Genesis Bible Study, 11 am Worship, 12:00 - Homecoming Coffee-Hour), Episcopal Charities Sunday, How to be an Antiracist Fall Book Discussion, Volunteer Opportunity - Hope for Harlem, Census Reminder
Canon Lee
For 10 years as a young adult, I was an opponent of organized religion, especially Christianity. I found the Bible incomprehensible and hopelessly dull. I considered myself enlightened and free from all superstition. I was an atheist.
But, as the writer David Foster Wallace noted, in his famous 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, "in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism."
There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship–be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles–is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you...
Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.
Wallace's words resonate deeply when I think about those years away from the faith. My life as an atheist was not one of freedom and enlightened happiness in "broad, sunlit uplands." Without the living God to worship, I slipped, as we all do, almost unconsciously, into idolatry, especially idolatry of the self.
For this reason, I hope you hear the invitation to Say Yes to Jesus this program year, as an invitation to experience a different kind of freedom, a life-giving freedom that begins with self-denial and discipline, with the bearing of a cross.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)
Or, as Wallace wrote, near the end of the commencement address, "the really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day." Amen.
The Rev. Canon Steven Lee
Canon Pastor and Vicar
THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13: HOMECOMING SUNDAY
(To access each program on Zoom, click the link in the title.)
9:45 AM - Visiting with the Vicar
Join the Vicar fifteen minutes before Bible study to say hello and check in with other members of the congregation.
10:00 AM - In the Beginning: A Study of Genesis
Join the Vicar for a study of the first book of the Bible. Discover Genesis, not as a collection of ancient mythological stories, but as the Word of God addressing our fundamental and deepest needs. This Sunday, we will look at Genesis 3, under the heading: "Nothing to Wear."
11:00 AM - Congregation Watch Party for Cathedral Worship Service
Watch the Cathedral worship service on Zoom with other members of the Congregation. As a way to maintain a prayerful atmosphere, we will be turning off Zoom chat for the duration of the service.
You can also watch the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org
12:00 PM - Digital Coffee Half-Hour
Join us at this week’s Digital Coffee Hour, special "Homecoming Sunday" edition!
NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE
Throughout the diocese, unemployment and underemployment have dramatically increased the number of people struggling with food insecurity. Even without the added pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, close to one million people in the diocese struggle to put food on the table. On Sunday, September 20, our parish will join with others around the diocese to support Episcopal Charities Sunday, a special collection on behalf of feeding programs funded by Episcopal Charities. We ask that you please prayerfully consider making a donation to support Episcopal Charities Sunday by donating at ec-ny.org/ecsunday and be sure to let them know you are a member of our parish in the notes area. Now, more than ever, these programs need our support.
HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST
FALL BOOK DISCUSSION
"The good news is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be a racist one minute and an antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what — not who — we are."
The Reading Group is participating in the Diocesan-sponsored discussion of Ibram X. Kendi's highly-acclaimed book How to Be an Antiracist. Here is the diocesan program's official website. On it, you can find an exhortation from Bishop Dietsche, details on where to purchase the book (it is also available at NYPL), how the programming will work, discussion questions, and a host of other related resources.
SAINT SAVIOUR'S MEET TIMES ON ZOOM
To enable the greatest possible participation, we will be meeting on Sundays at 12:30 for three sessions:
Sunday, 9/20 12:30-1:30 Discussion I (Introduction, Chapters 1-6)
Sunday, 9/27 12:30-1:30 Discussion II (Chapters 7-12)
Sunday, 10/4 12:30-1:30 Discussion III (Chapters 13-End)
Diocesan-Wide Zoom Discussion with Dr. Kendi: October 22
(In addition, we hope to participate in virtual inter-parish discussion sessions, see the registration form for details. )
WHAT TO EXPECT
In recommending How to Be an Antiracist to the 200 parishes in New York's Episcopal Diocese, Bishop Dietsche writes that Dr. Kendi "offers an invitation to all of us and each of us to be transformed, to be enlarged, to be enriched, and to become better and more complete human beings, and more just communities." It is in this spirit that the Reading Group committed to hosting these discussions. They are not meant to be exhaustive, didactic, or judgmental. Simply come prepared, having read the assigned chapters and given prayerful thought to the discussion questions.
HOW TO REGISTER
While registration is not mandatory, we urge you to sign-up. If we know how many people are coming, we can better plan how best to facilitate the discussions and send additional materials.
Please Click Here: Registration Form
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Tuesdays | 6:30 PM - YESS Bible Study
Wednesday | 7:00 PM - Congregation Reading Group
Preparation Sessions for How to Be an Antiracist.
Take a deeper dive into Kendi's book, or prepare to help 'usher' the Sunday discussions by joining in a pre-read of the book and a work-through of the syllabus.
Wednesdays | 8:30 PM - Congregation Compline
Reminder: you can find a directory of weekly programs with links to each program’s Zoom by clicking here.
SERVE
Join members of the congregation on Saturday September 12 at 9AM at 116th and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd for a service opportunity to feed Harlem families. This effort, in partnership with a Harlem Church, labor union, and local elected official, is expected to feed 2,000 families.
For more information and to sign up to help click here.
For more information about free food available in NYC, visit nyc.gov/getfood, call 311 and say “get food” from any phone or LinkNYC kiosk, or text “NYC FOOD” to 877-877. These easy to remember and communicate methods all provide multiple locations with the days and hours of availability.
Another excellent way help the community is to take five minutes out of your day right now to fill out the Census and encourage others to do the same. The federal government recently moved the deadline for the Census up by one month, and NYC's response rate is currently at 58.8%, behind the nationwide rate of 65.5%. This means less resources for New Yorkers, less say in federal decision making, and potentially fewer seats in congress.
Marsha and Tim
Your Wardens look forward to seeing you this Sunday for Homecoming Sunday! We will gather digitally at coffee hour to highlight all of the ministry that is sustaining our common life online and to look ahead to some of the programming we will embark upon together in the fall.