May 2019 from the Interim Rector
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MAY 2019 In May's Issue: Message from the Interim Rector Music Notes Invitation to Epiphany Under the Stars May 19 Choral Evensong Epiphany 351: Faith on the Move Photos from: the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, and the Easter Egg Hunt Episcopal Charities Sunday Rest In Peace John Romig Johnson Families Behind Bars Panel Discussion, sponsored by Circles of Support Easter Flowers Music & Organ Fund Contributions Sunday Servers' Schedule May Scripture Readings May Church Calendar FROM THE INTERIM RECTOR I am reminded of an old nursery rhyme I grew up with. Perhaps you know it. “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.” Of course the rhyme only works if it is accompanied by the hand motions. But, if you know the rhyme, you know the hand motions. The two are inexorably linked for anyone who grew up with this old rhyme and passed it on to their children and grandchildren. What made me think of this happy rhyme, besides the sound of happy children playing outside my office window, are the people of the Church of the Epiphany. And there are a lot of you. Of us! There are the people who worship here at one of the three services on Sunday. There are the people who sing in the choir, prepare the altar, wash the linens, serve as ushers, Welcomers, crucifers, chalice bearers, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, assisting clergy, and coffee hour hosts. There are the people who gather throughout the day on Wednesday to prepare and serve a hot three course meal to 80-120 people 52 weeks a year. There are the people who come to be nourished by that meal, not just physically, but relationally, by being in true community with those who serve and are being served. There are the people who entrust their most precious possessions to us five days a week: the parents of the children of the Church of the Epiphany Day School (CEDS). These parents, in partnership with the Church of the Epiphany, ensure that CEDS continues to be a place where their children are eager to come to each morning. A place where they can and do flourish, as all children should. There are the children, who laugh and play and learn and sometimes get angry, frustrated, or cry, but know there is a loving, patient teacher or aide there to help them in ways that are most helpful to them. There are the people who serve on the Vestry, the School Committee, the Communications and Marketing Team, the parish nurses, the prison ministry team, Racket, Youth ministry, and Sunday School. The list goes on and on and I could fill the Manifest with naming them all and extolling the work they do. And there are the employees of the Church of the Epiphany and CEDS. That too is a long list of people, from the sextons to the teachers, to school administration, to the office staff, choir section leaders, organist/choir director, and on and on. People who come to work, but more than just that—people who come to enrich the lives of all the people I’ve named above. People who come to help us flourish. To help us become more deeply embraced by this community of faith. To help us serve others so that in everything we do, in thought, word, or deed, we do it all to the glory of God. (Colossians 3:17 & I Corinthians 10:31.) “Here is the church. Here is the Steeple. Open the doors, and see all the people” may be an old nursery rhyme but church has always been and will always be about the people. All the people who give of themselves so that all of us in community together may do all that we do to the Glory of God. As we continue preparations for the next chapter of Epiphany’s life, mission, and ministry, may we remember that it is always about the people. People like yourself whom God has already entrusted to us as a community of faith and people who are even now on their way to discovering the Christ-centered life that the people of Epiphany create each day at York and 74th. By God’s grace and to God’s glory. Roy+ MUSIC NOTES Larry Long, Organist & Choirmaster Music Notes for May Music in the Liturgy Following is a list of scheduled choral music for Sundays in May. The four pieces listed are choral introit, psalm, offering, and communion. May 5, 2019 • EASTER 3 Christ is arisen; J. Klug Psalm 30; refrain Larry J. Long; verses Ray Francis Brown This is the feast of victory; Joel Martinson (b. 1960); arr. Daniel Schwandt O sacred communion; Larry J. Long (b. 1954) May 12, 2019 • EASTER 4 Cherub Choir sings today I am the Resurrection; Thomas Morley (c.1557-1602) Psalm 23; refrain Larry J. Long; verses Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006) Ich bin die Auferstehung; Gallus Dressler (1533-c.1585) The Lord is my Shepherd; Spiritual; arr. Larry J. Long (b. 1954) May 19, 2019 • EASTER 5 Children’s Choir sings today Praise to the Lord; Hugo Distler (1908-1942) Psalm 148; Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014) And I saw a new heaven; Edgar L. Bainton (1880-1956) Total Praise; Richard Smallwood (b. 1948) May 19, 2019 • CHORAL EVENSONG at 5:00pm Dame Julian of Norwich, c. 1417 Preces and Responses; Louise Mundinger (b. 1955) Psalm 27:5-11; Elizabeth Posten (1905-1987) Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in A-flat; Sarah MacDonald (b. 1968) As truly as God is our Father; William Mathias (1934-1992) May 26, 2019 • EASTER 6 This joyful Eastertide; Charles Wood (1866-1926) Psalm 67; Larry J. Long (b. 1954) O blessed spring; Robert Bucklee Farlee (b. 1950) At the river; Aaron Copland (1900-1990) At Choral Evensong on Sunday, May 19, the service will include music mostly by women composers. The two hymn texts that will be sung were written by women (one uses her husband’s music, the other is by a female composer). Louise Mundinger and I were both undergraduate music students at Valparaiso University. She is currently the music director at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Episcopal) in Boston. Elizabeth Posten was a British compomser whose most famous choir anthem is “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree”, which we have sung at our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols. Sarah MacDonald is originally from Ontario, Canada, and now resides in Cambridge, England where holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Director of Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir. The William Mathias anthem “As truly as God is our Father” is a setting of a text by Dame Julian of Norwich, who lived in England c. 1342-c.1417. The second line of the text is “so just as truly is he our Mother.” Julian wrote the earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman, Revelations of Divine Love. CHORAL EVENSONG: MAY 19 AT 5:00PM Our next Choral Evensong service of the season will be Sunday, May 19 at 5:00pm, when we will remember Dame Julian of Norwich (c.1342 - c.1417). Music sung during the service is either composed by women or uses texts written by women, including two texts by Julian herself: "As truly as God is our Father" (music by William Mathias), and "Mothering God, you gave me birth," adapted by Jean Janzen (b. 1933). Other composers include Louise Mundinger (b. 1955), Elizabth Posten (1905-1987), Sharon Marion Hershey, and Sarah MacDonald (b. 1968). Organ music begins at 4:45pm. Conclude your Sunday afternoon with this candlelit, quiet, reflective service of beautiful choral music, scripture, and prayer. EPIPHANY 351: FAITH ON THE MOVE Special thanks to Woody Swain and the Marketing Committee for desiging our new logo for Epiphany 351. We have such a deep bench of talent at Epiphany. Thank you! Starting in 2021, the Church of the Epiphany will find its new home one block west, in a restored and modernized church space at 351 East 74th Street. Coming soon, we will launch Epiphany 351: Faith on the Move on the EpiphanyNYC.org website. We are currently creating a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the renovation and upcoming move to include on the new webpage. This will be an ongoing conversation, with updates as new information becomes available. You can contribute your own questions or comments by emailing us at [email protected]. We recently received a question from a former parishioner who was married from Epiphany in the 1990s, and no longer lives in the area: I just heard from a friend in the neighborhood that the Church has been sold and that you’ve bought the old Jan Hus building. Is there any truth to that story/rumor? Epiphany's Answer: It is, indeed, a time of great changes at Epiphany – changes that are both exciting and bittersweet. After careful and prayerful deliberation, and under the by-laws of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, last summer the Vestry of Church of the Epiphany voted to move its house of worship from York Avenue at 74th Street one block west to the historic Jan Hus Presbyterian Church at 351 East 74th Street. This will be Epiphany’s sixth home since its founding in downtown Manhattan in 1833. The leadership at the Church of the Epiphany deliberately chose not to sell the York Avenue property to a for-profit developer. In keeping with its historic ministry to the health care community, Epiphany sold the property to the non-profit Weill Cornell Medical Center.