Weekend: Pentecost Marks Church's New Beginnings
Episcopal News Service. May 11, 2005 [051105-3-A]
This Sunday, May 15, Christians throughout the world will be celebrating Pentecost, which means "the fiftieth day." In the Old Testament it refers to a feast of seven weeks known as the Feast of Weeks, apparently an agricultural event that focused on the harvesting of first fruits.
The historian Josephus referred to Pentecost as the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover. The term is used in the New Testament to refer to the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), shortly after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. Christians came to understand the meaning of Pentecost in terms of the fulfillment of a promise which Jesus gave concerning the return of the Holy Spirit.
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is now the seventh Sunday after Easter. It emphasizes that the church is understood as the body of Christ which is drawn together and given life by the Holy Spirit. Some understand Pentecost to be the origin and sending out of the church into the world. The Day of Pentecost is one of the seven principal feasts of the church year in the Episcopal Church, and is identified by the BCP as one of the feasts that is "especially appropriate" for baptism. Pentecost has also been known as Whitsun or Whitsunday, a corruption of "White Sunday."
Please check with your local Episcopal Church for details of services in your area. A full list of Episcopal Cathedrals, along with web links and contact details, is available online at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_51512_ENG_HTM.htm.
MAINE -- Diocese calls people to "Octave of Prayer" for Pentecost
The Diocese of Maine is calling people to an "Octave of Prayer" during the eight days from Pentecost, Sunday, May 15, to Trinity, Sunday, May 22. The diocese is asking people to "pray for our common life / our mission priorities / our brothers and sisters in Christ across the world."
Each day will include a mini-retreat in a different area of the diocese, 60 to 90 minutes of reflection, silence and prayer with a chaplain. All members are invited to attend any of the retreats. There will also be a daily meditation, a call to prayer and various activities across the diocese, including a "First Light Society" dinner for those who have made a planned gift to their church, the diocese, or a church institution, a clergy family picnic, and a day of diocesan-wide community service, among others.
For more information on any of these events or the Portland or Mount Desert Island confirmation services, please contact Canon Vicki Wiederkehr at 1.800.244.6062 x 23 or visit http://www.diomaine.org/page.html?pageId=361. Bishop Chilton Knudsen's message about the "Octave of Pentecost may be found online at http://www.diomaine.org/page.html?pageId=359.
Coming up Friday, May 13, 2005...
LATHAM, New York -- Province II of the Episcopal Church, which includes the Dioceses of Albany, Central New York, Long Island, Haiti, Newark, New Jersey, New York, Rochester, Virgin Islands and Western New York, as well as the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, is sponsoring a two-day convocation titled "Celebrate, Connect and Discover" on Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14 at Century House in Latham, New York.
Bishops of Province II will address topics that each finds vitally important in their ministries, such as new visions in ministry, anti-racism, the death penalty, peace and justice, global women's issues, human development, and health care, among others.
Archdeacon Taimalelagi Tuatagaloa-Matalavea, Anglican Observer at the United Nations, will be keynote speaker from 12 – 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 14.
Further information and registration: http://www.province2.org.
Coming up Saturday, May 14, 2005...
FORT WASHINGTON, Pennsylvania -- Professor Rowan A. Greer, professor of Anglican studies emeritus at Yale Divinity School, will lead a seminar titled "The Anglican Church and the Authority of Scripture" from 9 a.m. - 12 noon on Saturday, May 14 at St. Thomas' Church in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania.
Greer notes that "any attempt to locate the Bible outside of the Church is doomed. The authority of the Bible is not meant to be used to adjudicate controversies or be used for prooftexting but rather it is meant to lead us to Christ." He will examine the Bible in early Anglicanism and later theologians who attempted to anchor the Bible in history.
Greer is a worldwide authority in patristic Greek and the spirituality of the early church and the author of numerous books, including "Christian Hope and Life: Raids on the Inarticulate," and "Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and the Common Life in the Early Church Biblical Interpretation."
Onsite registration is $20 at the door. Call the Parish Office at 215.233.3970 for more information or to register over the phone.
St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh is located at Bethlehem Pike and Camp Hill Rd., Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania 19034. http://www.stthomaswhitemarsh.org.
Coming up Sunday, May 15, 2005...
BOSTON -- This week's Sunday Afternoon Forum, "Radical Welcome" Series: "Stepping Out On Faith," will be held at 4:30 p.m. on May 15, in the Commons of Trinity Church, Boston, and presented by Stephanie Spellers, a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Massachusetts. In this six-week journey, author and consultant Spellers will introduce the theology of radical welcome and Christian hospitality, and help participants to imagine God's radical dream for community, anticipate and sit with fear of change, and create and identify the resources to move through fear to transformation and welcome. The series is open to all, and is offered particularly with Trinity Connection groups in mind.
Contact Barbara Green, 617.536.0944, or Bill Franklin, 617.536.0944, for more information.
Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. Tel: 617.536.0944. http://www.trinityboston.org/default.asp.
CHICAGO -- St. James' Cathedral in Chicago will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its designation as the cathedral of the diocese on the Day of Pentecost, Sunday, May 15, with a Festive Choral Eucharist in the morning and a Celebration Concert in the afternoon.
Former clergy of the cathedral will participate in the liturgy. All diocesan congregations are invited to send two or three representatives to participate in the procession at the 10:30 a.m. Eucharist. Representatives should bring congregational banners and stands to the service. Bishop William Persell of Chicago will preside. A light lunch and reception follows the service.
At 3 p.m. a Celebration Concert will be held in the cathedral featuring the cathedral choir, organist and choir master Bruce Barber, and cello soloist Marlena Tureski Blackman. The concert includes the Haydn concerto in C major for choir and orchestra and the Haydn "Nelson Mass" for choir and orchestra. For more information contact the cathedral at 312.787.7360 or email lroebuck@saintjamescathedral.org.
St. James Cathedral, 65 East Huron Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Tel: 312.787.7360. http://www.saintjamescathedral.org.
LONG BEACH, California -- Aidan Delgado, Iraq War veteran and conscientious objector, will speak at a forum and luncheon at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, California, on Sunday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m. Delgado also will take questions about his experiences as a soldier in Iraq. His presentation will include photographs taken at the Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq.
Also on the program will be Cindy Sheehan and Bill Mitchell, co-founders of Gold Star Families for Peace. Cindy and Pat Sheehan's son, Army Spc. Casey A. Sheehan, and Bill Mitchell's son, Army Sgt. Michael Mitchell, were both killed in action in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004.
According to its mission statement, Gold Star Families for Peace "was founded by families of soldiers killed in the Iraq and other wars "...to be a positive force in our world to bring our country's sons and daughters home from Iraq, to minimize the 'human cost' of this war, and to prevent other families from the pain we are feeling as the result of our losses."
To make reservations for the forum, contact Stanley Yon at 562.590.9049 or stanley.yon@verizon.net. Childcare will be provided. Cost of the luncheon is $10, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 525 East 7th Street, Long Beach, California 90813. Tel: 562.436.4047. http://www.stlukeslb.org.
PORTLAND, Maine -- The Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland, Maine, will welcome the Rev. Benjamin A. Shambaugh as its new dean on Sunday, May 15 at its 10 a.m. worship service.
Shambaugh has been rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, Olney, Maryland (Diocese of Washington D.C.), since 1995. During his rectorate, he led the congregation through significant spiritual, financial and membership growth. Prior to his tenure at St. John's, Shambaugh spent four years as Canon Pastor at the American Cathedral in Paris, where he re-energized adult and children's Christian Formation programs, and gave leadership to young adult and ecumenical ministries.
In June, Shambaugh will receive a Doctorate in Ministry in Congregational Development and Leadership from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. His undergraduate work was at Northwestern University, where he received his degree with honors in Psychology.
Ben and his wife Shari, an art therapist, have two children Scott (12) and Kate (8).
A service of Installation and Seating of a Cathedral Dean will take place on Saturday, June 18 at 4:30 p.m. The public is welcome.
St. Luke's Cathedral, 143 State Street, Portland, Maine 04101. Tel: 207.772.5434. http://www.cathedralofstluke.org.
STAATSBURG, New York -- "Putting a Human Face on Iraq" will be the topic of this month's Forum for Justice at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 15 at St. Margaret's Church in Staatsburg, New York. Kathy Kelly of Chicago will be the guest speaker.
Kelly helped initiate "Voices in the Wilderness," a campaign to end the UN/US sanctions against Iraq. She has been to Iraq twenty times since January 1996, when the campaign began. In October 2002, she joined Iraq Peace Team members in Baghdad where she and the team maintained a presence throughout the bombardment and invasion. "Voices in the Wilderness" functions as a network for nonviolent education and action: developing and practicing ways of nonviolent resistance. It is committed to teaching peace in formal teaching and learning environments as well as through grassroots, non-traditional settings.
For additional information, visit the Voices in the Wilderness website, www.vitw.org, or St. Margaret's speaker's forum website, www.allforjustice.org.
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, East Elm St. & Old Post Rd, Staatsburg, NY 12580. Tel: 845.889.4181.
SAN FRANCISCO, California -- "Understanding Islam in America" will be this week's Forum at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, featuring Maha ElGenaidi, president and CEO of the Islamic Network Group, from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 15, at Gresham Hall, on the Crypt Level of the Cathedral.
ElGenaidi will address these and other pressing questions in the second part of a series on the Middle East.
For more information about this event call 415.749.6360 or email Larry Bisagni at larryb@gracecathedral.org. Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. (at Taylor Street), San Francisco, California 94108. Tel: 415.749.6300. http://www.gracecathedral.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State Day prayers this Sunday will remember Wyoming in liturgies at Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues Northwest (Mount St. Alban), Washington, D.C., 20016; 202.537.6200; http://www.cathedral.org. The Rev. Canon Michael Wyatt will be the preacher at the 11 a.m. service. Next Sunday, May 22: a major State Day will remember Ohio.
The Cathedral Choral Society, www.cathedralchoralsociety.org, will perform Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at 4 p.m. in the Cathedral. There will be no Evensong or organ recital.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION -- Following the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, this Sunday (Day of Pentecost) give thanks for the Diocese of Niassa in South Africa. The Rt. Rev. Mark van Koevering, bishop. The Anglican Cycle of Prayer can be accessed online at: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/main.cfm.
Coming up Monday, May 16, 2005...
SEATTLE, Washington -- An international delegation of Anglicans and Roman Catholics will convene in Seattle May 16 to release a joint statement of understanding on the place of Mary in the doctrine and life of the Church. The document, titled Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ, represents the first major agreed statement by a formal international dialogue between two Christian world communions on this important aspect of Christian faith and devotion.
The statement draws together the fruits of five years of work by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), a dialogue officially sponsored by the Anglican Consultative Council and by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Further information may be found online at http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/39/50/acns3974.cfm.
Coming up Tuesday, May 17, 2005...
BOSTON -- Author George Kinder, founder and executive director of Kinder Institute of Life Planning, will speak at Old North Church in Boston on Tuesday, May 17, at 6:30 p.m. Life Planning is a growing movement among financial planners that focuses on helping people to identify their "life of choice" first, and develop the financial plan to support it second.
Kinder will explain the basic concepts supporting Life Planning and lead the audience through a beginning exercise, in which attendees jot down their responses to his questions (privately). A practicing Buddhist and teacher of Buddhism, he will also discuss his own personal beliefs and how they inform his work.
The gathering will be held in the church building with a reception in the garden area (weather permitting, otherwise in the Parish House) following the talk. Kinder's book, "The Seven Stages of Money Maturity," will be available. All are welcome, and attendants are the guests of Old North Church. Further information on the Kinder Institute may be found online at: www.kinderinstitute.com.
Old North Church, 193 Salem Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02113. Tel: 617.523.6676. http://www.oldnorth.com.