Weekend: Hollywood Hundredth is Calendar Highlight
Episcopal News Service. October 20, 2004 [102004-1-A]
Hollywood Hundredth: St. Stephen's Parish to Mark Centennial October 23, 24
When movie pioneer Cecil B. DeMille came to Hollywood in 1913, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church was nearly a decade old, having been formed officially in 1904 and housed in a newly built Tudor-style brick building at the corner of Ivar Avenue and Prospect -- a tree-lined dirt road later renamed Hollywood Boulevard.
DeMille, the son of an Episcopal lay reader, attended St. Stephen's from time to time through the years and made generous contributions to the parish. His funeral service was held there in January 1961, and in the church's narthex were displayed until recently, on loan from DeMille, the marble tablets carried in his epic film "The Ten Commandments" by Charlton Heston in his role as Moses.
In honor of the centennial of St. Stephen's Church, reports on the intersections of the Episcopal Church and Hollywood are featured on-line at http://www.episcopalnews.com/. Also featured there are reflections from the Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd, who shares anecdotes from his work in film and television, and as a production partner with legendary Hollywood pioneer Mary Pickford.
Festivities to mark the parish centennial include an October 23 banquet and silent auction (tickets $25) at St. Stephen's Church, 6128 Yucca Street, Los Angeles 90028; telephone 323.469.3993, http://www.ststephenshollywood.org/.
On Sunday, October 24, the parish community will gather at the church for a bilingual (English-Spanish) Eucharist at 11.30 a.m. followed by a backyard barbecue in the parish garden. All are welcome, notes rector Jaime Edwards-Acton.
LOS ANGELES - The Diocese of Los Angeles will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul on the weekend with events October 21-24.
Members of the diocesan staff will welcome former staff members and people who worked on the design and construction of the Cathedral Center on Thursday, Oct. 21, with a potluck party and Eucharist. Former staff may contact Canon Lydia Lopez at 213.482.2040, ext 245, for further information.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., the Cathedral congregation will present a health fair with various diagnostic tests and informative materials in Jonathan Daniels Hall in the South Building of the Cathedral Center. At 10.30 a.m., the congregation will sponsor a hymn sing, "The Diocesan Top 10" in the sanctuary, accompanied by the newly installed von Beckerath organ.
Members of the diocesan community are invited and encouraged to submit a list of their three favorite hymns to hymns@ladiocese.org The Rev. Ernesto Medina, Provost, notes that anyone who wants to vote more than once has his dispensation to do so.
The Cathedral Center's latest art exhibit, "The Power of Broken Plates & Papel Picado: The Art of J. Manuel Hernandéz" will be open for viewing during the event (see above). Medina suggests that families bring a picnic lunch to enjoy in Echo Park and take advantage of the paddleboat rides in the lake. "This celebration will be fun and festive for the whole family," he says. For further information, call Medina at provost@ladiocese.org.
Coming up Saturday, October 23, 2004...
SAN DIEGO, California - The Welsh Choir of Southern California/Côr Cymraeg De Califfornia will celebrate the 90th birthdays of two of Wales' most famous poets, Dylan Thomas and Eluned Phillips with its fall concert tour at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 23 at St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, California.
The concerts feature the world premieres of works from Dylan Thomas'Under Milkwood, along with works by Eluned Phillips, the only woman in Welsh history to win the Bardic Crown twice. Ms. Phillips will read from her selected works. Accompanied by harp, trumpet, organ, and percussion, the 55 members of the mixed-voice choir will sing in both English and Welsh, the oldest living language in Europe today.
Admission is $17 in advance, $20 at the door for adults; $15 for seniors and children over 12. Group rates for ten or more people are available. For tickets and additional information, call 562.598.4635. Or visit the web site at http://www.welshchoir.com/.
Future concerts: Saturday, Oct. 30 - St. James Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 7, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, 3 p.m.
STATEN ISLAND, New York - The 10 Episcopal churches of Staten Island will sponsor a daylong seminar on "Being Church: A Celebration of the Ministry of the Church in Staten Island" on Saturday, Oct. 23 at St. John's Church in Rosebank, 1333 Bay St., Staten Island, NY 10305.
Coming up Sunday, October 24, 2004...
NEW YORK - Grace Episcopal Church in Massapequa, New York, will present a program on "Christian Parenting," on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. Dr. Chris Boyatzis, Associate Professor of Psychology at Buchnell University will lead the discussions. Dr. Boyatzis is the father of two daughters and husband of an Episcopal priest. He is especially informed on children's spirituality. The evening will begin with a covered dish dinner. Childcare will be provided.
Grace Episcopal Church, 23 Cedar Shore Drive, Massapequa, NY 11758.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION - Following the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, this Sunday (20 Pentecost) will give thanks for the Most Rev. Dr. Barry Cennydd Morgan, Archbishop of Wales & Bishop of Llandaff.
The Anglican Cycle of Prayer can be accessed online at: www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/main.cfm.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - State Day prayers this Sunday will remember Vermont 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 Rt. Rev. Barbara T. Harris, preacher; the Rt. Rev. A. Theodore Eastman, celebrant, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Bishop in Jerusalem, concelebrant. Next Sunday, Oct. 31: State Day prayers will remember Kentucky.
Missouri Day at the National Cathedral
By Sarah Bryan Miller
Washington's Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul - better known as the National Cathedral - takes its role as "a national house of prayer for all people" seriously. One of its regular programs is the celebration of "state days;" each of the 50 states is honored on a Sunday each year. Once every four years, each state is invited to send choirs, preachers, lectors, elected officials and other citizens, to take part in a "major state day."
Sunday, October 17, was Missouri Day, an ecumenical celebration of the "Show-Me State" at both the 11 a.m. Eucharist and at Evensong. Episcopal clergy from both Missouri dioceses took part: the Rt. Rev. Barry Howe, bishop of West Missouri, was the chief celebrant in the morning, while the Very Rev. Ronald Clingenpeel, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral/St. Louis, in the Diocese of Missouri, preached at Evensong. Father Gary Braun, the Roman Catholic chaplain at Washington University in St. Louis, was the preacher at 11. Missourians also carried diocesan banners, read the lessons, and sang.
Two choirs were involved: a Presbyterian choir from St. Louis's western suburbs, and the choir of Christ Church Cathedral. The suburban choir sang a prelude at the morning service; the Cathedral Choir sang a prelude (read: brief concert) before Evensong on the steps in front of the rood screen, with music ranging from Byrd to "Balm in Gilead," then sat in the choir for Evensong, sung by the National Cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys.
I was there as a (temporary) member of the Christ Church Cathedral Choir, which held fundraisers to ensure that all its members would be able to take part in the trip. Three stalwart singers drove in from St. Louis with the vestments; the others - accompanied by several spouses and one child, a delightful 13-year-old named Lydia Carlsen - flew. The schedule was designed to allow sightseeing time, but the highlight of the trip was definitely singing in the majestic acoustic of the Cathedral. Verger Stephen Lott ran us through our paces - and put us at our ease.
Although disappointed that no one from the Missouri congressional delegation took part (they were, one presumes, all out campaigning and unable to accept the invitation), Dean Clingenpeel was upbeat about the experience. "It was a great way for a diverse group from Missouri to gather in our nation's capitol, to sing our joy and celebrate the wonderful state in which we live," he said.
The Cathedral Choir had an equally memorable (and ecumenical) morning, when we sang for the 11 o'clock service at First Baptist Church. Known as the church that Harry Truman attended as president, it had another Missouri connection for us: Christ Church Cathedral's organist-choirmaster, Canon Precentor William S. "Pat" Partridge, was their organist early in his career. And the pastor at the time he served there, the Rev. Edward Hughes Purden, was the father of the woman Pat married, Patricia Purden Partridge, making it a very special homecoming. We were warmly welcomed by the present pastor, the Rev. Dr. James Green Somerville, their music director, Lon Schreiber, and the entire congregation.
-- Sarah Bryan Miller is the classical music critic of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Although she sings with the Cathedral Choir for their monthly Evensong, she can more often be found in a choir stall at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in the St. Louis suburbs.
NEW YORK - The Center for Jewish Christian Studies and Relations at General Theological Seminary, New York, will join Butler Gallery at Marymount College of Fordham University in sponsoring The Spiritual in Art, exhibitions that explore Jewish and Christian themes in works by three contemporary artists: Simon Carr, Deborah Rosenthal and Barbara Goodstein. The three are well known for poetic, lyrical images that arise from their engagements with their own religious backgrounds and the history and conventions of religious art. The exhibitions will run from Oct. 25 through Dec. 15.
As Rosenthal says, "I have come, through motifs and conventions learned from their applications in Christian art, to painting pictures which arise from my Jewishness, not least of which is a connection to the narratives of the Bible..."
The artists share a strong commitment to inventive pictorial expression, which pushes toward abstraction. Thus, even Carr's and Rosenthal's depictions of biblical figures and episodes and Goodstein's sculptural reliefs of the facades of churches and synagogues are always handled in ways that are not only deeply personal and spiritual but also exciting from a formal perspective.
Works by the artists have been featured in numerous exhibitions, reviews and articles. They have won significant grants, awards and commissions, and have taught and lectured widely.
The Center for Jewish Christian Studies and Relations is a program of General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, 175 9th Ave., New York, NY 10011. The exhibition will be in the Seminary's St. Mark's Library, open Monday - Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
For information contact Bruce Parker, Director of Communications at 212.243.5150 ext. 285, parker@gts.edu. A reception will be held at GTS on Thursday, Oct. 28 from 6-8 p.m.
Starting next week...
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Austin Farrer
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Last February, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, said that Austin Farrer is "possibly the greatest Anglican mind of the 20th century." That may be so, but his name is scarcely known in Episcopal seminaries-and certainly not by many laypersons. On the other hand, the man whom he served as confessor and to whom he was a good friend, C. S. Lewis, is widely known and read by both clergy and lay people in all denominations. In an attempt to encourage us to benefit from Farrer's contributions (his sermons are short but astonishingly profound essays on the practical meaning of Christian doctrines, practices, and the scriptures) and to carry them with us into the twenty-first century, two conferences are being held to mark the centenary of his birth.
A Conference and Spiritual Life Workshop, "Captured by the Crucified: The Practical Theology of Austin Farrer," will be held Nov. 4-7, 2004 at the St. James Center for Spiritual Formation, a program of St. James Episcopal Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The conference will be divided into two parts. The first part will consist of presentations about the meaning-in-life of Farrer's theology and that of his friends, such as Dorothy L. Sayers, while the second part, fully accessible to those who have no prior acquaintance with Farrer's writings, will make use of Farrer's thought and words in a series of related meditations punctuated by spiritual exercises of prayer and reflection. Presenters include David Brown, Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at Durham University, Durham, England, Ann Loades, CBE, of Durham University, David Hein of Hood College, O. C. Edwards, Dean Emeritus, Seabury Western, William McF. Wilson of the University of Virginia, Robert Slocum of Marquette University, John Senette, Frederick Borsch, Jeffrey Eaton, and others. For more complete information and to register, go to http://www.stjamescsf.org and click on "Captured by the Crucified", write to Farrer Conference, St. James Center for Spiritual Formation, P.O. Box 126, Baton Rouge, LA 70821, or call Fr. Robert Odom (SJCSF Director) at (225)387-5141.