FROM THE RECTOR: FALL IS HERE

The first Sunday in October is the beginning of the regular schedule of services. The service times don’t change for us, but the parish choir is back to sing at Solemn Masses on Sundays and principal feasts. On summer Sundays, Morning and Evening Prayer are read. Beginning this Sunday and through Morning Prayer on Corpus Christi 2017, Sunday Morning Prayer is chanted and Solemn Evening & Benediction is offered on Sunday evenings. The Wednesday night Bible study is already underway; adult education returns this Sunday as well. Of course, our doors are open and the regular services of the church are offered daily. Fall is here.

Here’s a new link for the Leadership in Ministry conference from which I’ve just returned. Father Smith will be leaving on Sunday afternoon for the session he attends twice a year. I go to one of the workshops in West Virginia; he goes to one in Boston. These workshops were started by my uncle, the Reverend Dr. Lawrence E. Matthews, when he was senior pastor of Vienna Baptist Church, Vienna, Virginia, and faculty of the late Rabbi Edwin Friedman, a family systems therapist and teacher. Vienna Baptist owned a retreat center. Larry used his connections in the field to be able to offer this work at a lower cost. The lower costs enabled more clergy and other interested persons to participate. When he retired he handed the program over to the Reverend Robert Dibble. Bob has handled the work of coordinator very well. Now it’s Bob’s turn to retire and to hand the baton off to someone else. The workshops have become a part of the Lifelong Learning Center at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia, and the new coordinator is the Reverend Dr. Israel Galindo, associate dean for Lifelong Learning and director of Online Education at Columbia and a long time student and coach of Bowen Family Systems Theory.

I see a very bright future for the workshops. The encounter with the theory in workshop presentations and the very practical work of application in small coaching groups have helped me grow as a person and as a pastor. Quite honestly, I had no idea in 1990 when I began this work at an Ed Friedman workshop in Bethesda, Maryland, that over twenty-six years later it would still be such an avenue of grace.

Looking back, another unexpected avenue of grace has been my work and study of Scripture. When I was first ordained, scripture was something of a burden. I just didn’t know enough even to read some of the better commentaries—until I came across the work of the late Raymond E. Brown. Especially since my sabbatical in the winter of 2009, I am very protective of the time I have available to study scripture and to write. And I haven’t been skipping out on liturgical studies either.

This week I will be going to another conference as a guest, the annual conference of the Society of Catholic Priests. In addition to the Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, XXV Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the other speakers are the Reverend Dr. Lizette Larson-Miller, Huron-Lawson Professor of Liturgy at Huron University College, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson, Robert W. Woodruff Professor, Candler School of Theology, Emory University; and the Very Reverend Andrew McGowan, dean and president of Berkeley Divinity School and McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies and Pastoral Theology at Yale University. It’s a great line-up. (And by the way, Bishop Griswold will be celebrant and preacher for our Solemn Mass on All Saints’ Day, and Father McGowan will be our preacher for Good Friday 2017.)

In the meantime, the fall stewardship campaign launches soon. Work has begun on the gutters of the parish house and the church. We are still waiting for the terra-cotta stones so that the work on the rectory roof can be completed. The window air-conditioning units will soon be removed from our buildings, and fall window washing is scheduled. Our plumber has turned on the heating system. The Capital Campaign Team is working on its assignments. And at Sunday Eucharists the church is continuing its journey with the gospel according to Luke.

Father Smith has the 9:00 AM Sunday Mass this week. Father Pace is preaching at Sunday Evensong. I have the Saturday Vigil Mass and the Sunday 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM Masses. The last words of the gospel this week are these: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ” (Luke 17:10). I pray that the Lord will always find us worthy of the opportunities he has given us “to work and pray and give for the spread of his kingdom” (BCP [1928], 291).

—Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Julie, Linda, Guy, Sharon, Clovis, Nancy, Joanna, Jason, Dolly, Melissa, Jean, Barbara, Philip, Sally, Juliana, Margaret, Heidi, Catherine, Donald, Sam, Burton, Arpene, Takeem; Sidney, deacon; Horace, Gaylord, and Harry, priests; the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Mark and Nicholas; and for the repose of the soul of Barbara Harms . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . October 2: 1901 Georgiana Jackson; 1920 Catherine O’Connor Whitney; 1928 Jane Bufield Disbrow; 1945 Jewell William Hill; 1961 Beatrice Irwin Packington.

THE ORDINARY FRIDAYS OF THE YEAR are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial in commemoration of the crucifixion of the Lord.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY'S . . . Sunday, October 2, 2016, The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, the academic-year worship schedule begins: Sung Matins 8:30 AM, Mass 9:00 & 10:00 AM, Adult Education 10:00 AM, Solemn Mass with Organ and Choir 11:00 AM, Solemn Evensong and Benediction 5:00 PM . . . The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class will not meet on October 5. The class resumes on October 12. . . On Wednesdays, the daily 12:10 PM Eucharist is a Sung Mass; on Thursdays the daily 12:10 PM Eucharist is a Mass with Healing Service.

OKTOBERFEST . . . All Saint Marians are invited to come and celebrate the arrival of autumn here at the parish on Saturday, October 22, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. The supper is potluck. Please contact Grace Bruni if you’re able to bring a dish to share. Beverages—beer and soft drinks—will be provided. Following supper, we will adjourn to the organ loft for our annual rousing hymn sing, led by organist and music director David Hurd. Oktoberfest has become an annual event here at Saint Mary’s. It’s a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with fellow parishioners and to meet new people. Saint Marians are encouraged to invite their friends and neighbors to Oktoberfest. The event is a great way to introduce newcomers to the parish.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Parishioner Linda Bridges has returned to New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center for treatment. Please keep her in your prayers . . . Homeless Ministry: We are looking for donations of clothing for distribution to the homeless in our neighborhood: jeans and slacks in a variety of sizes for both men and women; packs of new underwear and socks for both women and men; sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets and coats; dress shirts and outfits suitable for job interviews, and other items. Sister Monica tells us this week that we are especially short of women’s underwear, in various sizes. Cash donations to this ministry are also welcome! . . . Altar Flowers are needed for the following Sundays: October 16, 23, and 30; and November 6 and 13 . . . Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish at a Leadership in Ministry Conference from the afternoon of Sunday, October 2, until Thursday, October 6. He returns to the office on Friday, October 7. Father Gerth will be away from the parish from Tuesday, October 4, until Saturday, October 8. Father Jim Pace will be in residence while the rector and the curate are away . . . The Rector’s sermons for August and September are now online . . . Attendance: Last Sunday 155, Michaelmas 83.

MUSIC NOTES . . . On Sunday morning, the Saint Mary’s choir returns and will sing at the Solemn Mass on Sundays and on principal feasts until the Feast of Corpus Christi, in June 2017. The setting of the Mass on Sunday is the four-voice Missa secunda of Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612). Born in Nuremberg and baptized on October 26, 1564, Hassler had a musical career bridging the late Renaissance to the early Baroque periods. His initial musical instruction was from his father, Isaak Hassler (c. 1530–1591). Hans Leo left home in 1584 to study in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli and to become a friend and fellow pupil with Gabrieli’s nephew Giovanni. Thus Hassler was one of the first of a succession of German composers to experience in Italy the musical innovations that were shaping what would later be identified as Baroque style. In addition to composing, Hassler was widely recognized as an organist and a consultant on organ design. Although he was a Protestant, Hassler’s early compositions were for the Roman church. His Missa secunda, first published in Nuremberg in 1599, is a model of efficient and concise text setting. The text is mostly set syllabically, and much of the musical texture is homophonic and rhythmically energetic. Often Hassler has the higher two voices and lower two voices singing phrases in playful alternation. These aspects all help to set forth the text with particular clarity.

The motet is a setting of the prayer O Lord, increase my faith, long attributed to Orlando Gibbons (c.1583–1625) but now believed to be the work of Henry Loosemore (c.1605–1670). Loosemore was organist of King’s College, Cambridge, from 1627 until his death. Some sources present the text as singular (e.g., increase my faith), and others as plural (e.g., increase our faith). Likewise, some sources replace the word “chastity” in the text with a reiteration of “charity.” It is difficult to know which form is original.

At 5:00 PM on Sunday, Solemn Evensong and Benediction will be offered. A quartet from the Saint Mary’s Choir will sing the service, which is The Short Service (Dorian Mode) by Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585). The motet is God which has prepared by Thomas Mudd (16th century). —David Hurd

ADULT EDUCATION The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class has begun its fall semester. This year the class, which is led by Father Jay Smith, is reading Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans. The class meets next on October 12 at 6:30 PM in Saint Joseph’s Hall and will begin reading at Romans 1:8 . . . The Adult Forum resumes on Sunday, October 2, at 10:00 AM. Seminarian Matthew Jacobson will discuss his summer internship at Saint Paul’s Within the Walls and the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center in Rome, Italy. On Sunday, October 9, parishioner Marie Rosseels will make the first presentation in our series “Learning How to Live and Pray with Holy Men and Women.” Marie will be talking about the Beguines, a lay religious order of women that was active in Northern Europe, particularly in the Low Countries from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

LOOKING AHEAD . . . Monday, October 10, Columbus Day, Federal Holiday Schedule: the church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM. The parish offices are closed. Only the noonday services are offered . . . Tuesday, October 18, Saint Luke the Evangelist, Mass 12:10 PM and 6:20 PM . . . Monday, October 24, Saint James of Jerusalem (transferred), Mass 12:10 PM and 6:20 PM . . . Friday, October 28, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles, Mass 12:10 PM and 6:20 PM . . . Tuesday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, Sung Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM. The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold is the celebrant and preacher at the Solemn Mass . . . Wednesday, November 2, All Souls’ Day, 12:10 PM Sung Mass and 6:00 PM Solemn Mass . . . Sunday, November 6, Daylight Saving Time ends.

A WALK TO FIGHT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE . . . Michael Reid is a Saint Marian and the assistant to the director at the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. He writes, “I will be the team captain for Mount Sinai at the upcoming Alzheimer’s Walk on Sunday, October 16. If any Saint Mary’s members would care to sponsor our effort (or walk with us), we would welcome their support, particularly if it’s honoring someone from the Saint Mary’s community who has Alzheimer’s or a related dementia. Our team is listed on the Walk’s team list as ‘ADRC and Loeb Center at Mount Sinai.’ We were one of the largest groups and largest fundraisers at last year’s walk, and we hope to surpass last year’s effort on both fronts.” Information about donations and volunteering to walk is available online.

AWAY FROM THE PARISH . . . At the Metropolitan Museum, Fifth Avenue at Eighty-second Street, Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven, September 26, 2016–January 8, 2017. From the museum’s website, “This exhibition will illuminate the key role that the Holy City played in shaping the art of the period from 1000 to 1400. While Jerusalem is often described as a city of three faiths, that formulation underestimates its fascinating complexity. In fact, the city was home to multiple cultures, faiths, and languages. History records harmonious and dissonant voices of people from many lands, passing in the narrow streets of a city not much larger than midtown Manhattan. This will be the first exhibition to unravel the various cultural traditions and aesthetic strands that enriched and enlivened the medieval city. Over 200 works of art will be gathered from some sixty lenders worldwide. Nearly a quarter of the objects will come from Jerusalem, including key loans from its religious communities, some of which have never before shared their treasures outside their walls. Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven will bear witness to the crucial role that the city has played in shaping world culture, a lesson vital to our common history.”