From the Rector:  New Prayer Book Lectionary

At the 2006 General Convention, the Episcopal Church replaced the Sunday Lectionary that was adopted with the Prayer Book in 1979 with the “Revised Common Lectionary” – the “RCL.”  The resolution authorizing this change provided that the 1979 old lectionary could be used until Advent 2010.  The just concluded 2009 General Convention took no action to alter this change.  So, in Advent 2010 we will begin using this new lectionary.  The new pew edition Prayer Books for sale in our gift shop already include itthis new lectionary.

For us at Saint Mary’s, it will require a great deal of editorial work to get these materials ready in a user-friendly fashion for use at the lectern.  So far, the Church Publishing has not printed a Book of Gospels for the RCL using the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.  (No, we are not going to start using the New Revised Standard Version unless required to do so by the canons of the Church.)  No translation or lectionary is perfect.  The Bible was not written with what we call a lectionary in mind.  Of course, there were a number of technical and editorial problems with the present lectionary.  I think it is fair to say that there are even more within the new one.

The push for this new lectionary began with the 1997 General Convention.  For better or for worse, the members and leaders of our Church, its members and its leaders, is are no longer shaped primarily by ongoing public Prayer Book worship.  Very few congregations, parishes or cathedrals, actually have Daily Morning and Evening Prayer or a daily celebration of the Eucharist on offer.  In a way that few foresaw, the decline of public worship among us has only accelerated since the adoption of the present book in 1979.  This has consequences for the way new decisions are made about the way we will worship in the future.

The RCL was promoted as being “a truly ecumenical lectionary shared by most Protestant denominations and widely used throughout the Anglican Communion” (web page for the “Revised Common Lectionary” on the web site of the Episcopal Church).  But what does that mean?  I know a fair number of clergy colleagues in other Protestant denominations who would call themselves “lectionary preachers.”  For them, Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, that means most of the time, as preachers, they would select one or more verses from one of the lessons appointed on a given Sunday and use those verses as a basis for the sermon.  This usually partial passage would be read in worship and , the rest would not.  On more than one occasion I have heard the psalm referred to as “one of the lessons.”

The normative experience of the Bible during worship in these denominations is fundamentally different from our own – or of the other liturgical churches, such as our brothers and sisters who are Lutherans or Roman Catholics.  Moreover, if memory serves, our 1979 lectionary is closer to the Roman Church’s present lectionary than the RCL.  More people are Roman Catholic than anything else.

Stay with me; there are even more complications.  One example is the RCL decision to adopt the Roman Church’s lectionary for January 1.  The Roman Church celebrates January 1 as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God – and its first and second readings are chosen for that title.  The celebration of Mary on January 1 is an ancient commemoration of Christians in Rome, but in the Eeast and among Anglicans since the Reformation, January 1 has been kept as a commemoration of the circumcision of Christ – and our first and second readings reflect this.  Now we have a title and collect for the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ along with lessons for the Roman Church’s celebration of Mary, the Mother of God.  We love Oour Lady at Saint Mary’s, but I think it’s fair to ask how many of our ecumenical partners in the RCL will be meeting to celebrate the Holy Name of Jesus or Mary, the Mother of God, on New Year’s Day.

Perhaps the greatest single problem with the RCL is the option it gives during the season after Pentecost for a congregation to choose to follow week by week as series of continuous readings from the Old Testament narrative.  This is to enable preachers to preach on more of the Old Testament.  In fact, this Sunday’s lesson from this series is one of the important lessons in the Old Testament narrative, David’s lust for Bathsheba and his decision to have her husband put in a place during a battle where he would die  (2 Samuel 11:1-15).  The problem is that we Christians don’t gather in the name of David, but in the name of Jesus Christ.  Our focus is on Christ.  This Sunday’sOur gospel is one that will no longer be read in the RCL, namely Mark 6:45-52, where Jesus walks on water, a reading that is paired with 2 Kings 2:1-15, where Elijah is taken up to heaven and the water is parted by Elisha as he takes up Elijah’s mantle.  This lesson from 2 Kings will no longer be read unless one chooses the continuous option for Sunday readings in the summer.

Here’s another passage that’s no longer part of the appointed Sunday readings for what will be this year, Sunday, August 9, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.  For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6: 36-40).  This is good news that I would likeI want to hear.  I think these words are far more important good news than whatever a preacher might make of the story of David, Bathsheba and Uriah.  But the RCL is shaped by a Protestant, not a liturgical sensibility.

We take worship and evangelism through worship very seriously at Saint Mary’s.  We put an enormous amount of our community’s resources into keeping our church building open and clean.  The parish invests in clergy, sisters and staff so that there will be Daily Offices and Daily Masses seven days a week all through the year.  More than any other factor, the way in which we worship is shaped by the Prayer Book.  We will be loyal to the new edition of the Prayer Book just as we were loyal to the old.  I will continue to hope for the widespread return of public worship according to the Prayer Book.

Loyalty to Prayer Book worship was at the heart of the Methodist revival in the eighteenth century – Methodists got their name because they were Anglicans who were “methodical” about the use of the Prayer Book.  Prayer Book worship was also at the heart of the High Church tradition before and after the nineteenth- century Oxford Movement.  HoweverYet, we live in the first era of liturgical change since the Reformation when the public Prayer Book worship no longer shapes the common life of our Church.  I think we Episcopalians have enormous opportunities to do new and good things, to bring out of our treasure what is old and what is new.  Prayer Book worship has a way of calling people back to it.  Once its joys and its call get into one’s soul, they don’t let go.  Stephen Gerth

SUNDAY PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Edgar, priest, who is hospitalized; and for Amy, Daniel, Jack, Carol, Frances, Margaret, Eva, Allan, Dorothy, Harold, Marcia, Stephen, Madeleine, William, Gert, Mary, Daisy, Rick, Allan, and Roy, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Marc, Omar, Benjamin, Steven, Andrew, and Patrick; and for the repose of the soul of Jack . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . July 26: 1870 Harriet Amelia Barras; 1896 Bettie Cooper; 1924 Florence Rayner Brinke; 1962 Genevieve Carpenter Morrison; 1971 Janet Dix.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Pat Rheinhold’s father, Jack Rheinhold, died on Wednesday, July 22, in Dallas where he lived near Pat and her partner Eloise Hoffman.  Please pray for him, for Pat and Eloise and for all who mourn.  S.G.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . As we go to press, Father Edgar Wells is at Roosevelt Hospital, recovering from knee-replacement surgery.  He is doing very well and we expect him to be home soon.  Please keep him in your prayers . . . Frances Geer continues in rehabilitation at Mount Sinai Medical Center.  Margaret Malone is in rehabilitation at Amsterdam House.  Please keep them in your prayers . . . Father Mead will be away from the parish on Friday, July 31, and Saturday, August 1, to assist at the Saint Michael’s Conference’s fiftieth- anniversary celebration . . . The Rector is away on vacation beginning from Friday, July 24.  He returns to the parish on Friday, July 31 . . . Father Smith will hear confessions on Saturday, July 25.  Father Gerth will hear confessions on Saturday, August 1 . . . Attendance: Last Sunday 212.

FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT . . . The prelude at Solemn Mass this Sunday is the Sicilienne from Suite pour orgue, Op.us 5, by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986).  Dr. Mark Risinger, bass, is the cantor.  At the ministration of Communion, Dr. Risinger and Mr. Kennerley sing the motet Fulgebunt justi sicut lilium (“They shall shine like the lily”), No. 11, from Cantiones duarum vocum (“Songs for Ttwo Vvoices”) by Orlande de Lassus (c. 1532-1594).  Lassus (or Lasso or Delattre, as he was variously named) was born in Mons, now part of Belgium.  Little is known about his early life apart from the fact that he was kidnapped three times because of the incredible beauty of his singing voice!  He worked for several years in various parts of Italy before settling in Munich in 1556, where several composers, including both Gabrielis, visited to study with him.  Cantiones duarum vocum, a set of Latin motets for two voices, was published in Antwerp in 1609.  James Kennerley

OUTREACH MATTERS . . . Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church, Inc. (RMEC):  There are now copies of a new resource for individuals, families, and communities struggling with the problems of substance abuse, addiction and recovery on the ushers’ table.  The booklet, entitled “Helping Hands for the Addicted: A Renewed Call to Action,” includes a foreword that was written by the Very Reverend Ward B. Ewing, Dean of the General Theological Seminary.  Dean Ewing writes, “[The] booklet provides information, guidelines, and resources for congregations and members of the church to grow in skill for combating the destructive power of addiction.”  This booklet was published and is being distributed by the Church Pension Fund on the thirtieth anniversary of the Episcopal Church’s initial Call to Action. It is designed to be a resource for everyone who comes in contact with addictive illnesses:; clergy, parishioners, teachers, friends and family members.  More information about RMEC, including a list of publications written for those who are in recovery or who are having difficulty maintaining sobriety, can be accessed on the Internet at www.episcopalrecovery.org . . . Food Pantry: You are invited to bring non-perishable food items and new or clean, gently-used clothing items on Sundays.  Those items are then delivered to the Saint Clement’s Food Pantry on 46th Street.  Jay Smith

A FRIENDLY REMINDER . . . If you plan to be away from the parish for all or part of the summer, we would very much appreciate it if you tried to stay current on your pledge payments.  We often run into cash-flow problems during the summer months and that is, of course, a special concern this year.  Thank you very much for your consideration – and thank you to all who give so generously to support the work and mission of this parish.

HOSPITALITY AT SAINT MARY'S . . . During this time of belt-tightening and budget cuts, we continue to invite the members and friends of Saint Mary’'s to consider making a donation to support the parish’'s hospitality efforts.  There are several ways that one can do that.  First, you can sponsor a feast-day reception.  (We try, when possible, to pay for such receptions through the generous gifts of friends and parishioners.)  We now have donors for the reception on the Feast of the Assumption on Friday, August 14.  If you would like to sponsor (or co-sponsor) another upcoming reception, such as the reception on Sunday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, or, if you would like to plan and host a reception, please contact Father Smith.  Second, you can donate unopened boxes of cookies or other sweets or pastries – or make a cash donation – for hospitality on Sundays.  Checks should be written to the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and “Hospitality Fund” should be written in the memo line.  Finally, if you feel called to be a server and host at a reception, please let usme know.  A gentlefriendly reminder: if you see someone who you think is visiting Saint Mary’s, perhaps for the first time, don’t be shy.  Feel free to approach our visitors, introduce yourself, and welcome them to the parish.  Visitors who have taken the time to come to Coffee Hour are almost always very glad to be welcomed in that way.  Thanks very much to all who continue to help with the ministry of hospitality at Saint Mary’s. Jay Smith

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday          The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Monday            William Reed Huntington, Priest, 1909

Tuesday            Weekday

Wednesday      Mary and Martha of Bethany

Thursday          William Wilberforce, 1833

Friday                Ignatius of Loyola, 11556                                                                   Abstinence

Saturday        Joseph of Arimathaea

                           Eve of the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 9:00 AM Said Mass, 10:00 AM Said Mass, 11:00 AM Solemn Mass,

5:00 PM Evening Prayer.  Childcare is available from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM all Sundays of the year.

Monday–Friday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 6:00 PM Evening Prayer.  The Wednesday Mass is sung. The Thursday Mass includes anointing of the sick.  Holy Days as announced.

Saturday: 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Sunday Vigil Mass.

Confessions are heard on Saturdays 11:30-11:50 AM & 4:00-4:50 PM.