CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL An Episcopal Community in the Heart of Houston, Texas
SEPTEMBER 2016 CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.ORG
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Cathedral Introduces “The Well”
Returning to the Well
Celtic Eucharist Sunday evenings begins September 11 at 5 p.m. “Our wells have gone dry, and we seek deeper wells from our tradition that were signposted long ago. We seek the enchantment of the world, which we have lost.” These are the words of Anglican priest and Celtic Christianity scholar The Rev. Dr. Herbert O’Driscoll. Herb O’Driscoll speaks to the human desire to connect with God in ways that are deeply rooted and true, and which hearken to our origins. He encourages Christians to return to the ancient Celtic tradition of Ireland, Scotland, and northern England, which emphasizes an awareness of God in creation and the infinite ways that God connects with us in
THE WELL, page 3
Building bridges with a month-long Fiestas Patrias To further share Latin American culture as well as Episcopal faith traditions, this year’s Fiestas Patrias observance at the Cathedral has been expanded into a four-Sunday celebration. Spanish- and Englishspeaking congregations — as well as the general community — are invited to the series of unique church services at 1 p.m. on Sept. 11 and 18 and Oct. 2 and 9. Part of the decision to expand the Fiestas Patrias program was to further “promote the Episcopal faith among people who
may not know us well,” says The Rev. Simón Bautista, Canon Missioner for Latino Ministries and Outreach.
PATRIAS, page 6
As I left the autumn chill and entered the abbey, I was immediately captivated by the candlelight flickering off the ancient stone walls. Shadow and light interplayed with one another, invoking for me the soul’s constant struggle. Moving through the twilight silence, I found a seat. The service began with the melody of harp, strings, and flute, and the music drew forth THE VERY REV. a sound both ancient BARKLEY THOMPSON and intuitively familiar. The words of the liturgy emphasized grace, healing, and the incarnation of God in all things. The entire experience was an odd combination of nostalgia and déjà vu, like returning to a place I’d never been before. I left the abbey after the service feeling a greater sense of wholeness than I’d encountered in years. The event I describe happened in 2008, when I first visited the sacred island of Iona, off the western coast of Scotland. The evening service I attended was at Iona Abbey, the restored twelfth century abbey on the island’s eastern shore. It was my first experience with a form of worship that hearkens to the ancient Celtic Christian tradition of the British Isles. Late last spring, when our alternative worship task force finished its investigation of worship styles that we might introduce to the Cathedral, I was extremely pleased to learn that the task force’s preference was for a Sunday evening Celtic Eucharist. In their study and travels, they discovered — separate and apart from, but very like, me — the deep peace that envelops one in the midst of Celtic worship. It is a Christ-centered peace. It reminds the worshiper that we find our source, our meaning, and our final resting place in God. The new Sunday evening Eucharist,
RETURN, page 2