St. Mark's News

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September 2017

St. Mark’s News Volume 21/Issue 8

From Fr. Bill - Life in the Hurricane Almost nine years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, Bishop Doyle dispatched me to Galveston as interim rector of Trinity Episcopal Church. Trinity is one of the oldest Episcopal churches west of the Mississippi, with a proud and illustrious history. Trinity was no stranger to catastrophic loss. Following the 1900 Hurricane, which took between 6,000 and 12,000 lives in Galveston and still ranks as the deadliest natural disaster in American history, In this Issue Trinity Church—the entire building—was carefully and methodically From Fr. Bill ............................... 1 raised several feet to prevent future flooding. Nobody thought the Rector Search Update ............... 2 Church would ever be flooded again. Even so, the tidal floods of Hurricane Ike overwhelmed the Island and got well up into the Church. The boilers and air conditioners were housed in the basement of a Church thought impervious to flood. You can guess the result. The waters also overwhelmed the homes of almost every member of the parish. Their city lay in ruins.

Outreach .................................... 3 Parish Life .................................. 4 Christian Formation ................... 4 Parishioner Highlights ................ 6 Celebrations .............................. 7 Caffeine Ministry ........................ 7 ROTA ......................................... 8

The colossal Tiffany window (said to be the biggest ever created by that legendary maker) which towers above the altar, was badly damaged and had to be removed and shipped off to Minnesota for repairs, at no small cost. The boarded-up, gaping hole left by its removal seemed to symbolize the gravity of a disaster that cost at least 100 lives in Galveston and the Texas coast. All of the material things that supported our worship—hangings, linens, and vestments were ruined. We had no power for weeks, and then electricity limited only to the certain parts of the facilities. No air-conditioning for many months—a fact that in Galveston’s climate quickly produced a very laid back approach to vesting by clergy and laity alike. The sanctuary smelled really, really awful and the paint and plaster on the historic walls peeled off like so much dry skin. The ruined kneelers had to be removed, and a congregation that strongly preferred this posture in Eucharist had to learn to stand during confession and absolution. However, my memories of that time are not of the hardship, Sunday, September 10: although there was plenty to be found. It was a tough slog Rally Day at 10 a.m. Also, we will for almost three years before we were back to a sense of return to three services: 7:30 a.m., restoration and stability. Instead, my memories are of a time that pointed us toward Christ’s real presence in our lives and 9:00 a.m., and 11 a.m. in our Church. We learned that even as we had been Sunday, September 17: surrounded by famous stained glass and accustomed to the Christian Formation at 10:00 a.m. accoutrements of Episcopal religious ritual, none of that mattered when it was suddenly taken away by the flood. We discovered again and again the core strength of our faith. That is what mattered. There was liberation and deep grace in that. What I remember is joy.

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