St. Mark's News November 2015

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November 2015

St. Mark’s News Volume 19/Issue 10

From the Rector On All Saints’ Sunday, November 1, the Rt. Rev. Michael Bruce Curry will be installed as the 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church at a celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the Washington National Cathedral. Most recently he has served as Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. He was elected Presiding Bishop on the first ballot at the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church on June 27 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bishop Curry will be the first African American to serve as Presiding Bishop, and the length of his term will be nine years. In the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop is the chief pastor and Primate of the national church and its nine ecclesiastical provinces. “The Presiding Bishop is charged with responsibility for leadership in initiating, developing, and articulating policy and strategy, overseeing the administration of the national church staff, and speaking for the church on issues of concern and interest.” Originally the Presiding Bishop was the senior Diocesan bishop who presided over the House of Bishops. In 1919 the office was transformed into an elected one. In the 1940s the decision was made that the person elected Presiding Bishop would resign as Bishop of his/her Diocese. Until that time the Presiding Bishop would continue to live in his Diocese and serve as its Bishop. The In this Issue Presiding Bishop lives in an apartment at the Episcopal Church Center in New York City. From the Rector ......................... 1 So what are we to think about this newly elected Presiding Bishop? Bishop Curry’s father was a priest in Buffalo, New York. +Michael grew up steeped in Anglo-Catholic liturgy. He grew up steeped in hymns and Bible verses. He grew up steeped in the 1960s civil rights movement. He remembers leaving a movie theater with his father at the age of 7, having just seen the movie Exodus and what his father had to say: “I want you to remember that the Lord didn’t make anybody to be under anybody’s foot. He made everybody to be free.” That, said +Michael, “was formative.”

Vestry Highlights ........................ 2 Outreach .................................... 4 Parish Life .................................. 5 Healthy Highlights ...................... 6 Susie W. Bain............................. 7 Parishioner Highlights ................ 8 Christian Formation .................... 9 Celebrations ............................. 10 Caffeine Ministry ...................... 11 ROTA ....................................... 12

One of his constant themes/injunctions is “Go to Galilee” as shorthand for embodying the gospel in the world. The underlying concept is a threefold conviction that a disciple’s transformed life begets joyful witness, public acts of justice, and potentially contagious faith. Anyone who has had the privilege of hearing him preach knows that his is a joyful and contagious witness of faith. He also has a commitment to public acts of justice. During the recent General Convention he led 1,500 participants in a Bishops United Against Gun Violence Procession. The Bishop of Maryland, Eugene Sutton, said society faces an “unholy trinity” of poverty, racism, and violence. Bishop Curry said they had gathered at 7:15 a.m. because “That unholy trinity threatens the life of all of us.” He said they gathered because there is another Trinity—the Holy Trinity that is holy and life-giving. Perhaps it should not be notable that a Bishop of our church speaks of his love for Jesus but unfortunately it is. But +Michael speaks and preaches enthusiastically of this love. He has a passion for living the Great

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