eThepisTle
St. Paul’s Church builds bridges — to God, to one another, to our community and beyond.
Bob & Nancy Frank sign cards for home-bound parishioners as part of our “St. Paul’s Cares” ministry.
Save the Date:
Saturday, September 14th:
St. Paul’s Needle Arts Ministry in the Wainwright Parlor at 10:00 am
Sunday, September 15th:
Sunday School starts at 10:00 am
Sunday, September 15th:
Sunday Forum: Crossroads of Caring with Rev. Mary Ann Brody in the Cadigan Room at 9:00 am
Sunday, September 15th:
St. Paul’s Youth Group meets in Stone Hall at 4:00 pm
Sunday, September 29th:
Sunday Forum: A Great War Broke Out: St. Michael v. Lucifer in the Cadigan Room at 9:00 am
Sunday, September 29th:
St. Paul’s Youth Group meets in Stone Hall at 4:00 pm
Wednesday, October 2nd: Parish Potluck Supper in the Parish Hall at 6:00 pm
Saturday, October 5th:
St Joe’s Sandwich Makers in the Parish Kitchen at 9:30 am
Sunday, October 13th:
Sunday Book Group: Jesus and the Powers By N.T. Wright & Michael F. Bird in the Cadigan Room at 11:30 am
Sunday, October 20th:
Sunday Book Group: Jesus and the Powers By N.T. Wright & Michael F. Bird in the Cadigan Room at 11:30 am
Sunday, October 20th:
Third Sunday at 3:00 pm - “If Music be the Food” Concert
The RecToR A NoTe fRom
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Name of Christ. I hope you have had a relaxing and refreshing summer.
In the early part of the summer, I had the opportunity to hear the noted Presidential Historian Jon Meachem speak at Chautauqua. Meachem is a fellow practicing Episcopalian and a Pulitzer Prizewinning author of many books. You may know that he has published theological volume: The Hope of Glory. Adapted from his Good Friday sermons at St. Thomas’ Church in New York City, this book presents his reflections on the last words of Jesus from the Cross. Throughout it, he reminds the reader “that at the center of the Christian story lies love, not hate; grace, not rage; mercy, not vengeance.”
There are many ways God’s love, mercy, and grace are made known at and through St. Paul’s. Centering on our worship and prayer, we see God at work in our study and learning, life in community, and faith in action.
This edition of The Epistle includes information about ways for you to be involved in the life of this parish and find yourself transformed by God’s love, this program year and beyond.
With my prayers and best wishes, I remain, your friend and Rector,
(The Rev’d) Robert A. Picken
Coming to a Book Store Near You!
Release Date: December 2024
By Church Publishing, Inc.
From the Foreword:
“This guide for our Altar Guilds by the Rev. Canon Robert Picken is more than just a check list and manual, though you can only use it for that in a pinch. Don’t miss the richness of this beautiful reflection on the nature of ministry and the gift of those who prepare our spaces and objects for worship. ...The depth of the history, theology, and spiritual reflections will make a meaningful read. ...Rob has carefully crafted a thoughtful overview of important liturgical ideas without leaving out the necessary practical and adaptable suggestions for use.”
-The Right Reverend Kara Wagner Sherer
“Reflecting at once Fr. Rob Picken’s commitment to the literacy of all the baptized and his solid liturgical instincts, this volume honors the work of the Altar Guild by taking seriously their theological formation for what they do. I commend it for use in every community of worship.”
-The Rev. James W. Farwell, Ph.D.
Sunday School starts September 15th!
St. Paul’s Sunday School for children resumes on Sunday, September 15th at 10:00 am. I can’t wait to see all the children and hear stories from their summer and back to school!
All children in Preschool (age 4) through 5th grade are invited and encouraged to join our class upstairs on the 2nd floor in the Children’s Chapel room (to the right at the top of the stairs). I’m really looking forward to our special time together in class: singing songs, playing fun games, and best of all, hearing and learning the wonderful stories and lessons that help guide and grow our faith.
To keep families up to date on classroom and church happenings, I’ll send out a message through Constant Contact each week. If you don’t receive these messages and would like to, please send me your contact information (AWelker@stpaulsec.org ) including email address so I can add you to the list. Mark your calendar now for the Halloween Party on October 27th!
It’s going to be a great year of Sunday school!
Amy Welker, Director of Youth & Family Ministries
The AssisTANT RecToR A NoTe fRom
A Note from The Rev. Jay Burkardt
Whatan amazing time and opportunity my family and I were given over the summer! Thank you to Rob, the Vestry, and all of you here at St Paul’s for helping to make my sabbatical possible!
After a little time to rest in June while Norah finished school, we left for Europe with stops in Paris, Marseille, London, Derry, and Dublin. We also spent time at monasteries in Taizé, France and Iona, Scotland. We were able to see more beautiful churches and cathedrals than we could have hoped for, walked in the footsteps of countless pilgrims, and visited sites of some of the most influential men and women of European Christian history.
While at Taize, we participated in their family program together with people from throughout Europe. In addition to community worship, we engaged with each other for Bible Study, activities, and games with an emphasis on searching for God. Using stories from scripture, we shared the many ways we search for God in the world.
Unfortunately I came down with COVID while on the way to Iona which meant that we were not able to participate in that program. All three of us isolated away from the other pilgrims, but we were still able to lead ourselves through that program which was focused on listening for God. There are few places better suited to allow our ears and hearts to be open to God than Iona, a place so alive with sacredness that ferns grow out of the very stones of the chapel.
We also managed to have a great deal of fun on the trip. All throughout France, they were busy getting ready to host the Olympics and Paralympics and we were also fortunate enough to celebrate Bastille Day in Marseille. England saw us enjoy an afternoon ride on a steam train and we visited a park in Belfast with a number of statues of C.S. Lewis and his characters from Narnia including Aslan himself!
I’m looking forward to sharing much more about the trip and the opportunities that I had during the Dessert and Discussion on Monday, October 7th at 7:00 pm.
St. Paul’s Youth Group
Youth Group will start for the program year on September 15th!
We will meet on the first and third Sunday of each month, from 4:00 -6:00 pm in the Youth Room in Stone Hall. St Paul’s Youth Group is open to any youth in grades 6-12.
Each gathering has a time of check-in, a brief lesson, a shared meal, fun games, and we always close by praying Compline together.
“St. Paul” joined them on their trip !
We’re Listening...
St. Paul’s participants in the College for Congregational Development (CCD) continue to apply our learnings to better understand and improve our life together here. Over the past several years, we have conducted interviews, listening sessions, and surveys. We have shared models — ways to view our life together and how God is at work at St. Paul’s transforming us — with the congregation at our Annual Meetings. We have gathered feedback on our strengths and where we have opportunities to improve. We have shared our hopes and dreams. Your participation and input is so important; thank you!
Lots of work has been accomplished in many areas. In our first CCD update, we are focusing broadly on Communication. This chart highlights some of your ideas and the good work that has been going on in this area. Please look for more updates from the College for Congregational Development in future issues of The Epistle.
If you have questions about CCD or might be interested in participating, please speak with Ingrid Stanlis or Erin Glanton, parish wardens.
music DepARTmeNT sT. pAul’s
A Note from Dr. John Sherer
First, I want to thank everyone at St. Paul’s for your very warm and gracious welcome into your community! I am delighted to be with you and to be able to make beautiful music together. This is such a loving community, and I have seen that care put into action with the fund-raising effort to help Weverton Santos, one of our former staff singers. We had a very successful fund-raising concert for him and were able to send him off to Chicago with a generous gift and our deep appreciation. He was very grateful to everyone.
The music program at St. Paul’s is strong and vibrant! We are off to a great start of the season with the St. Paul’s Choir and all the anthems have been planned through June 8, 2025. There is certainly a lot of great music ahead to nourish and feed our souls. This choir is open to any teenagers or adults, and we would love to have new members join from the church or community. Everyone is welcome to try out a rehearsal any Wednesday’s at 7:00 pm. The Bell Choir is also off to a great start and will be ringing in worship on the first Sunday of each month. All the music is planned for the year, and anyone is welcome to give the group a try at their rehearsal Thursday’s at 7:00 pm.
On September 15th at 11:30 am, parents of St. Paul’s Choristers will meet to share wishes for this choir open to grades 2-8. They rehearse Sunday morning at 11:30 am and will be singing a benediction I have composed. We plan to have the Choristers sing this benediction every Sunday very soon along with other short anthems. We look forward to building a more active and engaging children’s music program over time at St. Paul’s. With all these choirs you’ll enjoy the fellowship of people who enjoy making beautiful music and just being together. If you’ve never tried it before, or it’s been a long time since you were in a choir, now is a good time to start. For more information contact me at jsherer@stpaulsec.org.
Several musical events are on the horizon.
On Friday, November 1st, at 6:30 pm the St. Paul’s Choir will be offering Gabriel Faure’s Requiem in a service to remember all departed loved ones. This beautiful music will help guide our prayers and thoughts in this meaningful time of worship. We are also launching a new music series, Third Sunday at 3:00 pm, beginning October 20th. There will be a variety of musical events on the third Sunday of each month including concerts to support “If Music be the Food” along with a concert to honor Martin Luther King, Jr and a diocesan music festival featuring Baroque Music from the Bolivian Rain Forest on May 18th. Mark your calendar each third Sunday at 3:00 pm for a world class musical event at St. Paul’s. Many other exciting plans are in the works for the music program so I hope you will become a part of the wonderful music program at St. Paul’s
Eastman Pipedreams LIVE!
The broadcasts recorded last Fall on organs throughout the Rochester area will span four Sundays, beginning on October 13th. Of special interest, of course, is the program recorded St. Paul’s historic Skinner Organ, which will air on FM 91.5 (and via the WXXI website) on the first of the four Sundays, from 8:00-10:00 pm.
Hour One
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS:
Prelude & Fugue in E-flat, Op. 99, no. 3 --Yuhe Su
LEO SOWERBY:
Very slowly (ii.), fr Sonatina --Augustine Sobeng
DAVID CONTE:
Pastorale --Daniel Minnick
HERBERT HOWELLS: Rhapsody in C#, Op. 17, no. 3 --Adam Chlebek
Hour Two
SIGFRID KARG-ELERT:La nuit (iii.), fr Trois Impressions, Op. 72 --Jennifer Shin
GABRIEL FAURÉ: Fileuse (ii.) & Sicilienne (iii.), fr Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 80 –Edith Yam
JEAN ROGER-DUCASSE:Pastorale --Charles Francis
MARCEL DUPRÉ:Esquisse No. 2 in b-flat, Op. 41, no. 3 --Katherine Joliff
chRisTiAN eDucATioN pReview of fAll
foR ADulTs
Sunday Forum at 9:00 am
September 29th: A Great War Broke Out - St. Michael v. Lucifer
Teeming with symbolism and metaphor, what does this mythic battle teach us about evil today? Also, folklore suggests that when St. Michael expelled the devil, Lucifer, from heaven, he fell from the skies and landed in a prickly blackberry bush. What traditions and customs surround this Feast Day throughout the world?
October 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th: Lectio Divina
Join your fellow parishioners in a prayerful and structured conversation about the Sunday Scripture lessons. Led by one of the clergy.
November 24th – December 15th: Adventus - The Once and Future Advent of Christ Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season is rife with dark, gritty realities. Advent is also a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his return. Together, we will unfold the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the Church.
Community Engagement Speaker
Organized by the Outreach Council
Sept 15th: Crossroads of Caring
The Rev Mary Ann Brody joins us to discuss how this is a center for spiritual care formation and education serving the greater Rochester community offering programs in education and collegial support to spiritual caregivers.
Nov 17th: Meals on Wheels
Working in virtually every community in the United States, this program seeks to address senior hunger and isolation. Learn about this program here and how you can help.
Revisited - Sunday Forum at 11:30 am
October 6th: The Art of Episcopal Nuns
Dr. Anna Wager, Curator of Exhibitions at the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, will offer a presentation on women’s artistic influence on 19th century churches.
November 24th: The Music of Advent & Christmas
Join Dr. John Sherer for a lively discussion of the familiar hymns, carols, anthems, and voluntaries of the Advent and Christmas seasons.
December 8th: In My First Book, Theophilus: An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke
The Gospel lessons for this Church year will be taken primarily from the Luke’s Gospel. Join the Rector for an introduction to the Gospel of Luke, its background, history, and key themes.
& Desserts Discussion Return!
Taizé, Iona, and more Monday, Oct. 7 th at 7:00 pm
Rev. Jay and his family had an exciting pilgrimage this summer to well-known monastic communities in France and the British Isles. Come out to learn more about these places and his experience.
General Convention Panel Discussion: Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00pm
The 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church met in Louisville, KY in late June.
Join Bishop Kara Wagner Sherer and Deputies from our diocese, including our own Erin Glanton, to learn about their experiences, as well as important legislation and conversations stemming from GC81.
Deputy Erin Glanton (left) with then-Bishop-elect Kara (second from left) and other members of the deputation from Rochester.
Pilgrims gather in the chapel at Taize monastery for morning prayers.
Bishop KARA The Diocese of RochesTeR
The Bishop’s Crozier
Thank you to all who contributed to the gift for our new bishop, The Right Reverend Kara Wagner Sherer. A crozier is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop. Rooted in the biblical image of Moses carrying the rod or staff to part the Red Sea and lead the people of God to the promised land, in Western Christianity the usual form of the bishop’s staff has been a shepherd's crook. This relates to the many metaphorical references to bishops as the shepherds of their flock of Christians, arising from the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd.
This crozier was designed and made by William Keyser, a renowned artist and retired faculty member at RIT. Among his multiple ecclesiastical commissions, Keyser designed and made the crozier for the Most Rev. Matthew Clark, who was the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester from 1979 to 2012. The was a gift from St. Paul’s Church, Rochester, and Christ Church, Pittsford.
Bishop’s Visit to St. Paul’s All Saints’ Sunday
Sunday, November 3rd 8:00 & 10:15 am
The Artist wrote the following about his creation: “A friend recently approached me, asking if I knew anyone who could do a bishop’s crozier. Instantly the words flew out of my mouth: “I can”! My response startled both of us because, at age 88, I’m no longer taking on commissions. Initially, we agreed that Bishop-Elect Kara Wagner Sherer’s crozier should be simple rather than complex, graceful (in reference to her earlier ballet training) and unique, unlike anything either of us had ever seen. We did not, however, discuss an appropriate overall theme for it. Later, when sketching on paper and manipulating thin wire into small “studies”, the idea of “three” kept emerging. Then it struck me: The Holy Trinity should be the major design theme for this crozier! When I presented a flat silhouette of the design, someone exclaimed: “I can just imagine the Holy Spirit joyfully flowing through those three windows.” At that moment, I knew we were onto something! After the crozier was completed, I discovered that Bishop Kara Wagner Sherer had once written: “My greatest joy as a priest is witnessing the Holy Spirit breaking down barriers ...”. Well, it’s happened again!”
Bishop Kara’s Ordination and Consecration
St. Paul’s was very well represented at the Ordination and Consecration of our Bishop in July.
Julie Gedro, Presenter for Ordination
Mara Hazzard-Wallingford, Transition Committee Member
John W.W. Sherer, Director of Music
Augustine Sobeng, one of the organists
Payton Dziekan, Dan Magee, Lloyd Peasley, Weverton Santos, Rey Sunglao, Choir Members
Deacon Sue Ouellette, Minister of Communion
Thomas Welker and Dan Wright, Acolytes
Rick Harrison and Les Kernan, Trustees
Floyd Bayley, Standing Committee
& Rally Day Ministry Fair
eThepisTle
25 Westminster Road, Rochester, NY 14607
585.271.2240 • info@StPaulsEC.org StPaulsEC.org
The Rev. Robert Picken Rector
The Rev. Jay Burkardt Assistant Rector
The Rev. Sue Ouellette, Ph.D. Deacon
Dr. John W. W. Sherer
Organist & Director of Music
Augustine Sobeng Organ Scholar
Amy Welker Director of Children & Youth Faith Formation
Candance Hoffman-Hussain
Susan Hall Sunday Child Care
Sonja Slother Director of Communications & Digital Ministry
Natosche Holt Parish Office Administrator
Judy McGrath Parish Accountant
Lisa Werner
Accounting Assistant
Bob Potter
Property Manager
Dave McEntee
Jim D’Angelo
Maintenance Associates
REST IN PEACE
St. Paul’s on Facebook, Instagram and our YouTube Channel “St Paul’s EC”
OFFICE HOURS: Monday - Thursday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Office
Principal Sharon Jackson, from School #9, met Laura Hayden & Bob Potter at the loading dock
Paul’s
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 14th:
St. Paul’s Needle Arts Ministry in the Wainwright Parlor at 10:00 am
Sunday, September 15th: Sunday School starts at 10:00 am
Sunday, September 15th:
Sunday Forum: Crossroads of Caring with Rev. Mary Ann Brody in the Cadigan Room at 9:00 am
Sunday, September 15th:
St. Paul’s Youth Group meets in Stone Hall at 4:00 pm
Sunday, September 29th:
Sunday Forum: A Great War Broke OutSt. Michael v. Lucifer in the Cadigan Room at 9:00 am
Sunday, September 29th:
St. Paul’s Youth Group meets in Stone Hall at 4:00 pm
Wednesday, October 2nd:
Parish Potluck Supper in the Parish Hall at 6:00 pm
Saturday October 6th:
St. Joe’s Sandwich Makers in the Parish Kitchen at 9:30 am
Sunday, October 13th:
Sunday Book Group: Jesus and the Powers by N.T. Wright & Michael Bird in the Cadigan Room at 11:30 am
Sunday, October 20th:
Sunday Book Group: Jesus and the Powers by N.T. Wright & Michael Bird in the Cadigan Room at 11:30 am
Sunday, October 20th:
Third Sundays at 3:00 pm Concert: “If Music be the Food”
WORSHIP SERVICES:
Sundays: Holy Eucharist in the Chantry at 8:00 am
Sundays: Holy Eucharist at 10:15 am
Children’s Sunday School at 10:00 am
Also available at 10:15 am
Nursery Care, Livestream & ASL Interpretation
Wednesdays: Noonday Eucharist in the Chantry at 12:00 pm