The CATHEDRAL TIMES The weekly newsletter of the Cathedral of St. Philip · Serving Atlanta and the World · January 13, 2019
A NEW YEAR! By the Very Rev. Sam Candler Dean of the Cathedral Oh my, there are so many ways to recognize a new year! Some of us make resolutions. Some of us stay up past midnight. Some of us drink too much. Some of us watch football. Some of us just continue doing what we were doing. And some of us stubbornly claim that January 1 is not really the new year. Hey, some say, we are Episcopalians, liturgical Christians, who observe that the church new year really begins each year on the First Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas. Well, maybe. Some of the old nature religions celebrated the new year around the Winter Solstice, December 21 – the time of year that daylight begins its gradual growth through the year. Still others claim that Easter is really the start of a new year. Indeed, in times past, it was March 25, around the Spring Equinox, that began the new year. In the places where March 25 was so observed, one legend has it that, if someone had not begun the new year by April 1, that person was considered an “April Fool.” Anyway, so be it. January 1 certainly marked the observance of a new calendar year for many of us. And, we must admit, it does help to have markers in our lives: birthdays, anniversaries, times when we renew our most important commitments. Celebrate the new year! But I also encourage us to celebrate every day, as if each day begins a new year! Because, it is every day that begins something new. Every morning is a renewal, a time to mark our most important commitments and loves. Whether yesterday had its disappointments or its joys, it is gone. Today is a new day. Indeed, today is new year!
SPECIAL INAUGURATION DAY PRAYER SERVICE – MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2019 The Cathedral of St. Philip is honored to have been asked to host the Inauguration Day Prayer Service for the Governor-Elect of Georgia, Brian Kemp, on Monday, January 14, 2019; and I am glad to have agreed to host prayer on that special day. However, with the need for very close security, only ticketed guests and cathedral entity staff members will have access to the building that morning. Interested citizens and parishioners can watch the service televised on the Georgia Public Broadcasting network. The wonderful Cathedral Preschool and Cathedral Book Store will both be closed. The Cathedral of St. Philip, a “House of Prayer For All People,” hosts this service as a witness of our continuing prayer for all in political office, and certainly prayer for the highest political office in the state of Georgia. This is exactly the sort of thing that a cathedral for the city, and for the state, ought to be doing. We serve. Pray for us, and for the governor-elect, and for the state of Georgia!