The CATHEDRAL TIMES The weekly newsletter of the Cathedral of St. Philip · Serving Atlanta and the World · January 31, 2021
REDEEMING SAINT PAUL By the Very Rev. Sam Candler, Dean of the Cathedral This week, we have kept the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul ( January 25)! And so, once again, the occasion gives me opportunity to say a few words in support –yes, in support!—of good old Saint Paul. And, in support of the act known as “conversion!” In recent years, some Christians have grown understandably wary of the term “conversion” and the person of Saint Paul. Those two images, “conversion,” and “Saint Paul,” have not been so popular among recent progressive Christians. “Horrors!” some of us might say! Surely, we do not mean to be touting obnoxious or simplistic conversion practices! Many of us have been trained to think that conversion is for the simple-minded, or at least for the emotional-hearted, not for the tough thinkers that we consider we ourselves are. And, Saint Paul! He is attacked by all sorts of critics these days. People argue that he distorted that original message of Jesus when he set up communities of faith across the ancient Mediterranean. Critics claim that he was a prisoner to his cultural context, too, unable to grant women, for instance, their proper place in a progressive world. This week, however, as I do most every year, I want to counteract those two sorts of criticism, and to rescue those two images: “conversion” and “Saint Paul.” I want to redeem conversion and Saint Paul! Most of us remember the story of Saul along the Damascus Road. Saul changed his life after that experience, and Saul became Paul. The word, “conversion” is not actually used in the story from the Book of Acts. But it is a word worth using. Conversion is a good thing. Maybe we are skeptical because we have seen “converts” who embarrass the Christian faith. They seem rigid and unkind, angry and racist. I certainly admit, sadly, that some Christians have been converted to a rather simplistic, and even violent, definition of what Christianity is. A wrong definition. But true conversion is something else. True conversion to the Spirit of Christ, is a deeply spiritual and deeply necessary phenomenon. It is a conversion to grace, and a transformation to truth; and those things can cost a lot. And true conversion is always, always, a conversion to the future, not to the past. Conversion is not conservative; conversion is progressive! True conversion is what drives the engine of world progress. Think, for instance, about the theory of evolution. People had to have their minds changed, they had to be converted, to believe in the scientific theory of evolution. Without people willing to be converted, we would have no honoring of the work of Charles Darwin. Think of astronomy and the sun and the planets. Without conversion, we would have no Copernican theory of planetary motion. In that instance, you may recall, the Christian Church was primary among those who needed to be converted! Right. I am not speaking of being converted backwards, into some worldview that simply repeats the errors of history. I mean being converted forwards, into the future, into an entirely new way of seeing the world. Many of us today need to be converted to something new! To a vision of true unity, for instance, where there is neither male nor female, neither Gentile nor Jew, neither Muslim nor Christian, neither black nor white. Hey! That’s what Saint Paul saw! The tragedy for many Christians is our believing that faith is static, stuck in only one context and generation. What a tragedy! Conversion is implicit and necessary in the ongoing life of Christians; once we are converted, the Christian Church has to be converted over and over again. Yes, if we are to model grace to the world, we will model how to be converted – how to change, gracefully, over and over again. continued on back page...
This SUNDAY
JANUARY 31, 2021 · The Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany, Year B Deuteronomy 18:15-20 · Psalm 111 · 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 · Mark 1:21-28
REGISTER FOR IN-PERSON SERVICES OF KOINONIA AT CATHEDRALATL.ORG, ON THE CATHEDRAL APP, OR BY CALLING 404-365-1009 STARTING WEDNESDAY, 10 A.M. THESE SERVICES ARE LIMITED TO 50 ATTENDEES, WITH MASKS REQUIRED.
7:45 A.M. SERVICE OF KOINONIA, CLOISTER GARDEN 8:45 A.M. SERVICE OF KOINONIA, LABYRINTH 11:15 A.M. SERVICE OF KOINONIA, LABYRINTH 1 P.M. SERVICIO DE KOINONIA EN ESPAÑOL, CLOISTER GARDEN REGISTER BY CONTACTING DEACON JUAN SANDOVAL, JSANDOVAL@CATHEDRALATL.ORG. CONTINUE TO WORSHIP WITH THE CATHEDRAL ONLINE AT CATHEDRALATL.ORG/STREAM, ON THE CATHEDRAL APP, AND ON THE CATHEDRAL FACEBOOK PAGE.
8:45 A.M. AND 11:15 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST Celebrant: The Rev. Dr. Thee Smith Preacher: The Rev. Canon George Maxwell Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), Rhosymedre (“Lovely”) Hymn 493, “O for a thousand tongues to sing” Azmon Psalm 111 (Plainsong Tone VIII.5) Richard Shephard, O for a thousand tongues to sing Craig Phillips, Sanctus & Benedictus from Festival Eucharist Spiritual, arr. Carl Haywood, There is a balm in Gilead Hymn 438, “Tell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord” Woodlands Frank Bridge (1879-1941), Allegro marziale e ben marcato in D Major
PRAYER List FOR THOSE WHO ARE ILL OR RECOVERING: IMMEDIATE NEEDS: Lynne D’Huyvetter • Betsy Hunt-Pike • Jane Jones LONG TERM PRAYERS R. Huntley Allen • Anne Bao • Penny Barnett • Edgar and Judith Beach • Perry Benton • Virginia Bicksler • David Burge • Michael Carrin • Heather Clark • Sharon Crews • Terry Dornbush • Sarah duBignon • Deborah Ellington • Dan Elson • Jenny Ham • Louise Kan • Lisa Krysiak • Sandy Land • Carol McDonald • Jessie McGill • Glenn Miller • Ashley Minear • Royce Mitchell • Laura Moore • Susan Myers • Charlie Neal • Linus Nickel • Marion Palmore • Beth Pitzer • Sam Polk • Randy Pollard III • Brenda Pruitt • Garry Pryor • Rowland Radford • Rubye and Wayne Reid • Agnes Elizabeth Robertson • Fred Rudolph • Louis “Skip” Schueddig • Marjorie Singley-Hall • Linda Stallcup • Tommy Truesdale • Faye Van Winkle
FAMILY AND FRIENDS Bettina Bass • Bella Bond • David Bond • Lynn Chandler • Andrew Clark • Vickie and Bob Coffman • Marie Corrigan • Robyn Kim Crennan • Konrad Darling • Carleton Fuller • Lamont Glover • Cadel Ingraham • Vivian Johnson • Stephen Jones • Robin Kemp • Grace Lawson • Pete Livezey • Lauren Makhlouf • Pat Martin • Marge Massey • Michelle Maxwell • Pat McEntire • Judy McLeroy • John Mitchell • Betsy Moore • Mary Nelson • Steven Norman • Domini Re-Darling • Courtney Rosenthal • Doug Ross • James Sands • Patricia Schooley • Steve Shaw • Cindy Snell • Paul Sturtz • Caroline Southerland • Tina Susco • Yvonne Tate • Pierson Thames • Jeffrey Thomas • Wayne Thurman • Roger Traylor • Ron M. Wallace • Diane Woods • Whit A. Wright • Hollis Youngner
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED: Betty Conley • Emmy Lou Eaton Faber • George Heery • Richard Morgan
Adult EDUCATION
These classes gather on Zoom at 10:10 a.m. on Sunday., unleess otherwise noted. Go to cathedralATL.org/education for links.
MEMBERSHIP TRANSITIONS NEW MEMBERS Thayer F. Coll, from Houston, Texas Ralph Lewis, from St. Louis, Missouri
OLD FASHIONED SUNDAY SCHOOL This Epiphany season, we are looking at the question, What does Jesus mean when he says “I am”? Much of the approach taken in the course will be from The Good Wine: Reading John from the Center by Bruno Barnhart. This class is led by Canon George Maxwell.
HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING TO GOD’S PEOPLE (1 P.M.) In this group, we hope to quiet the mind and invite the Holy Spirit into our presence. All are welcome and no experience is required! Cathedral Seminarian Will Drosos leads this class, along with Canon Cathy Zappa.
YOUTH Ministries LAST CALL FOR YOUTH CONFIRMATION Registration for conformation for this year’s eighth graders closed last week, but if your child is not signed up yet, please contact Canon Lauren Holder! Those registered will receive an email with calendar details this week, but here’s a preview: February 20: Kick-off Event March 7- May 9: Confirmation classes (nine Sundays with Holy Week breaks)
LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR CONFIRMATION CLASS OF 2020
MUSIC SUNDAY AFTERNOON RECITAL BRIAN PARKS, ORGAN FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MARIETTA, GA STREAMING LIVE AT 3:15 P.M. SUNDAY AT CATHEDRALATL.ORG/RECITALS AND ON FACEBOOK Johann Sebastian Bach, Passacaglia, BWV 582 John Williams arr. Brian Parks, Excerpts from Superman Suite
Last year’s class will be confirmed (at last!) on February 6 and 7. Services will be limited to family of youth, but we want the love and support of the whole congregation to be visible and known! Look for a cloth to sign with prayers, encouraging words, or just your name. You can sign on your way to/from our Koinonia services or swing by the Atrium during the week.
SOUPER BOWL RETURNS! Please bring non-perishable (and non-expired!) food items to donate to our food pantry partner, Intown Collaborative Ministries, on Sunday, February 7. Which team will inspire the most giving? Will it be the Chiefs or the Buccaneers? Vote for your winning team with food for others.
The CATHEDRAL off ST. PHILIP The Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler, Dean Dale Adelmann, Ph.D., Canon for Music The Rev. Lauren R. Holder, Canon for Community and Education The Rev. George M. Maxwell, Jr., Vicar The Rev. Catherine Zappa, Canon for Liturgy and Pastoral Care The Rev. John William Harkins III, Ph.D., Priest Associate The Rev. Nathan G. Huddleston, Priest Associate for Youth and Young Adult Ministries The Rev. Julia B. Mitchener, Priest Associate The Rev. Deacon Juan Sandoval, Deacon for Hispanic Ministries The Rev. Theophus “Thee” Smith, Ph.D., Priest Associate Del King, Senior Warden Samuel T. Wilmoth, Junior Warden
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...continued from front page Conversion is a good thing, but it does hurt. When Paul described this experience later in the Book of Acts, he added that Jesus told him, “It hurts you to kick against the goads,” (in Acts 26). Do you know what a “goad” was? It was an instrument that prodded the ox to go forward, to keep on going. It was like a cattle prod.
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In the first century, the persecutor Saul was stuck, was facing backwards, trying to retain something that was bound to change – that is, the old way of getting right with God by following stifling laws. The goads of Jesus were trying to get Paul to turn around and go forward! So it is that the Spirit of God can seem like an annoyance to us. We kick against her impulse. We insist on resistance. We even persecute, as Saul did. We do evil to others, trying to resist the Spirit of God. But that Spirit is a persevering hound. The poet, Francis Thompson, called that Spirit “the hound of heaven.” Yes, even after conversion, Saint Paul was like every one of us. He probably retained some old mindsets. No matter what our conversion, we do carry old baggage with us, baggage that might not be discarded in our culture until generations and centuries after us. Saint Paul was not the only human being bound by his time and culture. But he did turn forward! For instance, when Saint Paul appointed the leader of the first Christian church in what is now Europe, that person was a woman! The first person in Europe to host a Christian church community in her home was Lydia, in Philippi. Thus, St. Paul deserves some credit for advancing women, not blame! (“There is no longer male and female,” he would say at Galatians 3:28, “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”) Ultimately, however, I believe Paul was actually a religious genius. What Paul taught about psychology, and especially religious psychology, was nothing short of genius. Despite the simple story of his being thrown from his horse on his way to Damascus, and being blinded for three days until he recognized Christ, I believe his effectual conversion took years to mature. It was like the maturity of each of us, no matter what our original and overwhelming encounter with God was. It took Paul years to learn from the goading that the Spirit was prodding him with.
Over those years, the conversion of Saint Paul taught him that the human soul longs to be set free. The human soul longs to be released from the bondage and luggage of our lives. That bondage and luggage are what Paul came to recognize as “law.” “Law” was his own Jewish concept, to be sure, but the concept can be translated into any human culture or religion. That is his genius. Paul’s psychological discovery can be translated into any religion or institution or mindset. This is what he discovered. He knew that our communities of faith develop customs and behaviors that are good for us, and the customs are so good that they become “law.” But then, somehow, the letter of the law turns against freedom, and the law turns ultimately against love. In his genius, Paul realized that we are saved not by works which try to scrupulously satisfy that law – whatever it is—but we are saved by Christ. Paul himself had to give up; he had to give up trying to prove himself. He could be saved only by “Christ,” what we might call the liberating grace of God. Faith in Christ, then, is the power of believing only the ultimate goodness and freeing love of God. Paul was set free from law when he encountered the true and living and loving Christ. That is freedom. Saint Paul was converted to the realization that Jesus Christ came to set us free – free from any principle or law or expectation that keeps us in bondage. Over and over again. Free to be in union with an overwhelming God of love. “For freedom,” Paul said, “for freedom, Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). AMEN.
The Very Rev. Sam Candler Dean of the Cathedral
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