2021 LENTEN SEASON
THE PARISH CALL ST. THOMAS' CHURCH, WHITEMARSH
INCLUDES HOLY WEEK SERVICE TIMES, LENTEN OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES, AND MORE
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
HOLY WEEK SERVICE TIMES
2-3
"ENCOUNTERING GOD ANEW IN WORSHIP" - M. BURDETTE
4-5
FLOWER & MUSIC EASTER DONATIONS
6
"LENTO: MUSIC AT ST. THOMAS' DURING LENT" - M. SMITH
7
ANNOUNCEMENTS WEBPAGE & STATIONS OF THE CROSS
8
"NEW COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSES" - M. BURDETTE
9
"SOLAR FARM UPDATE" - E. HUNSICKER
10-11
"GIVING 'UP' VERSUS GIVING 'TO'" - M. KEPNER
12
"ST. THOMAS' HISTORY AND LENT" - J. LAWSON
13
RECTOR'S BOOK CLUB READING LIST
Holy Week 2021
PALM SUNDAY MARCH 28
8 A.M. | RITE I SPOKEN SERVICE 10 A.M. | RITE II SERVICE WITH MUSIC 11:30 A.M. | FAMILY TABLE SERVICE IN MCCOLL AUDITORIUM
MAUNDY THURSDAY APRIL 1
7 P.M. | MAUNDY THURSDAY PRAYER BOOK LITURGY WITH MUSIC 9 P.M. – 9 A.M. | VIGIL IN CHESTON CHAPEL (SIGN-UPS ONLINE), ALSO LIVESTREAMED
GOOD FRIDAY APRIL 2
12 P.M. | GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER BOOK SERVICE WITH MUSIC 7 P.M. | GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER BOOK SERVICE WITH MUSIC
HOLY SATURDAY APRIL 3
9 A.M. | HOLY SATURDAY PRAYER BOOK SERVICE
EASTER APRIL 3
7 P.M. THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER
EASTER SUNDAY APRIL 4
7 A.M. | RITE I SPOKEN SERVICE 9 A.M. | RITE II SERVICE WITH MUSIC 11 A.M. | RITE II SERVICE WITH MUSIC 2 P.M. | FAMILY TABLE IN MCCOLL AUDITORIUM
RSVP IS REQUIRED FOR WORSHIP. EACH SERVICE WILL BE LIMITED TO 75 PEOPLE. EVERY SERVICE WILL BE LIVESTREAMED. ALL SERVICES IN THE CHURCH UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
Encountering God Anew In Worship BY THE REV. DR. MATTHEW E BURDETTE, RECTOR
One of my favorite descriptions of God in the Scriptures is that God is the living God. Upon even brief reflection, one wonders what it means to refer to God in this way. Is there some other way than living that God might have been? Well, as it turns out, yes. Throughout human history, religions have conceived of divinity in a variety of ways, and the majority of human religion has believed that the Divine is the great source and guarantor of stability. Life was predictable, and people did not need to fear, because behind all the chances and change of life there stood fixity and changelessness. To use Aristotle’s description, most religion has understood the Divine as the impersonal Unmoved Mover. Such a god, if you could even use the word god, was not a lively presence in human life, but a fixed point of reference for security. In stark distinction from this understanding of God, our spiritual ancestors met in the Lord the living God: The one who commanded Abram to leave his home for an unknown land of promise, who led the Israelites through forty years of uncertainty in the desert, who raised up and toppled kings, who invited his people to call on him by name. The God we meet in the Bible is not the God who guarantees stability, but who unsettles us from our expectations so that we might receive from him far more than we could have asked for or imagined. We meet in Scripture the living God. It is this living God whom we dare to welcome into our lives every Sunday when we gather for worship. It is this living God, enfleshed in Jesus and presented to us in the gifts of bread and wine, that we take into our bodies at every Eucharistic celebration. When we sign up for
fellowship with this God, we sign up also for the uncertainty and loving disruption that is his habit to bring. When we find our favorite pew, when we approach the altar, when we extend our hands to receive the consecrated bread, we are standing before the burning bush, approaching the holy mountain, taking hold of the Ark of the Covenant—we are granted permission to pass through invisible barrier which separates earth from heaven, and we join our voices with “angels and archangels.” It is, therefore, ironic how attached we can be to regularity and predictability in our worship. And I don’t just mean the church’s liturgy. The great Eastern Orthodox liturgical theologian Alexander Schmemann describes Christian liturgy as beginning at home, when we get dressed on Sunday morning, when we drive to church, and so on. And certainly, I have been one of those Episcopalians who is attached to my particular seat in my particular pew, near my particular hymnal, seated near my particular people. And more than that, I am attached to my preferred hymns and Eucharistic prayers, and so on. If I am honest with myself, the truth is that what I want out of church is something predictable, consistent, and just therefore comforting. I want stability and security. But the Lord whom we worship, the one who is the true Celebrant of every Eucharistic celebration, is the living God. That the Lord is the living God does not mean that rightly worshiping him entails abandoning structure and consistency in worship. The living God is also the faithful God. The living Lord is the one who makes and keeps promises, and he keeps those promises in surprising ways. The one who promised Abraham a little strip of land
fulfills his promise in Jesus, and the meek spiritual descendants of Abraham inherit the whole earth. Rightly to worship this living God, the Lord whom we meet in Word and Sacrament, we must imitate both his livingness and his faithfulness. To worship in this way, our church’s liturgy must invite our hearts to take rest in the Lord’s faithfulness and call us to encounter the Lord’s livingness anew, unsettling our senses and awakening us to the vitality of God’s work in our lives today. Good worship is consistent, but not too consistent; it is surprising, but never random. Concretely, in leading our worship at St. Thomas’ Church, I have strived to make use of the many liturgical options provided for us in the Book of Common Prayer. You may have noticed that we have prayed different Eucharistic Prayers during different liturgical seasons, and similarly, we have changed the form of the Prayers of the People that we use each season. Additionally, our bulletins now reflect the exact language of the Prayer Book, including the use of male pronouns for God, which are present in both the Prayer Book and the Bible. Such changes and small occasions for reflection are intended to represent the stability and consistency of our faith tradition, while also facilitating an encounter with the living otherness of God. It is to be expected that each of us will, at one time or another, hear something in the liturgy or in the Scriptures that shocks or disturbs us, and this experience is exactly right—it is how we know we are dealing with the living God, and not an invention of our religious desires.
"...our church’s liturgy must ... call us to encounter the Lord’s livingness anew, unsettling our senses and awakening us to the vitality of God’s work in our lives today. " Finally, you will hopefully have noticed the recent use of our carillon in worship, which we have historically used as a call to worship, but not as an element in our worship. The use of so-called “sanctus bells,”—so called because they are rung before singing the sanctus, the “holy, holy, holy” by which we join the heavenly chorus —is a very old Christian worship practice, originating in the Latin Mass when the Celebrant would elevate the Bread and the Cup during the Eucharistic celebration, calling worshipers to renewed attention to the sacred mysteries. While we are blessed to worship in our own language, the reminder in worship to pay special attention is no less beneficial today than it was centuries ago. If you are like me, then there are times when, even in prayer, your mind wanders, and you forget that when we are gathered around the altar, we are in fact gathered around the Lord’s very throne. And when distracted, it is a blessing to me to be called back to prayer, back to the miracle of the living God’s presence in our midst. This practice, too, is an occasion for us to encounter anew God’s livingness and faithfulness.
"Lento": Music At St. Thomas' During Lent BY MICHAEL SMITH, MINISTER OF MUSIC
Many musicians will recognize the term “Lento” as an indication of slowing down, or performing a piece slowly. While Lent refers to a lengthening of days or “forty” in some languages, it’s also about slowing down. The soundscape of Lent during our worship is chosen to evoke sparseness and a liminal, or threshold, moment as we approach Holy Week and Easter. The musical prelude for each service will continue to feature the carillon, played beautifully by Lisa Lonie, but instead of organ music, we will have mandolin music. Kevin Vondrak, a staff singer and conducting fellow, will offer the music of Bach performed evocatively by solo mandolin at the beginning of each service and during communion. As I listened to this on the first Sunday of Lent, I found myself arrested by the sparseness and it forced me to stop and let all my anxieties and concerns about the upcoming service vanish and be present for worship. The hymns will follow the readings and themes of Lent as usual. One of the hymns each week will be featured in our choir’s Lenten Hymns project. We're sharing a video each Friday highlighting context and content of a hymn so that when you engage with it on Sunday, you know more about it. The Psalm is sung by the choir to a simple plainsong tone, a cappella: again, we are exploring a sound world of sparseness and minimalism. I have composed a Kyrie (Lord, have mercy) and Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord) for the choir to sing during Lent. The music is inspired by ideas of longing and searching; pulling away from a tonal center and returning to it in the end.
The sound of a single bell tolling has, since the invention of bells, captured our imaginations and called us to “behold” with our ears. We instinctively look up when we hear a bell. Because we are blessed not with just a bell, but tower full of them, and because that tower is attached to the church and not a standalone source of secular sound, you will hear the bell call to you during worship. At the two most important parts of the liturgy, a bell will sound and we will instinctively look up and “behold” with our eyes and our ears the beauty of holiness. First, at the Sanctus- this is the song of Heaven. We are told that the saints and angels around the throne of God sing this song unceasingly. When we sing it in church, for that brief moment, we are united to all of heaven. The bell calls us to remember this concept. At the “elevation”, or the moment when the priest says “This is my body” and “This is my blood”, recalling the words of Jesus at the last supper, the bread and wine are lifted up so that we may behold this mystery. Again, the bell calls us to sharper focus and deeper prayer. Finally, the Lenten organ postludes will be of a much more subdued character, improvised based on musical themes from the service that has just ended.
It is always my prayer that the music at St. Thomas’ points to God’s beauty and inspires us to action in our daily lives. During Lent, I pray that it also slows you down and gives you a chance to encounter and “behold” God, in Jesus Christ his Son, through the workings of the Holy Spirit. center and returning to it in the end.
Visit The Announcements Page on our website H to see all up-to-date ANN AVE A OUN N announcements CEM ENT at St. Thomas' ? and to submit an announcement of your own. www.stthomaswhitemarsh.org/announcements
Episcopal Diocese Of Pennsylvania
"Stations of The Cross For Caregivers" Fridays During Lent At 3pm Stations of the Cross, 3:00-3:15 PM Guided meditation, 3:15-3:30 PM Group reflections, 3:30-3:45 PM
For more information and to register, visit www.diopa.org/events
In February, I sent a message to the church describing new staff responsibilities, noting that changes in staff roles and responsibilities is a normal part of a rector transition. Along with these changes, certain office processes have also undergone some change. Among these, perhaps none is more important and more vexing than that of communications. As I noted in February, I have hired a new Communications Coordinator, Regan Smith, who brings to the job experience and expertise, and we have already been enriched by her presence on the staff. However, what requires further clarification is our communications process. Let me begin by acknowledging that we are all inclined to bypass processes and go straight to the person responsible for what we need so that we can get the response we seek. This bypassing of process seems simpler and more efficient. However, the alternative to an organized process is a disorganized process, and so it is imperative for the operation of the church staff that we follow a structured communications process, which helps guarantee effective, accurate, and complete communications. While we have a Communications Coordinator on staff, the first step for requesting a church-wide communication is to email announcements@stthomaswhitemarsh.org, or to click “Submit an Announcement” on the homepage of our church website. These emails or form submissions are collected by Michael Smith, and he and I review these submissions together once a week. We check submissions to ensure that there is complete information before anything is sent to Regan. While Michael Smith is the first contact person in our communications process, please do not send communications-related matters to Michael’s email address; while Michael is a highly organized person, you nevertheless increase the likelihood of a communications error if you send something to his email address rather than to the address that is designated for communications. Having a separate communications email address is one of the ways that we keep all communications materials in one place and assist Michael in keeping his music ministry distinct from his participation in the communications process. Once an announcement is reviewed and approved, it will be shared by the most appropriate and effective means: the weekly bulletin, weekly email, social media posts, verbal announcement on Sunday, or any combination of these. New announcements occupy their own place in the weekly emails and weekly Sunday bulletin. Once an announcement has been newly made, it will remain in the bulletin and on the announcements page of the church website. Events will be featured in the weekly emails for two weeks prior to the event. Events in emails will be presented in chronological order; the sooner the event, the more prominently displayed it will be in our emails. This order should help ensure that you always know what is happening at St. Thomas’ Church. Additionally, I am pleased to share that we are introducing a monthly church-wide Outreach email, which will have information about upcoming Outreach events and fundraisers. While every ministry of our church is vitally important, few ministries have so much to share with the parish so regularly! Outreach announcements will continue to be shared in other venues, but you will now have the additional opportunity of sharing Outreach-specific emails with friends and family so that they can participate with us in serving the most vulnerable. Inevitably, and despite our best efforts, there will be errors in our communications. If you notice an issue with our communications, I am the person to whom you should address your concern; not Michael, and not Regan. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation in this regard.
New Communications Processes BY THE REV. DR MATTHEW E BURDETTE, RECTOR
SOLAR FARM UPDATE BY EMILY HUNSICKER, SOLAR PANEL FUNDRAISING GROUP MEMBER The solar panels are live! They are a must see and an easy walk along the "Back 10 Trail" just beside the Community Gardens.
The panels were installed over the summer of 2020 in an effort to address escalating operating costs and as a first step towards our commitment to the Genesis Covenant. The Genesis Covenant was instituted by the Episcopal Church of America and challenges all institutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 50% within ten years. Keep your eyes and ears open for ways you can support this terrific effort to address climate change and reduce our carbon footprint!
"Giving Up" Versus "Giving To" BY MIMI KEPNER, CHAIR OF THE OUTREACH COMMISSION
As we begin this Lenten season, the Outreach Commission would like to suggest an active outward way to prepare for Easter. Rather than giving up, we are suggesting a way of giving to those in our community who are enduring many of the effects of the ongoing COVID pandemic - especially those struggling with job losses and cut-backs which cascade into serious food insecurity for older individuals, and especially young hard working families with children. St Thomas parishioners have been generously bringing food for the Roslyn Food Cupboard in Roslyn, PA to our church since the start of the pandemic last Spring. The Food Cupboard is an integral part of The Interfaith Housing Alliance in Ambler, a very longtime partner of St Thomas' that provides shelter and other services to the Montgomery County community. Food donations have been generous and steady for almost a year.
Deborah Carver, the Food Cupboard Manager, reports that the Cupboard's focus is on providing "sustaining" foods for families - foods with healthy nutritional value, including cold and frozen foods, produce, and foods high in protein. The Cupboard is open for pick up 4 days a week for 2 hours each time. About 100 families are regularly receiving supplemental food there every week. Each family receives 5 -10 bags of groceries depending on the size of the family. Special needs can be met as well. Though there are plans to move to a larger space later this year, for now storage space at the Cupboard is limited. Food donations are always welcome (currently, the most needed food items are peanut butter and jelly, Hamburger Helper, Taco kits and canned chili), but Ms. Carver has appealed for some much-needed non-food items as well. To help families keep their homes as safe as possible from COVID, items in short supply but very much needed include: Liquid Dish Soap Laundry Detergent Spray Cleaning Products Packets of Alcohol Wipes Paper Towels Toilet Paper Shampoo Diapers, Size 3-6 Baby Wipes, Especially for Sensitive Skin Protein Drinks Like Ensure and Boost in Milk or Juice Versions for the Elderly They have plenty of toothpaste and bar soap for now. A special request: Please check expiration dates to be sure of the quality of both food and cleaning products, and NO OPEN PACKAGES.
Items can be left in the narthex from 9-3, M-F. We will check and pick up donations during the week; drop offs at the Cupboard are usually on Saturday. Thank you for so generously supporting the Food Cupboard for almost a year now. As you do your own weekly shopping, please consider picking up some of the items listed above and dropping them in the church Narthex on your way home. Those who receive them later that week at the Food Cupboard are humbly grateful.
St. Thomas' was founded almost 325 years ago, in 1698. I imagine what our founders were like during this early period. Edward Farmar, James Alison and others, whose graves show they were living at the time, came together and read services in a log hut on the top of our hill. While we can't witness the emotional and physical conditions of these settlers, what is clear is their spirit of love for the Church. These early settlers clearly relied on worship and prayer and determined that the light of Christ will always shine in the Whitemarsh wilderness. Anyone can read historical accounts of what life was like during the time of the early church: what mills were built, what roads were commissioned (like Skippack Pike in 1713), or who owned what land. These accounts are limited to facts- who, what, where, when. I’d rather think about their spiritual life. Why did they decide to build a church on our hill? How did they feel when they built the log hut or when they burned it down to build a stone church in 1710? How did they feel about practicing William Penn’s Spirit of Toleration? It is the season of Lent. In many languages, the word for Lent implies “forty”. But the English derivative for Lent means “to lengthen”. Lent comes when the days are lengthening, spring is approaching (on the calendar at least!) and the lengthening of days means more time for spiritual growth. Indeed, Reverend Miller, our then minister, wrote in the February 1902 “St. Thomas’s Parish News”- “Let us during Lent spend more time in prayer in our closets; let us come to God’s House more frequently; let us use His Altar more, and more devoutly.”
Come to the top of our Holy Hill to during this Lenten season and watch the sun rise, in the quiet of the lengthening day. You will see what our founders saw- the same features of the varied landscape, with its mosaic works of different colored fields, the same stream flowing in the valley, giving signs of life and peace. Take some time to consider how you can spend more time in “prayer”, in “God’s House”, and at “His Altar, and more devoutly."
When the first sounds of Prayer and Praise ascended from these quiet scenes almost 325 years ago, one can feel the hopes and dreams of our founders who came together in a log hut on our missionary ground. And today, it is still a missionary ground! The same God who called those in 1698 to build him an altar here is calling you and me to share the light of Christ with our community. Let’s discern together what that mission is and respond, like our founders, with action. I am sure you join us in the hope that St. Thomas, Whitemarsh continues to be a lasting memorial to those who founded our Church. As we look forward to celebrating our 325th anniversary in 2023, let us also look to Jesus, who calls us to be partners with him in God’s mission in the world, equipped with the Holy Spirit. Let’s give the 2121 History Committee something to write about!
St. Thomas' History & Lent BY JULIE LAWSON, CHAIR OF THE HISTORY COMMISSION
2021 2021 Rector's Rector's Book Book Club Club Last Saturday Of Each Month At 10:00am JANUARY 2021 "Being Christian" By Rowan Williams
JULY 2021 "The Everlasting Man" By G.K. Chesterton
FEBRUARY 2021 "You Are What You Love" By James K.A. Smith
AUGUST 2021 "The Second Mountain: The Quest For A Moral Life" By David Brooks
MARCH 2021 "The Presence Of The Kingdom" By Jaques Ellul
SEPTEMBER 2021 "Jesus Of Nazareth" By Pope Benedict XVI
APRIL 2021 "Theology In Outline: Can These Bones Live?" By Robert W. Jensen
OCTOBER 2021 "Martin & Malcolm & America" By James H. Cone
MAY 2021 "Enriching Our Vision Of Reality: Theology & The Natural Sciences In Dialogue" By Alister McGrath
NOVEMBER 2021 "Why Liberalism Failed" By Patrick Deneen
JUNE 2021 "The Story Of Christianity" By David Bentley Hart
DECEMBER 2021 "To Light A Fire On The Earth: Proclaiming The Gospel In A Secular Age" By Robert Barron
Visit The Announcements Page on stthomaswhitemarsh.org to for a link to the virtual meeting, or scan the QR code to join now.
Maundy Thursday April 1
7 p.m. | Maundy Thursday Prayer Book liturgy with music 9 p.m. – 9 a.m. | Vigil in Cheston Chapel (sign-ups online), also livestreamed.
Good Friday April 2 12 p.m. | Good Friday Prayer Book service with music 7 p.m. | Good Friday Prayer Book service with music
Holy Saturday April 3
9 a.m. | Holy Saturday Prayer Book service
Easter April 3 7 p.m. The Great Vigil of Easter
Easter Sunday April 4 7 a.m. | Rite I spoken service 9 a.m. | Rite II service with music 11 a.m. | Rite II service with music 2 p.m. | Family Table in McColl Auditorium
St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh 7020 Camp Hill Road Fort Washington, PA 19034
8 a.m. | Rite I spoken service 10 a.m. | Rite II service with music 11:30 a.m. | Family Table service in McColl Auditorium
1202 keeW yloH
Palm Sunday March 28