Epistle

From the Rector

No Summer Lull

My dear parishioners and friends of St. Paul's,

As usual, I am defeated by the deadline for the Epistle and I am writing to you before June 8, the occasion of my Silver Jubilee of ordination to the priesthood. However, from the activities I see this week ahead of that event, I am deeply grateful to so many people and humbled by all the work they have put into this celebration for me. This really is a remarkable church with remarkable people, and it is my honor, privilege, and joy to serve in such a community.

Summer activities

You have heard from me elsewhere my denial of any notion of a summer lull! I will mention that a friend of mine in England does not believe in jet lag, so he never suffers from it. I don’t believe in a summer lull and will see if we suffer from that or not! While the summer months do bring a slightly slower pace for many of you and so provide a time of rest and recreation, that in no way diminishes our responsibility and indeed joy and privilege to be consistent in our attendance at Mass on Sundays and feast days.

St. Paul’s is unusual in its maintenance of a full liturgical and musical schedule throughout the summer months. This is to underscore that the day of the Resurrection, Sunday, in July or August is equal in importance as at any other time of year. We seek to honor the high standards and expectations of our parishioners in this area, and so I think a like expectation of your faithfulness in attending Mass in summer months goes without saying. It is also very helpful to the treasury if, when you do go away, you can remember to send in a check to cover your pledge. Bills do not take a lull in the summer either!

The summer months for many of us will be a time of planning for the fall, and that work is already under way. You will have heard at our Annual Meeting of our new approach to the budget for 2005; that work should be wrapped up by the time we get to the fall. You will also have heard of our ongoing development of plans for the building of the new narthex and the renovation of the K Street properties, which will also continue during the summer months.

I shall be away from the parish taking two weeks of my annual leave as of Thursday, July 22. The Barnetts will be away for some of June and July, in and out of the parish, revolving around the schedule for the Building Improvements Committee. They will be away again in the second half of August. This will be their annual leave as well as two weeks vacation, two weeks study leave, part of which is being used to assist at a youth camp in the Diocese of Fort Worth.

Music notes

Since last writing to you, we have received the news of our Jeffrey Smith’s appointment as the Canon Director of Music at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California. This appointment will take effect as of July 1, and Jeffrey’s last Sunday with us will have been Sunday, June 27. I am enormously grateful to Charles Burks for his willingness to continue as our assistant music director for the foreseeable future and certainly until next summer. The brunt of the work of the music department will therefore fall to his shoulders. At the time of writing we are trying to secure a supply organist to enable Charles to be away in July; and the plan is that he return to be with us for the Sundays of August and then September. I am also trying to have some assistance for him in September and possibly October if we need it. Charles Burks will also assume the leadership of the music department and the direction of our various choirs, and I am confident that they are in good hands during this time of transition.

It is my hope to have a new music director appointed to take up the position in the fall. The position is now being advertised, and June 30 will be the deadline for receiving applications. At the time of writing, we have already received a number of interesting applications from highly qualified candidates. I am confident that the search will go well, especially given the wisdom of the advisory committee that is assisting me with this appointment. Let me reiterate here my own commitment to the excellence of our music program and the prominent place it plays in the life of our parish, not simply providing liturgical music but also very much a part of our overall Christian formation and life in this parish church. I expect that we will have some kind of short list before I leave on vacation at the end of July, and then we shall have the opportunity upon my return to interview a number of good candidates and to bring them to St. Paul’s to work with our choirs over a weekend.

I am also committed to our children’s choirs. Again we see here not only musical training but training in the Christian faith. Since I am a product of such training myself, you can understand why I believe this part of our musical life should have a high priority. We are, I think, unusual as a downtown Anglo- Catholic parish in having so broad and good a ministry to and with children, not only in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and our other formation classes on a Sunday morning, but also, equally, in our children’s choirs.

Looking forward to fall

I have mentioned some of my vacation time to be taken in July. I will be away again in September for my two weeks study leave, which will enable me to attend the first Trinity Institute for Christianity and Culture conference for international consultants sponsored by Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London, the week of September 20. It will also enable me to be at the autumn meeting of the Guardians Chapter at Walsingham at the beginning of October. I shall then take my remaining vacation days in the middle of November to be able to officiate at the wedding of a former senior warden in my former parish.

Feast days

You will note the various feast days elsewhere in the Epistle. There are four in July and August. Perhaps the principal one of these is the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin – or if you are more adventurous – the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which normally falls on August 15. This year August 15 is a Sunday, so the feast is transferred to the following day, Monday, August 16. There will be a procession and Solemn Mass at 6:30 PM.

By way of advance notice and looking toward the fall, I am pleased to announce that Bishop Michael Marshall from Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London, an old friend of mine, and indeed a friend of this parish, will be with us the weekend of October 29-31. Please also note that the very next day, Monday, November 1, is All Saints. Day, and the next day, Tuesday, November 2, is the commemoration of All Souls. I expect our usual service of Advent Lessons and Carols to be held on Sunday, November 28, at 6:00 PM, and that service, as last year, will be repeated on Sunday, December 5. I assume that this will be under the direction of our new music director.

Anglican primates to visit next year

I am also pleased to announce the visits to St. Paul’s of two primates of the Anglican Communion next year. The first will be the Most Rev’d Drexel Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies, who will be with us for Candlemas, February 2, 2005, to celebrate and preach with the Bishop of Washington’s permission. Archbishop Gomez has been to St. Paul’s before, and his sister, Myrtle, is a faithful member of our congregation.

The second visitor is our own primate and Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev’d Frank Griswold, who will be with us for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter, 2005. These visits speak of the high and broad esteem in which this parish church is held in the wider Church and are also expressive of the respect for diversity that is possible within Anglicanism. We shall be delighted and honored by their presence and their office.

I wish you all a summer of recreation, re-creation, and refreshment. And see you in church!

With my love and gratitude in Christ, as always,

Andrew Sloane +

Jeffrey Smith to Leave St. Paul’s

The following are excerpts from Fr. Sloane’s May 26 letter to the parish.

Many of you will have heard by now of Jeffrey Smith’s appointment as the new Canon Director of Music at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, effective July 1.

You can imagine that this will be a loss for us all at St. Paul’s, but we are happy for Jeffrey and we look forward to the emergence of Grace Cathedral as the premier location for Anglican church music in this country!

We of course want to give Jeffrey a splendid send-off after his extraordinary ministry of twelve years in this place. Jeffrey’s last Sunday at St. Paul’s will be Sunday, June 27. His last choral service with us will be Solemn Evensong and Benediction at 6:00 PM on that day. I shall be the preacher for the occasion.

Let me also take this opportunity to assure you of my continued commitment to the music program of this parish church. The process for selecting a successor for Jeffrey is already under way. I am grateful to Paul McKee who has agreed to serve as chairman of an Advisory Committee to the Rector in the appointment of a music director and organist. I am grateful to Ben Hutto who has agreed to serve as our consultant in the making of the appointment. Other members are David McGaw, himself a musician and singer and the Vestry liaison; David Parker parishioner, choir member, and organist; Diana Ogilvie, parishioner, mother of members of boys' and girls' choirs, musician; Risa Browder, mother of a choir boy and musician. The appointment will be mine, and I shall depend on the Committee’s expertise and wisdom.

The position of music director/organist is being advertised in the Living Church and through the Association of Anglican Musicians. If you know of anyone who is interested in applying for the position, applications with resumes should be sent by email and attachments to organistapplication@StPauls-KSt.com before June 30. I would like to have the new person in place by the fall. Thanks in no small part to Jeffrey Smith’s work in building our music program, I think we are in a position to attract the highest caliber of applicants.

I am grateful to Jeffrey Smith for his willingness to assist us in this time of transition, and to Charles Burks for his continued, dedicated work as assistant music director. Charles will bear the responsibility for our music program as of July 1 and until a new director arrives.

I do hope you might join us on June 27 at 6:00 PM. I look forward to greeting you then and to a splendid send-off for Jeffrey. Because of prior commitments, happily for us, Elisabeth and Sebastian will continue to reside in Washington and be at St. Paul’s until sometime in the fall. [ALS]

New Parishioner Profile – Naomi DeVries

Naomi DeVries’ path to the Episcopal Church and our parish is a very colorful one. She grew up near Pittsburgh with a Jewish mother and a Dutch Reformed father. Since neither of her parents were practicing their respective faiths but liked to sing, they joined a Methodist church, where Naomi grew up. As a teenager, Naomi embraced her Jewish heritage. Singing professionally at Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh, however, led Naomi to the Episcopal Church.

Upon graduating from Point Park College with a BFA in musical theater, Naomi moved to New York City, where she sang at St. Luke in the Fields and met our former parishioner Melinda Burrows. When she decided to move to Washington, Melinda recommended that Naomi audition at St. Paul’s. Now we are fortunate enough to have Naomi as our alto section leader.

Naomi is not only a superb church singer, but also enjoys many other kinds of music, including jazz and Broadway, and she plays the trombone, too! When not making music, Naomi reads or cares for her cats, adopted from a shelter here in D.C.

Please greet Naomi DeVries at the 9 and 11:15 Masses. [EB]

Our Far-Flung Parishioners – Roy Byrd

Our parishioner Roy Byrd is a colonel in the Marine Corps and has for the last few years been stationed outside Washington. For the past ten months, he has been stationed in Saudi Arabia, where he serves as the senior Marine advisor to the Commander of the Saudi Marine Force. From his home base in Riyadh, Roy travels throughout the Kingdom. He writes:

Life in Riyadh, like Saudi Arabia as a whole, is somewhat of an enigma. Imagine being on an alien planet. Individually the Saudis are a warm and hospitable people. It is said, and I have found it to be accurate: A Saudi friend is a friend for life. Conversely, as a collective they are an unmanageable, incomprehensible people. Perhaps it is a reflection of the desert – beautiful yet foreboding.

Most people think of the desert and immediately think of heat. The temperature during the summer can exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit. While winter lows vary by location, in Riyadh it never dropped below 50 degrees. With the exception of the extreme heat of June through September, and a few weeks of potentially bitter cold, it is mild and comfortable.

I have been in our own Southwestern deserts but they cannot compare to the vast arid peninsula that is Saudi Arabia. While it is almost entirely desert, the geography is diverse, from flat lands to mountains and plateaus, to rocky moonscapes and vast networks of dunes, some exceeding a 1,000 meters in height, ranging in color from stark white to tan, even the red associated with planet Mars.

Since the only form of worship that is allowed in Saudi Arabia is the Saudi form of Islam, Roy has found it difficult to get to a church service. While worship is allowed on foreign embassy premises, the Saudi government heavily restricts access to them. Roy, therefore, has been unable to attend the Mass that is celebrated at the British embassy twice a month. Writes Roy:

There is an Anglican church in Manama (Bahrain), St. Christopher’s Cathedral; they hold Mass daily. I had occasion to travel there, six hours by car, and attended an evening Mass. When I arrived, Roman Catholic and Protestant worship services were held here at the military housing compound on Fridays, both of the “happy clappy” variety, without clergy. For the most part I resign myself to the BCP and the St. Augustine Prayer Book.

We often take the significance of receiving the Sacrament for granted because it is always available to us. I gained a whole new appreciation for its power and grace when I was able to receive it again, first in Bahrain, then at St. Paul’s during my two brief visits.

I would like to share some observations on the state of the Western Church as seen through the eyes of many Arabs. Islam is second only to Christianity in world religions and is the fastest growing. Saudi Arabia is among the most conservative of the Islamic nations. It possesses and is guardian to Islam’s holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina. The Koran is its constitution. Religion is taken very seriously. As in Christianity, the invitation of Islam is open to all. What differentiates Islam is its acceptance of Judaism and Christianity. We are, according to the Prophet Mohammad, believers in the one true God. Muslims recognize all the Jewish prophets and believe Jesus was a prophet, born of the Virgin, who disappeared before his work was complete and who will come again.

True Muslims love to discuss religion, to evangelize. They believe that the teachings of Jesus edify rather than negate the laws as revealed to Moses. Similarly, it is through Mohammad and the Koran that God provides even more clarity to man. The most pious among them seek to emulate the prophet Mohammad; they study the Torah and the New Testament as he did. Too often they conclude western followers of Judaism and Christianity have become corrupted.

Modernity and Islam are constantly at odds in Saudi Arabia, and a Christian there is often pressed to defend the faith. But how does one reconcile the recent happenings in the Christian church today? These actions tend only to reinforce the sentiment among many Muslims that we in the West are not Christians at all and that we have forfeited our very souls. If the elite, western-educated Muslims reach such conclusions, imagine how the uneducated masses react. They are most susceptible to the manipulations of despots who use religion as a catalyst to further their own twisted political aspirations.

If Islam can be accused of being intolerant, the converse can be said for the Western Church – that it is too tolerant. What about the middle ground, the position we as Anglicans often claim? My Muslim colleagues believe that the middle ground is not the high ground. They feel we in the West have lost our way; that we have returned to Baal. I suspect they hope to save me, not from our Lord Jesus, but from those who they feel have corrupted his message, those who would, in the Arab Islamic minds, lead me astray – they still hope to convert me.

Roy is currently one of very few Americans remaining in Saudi Arabia, since all non-essential personnel have been evacuated due to the dangerous situation there. He receives news from St. Paul’s through his wife, Pat, and Fr. Lewis, and he frequently logs onto our website. Please keep Roy in your prayers. He can be contacted through Pat at pbyrd17@comcast.net. [EB]

Rector’s Annual Report

The following is Fr. Sloane’s annual report, delivered to the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 2.

Rightly I should and shall begin with thanks. Thanks to Almighty God for the privilege of priestly ministry in this parish and for this community of faith. Thanks to my brother priests: Fr. Barnett, who serves loyally, patiently, and effectively as our curate and my assistant; to Frs. Pollen, Lewis, Radley, and McQuin; to Fr. Yearwood, who will be leaving us this month to move to Pittsburgh to pursue the “other side” of his life as a doctor. My heartfelt thanks to these priests who work so hard and faithfully for no remuneration and who bring their great and diverse gifts to bear fruit among us.

Thanks to our staff: Melva Willis, our untiring parish administrator; Fred Murdock, our spotless maintenance manager; Charles Burks, our part-time/fulltime assistant music director. And of course to Jeffrey Smith, soon on his way to the cathedral in San Francisco, for his ministry to us in this place over twelve remarkable years. He will be sorely missed, but remembered with affection and admiration.

Thanks to our now official but volunteer staff: Edie Davis, our parish catechist; David Chase, our director of Christian Formation; and Jean Litwin, our . These gifted people spend countless, unnoticed hours caring for the souls – and bodies in Jean’s case – of our community, and their gift of their gifts brings forth untold fruit.

Thanks to the wardens, officers, and Vestry. All the officers are retiring this year, which is unusual. Larry Toombs has served me and us with dedication and distinction as the senior warden; Pat Byrd, junior warden, has been a reflective and committed presence in her leadership in this spot for two years; Lynne Walker has been dedicated and meticulous in her work as treasurer for four years. Peter Agnew and Ed Loucks have served exemplary three-year terms on the Vestry. Kenwin Benn graciously stepped into the breach caused by Nevin Brown’s move to New York. Greg Capaldini has served as secretary with efficiency, dependability, and good humor. What more could one ask? I am especially grateful this year to these people and others who bore the burden in the heat of the day in my absence on the first part of my sabbatical leave last fall.

Thanks to all those who give so generously of their time to make this place work. The (provisional – lest we have omitted names) Roll of Honor available to you at our Annual Meeting speaks powerfully of the generous ministry of the baptized at St. Paul’s. This is surely grounds for thanksgiving, and perhaps a challenge to those whose names are not written therein to get involved.

I have written elsewhere that the tone for our meeting this year is one of thanksgiving and vision.

We take ourselves for granted. We are a remarkable parish church in so many ways. While we would not want to boast, we can have a good and healthy self-esteem – and I like to think that we have grown in this in the last six years or more. And we are, I hope, grateful for the many blessings that have been ours in this past year.

We need not pretend that the past year has been easy. Indeed, the whole Anglican Communion has not had an easy time since last year’s General Convention. For some, the shock waves are surprising in that issues surrounding sexuality are not new, nor should our secular society’s openness to discussing and accepting different lifestyles come to us as anything that new; for others these issues pull apart the very moral framework which has framed their Christian living. I shall not pretend that we have not suffered a few casualties in this area. But on the whole we have been clear of the focus of our life together here; we have been civil to one another and faithful to the Lord and his (yes, his) church. We have not been afraid to discuss the issues, and indeed we shall begin seriously to do this later next month and on into next fall. While I have heard criticism from both “sides” in the so-called debate regarding my/our stand here at St. Paul’s, I think that we have generally been seen to be a model for a faithful, prayerful, theological, spiritual, and Anglican response to the challenges, which in the end I believe can be for good.

This has been the first year since I have been here that we have not grown in terms of our annual giving and our annual budget. One of our “casualties” was a major pledger, and if that pledge had been renewed we would have been in good shape with the budget for 2004. As it is, we could be worse off! We have a balanced budget for 2004. We were able to give salary increases to all our staff to get them to the middle range of the diocesan guidelines across the board. I and they are grateful to you and the Vestry for this and for recognizing the fact that every member of the paid staff goes above and beyond what might be reasonably expected of them. Thanks to the generosity of Velma Gray, we were able to fund the just over $30,000 it takes to pay our choir salaries from her bequest and in accordance with the terns of that bequest. This is a one-time solution.

We must be challenged and respond in the area of stewardship. It is shocking that there are faithful members of this parish who do not make a financial pledge – “do not,” not “cannot.” We need to do much better in the area of planned giving and bequests to build up our endowment, and I am grateful to Larry Toombs and his Planned Giving Task Force who have already started to work on this and from whom we can all expect to hear soon! Again, we are indebted to the Diocese and Canon Sulerud for assistance in getting this off the ground. I have said for several years that our excellent Long-Range Plan, which guides our decision-making is only possible through growth in evangelism and stewardship.

We must also be challenged in our notion of commitment – all round: commitment to the Lord and Life in the Spirit; commitment to worship unfailingly on the Lord’s Day and on feasts; commitment in the giving of time, talent, and money to the parish church; commitment to this community and its needs. Commitment means more often than not a reordering of our priorities, and as we look forward I urge each of us to do just that. Commitment means conversion and the risk of change and indeed the risk of empowerment for ministry.

We have received wise and excellent advice in the area of stewardship and budget from Canon Mary Sulerud. With her encouragement and direction, and with Phil Schlatter’s dedication and enthusiasm, we are now approaching stewardship and budget in a new way which reflects our response to God’s call to mission and ministry. Listen carefully to what Mary and Phil will have to say at our Annual Meeting – we need to learn from them and be inspired.

I was struck by these words of Bishop Michael Marshall in a bulletin at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, in London in April:

You cannot serve mission and mammon. Furthermore, those who live by balanced accounts will die by them! A living church should always be potentially in the red, on that well-tried principle of a self-fulfilling prediction, determined that, by the end of the year, God will provide, or as I once heard it put – “God always pays for what he orders.” WE MUST NOT RESTRICT MISSION TO THE BOTTOM LINE OF FUTURE BALANCE SHEETS. MONEY AND MANPOWER FOLLOW VISION: THEY ALWAYS HAVE AND THEY ALWAYS WILL.

Listen carefully to these words. How do they apply to St. Paul’s? Do they relate to what Mary and Phil will be trying to tell us, I wonder?

If money and manpower follow vision, then there must be vision. We have a vision in our Long-Range Plan, and it is a vision produced, owned, and endorsed by the parish family. And our vision is not restricted to that plan – indeed it is God’s vision for us, and that of course cannot be restricted but by our lack of faithful response.

When I returned from sabbatical leave in January, I challenged us to “go out into the deep and cast our nets.” I asked if we were to close down tomorrow, who, apart from us, would miss us? I challenged us to look to mission and ministry from this place.

On Pentecost Sunday, after five months or so of receiving suggestions and with prayerful discernment, we embraced that mission and ministry beyond the parish itself in some specific ways:

At home we are excited to continue our pioneer work in the Grate Patrol and the Red Sea Program. We have committed to and initiated a ministry to George Washington University. We have pledged our hands-on support of Habitat for Humanity. We will build a relationship with Steven Elementary School right in our own backyard.

Abroad, we are committed to renewing our involvement in the Diocese of Honduras, working with the Diocese of Washington in the Companion Diocese relationship there. And we have embraced the extraordinary work of the sisters of the Community of St. Mary in the Diocese of Northern Malawi.

We believe that the Holy Spirit has called us to these ministries, and now we have the thrill of putting flesh on that call, looking out and not just in, embracing and not restricting. This is part of our vision surely.

“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” This has been the introduction to communications to the parish from the Building Improvements Committee. We can be thankful for the successful completion and transformation of the Guild Room, the existing bathrooms, and the rooms for the formation of our youth and children on the lower of Pillsbury House, all part of our Millennium Fund Campaign. We still await the narthex. And elevator! There have been pitfalls here, but hindsight is always 20/20 and we have learned some lessons.

We are now back on track with a vengeance with the new architectural firm of Swanke Hayden Connell. This is good news, along with our acquisition of 2422 K Street and our selling of the three 25th Street rental properties. All this, along with the generosity of other gifts and bequests, has enabled us to do something that we thought would actually take many years – I thought something my successor would have to deal with! Namely, taking on the whole project as one of renovating 2422, the current townhouses where the offices are, and incorporating them into the new construction and the rest of our plant. You will hear at the Annual Meeting from Larry Cook that plans to do just that are currently underway, and you will be hearing and seeing much more about those plans during the summer months. Here again: thanksgiving and vision. Thanksgiving for generosity of giving and vision for not just ourselves but a remarkable gift to hand on to those who come after us for the future mission and ministry of this parish.

I wanted this report to be short – relatively! I have covered the basics I think.

Recently I visited the remarkable FDR Memorial on a sightseeing tour with a friend from England. Perhaps Roosevelt is an unusual source for the summation of my remarks – indeed even a theme for the year ahead. They were written for a speech for Jefferson Day, April 13, 1945. Roosevelt died on April 14, 1945. They are engraved in stone in the memorial:

THE ONLY LIMIT TO OUR REALIZATION OF TOMORROW WILL BE OUR DOUBTS OF TODAY. LET US MOVE FORWARD WITH STRONG AND ACTIVE FAITH.

Head Chorister’s Valedictory

Below is an excerpt from the speech given by 13-year-old Malcolm Shanks at the choir dinner that followed the chorister’s final Evensong of the season, on June 6, 2004. It has become St. Paul’s custom to invite the departing head chorister to offer a presentation at this annual event.

When Dr. Smith first asked me to give a speech, I had no idea what I could say. It was one of those instances when there is so much to say that nothing comes to mind. I knew what I had to say, but I had no idea how to say it. Luckily, it was Friday, so I could get some ideas when I went to choir. It came to me quicker than I thought it would. As I was walking down the stairs to the choir room, the old choir photo on the bulletin board caught my attention. It was amazing to see how much people change. Then it struck me how much I’d changed as I went through the pictures from the past four and a half years.

When I first came to the church, it was March 1999. I remember it being a fun rehearsal, partly because we were rehearsing “Rejoice in the Lamb,” and partly because I felt as if I belonged. I had so much fun, so it was settled that I would be a part of the choir. Since I took the Metro alone after school, Dr. Smith was nice enough to meet me that first day and walk with me to choir.

He’s been walking with me ever since.

Dr. Smith has helped all the choristers here hone and use our musical talents to the best of our abilities.

As I grew, so did my love for music and St. Paul’s.

St. Paul’s was a place to shed all the stuff that went on during the rest of my life and sing. Most of my favorite memories are of singing my favorite pieces. A lot of those moments where I feel great have happened outside of the choir room: talking about Monty Python with Peter and Mr. Capaldini, or hanging out with Ben on a day when we don’t even have choir, or talking with Lisa about a book that we both just read. Even though the people I share these experiences with are ever changing, they will stay preserved in my memory forever.

It makes me a little misty eyed to think of how much everyone changes, how temporary moments are, but how permanent memories are. People grow apart, we grow together again, or make friends with people we would think we had nothing in common with. But most of all, we grow up, and life carries us where it wants to. These are sad moments, but they are my proudest. When young Ben, Ned, and Jamie were awarded their surplices, it was time for me to relive how far they had come – from struggling beside me, to leading the choir with strengths that only they could bring as individuals.

People grow up and grow apart; I refuse to let that happen to us, because this has been much more to me than just gathering together and singing. I look forward to coming back to a service to see today’s youngest boys grown and leading the choir.

As of now, it’s time for me to finish this adventure and start a new one at boarding school. To conclude, I would like to tell you a funny little story that happened at last Friday’s rehearsal.

All of the boys and Dr. Smith were going on one last trip to 7-Eleven, and I was in a very reflective mood. When we were on our way out of the store afterward, Ben offered his hand to Dr. Smith, looked him straight in the eyes, and said “thank you, sir.” When he walked out of the store, he noticed me looking at him and asked me what was wrong.

I said it seemed as if he had summed up all of our time here in three words. That’s funny because it’s taken me about a thousand words and ten minutes to say, “thank you, sir.”

Pilgrims Journey Home

For so many of this year’s members of Pilgrims in Christ, the pilgrimage was a journey home. The sense of home, and a newfound centering at St. Paul’s, was a common theme last month as the 2003 pilgrims shared stories of their Christian journey. The stories came as part of the group’s last regular meeting, just ten days after more than a dozen of their members confirmed or reaffirmed their baptismal vows on Pentecost.

This homecoming at St. Paul’s was found by Pilgrims that were cradle Episcopalians, as well those raised in the Baptist, Methodist, or golf-on-Sunday traditions. The class included decades-long members of St. Paul’s and folks brand new to the parish.

Pilgrims in Christ is a nine-month course that covers the basics of faith and its practice, from lessons on the early writings of the Christian Church to explanations of the life and liturgy at St. Paul’s. The program also includes two-day retreats and other meetings that take the pilgrims on a journey to help them discern their spiritual gifts and the ministries to which God is calling them.

The Pilgrims gathered each Wednesday night for instruction from St. Paul’s clergy and laity. With binders stuffed full of knowledge, this year’s pilgrims said they had learned a great deal of new and wonderful information this year.

But also, the pilgrims said they learned new things about themselves. And even more so, they said the program taught them a new connection to community and fellowship, within the Pilgrims group and the larger St. Paul’s Parish.

Cassandra Metzger, a member of the Pilgrims class, said she was daunted at first by the weekly meetings but wanted to join the class to explore her faith as a means of renewal.

“I decided to ‘commit myself so that I may understand,’ – in the words of St. Anselm of Canterbury,” Metzger said. “And understand better than I did.”

“Unexpectedly, I also felt my faith refreshed by the kindness, love, and care of the leaders – from Bill’s painted Easter eggs to the song written for us by Greg. Their generous gift of time, self, and knowledge was warmly and consistently offered.”

Metzger said one of the day retreats marked the highlight of the program for her. The retreat, held on the grounds of the National Cathedral, led her to discover some of her own abilities that are gifts of the Holy Spirit. “Best of all, the experience initiated and connected me to St. Paul’s in a deep and lasting manner. I am profoundly grateful.”

David White said the greatest gift of Pilgrims for him was the opportunity to sponsor Glen Koontz for his baptism at the Easter Vigil.

“I never had this opportunity before, and I consider it one of the most important things I’ve done in my life,” White said. “I am grateful to my godson, Glen, for allowing me this honor, and I am grateful to Almighty God for bringing me to this moment.”

Arnita Coley, who was in Pilgrims for her second year, said it helped her strengthen her belief and become more confident in the knowledge of her faith. She said after being in Pilgrims, she knows more and can answer people’s questions about the Church.

And Stephanie Chesson credited Pilgrim for showing her “the diversity, strength, and commitment of the St. Paul’s community, as well as our individual roles, responsibilities, and contributions within the community.”

Next year’s Pilgrims class will begin in September, and sign-ups are already starting! Sign up on the parish website or contact Edie Davis at 301-277-6545 or Fr. Sloane. [AF]

Six Elected to Vestry at Annual Meeting

At the parish Annual Meeting on June 2, six nominees were elected to vacant spots on the Vestry. On the first ballot, 62 votes were cast, and the top vote-getters were Kenwin Benn, Rhoda Geasland, Matthew Leddicotte, and Lynne Walker. They were elected to full three-year terms.

Due to vacancies on the Vestry, there were two partial terms to fill. A motion to elect Deb Loucks to the open two-year term (to replace Cynthia Efird) and Toni MacAuley to the open one-year term (to replace Nevin Brown) passed unanimously by a voice vote. (Nevin Brown’s spot had been filled on an interim basis by Kenwin Benn.)

At the first meeting of the new Vestry on Monday, June 7, new officers were chosen.

David Chase is the new senior warden, Phil Schlatter is the new junior warden, Ellen Purvance is the new secretary, and Polly Peckham is the new treasurer.

Building Improvements Committee Report

The following is the report from the Building Improvements Committee that was delivered to the Annual Meeting by Larry Cook.

“We shape our buildings: thereafter they shape us.”

This quote by Sir Winston Churchill reminds us that the spaces we create directly influence our lives. Throughout their existence, designed spaces help to shape the lives sheltered within them. This is true for individuals as well as for organizations. The Building Improvements Committee (BIC) is, therefore, committed to encouraging a thoughtful architectural response to current space needs of the parish. We are very excited about the renewed process of working with our architects to develop a design that will allow for, even encourage, the evolving mission of the parish expressed in space, in light, and in materials.

In January of this year, the Washington, D.C., firm of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects was retained to complete plans for the new narthex and elevator, which were begun two years ago by another designer. In the interval between the original firm’s withdrawal from the project and hiring of Swanke Hayden Connell, the parish acquired property adjacent to the church, at 2422 K Street. Last year the Vestry appointed a task force to study potential uses of 2422. Upon review of several alternatives, the Vestry determined that the property should be developed entirely for parish uses.

The strategic acquisition of 2422 has enabled us to think “outside the box” regarding the original narthex design. We are now able to consider incorporating 2422 into the fabric of the existing physical plant. Under consideration, therefore, is a sequence of interrelated projects:

construction of the narthex and elevator,
renovation of 2422,
renovation of 2424/26 (where existing administrative offices are located), and
necessary upgrades to building systems and infrastructure.

In their April meeting this year, the Vestry approved expanding the scope of the design project to include these aspects in an enhanced project.

The construction project has, in effect, rushed ahead of any schedule we might have anticipated two years ago. Now we have the very exciting prospect of developing the church’s physical plant well beyond what was anticipated under the former project; to provide much-needed space for under-served programs and to provide more appropriate space for programs too long housed in cramped quarters or in otherwise inappropriate locations. The Millennium Fund, in addition to proceeds from the recent sale of three endowment properties on 25th Street (953, 955, 961) allow us to pursue this idea.

Work is now underway by the design team in preparation of a schematic design that considers the entire church complex, how we live in it today, as well as how we want to grow in the future. The architects are studying functional building uses, existing conditions, zoning regulations, and building codes in a process to refine the original narthex plan and to integrate it into an overall master plan for parish facilities.

The Building Improvements Committee is working as a partner within the new project team. Our goal, of course, is to produce a thoughtful response to parish space needs and to develop a design that will provide appropriate facilities to serve the evolving mission of the parish. The project team is working steadily to meet this goal.

The project team is made up of three distinct components:

1. Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, and their consulting engineers & specialists,

The designers help the parish to define an appropriate shape (and textures and colors, etc.) in which to house our programs.

2. Sigal Construction Company,

The contractors are included in the team early on to give us feedback on “constructability,” alternatives, as well as on construction cost information.

and

3. the Building Improvements Committee.

The committee’s most important task is to be an interpreter of parish space needs for the designers.

Ongoing design work is refining our concept of what the new narthex should be/ought to be/might be. Schematic plans are expected to be completed later this month. These will help to clarify general cost implications of the design. BIC is committed to working within the design team to develop an economical overall plan for development of our church facilities, as we grow together into the future.

Late this summer the Building Improvements Committee will offer a couple of opportunities for interested parishioners to learn directly the evolving details of the project. More about these forums will be announced during the summer.

Finally, thank you all for your support, and your prayers, for this exciting development in our life together. [LC]

People, Look East

The following article, by the Rev’d Tobias S. Haller, BSG, originally appeared in the journal The Anglican Catholic. It is reproduced here by kind permission of Dr. John Orens, editor of The Anglican Catholic.

One of the more contentious issues of liturgical reform in the last third of the last century concerned the position and posture of the priest and people in relation to the altar. Many exponents of the Liturgical Movement, both in the Roman and Anglican communions, encouraged the erection of freestanding altars in new churches (the ravages of World War II in France and Germany gave ample opportunity for this) and the relocation of altars (or where impractical, their supplementation through installation of a new altar). Historical and liturgical arguments were invoked in favor of the move towards free-standing altars and celebration in which the priest and people faced each other over the altar. It was commonly asserted that both were recoveries of ancient tradition, which fostered a greater sense of the church as a gathered community empowered for mission. In this paper I will join a number of historians and liturgists who are finding it prudent to reexamine these claims.

History reexamined

The part of this literal “liturgical movement” connected with the furniture had a sound historical basis: altars had, for the most part, been freestanding, based on the scant evidence of the earliest house churches, to the well-documented basilicas, and on through the renaissance, and the placement of the altar as a massive sideboard against the eastern wall of the apse was a fairly late development. Note, however, that even the high altars of the baroque era, though they appear to be up against the wall due to the elaboration of gradine and reredos, almost without exception have passageways behind them to allow the circumambulation required by rubric at their dedication. (Anson 1948, 76.) (This technical compliance with the rubric reminds one of the creasing of hosts with the edge of the paten which conscientious anglo-catholic clergy used to do in deference to the “lesser fraction” rubric, saving the complete breaking of the bread for the point at which they knew it to be proper!) So, at least as historical precedent for the position of the altar goes, the leaders of the Liturgical Movement had good precedent.

Along with the restoration of the freestanding altar, the celebration of the eucharist with the priest facing the people (technically called “versus populum,” henceforth “VP”) was also encouraged, in the earnest belief that this was the ancient position for the celebrant, whether bishop or priest. However, even during the height of the Liturgical Movement and the Vatican II reform cautionary voices were raised. Few scholars felt the freestanding altar required or implied a VP Eucharist, and the primary impetus appears to have been the enthusiasm generated in the excitement of rearranging the furniture. A calm and careful look at the historical evidence since the heady days of the 60s and 70s has led many to reexamine and rethink the matter.

What the evidence shows is that, with very few exceptions, the celebrant at the eucharist rarely faced the congregation across the altar, at least during the eucharistic prayer. It appears that the position of the bishop’s chair behind the altar in the early basilica may have been the source of the confusion. Since the bishop faced the people during the liturgy of the word it was wrongly assumed that he continued to do so at the prayers or at the liturgy of the table. However, the early church was not concerned about whether the bishop faced the people or not, but about the direction all worshipers faced for prayer. Prayer, above all the eucharistic prayer, was addressed, not to the assembly, but to God. The traditional direction for prayer was towards the east, towards the rising of the sun that symbolized the coming of Christ. This meant that in churches that were “oriented” with the apse in the east, the bishop would come around the altar and join the congregation, leading their prayer as they all faced east together.

In the city of Rome, however, basilicas were often if not always “portal oriented” – that is, their entry door faced east, and the altar was in the western end. In this case the bishop was already facing east for prayer, and the congregation would join him, not turning their backs on him but turning to face east with him, leaving the altar behind them. This may seem odd to us, but in this early period the medieval concern with “seeing the consecration” had not yet evolved. Indeed, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, visibility was never a primary issue, as the whole people of God, clergy and laity, were quite happy to pray together and in the same direction whether they could see each other or not. (Jungmann 137f; Bouyer 175) As Louis Bouyer notes:

The notion that the arrangement of the Roman basilica is ideal for a Christian church because it enables priests and faithful to face each other during the celebration of Mass is really a misconstruction. It is certainly the last thing which the early Christians would have considered, and is actually contrary to the way in which the sacred functions were carried out in connection with this arrangement. (175)

There is no need here to rehearse the process by which the basilican freestanding altar evolved into the magnificent sideboard of the middle ages, though Jungmann suggests (138) that the impracticality of the people turning away from the altar (in the Roman portal-oriented layout) led to the development of “altar orientation,” the eventual notion of a “liturgical east,” the movement of the altar deeper into the apse, and the adoption of the “eastward position” (EP) in which the celebrant turns to join and lead the people, in facing the same way together with them.

It is fair to say that this practical change was accompanied, but not driven, by an emerging theology of sacrifice. It was largely in reaction to this theology of sacrifice, and a desire to introduce a resemblance to the “Lord’s Supper” that the Reformers transformed the altar into a table around which the assembly gathered – though here too their intent had little historical authority, even if the eucharist had ever been conceived of simply as a recreation of the Last Supper. For in a classical banquet all those partaking, host and guests alike, sat or reclined on the same side of the table or tables – an image preserved in countless (even late) representations of the Last Supper. (Ratzinger 78)

Many of the newly designed freestanding altars of the Roman Catholic tradition in the middle of the last century still required an EP celebration. A number of photographs of these grand but now rather dated “modern” liturgical spaces (even in texts such as Hammond’s, that argue for VP) reveal the limitations upon the VP posture, due to the tabernacle and candlesticks still present on the mensa. It was only with Vatican II that the Roman Catholic Church, by banishing the tabernacle and candlesticks (admittedly late additions) from the altar, made VP celebration almost universally possible, though as some Roman Catholic liturgists are now emphasizing (as they reconsider the wisdom of this change), the rubrics do not require this posture. It has also been pointed out that even at Saint Peter’s, where the pope has stood opposite the people since the basilica was constructed, it was not in order to face them: indeed, in the long period from the Baroque until Vatican II in which tabernacles reigned, the celebrating pope could no more see the people than they him.

On this side of the Tiber (and the Atlantic), our own Book of Common Prayer rubrics still expect the EP posture, and the rubric at the end of the dialogue leading to the preface states, “Then, facing the holy Table, the Celebrant proceeds ...” (BCP 361, etc. Note, however, that this rubric has unaccountably disappeared from the Spanish version of our Prayer Book!) Bonnell Spencer, writing in 1965, noted that the rationale for the introduction of VP in the Roman church provided a means of improved visual participation in a church which at that time conducted much of its liturgy in a low voice and the Latin language, but that the Anglican tradition had less need of such visual rearrangements because it had long since dealt with the verbal accessibility of its liturgy. Joint prayer of the people and priest together, he noted, “is a far superior form of corporate participation than merely watching the celebrant.” (161)

Yet, in spite of the specious foundation for the historical argument for VP, i.e., that it represents a recovery of the ancient tradition of the church, this has become the dominant Roman Catholic liturgical fashion, and is now prevalent among Anglicans.

There are times when historical justification is less significant than present need – tradition should inform, but not bind the church in its efforts to serve. However, while we need not be dominated by our history, we should at least be well informed concerning it, particularly if we are going to argue from it. Liturgists in particular seem to fall prey to a kind of historical nostalgia, whether for the apostolic, patristic, or some other golden era. But it is no good picking up one feature of some past liturgical customary (always assuming that scholars and fashion-setters have it right – which it seems many didn’t with VP) and simply patching it onto our contemporary situation. New wineskins really are needed for new wine, and there has been a lot of water under the Milvian Bridge.

Communion and community

So, is there a compelling rationale for VP – or a return to EP – on some other basis than the historical? When making liturgical changes (whether one sees them as a recovery or a development) it is important to consider the whole context of the world as it is today, and what different meanings a gesture from the fourth century may have for us, and what effects. We really ought to be saying what we intend.

My conclusion is that while VP has its place in certain limited and specialized environments (closed communities such as convents or schools, or informal private gatherings) it raises a number of practical and pastoral problems, and what is worse, has had and will continue to have deleterious effects on the parish, the wider church, and its understanding of ministry.

Far from encouraging a growth in the sense of community, as texts from the Liturgical and Parish Communion Movements too numerous to list insist, the dominance of VP has sometimes led on the contrary to a new and more insidious form of clericalism. How so?

Take, for example, Peter Hammond’s critique of EP and his insistence that VP not only will bring about greater liturgical participation, but spur the laity on to apostolic mission in the world. (Note as well his acknowledgment that the foundation for VP is ideological rather than historical, or as he says “missionary rather than antiquarian.”)

Preoccupations which have already brought about a widespread restoration of the ancient ceremonies connected with the offertory, and the celebration of the eucharist versus populum have all been missionary rather than antiquarian. So long as the layman in church remains a passive spectator of something done on his behalf by professional actors, it is likely that he will be equally passive in regard to what is done out of church. (168)

Just think about the number of logical and historical problems with this assertion. The historical assumption concerning the VP itself has been addressed above. Here it is more important to note that the church’s great missionary efforts in previous ages managed to survive without the benefit of VP quite nicely, and many laity, Roman and Anglican alike, have gone forth from churches with baroque or gothic furnishings and truly antique ceremonial, nourished with a sense of mission and outreach, of which I have not noted an incredible resurgence since the adoption of VP as a virtual norm. One need only cite Jesuit mission and Jesuit architecture to see the fallacy in Hammond’s assertion.

More problematical is the second sentence in Hammond’s analysis. I have actually been a professional actor, having appeared on Broadway and off for a period of fifteen years before I entered full-time church work, and the one thing professional actors are above all eager to avoid is turning away from the audience. While it is certainly true that some priests who used the EP may from time to time have thought of themselves as performers, and some congregants who worshiped in their churches may also have felt themselves reduced to spectator status, that clearly has nothing to do with the professional theater, and any actors who habitually “upstaged” themselves would soon find themselves out of work! Actors quite normally face their audiences, and while there is one time in the liturgy where a certain element of performance craft is not out of place – the sermon – in general any semblance of “performing” should be restrained.

Sadly, and contrary to Hammond’s assertion, VP enforces the “performance” mode, most particularly in the eucharistic celebration, where the celebrant becomes a kind of ecclesiastical Julia Child confecting the eucharist, or worse, acting out the Last Supper (the Reformers have had their way after all!). How many times have we had to endure clergy “stretching out their arms upon the cross” or similarly pantomiming the surmised actions of Christ at the table in the upper room? Far from avoiding performance mode, the VP has virtually set it in stone, as the altar becomes a barrier as substantial as any rood screen, and as definitive and divisive of the liturgical space as any proscenium is of the theatrical. This has burdened many clergy with the task (in many cases far beyond their talents) of performing for, rather than praying with their congregation. It is, in short, a less subtle and more demanding form of clericalism. As Bonnell Spencer pointed out, “Far from being eliminated, the idea that the priest is celebrating for the people is made more explicit. They can watch him do it.” (162) (Of course, this model of the priest as alter Christus par excellence fits quite nicely into the Roman Catholic conceptualization of church hierarchy, as an essentially papal model of eucharistic celebration became the norm for every parish. If one wishes to emphasize hierarchy there are few more effective ways of doing it than dividing the people from the celebrant.) Another similar problem with VP is the confusion of exactly who is being addressed in the various parts of the eucharistic prayer. EP made it very easy to distinguish those portions of the prayer addressed to the assembly from those in which the presiding minister turned to lead the assembly in addressing God, normally symbolized (or at least given liturgical focus) through the cross above and to the east of the altar. With VP, the celebrant finds him or herself either looking into thin air, a rose window, lowering the eyes to concentrate on the altar book or the chalice and paten, or looking at the congregation (thereby giving the impression that the eucharistic prayer is addressed to them). And what does the congregation have to look at? Again, the smiling or somber priest must naturally become the focus of attention. After all, isn’t it rude not to look at someone who appears to be speaking to you? The liturgy comes to be more and more about the celebrant.

On the mission and ministry front, the widespread adoption of VP has led, not to greater lay involvement in church mission either for Romans or for Anglicans, but to a proliferation of lay participation in roles on the “other side of the rail” even in broad and low churches, and greater lay involvement in “speaking roles” for the Roman Catholics. (The anglo-catholic parish always had lots of things for people to do “on the altar.”) How many times have you heard “participation” limited to being a reader, an acolyte, a chalice administrant, or intercessor, all of them formerly ministries not of the laity but of the “minor orders,” and many of them once the reserve of the deacon (and of the many forces working against a revived and flourishing diaconate in our time this is one of the most insidious)? Often greater lay participation on the “other side of the footlights” (facing the congregation) has precisely the opposite effect, as in the dismal failure of the Roman Catholic ministry of “song leader” – which sometimes has the effect of rendering congregations completely silent as they are “led” by someone who appears to be more of a nightclub performer than a cantor.

Ultimately, no amount of such “participation” will have an impact on what people do in the world unless while assembled in church they have been fed with the bread from heaven and transformed in their hearts to become what they behold. Theater on a proscenium stage, or a three-quarter thrust, or in the round, will always have its actors and its spectators, and if what you think you are doing in church is theater, then it really doesn’t matter which way you face.

Turning one’s back for leadership

The contemptuous way in which the ideologues of last century’s VP movement commonly described EP, as the priest “turning his back on the people” (Lowrie 158), also indicates the essentially clericalist focus of their concerns. No one ever suggested that the people in the front pews had turned their backs on the people behind them. It is the priest who matters, and who he or she is facing. But though it may be true that many clergy who have used the EP think in terms of who they are turning from, I think many more rightly focus on whom they are turning toward as they join their congregations to face the same direction together. Liturgy is primarily an essentially plural enterprise in which the many focus on the One in holiness and adoration, and that mutual focus draws them together. If the priest usurps the focus by becoming the actor, or the people become the focus for the priest who has nothing else to look at, the center of worship becomes the worshipers themselves.

VP and EP simply represent two very different models for the church, one focused inward primarily on itself and its concerns, the other looking outward and onward; one emphasizing the gathered community, the other the transcendent presence of God. What we have in these two models is, in short, the circle or the procession. And there is a clear question as to which better truly builds community. As mentioned above, there are situations in which the circular arrangement for the eucharist makes a good deal of sense: a permanently or situationally closed community (a convent or school). But in these cases the strong sense of community already exists; in fact, the stronger this sort of community, the harder it is for an outsider to feel welcome – it is very hard to break into a circle, but it is wonderfully easy to slip in at the end of a procession. Community is far more easily built by adding a sense of common direction and mission, rather than focusing on the membership itself.

C.S. Lewis once described the difference between friendship and love as a matter of focus: that lovers look at each other, and friends stand side by side looking towards some common goal. Clearly, the church is called to be a loving community, but isn’t the church’s love based at least in part on the sense of God as the ultimate lover, towards whom all our attention ultimately turns, and from whom we gain our life and power to love others, most especially those not already part of our inner circle? If we become fixated on each other in the liturgical assembly, rather then turning our attention to God, where will we get the emotional and spiritual energy to carry our love for God out into the world, instead of spending it all on ourselves?

And if the priest must become the “stand in” for Christ, does that not place upon him (or her) an intolerable need both to “deliver” and to receive the displaced love of the whole congregation, rather than leading and guiding that love towards the transcendent One who is before us, beyond us, above us and yet at the same time with us? I am reminded of that wonderful short story from Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles in which a shape-shifting Martian becomes the object of the inmost need of each person he encounters (including a priest, who sees him as the crucified Christ). Ultimately the conflicting needs of the people destroy the poor empathetic alien. Is there any connection between what I have said here and the cases of clerical misconduct and burnout that seem to have become so common? I wonder.

I am more secure in saying that the processional form for the liturgy provides a responsible and at the same time less debilitating model for leadership and mission. First of all, there is a clear sense of direction. Secondly, the goal is not within the community, but beyond it. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the priest is the leader but not the goal.

Finally, to mention the deacon again: how much more powerful is the dismissal as a sending forth in a particular direction, than as the mere dispersal of a circle. I have more than once heard the traditional oblong church model described dismissively as an “airplane.” Well, at least airplanes go somewhere.

Where do we go from here?

Now, I realize in all of this that I risk being catalogued as the worst kind of retrograde reactionary. And I admit that I am a bit uncomfortable to find that I share any opinion at all with Josef Cardinal Ratzinger. (I was quite amazed when his Spirit of the Liturgy appeared, decrying the great “mistakes” of Vatican II, in which I can only say I felt as if he’d been reading my mind, if not my journal notes!)

But I am heartened to find that my thoughts on this matter were presaged by the likes of Fathers Bonnell Spencer and Josef Jungmann, and today are echoed by numerous younger clergy and laity. Moreover, my practical experience has also shown me that a balanced eucharistic liturgy, with elements of the liturgy of the word (particularly the readings and the sermon) executed in an engaging, lively, and personable manner, coupled with a liturgy of the table that brings with it notes of transcendence, solemnity, and purpose, has provided the congregations which I have served with a real sense of renewal. In both parishes I have served my predecessors had abandoned the old “high altar” and introduced freestanding altars, and in both I made the decision to abandon this liturgical novelty in favor of the manner of worship which has been predominant for most of Christian history – not because of the historical reality, but because people are hungry for transcendence in a world that so aggressively confronts them or performs for them, rather than accompanying them and leading them.

Simply rearranging the furniture is not an answer to church growth or mission in itself. Nor is simply changing the posture of the clergy in relation to the laity. What the church needs now is a complete attitude adjustment and recovery of what it means to worship the One who is the object of our prayer, and the source of our life. Let us mean what we say, do what we intend, and become what we behold.

Sources

Anson, Peter F. Churches: Their Plan and Furnishing. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1948)
Anson, Peter F. Fashions in Church Furnishings: 1840-1940. Second edition. (London: Studio Vista Ltd., 1965)
Bouyer, Louis. Rite & Man: Natural Sacredness and Christian Liturgy. (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1963).
Gamber, Klaus. Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background. (Roman Catholic Books, 1993).
Hammond, Peter. Liturgy and Architecture. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961).
Jungmann, Josef A., S.J. The Early Liturgy. (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959).
Lowrie, Walter. Action in the Liturgy. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1953).
Ratzinger, Josef, Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000).
Spencer, Bonnell, OHC. Sacrifice of Thanksgiving. (West Park, N.Y.: Holy Cross Publications, 1965).

Tobias Stanislas Haller, BSG, is Vicar of Saint James Episcopal Church, Fordham, in the Bronx, chair of the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of New York, and past president of the Catholic Fellowship of the Episcopal Church. He is a life-professed member of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory.

Feast Days in July and August

St. Mary Magdalene
Thursday, July 22
7:00 AM Low Mass
Noon Low Mass
6:00 PM Low Mass

St. James the Apostle (transferred)
Monday, July 26
7:00 AM Low Mass
Noon Low Mass
6:00 PM Low Mass

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Friday, August 6
7:00 AM Low Mass
Noon Low Mass
6:00 PM Low Mass

St. Mary the Virgin (The Assumption)
(transferred)
Monday, August 16
7:00 AM Low Mass
Noon Low Mass
6:30 PM Procession and Solemn Mass

St. Bartholomew the Apostle
Tuesday, August 24
7:00 AM Low Mass
Noon Low Mass
6:00 PM Low Mass

Parish Notes

July Birthdays
1 Susan Moore
2 Susan Dirstine
3 Joseph Hobson
4 Edward Stephenson, Jr.; Leigh Ann Barnett
5 Sandra Myers; David Gurr; Thomas Leggett
6 Page Dame, III; William Hall; Weldon Walker, III; Rosemary Foltis
9 Sara Mixter
10 Lisette Stewart-Brooks; Laura Schnorrenberg
11 Ann Hyde
12 Christine Nevius
13 Ivy Quintyne
15 Lester Springstead ; Anne Windle
17 Carol Meekhof
18 Barbara Moyer; Bill Gettys
19 Ronald Pitcherello; William Cox
21 Matthew Welch; Winstead Kirschner; Hannah Leggett; Elizabeth Nevius
22 David Boulet; Hugh Gouldman, Jr.; Daniel Ohe
24 Robert Meigel; Glenn Smith
27 Rosalyn Barnett
28 Barbara Williams
29 Phillip Landis; James Holt
30 Charles Donald Roudebush

August Birthdays
2 Richard Ziomek; George Keeler; Marlon Guishard
3 John Burrows; Tandy Fleckner; Hilary Malson
4 Kendall Simmons; Samantha Taggart
5 Alice Tilson; Mary Beth Bakke
7 Michael Davis
8 Marjorie Tweed
9 Raymond Dahlgren; Roy Byrd; Bruce Lowrey
10 Marcia Stanford; Oghenekevwe Ajueyits
11 Ernest Latham, Jr.
12 Martha Taggart
14 Clay O’Dell; Jane Stephenson; Sekou Okwesa
15 Charles Halty; Alice Hord de Michaelis
18 David Lewis; Susie Perry; Ann Margaret Hanson
19 Shayne Doty; William de Michaelis
21 Peggy Battle; William Linden, III; Mary McAllister; Sean Boylan
22 Virginia Northen-Cole; Antoinette MacAulay
24 Percival Quintyne, Jr.
25 Edith B. Davis; Ethan Henderson; Heather Fitzpatrick; Beverly Guishard-Jackson
27 Richard Krimm; Lindsay Robinson
29 Terrence Guishard
31 Catherine Braun; Nathaniel Radley

If you have a July or August birthday that was not included, or if there are any mistakes, please contact the church office. [MW]

Parish Statistics

Baptisms: Caroline Taff Cunningham; Michael Patrick Cunningham, Jr. (May 30, 2004)

Confirmations: Tygh Bailes; Kimberley Ann Browning; Stephanie Chesson; English Koontz; Glen Koontz; Cynthia Leenerts; Kelly Weiss; Rebecca Wood (May 30, 2004)

Deaths: Ed Lewis (May 2004)

The Epistle

Editors Christine Nevius, Alistair Nevius
Assistant Editor Allison Freeman
Desktop Publisher John Walker
Designer David McGaw
Contributors Elisabeth Braw, Roy Byrd, Larry Cook, Tobias Haller, Malcolm Shanks, Andrew Sloane, Melva Willis

Submissions Invited

We welcome the submission of articles, comments, and suggestions. Manuscripts and correspondence can be dropped off at the church office or e-mailed to the editors at nevius@erols.com. Electronic manuscripts are preferred. Articles accepted for the Epistle are subject to editorial revision.

SAINT PAUL’S PARISH
2430 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037-1797
phone 202-337-2020
fax 202-337-7418
e-mail info@StPauls-Kst.com
Web www.StPauls-Kst.com

Parish Staff
The Rev’d Andrew Sloane, Rector
The Rev’d Edwin Barnett, Curate
Dr. Jeffrey Smith, Music Director
Charles Burks, Assistant Music Director
Melva Willis, Parish Administrator
Frederick Murdock, III, Maintenance Manager

The Vestry
The Rev’d Andrew Sloane, Rector
David Chase, Senior Warden
Phil Schlatter, Junior Warden
Ellen Purvance, Secretary
Polly Peckham, Treasurer
Peter Agnew, Ed Loucks; Toni MacAuley, Larry Cook, David McGaw, Marcia Stanford; Jeremiah
de Michaelis, Deb Loucks; Kenwin Benn, Rhoda Geasland, Matthew Leddicotte, Lynne Walker

Our Mission
St. Paul’s Parish seeks to restore all people to God and to each other, through Sacramental
Worship and Christlike lives.