From the Rector
June: A Vital Month

My dear parishioners and friends of St. Paul’s,
While May will have been busy and important—with Eastertide, our celebration of the Feast of the Ascension with the Bishop’s visitation and confirmation, and our annual meeting on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary—June also proves to be a vital month liturgically. I do hope that we are aware of the importance of how our secular approach to time should, as Christians, be tempered by sacred time. This can be said for every day of our lives. Thus, June 4, in the eyes of the world, is simply a Sunday, but for Christians across the face of the earth it is the Feast of Pentecost, when we not only commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the birth of the church, but also dedicate ourselves to our own renewal in the power of that same Spirit. At the 11:15 AM Mass on that day, the members of our Pilgrims class will be commissioned for the ministries that they have discerned and again become a sign to the whole congregation of God’s call to mission, ministry, and witness in Christ’s name for all His people.

Monday, June 5, there will be the organizational meeting of the new Vestry, as required by parish by-laws. At that time, the new Vestry will elect a senior warden, junior warden, a treasurer, and a secretary. After the end of that week, on June 9 and 10, the new Vestry will gather at the Cathedral College for its annual workshop, when we will have an opportunity to get to know each other a little better, with some time for fellowship and worship, as well as to try to bring on board those new members of the Vestry, especially in areas where important decisions will have to be made soon, most notably in our building project.

On Saturday, June 17, we are pleased to be able to host some visitors from the Diocese of Northern Malawi. These include the Dean of the Cathedral and his wife and some of the Sisters whose work we have been supporting through our Commission on Mission. I do hope we can have a fine turnout to meet and greet these visitors, who will give us some tangible connection to our outreach and ministry there. Please read elsewhere in this Epistle (see p. 3) about the details of this visit and please give it your full support.

June 18 is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. As in previous years, the Sunday Mass schedule will be as usual with the propers being “of the Holy Eucharist,” and then in the evening we will have the procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Solemn Benediction to celebrate this great gift of God to his Church. In a parish such as this, eucharistic worship and adoration is at the heart of what we are and what we do and is the source and goal of our labor. You will read elsewhere in this Epistle of the musical extravaganza that is being planned for Sunday, June 18, at 6:00 PM. (See p. 11.)

Sunday, June 25, we keep our secondary patronal feast by observing the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, observing it on the Sunday prior to the actual feast, which falls on June 29.

So we find ourselves at the time of year when some things are winding down and new ministries and activities are under way. It is also a time of reflection on the year past and deliberation and discernment of God’s call to us for our mission and witness in the year ahead.

To my delight, Fr. Humphrey will return from his study leave in England, which I am sure was beneficial to him, and its fruit will, I’m also sure, be seen in our own parish life. I shall be getting my own back by taking four weeks vacation from the middle of July to the middle of August, during which time I am confident in leaving the parish in Fr. Humphrey’s capable hands.

As you begin to enjoy the somewhat more relaxed pace of these summer months, I am sure I don’t have to remind you of your ongoing commitment to our worship of Almighty God. This parish is very unusual in not making any adjustment at all in our liturgical schedule for the summer months, which is a clear sign of our commitment to the ongoing worship of Almighty God in this place, Sunday by Sunday and, indeed, day by day. I hope that, like me, you will have time to be away for relaxation and refreshment, and again I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of your privilege and obligation to attend Mass on Sundays even when you are away! Also, it is extremely helpful to us, if you are away, if you can remember to fulfill your pledge payments. Our income declines in the summer months, and this always causes a problem with our cash flow. You and I can assist this by being faithful in sending our checks or other forms of payments to keep things going. Even though it’s the summer, there are still bills to be paid!

This comes as always with my gratitude and my love in the risen and ascended Lord.

Andrew Sloane+

Rector’s Annual Report

Often one is asked the question, “What makes us an Anglo-Catholic parish?” Indeed that question was asked last year at one of the rector’s forums, and it was interesting to hear the responses. While I don’t want to get into all the possible responses here, one surely is that any Anglo-Catholic parish is a eucharistically centered community. If we truly are that, then one of the characteristics of that community must be thanksgiving—indeed the word eucharist means just that.

So it is that I would like to begin this Annual Report, as usual, with my thanks.

Thanks to Fr. Humphrey and Anne

One of the challenges that I reported last year was to find a new priest to become our curate following Fr. Barnett’s departure to become rector of St. Paul’s Church in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. You will recall that we had a fairly extensive search, with the position advertised in the national church press and over 20 applications. You may also recall that we had two excellent final candidates, and one of those was the Rev’d Nathan J.A. Humphrey.

I called Fr. Humphrey to be our curate, and he began his ministry with us in the middle of October. His wife, Anne Stone, has also taken her place as a faithful and beloved member of our parish family. The decision to call someone to be one of our full-time priests is an important one, and one always hopes that one has made the right choice. I think you will all agree that Fr. Humphrey has most certainly turned out to be the right choice, and in his seven months or so with us has brought already his gifts to bear on our parish life. I certainly couldn’t ask for a more loyal and competent assistant. Fr. Humphrey has been most assiduous in learning our peculiar ways liturgically and in so many other ways. He has taken seriously his responsibilities for our youth programs and has been a support to those who run the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as well as other programs for youth, including our choirs. Many of you benefited from the splendidly creative Narnia series for families on Friday evenings in Lent. Of course, Fr. Humphrey has also taken on with distinction and effectiveness the sharing with me of the liturgical, preaching, and pastoral work of the parish. He has also had oversight, along with Paul Francke, of our ministry to students at the George Washington University. A milestone has been reached there in the formal recognition now of a GWU “Canterbury Club.”

In addition, Fr. Humphrey has already been on some study leave to pursue his academic interests in the currently thorny issues of Anglican ecclesiology. I am sure that his time in England will be mutually beneficial, and I am sure that we will be seeing some of the fruit of his work in our own parish. When Fr. Humphrey came here, I suggested that this parish was really like an ecclesiastical laboratory for his research in the broad ranging identity of Anglicanism and how we here live with strong differences of opinion and yet retain some notion of communion.

While it is jumping ahead, let me say here that I regard the articulation of our own ecclesiology as a parish as something which we need to tend to in the years ahead. The sands are shifting very quickly and in some cases alarmingly within Anglicanism, and we need to be able to articulate who we are, and why we are who we are, and how we fit in not only in terms of Anglicanism but also, given the tradition in which we stand, in terms of Catholic faith and order. I shall be, in the years ahead, looking to Fr. Humphrey to assist us in the conversations and subsequent articulation that need to take place. I am very grateful to Fr. Humphrey and to Anne for all they have brought to our community and for all they are to me personally.

Thanks to the music department

So one of the challenges from my report last year has been met and resolved most happily. So has another, namely the appointment of a new part-time assistant director of music. Last summer, Charles Burks accepted the call to become the organist and director of music at All Saints’ Cathedral in Albany, New York. As so often with the clergy, so it seems with musicians, that it is like a chess game of moving the pieces to different squares! Mark Dwyer, of course, came to us the year before last from All Saints’ Cathedral in Albany, and Charles Burks thus becomes Mark’s successor there. Charles did a splendid job in his time here and is sorely missed, though we are proud of his accomplishments not only here but also in his new position.

We have been most fortunate in being able to appoint Scott Dettra to succeed Charles Burks as our assistant director of music. You know from hearing him play of his superb talent and, as usual, we have somebody in a position of the highest possible caliber and someone of whom it would not be true to say that we are just getting what we pay for! Which is also so true of all the other members of our staff. More of that later!

Mark Dwyer has continued to build up and develop our music program, and the three choirs that sing each Sunday and on feast days continue to rise to the occasion. I am very struck by how well and happily two such talented musicians as Mark and Scott are able to complement each other and to work so easily, agreeably, and happily together. So often that is not true of the clergy and, dare I say it, even less true of musicians! We are truly blessed with two people of such talent and spiritual integrity. I and we are grateful to them both and to all who volunteer their time and talent to make music happen in this place.

Our budget for music is not insignificant, and from time to time that becomes a topic of some debate and conversation. I am currently reading a book called What Is the Point of Being a Christian? by Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. You will be hearing much more about this book as I finish it, and we may well study it in the rector’s forum. Let me quote here some things that he has to say about the place of music in the beauty of worship.

John Donne believed that the word with which God created the universe was a song. This is a theme that crops up throughout our tradition, from the psalmist who sung of the whole creation singing to God, to the medieval theories of “the music of the stars,” to modern string theories of matter and its harmonics. Michio Kaku said “Physics is nothing but the Lord’s harmony. The universe would be simply as these vibrating strings and then the mind of God, that Einstein wrote about, the mind of God would be cosmic music, cosmic music resonating to ten-dimensional hyperspace.”

So one of the signs that we need in the face of death is music, quavers and crotchets, on a page. In the night when the psalmist is tempted by despair, he sings, “Awake, O harp and lyre, I will awake the dawn.” It is, above all, music that overcomes the darkness and speaks a hope for what we cannot imagine.

That puts far more eloquently than I could some of the reason for my unwavering support of our music program and our musicians and the importance that the place of music has in the beauty of holiness.

Thanks to the parish staff

I often, only partially in jest, say that our parish administrator, Melva Willis, actually runs the parish. This is true of the administration of the parish in so many ways. As I said in previous years, her job really does defy description and is multifaceted beyond what most of us either see or even imagine. Melva is unswerving in her dedication to her work and the well-being of this parish. She takes enormous strain and stress off me and my desk, and I am very grateful to her, as I hope all of you are.

A recent visitor who had visited here in previous years mentioned to me how much cleaner everything looked than the last time they visited. The last time they visited was before our present maintenance manager, Fred Murdock’s time with us. Murdock, as he likes to be known, continues to keep an aging and somewhat in the past neglected physical plant looking spick and span. Murdock, as indeed with all our staff, regards his job not so much as a job but as a vocation and a ministry. Often his is thankless work, and I do hope that everybody from time does take the opportunity during the week to thank Murdock for his hard work and devotion

While most of our staff received some very modest salary increase for the year 2006, I continue to be concerned about the inadequacy of our compensation, and I worry about the fact that we get more than we pay for, and I hope that we do not take for granted our stellar staff, without exception. I continue to challenge the Vestry to constantly review our staff salaries and to see where we stand comparatively with others in our diocese. As I said last year, I cannot imagine that anywhere else places more demands on any of our staff than St. Paul’s, K Street. I am certainly not satisfied that the staff is adequately compensated, and I hope that that is as much a concern for you as it is for me. All the more reason, then, to be grateful and certainly no reason at all to take any of our staff for granted.

Thanks to the volunteers

Then there are those who work hard for no compensation whatsoever. Among these are, of course, the hundreds, literally, of volunteers who give their time and talent to allow this parish to function. As I have often said before, it is not the six paid staff that essentially make the place work, it is the over 600 who give of their time and talent in so many aspects of our life. Not least among these are our honorary clergy. Honorary means, of course, that they don’t get paid. We are very indebted to Fr. Lewis, Fr. Radley, Fr. McQuin, and Fr. Gillespie, who selflessly and tirelessly assist with our demanding liturgical schedule and indeed assist in the pastoral care of this parish. Similarly, Jean Litwin, our , receives no compensation from the parish for the many hours that she puts in making visits nearly every day to the sick, the hospitalized, the shut in, and those in need. The all-too-modest budget attempts to reimburse her for mileage and that is all. Again, I have pointed out to the Vestry that the in many ways fills the pastoral work of the non-existent third full-time priest on our staff. Without her ministry, many of our people would feel neglected and be at a loss. Again, this work is discreet and on the whole unheralded. I am grateful to Jean for her dedication to Our Lord and to this parish church.

It is always dangerous to mention too many names in this category, but I would like to thank our office volunteers, Peg Northen-Cole, Jenny Brake, Paul McKee, and Ken Springstead, who between them fill the slot of administrative assistants in our office. Others who work hard and bear considerable responsibility, and who I am sure do not often enough receive our gratitude, are our hard-working treasurer, Polly Peckham, and our assistant treasurers, Linna Barnes (counters), Paul McKee (posting), Ann Schnorrenberg (pledges), and Lynne Walker (Millennium Fund); the parish catechist, Edie Davis; the new director of our Altar Guild, Lynne Walker; and our interim volunteer director of Christian Formation, David Chase; David Chase, as the master of acolytes, and Ron Meekhof and David Lewis who assist him. I would like to thank them and all those who work with them in these important aspects of our parish life.

This past academic year, we have been blessed with the presence of two fine seminarian assistants, Seth Dietrich, from the Diocese of Milwaukee, and Paul Francke, from the Diocese of West Virginia. They stand in a long line of fine men who have served in this capacity. Seth and Paul have risen beautifully to the various challenges of our peculiarities. In turn, I believe that the clergy and people of this parish offer an important, even essential, perspective to the priestly ministry. I am delighted that both Paul and Seth will be returning next year, and that Seth’s wife, Maggie, will have been confirmed here at St. Paul’s on Ascension Day. Three-year-old Ella Joy has been a joy, and we look forward to the new Dietrich addition in June!

Thanks to the Vestry

This annual report is always an opportunity for me to recognize and thank those who will be going off the Vestry after this annual meeting. This year we lose both our senior warden and junior warden, David Chase and Phil Schlatter. To my delight, David and Phil have been able to fill the important and demanding positions of church wardens for two years. This has provided an important consistency in our leadership and certainly David and Phil could not have worked harder or have been more dedicated to the welfare of our parish. I shall miss them sorely, and it has been a delight to work with them in our positions of leadership.

Also going off the Vestry at the completion of their full three-year terms are Deb Loucks and Jerry de Michaelis, who also have given of themselves tirelessly in their work as members of the Vestry and their respective responsibilities in so many areas of our parish life. These will be hard shoes to fill, but I know that God will provide in the election that occurs at the annual meeting.

I am very grateful also to those who have agreed to be nominated to stand for the Vestry and I am grateful to the nominating committee for their work.

Challenges ahead

As I look at the challenges that are currently before us, I am grateful to Almighty God for his grace by which the challenges of this past year have been met and so well. You will be hearing reports of the annual meeting from our Stewardship Committee, and I am enormously gratified by your faithful and generous response in that area for this year. I am grateful to the Stewardship Committee for all the hard work that they have put into this effort and will continue to do so.

Other activities that you will be hearing about at the annual meeting will include a report from the Planned Giving Awareness Task Force, and another challenge is being met as we begin to see some real fruit in this area. You will be hearing a stunning report from our Commission on Mission, and again words fail me to express my gratitude for the extraordinary generosity of this parish in what it has given for Christ’s work outside of the parish, not only through the tithe of our pledge income but above and beyond through various fundraisers. You will be hearing specifics from the Commission on Mission in their full and thrilling report. I am grateful to Deb Loucks and Rhoda Geasland for their leadership on the Commission, and all its dedicated members.

There is of course one area that continues to be extraordinarily frustrating where we appear to see little or no activity, and that is, of course, our building project. Ground has been broken all too long ago, designs and plans have been proposed and seen, and still we have not turned earth or seen one stone go upon another. Nobody finds this more frustrating than I, and I regret that yet again this is the nature of my report in this area for yet another year. However, I must say again that the Building Improvements Committee, the Vestry, and others really have been assiduously faithful in trying to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us, and despite the apparent lack of action work really has been going on behind the scenes. I am grateful to Larry Cook, the chair of this committee, and the members of that committee for their ongoing work, and at the time of writing this, there may be a glimmer of hope in the report that David Schnorrenberg will give us at the annual meeting. All I can do is to say that I share your frustration but also, yet again, to assure you that I will see this project to fruition and completion with the help, support, and encouragement of the whole of our leadership in the parish, as indeed the whole parish.

Stewardship and evangalization

Every year, I seem to say the same thing regarding our challenges in general. I continue to believe that our greatest challenges are in the areas of stewardship and evangelization. As I have said before, our long-range plan and our vision for the future all depend on these two aspects of our common life. While we have made extraordinary strides in our budget and in our pledge income, it is significant that we continue always to hover around the same number of pledging units, at around 275. That may say something about the mobile context of our parish, with people coming and going for all sorts of reasons to do with work and retirement and other things. But it does press home the urgent need for us to grow not only the monetary value of our pledges but also the number of pledges that are being made. Again, as I have said before, we have got to recognize that this parish cannot simply be run on a barebones budget supported only by our annual pledges. This is where the new and ongoing work of planned giving becomes so important as we seek to build up an endowment that will relieve those who come after us from some of the burdens associated with maintaining the physical plant, among other things. The work of evangelization should spring naturally from our experience of the Risen and Ascended Christ if indeed that experience is authentic. May I continue to urge you, like Philip the Apostle, to encourage you friends, family, colleagues and neighbors to “come and see.”

Once again, may I urge all of you to be sure to have a person to invite to join our Pilgrims class this fall with a view to being baptized, confirmed, or received. This year again, we have a large, exciting, and enthusiastic class that will have been confirmed, received, etc., by the Bishop on Ascension Day. It seems to me that the thrust of the work of evangelization is indeed the ministry of the laity as we all seek by grace to reach out to one another in our pastoral care and love of one another and indeed to reach out beyond our own doors not only in good works but also in the proclamation of the good news. I am very aware of the ever-increasing number of rather grand apartments that are going up all over our neighborhood and of the thousands of people who will be moving into our parish boundaries. How are those to know of our existence and to hear the good news?

Our innovation in our formation programs this year has been the introduction of materials from the Trinity Foundation for Christianity and Culture, based at our “partners in mission” church, Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London. Our use of these materials is part of their introduction to the U.S.A. We shall have offered all three courses of the first round of materials by the end of this calendar year. These are currently pilot courses whose feedback from participants around the world will help polish the final version to be launched in London in September. I am grateful to Linda Wilkinson, who has taken on responsibility not only for the introduction of these important materials in our own parish, but also serves as the coordinator of the American consultants. Linda, along with Ann Korky, Peter Laugeson, and Ed Loucks, accompanied me at the beginning of this year to Charleston to receive training in the use of the materials. I have been appointed by the TFCC Board in London to serve as the Chairman of the U.S. consultants and to serve on the newly formed TFCC America board.

To continue the theme of thanksgiving, let me end by expressing my thanksgiving to Almighty God for the extraordinary privilege and pleasure of serving the people of this great parish. As many of you know, I put a lot, if not all, of my eggs in the Triduum/Holy Week basket! This year’s powerful Triduum is still very much in my heart and mind. I am still aware of how true it is that I cannot imagine anywhere else that I would rather be than to serve as the parish priest at St. Paul’s, K Street. I am thankful to God for calling me here, and I am thankful to you for that opportunity and for your love and support, patience, forgiveness, and kindness in so many ways.

Andrew Sloane+

St. Paul’s to Host Malawian Visitors

On Saturday, June 17, St. Paul’s will have a unique opportunity to experience first hand the fruits of the parish’s growing relationship with the Anglican Church in Malawi, when the Society of Mary and the Commission on Mission jointly host a visit by the Dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral and a number of Sisters from the Convent in Luwinga that has received significant support from St. Paul’s over the past two years. Our Malawian guests will be accompanied by Mother Miriam of the Community of St. Mary in Greenwich, New York, an Anglican Convent that has long enjoyed a special relationship with St. Paul’s.

Dean Magangani will preach at the 9:00 AM Mass, and he, his wife, and the Sisters will join the Society of Mary in saying the rosary afterwards,  A festive brunch in their honor will follow (a sign up sheet for the brunch will be posted in late May). 

Our visitors have graciously offered to give us a taste of Anglican worship, African style, in a hymn sing, and the Dean and Mother Miriam will speak about life in the Diocese and at the Convent. We look forward to the chance to hear from Mother Miriam what Luwinga’s priorities will be in the years ahead and to build personal ties with the Sisters, whose determination and spiritual commitment have helped to move the Convent toward its initial goal of self-sufficiency in one of Africa’s poorest countries. Join us for an unforgettable morning of worship and fellowship with our guests from Malawi. [AKK]

Mardi Gras Party Wrap-Up

Proceeds from our parish Mardi Gras extravaganza on February 25 and Katrina donations now total $6,000, and that amount has been matched by the Carwithen charitable trust fund.

A check for $12,000 has been sent to the Diocese of Louisiana for the Diocesan Katrina Fund. This fund is used for basic human relief: food, water, clothing, gasoline, etc.

Specific congregational ministry initiative programs include:

St. Anna’s Mobile Medical Mission;
Holy Spirit Legal Resource Center;
St. George’s Dragon Cafe Feeding Ministry;
St. Andrew’s Early Childhood Program; and
St. Paul’s and Church of the Annunciation, administrative support

Thanks and praise to everyone who contributed generously and made it all happen. [RG]

Fr. Sloane is delighted to announce that two of our parishioners, Ken Springstead and Joe Hobson, have been elected by the College of Guardians at Walsingham to the Order of Our Lady of Walsingham in recognition of their work with the U.S. Friends of Our Lady of Walsingham and the U.S. Walsingham Appeal.  This is a richly deserved honor for them and for our parish. Watch for the date of their induction into the Order here at St. Paul’s. 

Eucharist Workshop at St. Paul’s in July

A Eucharist workshop will be presented on Friday evening, July 21, and Saturday morning, July 22, at St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s parishioner Bill Ryon will be the facilitator. The workshop addresses the biblical, theological, and historical foundations of the Mass. The Friday night session begins at 7:30 PM, and the Saturday sessions at 8:00 AM. The Workshop concludes at noon on Saturday. For details, call Bill at 703-451-7062. All are invited, and there is no cost.  [BR] 

Triduum Thanksgiving

Dear Fr. Sloane,
With the intense schedule of services and the rush of resurrection excitement, I didn’t really get to talk to you during my visit for the Triduum.  I wanted to tell you how wonderful the experience was and that I’m so grateful I was able to come down for most of it. I have to add that the homilies were perhaps the best, most captivating, and most thought-provoking Triduum homilies I have ever heard. 

Thank you for the immense work and spirit you put into those days.  Despite my original doubts a few years ago when I first read your annual Holy Week guarantees in the Epistle, my first St. Paul’s Triduum that year convinced me that the course of services, especially experienced as a whole, really is life-changing and life-affirming.

Although, of course, the events have great power wherever celebrated, there is always something special about the Triduum at St. Paul’s that I couldn’t miss.  I think one of the key elements is that everyone—clergy, congregation, musicians of all forms, etc.—puts their whole heart into it and views it as a continuous, communal journey, and sadly this isn’t found in many places. Finding a rich Anglo-Catholic worship tradition is difficult in itself, but a community that so fully engages with worship is even more difficult.

This year in particular this hit me even harder: The emphasis on time and on not only memorializing but actually reliving and entering into the mysteries of the Triduum really highlighted the importance of true engagement and the great invitation to engage with the events of those days that is offered to us through the liturgies.  It is also helping me explain to the non-Christians and not-so-practicing Christians around me why I felt it so vital to spend so much time at church last week. 

Further, it also really changed my perspective on the Good Friday liturgy, which I admit I’ve  often skirted in past, having been convinced by services while growing up that the liturgy for that day and its venerations were, for lack of a better word, superficial. Now I can’t believe I ever skipped it!

On a side note, although I couldn’t swing coming down for Wednesday night and no official Tenebrae service was being offered anywhere in Ithaca, you might be happy to know that last year’s St. Paul’s service booklet served as a program for a group of students and professors joining me in a simple yet beautiful “grassroots” Tenebrae on Holy Wednesday evening.  Thus indirectly the parish provided 12 or so people, most of whom had not experienced it before, with this poignant service that nearly all attendees described as “powerful” and “intensely moving.” I hope I’ll get to see you again at some point in the summer.

All best,
Corey Wronski

April Vestry Notes

At its meeting on April 18, the Vestry several issues.

The executive committee reported that $1,164.96 has been spent to repair the humidification canisters that control the part of the church where the organ sits. Also, $1,257.42 was spent to repair the refrigerator compressor in the main kitchen (75% of the total cost had been covered under warranty).

The building improvements committee (BIC) reported there is not yet a contract with an owner’s representative to oversee the construction. Also, some progress has been made on obtaining an elevator permit—specific comments have been received from the permit office—and the BIC anticipated that this permit would be issued shortly.

The Vestry discussed the forthcoming time and talent fair, and it was decided that this should happen in the fall. The second Sunday in September was chosen as the date.

The Vestry nominating committee reported that they had some candidates lined up for the election at the Annual Meeting. (In early May, the committee reported that the following candidates had been nominated: Lucky Ajueyitsi, Roy Byrd, Naomi DeVries, Catherine Eikel, Brian Hoyle, Ann Korky, and Doug Ruff.)

The treasurer’s report showed that we have received 269 pledges, totaling $786,378. As of March 31, year to date operating income was at $204,701, which represents 26.4 percent of our budgeted income for the year. Year to date operating expenses were at $189,589 through March 31, representing 24.5 percent of the amount budgeted for the year.

The rector reported good attendance at the services of the Triduum Sacrum, with 776 people attending Easter services and 1,450 from Tenebrae through Easter Eve.

Finally, the Vestry approved the parochial report to the diocese. [AMN]

The Importance of Having a Will

From the Episcopal Church Foundation.

For hundreds of years, through various editions of the Book of Common Prayer, Episcopalians have been encouraged to make a will, to provide for their families, and to make bequests for religious and charitable purposes, if possible.

In the Church, we suggest you plan for your funeral even before writing your will. This way, you can make a statement about your life and can tailor your will to reflect your values.

Preparing a will is a loving and responsible act for the sake of your family. Dying intestate is difficult for the family, at best. Paul’s letter to Timothy reminds of the simple truth the “we brought nothing into this world … we can take nothing out of it.” (I Timothy 6:7)

Here are a few helpful suggestions on how to prepare to write your will, the ultimate exercise in Christian stewardship.

Before seeing a legal advisor

What should you do before seeing a legal advisor?

To save time and expense and to ensure that you achieve your goals, take a little time to do the following:

• Make a list of everyone for whom you are responsible.

• List everyone you would like to remember in your will including charities or causes that have been meaningful to you.

• List all of your material assets. This list may be more extensive than you think.

After subtracting your debts

Match the names with the assets or consider giving a portion of your total estate to each individual. Take care of your family first. This is also the time to consider special friends and your church.

Consider establishing a trust if your estate is large enough by consulting with a financial planner, the trust department of a bank, or a representative of the Episcopal Church Foundation. If your total assets are substantial, you may be subject to federal estate taxes. In some cases, forming a family and/or charitable trust may reduce both estate and inheritance taxes.

Ask your chosen estate administrator (sometimes called executor/executrix) if he or she is willing to serve.

Consult with the people you select as guardians of your children (where minor children are involved) to be sure they are willing to serve. Talk with your priest to explore the ministries of the church that could best be funded by a gift from your will.

Bequests to your church can take several forms

• an outright monetary bequest

• a percentage of an estate

• a specific asset, such as personal or real property

• a trust created in a will

• a contingent beneficiary, i.e., the church receives the assets if there are no surviving beneficiaries

Sample language for including the church in your will might be: “I give, devise, and bequeath (state the amount, asset, or percentage of estate) to (name and address of the church) to be used (describe use) or as the church’s governing board or vestry deems appropriate.”

A bequest to the church is deductible from the value of your estate for tax purposes.

After you make your will

Make sure that someone knows where your will is located. You might place a copy in a secure file at home and leave a copy with your attorney.

Do not place funeral instructions in a safe deposit box. Generally, services will be over by the time your administrator checks your bank box. Leave a copy of your funeral plans and wishes with your priest and a member of your family.

Review your will from time to time with your legal advisor. Laws, assets, family, and personal interests often change over time. You probably have not written your last will, only your latest will.

Preparing a will is an act of love for your family and friends, a way of easing the pain of loss that follows death. It is also your final legacy.

St. Paul’s Legacy Society

If you are interested in planned giving assistance, please fill out the “Legacy Society sign-up form” available at the back of the church; or if you have already remembered St. Paul's in your plans —as more parishioners than we might think are doing—also fill out the form. Please return the form to the parish office or bring it with you next Sunday and leave it in the Planned Giving box on the tract rack.

For information on the Legacy Society, please contact:

Planned Giving
St. Paul’s Parish
2430 K Street, NW
Washington DC 20037

Or contact the parish office at 202-337-2020 or by e-mail at adminasst@StPauls-KSt.com

Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 18

“Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)

The great Solemnity of Corpus Christi has its origins in Liége, now part of Belgium, and was officially instituted by the French Pope Urban IV in 1264. The great Doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, composed the many famous and remarkable texts for this feast. Among them are Sacris solemniis, heard on Maundy Thursday at St. Paul’s in a setting by John Sheppard and containing the famous Panis angelicus in its penultimate stanza, Ave verum corpus, and the famous sequence Lauda Sion salvatorem.

Maundy Thursday is the official commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist. However, the dominant Holy Week themes of our Lord’s passion and death tend to distract from the joyous and special devotion that the Church has toward the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, Corpus Christi came to be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. It is now observed by the Western church on that Thursday or, by convenience, the following Sunday. 

While the festival was removed from the first Book of Common Prayer, its observance began again with advanced Anglo-Catholics and is acknowledged in the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer with a set of votive propers “Of the Holy Eucharist.” Happily, now it is celebrated in many Anglican cathedrals.

In addition to our regular Sunday Mass schedule, our festivities on June 18 will culminate with a great Solemn Evensong with Procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 6:00 PM. The full choir will offer the Gloucester Service by Herbert Howells, in addition to motets by Villette, Widor, Dupré, and Titcomb featuring the beautiful texts of Thomas Aquinas. It is rumored that even the acolytes and clergy will “pull out all the stops!” Please make every effort to return to church that Sunday evening to observe this very special festival and to give thanks for the gift of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. [MD]

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Sunday, June 18
11:15 AM Solemn Mass
William Byrd: Mass for Five Voices
Colin Mawby: Ave verum corpus
Pierre Villette: O salutaris hostia

6:00 PM Solemn Evensong with Procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Herbert Howells: Gloucester Service
Everett Titcomb: O sacrum convivium
Pierre Villette: O salutaris hostia
Charles-Marie Widor: Tantum ergo
Marcel Dupré: Laudate Dominum

2007 Walsingham Pilgrimage Itinerary

St. Paul’s fourth parish pilgrimage to Walsingham is being planned for April 16 through May 1, 2007. The 15-day pilgrimage will visit Normandy in France as well as England, ending up at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. The following is the tentative itinerary. For further information, please contact Fr. Sloane or David Eld at DEld@MAGICglobal.com.

 Monday, April 16—Depart Washington, D.C., Dulles International Airport, via United Airlines to Paris, France.

Tuesday, April 17—Arrive Paris, transfer to the Grand Hotel du Luxembourg in Bayeux. Afternoon at leisure. Evening welcome wine and cheese reception in hotel.

Wednesday, April 18—Morning tour of Bayeux with visits to the Musée de la Tapisserie and Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Bayeux.

Thursday, April 19—Tour to Caen, visiting the Abbey aux Hommes, St. Etienne, Musée aux Beaux Artes, and the Abbey aux Dames. Evening dining adventure.

Friday, April 20—Tour of the D Day beaches including lunch, visits to Mont-St.-Michel and Chartres.

Saturday, April 21—Coach to Calais and transfer to the ferry crossing the Channel to Dover and Canterbury. In Canterbury, special arrangements have been made at the International Study Center situated within the precincts of the magnificent Cathedral. Evening at leisure.

Sunday, April 22—Mass in Canterbury Cathedral. Afternoon visit to St. Martin’s, Eastbridge Hospital. Evening at leisure.

Monday, April 23—Tour and visit to East Kent and Bar Freston and Patrixbourne. Evening at leisure.

Tuesday, April 24—Drive to London, stopping on route in Rochester at the Cathedral and Restoration House. Arrival in London with Mass at St. Paul’s Knightsbridge. Check into the Millennium Knightsbridge Hotel on Sloane Street. We meet this evening for a wine and cheese reception with invited London guests.

Wednesday, April 25—Mass at Holy Trinity. Day at leisure to see London on your own.

Thursday, April 26—Tour of East End London, including visit to St. Peter’s and Royal Foundation of St. Katherine. Evening at leisure.

Friday, April 27—Depart London for our ultimate pilgrimage destination—Walsingham—with a stop in Thaxted en route. Arrive Walsingham at tea time; first visit to the Shrine and check into accommodations.

Saturday, April 28—Afternoon visit to Houghton Hall (if available) and/or other sites.

Sunday, April 29—Mass at Walsingham, followed by daily schedule and services.

Monday, April 30—Famous local parish churches “crawl,” followed by equally famous tea at Barbara Marlowe’s residence. Evening return to Walsingham.

Tuesday, May 1—Morning departure to London Heathrow for the return flight to Washington, D.C.

For those who have made the Pilgrimage in past years, we are pleased to announce that the coach company based in London will provide service throughout the program. The coach will drive from the United Kingdom to Normandy to pick up our group at the Paris airport and will operate throughout the tour in Normandy and the U.K.

Note: The planned itinerary is subject to change. A finalized version will be published at a later date with additional times and locations of Masses, social times, tours, and visits.

What’s included in the package:

• 4 nights hotel in Bayeux including full breakfast and taxes

• 3 nights accommodations in Canterbury including full breakfast and taxes

• 3 nights hotel in London including full breakfast and taxes

• 4 nights at Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

• Welcome wine and cheese receptions in Bayeux and London

• 1 dinner in Bayeux / 1 dinner in Canterbury

• All meals in Walsingham

• 1 lunch in Bayeux / 1 lunch in Canterbury

• Tours in Bayeux with guide, as shown

• Tours in Canterbury/London with guide, as shown

• Coach travel throughout entire pilgrimage

Estimated cost without airfare is approximately $2,689 per person sharing a double room for a period of 15 days / 14 nights, and is subject to change based on the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the British pound (U.K. travel) and to the Euro (France travel).

A quote for airfare has not yet been established. The cost of airfare will be announced in late May. [DE]

 A Paean to Music

The following excerpt is taken from Philip Secor's 2003 edition of Richard Hooker’s Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book V (SPCK, London, 2003), first published in 1597. Richard Hooker, an English priest and theologian, was one of the first to promulgate an Anglican view of the Church.

Musical harmony, whether by instrument or voice, is always disposed to be balanced between its high and low sounds. The power and pleasing effect that music has on the part of us that is most divine has led some people to conclude that the very nature of the soul is harmony or, at least, that harmony resides within the soul. Music is something that delights all ages and suits all occasions; is as appropriate in grief as in joy; and is as decent when added to actions of greatest importance and solemnity as when used by people who have removed themselves far from the field of action. This is because music has an admirable facility to express and represent to the mind, more deeply than any other sensory means, the very standing, rising, falling, steps, turns and varieties of all the passions to which the mind is subject. Music so well imitates these movements and passions that whether it presents them to us as our mind is presently inclined to conceive them or in a completely contrary manner, we could not be more contentedly confirmed in the one than changed and led away by the other.

     In musical harmony the very image and character of virtue and vice are perceived. The mind delights in these resemblances and is led to love the things they represent. For this reason, there is nothing more contagious and pestilent than some kinds of harmony, and nothing more powerfully conducive to good than other kinds of music. That there is a great difference between one and the other we need no more proof than our own experience. At the hearing of some music we are inclined to sorrow and depression.  At the hearing of other music our minds are more consoled and softened. One sort is likely to steady and settle us, another to move and stir our affections. There is music that draws us to a marvelous, grave and sober moderation.  There is music that carries us away, as it were, into ecstasies that fill the mind with heavenly joy and, for a while, separate us from our bodies.

     Even if we set aside altogether considerations of words and content in a musical piece, the harmony of sounds is framed in such a way and carried by such a natural force and efficacy for our ears to the spiritual faculties of our souls as to allay that which is too eager and to overrule melancholy and despair.  Harmony has the power to draw forth tears of devotion—if the mind can yield them—and is able to move and moderate all emotions.

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Parish Notes

 June Birthdays

1          Christine Cornelius
3          Douglas Ruff; Paige Fleckner
7          Alexandra Barnes; Rhoda Geasland
8          Jean Litwin; Charlotte Simmons
9          David Butler; Dennis Wilson; Elizabeth Sarah Heron
12         Tygh Bailes
13         Anita-Louise Ward
14         George Buzby; Vita Pierzchala
15         Phyllis Altrogge; Elizabeth Parker; Carol Hardy Wadsworth
17         Wiley Beevers;Steven Ballew
18         Mary Margaret Brady
19         Katherine Marvin
20         Donald Kaufhold; Shirley Pyke
21         Thomas Morrison
22         Randall Summerfield; R. Allen Payne, III; Octavia Johnson
23         Donald Reinecker; William Ramsay; Robert Maddox; James Dickey
24         Allison Freeman; Kathleen Cunningham
25         Scott Spaulding; Erica Spaulding
26         June Barnes; Kurt Wallner; Jeffrey Gasta
28         Paul Griffin
29         Charlene Mui; Catherine Eikel; William Prather
30         Edward Martin; Laurel Malson; Marcia Withiam-Wilson; Mary Brown
If you have a June birthday that was not included, or if there are any mistakes, please contact the parish office. [MW]

Parish Statistics

Transfers In:  Peter Alan Thompson from Church of the Holy Cross, Dallas, Texas; Thomas Moreland from St. Andrew’s, Arlington, Virginia                    

Transfer Out:  Ruth Kiker to St. John the Evangelist, Newport, Rhode Island

Marriage:  Mozart Bernard and Donyelle McCray (May 6, 2006)

Baptisms:  Sarah Margaret Miller Peckham; Charlene Teresa Hai Joon Mui; Nolan David Peters (April 15, 2006)

Mission Calendar—2006

Hunger/Homeless

Grate Patrol—every weekend
Preparation—Fridays, 3‑5 PM
Delivery—Saturday and Sunday mornings

Salvation Army dinner preparation—First Friday of each month, 5‑7 PM

Feast Days in June

Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday
Sunday, June 4     
7:45 AM                   Low Mass
9:00 AM                   Sung Mass
11:15 AM                 Solemn Mass
6:00 PM                   Solemn Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

Trinity Sunday
Sunday, June 11                 
7:45 AM                   Low Mass
9:00 AM                   Sung Mass and Solemn Te Deum
11:15 AM                  Solemn Mass and Solemn Te Deum
6:00 PM                   Solemn Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

St. Barnabas the Apostle
Tuesday, June 13               
7:00 AM                   Low Mass
6:00 PM                   Low Mass            
 

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Sunday, June 18 
7:45 AM                   Low Mass
9:00 AM                   Sung Mass
11:15 AM                 Solemn Mass
6:00 PM                  Solemn Evensong, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, and Benediction
For the special music on this Sunday, see page 11.

Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Saturday, June 24              
9:30 AM                   Low Mass
 

The Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul,
Our Secondary Patronal Feast
Sunday, June 25 
7:45 AM                   Low Mass
9:00 AM                   Sung Mass
11:15 AM Solemn Mass
6:00 PM                   Solemn Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

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The Epistle
A monthly publication of St. Paul's Parish
K Street -- Washington, D.C.

Editor Alistair Nevius
Assistant Editor Allison Freeman
Desktop Publisher John Walker
Designer David McGaw
Contributors Mark Dwyer, David Eld, Rhoda Geasland, Ann Korky, Robert Menzer, Mother Miriam, Bill Ryon, Andrew Sloane, Melva Willis, Corey Wronski

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
Washington, DC 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 Nathan Humphrey, Curate
Mark Dwyer, Music Director
Scott Dettra, Assistant Music Director
Melva Willis, Parish Administrator
Frederick Murdock, III, Maintenance Manager

The Vestry
The Rev'd Andrew Sloane, Rector
David B. J. Chase, Senior Warden
Philip Schlatter, Junior Warden
Chip Heath, Secretary
Polly Peckham, Treasurer
Jeremiah de Michaelis, Debra Loucks; Rhoda Geasland, Brian Hoyle, Matthew S. Leddicote, Lynne V. Walker; Alistair Nevius, Geoffrey Peckham, David Schnorrenberg, Linda Wilkinson

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

Deadline for next issue
Monday, June 12

© 2006 St. Paul’s Parish, K Street