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This Sunday at St Timothy's | Oct. 30, 2016
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Notes on Sunday | Fr Steve Rice
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This morning (Friday), I arrived at St Timothy's to set up for Morning Prayer and the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. Usually there is no mass on Fridays and Beth Morphis leads Morning Prayer. However, since today is a major feast, a mass was said.
On a typical weekday morning, we average between three and nine people for the office and mass not including myself and the server. Some try to come every day. Some only come for the office and some only come for the mass. Some have specific days they regularly attend. Friday, however, is usually a congregation of one.
So it was no suprise that Beth Morphis and I were the only ones present for both the office and the mass and I had the same thought this morning that I have every single time there is one or two others present: it doesn't matter.
Yes it matters who is present and what happens to the souls that receives the Holy Eucharist - not doubt - but it doesn't matter in terms of how I approach the liturgy. Nothing changes. It is the same whether there are 200 people or 2. The adoration of God is objective. God is to be praised and worshipped with the same devotion and solemnity regardless of the numbers or the day. We don't expect large numbes at 8am on the weekdays and we certainly don't expect large numbers on Friday morning, but it is the Church's gift to offer these prayers and this Eucharistic sacrifice anyway.
Anyone who has been to Arlington National Cemetery has made the pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and timed their pilgirmage to witness the changing of the guard. The greatest cynics of ritual and ceremony cannot help but stand in silence and appreciation for the attention, devotion, and stamina of the Honor Guard. Even more impressive are the pictures we see during bad weather. Snow, hail, pouring rain, even hurricanes, these sentinels continue their work. They don't care if hundreds are watching and taking pictures or if no one is there at all - their work is the same.
In fact, I think that's part of what gives it so much power. We know that the same care in guarding the tomb and the changing of the guard on a summer afternoon with hundreds of tourists is the same in the middle of the night when it's raining. That knowledge cuts through the cynicism that grows when so much of what we see is purely for show. This is not. This is real.
Our liturgies on Sunday morning are celebrated with the greatest devotion and solemnity possible. The music is exceptional, the altar guild is devoted, the lectors are prepared, and the acolytes are amazing. The liturgy is powerful not because they are elaborate and fancy, but because they are celebrated with equal care and devotion on Friday mornings with two people present for the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. It's not for show. It's for real.
When you come on Sunday, the building has been primed with prayer and worship all week. When you come on Sunday, you are entering in a rhythm of prayer and devotion that is constant. When you come on Sunday, you are invited to allow that rhythm to become your own.
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Sunday's Music | Christin Barnhardt
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Perhaps the most famous setting of the Miserere Mei (Psalm 51) is Gregorio Allegri's setting from the 1630's, which we have sung on Ash Wednesday at St Timothy's the past few years. But there are many beautiful settings of this text, including this Sunday's choral anthem that Antonio Lotti composed in the 1730's. Lotti (1667-1740) spent most of his musical life at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice as a singer, organist, and maestro di cappella. He was a notable teacher - Domenico Alberti and Benedetto Marcello being among his students - and is thought to have influenced J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel, who surely knew his mass, the Missa Sapientiae.
Lotti's setting of the Miserere begins with bass, tenor, alto, then soprano entrances singing ascending 5ths or 6ths, which sound like cries for mercy as they gradually step back down with a series of suspensions that creates a sense of tension and release.
Listen to Lotti's Miserere Mei here.
We will sing the first minute of this piece
on Sunday
.
Hymns:
O thou who camest from above, No. 704
How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise, No. 533
King of glory, King of peace, No. 382
Bread of the world, in mercy broken, No. 301
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, No. 410
Postlude:
"Final" from Symphony No. 2, Op. 20, Louis Vierne
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Children's Formation | Katie Bryant
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Children's Formation
As children are excitedly getting ready for halloween and all the pomp and sugar that comes with it, the child within me is anxiously looking forward to Advent...so we can get to Christmas already! All I want for Christmas is a video camera installed in the Godly Play classroom to catch all the wonderful things that children add to our time together. In the 30 minutes I spend with our youngest disciples on Wednesday nights, there are so many beautiful, surprising, and downright hilarious moments that I simply can't capture them all in my heart. We have the wisest, funniest, little ones under the age of 4 who can turn my week around in the short time it takes to share a holy story with them.
This past Wednesday I was sharing the story of the Good Shepherd and Holy Communion. Thanks to our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd catechists on Sundays, some of our youngest ones can almost tell the story verbatim. The story begins with the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep by name and leads them to good green grass. Somewhere, mystically and magically, the Good Shepherd is replaced in the story with the table of the Good Shepherd (aka. the altar and bread and wine) w, a priest to say the words of the Good Shepherd, and here all the people of the world, even the children, come and feast.
Godly Play offers a time of wondering after each story is shared. I asked the children if they'd ever seen a table like this. "Nope," most said. So again I asked them if they'd ever seen a table with bread and wine. One child pointed to the ceiling (upstairs, to the nave), and before I could affirm her connection to the Eucharist, another child quickly responded eagerly, "I know, I know! I have bread and a different kind of wine on tables like this at PDQ!" (he was referring to Cheerwine!). After this fun wondering, we digress, as an infant chews on one of the people of God and another child has made the people at the table have a dance party! If you'd like a small glimpse at the Kingdom of God--please come join us Wednesdays at
5pm!
This Sunday and every
Sunday, PreK children (ages 3 and potty-trained to age 5) gather downstairs during the
9am mass for a time of songs, stories, wonder, and play. Parents can drop children off as early as
8:45am in room C-4. Children join their families in mass at the passing of the Peace.
All children (PreK through 5th grade) can follow the wooden processional cross at the end of the
9am mass. We will lead the children downstairs and help them find their class. Here is the list of
10:15am formation classes for the fall:
PreK Formation--Room C-2
K-2nd grade Catechesis of the Good Shepherd--Room C-4
3rd-5th grade Advanced Godly Play--Room C-5
Middle School & High School Youth Formation--Drake Hall youth rooms
Adult Small Groups--at various locations around the church campus
All classes end just before the
11am mass. Parents, please pick up your children from their classes in the downstairs hallway. See you
Sunday!
OUTREACH UPDATES!
St.Tim's Overflow Homeless Shelter opens in less than 2 months! On
December 1st, we will open our doors each night so that homeless women in Winston-Salem can have a warm and safe place to stay the night. Volunteer sign-ups are live at
https://citywithdwellings.org/shelters/st-timothys St.Tim's shares the load with partner organizations who cover Mondays, Thursdays, and
Friday nights. Please sign up to volunteer on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays for the time being as our partner groups sign up volunteers on their given nights.
Save the Date!
Saturday, Nov.12 is our Overflow Shelter Trial Run
6-8:30pm in Drake Hall. This training is for group leaders and new volunteers, and anyone who wants a glimpse of what a night in the shelter looks like. Dinner is provided. RSVP to
[email protected] so we can get a dinner count.
Items needed for our shelter include:
new pillows, new women's underwear, new white crew socks, small travel-sized toiletries. Donations can be left on Drake stage or outside Katie's office in Gribbin.
Looking forward to another winter serving alongside you all. Let me know if you have any questions! [email protected]
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Get your costumes and trunks ready! Trunk or Treat is this Sunday at
5pm
. This is St.Tim's tailgating at it's best! Cars with treats can park anytime before
4:45pm
in the upper Drake parking lot, look for volunteers to direct you. Please RSVP to
[email protected]
and let her know if you're bringing your trunk--just so we can make sure to have enough spaces reserved. Hot dogs will be available for dinner, and prizes will be awarded for the best trunk!
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Youth Formation | Katie Harper
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Youth Formation Sunday mornings is based on the lectionary readings.
There are two separate classes for Middle and High School Students in Drake Hall on
Sunday
mornings - and yes, the doughnut tradition carries on! Middle School will be in the youth room, High School in the classroom. Our continuing mission is to create a safe space for students to find what it means to be followers of Christ.
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Our Lady of Walsingham Lamp
is given to the glory of God
and in honor of Sandra and Tony Hamby by Steven Tisdale
for the month of October
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St Timothy Shrine Lamp
is given to the glory of God and in honor of
Fr Steve Rice by Kristen Machado
for the month of October
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Altar Flowers in Church and Chapel
The flowers for the altar are given to the Glory of Almighty God and
In memory of Arnold & Frances White, Henry & Martha Turner, and Sarah Turner
by Ed and Ellen Turner
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