February 19, 2017 | Sexagesima
Charity, Part I
O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only  Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

When compared to the contemporary language version, the traditional collect for today grabs our attention with the use of the word charity instead of love. Rather than being an anachronistic choice, the word charity deserves some etymological unpacking and fresh appreciation. I doubt I’m alone in this, but when I hear the word charity, my mind immediately goes to the Internal Revenue Service and “charitable contributions.” It’s fresh on our minds in the office as we recently mailed out giving statements to those who financially supported St Timothy’s, so they could count their gifts as “charitable contributions” on their tax filings. My mind goes to unused clothes I might drop off at Goodwill or the Salvation Army bucket during December. Charity brings an image of benevolence. For Christian purposes, it goes much deeper. Charity is an English rendering of the Latin caritas . Caritas is a Latin rendering of the Greek agape. These words represent a love that is distinct from brotherly/sisterly love, erotic love, or even the trite way we frequently use the word (“I love Diet Dr. Pepper!”). Caritas/Agape/Charity speaks to Christian love that is characterized by the friendship of God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples “I do not call you servants any longer…but I have called you friends” (15.15) and “you are my friends if you do what I command you” (15:14). Again, we are asked to go deeper with the language. In a time where our “friends” are often lists of people who barely know or don’t know at all on social media, we’ve lost the qualities of friendship. Thomas Aquinas, drawing from Aristotle, reminds us that there are three kinds of friendship – the useful, the pleasurable, and the virtuous. For Aristotle, Virtuous Friendship is higher than even justice. This kind of friendship isn’t for person gain or pleasure, but desires the good for the other. For Aquinas, charity is friendship with God where God communicates his happiness to us and we desire God to be glorified. The collect for today grounds us in the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas writes extensively as to why acts – even seemingly good acts – are of “nothing want” unless they are done out of charity. We are reminded of St Paul saying this with tremendous beauty in 1 Corinthians 13: “And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it pofiteth me nothing.” Every act has a dual end, a particular and proximate end and a universal and ultimate end. The intended ultimate and universal end for humanity is the knowledge and love of God. Our acts either bring us closer or further away from that ultimate end. Even if particular and proximate acts may be good (bestow all my gifts to the poor, etc) but they are not done out of friendship for God, we are not drawn closer to our ultimate end. Instead we stay within the prison of ourselves. Charity is not something we can just dig deep and have. It is a gift from God. Along with faith and hope, charity is infused in our soul at the Sacrament of Baptism. We see this in the prayer after baptism where we pray that God will “Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift and joy and wonder in all your works” (BCP, 308). The spirit to know and to love you is friendship for God – charity.    ( Part II next week)

Sunday's Music | Christin Barnhardt
In the mid-1800's, Bishop John William Colenso of Natal challenged the historicity and authority of many of the Old Testament books. Bishop Gray of Capetown wrote a response of defense, which, in 1866, inspired Samuel Stone, to write "The Church's One Foundation," basing his text on Article 9 of the Apostle’s Creed. Now an affirmation of Christ as the foundation of our faith, we sing this hymn with those who have gone before us and with Christians around the world, declaring that beyond theological differences, cultural divides, and variances in practice, we are all part of the same body, the body of Christ.

Prelude:
Improvisation on Aurelia, Raymond Hawkins

Hymns:
The Church's one foundation, No. 525
Come down, O Love Divine, No. 516
When Christ was lifted from the earth, No. 603
O splendor of God's glory bright, No. 5
Love divine, all loves excelling, No. 657

Anthem:
Teach me, O Lord, Thomas Attwood

The choristers will be singing at the Church of the Holy Comforter for  Sunday  morning Eucharist and for  3pm  Evensong.

God's peace,
Christin 
Choristers to Sing in Charlotte
When:  Sunday, February 19 at 3pm 
What: Evensong at The Church of the Holy Comforter, 2701 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209
Who: St Timothy’s Choristers with the RSCM Treble Festival participants
    
     This weekend, nine of St Timothy’s choristers will participate in the fourteenth annual RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) Treble Festival, which will be held at the Church of the Holy Comforter in Charlotte. This year’s festival conductor is John Stender, Director of Music at St. Helena’s Episcopal Church, Beaufort, SC.
     Choristers will rehearse most of  Saturday  and then go bowling. Some of them will stay with Holy Comforter parishioner host families, and everyone will sing  Sunday morning Eucharist and  Sunday  afternoon Evensong. Please consider coming to hear the choristers sing Harry Bramma’s Responses and Phillip Moore’s Canticles for Evensong on  Sunday, February 19 , at  3pm .
     Choristers who sing for this festival have been invited to sing Evensong at the National Cathedral in DC on  Tuesday, June 13, 2017 . If you are looking for a summer road-trip, think about meeting us in Washington in June.
Children and Outreach | Katie Bryant
Katie
Children's Formation

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Godly Play continue to shape our children's faith at St.Timothy's.  The time our kids spend in wonder and exploration around the holy stories and the liturgies is not lost--we trust that God is already at work in them and it is the most fun to witness when they can proclaim it out loud!  When exploring the Good Samaritan story last week, one child remembered a time she tripped at school and no one stopped to help him up.  Another recalled a soccer game where a member of the opposite team helped her up after she slipped on a wet field.  Some children discussed how it isn't always convenient, or even cool, to help others out, but they know that it's what Jesus was trying to teach them to do.  I'm amazed at the connections the kids can make between their real-life stories and the stories they experience in Children's Formation.  Ask your children what they do in the Atrium and Godly Play--you might learn something from them!

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 in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd..  Parents can drop children off as early as 8:45am in our Atrium (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--throughout the campus

All classes end just before the 11am mass.  Parents, please pick up your children from their classes in the downstairs hallway.

Outreach Update

I LOVE our St.Tim's volunteers.
We are more than halfway through the Overflow Shelter season!  You all have been amazing as you have stepped up to make sure that all of our volunteer roles are covered each night.  Some of you come weekly to help with check-in, and a few of you overnight at least once a week.  One of you wakes up early two mornings a week to drive our guests back downtown, while another helps with nighttime transportation.  A few of you with organizational skills have gifted the shelter with some order.  Our children and youth have help clean and reset the shelter around (and as a part of) their activities.  Children have decorated placemats and snack bags to bring cheer to our guests.  THANK YOU ALL!!!  Our overflow shelter simply could not operate without all of our volunteers sharing their time and talents with our guests.

Don't miss out on this important ministry of our church this winter--there is still time left to serve!  You can sign up and learn more at www.citywithdwellings.org .  If you'd like to give in other ways, we can use  Clorox/Lysol wipes, spray lysol, and financial donations to cover costs like bus passes and prescription medications for our guests.  If you have a special talent you can share, or you're not quite sure how you can be a part of this ministry of hospitality--please talk to Katie Bryant (katie@sttimothys.ws).  There is a place for all at the Overflow Shelter--and you are no exception!  Thanks St.Timothy's for your faithfulness in serving our city's most vulnerable women each night.

Shrove Tuesday & Charlie Lovett Book Launch
  SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKES followed by
CHARLIE LOVETT’S NEW BOOK LAUNCH
Tuesday, February 28
5:30-6:45pm: Pancake Supper in Drake Hall 
6:45-7pm: Book signing in Narthex
7pm: Book Launch in Nave 

New York Times  Bestselling author and St. Tim's member Charlie Lovett will share his new novel  The Lost Book of the Grail  at a launch event co-hosted with Bookmarks. Set in an English Cathedral, the  Lost Book of the Grail  is Lovett's third novel and features a missing medieval manuscript, a mystery involving the Holy Grail, and two protagonists that couldn't be more different—an old fashioned Englishman who loves books and a young American who has come to the cathedral to digitize the collection of ancient manuscripts.  Publisher's Weekly  called the book "thoroughly entertaining."  Kirkus Reviews  said it has " . . . a distinct Masterpiece Theatre Flavor."

Charlie's publisher, Viking Books, wrote: "Imbued with reverence and mythical storytelling, The Lost Book of the Grail  is a mystery of the kind that’s wildly popular in the entertainment world—think  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade  and  National Treasure,  not to mention Dan Brown’s  The Da Vinci Code —yet deeply ruminates on timeless themes like faith, perceived truth, and how the past has informed the present day. Here Lovett provides a wholly entertaining story that will not only make you smile and laugh, but also think—prompting readers to reconsider the important roles that spirituality, family, and, yes, reading, play in their lives." 

The evening will feature a presentation by Charlie, choral music by the St. Timothy's Choristers, and a display of actual medieval manuscripts from the rare book collection at Wake Forest. Books will be for sale and a signing will follow the presentation. The event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends.
The Our Lady of Walsingham Lamp 
is given to the Glory of God
and in memory of Jim Cardwell by Richard and Nancy Teska.
 

 

The St. Timothy Shrine Lamp
is given to the glory of God and in honor of their 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild by Wrenna and Andy Barney.
&
In memory of Josephine Teska by Richard and Nancy Teska.
 

 



The altar flowers 
are given to the Glory of God. 


 


 

 

The Sanctuary Lamp 
is given to the glory of God
with prayers for unity and peace in our parish, country, and the world by the Skarzynski Family.