This Sunday we will look together at a passage often referred to as the "Parable of the Wicked Tenants" in Matthew (Matthew 21: 33-44). It is one of a series of parables that Jesus tells the religious leaders of his day, and each story is more confusing than the last. In these tales Jesus describes God as angry king settling accounts, a capricious employer, an aggrieved father, a violent, revengeful landowner, and host with anger management issues. This week especially, when violence has struck once again so close to home, it can be disconcerting to imagine God this way. This Sunday I hope to think together about these wicked tenants, and to read this story with fresh eyes. Perhaps, through closer examination, we will see that it is not God who harbors revenge and anger, but the interpreters-the listeners of Jesus's day and the readers of our own. These unnerving stories challenge us to move beyond the endless cycle of violence, into a new reality- and perhaps in doing so move closer to kingdom of God.
Amelia |
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Spotlight On: Praying with the Mystics
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Curious about who mystics are, or how they develop their special closeness with the Divine, a sense of the
Holy within them and surrounding them? Join this informal discussion of several "Love Poems from God"
attributed to mystics from both the eastern and western traditions, Christian and Muslim. Second Sunday of
each month, 10-10:45 AM.
- Sunday, October 8: St. Francis.
- Sunday, November 11: Rumi
- Sunday, December 10: Meister Eckhart
Short poems will be provided and discussed.
Examples from St. Francis:
Such love does.
the sky now pour
that whenever I stand in a field
I have to wring out the light
when I get home.
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Always from the child's hand the sword
should be removed.
I think every nation is
an infant
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So
precious
is a person's faith in God,
so precious;
never should we harm
that.
Because
He gave birth
to all
religions.
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God's love for us is infinitely greater
than anything we can conjure up
for Him.
Join Rev. Joy Fallon in her office on the 3rd floor of the Parish House, 64 Beacon Street.
Our Text: Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
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Weekly Prayer Groups
On Tuesdays at noon Joy will offer a meditation and prayer group designed for those able to commit to coming regularly. It will run for 7 weeks, October 3 - November 14
, meeting at 64 Beacon Street in Joy's office. Please email
administrator@kings-chapel.org
to sign up
; feel free to email Joy with any questions
On Thursdays at noon Amelia will be holding a guided meditation developed from spiritual practices of
early Christianity. This group is geared to those who cannot commit to coming regularly, and those who would prefer a more structured and guided meditation practice. This group will meet at the Little Chapel on 64 Beacon Street. RSVPs are not required but feel free to email
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Tuesday, October 10 | 6-8 PM | Committees Gather for "Many Meetings" | Newcomers Welcome | Dinner included
On Tuesday, October 10th
,
many
of the church's committees will meet simultaneously. These committees so far include Community Action, Membership, Adult Religious Education, Buildings and Grounds, and more. This is an excellent time to try out a committee if interested in joining one, for
our
committees to coordinate & work together, and to mingle with the members of King's Chapel.
Many
Meetings
begins with a short service in the Little Chapel at 6 PM, followed by a dinner on the second floor of the Parish House. After that, we will move into our respective committee meetings at 7 PM.
For those interested, here is our itinerary for:
6 PM - Worship in Little Chapel
6:20 PM - Business Dinner in the Parlor
7 PM - Committee
Meetings
in Parish House
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Raising Kind Kids | Sunday, October 15 |
10-10:45 AM | Parish House
The Rev. Joy Fallon will lead an informal discussion for parents about "Raising Kind Kids" - what research and our own experience tells us. A second conversation will take place on Sunday, November 19, 10-10:45 AM. Come for one or both.
Meet in Joy's office, on the 3rd floor of the Parish House at 64 Beacon Street, for coffee and conversation.
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Slavery in Boston and at King's Chapel: What We're Discovering | Sermon Sunday October 15
Special Tours of the Royall House and Slave Quarters |Sunday Oct. 15 at 1:15 | Saturday October 21 at 10 AM
In July, our Freedom Trail visitor program began to share new information about the role of slavery in the development of Boston and King's Chapel. Our historian staff have begun to gather this information from church records, personal letters of former members, newspapers of early Boston, and academic publications.
On Sunday October 15, I'll share highlights of this ongoing reseach with the congregation. As an historical site that annually greets 300,000 people seeking to learn Boston's history on its "Freedom" Trail, I'm proud that King's Chapel is telling the whole truth, including the ugly paradox of a newly "free" country that enslaved so many. As a Christian Unitarian Church, that comes together "in the love of truth," we hope to tell both the inspiring stories and those we now abhor; it's how we begin to model what each of us as individuals must also do in our own lives: be honest about our past, in order to grow more fully into who God calls us to be in days ahead. It's always hard, spiritual work.
I will share with the congregation new information we have learned during our ongoing reseach; facts and stories of our ministers, members and enslaved peoples -from a courageous white abolitionist to those staunchly opposed to "robbing" any man of his enslaved "property"; a brave black activist for freedom, an elderly enslaved woman left behind when the British fled, who had to fight for her pension; our Anglican ministers who owned slaves and the well-to- do white slave traders who helped fund the construction of our building. With our focus on our historical past, we can better live into a positive future.
Immediately following the service, we will travel 5 miles north to Medford, location of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, for a special tour for our members, at 1:15 PM. Isaac Royall was a member of King's Chapel, and the largest slave owner in New England. A second special tour will take place on Saturday, October 21, at 10 AM. Reservations are needed:
administrator@kings-chapel.org
. Transportation may be available on Sunday October 15 from the church, if you let us know in advance that it is needed.
Immediately following the service, we will travel 5 miles north to Medford, location of the Royall House and
Slave Quarters, for a special tour for our members, at 1:15 PM. Isaac Royall was a member of King's Chapel,
and the largest slave owner in New England. A second special tour will take place on Saturday, October 21, at
10 AM.
Reservations are needed: administrator@kings-chapel.org. Transportation may be available on
Sunday October 15 from the church, if you let us know in advance that it is needed. |
A National Call for Moral Revival | Thursday, October 19 at 7 PM | Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon St, Boston, MA 02116
In partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministries we invite all King's Chapel members and friends to attend the Massachusetts Moral Revival Meeting on October 19th, led by Reverend Dr. William Barber. This meeting will provide information about the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. This Campaign aims to build a broad and deep national moral fusion movement - rooted in the leadership of the poor, marginalized and moral agents and reflecting the great moral teachings - to unite our country from the bottom up. It is inspired by the history, vision, and unfinished work of the 1967/68 Poor People's Campaign spearheaded by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Tickets are free but required, and can be found at this LINK. Please email assistant.minister@kings-chapel.org with any questions or to RSVP (after acquiring your ticket). |
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Announcing "Bistro 64" Parish House Dinners - Beginning this Fall! | October 19 & November 18
Because the Parish House kitchen is such a festive gathering place for King's Chapel members and friends, the Hospitality Committee is launching "Bistro 64" a series of participatory dinners at the Parish House. KC members and friends will bring or cook menu items in the kitchen and also provide beverages. This community building initiative is led by Gregg Sorensen and Anne Sexton. The first two dinners take place on Thursday, October 19 and Saturday, November 18. An Evite email will be sent under separate cover.
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Save the date for the first Sunday Concert of the 60th Season | Sunday, October 29 | 5 PM
We open our 60th anniversary concert season on October 29 at 5 PM with a celebratory program, featuring J.S. Bach's beloved
Magnificat
. This exuberant song of praise with moving words of the Virgin Mary does indeed magnify the Lord with trumpets, timpani, and all manners of festivity.
In addition to the masterpiece of the family patriarch, Johann Sebastian Bach, you will hear the
festival cantata
Musik am Dankfeste wegen des fertigen Michaelisturms
by Bach's second son,
Carl Philipp Emanuel. W
ritten for the dedication of the completed tower of St. Michael's Church in Hamburg on Reformation Sunday, October 31, 1786, the work
was only recovered in 1999 from the former Soviet Union, after being presumed lost in the Second World War as part of the library of the Berlin Sing-Akademie. O
ur performance marks the US premiere of this historic gem.
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King's Chapel Habitat for Humanity Boston build | November 11, 2017
Registration is open, but almost full, for the King's Chapel Habitat for Humanity Boston build in November. The build runs from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with a one hour lunch break.
The build will be at one of the HFH Boston sites now under construction in Roslindale, Mattapan, or Dorchester. The exact location will be selected by HFH Boston based upon the specific build site requirements. Work will be available for all skill levels, including none. For more information on HFH Boston and the site where they build go to
http://www.habitatboston.org/ and
http://www.habitatboston.org/projects.html
King's Chapel has supported HFH Boston both financially and with multiple volunteer efforts. If you haven't done this before, please consider joining now. The minimum age to participate is 16. To enroll or for more information contact Peter Sexton at 781-383- 9028 or petersexton@alum.mit.edu.
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In our Church School program, we sing, laugh, play, and learn. We rejoice in everything we do. That includes rejoicing in helping our neighbors. This Sunday, the Church School will be making sandwiches to feed our unhoused neighbors. Social justice in action is a vital part of our Church School curriculum and we still need more hands to make enough sandwiches to meet the need-- please join us from 10 - 10:45 AM a
t the Parish House.
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Searching for an exciting way to kick off the Halloween season? The King's Chapel Freedom Trail Program invites you to Tales from the Crypt: Halloween Crypt Tours, beginning next Friday October 13. Descend beneath King's Chapel with our history educators on a candle-lit tour of the 18th-century crypt! Tours will be offered at 5:30 PM and 6:15 PM on October 13-14, 20-24, 26-28, 30-31. Advance tickets required, available at kings-chapel.org/history--tours. Please contact our Freedom Trail Program Director, Faye Charpentier, at faye@kings-chapel.org to learn more.
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Our 2017 Stewardship Appeal
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You may have received a letter this week, outlining the status of the 2017 Stewardship Campaign. As you can see, we have only reached 55% of our goal of $225,000, with only three more months left.
While many of you typically hold your pledge payment to the end of the year, it is critical for pledges to be paid regularly so that we can meet our budgeted expenses.
Please consider sending your Stewardship payment in now, and if you have already contributed, we hope that you will consider an additional amount to help meet our goal!
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Parish House Closed | Monday, October 9
The Parish House offices will be closed on Monday, October 9th in observance of Columbus Day.
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Heard at the Parish House
It was a Monday Punday over here in the Parish House on October the 2nd
, 2017. When life gives you lemons, forgets the sugar, and you literally have no water, sometimes you just have to juggle the lemons until the other ingredients for lemonade come together again.
The day started with the news of a broken water main on Beacon St - something that affected the community and neighborhood with a drought of both Starbucks and regular hydration.
The day pulled on; past the 11 AM promise of finishing, on to the 3 PM estimate, and onward into the night. As of 6 PM, the rivers had yet to flow and the rain refused to come. The workers toiled and struggled - first try, second try. "Water we in for?" Joked one staff member. Answers had yet to trickle in.
Such apocalyptic roadwork did not deter the Girl Scouts, however - they still attended their regular meeting at the Parish House with smiles on their faces and willingness to earn those badges. I guess you could say...they're "troopers".
By 8:00PM good humor, patience, and hard work paid out [third time was the charm] - the water returned, allowing for use of facilities and hope for tomorrow. Our Parish Administrator, Gretchen, took time to express her gratitude to the message of water flowing - "Thanks for spouting off about it," she said.
It was a small moment of positivity in a sea of problems big and small; local and global, and an experience wherein we could be grateful for one another and for the ability to obtain our clean water again so quickly, all things considered. In times of duress, even minor, leaning on one another as humans can be the most refreshing aspect of all -
But a little cold water never hurts, either.
This is your Communications Manager, Sam Fishkind, signing off!
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Social Justice News
1) Faith in Action | Sunday, October 8 |
10-10:45 AM | Making Sandwiches at the
Parish House
Join the Church School in making sandwiches for our
unhoused neighbors. We'll work from 10-10:45 AM between the two Sunday services making sandwiches at the Parish House Kitchen. All ages welcome! Contact Ryan Harrison, if you can help at ryan@kings-chapel.org.
2) The Peace Institute | Lobbying to Support Burial Costs | Important Note from Carol Genovese
The Louis D Brown Peace Institute (LDBP) with which we have been partnering for the annual Mother's Day
Walk for Peace, is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature (H.742) and asks for our support. The proposed legislation would amend the current victim compensation law to say that families of murder victims cannot be denied reimbursement for modest compensation because of the circumstances surrounding their loved ones death.
According to LDBP, "These funds are used to provide proper funeral and burial for families surviving homicide, final expenses that can be a nearly insurmountable burden on top of insurmountable grief. A proper funeral and burial is an essential step in any families healing journey after the tragic death of a loved one."
Please click HERE to watch further information about this bill and watch a short video to hear the moving and
very courageous testimony at the end of the newsletter on Channel 5's Survivors on Primetime. Then please, if you agree, TAKE THE NEXT STEP and call your state legislator to support H.742.
I often have felt helpless when I heard of the murder of so many young people in Boston. Taking action and
prayers are the only thing that help me. The victims need to know we care and they are not alone. I regard this
and taking part in and contributing to the Mother's Day Walk for Peace as a way we can help .
3) Opening Our Freedom Trail Doors
At King's Chapel, we do not require any visitors to pay a fee to enter our sanctuary, or take a self-guided tour, unlike some other sites on the historic Boston Freedom Trail. However, we do hope that guests will make voluntary contributions to support our costs. We also do charge for any of the special tours given to groups.
In order for us to open our groups tours more widely, also, King's Chapel's Freedom Trail Program recently applied to participate in the "EBT Card to Culture" program.
This new program through the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) began in August 2017 and is an inclusive, community-based initiative working towards the MCC's Universal Participation Initiative.
This initiative strives to break down barriers preventing people from participating in cultural organizations in Massachusetts.
Economic inaccessibility remains an issue at many organizations. Through Card to Culture, EBT
cardholders and their families are granted free or discounted admission to over a hundred cultural
and historic institutions throughout the Commonwealth. The program has been dubbed the "nation's most comprehensive effort to expand cultural access for low-income families."
Through the EBT Card to Culture, a family or group of up to 5 people with an EBT card will be able to take a guided tour of King's Chapel for the price of one regular adult ticket. The Freedom Trail Program staff look forward to welcoming under-served communities to the historic building and sharing our history with new audiences.
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Buildings and Grounds Update
The Bathroom and Vestry project - a work in progress.
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Vestry Update
The Vestry met on September 26 and discussed the following:
Parish Council proposed, and Vestry
voted to accept the suggestion of moving the elections and annual meeting to the spring. This means that the key dates for 2018 are:
- Sunday, January 29 for budget and by-laws proposals
- Sunday, April 29 for Annual Meeting and elections
A team has been reviewing the by-laws, and suggested updates will be brought to the members at meetings this fall, with a vote on updates and any changes at the annual budget meeting on January 29. The first discussion will be held on Sunday November 12 at 12:30 PM after the Morning Prayer service.
Amelia will be heading the new Social Outreach effort, and will present the process at the Many Meetings on October 10.
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"We Rejoice with Those Who Rejoice, and Weep with Those Who Weep"
~ Romans 12:15
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| Last week I shared the joyous news of the engagement of the Rev. Amelia Nugent, Assistant Minister at King's Chapel, to Jake Edson. However, I gave the wrong year for their impending wedding. It will be next autumn, 2018. We rejoice with them, over and over! |
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Sunday Services
October 8
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Morning Light | 9 AM
At the Little Chapel
Morning Prayer | 11 AM
The Rev. Amelia Nugent will Preach
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Heinrich Christensen, Music Director
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Paul Luca, Head Usher
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Julie Hyde, Usher in Charge
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Sylvia Soderberg, Usher
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The Readings:
The flowers on the communion table are given by Richard and Cynthia Perkins
in loving memory of their parents The Rev. James H. and Ruth Perkins and Janet and Owen Brady.
Our Second Sunday offering is for the Lewis D. Brown Peace Institute. All gifts not designated for the Stewardship Appeal will be given to this organization.
After the service, Jim Power, Jr. will meet those interested in learning more about
King's Chapel at the Communion Rail.
After the service, all are invited to Coffee Hour,
hosted by Julie Hyde and friends of the Hospitality Committee.
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We open this Sunday with an 18th century British organ concerto fit for our 18th century sanctuary: William Felton's buoyant Concerto in D Major. It will segue right into our Introit by another Brit of the same era, William Boyce, in a setting of verses from Psalm 119 with an extended alto solo sung by much more contemporary Brit David Hughes (see elsewhere for more about David whom we welcome as a new choir member this fall).
The motet is strictly colonial Boston, William Billings' interpretation of Psalm 19, entitled Sublimity.
The Offertory is from the third part of Handel's Messiah: Since By Man Came Death.
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Welcoming our new Choir Member: David Hughes
David William Hughes is a singer, composer, conductor, and actor based in Boston, MA.
Born in the UK, David holds bachelors and masters degrees from the University of
Oxford, where he studied composition with Martin Suckling and voice with David
Crown, and was a member of the renowned comedy troupe the Oxford Imps
("Devastatingly funny, *****" - EdFringe Review). He has performed at the Edinburgh
Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival, and has toured throughout Europe and the
USA. Recent solo engagements have included the new children's opera Ami and Tami
with the Landmarks Orchestra ("Hughes was perfect" - The Times of Israel), Purcell's
Ode on St. Cecelia's Day with the Harvard Radcliffe Chorus, and a workshop production of
new musical The King's Ear at Boston University. David teaches music at the
International School of Boston, directs the Renaissance chamber choir Tactus Ensemble, and is a member of the Kings Chapel Choir.
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Tuesday, October 10 |
12:15 PM
Karl Henning Ensemble
Music by Karl Henning
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* Tuesday October 10 | Many Meetings at the Parish House
| 7 PM
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Prayer Groups Begin at the Little Chapel
Tuesday | October 3 - November 14 | 12 PM | Led by Joy
Thursdays | October 5 - November 9 | Led by Amelia
Sundays| October 8 and November 12| Led by Joy
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Want to know
what's going on at
King's Chapel?
Click
HERE
to view the King's
Chapel Schedule at our website:
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Volunteer: Sign up
for Hospitality
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Anyone can help!
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Enter your email and select a spot to fill. New volunteers may choose to co-host with a buddy. Questions? Email
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Interested in Membership?
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Contributing to Between Sundays
Our enewsletter is sent each Thursday afternoon. Want something in Between Sundays? Feel free to email Brad at
brad@kings-chapel.org with a written piece and/or pictures before Wednesday at noon!
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Accessibility Assists
Our beautiful Georgian sanctuary designed by Peter Harrison and completed in 1754, has been lovingly maintained by the congregation since its completion. One of the box pews has been made wheel-chair accessible. Ushers are available to assist those who are wheelchair-bound to that pew.
A sound system has been installed in the sanctuary of The Chapel to amplify the sound during worship services. Hearing assistance devices are available for your use. Please see an Usher for assistance.
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