Holy Week & Easter by the Numbers
“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be
in
on it!”
- Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 9:22-23
(as found in
The Message
, a free-form translation by Eugene Peterson)
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Dear people of Ascension,
Five hundred is quite a jump from the seven or eight (total) who remained at the beautiful Altar of Repose in the church narthex after last year’s Maundy Thursday Liturgy. As of this morning, the ‘views’ counted on Facebook and YouTube also show virtual attendance of over 400 for the Maundy Thursday liturgy proper as well as for Palm Sunday and Easter Day—three to five times as many as have showed up in person for any of those services in my years with you.
Don’t think I’m feeling smug, though. Or if I am – just a bit – please know that I’m also troubled and puzzled. My related sources of both gratitude and concerns are too many for this pastoral message but too critical not to share with you. I’ll catalog them below.
To end on a personal note, please know how strange and sad it was for me not to be with you in person for Holy Week and Easter
and
how surprisingly meaningful it was for me to connect with so many of you virtually.
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Also from the Rector
Pros and Cons of Virtual Liturgies
(or ‘
Save the Rector from the rabbit hole
…’)
My immersion in adaptation and technology over the past several weeks has admittedly sent me way down the rabbit hole. I don’t presume to have any clear perspective. I don't presume that the pros, cons and questions shared below are complete or objective. The best result of my sharing what’s below will be your thoughtful responses, especially those framed in terms of the best overall interests of Ascension. As you read, think in terms of our strengths, our members and mission.
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Several members presently unable to attend Ascension
(even before Covid-19 matters) have expressed gratitude for the sense of connection by way of what we’ve recently offered. A big plus.
+ Members with little or no technology or tech expertise are clearly disadvantaged and/or left
out
. How can we otherwise connect with them? Who may be willing and able to help with low-tech connections?
+
What about those we are newly reaching?
How are we to understand (and cultivate?) their relationship to Ascension?
+
Don’t imagine this is fleeting.
I wouldn’t ask you to focus on this if we were now all done with YouTube and Zoom. But Governor Pritzker is already talking about no summer festivals. School administrators are wondering about the viability of regular school in the fall. Some of our members may choose to stay away for some time even After Ascension's doors are once again open. So, as I see it, what we're trying to do virtually now may be with us for awhile and, like it or not, may need to become a lasting part of who we are and how we gather and worship.
+
Not all ‘views’ are equal.
To have had over 400 visits to our 63-minute Easter Day mass may cause a smile … but
not so fast with that smile
! According to YouTube ‘analytics,’ the average view time for that mass has been only 12 minutes. Hmmm. How are we to interpret these numbers?
+
Production has been rewarding
and
stressful.
Rewarding in terms of collaboration, creativity and your responses. Our willing team has included Senior Warden Gary Alexander, Verger and Tech Engineer Mary Beth Hwang, Choirmaster Benjamin Rivera, Organist David White and over a dozen parishioner-lectors and choir members. Those YouTube analytics indicate 100% positive responses. Stressful, though: particularly in terms of not knowing if the technology will work or when. Converting the Good Friday Liturgy to video took 26 hours and many more to upload online.
+
Existential, ontological and sacramental questions abound.
May I re-do only a part of the Canon of the Mass when recording it? Is it genuinely ‘worship’ if it’s not live and in person? And more. For now, I’m noting questions like these and putting them in a root cellar for later examination. Enough of you seem to be deriving enough meaning-in-faith from what we’re offering online that, for now, I feel we should continue.
+
What am I missing? What can we improve, add, edit or re-consider
?
PS Heads up. Due to too much encroachment on the rectory ground floor, I'll be trying a new chapel/altar venue in coming days.
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Up Next Online
TODAY, April 15, 2020
Wednesday in Easter Week
Evening Prayer 6:10 p.m.
Low Mass 6:30 p.m.
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Sunday, April 19, 2020
The 2nd Sunday of Easter
The current plan calls for
Morning Prayer 8:30 a.m.
Pre-recorded Mass
available by 9:00 a.m.
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Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Opportunities to Connect via Zoom
Join us for Evening Prayer at 6:10 p.m. Monday through Thursday
each week (including this evening) and Morning Prayer on Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
Also, join me (Fr. Raymond) and others Sunday for virtual coffee hour and fellowship at 11 a.m. or reach me by other more familiar means ...
And if you'd like to 'Zoom' but don't know how
, or if you're having trouble with other social media connections-to-Ascension (including YouTube, Facebook or Instagram), Kelly Colomberti has offered to help! You'll need to know, however, how to send an email and be able to do so.
You may reach Kelly by email if you click here.
Mary Beth Hwang is presently navigating changes in Zoom protocols (twice this week) and may be another good resource.
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Please give generously as you are able.
Treasurer Susan Schlough has asked me to remind you of Ascension's ongoing expenses at this time. To the extent that you are able, payment on your pledges or the offering of Holy Day or other special gifts will be greatly appreciated. You may still write a check and mail it to the church, or online payment is possible through the buttons at various places on our website. Thank you!
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April in Chicago!
Two views of the beautiful rhododendrons in the rectory back yard:
Tuesday morning & Wednesday morning.
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Please remember these people in your daily prayers
Charley Taylor, August 'Augie' Alonzo, Ted Long, Jim Berger, Ethel Martin, Yuka Asai, Dean Pineda, Carnola Malone, Charlene MacDougal, Jack Johnston, Patricia Johnston, Stewart Marks, Char Yurema, Canon Edgar Wells, Nicholas Carl, Joshua, Ellie, Carmen Castro, Mary Drell, Jim Lo Bello, Judy Cook, Steve Waltz, Lillian Alexander, Mary Lou Devens, Marty Stenson, Donna Neglia, David Jones, Helen Wilson
April Birthdays
Jay Peterson, 4/1; Victor Lofgreen, 4/4; Grace Raymond, 4/7; John Smolinski, 4/8; Caroline Feuer, 4/12; Shellayne Hedley, 4/17; DiAnne Walsh, 4/20; Joshua Heath, 4/20; David White, 4/21; Gary Alexander, 4/23; Jim Felton, 4/23; Gordon Stanley BSG, 4/24; George Panice, 4/24; Charley Taylor, 4/25; Amber Zelazny, 4/26
During this time of transition
, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Chicago asks for prayers for the church, our diocese, our clergy and lay leaders, our retiring bishop, and those who may be discerning a call to become the Thirteenth Bishop of Chicago.
P
rayers for the departed
All who have died due to complications of COVID-19; Terra (cousin of James Robinson)
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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On Technology and the Church …
“I wonder if there should be a Hippocratic Oath for Christians. ‘At first, do the gospel no harm.’ Technology is neutral. The intentionality around its use is what makes it work for good or evil. Here's my opinion: A room full of worshipers who stare for an hour at a huge video screen (not unlike the rest of their lives) with Tom Cruise film clips and vapid "Jesus is my boyfriend" lyrics: evil. A room full of worshipers who are focused on the central symbols of the faith, perhaps some of which are occasionally on a screen: good. I cannot stress enough that this is an example of my own sinful, narrow opinions and should not in any way be taken as authoritative in the least (although don't get me wrong, I'm totally right about this). I'm a big fan of blogs. When I started Sarcastic Lutheran: The Cranky Spirituality of a Postmodern Gal-Emerging Church ala Luther, I seriously thought that perhaps up to half a dozen of my friends would read it and mostly out of loyalty. I'm shocked to report that thousands of people from all over the world read the thing, many of whom e-mail me with messages like "Thank you so much, I thought I was the only one who thought like this."
Nadia Bolz-Weber, as quoted in a book review of Becky Garrison’s ‘Rising from the Ashes: Re-thinking Church,’ in the January 9, 2008, issue of
Christianity Today
.
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The Very Rev. Patrick Raymond,
Rector
Susan Schlough,
Treasurer
Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG,
Parish Office
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