Keeping King's Chapel's members and friends connected each week between Sunday worship services with updates from the Parish House.
Spotlight On:    Physically Apart but Spiritually Together

Join us for our upcoming services, pre-recorded for you
Maundy Thursday Service | April 9, 8 PM | Online at www.kings-chapel.org 
Good Friday Tenebrae Service | April 10, 8 PM| Online at www.kings-chapel.org
Easter Sunday Service | April 12, 11 AM| Online at www.kings-chapel.org
From the Minister
In the next several days, we may go through a flood of feelings - because of the worldwide COVID pandemic, because of our Holy Week rituals, or because of both.
 
Due to COVID, every aspect of our lives seems up in the air: whether we'll lose our job or savings; whether a family member will be diagnosed with COVID; even whether we'll be alive next week. We don't know. Many Americans are not used to living with these huge questions so stark before us. But this year is different.
 
The Holy Week stories double down on the clamorous feelings we're experiencing in our own lives. On Maundy Thursday, we tell how Jesus - like us - wondered whether his best friends might abandon him to save their own skins; whether he'd lose control of his life, no longer directing what he'd do and when; whether he'd suffer pain, gasping for a last breath; whether he'd even be alive the next week.
 
Because of this, there are two things we can learn this year, perhaps more than in others.
 
First, we can live through these next several days with Jesus, and with all God's children across the globe who - like Jesus - fear we can die, feel abandoned by friends, and are experiencing physical suffering, struggling for breath. Jesus understands all of that, and stands with us through it, never turning aside. May we also stand in solidarity with any gripped by fear, loneliness or pain, never turning aside.
 
Second, we are invited to live through these days with Jesus, knowing that the story doesn't end in crucifixion. It ends in resurrection, a rising up from deepest despair, a rebirth of hope. For us, for those who suffer or die, even for our nation and our world, this time of darkness can be followed by a new dawn, by God's grace and our actions. From the worst that can happen, whether a cross or a national collapse, we can be raised again to new life. We live with Jesus, and Jesus lives in us, so rebirth will be ours. After Thursday and Friday, join us on Sunday and see!

+Joy

Send Us Your Pictures!
While we cannot be physically together on Easter Sunday, we know that being a community is especially important to many, and our Easter service typically brings us together in ways that no other service does. We do want to celebrate with all of you, even while apart.  Please send us a photo of yourself, in your finest Easter garb if you choose, to include with our video of our Easter service. 

Portrait style photos are best. Please send to  laura@kings-chapel.org by Saturday at noon.

Zoom in for Easter Hymn Sing!
In addition to the virtual service that will be posted to our website by 11 AM on Sunday, we will also offer a live hymn sing on Zoom  at 2 PM on Sunday April 12. 
Joy and David will both attend to see all of your smiling faces and offer their Easter prayers and blessings. Alison LaRosa and Heinrich will take turns leading us from their respective home keyboards in the traditional hymns from our Easter vigil and morning services. 

If you'd like to join us, please email  heinrich@kings-chapel.org and he will send you the zoom link as well as a pdf of the hymns. 
Eastertide Connections
Coffee with the Ministers| Thursdays 10-11 AM, Weekly
Bring your cup of coffee or tea and join Joy and David for an informal conversation by Zoom every Thursday morning from 10-11 AM. You can join either by phone or by your computer (which lets you see others). It's not as good as being together, but it's close. Drop in anytime during the hour. Contact Gretchen at gretchen@kings-chapel.org for login information.
"Block Party" | Friday Nights, 5-6 PM in April (April 17, and 24)  


                       
Join the King's Chapel virtual "block party" by Zoom, and catch up on news around the neighborhood. Feel free to bring your own hors d'oeuvres and enjoy it as we talk. Contact Laura at laura@kings-chapel.org 
for login information. 
Talks about King's Chapel History by Our Educators 
Chat with members of the History Program team and discuss their current blogs.  Watch for more information here.

Reflection on Palm Sunday
If you watched our video of the Palm Sunday service, you saw some of our members waving palms, to celebrate and say Hosanna!  Below is a reflection on this ritual, offered by Pat Bass:

It was so good to meet Betsy in front of the Charles River Plaza CVS.  It's refreshing for elderly people to get out in the wind and rain even though we're supposed to be in isolation.
 
The two lessons for the day are that palms are a good way of outing ones fellow Christians.
 
The first lesson:  there was a man who saw me hamming it up with my palm and then saw Betsy with her sheaf of palms.  He asked if he could have one also. Being a good Christian woman Betsy graciously obliged.
 
The second lesson. My palm did not make it to my house. I was dutifully social distancing in the pharmacy counter line when the young man in front of me looked and said, "Palm Sunday."  I told him that a member of my church gave it to me outside CVS.   He wanted to know if they were being sold. I said, no, they were not being sold. We specially arranged to meet and that the palm lady was already gone.  I explained that my church was going to do a virtual procession of palms, and that I also did a video. He wanted to know the name of the Church and I said King's Chapel.  Then the Spirit of the Lord descended upon me while he was picking up his prescription. As he was leaving and I was walking to the counter I gave it to him saying "I offer you this palm to you in the Spirit of Jesus Christ." He took it and then made the Sign of the Cross and we said Happy Easter.
 
Pat
From the History Program
Decorating the chapel with vibrant, spring flowers for Easter Sunday has been a long-time tradition at King's Chapel. While this year's service will be conducted virtually, we can still enjoy how beautiful Boston's spring flowers are blooming outside and how the congregation has decorated the sanctuary for Easter in the past. Here is a plan found in our archives for the Easter flower decorations in 1948 and a rare photograph showing the decorated church and historic stained glass windows on Easter Sunday in 1909. You can imagine how warm and bright the sanctuary would have felt with the colored light streaming through the chancel windows and the elaborate flower displays.
Stewardship Update
Watch for the launch of our annual Stewardship Campaign in the coming weeks. We were hoping to begin earlier but, because of Covid 19, put things pause to give us time to work together while maintaining social distancing. King's Chapel's financial needs have never been greater as we confront the loss of revenues from the plate, rentals and tours. We look forward to reaching out to each of you and hope that in the meantime you consider prayerfully your pledge for 2020 understanding the urgency of this year. Thank you.
Earth Day Commemoration
On the  Sunday before Earth Day, April 19,    in addition to our recorded service with guest preacher The Rev. Tricia Brennan, there will be a recorded conversation with members of the congregation sharing their thoughts, experiences, and actions related to the climate crisis. We are all on this journey together.
From our Community Action Committee
Our unhoused neighbors are in need during these uncertain times. You can help!  common cathedral invites us to donate items out of which their staff will then build "to-go" bag lunches. Sign up to donate HERE .  They are still in need of donations April 23 & 24.

You can sign up to donate 50 sandwiches, 50 pieces of fruit, and/or 50 granola bars. Drop-off is 8AM-9AM at Emmanuel Episcopal Church - 15 Newbury Street on the day for which you sign up. The bag lunches will be used every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next few weeks.
Mother's Day Walk for Peace | Sunday May 10 
New walkers and old walkers are invited to early register now for the Mother's Day Walk for Peace, scheduled this year for Sunday May 10th. King's Chapel has been supporting the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for many years, and they are one our major Community Action partners.  This year's goal for the King's Chapel team is $3,000. To register or donate go HEREWhen registering, please note that all registration fee and donations are to go to the King's Chapel Team.

News from Adult Religious Education
Weekly Bible Study Continues | Wednesdays,  6:15 PM
King's Chapel Bible Study by teleconference continues!  Although originally scheduled to run through Lent, we just can't resist a good discussion, so we will continue meeting by teleconference for Bible Study.  Next Wednesday, we will discuss Acts 2:14a, 22-32, Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, and John 20:19-31.  You can find all the texts in one place HERE   If you are interested, please contact Tim Nelson-Hoy at tim.c.nh@gmail.com for Zoom login instructions.

Last Wednesday the King's Chapel Bible Study met again by teleconference to discuss another selection of familiar texts, including Psalm 118 ("for his mercy endureth forever") and Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.  In our wide-ranging conversation, we covered our early experiences with these texts in Sunday school, through the new meanings they have taken on in light of our current circumstances.  We thank all the King's Chapel members and friends who have participated, and look forward to more insights and reminiscences as we move from Lent into Eastertide!
New Poetry Discussion Group | Mondays 5:15 PM
For four sessions beginning Monday, April 20, Cynthia Perkins and Kent Wittenburg will be leading a weekly discussion of the poetry of Ranier Maria Rilke from Book of Hours: Love Poems to God.  We will be using the edition translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, widely available digitally or in print at local libraries, Amazon, or other booksellers. Please contact Kent ( kentwitt@gmail.com ) or Cynthia ( cbhperkins@gmail.com ) if you would like to join us by video conference on Monday, April 20, at 5:15pm.

In This Issue
Easter Sunday Service, 
pre-recorded and posted online at 11 AM
  • The Rev. Joy Fallon, Senior Minister
  • David Waters, Minister for Education and Membership
  • Heinrich Christensen, Music Director 
  • Kathe German, Miguel Gomez-Ibanez, Levina Wong, Lay Readers
  • Robinson Pyle, trumpet
    Ben Henry-Moreland, baritone (Motet)
    Christian Lane, guest organist (Motet),  Soloists
The Readings
Psalm  118: 1-2,  14-24
Isaiah 65: 17-25
Acts 10: 34-43
Luke 24: 1-12
Did you miss last week's sermon or want to hear it again? Listen HERE
From the Bench
 
For our Good Friday Tenebrae service this year, the music is very minimal which we thought would be fitting for this rather sombre service. Originally, this year we had a quartet scheduled to sing Thomas Gregg's setting of the service. So it seemed appropriate to ask Tom to simply sing verses of the Passion Chorale between the three nocturnes. Heinrich will play Bach's setting of the same Chorale for the prelude. 

If you would enjoy a musical meditation for Holy Week in addition to our video services, we are hoping to post our complete recording of John Stainer's The Crucifixion, featuring soloists Thomas Gregg and Brian Church, along with guest organist Ross Wood, from a live concert performance on Palm Sunday 2013. 

In addition, Mary Sears is planning to offer a few of her favorite parts of our vigil service. 

You should be able to find these on Friday and Saturday on the home page of our website, or you can go directly to  our YouTube channel. We will also share to our Facebook page when they go "live". 

On Easter Sunday, we often hear it lamented that we don't have brass for our service like so many other churches. The simple explanation is that most brass players tend to be already engaged on Easter - and we think we can make a pretty joyful noise with the choir and congregation! But when life hands you a virtual Easter, the silver lining is you can record your music when nobody is busy. So you will hear trumpeter Robinson Pyle play some of our hymns, as well as the festive Toccata by Martini for the postlude. We also found a couple of audio snippets from our 2018 Easter service that will be incorporated for authenticity and hopefully make you feel almost as if you were in the building with all of us. The big anthem for the morning will be Ralph Vaughan Williams' Easter from Five Mystical Songs, featuring baritone Ben Henry-Moreland. We recorded it live in concert  back in 2012 on our program " Mysticism in Music".

Contemplative Communion Service
I f you have been yearning for the quiet, intimate candlelit service of Wednesday nights, you can find the video HERE
Staying Connected
with King's Chapel
While we are physically closed we are spiritually open and are working to find ways to continue our connection with you, our beloved members and friends.  We are learning new technologies so that we can continue social distancing while being here for you, as best we can. 

Ways in which you can reach us are:

Worship
Our  worship services are posted on our website: go to www.kings-chapel.org or to King's Chapel on Facebook to see videos of 9 AM Morning Light, 11 AM Morning Prayer, and Wednesday Evening  Contemplative Communion. 

Prayer Connection
For those in need of a prayer, or a virtual pastoral call, please reach out to Joy  at 617-227-2155 x109 or email  joy@kings-chapel.org  , or you can reach David at 617-227-2155 x 105 or email david.waters@kings-chapel.org

Want to know what's 
going on at  King's Chapel?



Click HERE  to view the King's
Chapel Calendar at our website
Volunteer: Sign up for Hospitality
Anyone can help!
 
 
Enter your email address and select a spot to fill.  New volunteers may choose to co-host with a buddy. 

Contributing to Between Sundays

Our e-newsletter is sent each Thursday afternoon.  Want something in Between Sundays? Feel free to email administrator@kings-chapel.org with a written piece and/or pictures before Wednesday at 5 PM.
Accessibility Assists

Our beautiful Georgian sanctuary was designed by Peter Harrison and completed in 1754.   To make our services and programs more accessible, one of the box pews has been made wheel-chair accessible. Ushers are available to assist those wheelchair users to that pew.  Additionally, we have installed an accessible bathroom on our main floor. An usher can direct you to the vestry. 

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.