Saturday at 5pm

Did you know we have a quiet Saturday 5pm Eucharist in the chapel? This may be just the service you are looking for.  Jim Greer shares more:

My grandmother use to say, those who go to church on Sunday at 10:00 am love the music and those who go at 8 love the Word, but those who go mid-week love the Lord.

Attending Sunday service at 5 pm on Saturday is not quite the same thing as grandma had in mind, but it’s similar in its intimacy between the people and their priest and the language of the scriptures and the liturgy. We’re few in number, but God’s nearness is manifest and from beginning to end, it feels as though we’re in a conversation with an old friend.

Because it is the first mass of the Sabbath, the Sunday lessons are read and the brief homily – more a chat really, suggests the Gospel’s message for the holy day.

Oh, and because there is no printed program, we get to use the prayer book again; the historic and foundational Book of Common Prayer. I sense a smiling, 16th century Archbishop Cranmer someplace just out of sight. In no time at all, we become nimble once more in flipping pages to follow and participate. Doing so brings back sweet memories of an earlier time in our lives.

I suppose a Canon Liturgist might tut-tut the relaxed and not always perfect choreography of our service, but what hiccups there are, only draws the little community closer in good humor and in affection for our worship leaders. In a way it’s like seeing a movie version of a stage play or watching a game on TV – you get to see the close-ups, warts and all. And whatever makes it human, makes it dear.

The Dean includes herself in the officiating Rota and its good and right to have her with us from time to time. Most of our celebrants, however, are retired priests who have preached, consecrated and served the Lord’s Supper a thousand times or more. Even so, we know they love to be with us, still living their vocation and saying again the sacred scripts. We, in turn, feel blessed to have and hear and receive from such elders in the faith.

As a life-long Episcopalian, I’ve had the good fortune to worship in many of Anglicanism’s great churches and cathedrals, hear their classic choirs, observe their matchless pageantry and sometimes receive the host from the high prelates of our communion. Such an experience can be spine-tingling beautiful and deeply moving. Our great services are a gift to the people and are to be honored and repeated even while remembering that the Eucharist, as invented, was first shared in a rented upper room, sitting on the floor and then on the dusty road to Emmaus. On Saturday at 5, we’re almost as simple. We pause for a while, hear again the ancient texts, say our prayers and then take, bless, break and receive the meal. It fills our hearts and sustains us as we move out again into the world.

Our little congregation is composed of 4-5 regulars, occasional attendees - some recognizable while others are not. From time to time we have vacationing folks we’ll likely not see again, and on a lucky day, a street person or someone looking for relief will join us in our fellowship.

So, if you can’t make it some Sunday morning, or haven’t been for a while or if being with us at 5 pm on Saturday fits nicely into your other plans for the day or evening, come along and join us around the chapel altar as we share the loaf and cup and give and receive God’s peace, one to another.

--Jim Greer

Progress Report on Chapel Renovation: new furniture!

From the Dean:

Sr Karla Maria playing
in front of the chapel

 It’s been nearly three years since work began on renovating our Chapel of the Holy Family. When I arrived in early 2014, the chapel was functional but had yet to be appropriately furnished and decorated. I formed a committee to discern the best approach and design, and in due course we agreed to engage a local craftsman, Del Cover, to create several coordinating pieces.

We considered installing a stained-glass window in the east wall behind the altar, but we decided that was too ambitious and expensive for the time being. Del is now completing the furniture items in oak that coordinates with the rest of the cathedral furnishings, and they are beautiful (see pictures below)!

The Holy Family Symbol 

All items incorporate the Holy Family symbol, and the altar is designed to permit the insertion of icons in the front panels.

We are still working on how to adapt the area to the north of the altar, where the sacristy entrance is currently concealed behind a frosted glass panel. We plan to eliminate the frosted glass and the step, and hope to find a more attractive window design to replace the very basic window in that wall. We are also seeking a suitable design for the congregational chairs.

Several parishioners have offered to sponsor individual furniture items as memorial or thanksgiving gestures, and a plaque will be created to acknowledge all the donors and honorees. There still remain a few pieces in need of a sponsor, all of them priced at between $1,000 and $2,000. The congregational chairs will also be available for sponsorship.

Please contact the Dean if you are interested in making a gift.

The Altar has panels to allow addition of icons

Detail of the Presider's Chair

The pulpit

See if you can find these two mice praying on one of the pieces

The Chapel of the Holy Family:
a tranquil space for reflection and prayer

Cathedral Chapel to be Remodeled thanks to Generous Gift

 Dear Ones,

On my first visit to St. Paul’s in January of this year, we toured the Cathedral and then entered the Chapel of the Holy Family.  I was taken with the exquisite architecture, the proportions of length, width and height so expressive of a sacred geometry that shapes one’s experience of peace and serenity.  This was my first thought: What a wonderful place to sit quietly and pray.  But then, on closer inspection, it was also clear that this space was in need of restoration and repair.  I shrugged and thought, it’s not going to happen on my watch.

On this Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, it is especially appropriate to remember his prayer at the Church of San Damiano when he heard Christ speak to him saying, “Francis, repair my church.”  We know there was more at stake than the physical space, but space does matter.  And in the economy of God, who knew that a way would open for the restoration of our chapel.

In late July, the Rev. Canon Barnabas Hunt and the Rev. Canon Andrew Rank came to talk to me about the Chapel of the Holy Family.  They were prepared to make a significant gift to repair and restore the chapel.  As we discussed the project and walked through the chapel space, it became clear that this was something within our capacity to manage.  The problems in the chapel were mostly cosmetic and functional.  We were not looking at large architectural fees or structural challenges.
In addition, a long term need of the Society of St. Paul’s was expressed and discussed.  Here is an excerpt from Canon’s Hunt’s letter:

The Rev. Canons Andrew Rank
and Barnabas Hunt , SSP

Ever since Andrew and I moved to the Cathedral as our place of ministry and spiritual home, in 2001, we have had a unique problem. Namely, a final resting place for the ashes of our departed brothers and ourselves when we depart this life. Our desire is a distinctive location for a new columbarium in which to inter eight single urns, six of which already exist. It is customary for religious who are set apart by their vows to be buried together in a community cemetery or columbarium.

The time has come for us to put our house in order and we would be relieved of a great burden if you can assist us in resolving this matter.  Like Moses in the book of Exodus we have a need to lay the bones of our tribe to rest. 

And so we began taking those first few steps, beginning with a consultation with a construction firm.  They did not know the size of the gift but when their bid came in right on target, our dream became reality.  The project was discussed and reviewed at the August meeting of Chapter and a scope of work was developed.  A timeframe was established and worked with our own liturgical rhythm.

On Wednesday, October 2, the work began.  Demolition first, a clearing of the space, getting ready to refurbish the plaster on the walls and redo the floor.  The altar platform has been removed and the whole chapel will now be on one level, eliminating the steps.  Cathedral chairs will replace the pews, allowing for a much more flexible and creative use of the chapel space.  Chairs can be easily repositioned for small concerts, overflow crowds and more intimate services.

This renovation will be complete in just a few weeks.  There is more to come but in the meantime, I would like to thank Canon Hunt and Canon Rank and the Society of St. Paul for their vision and generosity to make all things new!            

Blessings, Rebecca
The Very Rev. Rebecca McClain

Check out the pictures below for a closer look at the work!