ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 85 East Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York 10549 Telephone: 914-666-8058 Fax: 914-666-8068 E-mail: [email protected]web: www.stmarksmtkisco.org JUNE 2015 Dear Members and Friends of St. Mark’s Church, I want to share with you some of what I said at the ordination of eleven new deacons in the Diocese of New Jersey earlier this month. I think it may help to put the experience and reality of St, Mark’s in a wider context and perspective: “I do not need to tell you that we live in rapidly changing times. The world, the nation, the society, the culture, the economy, and the communities in which we dwell have changed dramatically during our lifetimes, and more especially in very recent decades. American Christianity, the Episcopal Church, our Dioceses, and the parishes to which we belong have been experiencing paradigms shifts which challenge the ways we are organized, the business models we utilize, the budget and stewardship patterns which have long sort of supported our ministries, and the assumptions about Sabbath keeping and church going which we long have relied upon. “At the same time, as a small percentage of the American population has grown extraordinarily rich, jobs have gone overseas; wages have stagnated; young adult unemployment rates have skyrocketed; college and seminary debt has risen sharply; the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the returning Veterans of multiple wars, and the seriously mentally ill have grown by leaps and bounds. Voices in high places are repeatedly heard to say: ‘Let the private sector, especially charities, churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions do more to meet these needs.’ “But that is more easily said than done. Membership figures in almost all major religious denominations have been in gradual, and sometimes precipitous, decline for many decades. People in our society increasingly identify as ‘spiritual, but not religious’ or ‘no religious affiliation.’ The invasion of Sundays by school and community athletics has all but decimated Sunday Schools, Youth Groups, Acolyte Guilds, and Choirs for Children in many parishes. “The revolution in electronic media, devices, communications, and affiliations raises serious questions about how people will pursue the human need for community and socialization in the decades to come. A rapidly growing population of frail, and sometimes severely confused, elderly men and women is stressing and challenging every generation of many families. Many church projects, organizations, and committees face an ever more problematic and dwindling supply of willing and able volunteers and leaders. Indeed most families, including parents, teens, and younger children seem to be more drastically over scheduled than at any time in human history. “Poor and minority communities continue to face profoundly disturbing experiences with the criminal justice system, disproportionate rates of incarceration, hardships in visiting family members in prison, elevated rates of execution, and few if any opportunities for rehabilitation or meaningful employment upon release or parole.” In point of fact, every parish today is having to re-envision and reimagine what it means to be the Church engaged in effective mission and ministry in this part of the 21 st Century. The Wardens, Vestry, and I are acutely aware that in order for St. Mark’s Church to move forward in a sustainable way, in the near term future we must: 1) Work together to increase our parish income and find new incomes streams. 2) Seek realistic efficiencies and economies in the ways in which we are staffed and the ways we operate.
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ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
85 East Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York 10549 Telephone: 914-666-8058 Fax: 914-666-8068 E-mail: [email protected] web: www.stmarksmtkisco.org
JUNE 2015 Dear Members and Friends of St. Mark’s Church,
I want to share with you some of what I said at the ordination of eleven new deacons in the Diocese of New Jersey
earlier this month. I think it may help to put the experience and reality of St, Mark’s in a wider context and perspective:
“I do not need to tell you that we live in rapidly changing times. The world, the nation, the society, the culture, the
economy, and the communities in which we dwell have changed dramatically during our lifetimes, and more especially
in very recent decades. American Christianity, the Episcopal Church, our Dioceses, and the parishes to which we belong
have been experiencing paradigms shifts which challenge the ways we are organized, the business models we utilize, the
budget and stewardship patterns which have long sort of supported our ministries, and the assumptions about Sabbath
keeping and church going which we long have relied upon.
“At the same time, as a small percentage of the American population has grown extraordinarily rich, jobs have gone
overseas; wages have stagnated; young adult unemployment rates have skyrocketed; college and seminary debt has
risen sharply; the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the returning Veterans of multiple wars, and the
seriously mentally ill have grown by leaps and bounds. Voices in high places are repeatedly heard to say: ‘Let the private
sector, especially charities, churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions do more to meet these needs.’
“But that is more easily said than done. Membership figures in almost all major religious denominations have been in
gradual, and sometimes precipitous, decline for many decades. People in our society increasingly identify as ‘spiritual,
but not religious’ or ‘no religious affiliation.’ The invasion of Sundays by school and community athletics has all but
decimated Sunday Schools, Youth Groups, Acolyte Guilds, and Choirs for Children in many parishes.
“The revolution in electronic media, devices, communications, and affiliations raises serious questions about how people
will pursue the human need for community and socialization in the decades to come. A rapidly growing population of
frail, and sometimes severely confused, elderly men and women is stressing and challenging every generation of many
families. Many church projects, organizations, and committees face an ever more problematic and dwindling supply of
willing and able volunteers and leaders. Indeed most families, including parents, teens, and younger children seem to be
more drastically over scheduled than at any time in human history.
“Poor and minority communities continue to face profoundly disturbing experiences with the criminal justice system,
disproportionate rates of incarceration, hardships in visiting family members in prison, elevated rates of execution, and
few if any opportunities for rehabilitation or meaningful employment upon release or parole.”
In point of fact, every parish today is having to re-envision and reimagine what it means to be the Church engaged in
effective mission and ministry in this part of the 21st Century. The Wardens, Vestry, and I are acutely aware that in order
for St. Mark’s Church to move forward in a sustainable way, in the near term future we must:
1) Work together to increase our parish income and find new incomes streams.
2) Seek realistic efficiencies and economies in the ways in which we are staffed and the ways we operate.
3) Continue to offer genuine welcome, accessible worship, and compassionate pastoral care to all sorts and
conditions of men, women, and children in expansive ways here in Mount Kisco and Northern Westchester
County.
4) Find new ways to nurture, educate, inspire, and empower the lives and ministries children and adults of all ages
in a drastically over-scheduled era.
5) Maintain our commitment to excellence in liturgy, music, preaching, and pastoral care.
6) Enhance our commitment and our capacity to offer care, service, and outreach to those in need in our
communities and beyond.
7) Explore new ways to share, cooperate, and collaborate with other parishes in the Sawmill Clericus area of the
Episcopal Diocese of New York.
8) Continue to grow intentionally as a community in which we all can and will be known by our love for God, one
another, and the communities which we are called to serve. .
I know that historically, summer is a time when attendance goes down in many Episcopal Churches, including this one. I
hope that when you are in the area, that you will make church attendance a priority, even on hot sunny days. Please
consider coming to the Sunday 8 a.m. service before you undertake other activities. If you are out of town, consider
visiting another parish and come back and tell us what you saw and heard and what you thought about it. Cash flow in
churches can be very slow and shallow in the summer – we really appreciate it when your pledges and contributions
arrive, even if you are not able to do so.
I do not anticipate any very long absences this summer. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with me if I can be of
assistance. The Hippa Laws often restrict access to information about patients in hospitals and my mental telepathy is
not as strong as it once was, so if you or someone you know is seriously ill or in the hospital, I really appreciate a call so
that I am able to offer a pastoral call, a visit, or Holy Communion. I want you to know that I love being your Pastor and
your Priest! I hope you enjoy the summer!
Bill Doubleday, Priest in Charge
********************* SAVE THE DATE *********************
The REAL start of summer at St. Mark’s is the Annual St. Ann’s Picnic. What better way to kick off the season than with fun, food and fellowship together with our sister parish St. Ann’s Church from the Bronx. Participation from the families of St. Mark’s makes this an especially meaningful outreach event. We are always looking for creative ideas for activities. Please look for sign- up sheet in lobby. Monetary donations or donations of bottled water, juice or teas are welcome. Contact Charlie Williams if you would like to help: 914-275-5656, [email protected]
Annual St. Ann’s Picnic
Saturday, June 6,
11 am - 4 pm
ADULT FORUM The last Adult Forum of this season is:
June 7, 2015: Theological Reflections on Summer and Sabbath Time
We begin at 9:10 am and adjourn by 9:50 am
The Adult Education Forum will resume on Sunday, September 13, 2015, the second Sunday of September,
due to the Labor Day holiday. You are encouraged to suggest topics to Bill Doubleday.
SPECIAL WORSHIP SERVICE Participants with developmental challenges and their care-givers from throughout Northern Westchester communities attend this service. Parishioners are needed to assist. The June service is planned for Tuesday, June 23 at 7 pm. Please arrive at 6:45 pm to assist our friends
to get into the church, or to help set up the refreshments in the parish hall. The event is over and all volunteers are finished before 8 pm. You receive a lot of blessing for an hour’s time! Hope to see you there!
PRAYER CORNER….from Verann England
It will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy . . . Isaiah 35.2
I do not have a green thumb and have managed to kill even the hardiest of herbs. So it should come as o surprise that my simple wish would be met with anxiety. “I want to
plant tulips,” I told my husband. “Sounds like a plan,” Brian said, looking doubtful, if supportive. I picked out bulbs, then checked gardening blogs for step-by-step tips. I even filled my planters halfway with foam in order to make them lighter. The first rain came, and I noticed the dirt rising in my planters. That’s interesting, I thought. The foam must be absorbing the water and swelling. The next rain came and the dirt rose higher, leading Brian to realize that my step-by-step pointers had missed one: cut holes in the planter to allow rainwater out. He helped me load the bulbs, now strewn across our deck, back into the planters. When Brian’s dad came to visit and inquired about the planters, I told him we’d encountered some trouble. “Oh,” he said “did you plant the bulbs upside down?” My face fell; now I quite possibly had waterlogged bulbs growing down into our pots instead of up. Spring came quickly and tips of green began to poke through the soil. A few weeks later, the planters overflowed with bright of color. In spite of my gardening short comings, God made something beautiful. It’s by His Spirit that my meager works come to bloom.
Lord, bless my handiwork this day and always. It is
through You that bulbs turn to blooms and the earth is renewed. Ashley Kappel
Digging Deeper: Zechariah 4:5-7 Daily Guideposts 2015, March 7th
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE – JUNE 2015
NEW PARISH BOOK GROUP
A number of parishioners have expressed an interest in starting a parish Book Group. I think it is a splendid idea! A small
group of us have decided to start with an American 20th Century Spiritual Classic, Ann and Barry Ulanov’s Primary
Speech: A Psychology of Prayer (Westminster/John Knox, 1983.)
Dr. Ulanov taught Psychiatry and Religion at the Union Theological Seminary in NYC for three decades. Her late husband
taught at Barnard. The book explores the way in which diverse human emotions interface with the experience of prayer
and the spiritual life
The book is in print, is available used, and is in many libraries. New copies run about $24. Used copies range widely
depending on vendor and condition. The ISBN Number is: 0-6042-1134-5. Alas, not yet on Kindle.
Once I have a clear idea of who is planning to read this book in the early part of the summer, I will canvas those who
have expressed an interest, with possible meeting times and places. Let me know if you would like to join us. – Bill
Doubleday, Priest in Charge
JUNE 7 JUNE 14 JUNE 21 JUNE 28
Altar Guild 8 am
10 am
Ruann England
Karen Kelley
Debra Davis Deb Lunn
Sue Hewitt
Jill Finch Ruann England Celeste Lynn
Elizabeth Schreiner
TBD
Celeste Lynn Elizabeth Schreiner
Chalice Bearers
10 am Zoher Saour
Ted Raymond Mary Lynn Windsor Susan West
Lectors 8 am Ruann England
Mary Ann Niedzwiedz Robert Niedzwiedz Ted Raymond
10 am Jennifer Lewis Susan West Kendle Atterbury Asako Saour
Ushers 8 am
Ruann England Ted Raymond
Carol Ford James Cottingham
Gary & Brendan Ford
Mary Ann & Robert Niedzwiedz
10 am Karen Kelley Alex Antes
Jim Hewitt Zoher Saour
Shirley Russell Raimo Bakis
Vinnie Tuccillo Dale Schweizer
Acolytes 10 am Kathie Bannon Luca Cuccia Kathie Bannon Turner Williams
Flower Guild
Shelagh Bosch Gloria Kissell Anna Stone
Grace Gibbons Rosemary Valenti
Nancy Weeks Fran Osborne Joan Robinson
Hospitality Catalanello Family Amanda Allen Helen Williams
Ann Bakis Eileen Marks
Kendle Arcidiacono Shelagh Bosch Fran Osborne
St. Ann’s Drivers
Alex Antes
Charlie Williams Joe Schuder Annette Steiner
On Singing in Church By Geoffrey Smith
“Sing God a simple song, lauda laude Make it up as you go along, lauda laude”
Do you remember Bernstein’s “Mass?” It is a “theater piece,” commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy as one of the works for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. “Simple Song, ” sung toward the beginning, was a singular hit—such was Bernstein’s genius for melodies that pull at your heart strings. As Anglicans, we generally don’t “make it up as we go along,” but we do have the greatest singing tradition in the Western church. And, at the very core of our musical heritage is the singing of hymns—it’s where the rubber meets the road on the highway of congregational participation. Because of this, I suspect that each of us has something to say about hymns—what our favorites are and when we sing them, whether we knew any of the hymns in a particular service, or even a personal judgment regarding interpretation. There are two important parts of each hymn: 1) the tune (music), and 2) the hymn (the words are actually “the hymn”). Sometimes there is more than one tune in our hymnal for the same hymn—“The king of love my shepherd is” has two equally remarkable tunes. In this country we sing St. Columba (an Irish melody). In England they sing Dominus regit me, a wonderful tune by John Bacchus Dykes (who wrote over 300 hymn tunes, among them Nicea, Melita, and Gerontius). Some tunes are best sung in harmony—Winchester New (On Jordan’s bank), Schmücke Dich (Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness)—while others are intended for unison singing—Picardy (Let all mortal flesh keep silence) and Veni, veni, Emmanuel (O come, O come, Emmanuel). An interesting sidebar is that Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonnhöffer both espoused singing hymns in unison and only in unison. On occasion, harmony is altered on a stanza to highlight something in the text, or to raise the drama of a final verse. John Goss wrote a slightly varied version for each version of Lauda anima (Praise, my soul, the king od heaven). We make it a very serious business at St. Mark’s to select tunes familiar to most people. But, because the church is large and diverse, not everybody knows the same hymns, and not everyone knows the same tunes for the same hymns. Then there are the words. Lots of us know the first line (or even the entire first verse) of a hymn. How many of us know all the verses—have you ever looked at the words without the music? I remember my excitement when I first realized that it’s ‘Praise—my soul—the King of heaven,’ and not ‘Praise my soul the king of heaven’ (which of course makes no sense at all)! The first thing we do in choir warm-up before services is to go through the hymns, look at the phrasing and breathing and try to make sense of the text. The last lines of John Donne’s superb Lenten hymn are “And having done that, thou hast done, I fear no more.” The music might suggest that we should sing “And having done, that thou hast done, I fear no more,” so we must be very clear to put the comma after ‘that’ by carrying through without a breath after ‘done,’ otherwise I’m not at all clear about what we’ve just said. Look at hymn 477, the fourth stanza: “Wherefore, by God’s eternal purpose, thou art high exalted o’er all creatures now,”. Seeing it as prose the phrasing and implication are obvious, but the music leads us to sing “Wherefore by God’s eternal purpose thou, art high….” Again, it makes no sense to sing it that way, so each of us must intentionally lift after ‘purpose’ to make it read ‘thou art high….” There is nothing cavalier or happenstance about how hymns are chosen, played and sung at St. Mark’s. Each hymn is selected for its appropriateness for the lessons and the tenor of the service at which it will be sung, and its (in our best judgment) familiarity. They are studied and practiced, then rehearsed with the choir with the intention of giving strong leadership to the congregation. Come to church a few minutes early next Sunday, and after a moment of quiet prayer, take a look at the hymns, study the words and the punctuation. Then see if it helps you to “sing with the spirit and with the understanding” (psallam, spiritu et mente).
ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH PARISH LIFE CALENDAR ~ JUNE 2015
