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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Music at St. Peter’s, Part 2 – The Concerts
Part One of this series on the organ is here.
Last week there was a focus on our wonderful Steven’s organ. This week it is about the concerts that featured the organ and other instruments .
Most of the concerts below were during Nell Clarke’s tenure as organist (1982-2000). She is pictured above in one of her concerts. Nell earned a masters of music at the University of North Carolina, taught many years at her studio in Fredericksburg and also taught part-time at Germanna Community College. On Sundays she was at St. Peter’s. Most of the concerts were in the fall on Sundays. In several case, she took a collection during the concerts for organ maintenance.
We have not held these concerts for several years and not in a series. Should we schedule concerts again and if so, should we consider a small concert series ?
- Oct 18,1970 – Program of Organ, Flute and Vocal Two organists play – Cleveland Fisher play selections by Beethoven and Purcell. Paul Birckner played Bach and Pachelbel, Carolyn Fix sang, Bryan Dyker played a piece by Telemann. Program .
- Nov 11, 1984 – Music for strings and organ. Becky Riley and Cindy Ross to perform on violin, Ann Hamer on cello. They performed works by Zohann Zach, Haydn, Mozart. Free Lance-Star article
- Nov 24, 1985 – Nell Clarke, organ, vocal and string with tenor John Samarie from Culpeper, violinist Cindy Ross, Ann Hamer cello. Works included Bach’s Pastorale for Organ, arias from the Cantatas “Sleeper’s Awake” and “Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds”, Handel’s Sonata in D, No. 4 for violin, cello and organ. Free Lance-Star article
- Nov 4, 1990 – Nell Clarke performs works by Telemann, Mozart, C. P. E. Bach. Becky Riley and Cindy Ross to perform on violin, Ann Hamer on cello and harpsichord. Free Lance-Star article
- April 16, 1993 – Nell Clarke performs Bach “Pastorale”, French noel “When Jesus was Born at Christmas” ,3 choral preludes by Brahms. Free Lance-Star article
- October 20, 1996 Nell Clarke. Works Americans may have performed in their parlors- “Refuge” by William Horatio Clarke, “Trip to Pawtucket” by Oliver Shaw, “Voluntary VIII” by William Selby, “Adagio” by Lucien Southard. Then there were works by English composers Matthew Camidge, Raynor Taylor. The program concluded with transcriptions of the final chorus of “Silla” and the march from “Deidamia”, both operas by G. F. Handel. Free Lance-Star article
- Oct 10, 2010 – Thomas Marshall from Williamsburg demonstrating 4 centuries of organ music from Garbrielli to Vierne on the George Stevens organ. This was part of the 175th Anniversary. Article and photo gallery
How Does your garden grow ?
For a future article, we would like to spotlight gardeners at St. Peter’s . This includes both flower and vegetable gardeners. With all the rain your garden should be in good shape. We are looking for pictures and descriptions of your garden, such as how big, what have you grown, successes and difficulties, etc. We would especially like to hear about a spiritual component to gardening. You can upload your picture here. or email them hereYou may upload as many pictures as you like. It also asks for a description and your name. One picture description may be that of your garden and the others simpler describing only the picture included. Your choice. Thanks!
Coming up – Mid- August Extravaganza, August 10-16
1. ECM picnic at Johnny Davis, Saturday August 10, 4pm. Crabs & Barbecue
2. Vacation Bible School, Parish House, Monday to Thursday, August 12-15, 6pm
Supper, 6pm
Activities for children and adults 6:30pm to 7:30pm
3. Community Dinner – August 16, 2013 – 6pm, Parish House
Don’t see your pet ? Upload a picture
Prayer requests – Add a name to the prayer list here.
Sunday, July 28, 2013 (full size gallery)
August 4- 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Rite II and Baptism
August 4- 12:00pm, Coffee Hour at the Longs
This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings
Summer is a time for.. Running Across America, July 30, 2013
Barbara and Boyd ran across a couple, Johnny and Audrey, on July 30 in a trek across country from Oregon, one running and the other riding. They began end of April, 2013. Unique yes ! Through the "powers that be" they received a night stay at Fall Hill.
This relates well with 2nd Pentecost in June where we welcomed the stranger. Of course then it was healing the Centurion’s slave which was very different. Still the principle is the same – welcoming Johnny and Audrey as the sermon emphasized with "graciousness and generosity." Here, Boyd is helping Johnny with maps charting the next step on their journey:
Everyone needs a summer’s vacation. Don’t you think the buildings need a break from us ! The same old people and the same conversations. Yes.. We take vacations from it so it needs one from us.
Here’s their set up for the night:
There is a story here that is told in their blog
Doing some digging this is what I found…
Summer is a time for.. Going to Shrine Mont to camp!
The Fisher family loves Shrine Mont. Both Kimberly and Tucker went this summer and looks like from this picture Zeke got in the action too when Tucker was there recently:
They noted a deficiency – problems with the screens. Yes, and there are no ceiling fans. And there not enough bath houses as Kimberly stressed. Shrine Mont is going through a capital campaign beginning shortly. These items should be cleared up by next summer. We need to help out.
Tucker with Churchill Gibson leads the "Shouting Prayer"
"God loves the world!
God loves us!
God loves you!
I love you!
God loves me!
I love me!
Thanks be to God! Amen! (Aaaamen!)"
See more here on St. George’s camp
at Shrine Mont
In any case it remains Shrine Mont, a gift for all of us. Campers are never the same coming back home. They take part of the mountain home with them to save up for next summer. We can go up on retreats and have a moment to take a breath in the mountain air that will revive us.
Sunday Focus on "attitudes toward stuff" in the Kingdom
The four lectionary texts assigned for this Sunday have a common theme: "wealth". More specifically, the texts are concerned with attitudes toward wealth. The theme is considered in a variety of literary types: a parable, a piece of wisdom literature, a letter, and a psalm.
Background- Parable of the Rich Fool -Luke 12:13-21
Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. People seek him out – the Centurion that wants him who servant was on the road to death; in other cases with the widow of Nain he wonders into situations. Some might come to challenge him or justify themselves, like the lawyer who provided the context for the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37). Others came to Jesus with a complaint. We saw this in a previous exposition of the Mary/Martha story (10:38-42). Actually for this story we don’t know the motivation but it leads to another teaching moment. The gospel reading is here.
Jesus is in the middle of encouraging his disciples to confess even when they are under duress, when he is interrupted by one of the crowd who wants Jesus to settle a financial dispute between siblings. Jesus, however, refuses to enter into the family squabble and instead uses the situation as an opportunity to teach about the seduction of wealth.
The problem the man faced was a common and significant one–how to divide the property between siblings. At that time the older son received twice the inheritance of youngers ones – maybe this is a younger. It may be natural to come to Jesus – Rabbi’s were expected to arbitrate on matters of law, but Jesus is unwilling to play this role.
If Jesus had taken up the man’s challenge and entered into his life, he faced two problems: the first is that his intervention might provide the occasion for the brothers both to turn on Jesus; the second is that Jesus’ intervention would just open a Pandora’s box of more questions until Jesus had actually become the man’s attorney. Jesus may be a healer or teacher or proclaimer of the message of the kingdom, but he isn’t a judge in domestic disputes. . He knows his task and his limitations. Thus, Jesus really isn’t a "problem solver."
Do you have a clear sense of what you are about it in life? Jesus has an instinctive sense of what he ought to be doing; of when he ought to enter in and when he ought to keep his distance. Jesus’ explanation is "who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? Jesus doesn’t give an explanation for why he doesn’t want to intervene but finds the heart of the matter (abudance, greed) and throws it back to the questioner. Jesus reframes the question and it becomes a parable.
So how is your barn ? Parable of the Rich Fool
The second part of this scripture is the reframing of the man’s question and the parable -"Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Since there is stuff to be divided there could be “abundance of possessions” and the next step beyond that – greed.
The Greek word used here for greed means “yearning for more”. It is a form of idolatry. If greed is a desire to get more — then there is never a point where a greedy person has enough. Greed can never be satisfied. It is always looking to get more. In other places, there are writings against greed. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Ephesians 5:3-5. The greedy will not inherit the kingdom of God. It brings God’s wrath. greed can take many forms: the greed for attention, the greed for control, the greed for security.
Luke, by situating the parable of the rich fool right in the middle of Jesus’ predictions of his own death and the plots to kill him, connects this universal human desire for more with universal human insecurity and fear of death.
The parable is about a farmer who does well – he has produced abundantly and has no place to store his crops so he will build larger barns. So what’s wrong with this ? David Lose causes us to assess the situation “He is not portrayed as wicked – that is, he has not gained his wealth illegally or by taking advantage of others. Further, he is not portrayed as particularly greedy. Indeed, he seems to be somewhat surprised by his good fortune as he makes what appears to be reasonable plans to reap the abundance of the harvest. What is wrong, we might therefore ask, about building larger barns to store away some of today’s bounty for a potentially leaner tomorrow?
Lose goes on. “Except for two things. First, notice the farmer’s consistent focus throughout the conversation he has with himself: "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul…."
The relentless use of the first person pronouns "I" and "my" betray a preoccupation with self. There is no thought to using the abundance to help others, no expression of gratitude for his good fortune, no recognition of God at all. The farmer has fallen prey to worshiping the most popular of gods: the Unholy Trinity of "me, myself, and I." This leads to, and is most likely caused by, a second mistake. He is not foolish because he makes provision for the future; he is foolish because he believes that by his wealth he can secure his future: "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."
Wealth is not the problem but how we use it – wealth for its own enjoyment or own end. It’s thinking that possessions lead to a satisfied life. Bigger barns do not necessarily bring happiness and contentment. They rob us of the person who builds the barns. People retire and set them up to separate themselves from a world they help to build. The man in this story does not have the vision and/or imagination to see beyond his own walls. He is his own prisoner.
The text says that the man decided to gather in these new barns not just the grain from the harvest but "my goods" (v. 18). He is thinking of barns not just for the grain but also for his "goods." He can kill two birds with one stone, but in Jesus’ parable, it is as if he is killing his soul by the expansion project. Then he has thoughts that he has made it and can kick back. The idea of celebrate goes back to the parable of the prodigal son to describe the festive atmosphere at the return of the prodigal.” In the end the grim reaper may be coming for him.
The story ends: "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
The parable tells us about two different kinds of riches–those toward oneself and those toward God.
Paul and Galatians, Part 2 – 6 major elements in Paul’s thought
Did you miss part 1 ?
Editor’s note – On August 12-15, the Adult portion of vacation Bible school will study of Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians. Over the next three weeks we will look at Paul and a background to Galatians. Last week a summary of Paul’s life and this week his thought in general.
Based on Pauls authentic letters James Tabor in his new book Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity has isolated six major elements in Pauls Christianity that shape the central contours of his thought:
"1. A New Spiritual Body. For Paul the belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead was a primary and essential component of the Christian faith. He states emphatically: "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). His entire understanding of salvation hinged on what he understood to be a singular cosmic event, namely Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Paul’s understanding of the resurrection of Jesus, however, is not what is commonly understood today. It had nothing to do with the resuscitation of a corpse…Paul understood Jesus’ resurrection as the transformation—or to use his words—the metamorphosis, of a flesh-and-blood human being into what he calls a "life-giving spirit."
"So transformed, Jesus was, according to Paul, the first "Adam" of a new genus of Spirit-beings in the universe called "Children of God," of which many others were to follow.
2. A Cosmic Family and a Heavenly Kingdom. According to Paul this new genus of Spirit-beings of which Jesus was the "firstborn" is part of an expanded cosmic family (Romans 8:29). Paul believed that Jesus was born of a woman as a flesh-and-blood human being, descended from the royal lineage of King David, so he could qualify as an "earthly" Messiah in Jewish thinking. But for Paul such physical Davidic lineage was nothing in comparison to the glorification of Jesus as the firstborn Son of God. ..What this means is that God, as Creator, has inaugurated a process through which he is reproducing himself—literally bringing to birth a "God-Family."
"The destiny of this cosmic heavenly family is to rule over the entire universe. .. Jesus described it in clear and simple terms in the prayer he taught his disciples: "Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
"3. A Mystical Union with Christ. Paul completely transformed the practice and understanding of baptism and the Eucharist to his Greek-speaking Gentile converts…Baptism brought about a mystical union with what Paul called the "spiritual body" of Christ, and was the act through which one received the impregnating Holy Spirit.
"4. Already but Not Yet. Paul operated with a strongly apocalyptic perspective that influenced all he said or did. He was quite sure that he and his followers would live to see the return of Christ from heaven. Life in the world would go on, but not for long. Everything was soon to be transformed…Paul states emphatically that the "appointed time has grown very short" and he advised his followers not to marry, begin a new busi¬ness, or worry if they were slaves, since everything in the world was about to be turned upside down and all social relations were terminal.
5. Under the Torah of Christ. As a Jew Paul decisively turned his back on the Torah revelation given to Moses on Mount Sinai, with all of its laws, customs, and traditions. In other words, Paul abandoned his Judaism. He would have never put it that way, though, since what he advocated he called a new and true Judaism, making the first version obsolete. He maintained that the Torah had now been replaced and superseded by the new Torah of Christ (Galatians 3:23-26). He never denied that the one God of Israel, who had sent Jesus and glorified him as Son of God, had once spoken through Moses and the Prophets. What he insisted upon was that alongside the one God of Israel was an exalted heavenly Lord Jesus, to whom the whole cosmos would be in obeisance.
What Paul proposed as a replacement of the Torah of Moses he called the Torah of Christ. It was not a legal code, written in stone or on parchment, but a manifestation of the Christ-Spirit in those who had been united with Jesus through baptism, both Jews and non-Jews.
"6. The Battle of the Apostles. Paul understood his own role as an apostle, "last but not least," as he put it, as the essential and pivotal element in God’s cosmic plan to bring about the salvation of the world through unworthy even to be an apostle, he nonetheless believed that his call to be an apostle was a singular and extraor¬dinary event (1 Corinthians 15:9-10). Unlike the other apostles, who had been chosen by Jesus at the beginning of his preaching in Galilee, Paul believed that he had been set apart and called before he was even born—while still in his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15).
"Given this perspective one might conclude that rather than being last, Paul was chosen before all the others. His "conversion," then, would just be a matter of God determining the time was right to reveal Paul as an apostle. As Paul puts it: God chose to "re¬veal his Son to me" (Galatians 1:16). This places him in a rather extraordinary position with reference to the original apostles, since he understood that his singular position as the "Thirteenth Apostle" was to take the message about Christ to the non-Jewish world. This special mission, he believed, was essential for him to complete before the end of the age could arrive. Just as Christ was sent to his own people, the Jewish nation, to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, Paul, as a kind of "second Christ," was commissioned to go to the entire world (Romans 15:8-9).