Fun Facts Surrounding Advent

Like with Lent, we will be utilizing the daily Advent meditations to provide a few things to think about during this Advent season.  To get us started on this St. Andrew's Day, here are a few fun facts about Advent:

• Advent, the period leading up to Christmas, begins with the Sunday nearest to St Andrews Day (November 30) and always includes four Sundays. It can begin as early as November 27 or as late as December 3 meaning that advent can vary in length between 21 days and 28 days.
• The Twelve Days of Christmas are the days between Christmas Day and Epiphany and represent the length of time that the three wise men from the East took to reach the manger of Jesus Christ after his birth.
• The festival of Epiphany on January 6, for western churches, commemorates the showing of the Christ child to the three wise men. In the Orthodox tradition and other eastern churches it marks Christ’s baptism.
• The names of the three wise men are Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior.
• 26 December is traditionally known as St Stephen's Day, but in the UK it is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. 
• Silent Night was written in 1818, by Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. The story goes that his church organ was broken so he had to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music.

While the practice of saying novenas is generally related to the Catholic Church, Anglicans and some Episcopals keep up the practice for their private devotions.  A novena is 9 days of devotions on the same subject.

St. Andrew's Prayer or the Christmas Anticipation Novena is slightly different than other Novenas that are said, in that rather than saying it once for nine days, this prayer is said 15 times a day from St. Andrew's Day until Christmas.  As a reminder of the "reason for the season" as they say, it's not a bad way to keep the right things in mind during the season:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Bishop's Round-Up

BISHOP’S ROUND-UP

An occasional newsletter from Bishop Brookhart
Mid-summer, 2013

The Wood Bank ministry of St. James’, Dillon, has once again been awarded a United Thank Offering grant.  Congratulations to the workers and to the Rev. Harry Neeley for this important ministry.

The Rev. Valerie Webster, priest associate at All Saints’, BigSky, has been named as Ecumenical Officer for the diocese.  Thanks go to the Rev. Robyn Barnes, who previously held that position.

St. Luke’s Church, Libby, is taking part in a back pack ministry (back packs are stuffed with food and other necessaries) and a hot meal program on weekends for the children of Libby.

St. James’ Church, Lewistown, has been given a Serve Montana award by the state for their recycling ministry. 

The Revs. Joan Yetter and Dori Zubizurretta  have received training in disasterpreparedness programs.  You will be hearing more about a possible diocesan-wide effort from them at the diocesan convention.  St. Stephen’s Church, Stevensville, has already developed a disaster preparedness procedure.

Last year churches in the diocese distributed $36,000 in scholarships for Camp Marshall!  Thank you to all involved, but also remember that we will need to continue to make it possible for young people to go to camp in the future, when the needs will be even greater.

Deaths:  Mrs. Pat Wallace, wife of the Rt. Rev. Leigh Wallace, passed away on March 17.  Mr. George Grice, long-time member of St.Paul’s, Virginia City, and member of many diocesan committees, died on March 19.  May they rest in peace, and rise in glory.

Eight youth from St. Mark’s Church, Big Timber, went on a mission trip to Haiti during the first week of June.

The Rev. David Gunderson continues therapy after major shoulder surgery.

The annual diocesan convention will be Oct. 11-13, and will be hosted by Christ Church, Kalispell.  Registration and other important data are on the diocesan web-site.

NOTE: we have a new and improved diocesan web-site: diomontana.com.  Check it out.

The Congregational Development Committee will be arranging autumn training events from vestries and clergy regarding membership drives and congregational growth.  The Rev. PaulBresnahan, a proven expert on church development and social outreach, will be the leader.  Watch for future details.

Priests and deacons, mark it on your calendar: clergy conference at Camp Marshall, April 29-May 1, 2014.  All clergy are expected to attend.

The Rev. Canon Gary Waddingham has retired as Rector of St.Luke’s Church, Billings, after many years of service there.  The congregation celebrated his ministry with a special reception on May 25, at which he was given gifts of appreciation.  He will continue as a regional canon and also has been appointed historiographer of the diocese.

The Rev. Dr. John Toles has become the long-term interim Rector of St. Luke’s, Billings.  He will hold that position for three years with the possibility that he may be called by the Vestry and Bishop as the permanent incumbent.

The Pintler/St. Joan of Arc Cluster, composed of the churches in Anaconda, Butte, Deer Lodge and Philipsburg, has begun the search process for a new rector.

The Bishop has begun exploring the possibility of further ministry among urban Native Americans in Helena and Great Falls.  The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher from Alaska, herself a native person, visited those two cities at the end of May for the purpose of assessing the needs and possibilities of this sort of ministry.  Additionally, Bishop Brookhart has been in contact with other bishops about funding sources for the future.

Bishop Brookhart was is Washington, DC, in June to meet with Senator Tester and Congressman Daines regarding health insurance, mental health care and gun control as they effect the life of the diocese.

A possible candidate for the position of Youth Minister/Camp Director will be visiting the diocese later this month.  This person will be meeting with a variety of people from around the diocese, as well as visiting Diocesan House and CampMarshall.

The Bishop has been in contact with the Episcopal Church Foundation about a possible planned giving and capital campaign.  He and the diocesan staff met with Sue Fornabai about general information, and in September members of the Standing Committee, Diocesan Council and Foundation Board members will meet with Terri Mathes to talk about details for this possibility.  The purpose of this would be to insure the financial durability of the diocese with special focus on Camp Marshall and on endowments for congregations and the diocese.

The Church of the Nativity, Helena, celebrated its last Eucharist on Pentecost Sunday.  After more than a year of prayer and discussion the vestry asked that the congregation be closed.

Bishop Brookhart will be on vacation much of August, although he will be in and out of the office periodically.  He will be attending the House of Bishops meeting in Nashville, Sept. 18-25.

Recommended reading:

The Challenge of Easter by N.T. Wright.  An accessible and short study of Easter texts by the foremost, active New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham in England.

Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality by Richard Rohr.  An accessible look at the nexus of scripture, psychology and spiritual practice by a highly regarded Franciscan priest.

And God Spoke: The Authority of the Bible forthe Church Today by Christopher Bryan, the Benedict Professor of New Testament at Sewanee Seminary in Tennessee.  An extremely important and fascinating work.

Mary Magdalene - 3 Part Video Series

There is exciting news from the Episcopal Church Women's (ECW) organization.  They have put together a three-part video series called "Mary Magdalene:  Strength and Shame." 

The Very Reverend Katherine B. (Kate) Moorehead is the 10th Dean of St. John's Cathedral and Dean of the Diocese of Florida.  A Vassar College graduate with a Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary, Dean Moorehead is the author of three books:  Organic God (2006), Between Two Worlds (2004) and Get Over Yourself:  God's Here (2009).

Lecture One:  Possession by Demons - Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala and sometimes The Magdalene, is a religious figure in Christianity.  In the New Testament, Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", sometimes interpreted as referring to complex illnesses.  She became Jesus' close friend.  (The video is 14:28 minutes long.)


Lecture Two:  Dependence on Jesus - Mary became Jesus' close friend.  She was most prominent during his last days.  When Jesus was crucified by the Romans, Mary Magdalene was there supporting him in his final terrifying moments and mourning his death.  She stayed with him at the cross after the male disciples had fled.  She was at his burial.  (This video is 15:56 minutes long)

Lecture Three:  Seeing Resurrection - In all four New Testament Gospels, Mary Magdalene is the first (either alone or with a group of women) to arrive at Jesus' tomb, where she encounters an angel (or a pair of angels) who instructs her to go tell the disciples that Jesus has risen.  She was the first person to see Jesus after his Resurrection.  Mary was the "apostle to the apostles," according to Augustine.  (This video is 12:16 minutes long.)

This series is made possible by the Episcopal Church Women of the Province VI of the Episcopal Church, through a grant from the Province, and the efforts of many women.  The series may be accessed by clicking on the links above, or by searching Kate Moorehead/Mary Magdalene on YouTube.
 

The Rock

The gospel today in John 21 pulls together the times when Peter is called "the Rock", and there's a great sermon by Frederick Buechner that puts it all in one place.

The interesting thing about Peter is that he was a man, with good and bad, strong and weak points - he was human, like the rest of us.  And if Christ thought that Peter was worthy to feed His sheep, then perhaps we should take up where he left off.

A Different Point of View

This is what happens when you play with the "Next Blog" function at the top of the page - you can sometimes find things oh, so well worth reading!  This sermon about Judas comes from an Episcopal priest in California.  Just a warning - have tissues ready, and don't skip the poem.

Alleluia! He is Risen!

My favourite part of Easter is finally being able to say Alleluia again.  After the period of Lent in which we don't say it, it is especially joyful, knowing that we say Alleluia! He is Risen, and our spirits lighten, knowing that this is the basis for our Faith.

For those interested in knowing where the tradition of eliminating Alleluia came from, there's a good explanation here, and a cute explanation by Miss Mannerly on Page 2.

Happy Easter to all!  He is Risen indeed!

 

End of Lent

Well, for some reason, I've always thought that Lent went from Ash Wednesday through Easter, but apparently, it stops at Palm Sunday (which I likely never would have known had I not been writing daily blogs in response to the Credo reflections).

This has been a challenging and fun exercise this Lent, allowing me to focus more on what fasting and feasting is really all about.  With luck, this has made enough of an impression on my habits to keep up a weekly blog on this site. 

Happy Holy Week to all, and may you have been as blessed this Lenten season as we were at Holy Trinity.