Christ Church Cathedral  

Mobile, Alabama

  

Cathedral E-News        March 20, 2015  

                                       

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The Fifth Sunday of Lent
   
 
Year B 
RCL
 
  March 22, 2015
     

 

 The Holy Eucharist

 Rite I  

    10:00 am    

 

     





St. Vitale - Abel and Melchizedek Sacrificing
 

Notes: Mosaic on the right (south) lunette of the chancel, depicting Abel and Melchizedek bringing their offerings to the altar.
On the adjoining spandrals are Isaiah (upper right) and Moses loosening his sandals before the Burning Bush (upper left) 
Date: 521-547 

Source: Art in the Christian Tradition, 
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, 
Nashville, TN. 
  


 THE COLLECT 
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 

 

 

 

MINISTERS FOR SUNDAY

 

 

Celebrant
Canon Wagner

Preacher
Dean Gibson

First Reading
Henry Seawell

Psalmist
Judy Henson

Second Reading
Margaret Thigpen

Intercessor
Bob Israel

Chalice Bearers
Judy Henson, Skip Archer

Oblationers
Cathy and Tommy Taylor   


Crucifers

Ellie Grehan, Kate Watkins

Acolytes
Julianna Ramo, Charlie Ramo William Russell,  Sadie Ladd, Virginia Ladd

Children's Chapel
Corinne Betbeze, Lissa Watkins, Rose Elliott

Altar Guild
Carolyn Stephenson, Lyn Bennett, Holly Hall, Nance Stephens, Lynn Yankie

Flower Guild
Homer McClure

Ushers
Ken McElhaney, Len Ramo, Bill Rodgers, Wythe Whiting

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORSHIP NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

The Fifth Sunday of Lent   March 22, 2015

   

   We begin the fifth week in Lent with scriptural lessons that show how the powerful goodness of God's love redeems the fragility of being mortal-through that very mortality.   

  

    From the prophet Jeremiah we will hear how God promises restored relationship with his people despite their brokenness and misdeeds. The new covenant that God forms with his people will be in our hearts. God says, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."   

  

    Our psalm, Psalm 51, is an expression of our response to God's desire for this covenant with us: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." This beautiful penitential psalm is an extended prayer for forgiveness, and it demonstrates how confession of sin is a pre-condition for accepting that forgiveness.

  

    The Letter to the Hebrews explains how Jesus shared human weakness and suffering in order to become a source of salvation for human beings. Jesus demonstrates this to his disciples in our gospel lesson from John. When Greeks come to Philip saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus," he and Andrew go to Jesus and tell him this. Jesus replies, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Then, he tells them in metaphorical language how this will be accomplished through his suffering and death: "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." He extends this process into the lives of his disciples: "Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also."

  

    This week concludes our Lenten exploration of "The Five Questions for (the End of) Life" by taking up the final question: "What would a good day look like?" Our lessons show us that such a day would begin with accepting our limitations-our brokenness and sinfulness-and acknowledging them before God in order to receive the forgiveness and wholeness he extends to us. Flowing out from that acceptance, a good day would be focused on what is truly important and enjoying what we love. Our collect for the day puts it this way: "Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise, that, among all the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely be fixed where true joys are to be found."  

 

The Very Reverend Beverly F. Gibson

Dean

Christ Church Cathedral    



 http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org/worship-notes-for-this-sunday

Visit the Cathedral website to download text from past sermons and listen to the recordings:

http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org/sermons.html  

 

 

 

 

 

THE BIBLE CHALLENGE

Week Five: Lent, March 23 - 30, 2015

 

   The fifth week of Lent brings us almost to the end of the book of Exodus and through the end of Matthew's gospel and into Mark. I hope that this new habit of reading through the Bible is bringing you a renewed sense of your own participation in the great story of the people of God.


    The portion of Exodus you will read this week may seem like a lot of detailed description that begs for skimming, but if you will focus your attention on the larger purpose for these detailed instructions, I think you will appreciate how God's law is designed to accomplish the promises of his covenant relationship. All the social and religious commands given to the Israelites and the ritual calendar flesh out the way of living outlined in the Decalogue. The core principles of God's way of being-justice and mercy-are established as principles for human living. Through observing the Sabbath we not only honor God but also honor human life as deserving rest and renewal. The concept of the Sabbath year for the land extends this same care and respect to all of creation.


    The psalms for this week carry on the themes of divine justice, the protection offered within the temple, and God's mercy and deliverance. Psalm 24 expresses this in familiar and consoling words: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? [...] One thing I asked of the Lord, the will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."


    The concluding chapters of Jesus' public ministry are recounted in the final portion of Matthew. The preparation for his final days, the Passover and Last Supper-then the temptation, betrayal, and desertion of his disciples-are followed by Jesus' arrest and trial and his passion and death. The empty tomb leads to his resurrection appearance and the giving of the great commission. Then Jesus' ministry begins again in the opening passages of Mark's spirited and swift moving account of the Good News.


    This week's reading is wonderful preparation for entering into Christ's passion on Palm Sunday and for following in his way through the events of Holy Week.   

  

The Very Reverend Beverly F. Gibson

Dean

Christ Church Cathedral

 

 

Find Dean Gibson's Bible Challenge study guides on the Cathedral website:  

http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org/lenten-discipline-the-bible-challenge  

 

Reading Schedule 

 

THE BIBLE CHALLENGE: READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR 
An accompanying devotional, The Bible Challenge: Read the Bible in a Year, by Episcopal priest, The Rev. Marek P. Zabriskie, is available in the Cathedral office for $15. Devotional materials are also available free of charge at:  www.thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org. If you are interest in participating as a part of a group here at Christ Church Cathedral, please contact Dean Gibson.  

 

 

 

 

 

MUSIC  NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

The Fifth Sunday of Lent     March 22, 2015

 

 

   This week, at Christ Church Cathedral, we observe the Fifth Sunday in Lent. Musically, you will notice things assuming a quieter and more introspective character compared to the more joyful overtones of last week's mid-Lent respite. Familiar hymns of comfort bring us simplicity before rushing into the dramatic and vivid liturgies of Holy Week.

 

   Our second communion hymn, Abide with me, fast falls the eventide, was written by The Rev. Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), a Scottish Anglican priest. The tune most often pared with this hymn is  Eventide by William Henry Monk (1823-1889). Monk was an English church musician and organist who was well known in his day as the choirmaster of King's College in London. The combination of a beautiful prayer set to beautiful music has made Abide with me a favorite of Christians everywhere and even bridges religious divisions. Mahatma Gandhi is said to have declared this to be his favorite hymn, it is played at sporting events, and one legend says it was the last song played by the band aboard the ill-fated Titanic. On this last Sunday before Palm Sunday, this hymn speaks not of darkness outdoors, but of the evening of life and our nearness to Christ's Passion. One account tells a story of Lyte writing this hymn text on his own deathbed.

   Sunday's
Offertory Anthem will be To mock your reign, O dearest Lord
with lyrics by Methodist minister F. Pratt Green (1903-2000) and music by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). Tallis was one of the few composers who avoided hostilities between Protestants and Catholics during the English Reformation. Composing in Latin for Catholics and English for Anglicans, Tallis treaded the margin of life and death during a time of upheaval in English religious life. The tune of Sunday's anthem is one of his most popular pieces and was perhaps most famously used in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasy On a Theme of Thomas Tallis. The haunting Tudor era melody fits the text perfectly. If you would like to read it ahead of time, the text may be found at number 170 in The Hymnal 1982.

 

   This Wednesday features the last of our Lenten Music at Noon concerts this season. You are invited to hear Brian Brown, principal violist of the Pensacola and Niceville Symphony Orchestras and Director of Music Ministry at St. Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, FL. Brian and I have worked together regularly for nine years, and we plan to present a program that features the many interesting facets of the viola and covers diverse styles of music.


 

Christopher W. Powell
Organist and Choir Master 

  

"Music Notes for this Sunday" are posted and archived 

each week on our new website here: 

 

 


    CATHEDRAL NOTES
 

PANCAKE BREAKFAST IN SUPPORT OF FUSE PROJECT
Sunday during hospitality
This is our spring youth outreach project. Tickets are available for $8 each or buy two, get one free. Thank you to our sponsors.

EYC
Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
The "mystery" is solved! EYC will meet at The Bolt's home (108 Levert Ave) for fun, dinner, and discussion.


ADULT INQUIRER'S CLASS
Tuesday, March 24 at 5:30 p.m.
in the Cathedral library
Please contact Dean Gibson or Canon Wagner if you would like to attend.


PALM CROSSES
Wednesday, March 25,
following Lenten lunch
We will gather following the final Lenten lunch, this Wednesday, March 25 to make palm crosses. Please join us. No prior experience is necessary. Save your crosses this year to be used in making ashes for Ash Wednesday, 2016.


NEW BABY MINISTRY SPONSORS
The New Baby Ministry is making baby blankets and need sponsors to help with purchase of "Heaven Yarn." It takes five skeins to make one blanket. Cost: $5 per skein/$25 per blanket. If you would like to help knit or to sponsor, please contact Cammie Israel at 478-7322 or [email protected].


EASTER MEMORIAL DONATIONS
Donations are $15 each and can be designated for Easter lilies, music, or for seasonal planting in the garden. All designations received by Monday, March 30 will be noted in the Easter bulletin. Envelopes are available on the ministry table or in the Cathedral office.

ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT
AND DONATIONS
Our Children's Easter Egg hunt for toddlers through grade 2 will take place in the garden following the Easter service, Sunday, April 5. Please bring a dozen stuffed, plastic eggs (no nuts or chocolate) for each child who will hunt by Good Friday, April 3.

LENTEN MUSIC SERIES
Lenten noon-day concerts are 30 minutes, followed by a luncheon in the Chapter House.
11:30 a.m.-Holy Eucharist, Rite II in the Chapel
12:00 p.m.-Meditation and Music in the Church
12:30 p.m.-Luncheon
in the Chapter House
($8 donation suggested)

Wednesday, March 25
Brian R. Brown, violinist and violist
Principal violist of the Pensacola and Niceville Symphony Orchestras, Music Director of the Northwest Florida Youth Orchestra, and Director of Music Ministry at St. Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida, Brian R. Brown will present a program of incredible beauty.



HOLY WEEK

PALM SUNDAY EUCHARIST
Palm Sunday, March 29
at 10:00 a.m.
      •  Liturgy of the Palms begins in the garden
      •  Stripping of the Altar
      •  Annual Parish Photo following the service
Celebrate Christ's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, his Passion and death, and his love for us all in this powerful worship service that runs the gamut of our human experience of God. Violinist Enen Yu will join us for this service.


HOLY WEEK
MID DAY HOLY EUCHARIST
Monday, March 30
through
Thursday, April 2
Noon in the Chapel

ALTAR GUILD
Maundy Thursday, April 2 following Noon Eucharist
The full Altar Guild will gather following Noon Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, April 2, to polish the silver.


MAUNDY THURSDAY
HOLY EUCHARIST
WITH FOOT WASHING
Maundy Thursday, April 2
at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel
Gather for an intimate chapel service in remembrance of Christ's last supper. Feel the veil between earth and heaven stretched thin in remembrance of him who loves us.


GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY
WITH CATHEDRAL CHOIR
Good Friday, April 3
at Noon in the Church
During this prayer service, draw near to Christ as he suffers and dies on the cross out of love and as an example for us all. Hear great musical works, including the iconic
Miserere by Allegri.


DECORATING THE CHURCH
FOR EASTER EUCHARIST
Saturday, April 4 at 9:30 a.m.
High school students are invited to help-by helping, students will earn service hours.


EASTER

FLOWERING OF
THE CROSS
Please remember to come a few minutes early on Easter Sunday, April 5, and bring flowers for the Easter Cross.

FESTIVAL EUCHARIST
Easter Sunday, April 5
at 10:00 a.m.
Rejoice in exultation and triumph during this jubilant Easter liturgy! Filled with joyous music and powerful prayers, this service is the high point of the Christian year. Guest artists will join us for this service.

Following service.....
EASTER EGG HUNT
11:15 a.m. in the garden 

 

CATHEDRAL PRAYERS

 
O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servants the help of your power, that their sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.    

 

We pray for: 

 

Members: Brink Brinkley, John Wade Thurber, Nick Nichols, Butch Trawick, Patti Biel, Alice Carwie, Raymond Fields, Lisa Williams, Fairley Morton, Katherine Deaton, Carol Rodgers, Bart Elliott, Hank Cobb, Icy Lee Neel, Dorothy Fulton 

 

Friends & Family: Deborah Beverley, Peggy Naughton, Gary Davis, Harrison Leff, Michael Cameron, Nancy & Don Cameron, Rob & Amy Archer Ellis, Joyce Lee, Davis Nelson, Michael Sumrall, Gwen Cook, Alfred Showers, Michael Sumrall, Jim Elia, Anne Brown, Mark Brown, Harriett Lillich, Dave Carlyn Block, Rachel McClanahan, Tom Cunningham, Francis Grace Hirs, Norma Beazley, Curtis Bullock, Valerie Boatman, Ann Jones, Hank Wozniek, Lisa Thompson, Stella Phillips, James Thomas, Ted Fraiche, Mark Miles, Tot Swanson, Art Swanson, Hayden Jenkins, Maggie Jenkins, Betty Ruth Patek, Carolyn Pryor, Merle Findley, Louise Douglas, Shirley & Dunlap Peeples, Steve Harris, Marian Macpherson Currie, Dianne McCall, Mary Lou Peake, Bill Goodloe, Kit & Roger Geil and the Geil family, Angel & Larry Torres, Kathy Boucvalt, Bill Stevens, Ginger Simpson, Karen Sentilles, Lila Fisk, Tracey Johnson, Joe Lowrey, Temple Webber, Celeste Hall, Betty Browder, Allan Tucker, Wyatt Ison, Kathy Sanders, Davis Sarrett, Clarise Waters, Glenn Hill, Leslie Ellis Sharbel, Cora Lemmon, Dewey Hardeman, Marian Hall, Homer Kemp, Jane Behlen, Dan Jones, Florence Tucker, Betty Larison, Kathy Brook Palefsky, Mike Barnett, Eleanor Taylor, Carolyn Graham, Ralph and Catherine Neal, Willie Stanton, Jr., Willie Thomas, Mark Mason, Anita Stead, Gillette Slaton, Alice Jones, Jim McCall, Tim Fulton, Carter Albrecht, Marty Davidson, Bennett Stenger, Gladys Crowson, Joe McDaniel, Sr., Billy Yost, Noel Fell, the Ward Family, Sybil Willis Rodgers, Hap Myers, Jr. 

 

For Those Serving in the Military: Brian Caselton, Louis Coggin, Jonathan Duralde, Tyler Gamble, Sam Garcia, Darrien Gibson, Parker Hollinghead, Kelley Hood, Brian Hudson, Abby Hutchins, Randy Johnson, Ron Lansong, Jean-Michael Lemieux, Chris Marslender, Zack Miller, Todd & Jordana Mouthaan, Keith Moss, Michael Nassar, Jerry Olin, Tyler Oubre, Brian Pennell, Josh Power, Daniel White-Spunner Reed, Susan Reniewicz, Evan Sizemore, John Snyder, Conner Thigpen, Ryan Anthony Thomas, Ryan Walker, The Rev. Bowen Woodruff, Angela Brunson Buysman

 

Repose of the Soul:  

Joseph Hunt Booth, Sr.


Anglican Cycle of Prayer: 
The Anglican Church of Morogoro, Tanzania


Cathedral Cycle of Prayer: 
St. Mary's Episcopal, Milton, Florida; Sara Phillips, Pastoral Leader, St. Mary's, Coden


Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer: 
The Church in China, Hong Kong, and Macao, and Ebenezer Baptist Church, Mobile


Prison Ministry Cycle of Prayer: 
Graceville Correctional Facility, Graceville, Florida

  

 

 

 

 
   

 THE MESSENGER: MARCH 2015 

 Lay Minister Schedule for MARCH & APRIL 2015 

     

 

Cathedral Calendar 

Cathedral Website 

Diocesan Website 

Email webmaster   

 

 

 

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL MISSION 

The Cathedral is the spiritual center of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.  The Cathedral is a dynamic and evolving church that serves as a liturgical, educational, and pastoral center for Diocesan life. It serves as a visible symbol of unity and promotes growth, hope, and a deepening trust in the Lord. The Cathedral is a place where the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be faithfully preached and responded to, and it will model new concepts and ideas for education, evangelism, and outreach to which the Gospel calls us.


 
    

 

 

 

 

Cathedral of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

 

Clergy and Staff  


The Right Reverend Philip Menzie Duncan, II, Bishop
The Very Reverend Beverly F. Gibson, Ph.D., Dean
The Reverend Daniel Andrew Wagner, Canon Pastor
Christopher William Powell, Organist and Choir Master
Carolyn S. Jeffers, Provost
Brenda J. Stanton, Financial Secretary
Marla J. Reis, Cathedral Secretary
Polly M. Garner, Assistant to the Provost
Deidre and Joe Williamson, Nursery
Judy J. Jones, Housekeeping

 

  

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Marla Reiss  

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Questions, suggestions, changes?

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Christ Church Cathedral          115 South Conception St.          Mobile, AL  36602
251.438.1822          251.433.3403 fax
www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org