The Lessons Appointed for use on
The First Sunday after Epiphany
The Baptism of our Lord 
Year C
RCL 
 
 
The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two 
Ten o'clock in the morning 

January 10, 2016  
 
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The Baptism
1442
Artist: Piero della Francesca
Tempera on panel167 x 116 cm
National Gallery, London
Source: The Artchive

THE COLLECT FOR SUNDAY
January 10, 2016

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
 
WORSHIP NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY
  
  Tuesday of this week was the last of the twelve days of Christmas, and on Wednesday, January 6, we celebrated the Epiphany, Christ's appearing to the whole world as Lord and Savior. This Sunday we will celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, when the Holy Spirit came to rest upon him-and then, by extension, on all who have joined him in the waters of new birth.

    If Christmas is about how much God loved his people in the world and sent his Son to save them, and if the Epiphany is about how that love is extended to all people and revealed to them, then Our Lord's Baptism is about how much we ought to love him. Out collect for this Sunday says, "Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior."

    Near the end of his life, the writer and theologian Marcus Borg reflected on what mattered most out of his lifetime's learning about being a Christian: Jesus' radical way of compassion is always first. Borg wrote, "Imagine that Christianity is about loving God. Imagine that it is not about the self and its concerns, not about 'what's in it for me,' whether that be a blessed afterlife or prosperity in this life." Borg's comments suggest that what matters most in a Christian's life is expressing our love for God through keeping the covenant that we have made in our baptism and in all we do confessing him as our Lord and Savior.

    What would it mean in our lives to begin every day by saying, "Today I will keep the promises I made in my baptism"? How would our lives change if we began each day by renewing our commitment to those promises-to claim Christ as our Savior and turn to him, to continue in fellowship and prayer with the Church, to persevere in resisting evil, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to proclaim the Good News in all areas of our lives, to strive for justice and peace among all people?

    Keeping these promises every day is not a dreary duty, not a list to be kept, not a collection of good deeds to be weighed in eternity. It is the joy and wonder of being fully alive and loving God.

    In the season after the Epiphany, before we reach Lent, we enjoy a time of reveling in loving the God who loves us so much and walks with us every day of our lives. 

 


 
The Very Reverend Beverly Findley Gibson
Ph.D., Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral 
  
 
MUSIC NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

After a blessed Christmas and a time of rest, our music ministry is poised to start the second half of our 2015-2016 Music Season this week. On Sunday morning, join us for the celebration of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord. Our hymns reflect Christ's baptism in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist, and they also point toward other events of the Epiphany season. This season always occurs after Christmas, and focuses on Jesus' many miracles and, more importantly, manifestations of Christ's divine identity. While some denominations don't celebrate Epiphany as a season, rather referring to it and the Sundays after Pentecost as Ordinary Time, all liturgical churches adhering to the lectionary (cycle of readings) read the familiar Epiphany readings (baptism, wedding at Cana, mount of Transfiguration, etc). Musically, Epiphany is an incredibly fertile time in its hymnody and choral repertoire. Like Advent, there simply isn't enough time to sing everything!
 
This Sunday, we begin with a hymn that truly has the meaning of Epiphany as a season at heart, Songs of thankfulness and praise. The old German hymn tune, brilliantly harmonized by J. S. Bach (1685-1750), is paired with a text by Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885), and a fourth verse by F. Bland Tucker (1895-1984). Each verse ends with the phrase, "God in man made manifest." From there, our service moves toward the Gospel reading of Jesus' baptism, and we sing On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry as the Sequence hymn. Our Communion hymns focus on the Holy Spirit, certainly an important part of manifestation and baptism, and finally, the Recessional hymn, Hail to the Lord's anointed, sums everything up by returning to a celebration of Christ's identity. This last hymn is, interestingly, a German folk song adapted and harmonized by none other than H. Walford Davies (1869-1941), one of the most influential English organist/choirmasters and teachers of his generation. The text is a paraphrase of Psalm 72.
 
Sunday's musical centerpiece is the Offertory anthem, Jesus is my joy forever (Jesus bleibet meine freude), by J. S. Bach. It is actually part of a larger work, Cantata BWV 147. The cantata has the Visitation of St. Mary to Elizabeth as its liturgical theme, and while that story takes place during Advent, if that isn't a manifestation of Christ, I don't know what is! Innumerable volumes have been written about Bach's use of symbolism in his compositions, and his cantatas are as dramatic as any opera of his day. One very special aspect of the Lutheran cantata of the Baroque period is its vacillation between  proclamation of scripture and a response on behalf of the listener. Jesus is my joy forever is one of those responses.
 
Finally, please attend our first Epiphany concert this Sunday at 4:00 P. M. in the church. The program, Paris, 1690, features a combination of organ music and Gregorian chant presented in approximately the way it was heard in Paris in the year of its composition, 1690. This concert will also feature meditations by our Cathedral Dean. Come and bring friends!


 



 
 
Christopher Powell
Organist and Choir Master
 
MINISTERS OF THE LITURGY
 
Celebrant
Dean Gibson

First Reading
Douglas Kearley

Second Reading
Lucy Moore

Intercessor
Bob Israel

Chalice Bearers
Rick Mitchell, Leland Moore

Oblationers
Rebecca and Chip Tait

Crucifers
 Anna Frances Weeks, Kate Watkins

Acolytes
Elinor Gibson, Barton Elliott,
 Maria Napier, William Russell

Children's Chapel
Skip Archer, Rose Elliott

Altar Guild
 Kathy Thurber, Robbie Lynn Irvine, Leslie Ladd,
Lucy Lyons, Hetty Newell, Paula Watkins

Flower Guild
Ann Moody

Ushers
 Lewis Golden, Stephen Baker, Travis Russell,
Henry Seawell, Chip Tait

Hospitality Team
 Sage Bolt, Lucy and David Brady, Betsy McCafferty,
Laura Rutherford, Carolyn Eichold, Shannon Reeves

CATHEDRAL NOTES

EYC AND FUN CLUB
Today, January 10, 2016
Sunday after Christian formation, our youth will enjoy lunch at the Cathedral and then head to Cooper Riverside Park (Water and Government Streets) to go ice skating! The approximate cost is $10. For more information, please see Canon Wagner, Sarah Bolt, or Banks Ladd.


MORNING CIRCLE
Monday, January 11 at 10:30 a.m.
At the home of Peggy McClelland,
157 Oakway Drive
For information or directions, call Carolyn Stephenson at 342-5637.


EPIPHANY CONCERT SERIES

Sunday, January 10 at 4:00 p.m.
Paris, 1690

Cathedral organist, Christopher W. Powell, and ladies of the choir will present François Couperin's Messe pour les convents (Mass for the convents). In this work, ancient Gregorian Chant from the
choir alternates with beautifully composed organ interludes. Hear this music the way it would have been performed in Paris the year of its composition, 1690.

Sunday, January 17 at 4:00 p.m.
Choral Evensong: Celebrating Women Composers
Choral Evensong is one of the chief glories of the Anglican choral tradition, but it can be interpreted in
myriad ways. In this beautiful service of prayer and song, we will hear music composed entirely by
women. The feminine aesthetic, too seldom heard, will enhance our worship this day. Come pray, sing,
listen, and hear something new.

Sunday, January 24 at 4:00 p.m.
Cathedral Pops: Sacred Favorites
In our second annual Cathedral Pops concert, hear Cathedral musicians perform sacred favorites old and new. Always a treat, come be inspired by music you know and love. This is musical "comfort food" at its best.



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THE CATHEDRAL CELEBRATES
  COOKBOOK
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, Butch Trawick, Alice Carwie, Katherine Deaton, Hank Cobb, Jordan Moore, The Rev. Ellis Wilkins, The Rev. Dennis Brown, The Rev. Matt Currin

Friends & Family:
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, Jim Elia, Anne Brown, Mark Brown, Harriett Lillich, Dave Carlyn Block, Rachel McClanahan, Tom Cunningham, 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, Carolyn Pryor, Merle Findley, Louise Douglas, Shirley & Dunlap Peeples, Steve Harris, Marian Macpherson Currie, 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, Betty Browder, Allan Tucker, Kathy Sanders, Clarise Waters, Glenn Hill, Leslie Ellis Sharbel, Marian Hall, Homer Kemp, Jane Behlen, Dan Jones, Carolyn Graham, Ralph Neal, Mark
Mason, Anita Stead, Tim Fulton, Bennett Stenger, Gladys Crowson, Billy Yost, Noel Fell, the Ward Family, Sybil Willis Rodgers, Hap Myers, Jr., Paul Vickers, Sr., George Robison, Georgia Dominick, Robin Wade, Randy Moore, Rick Nichols, Kate Heddrich, Julie Brinson, Ceaser Bryant, Moana Karstater, Icy Lee Neel, Frances Robison, Emily Hubbard, Mike Dowers, Jason Lockwood, Ainsely McNeely, Pat Fisher, Bubba Murray, Bernice Vickers, Jerry Collins, Grady McMillan, Bobby Moss, Kerry Goode, The Rev. John Rees, Chris Schnieder, Liz Charbonnet Talmadge, John Day Peake, Jr., A. J. Villars, Kay Koffler, Tay Morrissette, Robert L. Hatcher, Bob Williams, Dino Frangos, Mary Katzman, Jennifer Strong, David Keniston, Zaidee Galloney, Maggie Behlen, Evelyn and Bill McGeHee, Carl Cunningham, Sr., Chrissie Irby, Adele Stuardi Gwatkin, Betty Ruth Patek, Lydia Moore, Bill Betbeze

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, 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, Tom Pearce, Colton Ulmer

Anglican Cycle of Prayer:
The Anglican Church of Australia

Cathedral Cycle of Prayer:
St. Monica's, Cantonment; the ministry of Sara Phillips, Pastoral Leader of St. Mary's, Coden

Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer:
The Church in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq; and Greater Morning Star Baptist Church, Mobile

Prison Ministry Cycle of Prayer:
Holmes County Jail, Bonifay, Florida

Flowers:
The flowers on the altar are given to the glory of God and in memory of Harwell Ellis Coale and Lida Goodloe Coale, Dr. James Tunstall Inge and Helen Moore Inge, Marion Inge Goodloe and Mason French Goodloe.
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