Reflections on Last Year and a Focus for Our Future
by Peter Sherer
A year ago, on the Saturday after the Annual Meeting, the new Vestry reviewed several resumes of potential Interim Rector candidates. The following Saturday we interviewed the top two candidates on Skype and unanimously fell in love with Michele Morgan. The following week she visited us, met with the Vestry, and after considering an offer from another church in Washington, accepted the position with us. What a great start to our year!
My overarching goal for the year was to provide a sense of continuity during the transition while making whatever changes would ease the entry of a new Rector. I also wanted to regenerate enthusiasm for our life together that had naturally waned as we moved beyond Rector Paul Abernathy's ministry into an unknown future. The first order of business was to outline a plan for the year to meet the 12 challenges facing the church. We also needed to quickly reorient the Shrine Mont conference so that more parishioners would participate. Fortunately the experiment of Shrine Mont on the Hill was supported by the parish and fleshed out our approach to the challenges.
The theme that dominated our year, of course, was the search for a new Rector. The remarkable work by the Discernment and Search Committee produced four very talented people who were not quite a perfect fit for us. That created the unusual and wonderful opportunity to elevate Michele's position to become our Priest-in-Charge. She was very excited by the prospect and the over 100 enthusiastic emails and notes I received since have attested to our collective approval. The Vestry is now organizing 20 people to host lunch, dinners and coffees in groups of 6-8 people so that people can get to know Michele even better.
In retrospect, the decision to keep Michele as our Priest-in-Charge while very fortunate was not as unusual for us as it first appeared. The average Episcopal congregation is less than half our size, much more traditional, and is based in the suburbs. So candidates suitable for us are fewer and farther between than for most parishes. By the time you have eliminated candidates who are uncomfortable with skepticism, strong lay leadership, same sex marriage, a complex management assignment, non-traditional liturgy, and very high standards for preaching, you have reduced the ocean of Episcopal clergy to a select few. As many of you may recall, the previous Rector search committee could only offer one candidate to the Vestry, and that was Paul.
Other important work this year involved cleaning up our administrative and financial systems and hiring new staff to add to our programmatic and management sophistication. Caroline McAdams-Reynolds joined us in August and has already earned the admiration of parents and children through her enthusiasm, creativity and hard work. Patricia Schans--with the help of Linda Ewald, Penny Hansen, and Andrew Stafford--has steadied our financial systems and is winning rave reviews. The recent addition of Diana Church has added a very pleasant and competent presence to our administrative capacity. When you add them to the wonderful work that Justi Schunior does routinely and the extraordinary musicianship of Jeff Kempskie, the staff is now the strongest group we have ever assembled. We are so lucky.
Meanwhile, outstanding work was being done in a number of other areas of our 12 challenges. The need to reinvigorate the annual canvass was ably met by Mike Townsend and Nora Howell as the congregation dug deep and increased pledges to meet a challenging budget. A new Communications Working Group led by Martha Huizenga and Cristina White first focused on informational materials and a poster for newcomers in the foyer, before turning their attention to redoing the website. The new website will be ready soon. Good news.
Taking care of our new space was a major challenge facing Junior Warden Doris Burton, Manciple Jack Burton and the Fabric Committee. Not only have they engaged a cost-effective management company to oversee the several contracts on our major equipment such as the HVAC system and the kitchen appliances, but they also have rethought our approach to keeping our space clean and inviting. We have replaced aging gutters and will soon spruce up the stained glass windows and create a new rain garden. Bravo.
Our challenge to keep our liturgy lively and spiritually engaging has been a huge success. Led by Jessie Babcock and Valeri Byrd, Sunday services have been remarkable starting with last Palm Sunday, Easter, Christmas, the Earth Day Jazz Mass and ending with the Taize services recently. The choir has reached an entirely new level of musicianship under Jeff's leadership and we are all grateful. Everyone has told me how much they look forward to what surprises are in store on Sunday. Great work.
Marlan Green and Ruth Ann Hess led the extremely competent Outreach Board as it continued to fine-tune its grants to various partner organizations. A remarkable event was the Third Annual Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence, which brought key activists to Washington to lobby on the Hill. The evening worship service attracted the most people to our Nave all year, and national media covered speeches by violence prevention leaders and our own Bishop Mariann Budde. The group wants to return next year. We are making a difference.
And what would our year have looked like if we had not met the challenge of having more fun under the leadership of Marilu Sherer? Highlights included Maundy Thursday Dinner, A Woman to Woman welcome dinner for Michele, Shrine Mont on the Hill, the Parish Picnic, The Saints and Sinners dance, Cocktails and Carols and the always stunning Crab Feast. Looking forward to Claggett in June. Tons of fun.
That brings me to our focus for next year. While we will continue to make progress toward the 12 challenges, growing our membership over the next several years must take center stage. We must collectively get a lot smarter and more successful at attracting and keeping new members. Over the last several years we have steadily lost long-time members to retirement from active congregational life. This trend is bound to continue. Because those of us who have stayed behind have continued to raise our pledges every year the financial consequences of the steady exodus have been disguised. We have not yet had to make drastic cuts to the budget. So far, naturally enough, newer members have not replaced those leaving in either number or financial support. A group of parish leaders will meet in April to begin to think deeply about this issue. Their work over the weekend will inform the leaders of the Parish Planning Conference in June at the Claggett Conference Center where the congregation will be invited to contribute their ideas to stimulate our growth. Like all churches, St. Mark's membership has ebbed and flowed, and our history of rising to the occasion when membership begins to wane should give us confidence that we have the stuff to succeed based on a thoughtful plan.
I want to thank all of you have continued to volunteer your time and talent to make our little village work so well. We will all need to pitch in this year to maintain our momentum and to attract new people who can enjoy the same life giving experience that has kept us coming back year after year.
Hugs all around,
Peter
The Future of Christian Ed at St. Mark's
by Lucy Brown and Joe Calizo
Early this year, 35 mostly long-time parishioners gathered at DuPont House in Rehoboth Beach, Del., to ponder the future of Christian Education at St. Mark's. As our able facilitators, Kitty Donnelly and Peter Mosley led us through the first session on Friday evening, each person shared a story of a meaningful Christian Ed experience from his or her past.
As we told each other our stories, it became increasingly clear that we all had a stake in where this program was headed. While not embraced by everyone, Christian Ed, for many parishioners, defines what St. Mark's is all about. It changed their lives and gave them something not found elsewhere.
At the front of our meeting room hung a huge poster, a Christian Ed Wheel that Peter Mosley created to give us a striking visual of what Christian Ed, broadly defined, encompasses programmatically. With Sunday School and adult classes, Bible studies, liturgy and liturgy planning, meditation, The Guild, special programs, and the involvement of 55-60 leaders and supervisors, plus clergy and the youth and family director, it was easy to see that our offerings are indeed incredibly rich.
Saturday morning, we reconvened in small groups to identify the different elements that made our experiences of Christian Ed meaningful and afterwards shared them in plenary.
A sampling includes:
Possibility of spiritual and personal growth
Structure to look at difficult issues
Power of listening to others
Application to my life
Letting go of assumptions
Safe place in which to be myself
Sharing what's on my heart
Openness to learning, change, transformation and community.
Participants overwhelmingly reported experiencing these elements in classes that were taught with the Functional Education discipline-that is, the experience-based teaching philosophy developed by Charles Penniman and refined over the years at St. Mark's. But it was obvious that despite targeted recruiting, the group did not reflect St. Mark's age diversity; there was no representation from the 20's and 30's. We confronted the question we all knew was coming given our demographics: How can we make sure Christian Ed remains relevant for everyone?
Next we looked at a lengthy timeline of St. Mark's stretching back to its earliest days. We focused on highlights and personalities, noticing how beliefs, attitudes and commitments have shifted over time and been affected by changes in the outside world.
We considered possible adaptations to Christian Ed, including:
Use clearer, more inviting language ("Functional education is neither.")
Stress belonging
Find out what people really want and give it to them
Keep a connection between theology and life issues
Review and update current "gateway classes" for newcomers
Engage clergy more actively in leading, communicating and recruiting
Open hearts and minds to other or new modalities
Encourage cross-planning among parish activity Pillars
Help parishioners find or start small groups based on interests or proximity.
We discussed the importance of identifying existing needs in our community and segued into whether there is a St. Mark's "core" or "ethos" at the center of our program. The consensus was that there is such a core but that it was better understood in the past. Many agreed we wanted both a "core" identity and a diversity of offerings, noting that while the issues still work, the way of addressing them needs to become more flexible.
What Christian Ed at St. Mark's will look like in the future depends in large part on the attitude of the new rector, which attendees saw as a cause for some anxiety but also some hope. Saturday night's session involved role-plays in which a co-director presented the program to the new rector. The skits made clear that this group believes it crucial to convey how essential Christian Ed is to many parishioners, and how some would contemplate leaving if that key experience and its ethos is lost. Many consider authentic dialog to be core to the experience, but it is also seen as a way to belonging and building connectedness within the congregation.
Sunday morning we generated ideas for moving Christian Ed forward. Then, during a wonderful and joyous worship service led by Associate Rector Justi Schunior, we each wrote down the gifts we would give to honor what comes next and dropped our cards into the offering plate.
As co-directors, we were inspired and grateful for the insights, ideas and commitment to the future of Christian Ed revealed during the weekend. With the help of our community and the support of our new rector, we expect to move confidently into the future.
Lucy Brown and Joe Calizo are co-directors of Christian Education at St. Mark's.
Question Session with...
Caroline McReynolds-Adams
Director of Youth & Family Ministries
Mom's handmade mouse costume for the school play.
What were some of the key stages in the journey that brought you to St. Mark's?
I had a very formative experience as a youth in my church. When it came time for me to go to college and pick a major, Religion seemed to be the most obvious choice, so that is what I studied, almost by default.
It was in studying religion that I became increasingly aware of the contradictions and controversy that Christianity evokes, which I had been naïve to and sheltered from growing up. It was difficult for me to reconcile the positive experience I had growing up as a Christian with the pain that so many people experience at the hand of the church. In the process of this reconciliation (which continues daily), I found the intersection between religion and the creative arts to be particularly helpful. Reading scripture using literary criticism, for instance, was very freeing for me. Likewise, I came to believe that the process of interpreting spirituality through the arts, including music, poetry, literature and painting, can be a very healing one.
This academic emphasis on religion and the arts took me to Vanderbilt Divinity School. As required, I entered into a field education placement in a church. The purpose of this was to discern whether or not I felt called to ordination. That my specific title there was Assistant Youth Minister was simply a necessary means to that end. As it turns out, I quickly learned that working with youth is the perfect context in which to talk about religion in a creative way. I was lucky to work under a Youth Director who encouraged me to do all kinds of creative projects with the kids, such as dozens of group art projects, spiritual journaling exercises and movie-making projects. I found youth to be fun, energetic, and open to all kinds of creative practices. They also made me laugh a lot. I found that type of work--and all the laughing--to be very life giving.
When my husband and I decided that we were ready for a change in scenery, the Youth Director position at St. Mark's was one of the first I thought would be enough to take me out of Nashville. At a time when I was considering positions outside of the church, St. Mark's seemed too good to be true-a church that was not only open to the arts, but affirmed it as a defining pillar? A community that embraced all experiences of faith? A parish that approached youth ministry in a very intentional way, when so many hardly give it a second thought? I often tell people that, in hindsight, I wasn't looking for a "church" job but rather for a "St. Mark's" job.
How would you define your role as director of youth and family ministries?
Being a spiritual leader for the children and parents of St. Mark's is a defining characteristic of this job for me. I believe that the primary work of a spiritual leader is to ensure that this space is a safe, fun, and intentional community where children feel that they can truly be themselves and be loved for it. I think at a basic but not always easy level, it means showing up and being a positive, energetic presence every single day. It also doesn't hurt if you play ukulele and don't mind making a fool out of yourself.
What are some of the key strategies and initiatives that you are undertaking to achieve your goals for your ministries?
Our current focus is to center our programming on key points of transition for children at St. Mark's--Nursery to Sunday School, Catechesis to Middle School, and High School to college. An important question for me is how we are working to ensure that our community holds up youth and their parents, especially during periods of spiritual, individual, and communal transition. As part of that answer, we are working on expanding youth outreach opportunities to include a summer Middle School Service Trip and monthly outreach activities for families with children of all ages. We are also taking an intentional look at our Sunday School program and exploring what it would look like to offer various parents' groups to support families. The earlier that a child and his or her family finds community at St. Mark's, the more meaningful role that community will play in their lives--and vice versa.
Did you have a happy childhood?
I had a very happy childhood! I come from a tight-knit family. I am the oldest of three children, and we really did have a ton of fun growing up. Leaving my parents in Nashville continues to be the hardest part of moving to D.C. However, my sister moved from New York City to the District just a few months before I did, and living in the same city as her for the first time in years makes me very happy.
What do you remember most from your experiences with the church or religion in general as a young person?
Honestly? The first memory that comes to mind takes place in the front seat of our church van on a service trip when I was in high school. It was a beautiful summer day and we had the windows rolled down. Suddenly and for no apparent reason, my Youth Director rolled the windows up and locked them. After a few seconds of confusion the smell reached me, and I realized he had trapped us all in the excruciating prison of his fart! We howled and cried and begged for freedom, but he was not merciful. I'm sure I could make some deep correlation between being locked in a stinky van and sitting in a church on Sunday morning, but maybe I shouldn't. Let's just say my experience in the church gave me the tight-knit community from which I gleaned many meaningful things, not the least of which are memories that never cease to make me laugh.
How do you like living in the Washington area? Was it hard to make the decision to move when your husband did not yet have a job here?
It was definitely the most difficult decision we have ever made. At the time I decided to take the job, we hadn't even been married a year, so maybe you could chalk it up to blind naiveté. However, the longer we are here the more I believe that there was nothing blind about our decision making during that time. While putting a moving date on the calendar with only a church-worker's salary certainly didn't induce feelings of safety and comfort, everything else seemed very focused and clear: The time was right, DC was the place, and St. Mark's was the job. The rest will fall into place. And it did, largely thanks to St. Mark's!
As for life in the Washington area, I never thought it meteorologically possible to live in a place that had both higher humidity and triple the snowfall of our Southern home. But DC is the exact change of pace we were looking for, and we love it here.
Do you actually like other people's children?
My only child is my dog, and sometimes she drags the trashcan into the middle of the room, knocks it over, and eats everything inside. So not only do I like other people's children, I actually often prefer them.
Remembering St. Mark's with Elizabeth Long
How did you get involved with St. Mark's?
In the 1950s, we lived near Union Station. My godmother realized that since my mother was working a lot, and leaving the children on their own, we needed some structure in our lives. So she brought me to St. Mark's. I still remember being a bit afraid of the huge building, but she brought me in and I met Reverend Plum. I don't remember much about him, but I did get involved through the children's, junior and senior choirs, and other things. We were a "white" church then, and it was a small group. The Parish Hall was our playground then because it had beautiful wooden floors. There was a stage with heavy red curtains, which we used to like to hide behind and try to identify people's footsteps.
What was the church building like?
The Nave was all pews, including the high altar. The choir sat on each side of the altar, and the sermons were given at the pulpit at the high altar. We had velvet kneelers where you kneeled to take Communion. That only came once a month, and the rest of the time we would have Rite 1. Rite 1 was a long service, with lots of kneeling! As children, we would come for the first part of the service, and then process out.
When did Rector Bill Baxter come?
In about 1954, Bill Baxter came, as did Lilly Kester (March). Bill assigned her to help our family, which had a lot of needs. The most important person who touched my life here was Lilly, who hooked onto my family and took care of us. There was one time we had no food, and she brought us some. One winter, she saw that I didn't have a coat-we were really poor-and she bought me a coat. I've known her since 1954, and she's helped me get through many things and difficult times in life.
Bill introduced the parish to the idea of having full Thanksgiving dinners at church. He and his wife would cook turkeys, and people would bring other things. After a service, we would go to the Parish Hall to eat. There were many people who were grateful for a place to go on Thanksgiving, and we always had a full house.
What are some of the most important changes you have seen?
For me, they include open Communion and having Communion every Sunday. We've opened the community to more diversity, which is wonderful. I'm also seeing growth at all ages, with more families with small children even at 11:15. It's a place where everyone can come on their life's journey and be where they want.
Bill Baxter brought diversity with him. We were all white, and it was very conservative, with ladies wearing dresses and gloves and the men always in business suits. In summer, it was really hot in the church! I was glad when they took out the pews. I got tired of looking at the back of people's heads, because everyone faced forward. Now you can look at each other. It's like the way we do Communion, where people go up in groups. I think that makes a community that is special for me. I like the music and the way we do services now. I liked that we had a different type of music at the last service, which was different from what I was used to. Back in the days of Jim Adams, you never knew what you were going to get when you came into church! He also integrated the Dance Studio into the service.
What were some ways in which St. Mark's has played an important role in your life?
One was the Sailors of the Winged Lion, which began many years ago. I was a shy person who didn't talk much. But they introduced me to sailing, and it opened up a whole new world. Not only that, but it's the same as going to church in your life. It helps you to conquer fear, for example during storms, and there is also the reflective time when the water is calm. That meant a lot to me.
Back then, Confirmation Class was mandatory, and you had to take it before you could take other classes. I thought that was wrong, and expressed it, but ran into a brick wall. Members of my sailing group hadn't taken the class either, however, so I felt supported. We were also able in our groups to talk about God and Jesus, which you didn't hear much about under Jim Adams, except for the service readings. When later clergy started talking about those things, I realized how much I had missed that.
When I lost my kidneys, I had people coming to my house at 5:30 a.m. to take me to dialysis, because I was still too sick to drive. Linda Ewald got so many people involved, and they still give me rides.
Someone once told me that our parish is not religious, but I said it is, but everyone is on a different journey. That's what our church is about. You can sit anywhere. Don't leave because you think it's not religious. I say that because I'm a Christian, and at times that I was alienated because of my beliefs, and I just shut up. But I found a core of people who believed the way I did. We helped each other through the difficult times. After 30 years, however, all those people have faded away, and I was left alone. But my faith has sustained me and kept me here.
The reason why I stayed was I know it is a safe place for me to be-that I can be different and still be the same as everyone else.
An Unlikely Nun
by Jessie Babcock
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
-Carl Jung
On a frigid midwinter morning, in a hamlet near Plymouth, MA - the kind of morning made for burrowing under the covers - I rise just before six a.m. and glimpse the crisp, snowy darkness outside my window. Soon I will make my way from this guesthouse to the convent of the Society of St. Margaret, where I will greet the day, and God, with nine Episcopal nuns. As we chant the day's Psalms, listen to the appointed Scriptures, and recite the day's prayers from the Book of Common Prayer, we join the centuries-old tradition of the first Christian monastics, communities of men and women who gathered just as we do, to worship, praise, and pray together. The Sisters' oratory may be above the garage of their newly built convent, but it is just as holy and sacred a place as any on this earth.
With anticipation of what the day will bring, I turn on the lamp, throw off the covers, and put on my warmest clothes for the short trek to chapel. It is time for morning prayers.
~
Ten years ago, if you had told me I would one day seek to join an Episcopal religious order, I would have said you were off your rocker. Me, a nun? Impossible! What single, highly educated woman with career prospects would give up her independence, the prospect of family and children - not to mention sex! - for a life of obedience, celibacy, and poverty? Only religious fanatics or mentally imbalanced women - people seeking to escape from life - would want to be nuns. Or so I thought.
Over the past three years, I have actively discerned a call to an Episcopal religious order. Yes, friends, there are nuns and monks in the Episcopal Church. As I have done so, I have come to hold a very different view. In my experience, monastic communities offer a place to listen for God's "still, small voice," and to experience God's grace and love through worship, prayer, silence, and life in community. Monastic orders are not places to shut out the world, but to open the heart to the world's great needs in new and surprising ways. Monastic communities offer total acceptance of the flawed, mysterious human being that you are, and free you to become the person you are called to be.
At the heart of monasticism is a desire for, and dedication to follow, Christ. The monastic life embodies the paradoxes at the heart of Christianity: that the last shall be first; that one must lose one's life to gain it; that death on the cross might lead to everlasting life. The monastic life recognizes that, as a Dutch monk writes in his Rule for a New Brother, "To seek God / means first of all / to let yourself be found by Him." Where is God found? Through prayer and worship, service to others, and by learning to love, again and again, within the monastic community. As Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and mystic wrote, "The purpose of monastic life is to teach men to live by love."
Women and men who dedicate their lives to Christ through the vowed monastic life are not more holy or perfect. They are seekers like the rest of us. They have doubts, get angry at God, and fall short of the mark - just like the rest of us. The difference for me is that they find expression for their longing for God through living a "vowed" life in community. Through their life and love, prayer and ministry, they call us to live in ways that risk more, dream more, dare more than we could ever imagine.
My sense of calling to this life has grown in fits and starts. In 2006, while living in Minnesota, I had an experience that I still cannot explain, where I felt invited to offer my whole self to God, specifically by becoming a nun. Thinking this was ridiculous, I dismissed "the call" as a foolish notion and continued on my path: graduate school in Boston, language study in Kenya, and a fellowship in the Department of Defense that brought me to Washington. But there was a hole in my chest, and it kept expanding. Nothing could fill it: not work, friends, romantic relationships, art, not even church.
On a vocational retreat with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in 2011, I had another experience of "call" to monastic life, and this time something inside whispered, "Yes." It sounds impossible to believe, but after many years of feeling torn apart, I felt at last a sense of rightness, of peace that I had never had before. I had no idea what I was doing or what the call might mean; I didn't even know if I could trust that what I heard deep within was God speaking to me. But I decided to actively pursue discernment and search for a religious order in the Episcopal Church.
My search led me to the Society of St. Margaret (SSM). Almost since the beginning, SSM felt like home to me. The Sisters live in a joyful, vibrant community of 18 women of diverse ages and backgrounds, who interpret ancient monastic traditions for 21st century life. The Sisters (technically speaking they are not nuns, as they're not cloistered) live what is called a "mixed" life of contemplation and active ministry in the world.
Worship and prayer form the focus of the Sisters' daily life, which includes four daily prayer services (called the Daily Office) from the Book of Common Prayer; daily Eucharist; and times for individual prayer and silence. They model their three-fold vow of poverty, celibacy, and obedience through a life of simplicity and stewardship, expansive love for all people, and communal discernment. They wear a simple gray habit when representing their community, but otherwise dress in their own clothes. The Sisters also carry out ministries in Haiti, New York City, and Boston, where they serve in parishes, teach, visit the sick, elderly, and prisoners, conduct retreats, and more. The Sisters are gardeners, painters, priests, even mothers.
In their way of life, the Sisters follow the tradition of St. Benedict, one of the founders of Christian monasticism. Benedict's Rule of Life is anything but a rule book. Dating from the 6th century CE, the Rule remains a lively, flexible, and compassionate guide to living in the tensions between doing and being, self and community. (I encourage you to read Esther de Waal's Living with Contradiction about the Rule to learn more.) The Benedictine tradition, by supporting a balanced approach to life, with periods for prayer, work, study, and rest, remains a guide for many religious communities today. In a frenzied world of ceaseless activity, Benedict's Rule of Life helps center modern-day monastics as they seek to love God and their neighbors.
I still have a long road before pursuing this call. To even apply as a postulant (the term used for those proposing to enter a religious order), I must finish repaying almost $60,000 in graduate school loans. Upon entering, there is a lengthy period of discerning with the community whether the order, and the life, is right for me, which lasts around five years. This radical choice is not one I make lightly.
In the meantime, I seek ways to live out my vocation where I am, in the St. Mark's community and the world. I find sustainment through prayer from the Daily Office, participating in worship and outreach, regular retreats with the Sisters at their convent, and by learning again and again what it means to "love thy neighbor."
I do not know where this path will take me, or even if I will have the courage to follow it. But I take heart from this prayer by Thomas Merton: "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
In so many ways, I am the most unlikely person to become a nun. Yet I trust that God is with me in whatever may come, and I hope I may have courage to follow where God leads me.
For more information about the Sisters of St. Margaret, visit www.ssmbos.org or ask the author (Jessie.babcock@gmail.com)! I hope to bring one or more of the Sisters to visit St. Mark's in 2016 for discussions about Benedictine spirituality and the monastic life. For more information about women religious (nuns) in the Anglican Communion, I recommend New Habits, by Isabel Losada (UK).
Preparing to Celebrate Our Sesquicentennial
by Kenn Allen
From Dictionary.com:
Sesquicentennial
[ses-kwi-sen-ten-ee-uh l]
adjective
1. pertaining to or marking the completion of a period of 150 years.
It's hard to believe that it is time for us to begin planning for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of St. Mark's. But now we have the opportunity to remember and celebrate the events of our "Sesquicentennial Period" - the founding years of the parish - and the life and times of the people who brought St. Mark's into being.
With great thanksgiving for Bert Cooper's history of the parish, here are the key events of 1867-1870 that we will begin celebrating next year.
The Reverend Mark Olds
1867 - The Reverend Mark Olds, Rector of Christ Church (G Street SE) and thus of Washington Parish (established in 1794), began a mission on Capitol Hill in what was then the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home and now is known as the Sewall-Belmont House at Constitution Avenue and Second Streets NE.
Easter, April 12, 1868 - The mission organized as a congregation and its first service was held in a frame chapel on Beale Terrace, located between 2nd and 3rd Streets SE, where the Adams Building of the Library of Congress now stands.
June 16, 1869 - The parish was organized as "Memorial Parish" and the Reverend A. Floridus Steele, Assistant Minister at Christ Church, was elected Rector.
Floridus Steele, first rector
May 23, 1870 - The Vestry voted to change the name to St. Mark's Parish after 93 parishioners signed a petition requesting this name, possibly in part as a tribute to the Rev. Mark Olds.
December 3, 1870 - The Vestry voted to move the frame chapel from Beale Terrace to 3rd St., where two lots were purchased in October 1870.
The old Market House, 3rd and A
The Archives and Parish History Committee has begun its planning of how best we can commemorate each of these significant steps in the early history of the parish.
But, you ask, what about important anniversaries in 2016? Surely there must be important events we need to recall and celebrate? Indeed, there are.
On Sunday, April 3, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the event that, perhaps more than any other, has shaped the contemporary culture and the energy of the parish - the removal of the pews and the coming of the central altar that was installed on that date in 1966. It seems remarkable that 50 years ago, Rector Bill Baxter had the foresight, daring and the support of the congregation to take what was then a revolutionary step of church in the round. Mary Cooper, our current Parish Historian and then secretary to the rector, is now writing her memories of the events and the discussions that led up to that day.
St. Mark's pre-tower chapel and chancel
Then, in September, we will remember the 50th anniversary of the arrival of our 10th rector, Rev. James Rowe Adams, who served us for 30 years. During that time, he founded the Center for Progressive Christianity, which he led after leaving St. Mark's and until his death in 2011.
And then you ask, "How can I jump in and help?" Here are some initial ideas:
1. Volunteer to help plan the celebration of Jim Adams' arrival at St. Mark's. This could include recognition in a liturgy of his installation; the collection of stories about Jim and his influence on the lives of those he served; preparation of a Baxter Hall exhibit on his life and time at St. Mark's; finding ways to call attention to his books, bringing his ideas back to life.
2. Volunteer to help plan both the educational and celebratory dimensions of the Sesquicentennial period.
3. Let us know if you are interested in helping organize the archives and if you bring special skills or knowledge to that task. Or if you have interest in developing the history of particular aspects of the parish's life - for example, perhaps a history of functional education as it has developed here.
Pre-chancel addition, taken between 1889 and 1894
"Great," you respond. "How do I do any of those?" Just send an email to stmarksarchives@gmail.com and let us know.
The author Michael Crichton once wrote, "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." Get to know our tree.
Kenn Allen is chair of the Archives and Parish History Committee.
What Was Jesus Up To?
Jesus Seminar on the Road returns to St. Mark's in April.
by Chris Berendes
Thecla depicted with the Apostle Paul, her eyes scratched out as she was scratched out of the Canon
Elin and I are walking our friend Michael homeafter a wonderful meal near Dupont Circle as the sun sets on a warm Friday night. On a side street, a man in an SUV passes, stops, leans out of the window, and shouts at us. It's unsettling, and then I see that it's Tak, a friend, who invites us into his home.
Although not Jewish by birth, Tak has studied Jewish customs and celebrates the sabbath. He lights the room with a candle. Then, between the four of us, words are cobbled together, bread is broken, and a cup of wine is passed.Baruch atah, Adonai, Eloheinu ... .
The warm glow of the evening, cracked by the shout in the dusk, then patched by Tak's invitation, is deepened and expanded somehow by the familiar but to me incomprehensible words, the bread, the wine, and the orange flickering of the candle.
It's magical.
And then it hits me thatthisis what Jesus was up to at the Last Supper. He wasn't doing anything new; he was doing something very, very old, something Jews had been doing for hundreds of years. And, 2,000 years later, it's so very fresh and alive.
I'm the kind of skeptic who wants to know, "What were they up to?" and is more curious than suspicious. That puts me in good company with the Jesus Seminar.
In truth, the Jesus Seminar is named rather badly. It's "Jesus" not as in "Jesus!" but rather as in "Jesus?" It began in a post-conference gathering of academics, one asking another, "What do you think Jesus actually said?" And, perhaps after another beer or coffee, "What was Jesus up to?" The questions grew from there, and now extend to the first centuries CE.
These are historians, archaeologists, and classicists, so their method is a process of puzzling: unearthing--often literally, as in the case of the Dead Sea Scrolls--new pieces to fit together, finding where these new pieces go, and considering whether the pieces already on the board really fit where they've been placed.
Once a year, they take this process on the road to St. Mark's and other locations across the country.
Here are some of the questions they have raised:
What was Jesus up to whenhe spoke in parables? Most likely, he sought to jolt his listeners and shake up their tired, overly familiar understandings of God. The pat endings on some parables were tacked on by later writers. The parables were more koans than just-so stories.
What were the authors of the Gospels up to? In particular, the authors of Luke and John, around 100 CE, were writing for Romans, not Jews. The Christian sect in Judaism was becoming a separate movement. In part to keep the peace with Roman tax collectors, rabbis began to cast Gentiles-who-followed-Jesus as definitely outside the Jewish faith, and thus not subject to exemptions Jews had negotiated for themselves. And the authors of Luke and John "reciprocated" by blaming Jews.
The emperor Constantine appropriated the cross as a symbol of victory in war, just as Rome appropriated and transformed many rituals and traditions of the rebel religion.
And, of course, religious leaders were up to something long after the first century. In particular, I've found it enormously reconciling to discover that much of the hierarchical language and thinking that I find jarring in Christianity crept in with the fourth century, as those leaders became power players in the Roman empire, trading on the work and impact of a man that empire had crucified as a seditionist and rebel.
Join us to discover what the Westar Institute is up to now.
About the Winged Lion Review
Most submissions, especially those focused on parish life, will be published.
Submissions can be of any length, but as a general rule should be no more than 750 words. Submit submissions to: harhath@gmail.com, karen@karenfalk.net.
Editing - Submissions will be edited for grammar, punctuation, editorial style and readability, but significant changes will be made only in consultation with the author. Most submissions, especially in the first two categories, will be published. A standard of kindness will be strictly enforced, and good taste is encouraged!
Deadlines - Materials are due the 15th of the month before the beginning of the issue month (which is currently bimonthly--September/ October, November/December, etc.) Submissions after the deadline will appear in the next issue.
Early this year, 35 mostly long-time parishioners gathered at DuPont House in Rehoboth Beach, Del., to ponder the future of Christian Education at St. Mark's. As our able facilitators, Kitty Donnelly and Peter Mosley led us through the first session on Friday evening, each person shared a story of a meaningful Christian Ed experience from his or her past. 
On a frigid midwinter morning, in a hamlet near Plymouth, MA - the kind of morning made for burrowing under the covers - I rise just before six a.m. and glimpse the crisp, snowy darkness outside my window. Soon I will make my way from this guesthouse to the convent of the Society of St. Margaret, where I will greet the day, and God, with nine Episcopal nuns. As we chant the day's Psalms, listen to the appointed Scriptures, and recite the day's prayers from the Book of Common Prayer, we join the centuries-old tradition of the first Christian monastics, communities of men and women who gathered just as we do, to worship, praise, and pray together. The Sisters' oratory may be above the garage of their newly built convent, but it is just as holy and sacred a place as any on this earth. 
