Easter banner canvas and acrylic © Tim Jutsum 2005
CHRIST CHURCH EASTER 2017
Rochester, NY The SONG vol. 2 issue 5
This Te Deum window is a Tiffany masterpiece!
Open House for Stained Glass Tours
Christ Church Rochester May 20-21
Tours Saturday 1-5, Sunday 1-4 and Organ Demonstration Saturday 4-5, Sunday 3-4. Parking in RGE Lot off Lawn Street!
SPECIAL EASTER PRESENT!
EASTER COMPLINE!
Schedule for Holy Week services at Christ Church Rochester 141 East Avenue Rochester New York
HOLY SATURDAY
GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER7:00 p.m.
EASTER DAY
Holy Eucharist 8:00a.m.
Solemn Choral Eucharist 11 a.m.
Sing, men and angels, sing,
For God our Life and King
Has given us light and spring
And morning breaking.
Now may man's soul arise
As kinsman to the skies,
And God unseals his eyes
To an awaking.
Sing, creatures, sing; the dust
That lives by lure and lust
Is kindled my the thrust
Of life undying;
This hope our Master bare
Has made all fortunes fair,
And man can on and dare,
His death defying.
After the winter snows
A wind of healing blows,
And thorns put forth a rose
And lilies cheer us;
Life's everlasting spring
Hath robbed death of his sting,
Henceforth a cry can bring
Our Master near us.
Rite of Spring
Editor note:
Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
Last year, for the Easter issue of this publication, I wrote about my house because we were deep in the throes of planning to renovate the chancel. If you wonder how these fit together you can find the original article here- http://songforchristchurch.org/archive/ just scroll down until you get to Easter 2016. (There is a bit of scrolling to do because every issue is reposted there. It’s like taking a stroll, or in this case a scroll, down memory lane). A couple of months before this the north aisle ceiling had fallen and Ruth had gathered some bits, placed them in a jar, and done a very prophet-like thing. She had placed it on the altar and said, first to God, then to God’s people, “So, do your see this? Do you? Well, what are you going to do about it, huh?” I may be paraphrasing a little. No matter. The thing got done. The ceiling got fixed. The scaffolding got put up and taken down, stuffing the entire chancel with hope for what could be, and now the chancel is more beautiful than it has ever been. The Narthex was renewed as well.
We still have hopes. We hope things for our community here as lovers of God at Christ Church. We still have hopes for the ways we can bring beauty, power and peace to each other’s lives and the larger world around us. We hope to be able to give some more attention to the physical needs of the building, too. Do you have wishes and stories? You can use this publication. The SONG can change, literally, every few minutes. Anyone can send anything, songs, poems, memories, video, cartoons, prayers, longings, art, short works of fiction, anything you wish to reveal of yourself. It can be published. We will grow as friends.
Speaking of friends, consider joining a FOYER group. Foyers are groups of three families, even families with only one person, that meet for a meal, one time per family. That’s three times total. The meal can be at the home of the host family or someplace else if the host chooses that. The group decides how they want to organize it. The idea is to have fun. Because…fun. The way to submit something and the way to join a FOYER is, believe it or not, the same. Click on the link here- https://songforchristchurch.org/contact/ and you will find two separate forms. The first one is to join a FOYER group, and the second one is to leave a comment or submit something for the SONG.
I hope you do.
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Val Jutsum
EASTER SUNDAY
2017
Mark writes that the two Mary’s, the mother of James and Salome, came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ dead body with spices, anguishing over who might roll the stone away for them, only to find that it had already been rolled away. A young man dressed in white robe was sitting by the tomb. “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look there is the place they laid him.”
Luke tells us Joseph of Arimathea and a number of women who had followed arrive to anoint his body and, upon finding the stone rolled away and the empty tomb, there were two men who essentially asked them why they were looking for Jesus in a graveyard: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” John writes that Mary Magdalene stood weeping where the stone had been rolled away, when two angels appear, “Woman, Why are you weeping?” And Jesus himself asks her the same, although she doesn’t recognize him and believes him to be the gardener. “Why are your weeping?” he asks, “Who are you looking for?” And when he calls her by name, she rushes to embrace him, but, for the mystery of his resurrected substance, is told she cannot yet touch him.
Matthew tells us, however, that the two Mary’s arrive at the tomb but the stone is not rolled away. The angel descends and rolls it away in front of their eyes. Not to let Jesus out(he’s already out) but to let the witnesses in. But in all four Gospels, the empty tomb is the first to announce the resurrection. The announcement is made here, for an empty tomb is where the dark of the cave meets the light of day. But the announcement does not change: he is not here, he has risen, why do you seek the living among the dead, why are you weeping, he has been raised. This is the core announcement (it is not an explanation) He has been raised. This is the proclamation (not explanation) that called into being a church around it. Whatever we believe about the resurrection or physical resuscitation – the announcement gathers us in, Sunday after Sunday, and fills these pews ever fuller on the day we celebrate the it. Easter Sunday. He is raised.
Try as we might, we cannot explain, we cannot even elaborate on “he has been raised.” We cannot contain its wildness, joy, and terror in our creeds and doctrines, we think we can elaborate on it in a seminary education but we can’t. Our theologies and Christologies can never, in their impossible vocabulary words, reflect the original announcement at the tomb. The stark and shining brevity of “he is raised” defies what we write or teach or elaborate or believe. Those of us who don’t go in for organized religion have taken the announcement and spun it into poetry, and in some cases, have tapped into the mystery and danger of it, lending truth and beauty to the worship of the church. But the older I get, the more wary I am of using art to express or fathom the announcement. While some art exposes the darkness and beauty of these words, “he is raised” is not an interpretation. Even our own worship does not fully comprehend the dark side of this announcement: the guards who shook like dead men, the ones who rushed to touch him but were turned away, the joy of his walking away from his grave, but the confusion and complexity of his refusal to stay. “He is raised” must always attest to the emptiness of his earthly absence, and, more importantly, to the violence that is brought to bear on those who give voice to it: He is raised.
As guardian of the announcement, the Church must preserve it in all of it danger, beauty, and benediction. We must preserve its weepingly beautiful of its joy on the breath of the angel at the tomb. But we must also preserve it in all of it terror and fierceness, for the angels of God descend to many tombs. I hear the voice of the angel who has descended to the rubble of Aleppo, and the angel who stands over the lifeless tomb of the child who has been gassed, and if the light of day meets the dark of this cave, it is not readily visible to us. Hovering over the child’s corpse, I hear “he is raised,” but it is ravaged by the anger of God as he announces it to the dark powers and principalities of this world. We must hear in the announcement that brings us to Easter the terrible justice that will be brought to crimes against humanity, the sounds of the storming the gate of hell to rescue all of us – especially the child who has been gassed – from the dark that would overcome us. “He is not here. He raised.” If it is not about the Syrian child, if it is not meant for his [I don’t care, God doesn’t care if they’re Muslin], they I don’t know how to hear it.
If it’s all a metaphor, I don’t want anything to do with it. Neither do the parents of children dead and dying from war and famine the world over. I don’t want a religion that escapes reality, but religion that plunges into it. We Episcopalians are enlightened and proud of our enlightenment; we are proud of our educated agnosticism, and our generosity toward the sentimental expressions of hymns and Easter lilies. But does it ever occur to us that cynicism is as easy an answer to this as is sentimentality? That cynicism, like sentimentality, lacks the imagination, the moral vision, lacks the stomach required to even consider “he is raised.” Cynicism domesticates, domesticates the holy and horrific alike. And it is of no use to those whose lives are too ravaged to celebrate Easter or any other religious holiday. Perhaps the most authentic and courageous response to the Easter announcement is not to believe it – faith is never about what you believe, but what you know to be true – but to hold on to it as a light I the darkness. Perhaps the most courageous response is to actually hear it and hold it in every fiber of our being “he is raised,” for ourselves, for the world, for those who cannot hear it, not because they’re cynical or they lack imagination, but because they and their are dying in streets of rubble. And if you can’t properly say you know it to be true, then let the words burn in your heart as hope, a hope that consumes you: He is not here. He has conquered death. The light shone in the dark but the darkness could not over come it. He is not here. He is raised.
Ruth+
Bonus
Ruth published an article in Metro Justice which is republished below-
(Continued from page 1)
we all were: a blizzard of wind gusts up to fifty miles an hour with wind chills of twenty below. Those in the camps who needed to evacuate couldn’t get out. The rest of us couldn’t get in. Thankfully, there were no deaths. Stranded in the Ramada Inn in Bismarck, we witnessed firsthand how Bismarck is itself a “ground zero” of sorts, including our motel, for the descent of all manner of people and caus- es. We slept for two nights under the same roof as had veterans, people from native tribes the world over, big oil people and other corporatocracy, clergy, the media, the military, advocates for Native Amer- icans and environmentalists, and even under cover security, one of whom said to me and my colleague as we waited out the blizzard: “It’s the liberal eco-terrorists we have to fear the most.” Somehow, my col- league (wearing his clergy collar) found it in himself to laugh: “Then I guess you’re talking to some liberal eco-terrorists!”
The road into Standing Rock was clear by Wednesday morning, though littered with cars abandoned in snow drifts and ditches. Father Floberg drove us to visit Oceti Sakowin, stopping along the way
to unload his winch and command all
our man power to help a driver get his SUV out of a ditch. Upon our arrival,
we hauled the precious firewood Father Floberg had stashed to a medical tent, had our picture taken by the flag of the Episcopal Church that the Sioux erected alongside the flags of the many nations, and sat quietly by the sacred fires. A native woman stirring pots of hot tea smiled when I asked her if she held any hope in Obama’s denial of easement, and simply said, “No.” Nonetheless, Dave
Archambault and the Cannon Ball Tribal District, with the support of the entire tribal council, asked that the camps close and the protectors go home. We pulled away from Oceti Sakowin December 7th with the blessings of Dave Archambault and a new charge: return to your homes and ask yourselves, “whose land am I living on? How can I protect its water and its air? How can I be in relationship with the ones whose land I am on?” We pulled away with renewed hope.
That was then.
Today, as our new president com- mands expediency for the easement of the Dakota Access Pipeline and its snaking through the land of the Sioux (their sa- cred burial grounds, their drinking water), there are yet again eyewitness accounts of deadly police brutality against unarmed protectors. Convoys of construction vehi- cles and armed military have descended on Standing Rock in full force. Thankful- ly, so have the UN Committee on Trans- national Corporations and Human Rights
Abuses, the International Indian Treaty Council, and the Water Protector Legal Collective. Yet again, a call has gone
out to veterans to return to protect the protectors at Standing Rock. Yet again, a call has gone out to interfaith leaders to speak and act against the government’s repression. Yet again, a call has gone out to all of us to resist these crimes against humanity and the earth.
But it is not so simple. So many of
us, including those in the Lakota and Dakota nations, are divided as to where the fight is and whether the multitudes should return to Standing Rock, but this is only to be expected. Any resistance movement must always confront its own internal divisions, even as it confronts the external powers that would repress it. We who consider ourselves activists must also commit not only our external efforts to the cause, but commit our internal work as well: we must do some very deep soul searching and self-examination so that
we can join whatever the movement with unwavering consciences yet open minds. Having done this work, we can accept and embrace that some of us will return to Standing Rock in the same spirit of sol- idarity that will keep some of us at home.
Having been to Standing Rock and having conversed with natives of differing opinions about how people like me can be supportive, I know this much: the work
at Standing Rock is the work we must
do across the country and the globe. We must ask ourselves: whose land are we on here in upstate New York? How can we build relationships with those from whom we stole it? How can we work with them to protect it? And how can we stand in solidarity with THEM? How can we as
Americans join with Native Americans to stand up to our own government, whose repression of self-determined peoples in other countries has now been unleashed upon its own citizens? And, as a religious leader, I cannot help but ask: how can we join the resistance in the steadfast spirit of prayer and non-violence of the Standing Rock Sioux, and keep the sacred fire lit in our hearts and spirituality? ■
Prizes have been awarded to the VanDelinder Fellows for 2017
Madeleine Woodworth, winner of the the Roy E. VanDelinder, Jr. Prize in Liturgical Organ Skills. This prize is awarded to the VanDelinder Fellow that demonstrates the greatest diligence and achievement in the program.
I’m thrilled to be serving as one of this year’s three VanDelinder Fellows. In the fall of 2014, I came to Eastman to study organ with Nathan Laube, and I was fortunate enough to join Schola Cantorum as a freshman. Working under the direction of Stephen Kennedy inspired me to participate as a choir member at Christ Church starting in February 2015. I grew up singing in choirs at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park, IL, so my passion for singing and conducting has been well nourished from an early age. Watching everyone work together here, I’ve truly fallen in love with what this music program has to offer. I’m constantly realizing the profound joys of sacred music and hope that this path makes itself present in my future. Sacred music brings so much spiritual balance and peace to my life, and the quality of musicianship at Christ Church continually serves to nurture my soul. I’m so grateful for this unique opportunity, and I look forward to serving this community in what I know will be a wonderful year.
Alden Wright, awarded the Casparini Prize for the best hymn playing
I am honored to serve as a VanDelinder Fellow in your parish! I am a freshman here at Eastman, where I study with Nathan Laube. I am a native of Salisbury, NC and I am truly excited to be living in Rochester. In Salisbury, I served as music director and organist at Milford Hills United Methodist Church from January 2015 – June 2016. Now, of course, I will continue my experience in church music in your parish. Though only a freshman, I have visited your sanctuary on several occasions, the first being during last summer’s High School Organ Week, a program of the ‘Summerat Eastman’ series. I will always remember the day that I first heard the two fabulous instruments at Christ Church. I did not imagine at the time that I would have the opportunity in my first year to serve the parish on those instruments and study with your wonderful music director, Stephen Kennedy. I am truly looking forward to serving God and this parish while furthering my knowledge of the timeless liturgy of the Church.
Jiaqi Shao, awarded the Hook and Hastings Prize for the greatest advancement in liturgical music skills
I am a sophomore pursuing my BM in Organ Performance in the studio of Professor David Higgs at Eastman School of Music. I was born in 1997 in Shanghai, China, and began studying piano at the age of four. As a pianist, I won the second prize in the 16th Annual Music Open Competition in the United States (2008). I studied in the Music Middle School (affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music) from 2009-2015. I have studied organ since 2011, and was the winner of the teenage group in the Second International Electronic Organ Competition in Beijing, China in 2011. Now being an organ student at Eastman School of Music, I performed in “Pipedreams Organ Concerts” in Rochester this April and played in student improvisation concerts at Christ Church. I sang in Christ Church Choir last year and am very much looking forward to being with you as a VanDelinder Fellow this year.
More about the Roy E. VanDelinder, Jr. Fellowship Program at Christ Church Rochester.
Through the combined resources of Christ Church’s Liturgical Music Program and the Eastman School of Music’s Organ Department, this exciting program offers vocational training and practical application in liturgical music skills for Eastman organ students who are pursuing a career in liturgical music. Fellows will receive a scholarship for participating in this program, and a large cash prize is awarded each year to the Fellow who demonstrates the greatest diligence and achievement. Under the leadership of Music Director Stephen Kennedy, Fellows will receive training and experience in improvising, composing, arranging, hymn playing, anthem and motet accompaniment, chanting, conducting, and rehearsing choirs and instrumentalists as well as other components within a church music program. This program is made possible by a generous gift from the Roy E. VanDelinder, Jr. Fund of Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Fellowship in Liturgical Organ Studies
Fellows will be selected by the VanDelinder Committee. This committee will base their decision on the student’s résumé, playing skills, and two letters of recommendation. Fellows will receive a scholarship of around $4,700 for the academic year. This amount will be re-figured this year, so it may be slightly more than this amount. Fellows may participate in this program for up to three years but the VanDelinder Committee makes the selection of Fellows each year.
Prize in Liturgical Organ Skills
Each year, the VanDelinder Committee will select one acting Fellow to receive the Roy E. VanDelinder, Jr. Prize in Liturgical Organ Skills that includes a cash prize of $8,000 above the scholarship. This prize will be awarded to the VanDelinder Fellow that demonstrates the greatest diligence and achievement. The prizewinner will be expected to remain in active duty as Fellow for a negotiated number of Sundays beyond the school term. Fellows who do not win the prize will be excused at the end of the school term.
Past Winners of the Roy E. VanDelinder, Jr. Fund of Rochester Area Community Foundation Prize in Liturgical Organ Skills
Käthe Wright Kaufman: Winner in 2014
Käthe Wright Kaufman: Winner in 2015
Jeremy Jelinek: Winner in 2016
Christ Church Music Notes From Stephen Kennedy
Christ Church celebrates Easter with Renaissance masterworks such as Surrexit Christus Hodie by Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654), Jubilate Deo by John Ireland (1879-1962), and indigenous works to our parish composed by Music Director Stephen Kennedy, Scott Perkins and Marc Laroussini. Both Scott and Marc participated in our parish’s liturgical music-training program. We are a parish who lives and affirms a mission of transforming people’s lives through music. Happy Easter everyone!
Surrexit Christus Hodie (translation)
Christ is risen today Alleluia!
For the comfort of all people. Alleluia!
Rejoice in this Easter Day. Alleluia!
Let us give thanks to God. Alleluia!
He suffered death the day before. Alleluia!
He suffered for us all. Alleluia!
Praise the Holy Trinity. Alleluia!
Give thanks to God. Alleluia!
Jubilate Deo (translation)
O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands:
serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.
Be ye sure that the Lord he is God;
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise;
be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name.
For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth from generation to generation.
Stephen Kennedy
Music Director
Christ Church Rochester
Instructor of Sacred Music
Eastman School of Music
The above recordings were made by me on an iphone during the service. It is kind of like a family thing with a home movie quality. We are family. I'm sure you'll enjoy this. And, for all of the people who visit this website but can not come to Christ Church because of situation, I hope this makes you feel more connected to us. For all who have not yet come to Christ Church I hope that you visit us soon because even in this rough state you can experience the awesomeness. This is our weekly experience of worship. ed. note
EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS in This Issue
The Bishop's Visit
Foyers Groups
Driving through the Fog
Sanctuary at Christ Church -
Voices From Exile, No One Left Behind, and The Giving Board
Bishop Singh visit and Confirmation
Just click on this link- http://songforchristchurch.org/contact/
Driving through the fog May 7th, after church, lunch provided
Ever driven through the fog, headlights on, but still you can only see a few feet ahead of you? This is what climate action can feel like. But, did you still make it to your destination despite the fog? Well, we can solve the climate crisis too. Local organizations are advocating for changes at the community level and at the federal level. Ever wondered about those oil tank cars? Want renewable energy to be less expensive? Think markets are efficient and effective? Come and learn about three initiatives and consider adding your voice!
Please let me know if you are planning to attend the "Driving Through the Fog" conversation this Sunday led by Benny Smith and his mother, Sue Smith. We want to have plenty of sandwiches.
PLEASE RSVP to rector@christchurchrochester.org
See you in church!
Ruth+
Dear Christ Church,
I encourage you join the efforts of Sanctuary at Christ Church in whatever ways you can as part of your Lenten observation. The following effort is led by myself, Shirley Ricker, and the youth of Christ Church. If you would like to donate a baked good, please contact me at rector@christchurchrochester.org. Please bring neighbors and friends.
See you in church,
Ruth+
No One Left Behind
Dear Christ Church,
I encourage you join the efforts of Sanctuary at Christ Church in whatever ways you can as part of your Lenten observation. The following effort, "The Giving Board," is led by Lucie Parfitt and Vicki McCutchon as part of a larger effort of the No One Left Behind project.
WHAT IS THE GIVING BOARD?
It is a way that Christ Church is helping Afghan and Iraqi refugees and friends that are moving to the US through the No One Left Behind Project. Christ Church is working with Asbury First Methodist Church to help in this project.
Please take a card from a bulletin board in either the hall or in the back of the church and then next week bring the items in and fill the tote that is located in the back of the church.
If you have any questions about the project please see or email LUCIE PARFITT, luciem3773@gmail.com.
Please give any monetary or gift card donations to Lucie or to Vicki McCutchon. Money or gift card donations can also be put in the offering plate in one of the envelopes provided at the back of the church. If there are questions on items to be provided Lucie or Vicki will be happy to answer any questions.
LET'S FILL THE TOTES CHRIST CHURCH!!!!!
Thank you Christ Church!
Bulletin Insert from Finance Committee (beginning 3/19)
From the Finance Committee
Thanks to all who responded so generously to our request for increased giving. We anticipated a deficit of $10,000 at this point in the calendar year and find ourselves, instead, with a small surplus. The hard work is far from over, with another 10 months to go, but this is great news – THANK YOU!
February YTD
Income: $67,507.60
Expenses: $57,704.49
Balance YTD: $9,803.11
