The Transfiguration of Jesus

The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event described in only four places in the New Testament, Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36, and 2 Peter 1:16-18, where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain.  In the gospel accounts, Jesus and three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, go to a mountain to pray.  On the mountaintop, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light and then the Old Testament figures, Moses and Elijah, appear next to him and he speaks to them.  They symbolize the Law and the prophets.  The voice of God then proclaims Jesus as “Son”:  This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him (Mark 9:7). 

The Transfiguration is considered by some as “the greatest miracle” that happens to Jesus himself.  It is one of the five major milestones in the gospels about the life of Jesus, the others being his baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.  Some consider the transfiguration as the point at which human nature meets God, with Jesus acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.  It is also considered the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy that Elijah would return after his ascension.  His return would hold out hope for repentance before judgment and he would appear alongside Moses as a representative of all the prophets who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah.
 
The Transfiguration is also considered as a preview of the future, when the Son of Man will come in glory.  But, this future can only come through his death and resurrection.  Jesus knew this, and he warns the three disciples to “tell no one of the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9), thus fulfilling Old Testament scriptures.
 
The Transfiguration was a special event in which God allowed certain disciples to have a privileged spiritual experience that was meant to strengthen their faith for the challenges they would later endure.  We, including me, may still not fully understand; but we, and others, are often given special experiences of God’s grace that strengthen our faith.
 
Bill Wilds

I go to sing

When I’m practicing hymns or choir anthems, I often sing along so I can get the pacing and phrasing just right. It’s tedious work, so imagine my delight when I was running through dozens of hymns for the July 23 Hymn Sing and a voice came floating down the hallway to join mine. Bill Wilds and I got so caught up in the merriment that we sat side by side for about half an hour just singing hymn after hymn.

In January of 2019, Lindy Thompson,  a poet and colleague of mine, wrote a blog post titled  “I Go to Sing.” It went viral among us churchy types and, four years later, I still see friends re-sharing it on social media. I encourage you to click the hyperlink (or search the title and her name) to read the whole poem, but here is an excerpt:

               I might be exhausted and the children might be cranky,

               but I will be going to church on Sunday.

               Don’t know who is preaching, doesn’t matter –

               the sermon may be helpful or not, holds my attention or doesn’t --it’s the singing.

               I go to sing.

               When we are singing, I can feel the better world coming,

               and if I get to be a part of it, you do too . . .

               so sing with me,

               and we’ll make our way down that blessed road together,

               collectively better than we ever thought possible.

Singing with Bill this week reminded me of the ineffable power of congregational song. It summons our awareness of God’s presence. It solidifies our conviction that faith can move mountains, that hope springs eternal. And that love always has the last word.

I enjoyed singing with you at our Old Fashion Hymn Sing last Sunday!

We hope this can become an annual tradition.

Ginny Chilton

 

A Few Words About Sabbaticals

As the time for our sabbatical at St Andrew’s draws closer, it is important for us to consider more fully the meaning and intent of this endeavor.

Sabbaticals (sharing the same root word as “sabbath”) are periods of time set aside for reflection and renewal. It should be emphasized that sabbaticals are very different from vacations, as they are much more than a time “away from the grind”.  Rather, sabbaticals in any professional field are designed to be a time of learning, travel, and engagement in new experiences to help refocus, grow, and invigorate.

Here at St Andrew’s, clergy sabbaticals are a tradition, as our previous two rectors took sabbaticals that involved travel and academic study. Currently, our diocese requires that all letters of agreement offered for clergy employment include provisions for sabbaticals. The letter of agreement the vestry offered Anne when she came to St Andrew’s provides for the accumulation of two weeks of sabbatical time for every year served, up to six years. Anne has been with us for six years, so she is eligible for twelve weeks of sabbatical leave, which she will take this September through November.  Anne has shared many of the details of her very busy sabbatical schedule with us, and more details are to follow.

But beyond the important benefit of having a refocused and refreshed rector, what is in this for us, the parishioners of St Andrew’s?  Last summer we applied for and received a fifty-thousand-dollar grant from the Lilly Endowment for Anne’s sabbatical expenses and for sabbatical activities that involve our congregation. The intent behind this grant is that as the rector goes on sabbatical, the church enters a similar period of reflection and renewal. Anne’s sabbatical has two essential dynamics: a spiritual pilgrimage, as she walks the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and a pilgrimage of racial healing through the American South. Similarly, we will explore spiritual journeys and racial reconciliation through a variety of activities such as guest preachers, programs in the adult forum, and a one-day parish retreat. The sabbatical planning team is hard at work on these programs, and there will be more to say in the near future.

Sabbaticals are intended to create opportunities to break free of habit, stop hitting the repeat button, and find freedom in forming new relationships with God and God’s creation. Let it be our prayer that we will take full advantage of this gift God has given us.

David Lilley
Senior Warden

Grace and Compassion

Dear friends,

The week of July 4th I had the privilege of leading the Wednesday healing service at St. Andrew’s and then celebrating Holy Eucharist on Thursday at The Chesapeake.  Both times I used lessons appointed for Independence Day from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, the liturgical resource that lays out the church calendar of holy days.  Lesser Feasts and Fasts also provides commentary for each holy day.  I find our church’s history with Independence Day very moving.
 
As you probably know, the Episcopal Church in the United States grew out of the Church of England.  When the fledgling colonies declared their independence in 1776, members of the Church of England in North America were in a sticky situation.  Because priests must be ordained by a bishop and there were no bishops in the colonies, all Anglican priests at the time had travelled to England to be ordained by an English bishop, and they’d sworn loyalty to the King as one of their ordination vows.  Yet some supported the American Revolution, while others remained loyal to the Crown.
 
After the United States successfully broke away from England, the first General Convention of the new Protestant Episcopal Church in the United State of America was held in 1785 and worked on creating its own prayer book, one that would remain faithful to the doctrines and worship of the Church of England but without paying homage to England’s royalty.
 
The proposed prayer book of 1786 included prayers and lessons for the celebration of Independence Day, but in 1789 the convention voted to remove Independence Day from the church calendar.  Why?  Because leading Independence Day worship would be difficult and embarrassing for the many clergy of the Episcopal Church who had been Loyalists.  It would put them in a very difficult position. 
 
The part of this story that I like the best is that the person who advocated most strongly for the exclusion of Independence Day in the church calendar was Bishop William White, a strong supporter of the American Revolution.  He could see that leading a worship service to celebrate Independence Day a mere 13 years after the war had ended would not be a kindness to his fellow clergymen, even though he disagreed with their stance about England.  Somehow he managed to convince the other members of the General Convention that the time was not yet right for Independence Day to be added to the church calendar.  It was not included as one of our “lesser feasts” until the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
 
What I love about this slice of our history is the grace and compassion shown by William White and, ultimately, by the other members of that 1789 General Convention.  Even those who had advocated for the American Revolution set aside their own personal desires, keeping their focus on what was best in the moment for the church as a whole.  I am inspired by their witness.
 
May I, and we, have the same kind of grace and compassion in our interactions with one another, even and especially when the topic at hand is one about which we feel very strongly.
 
Blessings and peace.  -Anne

Intermission

Did you know that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang originally had an intermission?  Kind of a long movie, so it's understandable, I guess, but these days you can just hit the pause button to go get your popcorn.  Still, there is always an intermission whenever I go to the symphony at Ferguson.  Hm, I wonder if that's kind of what summer is in our faith life.  Heaven knows we don't use as much bread and wine during the summer!  But then, an intermission might not be such a bad thing.  That's when we (or maybe just me) go to Disney (or snorkel in the Florida Keys and slog through the Everglades), or take a break so we can rest, or do some other things out of routine so that we're ready to return when intermission is over.  It's not even that it's goof-off time, but sometimes that's ok too.  Just let the little interlude play and wait for them to flicker the lights to tell you it's time to come back in.  Summer's here and it looks to be busy, but if it's intermission time, make it a good one - go to Disney (or wherever), rest, go get some popcorn.  But then come back in, ready to start the show, when the interlude is over.

-- Marc