Looking Ahead to Whitsunday: Wear White! Celebrate Baptism! Give Thanks for Past Clergy!

After the spectacular Garden Party, our next centennial celebration will be a liturgical one:  a Whitsunday service on June 9^th.  The day we now refer to as Pentecost was for many years called Whitsunday—a contracted version of the words “White Sunday.”  Pentecost/Whitsunday is one of the four days in the church calendar that are particularly appropriate for baptisms, and those being baptized typically wear white. 

At our 10:30 service on Whitsunday, we will baptize little Rachel Edquist.  At both services, we will also give thanks in our prayers for the clergy who have served St. Andrew’s over the past 100 years.  We extended invitations to all former clergy to join us on June 9^th, but unfortunately so far none of them is able to join us in person.  See below for notes we have received from some of those clergy.

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Dear Anne,

I arrived at St. Andrew’s just in time for its 75th anniversary, but the 100th anniversary is so much bigger - a major milestone in the life of the parish!  Countless lives have been blessed through this parish for an entire century - and the journey continues!

Thank you so much for the gracious invitation to join in the celebration by preaching at the 10:30 a.m. service on the Day of Pentecost.  I am deeply honored by the invitation.  However, several months ago, Maria and I committed to a family reunion on that same weekend.

Although we will not be physically present for the celebration, we will be keeping you and the entire parish in our prayers.  May the Lord richly bless St. Andrew’s as it begins its second century!

Faithfully,
Rob+ 

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Anne -

I received your invitation to celebrate St. Andrew's anniversary with you, and am so sorry I won't be able to join in the festivities. My sister is retiring as rector of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Shreveport, and June 9th is her last Sunday, so John & I are traveling to Shreveport that week-end.

St. Andrew's is a wonderful parish, and John & I both loved the years we were part of that community. I'm sure the ministries you offer in Newport News and beyond will continue to thrive for another 100 years and more.

Blessings,

Betty

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Dear Anne,

Greetings from Maine.

I was once an associate priest there and you invited me to the grand 100th anniversary. Thank you, what a great time it will be.

I so wanted to come, but after much thought and working with calendars it is apparent that it cannot work out for me at this time. It would be such a joy to see the wonderful people of St. Andrew's.  It is a wonderful and blessed place and will always be a special place in my heart.

Blessings,

Peter Jenks

Interesting Episcopal Fact: The Bishop is the Priest of Every Parish

In our Episcopal polity, the Bishop is the chief pastor of every parish.  The bishop is always the Celebrant when he or she visits a parish.  Of course, it’s not possible for the bishop to be present in all churches every Sunday.  That’s why parishes call rectors, who serve vicariously when the bishop cannot be present.  (In England, rectors are called vicars—which comes from the same stem as vicarious.)

You’ll see this principle in action on May 30, when members of our St. Andrew’s Confirmation and Inquirers’ classes are confirmed at St. John’s, Portsmouth.  It is the practice of Derek Harbin, rector of St. John’s, to sit in the pew with the congregation when the bishop is visiting.  Lorna and Anne will do the same. 

Confirmation AND Ascension AND Chocolate!

Mark your calendars now and plan to attend a very special service on Thursday, May 30 at 6:30 PM at St. John’s Portsmouth, where Bishop Jay Magness will confirm eight youth and two adults from St. Andrew’s!

May 30 is Ascension Day, which St. John’s, Portsmouth traditionally celebrates with an evening service followed by a “Death by Chocolate” reception.  The Rev. Derek Harbin, rector of St. John’s, has graciously invited us to join the people of his congregation for worship that evening.  Our confirmands are Julia Durreger, Dawn Edquist, Tucker Jones, Rachel Klinger, Caitlin Knapp, Alex Rous, Vanessa Smock, Joey Stone, Cora Walsh, and Libby Wharton.  (Helen Mitchell will be received into the Episcopal Church on June 9.)  Please hold each of these parishioners and their sponsors in your special prayers.

St. John's is located on the corner of Washington and London streets in Portsmouth.  The street address is 424 Washington St.  The parking lot is also on Washington Street, just before the church.  All kinds of chocolate finger foods are welcome for the reception!

Morning Prayer

Dear Friends,

Periodically I hear from parishioners who miss the Morning Prayer service, with its lovely cadences and canticles.  Morning Prayer is part of the Daily Office, the set of worship services intended for all Episcopalians to pray each day.  Longtime Episcopalians (like me!) grew up with Morning Prayer as the usual Sunday liturgy, a practice begun when there were not enough clergy to lead Sunday morning worship and so communion was not possible.  The Book of Common Prayer, crafted and adopted in the 1970’s, returned us to the pattern of the Early Church, where Holy Eucharist was the normative form of Christian worship.

In January, we marked the start of our 100^th year with a service of Morning Prayer from the 1892 Book of Common Prayer.  Afterward, a number of folks mentioned how much they liked that liturgy.

After thinking it over, I decided to schedule two more Morning Prayer Sundays this year—Morning Prayer Rite I on Sunday, May 19; and Morning Prayer Rite II in November.  Both services will end with Holy Eucharist so that we do not miss out on the Lord’s Supper.

Whether Morning Prayer is familiar to you or is something altogether new in your experience, I pray that our worship with it will be a blessing to you.

Anne+

Update on the use of our building

Our Building Discernment Team has been hard at work for weeks following up on the many suggestions made about how best to use our school facilities to serve the community.  We look forward to receiving their recommendation(s) sometime this summer.  In the meantime, however, the school spaces have not been standing empty! 

A Hilton playgroup meets in our building every Tuesday and Wednesday morning, providing games and art and learning for our youngest neighbors.  Brad leads songs for the children with his guitar, and Lorna visits regularly to get to know the children and the parents. 

Our Ferguson Street playground for small children is getting lots of use every day. Wardens John Whitley and Chris Robinson recently power-washed all of the equipment.  Many of our neighbors have posted words of thanks on Facebook for the use of the playground.

From May 7 through 24, students from the Warwick High School International Baccalaureate Program will be using some of our classrooms as quiet space for taking exams.  Longstanding building users such as the bagpipe instructor who provides lessons on Saturday mornings in the music room and the German American group that gathers in our parish hall continue to meet on a regular basis, as well. 

We look forward to what God’s future holds for our building, and in the meantime we give thanks for those from our community who are enjoying our space and resources.