SOUNDINGS The Newsletter of Saint John’s Episcopal Parish, Hagerstown, Maryland

March 2018Rector Ramblings on . . .

mad menSometimes it feels like I work in the advertising department of H.S. Enterprises.

A long time ago I did work in the advertising section of a local department store in Spokane. Print catalogs were still being produced and Amazon, Zappos, and ebay were still a long ways away. It was a small department of layout and copy artists, a photographer, a graphic designer, and a very tough boss.

The advertising calendar was skewed anywhere from four to six months to the future. That meant that June to August saw the beginnings of Christmas, November was for Easter dresses, and February was swimsuit season. If we didn’t stay ahead of the calendar we might miss production deadlines. In a word, that would be bad.

It’s sort of the same way here. We begin talking about Christmas well before Advent even arrives. Lenten programs, if one is planned, need to be put in place probably no later than Epiphany 3. And while most people have recently begun their Lenten journey, church offices and staff everywhere are figuring out how best to proclaim the good news of the Resurrection.

As you read this we are in the third week of Lent. This is an odd year in that the last week of March coincides with Holy Week and the end of Lent. But it does make planning our schedule that much easier since it’s all on one page. And while I don’t want to rush the coming of Easter – this past week’s sermon was all about our Lenten journey and the necessity of going through Good Friday – I would like you to be aware that holy Week and Easter are coming.

One of the great gifts of Anglicanism (and of Catholicism and Orthodoxy as well) to Christianity is the liturgical calendar. It is in this calendar that we both

experience and participate in the life of Christ and the Saints. From Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, we live that cycle every year. Included in there are commemorations of various saints of the faith, remembrances of martyrs, days of special devotion, and fasts. The more we take advantage of, and live into this calendar, the more we become steeped in the faith.

The liturgical calendar hits its high point this year during the last week of March,. That week is Holy Week, the most sacred time of the year,. It begins on March 25 with Palm/Passion Sunday, the day we commemorate both Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his crucifixion.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, of that week, the Stations of the Cross will be said in the church beginning at 12:15. A regular Eucharist will be held Wednesday at 12:15 in the church.

The Triduum, or Sacred Three Days, begins on Thursday, March 29, in the evening. It is the day we commemorate Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, his final instructions to them, his arrest, and the disciples desertion. The evening begins at 6 pm with a simple meal in Trimble Hall, the Liturgy of the Word, and foot washing. We then move up into the church for the final Communion of the week, and we end with the stripping of the altar.

On Good Friday there will be two opportunities to participate in the Stations of the Cross, one at noon and one a 7 pm. Both services will offer a time for the Veneration of the Cross for those who desire to do so.

The Holy Saturday service is held at noon in the church,. This is the day we remember that Christ died and was buried. It is a solemn service without a Eucharist and with only an unconfirmed hope of the Resurrection.

The Triduum culminates with the Great Vigil on Easter Day at 6 am. We begin with the lighting of the new fire, a darkened church, the singing of the Exsultet, and multiple readings. It ends with a joyous celebration of Communion. There will also be a breakfast between this service and the 10:15 service for anyone who wants to attend.

So there you have it – a rundown of the upcoming events on the liturgical calendar. These events repeat themselves every year, and every year we have the opportunity to explore and participate deeply as we live into the faith of the good news. Every year I try to stay ahead of the production deadline in order to offer up well-thought out,

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executed, and meaningful worship experiences.

I encourage you to put these worship opportunities on your calendar and plan to attend as many of them as possible; because even though Holy Week and the Triduum are made up of several individual liturgies, they are part of one great story that comes together when you experience the totality of the events.

When I think about why we do these things, why we work so hard at them, why we immerse ourselves in the liturgical calendar, why we believe what we believe, I am reminded of two quotes in particular. The first is from 1 Corinthians 1:18:

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the message of God.

The other one comes from a variety of sources, but made famous by C.S. Lewis:

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

What we do doesn’t always make sense to others. It most certainly doesn’t make sense to the world. So maybe it’s not trying to stay ahead of the liturgical calendar that’s the issue. Maybe the real issue is that we profess a message the world sees as foolish. And maybe it’s in that foolishness, in trying to live to the best of our abilities into the message of Christ’s death and resurrection that makes us all Mad Men.

Blessings,

Todd+

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Music NotesYouth Choirs as Biblical Storytellers

On Sunday, March 4 at the 10:15 a.m. Eucharist, the Saint Francis Choir (children) and the Canterbury Choir (youth) will present a play based on John 2:13-22 (Jesus cleansing the Temple), which happens to be the Gospel of the Day.

Choral EvensongAs part of our Lenten Journey, Choral Evensong will be offered on Sunday, March 11 at 5:00 p.m. The Officiant for the service will be Father Todd Young, and the music led by Mark King. In addition to congregational hymns, the Parish Choir will sing music of the 16th century English composer, Christopher Tye, and the 20th century English compos-er, Francis Woolley. Flute and organ music will include compositions by the 17th centu-ry German composer George Frideric Handel, and the 20th century French composer, Jehan Alain. Evensong is the oldest service in the Anglican Church. It dates back to the original Prayer Book of 1549, written by Thomas Cramner. To create Evensong, Cramner combined the monastic offices of Vespers (sung at sunset) and Compline (sung just be-fore bedtime) into one service to be sung in the evening. A reception in Trimble Hall will follow Evensong, coordinated by Bruce Massey and Jerry Bock. Invite a friend to attend this meditative expression of worship with you.

A Big Thank YouMany thanks to Katherine and Charlie Foreman who coordinated the beautiful reception following the Mercersburg Academy Chorale Concert on February 18. People who volun-teered and/or contributed food include Ann Chaney, Rebecca Connor, David Davis, Will and Florence Forbes, Melissa Hutton, Stephny Lietuvnikas, Paul Mackey, Gerrie Mangum, Nicole Martin, Marty Massey, Brenda Miles, Judy Loiseau-Myers, Khalea Pointer, Sue Sowers, Susan Sunnarborg, Betty Thompson, Nicki Wright, Joelene Young

Music for Holy WeekMarch 25 (Sunday of the Passion/ Palm Sunday): Music of the German romantic com-poser, Ferdinand Leitner; and music of the early 20th century American composer, Har-old Friedell.

March 29 (Maundy Thursday): Music of the French romantic composer, Alexandre Guil-mant.

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March 30 (Good Friday, 7:00 pm): Plainsong settings of the Veneration of the Cross An-thems.

March 31 (Holy Saturday, 12 noon): Plainsong settings of the Lamentations.

April 1 (Easter Vigil, 6:00 am): Music of the living American composer, James Kirkby.

April 1 Easter Day, 10:15 am): Brass instrumentalists join the Parish Choir in music of the German baroque composer, Johann Sebastian Bach; and the living American compos-er, William Witherup.

Hagerstown Bach Festival ConcertArea musicians including Mark King, will participate in this concert on Sunday, March 18 at 4:00 pm, Trinity Lutheran Church, Hagerstown. The concert is sponsored by Trini-ty Lutheran Church and the local Cumberland Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), and it commemorates Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday on March 21, 1685. The program is free and the public is invited to attend.

March Carillon Recitals at Mercersburg Academy• No recitals on March 4, 11 or 18 due to spring break• March 25 – Jim Brinson. The free recital begins at 3:00 pm and is open to the public.

Save the Dates• Friday, April 13, 8:00 pm: Premiere Performance of Symphony for Wind Ensemble, written by Mark Cook. Frank Arts Center, Shepherd University. $15 general admission.• Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm: Canterbury Choir (youth) and Parish Choir singing in the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Choir Festival. Church of the Redeemer, Balti-more. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

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Short-Term Prayer List

One of the things we do as a church body is to pray for each other. We should pray for each other always, but we especially tend to pray for each other when there is a critical situation in our lives. When one of those situations arises, people often notify the church office to have a loved-one put on our short-term prayer list that shows up in the Sunday bulletin.

We are glad to do this, and we are blessed to know that people are comfortable, and comforted, with having family and friends prayed for.

The one major drawback to this, though, is that once the situation moves from critical to normal – a successful surgery, a healing, a recovery, etc. – people of-ten forget to notify the office about the improvement or, in some cases, death. This, in turn, means that people are never removed from the short-term prayer list. Theoretically we could still be praying for Bill's surgery that happened in 2012. This also makes our short-term prayer list exceedingly long.

To help with this, we will institute a six-week rotation beginning in March. If you ask for someone to be put on the short-term prayer list we will gladly do so. We will also automatically remove them after six weeks. If the person requesting prayers needs a longer time, notify the office and they will be added again.

Please know that there is no limit to how often a person can be added to the prayer list, we are simply trying to keep it manageable.

Thank you,

Todd+

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A Thank You Letter from Fr. Todd

Thank you

First, I want to thank everyone who submitted feedback to my request for sermons that you thought were very good and/or ones that may have missed for one reason or anoth-er. I appreciate all of the comments I have received.

My task now is to go through all of those sermons and select two which I will need to submit by April 1 in preparation for the preaching fellowship program. Although the time frame for submitting sermons to be considered is closed as I work on selecting two, I am happy to continue receiving feedback should anyone feel so called.

Which brings me to my second point.

When I asked for feedback on sermons that people thought were either good or not so good, it was with this program specifically in mind. You were invited to either e-mail those comments, or drop a note in a box at the Antietam Street entrance.

I did receive several comments from one anonymous individual. Many of these com-ments focused on generalities of sermons, “They seem more like Sunday school les-sons,” while others focused on issues around the service, “there is no need to repeat written instructions.” These comments were not the point of this particular exercise.

Additionally, since they came in an anonymous form, I have no recourse but to discard them as I can’t reply to anonymous concerns or concerns of a nebulous “some people.” If you have a particular issue with either a sermon or the liturgy, I invite you to contact me personally.

To end on a positive note – thank you again to everyone who participated in my request to help me narrow down a few sermons to submit to the directors of the upcoming preaching fellowship program. I look forward to spending time working on this part of my ministry and hope to continue to improve.

Blessings,

Todd+

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Youth GroupIs always open to any youth in the church in 6th grade and up who is interested in attend-ing. Our normal schedule of Youth Group activities is for the first Friday of every month. These will range from movie and discussion topics, board game nights, outside activities like skating or swimming, and moving forward, hopefully an even broader range. We bookend and frame our activities with prayer, beginning with joining into the larger par-ish’s Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm on Fridays, and concluding our own evenings with Com-pline.

We had a planning meeting on Sunday, January 21st to lay out a plan of events for the winter and spring months. Of note, the first Friday of February and March had existing church activities that would conflict with our standard First Friday gathering. Therefore, for both February and March, we will instead be meeting on the Second Friday of each month.

On Friday, March 9th, we will be ceding the date to the J2A, and having a movie and dis-cussion night based on the movie Selma and nonviolent protest.

At the end of March, Saturday, March 24th, we are looking at volunteering at Community Café and then going bowling as a group. If any youth/parents are interested in participat-ing, please let me know so that I can make arrangements.

In April, we will either spend April 6th going to either the Islamic Center or the local synagogue in an effort to learn more about other religions, or we will have the discussion on Henry the 8th and the Anglican Reformation we had originally planned for the March youth group date.

Vacation Bible School Planning

On Sunday, March 18th we will have the first planning meeting for this summer’s Vaca-tion Bible School. Our theme this year will be High Seas Expedition, exploring stories from the book of Acts. If anyone is interested in helping to organize and run VBS, this is a great chance to check in and get the information. We welcome both old hands who have helped run VBS before, and new volunteers with fresh ideas and a willingness to spend some summer time with our church kids.

Lenten Mystery WalkAs we did last year, we will host a Mystery Walk for the Sunday School kids on Sunday, March 25th (Palm Sunday). This is a modified version of the Stations of the Cross, with adult leaders teaching the kids at each station. We are partnering up with members of the Sunday morning adult forum to lead individual stations, but if you are interested in sign-ing up separately, please contact Margaret Clinch or Susan Sunnarborg for more info!

Youth Update

SAY CHEESE!

Save the date & set your appointment! Representatives from Life Touch Photo will be in Trimble Hall to take your family portraits from Tuesday, April 3rd to Friday, April 6th from 2pm to 8:30pm and again on Saturday, April 7th from 9am to 3pm. We’ll use the photo of your choice in our Parish Pictorial Directory and you’ll get a free 8x10 and a free directory just for participating. You may bring props if you wish and you’ll have the opportunity to purchase additional prints, too.

We encourage you to sign up early to get the slot you want and fit your photos into your schedule. To help with this, we have TWO easy, peezy sign up methods: Live and in-person with Sue Sowers & Cathy Bushey in the Antietam Street entrance in between services and following the 10:15 service for the next few weeks ... OR ... you can sign up online at our website: stjohnshagerstown.org.

PLEASE NOTE: online sign-ups will be disabled every Sunday to minimize the chance of double booking! Online signup will be available early Monday morning through late Sat-urday night. AND we’re in need of “activity” shots! They can be posed or candid, groups, or individuals - pictures of folks doing what we do best here at St. John’s. If you’re willing to share (or pose) please contact Becca Burford rlburford@myactv or 301-471-1947; or Cathy Bushey cgcl08@aol.com or 301992-8444.

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J2A Update

The J2A have been extremely busy. The end of February they began painting the youth room and have enjoyed making it into a warm, welcoming and inviting space.

The J2A also have the following events on the calendar and look forward to participation from the parish:

• March 11 is paint day which starts at 1:30. tickets are currently on sale.• March 25 after the 10:15 service the J2A will be serving a grilled cheese and tomato

soup luncheon. Lunch will be 5/person or 15/family and there will be a sign-up sheet but it’s not mandatory.

The J2A also sent sympathy cards to the youth group, the parents, and the congregation of St Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs Florida on the death of a very spe-cial young woman in Carmen Schentrup who lost her life in the Parkdale school shooting. It’s hard for us to imagine our lives without one of our J2A kids and our prayers are with them as they try to make sense of it all.

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Urgent NeedWe are still looking for some willing volunteers to serve as acolytes for a few important services. If you can help at one or more service, please email Kristy and Chad at ckgross@rocketmail.com.

• Sunday, March 11 at 5:00 p.m. for Evensong - we need one more torch bearer for this service.

• Sunday, April 1 at 6:00 a.m. for the Easter Vigil - one more torch bearer would be ideal, as there is a pending substitute request.

Also, please check your upcoming dates through MSP. Acolytes have been automatically scheduled for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday (both the Vigil and the 10:15 service), but if you are unable to serve, please request a sub as soon as possible. On the flip side, if you are able to pick up any available openings, please check for that, too! Thank you for serving God and his church.

Mark Your CalendarsMayfest 2018 is right around the corner. This year it will be held on Saturday, May 12. A planning meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14, 8:30 AM, Trimble Hall. All are welcome! Your input is needed!

Also, Save the Date for a Scrapbook Saturday on 4/21. 8:30 to 5. Cost $25 includes lunch. All money goes to J2A. Any questions they can call or text me at 301-331-8070.

Y’all are InvitedIn Bishop John Shelby Spong’s book, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, Bishop Spong claims that when the church moved from Jerusalem to Rome – from Jewish followers of Jesus to a predominantly gentile church -- we lost the ability to appreciate the richness of the Hebrew Scriptures.

In the Sunday Adult Forum we are working through the Old Testament with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University. Herself and Ortho-dox Jew, she shares insights into the depth and richness of our Biblical heritage.

This video series takes us behind the stories using a multidisciplinary approach to bring together anthropology, archeology, sociology and history, as well as religion, into an infor-mative and entertaining look at where our faith came from. Sunday morning, 9:10 in Saint Mary’s Chapel – watch your Sunday bulletin for details.

Dear Friends,

We write to you about St. John’s Western Run’s trip to Haiti in June. The dates are: Saturday, June 9 – Monday, June 18. Stephen is taking the lead with all organizing and wants everyone to know that his job is to get people what they want or need from this experience.

This year our trip will be multi-age. We have six firm commitments and many others who have expressed interest. We are blessed that we will be joined by our son, Peter Haffner (who speaks fluent Creole and has been going to Haiti for 25 years), and his fiancé, Liz, who are looking forward assuming some of the leadership responsibilities at St. Etienne’s. Both Liz and Peter have been on this trip two years ago. In addition, we have been working closely with the priest at St. Etienne’s, Pere Milor, and with Herault Joseph, the youth coordinator for the church and the administrator for the local farmers cooperative. This year will be another exciting adventure with our partners.

Of course, you may have questions, so please let us know, especially Stephen. Dan Don-ovan has volunteered to help coordinate fund-raising efforts among the participants so that we don’t go down empty-handed, but are able to offer all kinds of support, includ-ing some money for the projects that we will be doing together.

For reference, please feel free to consult with any who have gone on previous trips – see enclosed list below.

Hoping you and or other members of your family will consider this life-changing op-portunity to engage in Christian ministry in the developing world with long-term, faithful partners. It is a rare chance at true partnership across economics and culture with brothers and sisters of the faith.

All the best,

Tracy Stephen443 955-8122 443 955-8123rector@stjohnswesternrun.org odeaint@aol.com

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J2A Painting Fundraiser

Help the Youth on their Journey to NYC

Sunday, March 11th in Trimble Hall

1:45 pm

Cost: $40.00

Tickets on Sale Now

After 8am service and 10:15 @ Antietam Street Entrance

Any questions, please contact Kathy Argueso 717-404-8357

If any families would like to participate in Altar flowers, we have two openings.

• May 20th, 2018 which is Pentecost Sunday. The flowers are usually red. • September 30th, 2018.

The cost of two arrangements is $70.00. If you are interested please call Pat Abeles or Caroline Wright

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Bob Davis 3/2Karla Davis 3/3Nicole Martin 3/4Caroline Wright 3/4Frederick W. Hose Jr 3/5Crystal McGuire 3/5Nancy Rickards 3/7David Martin 3/8Frances M. Young 3/8William Lucht 3/9Julie Barlup 3/12Roger Collins 3/12Eleanor Brown 3/13Rebecca Hogamier 3/13Christian Wright V 3/14Lee A. Brining 3/15Roderick Cox 3/15TR Lamb 3/16

John Ashbaugh 3/20Katie Williams 3/20Sarah Miller 3/21Madelyn Marsden 3/24Madyn Abeles 3/25Alex Jarrett 3/25Jack Perryman 3/25Sandra Bassin 3/26Rafael Gwira 3/26Leah Lindsay 3/26Vernon Miles Jr. 3/26Jennifer Sealing 3/26Charlie Foreman 3/27Barbara Porter 3/27Susan McCardell 3/28Carlos Burger 3/31Audrey Slocum 3/31

Jose & Yolanda Velazquez 3/6 Connie & Bonna Nakopoulos 3/7 Carlos & June Burger 3/8 Kenneth Magno & Annie Malloy 3/20 Billy & Barbara Rhodes 3/30

HappyAnniversary!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY