St. Timothy’s Episcopal ChurchPO Box 7416 • Salem, OR 97303

503-363-0601 • mail@sainttimothys.org • www.sainttimothys.org

Tidings

APRIL 2014

The Power of Journey

We are often quick to treat those coming to our churches as tourists—as consumers to whom we will offer a set of services de- signed to make their journey easier, more fun, and less complicated. Somehow, we seem to think, if we just lower the bar enough and make it accessible enough, they will stay. Yet this discounts the power of the journey, the richness of self-offering. Those coming through our doors are not necessarily looking for an easy faith—their lives are not easy and they need a faith demanding and complex enough to actually call them into newness of being. (from Yearning, by Robert Hendrickson)

Holy Week and Easter are, without doubt, at the center of our lives as Christians and in the life of this parish. What can seem to an outsider as only a lot of work for an annual festivity is, for us, participating in the mystery of salvation, the source of meaning. Without the Triduum, the Vigil, the Agapé Feast, we would be left with the “lowered bar” and its correspondingly diminished journey and sense of self-offering as described by Fr. Hendrickson. For us, the Christian life is not tourism built on convenience, but a sacred pilgrimage founded on the personal experience of Christ’s death and resurrection, alive and working in and through us as individuals and as a community.

There is immense pressure to make the Church just another consumable, an-other ideology amongst many. The idea of “lowering the bar” is a commonplace

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when we turn the Church into just another business, social-service provider, or club. In our age, confusing inclusiveness with trivialization is perhaps the norm. But when we hear the words of Christ from the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” we cannot respond by lowering the bar: it is rather up to us to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, in his strength, carrying our own cross in our often difficult and demanding lives.

It is sometimes said that Christianity is something caught, not taught. I find this very true. Only when the Gospel has become our experience of Truth, our experience of Life, is it really the Source of our existence, not merely an extraneous consumer item or ideology. Similarly, spiritual tourism is a dead end, a dry river, an empty daydream. We cannot tour our way to Christ, always taking the position of a spectator or observer: we must dive into the waters of faith as true participants, and there be held by Christ who is Life.

What we are all about to experience in April is an invitation to pilgrimage deeper into the mystery of God and the mystery of our life and that of our brothers and sisters—indeed, the very Creation itself. This is our self-offering of will and pres-ence, and it is essential. It is the “narrow door” through which we must pass in order to receive the gift that only comes when we forsake the trivialized life of the mere consumer or tourist.

I pray none of us will ignore this invitation, and that we will extend an invitation to all those around us who hunger for authentic, transformative encounter with Christ. All of us crave this newness of being, and it will be offered freely and with great power. Rather than “lowering the bar” and hiding out in the “tourist spots” of life, let us journey together with Christ from death to eternal life!

In Christ,

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Confessions will be heard on Saturday, April 5, noon - 3 PM in the Chapel.

Easter season is upon us. Please reserve some time for Saturday, April 5th to come lend a hand for some Spring cleanup. The plan is to do some pruning, weeding, and spread some bark dust. Many hands make for light work. We can get a lot done from 9 AM to 1 PM. Thanks in advance from the Building and Grounds team.

—Chuck McFerron

Thoughts on Lentby Grade School Students Collected by teacher Anne Whitney

Lent— Waiting for Easter.I will give up T.V. and then I will repace it with playing with my little brother.I will give a coloring book and crayons for SIHN Day Center and canned peaches for the hungry. Olivia Padrick, Age 9

I think Lent means preparing for the death of Jesus and thinking about our spiri-tual needs instead of our daily needs. For Lent, I am going to add something to do daily: I am going to stretch each day, so I can get better at dance. And I am going to clean my room out and give away the stuff I don’t want anymore. Isabela Gaupo, Age 11

My definition of Lent is preparing for Easter when God comes back from the dead.I will give up soda and I will replace it with God. Graeme Bandfield, Age 10

Rescheduled Global Missions Conference

The Diocesan Global Mission Committee has rescheduled its conference for April 25 and 26. The Saturday session will be held at St. Timothy’s. There will be two speakers and opportu-nities for sharing. Lunch is provided. See the brochures in the narthex.

Outdoor Work Party

Holy Week: The Journey that Changes Us Anew Each Year

Palm Sunday: The Sunday of the PassionJourney with Christ into the Holy City, gathering in the Parish Hall for the Liturgy of the Palms at 10 AM; we will form a joyful proces-sion and make our way into the church where the tone suddenly changes from triumph to reverent awe as we see God’s love for us revealed in Jesus’ taking up the Cross. Question: How deep is our own loyalty to Christ? Are we willing to walk with him into Jerusalem, or do we prefer to stay on the margins in the crowd?

Holy Monday/TuesdayThese are the days of waiting. Jesus is in Jerusalem, but he knows the time to act has not yet come. Judas grows impatient; we wait prayerfully. Evening Prayer is offered these nights at 7, with time to reflect on the subtle meaning of these hidden days.Question: How willing are we to let Jesus act on his own time-table? Do we as-sume we know better than Our Lord? Do our actions confirm this?

Holy WednesdayJudas makes a deal with the authorities and prepares to betray Jesus. The lights grow dimmer and the mood becomes more tense, more restless. The ancient service of Tenebrae (shadows) is offered at 7 PM. It is a service of psalms, chants, readings, prayers, and the gradual extinguishing of candles symbolizing Our Lord’s abandonment by those around him, ending in darkness and silence. We have reached to the edge of the Great Three Days.Question: Will we turn our schedule upside-down this week in order to journey with Jesus? Have we become bored with the Holy Week rites, taking them for granted rather than living them personally?

Maundy Thursday: The Triduum (Great Three Days) BeginsChrist gives two commandments this day: To love one another as he has loves us, and to share in the mystery of his presence in the sacred bread and wine.. At 7 PM the Maundy Liturgy begins, containing such special rites as the foot-wash-ing, the reservation of Holy Communion at the Altar of Repose in the Chapel, and the stripping of the altar, recalling Jesus’ arrest and trial. After the Liturgy, an all-

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night prayer vigil in the chapel is held (sign up in the Narthex). Question: When was the last time you enjoyed actual silence with God? Will you take that opportunity, that risk now?

Good Friday: The Day of the World (A complete fast day)Christ is led forth in the morning to his sentencing and death. Wejourney along with him on the Way of the Cross (offered on Good Friday at noon). Today is sometimes called “The Day of the World,” because it seems to be the victory of all that is fallen, alienated, and wrong. But for us, it is the day showing forth God’s complete identification with his children in the unfathomable mystery of Jesus’ suffering and dying. The stark 7 PM liturgy includes the Passion Gospel of St. John and the Solemn Collects – where we take up our priestly duty to pray for the world. A rugged cross is brought into our midst, and there we venerate it personally—this sign of human rejection and yet also of divine love. Finally, we receive the reserved Sacrament in a rite unique to this day…affirming that Christ remained God’s Son even in death, reaching into our hearts by bread and wine, and whispering the truth that this is a Good Friday, a day of promise and hope.Question: How is this day “Good” in your life as a disciple? How do you keep it holy?

Holy Saturday: In the Tomb and Preaching to those in PrisonThis is the Great Sabbath. Jesus is resting in the Tomb, but he is also preaching the Gospel to the dead. We are reminded on this day that Jesus is Lord of all times and places; no age or people is beyond the reach of his redeeming love. A short service is offered at 10 AM to commemorate his burial and to recall our own mortal-ity as well as God’s promise of renewal in the midst of what seems like despair.Question: Have you ever heard a sermon from the 3rd century? If not, come to this service; you will – and it will challenge you to live differently for the rest of your life.

The Great Vigil of Easter: Journey with Jesus out of Death’s GraspThis is the Feast of Feasts! On this night we see the new fire burn brightly, darkness beaten back, and the Paschal Candle shining in the midst of a dark tomb. The old story of God’s purposes for us and his will for our redemption is told; the font is blessed, our baptismal

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Palm Sun 13 Mon. in 14Holy Week

Tue. in 15Holy Week

Wed. in 16Holy Week

Maundy 17Thursday

Good 18Friday

Holy Sat./ 19Easter Eve

Easter Day 20 Mon. in 21Easter Week

Tue. in 22Easter Week

Sat. in 26Easter Week

Easter II 27 Catherine 29

8 am HE 9 am CS Choir 10 am HE

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HE

Frederick 1Dennison Maurice

James 2Lloyd Breck

Richard of 3Chichester

Martin Luth- 4er King Jr.

5

Lent V 6 7 William 8Augustus Muhlenberg

Dietrich 9 Bonhoeffer

Catechum. 7

William 10Law

George 11Augustus Selwyn

12

10 am HE

of SienaSt. Mark 28(tsf.)

Wed. in 23Easter Week

Thu. in 24Easter Week

Fri. in 25Easter Week

10 am MP

30

10 am HE

24 Steve Kaiser

26 David Teigland Martina Sierra

27 Ryan Henderson

28 Marsha Witt

30 Jean Louthan

4 Will Wood

7 William Twist

10 Angelina McGee

11 Elizabeth Purdy Elizabeth Mills

13 David Tatman

April Birthdays

16 Olivia Padrick

18 Skip Padrick

21 Jeff Swartwout

23 Holden Gaupo

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HE Choir Mt. Angel Pilgrimage

Altar Guild 9Work Party 9-1Confess 12-3

10 am HE

10 am HE11 am HE

Catechum. 7

Catechum. 7

Catechum. 7

Court Child Care 9:30

Court Child Care 9:30

Court Child Care 9:30

7 pm EP7 pm EP

7 pm Tenebrae 7 pm Liturgy 7 pm Liturgy

10 am LiturgyWork Party7:30 Choir9:00 VigilAgape Feast

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

6 pm Choir6 pm Choir7 pm Choir

Lent Outreach Ingathering

CommunityGarden Work Party9 -12

GlobalMissionConference9:30 - 3:30

SIHN Host Week

Tidings Deadline

Calendar Notes for April

Tuesday, April 1: Missions Commission, 7 PM

Saturday, April 5: Altar Guild Meeting, 9 AM Outdoor Work Party, 9 - 12 Confessions, 12-3 PM

Sunday, April 6: Pilgrimage to Mt. Angel, noon; lunch at Der Glockenspiel Host Week with Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network begins

Saturday, April 12: Community Garden Work Party, 10 AM

Sunday, April 13: Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday Blessing of Palms and Holy Eucharist, 8 AM Choir Rehearsal, 9 AM Palm Procession and Holy Eucharist, 10 AM

Monday in Holy Week, April 14: Evening Prayer, 7 PM

Tuesday in Holy Week, April 15: Morning Prayer, 10 AM Evening Prayer, 7 PM Choir Rehearsal, 7 PM

Wednesday in Holy Week, April 16: Tenebrae, 7 PM

Maundy Thursday: Choir Rehearsal, 6 PM Maundy Thursday Liturgy, 7 PM (Child Care)

Good Friday (Fast Day): Choir Rehearsal, 6 PM Good Friday Liturgy, 7 PM (Child Care)

Holy Saturday/Easter Eve: Tomb Liturgy, 10 AM Altar Guild Work Party, 10:30 AM Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 PM Great Vigil of Easter, 9 PM (Child Care) Agape Feast following

Easter Day: Holy Eucharist with hymns, 11 AM (Please note new time)

Easter Thursday, April 24: Guild of Sts. Anna and Simeon, 4:30 PM

Easter Saturday, April 26: Global Mission Conference, at St. Timothy’s, 9:30 AM Registration brochures in the narthex

TidingsDeadline!

vows renewed, and the Resurrection is more than proclaimed: it is experienced! In the light of the Risen One, we share at table in the Holy Mysteries of his Body and Blood, going out into the night radiant with his love, and sharing in that love by feasting late into the night as a people reborn, renewed, and revealed to be who we were meant to be from the beginning. Our main Easter service, the Great Vigil begins at 9 PM. Question: Is the Resurrection of Christ the basis of our life? Have we made peace with death, or are we impatient for true life?

Easter Day: Indeed, He Is Risen, Alleluia!The tomb is empty, but the message is still to be delivered. Mary Magdalene meets the risen Christ and mistakes him for the gardener…and who could blame her?! We celebrate the Eucharist at 11 AM in a said service with hymns, carrying forth the glory of this day.Question: How does the Resurrection challenge our world and our lives still?

Easter Season: A Worship Primer

During the Great 50 Days of Eastertide, the liturgy at St. Timothy’s reflects the joy of the season celebrating the Resurrection. The differences begin with the first words of the Liturgy: Alleluia, Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! The ancient praise-shout Alleluia! is used extensively during this “week of weeks” capped off by Pentecost. The opening acclamation expresses the centrality of the Resurrection not only in Eastertide, but throughout the Christian’s life.

During Easter, the Gloria in excelsis or some other song of praise is sung each Sunday. We will sing a festive Anglican Chant setting of the Pascha nostrum on most Sundays; these verses from the letters of St. Paul collectively exult in the triumph of the Resur-rection, and teach us to pattern our lives after the mystery of New Life into which we have been baptized.

During this time of the year we will be using Form V for the Prayers of the Peo-ple, a litany derived from Eastern Orthodox sources. This form of the Prayers includes a petition for the forgiveness of sin, as we will omit the Confession and Absolution from the Eucharist during this season, in joyful celebration

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of the fact that in Christ, our sins are forgiven. Parishioners are reminded to prepare for the Eucharist each week by confessing their sins to God as a normal part of their pre-liturgy prayers at home.

We will return to Eucharistic Prayer A, and the second Post-com-munion Prayer, in accordance with our usual custom. At the conclusion of the lit-urgy a special Eastertide blessing is chanted, followed by a sung Dismissal replete with more Alleluias.

There is no fasting during the Great 50 Days of Easter. Fasting (usually in the form of a meat fast) returns on the Friday after Pentecost, and continues on Fri-days (outside of any Feasts of Our Lord, noted in your bulletin) until Christmas.

It is an ancient custom for homes to be blessed during Easter season. This may be a small, private celebration, or it may be a large gathering of the family, parish, and friends. Please see Fr. Brandon to discuss having your home blessed during Eastertide. BLF+

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___Arrange your personal schedule to allow for worship on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter.

___Sign up to help with the Agape Feast: kitchen crews are needed be-fore, during, and after the Feast.

___Plan a potluck dish and your own beverages to bring to the Agape Feast. Ethnic Easter foods are especially appropriate.

___Sign up to watch at the Altar of Repose on Thursday night or Friday morning. Men are especially sought for the dark hours.

___Bring sleeping bags and pillows for children to bed down in the Nurs-ery or the pew if they need to during the Vigil.

___Bring colored hard-boiled eggs to the church.

Checklist

Vestry February Retreat

The Vestry’s annual retreat was held at the church February 22 and was the first meeting for new members Rick Wilcox and me. It was an interesting and lively meeting. We enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch and got to know one another a little better. If the retreat is any indication, the next three years will speed by!

After Morning Prayer, Fr. Brandon began the meeting with a reflection entitled Missio Dei: from Cosmos to Our Neighborhood, essentially an outline to help us determine God’s mission for St. Timothy’s, the Vestry and for us as individuals, remembering that it is God who determines our mission. I felt this reflection was particularly helpful as we discussed the 2013 survey and responses from the parish.

We addressed several matters of business (greater detail may be found in the Vestry minutes prepared by Merryn Grae and posted in the narthex):

• The 2013 Parochial Report (required by the Diocese and national church) was approved• Discussion of proposed uses for the dispersal of endowment funds was post- poned but we reviewed a list of possible expenditures to be considered at a later date.• Current Vestry liaisons to the Commissions will remain the same for the next year as everyone wanted to keep their current assignments. I will be liaison for Missions Commission and Rick will be looking for some help with the Stewardship Commission. • A preliminary financial report for January was presented.• Nancy Herrin and Rick Wilcox were approved as St Timothy’s lay delegates to the Diocesan convention and convocation. It was agreed to seek a third delegate from the congregation. Sandy Noble will serve in one of our two alternate positions.

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• Jr. Warden Shep Earl reported on various grounds issues: upcoming grounds work day, the resolution of fence problems, and Flicker damage to the Parish Hall.• We reviewed the 2013 Survey and additional responses received at the 2014 Annual Meeting.

A lengthy discussion was held regarding the responses to the Annual Survey, a number of which indicate a desire to better connect with the neighborhood par-ticularly the Hispanic community, not just Hoover School. We discussed ways in which we could use our resources to benefit the community. The Vestry felt we should connect with the neighborhood association (for example) to determine neighborhood needs.

In addition, the Vestry felt the need to determine the level of parish support for outreach projects. Rick and Ron volunteered to work with the parish to determine what level of support ex-ists for new efforts. As a first step they will attend the Missions Commission’s next meeting on April 1 to address the Commission’s topic: “discerning God’s will for how/when/why we (the Missions Commission) might connect better with our Hoover neighbors.”

Additionally several responses suggested a desire to connect with Willamette students; Fr. Brandon will pursue that with the Willamette Chaplain.

I am really looking forward to serving on the Vestry and hope I can be an added value. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

—Susan Hawkins

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Pilgrimage to Mt. Angel: April 6

Join the Adut Study Group for a trip to Mt. Angel Abbey, leaving at noon on Sunday, April 6. First on the itinerary is lunch at Der Glockenspiel in Mt. Angel, followed by a tour of the Abbey and opportunities for free time, more exploration, Vespers, or whatever you choose. Sign up inthe narthex.

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSALEM, OR

PERMIT NO. 409

Return Service Requested

St. Timothy’s Episcopal ChurchPO Box 7416Salem, OR 97303

503-363-0601www.sainttimothys.org

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist, 8 AM Palm Procession & Holy Eucharist, 10 AM

Monday in Holy Week: Evening Prayer, 7 PM

Tuesday in Holy Week: Morning Prayer, 10 AM Evening Prayer, 7 PM

Wednesday in Holy Week: Tenebrae, 7 PM

Maundy Thursday Liturgy: 7 PM

Good Friday: Stations of the Cross, 12 PM

Good Friday Liturgy, 7 PM

Easter Eve: Tomb Liturgy, 10 AM

Great Vigil of Easter, 9 PM, Agape Feast followingEaster Day: Holy Eucharist, 11 AM (Please note new time)

Holy Week Services