The Episcopal Church of Bangor in Caernarvon

Transcription

1 September 16, 2018 The Episcopal Church of Bangor in Caernarvon Founded in Main Street Churchtown, Narvon, Pennsylvania The Rt. Reverend Audrey Scanlan, Bishop The Reverend Canon Mark A. Scheneman Priest in Charge Historic Bangor Episcopal Church, the mother church of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, seeks to be a community in Christ Jesus celebrating our heritage, vibrant in our worship, and engaged in ministry and mission as we approach the 300 th anniversary of our founding.

2 THIS TUESDAY EVENING - September 11, 2018 The Feast of St. Deiniol of Bangor 6:00 PM Covered Dish Dinner (Church House) 6:40 PM Brief musical congregational rehearsal (Church House) 7:00 PM Traditional Anglican Evensong (Church) Please join us this evening as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Deiniol our Paternal Saint. Bring something to share for the Covered Dish supper at 6:00. There will be a brief run-through of the Evensong music and Welsh National Anthem at the end of dinner. And then we will go to the church for Evensong. This Sunday at Bangor Church September 16, 2018 The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist, (Church) 11:10 AM Fellowship Hour (Church House) This morning we welcome the Rev. Ronald Jaynes back to Bangor Church. He will preside and preach this Sunday with Fr. Mark away. In the Gospel reading, Jesus and his disciples travel to the northern border of the Galilee, at Caesarea Philippi where Jesus quietly asks them, Who do you say that I am? Peter s answer is a confession of faith, that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ, perhaps verbalizing what others were afraid to declare. In response, Jesus declares that the Christ must suffer

3 many things and be killed, but would rise from the dead. It is a statement that Peter cannot accept. Please join us following the service for our fellowship hour in the Church House. From Fr. Mark: Some thoughts on Evensong Tonight (assuming you will receive and read this newsletter from the distribution list on Tuesday) we will gather to celebrate the Feast of St. Deiniol, September 11. The highlight of our observance, other than all the good food shared at our Covered Dish dinner, will be Evensong in the Church at 7:00. For many of us, this quintessential Anglican liturgy is a cherished part of our heritage. Someone once declared to me that Evensong was Anglican comfort food! Not a bad analogy. So, let me share a few thoughts on the service of Evensong. The Book of Common Prayer provides four Daily Offices - Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline. These services are descendants of the monastic cycle of daily worship, first given structure by St. Benedict, and formally called Offices. In the monastic setting, they still function as the very heart beat of the worshiping community as it pauses at various times in the day to pray together.

4 At the time of the 16 th century Anglican Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer compiled and translated a Morning and Evening Prayer liturgy for the first Book of Common Prayer. Over the years, Morning and Evening Prayer became the staples of worship in the Church of England, both on weekdays and on Sundays. The liturgies feature a reading from the psalter as well as two other readings from Scripture. Cranmer included the Apostles Creed, the Lord s Prayer and other prayers for the day as well. The morning service is often known as Matins, while the sung evening service is called Evensong. As the Church of England developed music to enhance Morning and Evening Prayer, a distinctive style of chanting emerged. Unlike the medieval Gregorian or plainsong chant, the newer Anglican Chant features the intoning of a single note over several words or syllables, and then concluding the phrase with a series of chords. (In contrast, Gregorian Chant features singing a different note on each syllable.) Anglican Chant is normally used to sing both the psalm and the canticles. The canticles are texts taken from Scripture. For Evening Prayer, there are two very traditional canticles: The Song of Mary and the Song of Simeon, known by their respective Latin titles, Magnficat and Nunc dimittis. In many churches and cathedrals, Anglican chant typically is sung by a choir antiphonally, that is, with one side of the choir singing one verse and the other side responding with the second verse. The

5 vestige of this liturgical tradition is often on display when we read or sing a psalm responsively on Sunday morning. Other parts of Evensong are also intoned, including the Apostles Creed and the Lord s Prayer. Following the Lord s Prayer, a series of statements, technically called Suffrages, are sung, alternating between the officiating clergy and the congregation. The Officiant concludes the service chanting the prayers of the day and evening. Evensong usually includes some congregational hymns. There are several evening hymns that are very commonly used, including one we will sing tonight, The day thou gavest, Lord is ended (St. Clement) which is one of the most beloved hymns sung in the Church of England. We will also be singing, most appropriately St. Deiniol, H423 ( Immortal, invisible ) and Cum Rhondda, H691 ( Guide me, O thou great Jehovah ). Both of these hymns come from the north of Wales, where Bangor is located. It is certainly easier and often inspiring when a good choir leads Evensong. In many great cathedrals and large parish churches, Anglican choirs sing Evensong, sometimes on several evenings each week, or for special occasions. Choirs typically sing an anthem as well. But we will do our best without a choir. I plan to offer Evensong twice a year, once in the fall and on another occasion in the spring. On some future occasions, we hope to welcome visiting choirs to sing Evensong in our church. One final challenge: as I have mentioned, we will once again attempt to sing the Welsh National Anthem, Land of My Fathers or Hen Wlad fy Nhadua ) at the end of Evensong. We will sing first in Welsh, and then in English. The Welsh love to sing this anthem at all their national and athletic events. It has become the source of immense pride in their regional identify and native language. Why don t we just

6 sing in English? Well, the point of the anthem is that it is sung in Welshthe last line goes (English translation!) your language stays ever with me. So, I hope you can join us. Invite someone when we have Evensong. There will be no Communion or sermon. just Anglican comfort food. Mark+ Coming Events St. Deniol Day, Dinner and Evensong Tuesday, September 11 Museum of the Bible trip September 19 Fr. Stan Imboden Sunday September 23 Fr. Pete Greenfield Sunday October 14 Heritage Sunday October 21 Vestry Highlights At the Vestry meeting last Sunday, several updates were given on finances and property issues. The Property Committee recommended and the vestry approved trimming lower branches of the front pine trees and some trees on the side of the church and the walkway from the parking lot. We anticipate that a new light will be installed this fall over the front church door to give us more illumination when we have evening services. The vestry elected Bob Brown to serve as delegate to Diocesan Convention in October. Also approved was a new white Eucharistic vestment recommended by a special committee - Joanne Liszcz, Maurine VanDyke, and Betty Martin. Announcements +The Prayer Shawl ministry will have its first fall meeting on Friday, October 5 at 9:30 AM at Marge Dailey s home. All are welcome, nonknitters too! +Our chartered bus for Washington DC and our visit to the new Museum of the Bible will be leaving from our Bangor Church parking lot on Wednesday morning, September 19 at 8:00 AM. Please be on time so we can get on the road promptly.

7 +On Sunday, September 23 we look forward to welcoming The Rev. Canon Stan Imboden and his wife, Sandi, who will be our special guests. Fr. Stan served as the Rector of Bangor Church, following his retirement as Rector of St. James, Lancaster in Our prayers have been asked for Kathy Weaver, Dylys Glew, Eleanor Hertzog, Lynn Schneider Schauer, Carol Greenfield, Lois Benedix, Bob Dailey, Ann Dailey, Marie Yannarell, Pat Bankenstein, Dave Mathewson and Barbara Hall.