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SAINT MARK'S PRO-CATHEDRAL
Hastings, Nebraska |
Cathedral Chimes Saint Mark’s Episcopal
Pro-Cathedral May 2008 Alleluia! Christ is risen! Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Someone
mentioned the other day that we will not celebrate Easter as early as we did
this year for another 200 years, which is nice to know as it also means we
won’t have to worry about celebrating Pentecost as early either. Not that any
of us will be around to worry about it. Pentecost is arguably the
most under-appreciated major Holy Day in the entire Church Year and no matter
how hard we work to make it more festive, it never seems to get the recognition
it deserves (and while yes, it is the birthday of the Church, the balloons and
party hats thing has never really worked). Still, it is unfortunate, as it
celebrates the coming of the Third Person of the Trinity into the life of the
Church, the Holy Spirit. This is really no small
thing as we hear reflected in the Nicene Creed where we confess that: “We
believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church…” Now some of you may be
thinking: “Wait a minute, there was a change of subject; the Creed stopped
talking about the Holy Spirit and jumped to the Church.” And you would be
correct – sort of - for the while the Church is certainly a different entity,
it is the place where the Holy Spirit dwells. It is where our best work is
always that which has been empowered by or directed by the Holy Spirit. To quote the Biblical
scholar Leon Morris: “Two things are especially noteworthy about New Testament
teaching on the Holy Spirit: His universality among Christians and His bringing
power for ethical achievement…In the first instance: it was unthinkable that
anyone should be a Christian and not have the Spirit. This seems implied
throughout the epistles of the New Testament. The Church is plainly regarded as
a community indwelt by the Spirit of God. He is expected to be at work in
believers constantly…The second unusual thing is that ‘the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control (Gal.5:22-23).’ It was something new and important when His
presence was revealed by the manifestation of ethical qualities.” Morris goes on to decry the
fact that over the centuries as the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit came to be
taught as Scripture, it ceased to be seen as a basis for living which was a
hallmark of the early Church. Ironically, at a time in
history when many within the Church prize and advance no end of ‘radical’ interpretations
and agendas, very few of the so-called “progressive Christians” appear to be
advancing the truly radical notion of seeking to strive for the fruit of the
Holy Spirit as a basis for living. Yet these are the gifts
that we as followers of Christ have been called to manifest as a witness and
service to those around us. How would we even know where to begin? Well, as
with every other enterprise we might begin by stepping out in faith trusting
that God will indeed quicken the Holy Spirit that already dwells within us to
give us the courage and the grace to actually live lives of love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Lives
marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Good News of God in Christ Jesus
which we have been called to share with those who come into our lives. Bob+ The
Worship and Music Committee has found ways to raise up the Feast of Pentecost to
its equal status with Easter and Christmas. This year we will have memorial
flowers (Red Geraniums) to decorate the Reredos and Nave. Everyone is asked to
wear red to worship. We will have a special “Pentecost Reception” with red
desserts offered following the Eucharist. The
eighth annual Elinor Bartholomew Memorial Fine Arts Festival, began with
a reception on Sunday, April 27 and continues through May 11. We were pleased and honored
to have Dean Bartholomew with us again this year for the opening – to announce
the winners of the competition and to help promote the arts as part of our
mission as a cathedral. This year’s winners were Marcella Maley, Pat Harpham,
and Todd Brown. If you haven’t made the
time to check out this year’s Festival Show, be sure to do so. Greg
Burke – St. Andrews Episcopal Church
in Omaha has for the last few years participated in a youth mission trip to the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This summer they have invited any interested
youth from St. Mark’s to join them on the trip. Below is some of the
information I received from Father Tom Jones, who is organizing the trip. If anyone, youth or adult
sponsor, is interested please contact Dean Neske or Greg Burke. We will have an
informational meeting on Wednesday, May 6, at 7:00 pm at St., Mark’s
with more details and answer questions. St. Andrew’s annual
youth mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is rapidly approaching.
If you are 12 years old or older, or you will be entering the 6th
grade, you are invited to come along. The cost is $250 per person; scholarship
money is available if needed. Please watch for
sales on backpacks and school supplies. As part of our continuing ministry to the children of Pine Ridge, we
distribute backpacks filled with school supplies. Each year the number of
backpacks needed has grown. Last year we handed out 100 backpacks and 50
plastic bags filled with school supplies. With your help, our goal this year is
to provide at least 150 - 175 backpacks. A collection bin will be placed
outside our church office beginning in June. Our Bag Project for May is Healthy Beginnings.
The Healthy Beginnings Program is sponsored through Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital. Nurses make home
visits and work with these families until the children are 5. They promote
positive parenting, nuturing and interacting. They help them connect with other
resources in the community. Not only do they service Adams County but Clay, Kearney and Webster counties.
The needs of these families many: diapers (large), baby clothes (9+ months),
baby wipes, teething rings, baby bottles, socks, shoes, plastic backed bibs,
soft toys, baby lotion, baby bath soap, children’s books, and nice things for
mothers such as: fingernail polish, lotions, bubble bath, hair spray. We received several Thank
You notes from our Military Prayer List People to whom we sent boxes. They were
very grateful and appreciative. Thanks to you Saint Mark’s
Parishioners, we sent over a dozen Birthday Boxes for the Royal Family Kids
Camp. This was our March Bag Project. Hastings College Child
Defenders was promoting children’s literacy from April 12-19. During this week
they hosted its Third Annual Children’s Book
Drive. The Outreach Committee purchased
and donated $178.00 worth of books that will be donated to the Hastings Head
Start. “Truly I tell you, just
as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of our family, you
did it to me.” (Matthew 25). Lara McCoy Rolofson Shane O’Connell Taylor Wilson JoLeisa Cramer Zachary Michael Maurer Lara
McCoy Rolofson – daughter of Pat
McCoy and Rich Rolofson, will graduate from Hastings High. Lara has been active
in art, drama, speech, debate, and band. She has received academic and activity
scholarships from Hastings College and will be attending there this fall. She is
studying art, graphic design, and philosophy. Lara will be participating with
the forensics team. Shane
O’Connell – son of Melissa Burke will
be graduating from Adams Central High School. He has been active in the music programs from Adams
Central participating in Band, choir and Madrigals. Shane was awarded a
Regent’s Scholarship from the University of Nebraska in Omaha. Taylor
Wilson – son of Sandi Wilson
graduates from Hastings High. He will be attending Central Community College
this fall. He has enjoyed competitive sports in school, along with his
employment at Little Caesars Pizza for the last few years. JoLeisa
Cramer – daughter of John and Jodi
Cramer, will be graduating from Hastings High. JoLeisa will graduate in the top
5% of her class. She participates in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Freshman
mentoring program Sunny D’s (HIV/AIDS Education) she is the story advisor for
the school newspaper, and serves on the Mayor’s Council here in Hastings.
JoLeisa is a Lettered Varsity member of the Softball and Soccer team. She will
be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in this fall majoring in
Fisheries and Wildlife. She has committed to being a student Ambassador and
participating in a Leadership Committee. She has received the Velda &
Warren Wilson, Pepsi, and the Adams County Foundation Scholarships. Zachary
Michael Maurer – son of Mary Dillman
will be graduating from Hastings High. He was a 3 year All State Music Chorus Musician,
2008 Hastings College High School Honor Choir, 2008 Rotary Recipient for Vocal
Excellence and Dr. Donald E. Goodrich Outstanding Senior Madrigal Member for
2007-2008. He plays the trumpet in the symphonic, marching and jazz band, brass
quintet and also participated in various drama plays. He will be attending Hastings College with a
double major in Vocal Music Education and Vocal Performance. He was awarded the
McClellend Music Scholarship. He is the St. Mark’s acolyte captain, choir
member and youth group participant, when he's not working at the Rivoli
theatre. Jordec
Cramer – graduated from the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln in December of 2007. He received his Bachelor of
Arts in History with a minor in Ethic Studies. Each
spring, we take a moment to recognize the efforts of a group of Saint Mark’s
young people who week after week give the rest of us the precious gift of
worship. Through the efforts of our wonderfully trained corps of Acolytes, a
thousand small tasks are accomplished without interrupting the flow of the
liturgy. This year’s Acolyte Honors
will take place as part of the ten
o’clock celebration of the Eucharist on
Sunday, May 18. Please make it a point to let our young people and their
leaders, Clint and Story Schwenk, know just how much you appreciate their
efforts on our behalf. During
the Middle Ages there were really only two types of churches, parish churches
and cathedrals. Cathedrals were originally built as the centers of worship for
monasteries (as most bishops in those days were monks) as well as to serve as
the primary church of a diocese. Parish churches were considered to be part of
the manor; the property In the medieval period the
chancel, which contained the choir and altar was the responsibility of the lord
of the manor, as was the hiring of the priest; while the nave was considered
the responsibility of the people. This is why in the oldest churches in England the
chancels are constructed of dressed stone (carved limestone) while the nave was
built of flint (which was much cheaper – and you thought the impulse among
vestries toward frugality was a recent phenomenon). The nave was an open space
where the people stood or knelt for worship, although small chairs or benches were
brought in by the nobility for their use or for the sick and the elderly. The
purpose of worship was to be present for the celebration of the Mass,
especially to see the priest elevate the Host and Chalice after the elements
had been consecrated. The chancel was very much the preserve of the priest. The one thing that did not
occur very often was a sermon (priests in those days were not expected to
preach) so for most of the 10th, 11th and 12th
centuries there were no pulpits. If you wanted to hear a sermon you visited a
monastery on the major holy days. However in the 13th
Century, with the rise of the Franciscans and Dominicans, both of which were
preaching orders the proclamation of God’s word began to reassert itself as a
necessary part of Christian worship. The purpose of the sermon was not only to
illumine the Scripture but to teach the Faith as well. The outward and visible
sign of the significance of preaching was the development of the pulpit that
the people might be able to hear God’s Word proclaimed. The pulpit began as a
raised platform with a stand from which the sermon could be read and saw
further improvements in the coming centuries (the platform became higher and
more contained and a sounding board was often seen over the pulpit. More importantly,
the pulpit was placed in the nave. The liturgy – litugia
– which means the work of the people then ceased to be merely passively
observing the celebration of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, but actively
hearing and receiving God’s word, which was the model in the early Church. As
the Protestant reformer John Calvin would observe: “Word and Sacrament should
always be together.” It is becoming fashionable
in some places to remove the pulpit from the chancel as an anachronism; after
all, who needs a pulpit when you can have a really great sound system? This
however is an unfortunate trend as it ignores the symbolic value of the pulpit. For
many centuries in the Anglican tradition the Sunday before the Ascension was
appointed to serve as Rogation Sunday. In the rural parts of England it
required a solemn procession around the parish as each farm and field was
blessed by the local vicar or rector. This was the origin of the practice of
beating the bounds, because before the fields could be blessed the boundary
markers had to be reset, i.e. beaten back into place, just keep things honest
and peaceful for the coming year. The word Rogation comes
from the Latin word rogare which means ask; to ask God to bless the land
that there may be a fruitful and abundant harvest in the coming season. As you
might well expect this is hardly an Anglican custom, or a Christian custom for
that matter. Setting aside a time for asking God to bless the land and the
laborers who tilled the land has its origins for us in ancient Israel. Pagan
religions throughout the world had similar practices. Long before the environment
became an issue for discussion, the first concept of a three-fold anything was
not the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but rather was
found in the Covenant between God and the Jewish people which embraced a
different concept of the three-fold unity; in this case it was God, the people
and the land. The land was an essential part of the Covenant. This is why the land of Israel plays
such an important part both in Scripture and in the history of the Jewish
people. Not surprisingly then many of us feel not just physical connections to
the land, but spiritual connections as well. While some might think this a
matter of heritage, or family history or an exaggerated sense of patriotism,
there remains at the heart of the human spirit the sense that we are as the
Holy Scriptures tell us, ‘dust’ and to the dust we shall return. (Genesis 3:19)
We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us as well. In his parable Jesus often
used the images of the land and seed as metaphors for the Word of God and the Kingdom of God. For Jesus
both the land and the seed hold within them the power to transform, just as the
Word of God and a desire to see the Kingdom hold the power to transform us. On
Rogation Days we ask God to bless the land that we might see a good harvest in
the coming season; at the same time we ask God to bless us that we might bring
forth in our lives the fruit of righteousness, compassion and love in Jesus
name. Parish
Life and Evangelism will be sponsoring the St. Mark’s Talent Show on Sunday
evening June 22. We are planning an event to showcase the many talented members
and friends of St. Mark’s. We’re looking for everyone who will share a talent
for us to enjoy: comedy, skit, vocal and/or instrumental music, poetry, dancing
or audience. Mark your calendars and plan on being with us; we invite all ages
to participate Contact Robin Stitt,
463-4193, Kathryn Brockmeier, 984-1798, or the church office 462-4126.
2 - Janet Haberman, Nita Brown
4 - Jack Lind 12
- Norma Hansen 14
- Betty Yeagley 17
- Virgil Holz 18
- Kyle Martindale 19
- Mary Dillman 20
- Taylor Wilson 22 -
Charlotte Flyr, Cindy Murphy 1 – Tom and Mary Kovanda, 14 years 9 – Jeff and LeeAnn Lind, 27 years 9 – Greg and Kathryn Brockmeier, 1 year 20 – John and Robin Stitt, 13 years 26 – Rod and Laverna Epp, 51 years 26 – John and Lynn Folcik, 29 years Sign
up sheets for special music during the summer are located on the display case
in the parish hall. If you have a musical gift, please select a Sunday during
the summer months to share your talent! Individuals, vocalists, groups, or
instrumentalists are welcome! May Ministries Schedule May
4 May
11 May
18 May
25 Vestry Member of the Day John Stitt Altar Guild Nancy Gingerich, Jane Tushaus,
Nancy Pavelka Iona Bump, Fedora Groenewold, Jackie Knight Acolytes
5:30 pm Travis O’Connell Joe Prickett Christian Scott Joe Prickett
8:00 am Christian Scott Callie Brown Travis O’Connell Callie Brown
10:00 am Z. Maurer, Tr. Brown, Z. Maurer, M. Nelson, A. Halsted, P. Halsted, M. Nelson, N Brown, Eucharistic Min Mary Helen Edwards Ben Cannon Marj Phillips Mary Helen Edwards Oblationers Bev Ost Tom & Rosey Peterson Sandy Wilson Nita Bornemeier Ushers
8:00 am Nita Brown Rich Rolofson Greg Burke Don Meininger
10:00 am Greg Burke, Jeff Lind M. Hegwood, John & Marsha Nelson Tom & Rosey Peterson Worship Leader Mary Helen Edwards Bruce Schwenk Dan Prickett Rod Epp Lectors
5:30 pm Lewis/Schwidtal Mary Helen Edwards Lisa Prickett Laverna Epp
8:00 am Rich Rolofson Helen Jacupke Rich Rolofson Helen Jacupke
10:00 am Ben Cannon, Sigrid Eigenberg Joe Prickett, Mary H. Edwards K. Schwidtal, Dan Prickett Lyndle Lewis, Laverna Epp Coffee Hosts Pot Luck Dinner Pentecost reception Mary Brown Shirley Meininger St. Mark’s
Sunday Service on Charter Cable channel 12 Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. & Sunday 4 p.m. May
2008 at Saint Mark’s Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Ascension
Day 1
2
3 Bishop’s
Visitation/Confirmation 4
5
6
7
8
9
10 Day of
Pentecost
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 Graduate
Sunday
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25 Memorial Day
26
27
28
29
30
31 Find us at the corner of 5th St. & Burlington Ave. Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at (402) 462-4126 Email us at stmark@inebraska.comFrom the Dean
Pentecost Sunday
Art Show On-Going
Pine Ridge Mission Trip – July 27—August 1
Blessings and Gifts
Celebrating Graduates
Acolyte Honors
Why We Do What We Do…
Thoughts on Rogation Days
Talent Show
May Birthdays
May Anniversaries
Summer Musicians
Easter VII
The Day of Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
Pentecost 2
Ts. Brown, N. Brown,
K. Sejkora, S. Sejkora
P. Halsted, W. Nelson,
K. Sejkora, S. Sejkora
Tr. Brown, Ts. Brown,
W. Nelson, M. Nelson,
K. Sejkora, Z. Maurer,
S. Sejkora, P. Halsted,
Greg Burke
Mick DeBacker
Pat Crawford
Greg Burke
Nancy Pavelka
Jeff Lind
Norma Hansen
Shirley Meininger
Sat. 5:30 pm
5:15 pm – Buildings & Grounds mtg.
8:00 am – Bible Study @Blue Moon
10:00 am – Worship & Music mtg.
5:30 pm – H.E.
8:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite I
9:00 am – Choir Rehearsal
10:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:30 am – Potluck Dinner
5:00 pm – TOPS
7:00 pm – Inquirers Class
10:00 am – HE
10:30 am –Bible Study
7:30 pm – Parish Life mtg
6:30 pm – N.A.
8:00 am – Bible Study @Blue Moon
5:30 pm – H.E.
8:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite I
9:00 am – Choir Rehearsal
10:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:00 am – Coffee Hour
5:00 pm – TOPS
7:00 pm – Inquirers Class
10:00 am – HE
10:30 am –Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vestry mtg
6:30 pm – N.A.
8:00 am – Bible Study @Blue Moon
5:30 pm – H.E.
Acolyte Honors, Sunday School Recognition
8:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite I
9:00 am – Choir Rehearsal
10:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:00 am – Coffee Hour
5:00 pm – TOPS
7:00 pm – Inquirers Class
10:00 am – HE
10:30 am –Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vestry mtg.
6:30 pm – N.A.
8:00 am – Bible Study @Blue Moon
5:30 pm – H.E.
8:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite I
9:00 am – Choir Rehearsal
10:00 am – Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:00 am – Coffee Hour
Office Closed
5:00 pm – TOPS
7:00 pm – Inquirers Class
10:00 am – HE
10:30 am –Bible Study
6:30 pm – N.A.
8:00 am – Bible Study @Blue Moon
5:30 pm – H.E.The deadline for material for the
June Chimes is May 21
