Grace Episcopal Cathedral Topeka, Kansas September 2014 Vol. 88, No. 9 Dear Friends: “When two or three are gathered together in my name . . .” Okay, I know Jesus was probably going in a different direction with this familiar saying (a part of our gospel lesson for September 7), but, sometimes, I think he was referring to summer attendance at church and providing assurance that despite the absence of many in the community, and an apparent lack of faithfulness and devotion to worship, the blessing of his presence remains among us. In 24 years as an ordained minister, and 14 at the Cathedral, I have never been able to get used to the mass exodus that summer brings to church. Look, I get it. Summer is vacation time. Kids are out of school, many of our regular activities take a summer break, things slow down in many businesses purely because their people are away. The weather is nice for traveling. I understand summer and vacation time. I take some time off in the summer myself. But what I don’t get is why people / Christians suddenly decide to make church on the Lord’s Day such a low priority in their lives, to vacation from church, from worship and praise of the Lord. Of course, people are out of town occasionally, and many who are, attend church somewhere else when they are away – and sometimes, occasionally, it is probably even From the Dean. . . Continued on page 2. healthy to just “chill” and take a weekend or week off from everything that is your regular habit, including church. But when our average attendance here drops 70 to 100 people a week all summer long, and when I miss seeing folks for months at a time, it leads me to believe that there is more going on than just vacation and trips out of town. If this all sounds like belly-aching or scolding, well, honestly, there may be a little of that, but, mostly it is simply a matter of concern from your pastor that we are taking our worship of and relationship with God far too lightly. Do we not have an hour or two in our week – every week – to give to the One who gives us all that we have? Do we want God to be with us in all times and in all places? Do we not expect God to be present with us those times when we want and need God most? Then, perhaps, it is time to reassess our commitment to God in our lives. We certainly all fall short of what we should do and be as God’s
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From the Dean.€¦ · Williamson, who died August 2; and to Cathedral member Debi Hedtke on the death of her mother, Shirley. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
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Transcript
Grace Episcopal Cathedral Topeka, Kansas
September 2014 Vol. 88, No. 9
Dear Friends:
“When two or three
are gathered together
in my name . . .”
Okay, I know Jesus
was probably going
in a different
direction with this familiar saying (a
part of our gospel lesson for
September 7), but, sometimes, I think
he was referring to summer
attendance at church and providing
assurance that despite the absence of
many in the community, and an
apparent lack of faithfulness and
devotion to worship, the blessing of
his presence remains among us.
In 24 years as an ordained
minister, and 14 at the Cathedral, I
have never been able to get used to
the mass exodus that summer brings
to church. Look, I get it. Summer is
vacation time. Kids are out of school,
many of our regular activities take a
summer break, things slow down in
many businesses purely because their
people are away. The weather is nice
for traveling. I understand summer
and vacation time. I take some time
off in the summer myself. But what I
don’t get is why people / Christians
suddenly decide to make church on
the Lord’s Day such a low priority in
their lives, to vacation from church,
from worship and praise of the Lord.
Of course, people are out of town
occasionally, and many who are,
attend church somewhere else when
they are away – and sometimes,
occasionally, it is probably even
From the Dean. . .
Continued on page 2.
healthy to just “chill” and take a
weekend or week off from everything
that is your regular habit, including
church.
But when our average attendance
here drops 70 to 100 people a week
all summer long, and when I miss
seeing folks for months at a time, it
leads me to believe that there is more
going on than just vacation and trips
out of town.
If this all sounds like belly-aching
or scolding, well, honestly, there may
be a little of that, but, mostly it is
simply a matter of concern from your
pastor that we are taking our worship
of and relationship with God far too
lightly. Do we not have an hour or
two in our week – every week – to
give to the One who gives us all that
we have? Do we want God to be
with us in all times and in all places?
Do we not expect God to be present
with us those times when we want
and need God most? Then, perhaps,
it is time to reassess our commitment
to God in our lives.
We certainly all fall short of
what we should do and be as God’s
Join the choir!
From the Dean continued
people, but a conscious effort toward
community worship is something we
can all do as a minimum offering of
time to God (and to our church
family. Fellowship with our brothers
and sisters is important as well.)
The good news is whenever we
are together, whether few or many,
God is with us and among us,
blessing us and enabling us for all
that we do the rest of the week, and
when we miss that time together
with each other and with God, we
miss that important feeding and
blessing. And the community misses
you. And God misses you.
God loves us and cares for us
and, yes, is even present with us
whether we come to church or not.
But when we come to church, and
when we make worship and devotion
a regular part of our life – fall,
winter spring AND summer – we are
saying to God, “Thank you. We love
and care and are present with you,
too – at all times and in all places,
and in all seasons.”
Isn’t that the kind of relationship
we want with God?
—I’ll see you in church,
Steve+
Heads up on Adult Forum
Next month we’ll print a complete
schedule for the 2014-15 Adult Forum. But
just so you’ll know what is coming up—
beginning October 5, Pastor George will
lead a series on the prophets and kings of
Israel (and Judah). A short video will be followed by a group discussion on
how the faith of Israel affected its daily life and national decisions.
This class will be interrupted for two weeks October 19 and 26, for
presentations about our Haiti and Africa ministries. Deacon Stephen
Segebrecht will be with us on October 19 to talk about Kansas2Kenya, and on
October 26, Bishop Andrew Waldo (Upper South Carolina) will share about
our Haiti Partners-in-Health program. The Cathedral’s Outreach budget
supports both these humanitarian programs which provide housing, healthcare,
food, clean water and education for those who would otherwise be without the
basic and life sustaining commodities.
Phase One building program and Christian Formation It’s an interesting combination for a newsletter article, but
since the building project plays a part in this this year’s Sunday
School calendar, we thought we’d tackle them both together.
Our construction appears to be on schedule at this point, but
some unfortunate discoveries (which we were fortunate to
discover!) like rusted drain lines and faulty wiring (sometimes renovation pays
off in unexpected ways!) may delay our finish date a bit. In any case, the
completion date is October 1.
Therefore, we have elected to delay the start of our Sunday School and
other “upstairs” church activities that usually begin just after Labor Day until
the first Sunday of October. Sunday School will begin on October 5, as will
Junior Choir (kindergarten through 3rd grade). Girl Scouts and other groups
will begin later that week. For more information about your program, if in
question, call the church office. Thank you for your patience.
Junior Choir
(K-3rd grade) - Sundays at 9 a.m. (when Sunday School is in session)
Gentlemen’s Choir
(High School & Adult) - Sundays at 11:45 a.m.
Cathedral Choristers
(4th grade-High School) - Tuesdays at 5:45 p.m.
Handbells
(Adults) - Wednesdays at 6:30 & 7:30 p.m. Childcare is provided
Cathedral Choir
(Adults) - Thursdays at 7 p.m. Childcare provided upon request
About the window…About the window…About the window… Some of the stained glass windows in the Cathedral are so rich with images that it is easy to overlook some of the depictions. The image of an angel featured on the cover of this month’s issue is nestled at the very top of the Nativity Window on the Cathedral’s west side with several other geometrically shaped windows.