The
WINDOW
of Trinity Midtown
Michaelmas, 2016, VOL XXI, No. 3
Remembering Kern Tips, by Gayle Davies-Cooley p. 4
Joan Chittister and Benedictine Spirituality p. 8
Acolytes at Trinity p. 14
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
THE WINDOW
OF
The Window of Trinity
Midtown, the official
newsletter of
Trinity
Episcopal
Church,
1015 Holman, Houston,
TX 77004, is published
seasonally.
The opinions expressed in
this publication are the
writers’ own and are not
necessarily the views of
Trinity Church, of the Diocese of Texas, or of the
Episcopal Church.
The Most Reverend
Michael Curry
Presiding Bishop
The Right Reverend
C. Andrew Doyle
Bishop of Texas
The Rev. Hannah E.
Atkins, Rector
The Rev. Rich Houser
Associate Rector
Anna Goza
Senior Warden
Rhonda Rogers
Junior Warden
Charles Spruell
Photography
Mark Goza
Editor
Cover:
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Trinity Midtown
Michaelmas, 2016
VOL XXI, No. 3
In this Month’s Issue
Leading Column
From Your Rector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
p. 3
Featured Articles
Mr. Football: Remembering Kern Tips
by Gayle Davies-Cooley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4
Sr. Joan Chittister and Benedictine Spirituality
by the Rev. Hannah E. Atkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 8
Cristosal: Victim Protection and Legal Assistance
by Noah Bullock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 10
I Didn’t Know I was Lost!
by the Rev. Preb. Richard Bewes . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 11
The Joy of the Ordinary
by the Rev. Canon David Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 11
Terrorism: A Theological Perspective
by the Rev. Paul Hardingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 12
Nice 2016: Uncertainty and Hope
by the Ven. John Barton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 13
Acolytes at Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 14
Regular Columns
Parish Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Major and Lesser Feasts and Fasts . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
p. 18
p. 20
Arts and Culture
Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 23
Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 25
Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 27
2
Michaelmas, 2016
FROM YOUR RECTOR
The Rev. Hannah E. Atkins
Theological Seminary in New York City. My
Bishop had agreed to this unusual timingbefore I graduated- because I had done
well in my studies, passed the General Ordination Exams will flying colors, and primarily
because I was to be an appointed missionary to the Diocese of El Salvador. El Salvador
needed priests, and so my early ordination
to the diaconate allowed me to be ordained shortly after I arrived in El Salvador
later that year. I was to be the first woman
ordained in the Diocese of El Salvador,
which gave me my fifteen minutes of fame
as “La Padra!” I had already lived in El Salvador for two years studying at the Jesuit
University there, doing youth work at a local
Episcopal Church, leading bible study in a
small northern city in Chalatenango, and
helping to oversee International Observers
for the first elections after the civil war had
ended. I also had worked on taking testimony for the UN Truth and Reconciliation
report, on registering women to vote and
other reinsertion projects of ex-combatants,
both government and guerrilla forces, back
into civilian life as per the arrangements of
the Peace Accords.
I worked in El Salvador the summer
before seminary, doubled up with classes
and Clinical Pastoral Education through the
first two semesters and first summer of seminary, then went to work and study in El Salvador for two years, and then went back to
New York to finish my seminary studies. I currently serve on the Alumni Executive Committee of my seminary, an interesting, unstable, and innovative time for seminary education in the Episcopal Church. Here at Trinity, under my tenure as Rector, we have
continued the tradition as a “calling’ parish.
Leaders, diverse in every way including
theologically, have been raised up from this
congregation to serve the wider church.
They have gone through discernment processes to test their call to the ordained ministry and they have been upheld and nurtured here.
It has been a joy and a privilege to
be part of the journey of all who are called lay and ordained, women and men - to
serve the God who loves us in El Salvador,
This month I celebrated the
twentieth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood and
the Episcopal Church celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the vote at
General Convention to allow the ordination
of women in our church. As part of the celebration here at Trinity we will have The Rev.
Joy Carroll Wallis as our guest teacher at
the 9:30 Sunday Forum and preacher at all
three services on Sunday, September 25. The
Rev. Wallis is the author of the book The
Woman Behind the Collar and was a major
inspiration behind the BBC hit comedy sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. I met her at the
Wild Goose festival at a gathering to discuss
what was dubbed, “The Stained Glass Ceiling.” The festival is a Christian festival which
takes its name from the belief that the Holy
Spirit in Celtic theology was depicted and
referred to as a wild goose. On the holy
Scottish Island of Iona, you will see this represented in a beautifully designed Celtic knot
style goose that has become a trademark
of the Iona community. The Rev. Wallis is
President of the Board of the Wild Goose
Festival. The festival is set up with presentations on a wide variety of theological, evangelical, liturgical, arts, justice and spirituality
themes which run all weekend long, once a
year. The stained glass ceiling discussion was
prompted by the lack of women candidates on the slate for Presiding Bishop of the
Episcopal Church that year. Although we
had the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts
Schori as Presiding Bishop for a number of
years, during her tenure, very few women
were elected as Diocesan Bishops in the
United States, thus the lack of qualified candidates available for the slate for Presiding
Bishop. Our coming together to uphold
women’s gifts at that time resulted in this
fortuitous visit of Rev. Joy to Trinity at this
time.
I can’t help but want to share a little
of my journey and my story as I reflect on
two decades of ordained ministry. I was ordained a deacon in the diocese of New Jersey during my Senior year at The General
(Continued on page 18)
3
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
Mr. Football:
Remembering Kern Tips
by Gayle Davies-Cooley
One of the discoveries from my recent research into the life of our third rector, the
Rev. Robert E. Lee Craig (1865-1916), is his
association to a well-known—some say famous—Houstonian, sportscaster Kern Tips
(1904-1967). Likely it is an association in
death only—the two probably never met—
because they are buried in the same plot at
Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery. How did
this come about?
As the recent article recounts, when
Mr. Craig died suddenly in August 1916 while
still rector of Trinity Church, parish leaders
insisted that he be buried in Houston instead
of his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Apparently, the parish purchased an entire plot
(often eight graves), not just a gravesite,
and it was put in the name of Mr. Craig’s
widow, Beatrice McWillie Craig (1876-1965).
Parish leaders probably assumed at the time
that Mrs. Craig would want to be buried
there, and that their daughter, Elizabeth
(1899-1995), then a high-school senior,
would stay in Houston, marry, have children
and want to be buried there as well. However, Elizabeth returned to Jackson after
college, in about 1926, and never married.
After thirty years in Huntsville, Texas, as head
librarian at Sam Houston State University,
Beatrice returned to Jackson in 1946. Both
Beatrice and Elizabeth are buried in Jackson’s Greenwood Cemetery. So who was to
utilize the additional graves at Glenwood
Cemetery?
It happened that Beatrice’s sister
and her family also moved to Houston
about the time that Mr. Craig was rector.
Margaret McWillie Tucker (1882-1968) and
her husband, Jay Wilfred Tucker (d. 1944),
had two children, son Jay, Jr., (1904-1959)
and daughter, Nancy (1906-1990). The family attended Trinity Church for many years. It
is Margaret, Nancy, and Nancy’s first husband, Kern Tips, buried in the plot with Mr.
Craig. Since Glenwood Cemetery’s records
Glenwood Cemetery plot that Trinity Church purchased for Rev. R. E. L. Craig's final resting place in
August 1916. Kern Tips' grave is one of three in the
foreground. Note anniversary memorial wreath on
Craig's grave in background.
still have title to the plot in Beatrice’s name,
it is possible that the sisters agreed to the
burial arrangement.
So, who was Kern Tips? Despite his
having died forty-nine years ago, there still
are a number of people who remember
him, and sportscasters who were influenced
by him in style and other ways that they developed their craft. Depending on keywords, an online search can produce thousands of hits in a quest for Kern Tips. University of North Texas’s Portal to Texas History,
an online collection of rare, historical, and
primary source materials, reveals 1,760
documents related to Kern Tips. Many hits
seem to be simply references to Tips—later
generations of sportscasters citing him as
their ideal, for example—rather than articles
about him. He seemed to be highly respected during his lifetime and remembered
fondly after his death. Since one of his nicknames was “Mr. Football,” as we begin football season of 2016, what better time of year
to recall this well-known native son?
According to The Handbook of Texas
4
Michaelmas, 2016
Online, Kern Tips was born in
with the Humble Oil and
Houston on August 23, 1904, to
Refining Company (now
Robert Tips and Mary Kern Tips.
Exxon Mobil) football
Both of his parents’ families
radio
broadcasts
of
were early Houston residents. His
Southwest Conference
paternal grandmother was born
games.
These broadin the Republic of Texas; his Gercasts began in 1934 with
man
paternal
grandfather
the airing of Rice games
fought for the Confederacy in
from its then small staCompany B, 1st Texas Mounted
dium, as a way to allow
Rifles, during the Civil War.
people that could not
His
maternal
grandget tickets to hear the
mother’s family settled in Brazogames.
Humble Oil
ria County, between the Brazos
soon aired the games of
River and Oyster Creek, in the
all eight conference
early 1830s. Her father was an
schools.
early Baptist preacher in Texas,
Tips was hired as
having brought his family there
a Humble Oil football
from Tennessee. He joined the
announcer in 1935 and
Texian army and fought in the
became an immediate
Battle of San Jacinto as the
hit.
Already surveys
family escaped, abandoning
showed that football
their home in April 1836 during
broadcasts were the
the Runaway Scrape when
most popular radio proSanta Anna’s troops marched
grams in Texas.
The
through the area. By 1841, the
shows were broadcast
family had resettled in Houston.
overseas to Americans
One of his daughters (Kern Tips’
in the armed services.
great aunt) married Anson
Eventually this popularity
Jones, the last president of the
translated into television
Republic of Texas. She served Kern Tips in front of his family's house in in 1948. Through it all,
as the first president of the Houston. (Posted online by his grand- Kern Tips brought the
daughter, Meredith Tips-McLaine)
Daughters of the Republic of
excitement of football
Texas (1891-1907).
games into Texas homes
Kern Tips received his college eduand beyond for thirty-two seasons. Tips becation from Texas A&M University and Rice
came known as the “Voice of the Southwest
Institute (now University). While at Rice (1924
Conference.” He is still remembered for his
-1926), Tips was the sports editor for The
lively vernacular: a “malfunction at the juncThresher, the campus newspaper. During his
tion” was the fumble of a hand-off between
time at Rice, he was a sports reporter for The
a quarterback and a running back. AcHouston Chronicle, where he served as
cording to one report, in a broadcast booth
sports editor from 1926 to 1934. In 1935 he
Tips taped index cards filled with his many
became general manager of KPRC radio,
phrases to the window in front of him as he
serving in that position through 1946. From
announced a game.
1947 to 1966, Kern Tips was an advertising
In an interview for University of Texas’
agency executive (his firm merged in 1954
The Alcalde, famous CBS journalist and anwith McCann-Erikson).
chor Walter Cronkite remembered Kern Tips.
But Tips was most well-known and
Cronkite was a high-school student at San
identified as a radio sportscaster, a career
Jacinto High School (now central campus of
that also began in 1926 (probably at KTRH),
Houston Community College, near Trinity
while he was at the Chronicle. His fame as a
Church) while Tips was a young professional
sportscaster came through his association
at KTRH. Cronkite recalled that Tips devel5
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
with the only (as of 1967) award for distinguished service to the sport. For five consecutive years, Tips was voted as Texas
Sportscaster of the Year.
Kern Tips emphasized to students
and others that he mentored the importance of knowing how to write about sports
before learning how to broadcast them. He
practiced what he preached early in his career at Rice and at the Chronicle. In 1964,
the fiftieth anniversary of the Southwest
Conference’s founding, he became author
Kern Tips, center holding paper, meets with his
Southwest Conference announcing staff in 1954
regarding broadcast rule changes.
oped a rapid delivery style by pasting together pages of a script end-to-end into a
scroll. That way, he wouldn’t waste time
turning pages. Cronkite was interested in
the technique and observed Tips at work a
few times. The then-retired news anchor
noted that Tips eventually became a legend in Texas for his Humble Oil football
broadcasts.
Tips’ last broadcast was of the Bluebonnet Bowl game in December 1966. After
his death the following summer, a Humble
Oil vice president observed, “His association
with our company spanned a third of a century. He pioneered the broadcasting of
Southwest Conference football games and
became one of the nation’s greatest and
most memorable sports commentators.
Kern Tips was not only a fine communicator,
but was outstanding as an individual and as
a citizen.”
Tips distinguished himself in numerous
ways. His article in The Handbook of Texas
Online states that he served as an advisor to
the War Department and as Harris County
director of the Office of Civilian Defense
(appointed by County Judge Roy Hofheinz)
during World War II. He served on various
broadcast boards of directors. In 1959 he
received the first award of the Texas Association of Broadcasting Executives for being
the professional who had contributed the
most to radio and television. The Southwest
Football Officials Association (now Texas Association of Sports Officials) recognized Tips
Kern Tips at an undated Rotary International
event. (Houston Metropolitan Research Center,
Houston Public Library,
RGD 0005-F7490-01 Houston Press Collection)
6
Michaelmas, 2016
there is no evidence that he was a member
of Trinity Church. According to parish records, Tips’ family of origin was associated
with Christian Science. However, he and his
wife were married at Trinity Church in February 1928. And his funeral was conducted at
the church on August 5, 1967, with a large
congregation in attendance. He then became the second person interred in the
cemetery plot purchased by the parish for
Mr. Craig.
His mother-in-law, Margaret
McWillie Tucker, died the following year and
was also buried there.
Tips’ widow, Nancy Tucker Tips, remarried in 1969. Like Kern Tips, her second
husband, Herman Frank Grotte (1904-2001),
was an advertising executive. They were
both active members of Trinity Church, she
from 1918 and he from 1937. In 1973 they
co-chaired (with three others) the church’s
eightieth anniversary gala at the Shamrock
Hotel. In 1979, Herman Grotte became
president of the Trinity Endowment Board
and oversaw dramatic growth of the fund
by 1982, when he resigned the office.
Nancy and Herman were together until her
death in 1990, when she was buried next to
her mother and first husband in the Craig
plot.
Football Texas Style was written by Kern Tips
and published in 1964.
of a book with the publication of Football
Texas Style: An Illustrated History of the
Southwest Conference.
Kern Tips died of cancer on August 3,
1967. Although his wife and children (son
Robert Kern Tips and daughter Nancy Margaret Tips Jones) were active members,
Graves of Kern Tips; his wife, Nancy Tucker Tips
Grotte; and his mother-in-law, Margaret McWillie
Tucker.
Nancy Tucker Tips Grotte and Herman Grotte at
Trinity Episcopal Church 80th anniversary
celebration, September 1973.
7
Books
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
Sr. Joan Chittister and
Benedictine Spirituality
by the Rev. Hannah E. Atkins
Joan Chittister’s The Rule of
Benedict: A Spirituality for the
21st Century takes a look at
the writings of St. Benedict
and his influence on the
Church in general. Benedictine spirituality also had great
influence on the Anglican
and Episcopal Church and
the structure of the Book of
Common Prayer (BCP). He
puts his emphasis on four aspects of a holy life. The first of
these he refers to as opus dei,
which is Latin for the Work of
God, and for Benedict this
Work is prayer, and especially
prayer in community. Life according to the Rule of Benedict incorporates physical
work, that is manual labor, for up to six hours
a day, followed by up to four hours of spiritual reading, and then a number of hours of
prayer. The fourth element of his spirituality
was sharing all things. In the United States
there are a large number of Episcopal
Churches that are named for St. Benedict,
and his influence on our Book of Common
Prayer has been noted.
In the Book of Common Prayer you’ll
see that there are Daily Offices for use at
home or in church. One of the big changes
introduced was to take the Rule of Life, that
was the treasure of religious community, out
into the people’s individual homes and family units. Giving access to the spiritual treasure to the common people for communal
use (thus the term “common prayer”) was
revolutionary in its day. Morning, midday
and evening prayer are all really based on
the influence of St. Benedict’s Rule of Life. St.
Benedict did not initially set out to establish
an order of monks, but rather to establish an
orderly rule that allowed people to dedi-
cate their lives to the most important things: work, because
it’s necessary, and also good
for the mind, body and soul;
reading, because it leads to
rational thinking; prayer, because that is the work of the
community; and the common
life, or the sharing or holding
“everything in common” that
he felt was essential in a Christian community. When you
read through the Rule of St.
Benedict, you realize how very
dated it is in some ways. There
are things that don’t translate
well to the twenty-first century,
partly because life is no longer
as insular, but also thankfully
because we no longer would
consider using corporal punishment to deal
with an excommunicated person as a viable option!
Benedict of Nursia is a Christian Saint,
venerated in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman
Catholic, the Oriental Orthodox, the Anglican Communion, and the Old Catholic
Churches. Benedict is the patron saint of
Europe, and of students. Although it was not
his original intention to establish an order
that carried his name, Benedict did eventually found twelve communities of monks in
Italy. The Order of St. Benedict was established later as a confederation of autonomous congregations. His main achievement
that reverberates to this day is his Rule of
Life.
This book is Joan Chittister’s commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, and it
incorporates stories from her experience in
ecumenical, worldwide movements. She
writes commentary and gives a modern perspective, and it’s really beautiful because it
is so close to her heart. She seeks not so
8
Michaelmas, 2016
much to explain away some of the things
that don’t speak to us in this day and age,
but rather to draw it out what is essential so
that Benedict’s wording won’t be an obstacle to engaging with the basis of the Rule
and the community. That basis is really to
dedicate your life to God in a way that’s
meaningful. So, how do we do that when
we work more than six hours a
day, don’t have four hours a day
to read, we don’t have eight
hours a day to pray: That’s what
she’s grappling with in this book.
This book is organized for
daily prayer usage as well. The
Rule, and Sister Joan’s commentary on it, is divided into four sections with three months each, so
that you read it three times each
year. It’s organized in such a
way to account for the fact that
by May, for example, you may
not remember what you read in
January. The Table of Contents
comes straight out of the Rule.
Our BCP is also set up to read the
daily offices, in their entirety every day, and
there is a shorter version in the BCP called
“Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families,” on p. 136, for those days when there
really isn’t time to read the entire daily office
along with the lectionary readings. The daily
devotions follow the basic structure of the
daily offices of the Church, and are in the
morning, at noon, in the early evening, and
at the close of day. This follows pretty closely
the times that the monks would follow, except the monks would get up really early in
the morning for prayer! The BCP offers a
good format for our busy lives.
There are some features in Sister
Joan’s book that stand out as you go
through the daily devotionals: I like the Prologue, which begins January 1, where we
read Sister Joan’s response to Benedict’s
call to obedience, in which she says that
Benedict’s Rule is part of the Wisdom Literature genre, and she concludes, “Life is not a
series of events to be controlled; life is a way
of walking through the universe whole and
holy.” From the chapter on humility, in which
Benedict calls upon us not to exalt but to
humble ourselves, Sister Joan responds that
the preservation of the world in the 21st Century requires nothing less than a commitment to the Rule of Benedict to humility. The
centrality of the role of humility to the problems of this world today is based upon the
consideration that humility is not about humiliation or denying the self, it’s really about
a strength of character that tolerates difference, that tolerates
questions, and that acknowledges that God is in charge.
Humility
is
not
selfabasement; it does not imply subjecting oneself to an abusive
situation; what it does entail is
seeing oneself as a part of a
greater whole, and of sharing
ones’ gifts with that larger
whole. I think of April singing at
the 12:30 service: It’s not selfaggrandizing; it’s a sharing of her
gifts that brings everybody in to
join in raising a musical offering to
God. This is the reason that we
have the community gather for
prayer; even in the privacy of your own
home, when you’re part of a community
you know that others are praying with you,
even if you can’t get to church on Sunday.
I want to recommend an address by
the Bishop of Gloucester (England), the Rt.
Rev. Michael Perham, on the subject of St.
Benedict and Anglican worship. I have copies of the address that I would be happy to
share, or you can access it online at this
website:
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&
cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiieeJoZzPAhUNzmMKHYqhCE4QFggkMAE&url=http%
3A%2F%2Fstpaulsparish.org%2Feducation%
2Fdocuments%
2F021_benedict.pdf&usg=AFQjCNE08GGK8
pakSd7ynOgLvGIVWUokeg
I would also recommend attending
Sister Joan’s upcoming lecture series at
Christ Church Cathedral. Information about
this series can be found in this edition of the
Window on p. 16.
9
Cristosal
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
Cristosal Unites NGOs to Adday 1 in every 113 people globdress Central American Issues
ally is now either an asylumat Annual UNHCR
seeker, internally displaced or a
Consultations in Geneva
refugee – a level of risk for which
Victim Protection and Legal Asthe UNHCR knows no precedent.
sistance
The age of grand intraWorking in Crystosal’s office this
state wars has given way to
month, there has been an
complex multi-actor conflicts.
abundance of Turkish Delights
Today refugee and IDP camps
and Swedish Chocolates thanks
are fading as refugees join mito Cristosal's Director, Noah,
grant flows to find protection
Cristosal's Chief Program Officer,
and his participation in a string Celia Medrano, introducing
their states and their host states
of international meetings this "Testimonies of Forced Displace- fail to guarantee. Modern conpast month, most recently at ment Among Children Adolesflicts are lasting longer, are more
the 2016 UNHCR NGO Consulta- cents and Youth in El Salvador"
frequent and recurring, and dutions in Geneva, Switzerland.
rable solutions less available. This
At the 2015 UNHCR NGO Consultais characteristic of Central America where
tions, there was near invisibility of Central
last year there were 17,500 violent deaths in
American issues, with professionals from the
Central America’s Northern Triangle (El SalAmericas excluded from key roles in the thevador, Guatemala and Honduras), and an
matic and plenary sessions. In response, Crisestimated 1 million people displaced by viotosal and its regional partners organized a
lence in the NTCA and Southern Mexico in
coalition of 44 NGOs called the Regional
2015.
Coordinating Group (GAR). The GAR
It is not clear how the international
worked throughout 2015 to create a robust
community will resolve conflict and safeagenda for this year’s consultations, and left
guard lives in the future, but hopefully, this is
Geneva with concrete agreements for folthe early stage of a historic shift to build new
low-up with the UNHCR. The next step is to
agreements and processes to secure
consolidate the plan for a regional bi-lateral
peace, stability, and humanity in a much
conference between NGOs and the UNHCR
changed world. During this historic shift, Cristhat Cristosal will host in San Salvador in Notosal has found a role as a global and revember of this year.
gional leader. Thanks in large part to our inAll this travel, including Cristosal's
dependent support base that permits Cristoparticipation in June at the World Humanisal to try, fail, learn and revise, Cristosal has
tarian Summit in Istanbul, is not business as
gained global recognition for carrying out its
usual, but rather an indication of the global
mandate to advance human rights in Cencommunity's attempts to fix a humanitarian
tral America, proposing novel solutions to
field shouldering the greatest workload it
protect and empower the region's most vulhas seen in 60 years. In its latest Global
nerable populations to claim their rights on
Trends report, the UNHCR reports that toa global stage.
10
Michaelmas, 2016
I didn’t know I was lost!
One of Jesus’ most poignant
stories
The Joy of the Ordinary:
Musings on the Church
Calendar
by the Rev. Preb. Richard Bewes
by the Rev. Canon David Winter
“Rejoice with me; I have found my lost
sheep” (Luke 15:6) In this famous fifteenth
chapter of Luke, Jesus’ parable of the lost
sheep, the lost coin and the lost prodigal
son, was basically making a single point –
the steadfast determination of the eternal
Father to do everything possible to find and
recover every stray individual – even if they
were taken by surprise at His seeking love.
Years ago I was leading a hospital
ward service one Sunday morning, with a
little team around me. It was still politically
okay to do so in those days! All I could see
of one patient was a newspaper, firmly held
up – and a thin spiral of cigarette smoke
that drifted up from behind the paper. Yes,
back then it was still permitted to smoke in a
hospital ward!
Two days later I went visiting in the
same ward, bed to bed. And there was the
patient – a woman in her early thirties. “So
you’re the one who was speaking on Sunday morning!” she exclaimed. “I never
looked in your direction once; I was determined to hide behind my paper and my
cigarette. But I was listening all the time. And
every word you said was for me. I want now
to follow what you were talking about. How
do I get started?”
This is the wonder of God’s ways with
us. Jesus Christ is the Shepherd; out on the
hills looking, working, seeking for that one
sheep that is missing from the safety of
God’s fold. And when, by the message of
His sacrificial love, that single ‘lost’ one is reclaimed, the angels are aglow with joy. Jesus said so.
What
happened to the other
patients that Sunday
morning? Who can
tell? But Heaven itself
was lit up that day
over just one.
For those who attend to such ecclesiastical
details, the Church is now in what it calls the
‘Ordinary Season’. It doesn’t mean it’s going
to be bland, boring or predictable in church
at the moment (or at any rate, no more
than usual), but that following Pentecost
and Trinity Sunday, there are no great festivals of the faith to celebrate until we get to
Advent, and that’s not till the end of November. For a few months, we can forget
the high days and holidays and simply concentrate on, well, being ‘ordinary’.
Personally, I find that rather encouraging. All my life I’ve been a person who
enjoys the ordinary. Even on holidays which
I’ve enjoyed, I’ve secretly looked forward to
getting home and picking up the familiar
routine. The dictionary defines ‘ordinary’ as
‘with no distinctive features, normal, usual’.
Well, I think everyday, ordinary, normal,
usual life still includes plenty of ‘distinctive
features’ – surprises, too.
To me an impressive feature of the
biblical gospels is how normal and ordinary
most of it seems. Yes, there are those mighty
acts of power which we call miracles, but
the setting of them is about as ‘ordinary’ as
you could get: a cattle-shed, a lakeside, a
fishing boat, a garden, a little girl’s bedroom, a wedding party.
It’s in the rich raw world of the ordinary that God does wonderful things, just as
it’s in the routine of daily life that kind words
are spoken, the sick healed, the sad comforted. I’m sometimes more aware of God in
these ‘ordinary’ settings than in the extraordinary splendor of a great cathedral. Long
live the ‘ordinary!’
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Terrorism: A Theological
Perspective
by the Rev. Paul Hardingham
Fifteen years ago, on Sept 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks demolished the Twin Towers in New
York. They killed 2,996 people and injured
more than 6,000. Events like 9/11 raise the
inevitable question: Why does God allow
such suffering to take place?
There are no easy answers to this
question! We cannot fully understand why
such things happen, although we live in a
fallen world, where people make real
choices. Yet the Bible affirms that God identifies with our suffering, supremely when Jesus experienced suffering and death.
It is on the Cross that God knows
what it is to lose a loved one in an unjust attack. ‘I could never myself believe in God if
it were not for the Cross. In the real world of
pain, how could one worship a God who
was immune to it?’ (John Stott). What does
this mean? We cannot know why God allows evil and suffering to continue, but we
do know that He does love and care for us:
‘For God so loved the world that He gave
His one and only Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal
life.’ (John 3:16). God loved us enough to
fully engage with the mess of the world.
We also can view such events in the
light of resurrection. Jesus said: ‘I am the
Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in Me will live’ (John 11:25). Resurrection points to the restoration for us of the life
we lost. New heavens and new earth point
to a world and relationships restored and
perfected! In The Lord of the Rings, Sam
Gamgee exclaims: ‘Gandalf! I thought you
were dead! But then I thought I was dead! Is
everything sad going to come untrue?’ The
answer of the Bible is Yes!
longer impact us. The story of Nehemiah
shows us that if we are close to God’s heart,
we will feel His pain over the state of the
world.
The story begins in 445 BC, when Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes, the
Persian king in Susa. He received disturbing
news from home: ‘The wall of Jerusalem is
broken down, and its gates have been
burned with fire...For some days I mourned
and fasted and prayed before the God of
heaven.’ (Nehemiah 1: 2,4).
God called Nehemiah to go beyond
simply feeling sorrow over the walls of Jerusalem. While understanding the need, Nehemiah also appreciated that he had to do
something about it. His story tells how he led
the people to rebuild the broken-down walls
in just 52 days. However, this was part of the
longer process of rebuilding a broken-down
people, to restore their identity and purpose
as God’s people.
It began with an extended period of
prayer lasting 4 months (from December till
March: 1:1 & 2:1). Nehemiah prayed for the
king’s help: ‘Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence
of this man.’ (1:11). In the needs that confront us, what is God asking us to do? Obviously we can’t fix all the problems in our
world, but we can be part of God’s work of
rebuilding and restoring broken lives and
families, broken churches and communities.
Nehemiah shows us that a need becomes a call when the issue starts to matter
to us, and we commit to pray about it.
‘What a man is on his knees before God that is what he is and no more.’ (Robert
Murray M'Cheyne)
Nehemiah’s Call
Our news is regularly filled with reports of terrorism, famine and injustice. The
danger is that the world’s problems no
12
Michaelmas, 2016
Nice, 2016: Uncertainty and Hope
by the Ven. John Barton
that … prayers… be offered to God for all in
authority, that we may live a quiet and
peaceful life with all reverence towards God
and with proper conduct.”
We must be on our guard, but also
trust God. In Nice churchyard is the grave of
Henry Lyte, the writer of the hymn, “Abide
with Me,” which encourages us to disarm
our fears by expressing confidence in God’s
purposes:
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me
If the audience at the First Night of the
Proms this year had not heard the national
news broadcasts that day, they would have
been startled by an unscheduled addition
to the program. It opened with a rousing
rendition of the French National Anthem.
Scores of unsuspecting holidaymakers in the French resort of Nice had
been mown down by a fanatical truck
driver; his was the latest in a chain of massacres perpetrated by Islamists in Europe and
beyond. Ironically, it was Bastille Day, commemorating French unity. The playing of the
“Marseillaise” in London’s Royal Albert Hall
was a demonstration of solidarity with
French people everywhere and a defiant
message of hope.
Church leaders the world over published their prayers the next day. An Anglican chaplain based near Nice said, “Prayer
is the thing. We can’t do anything tangible
or practical in support of the security service
apart from our own vigilance . . . but we do
have a very strong and a very powerful
thing that we can do . . . and that is prayer .
. . because with faith we trust in God’s love
and mercy for those who have died, but for
the families left behind this is a most terrible
time from which many may not recover.”
Terrorist acts of this kind are motivated by a deadly combination of false
faith with hatred. No one is risk-free, and the
nations’ leaders are hard-pressed to safeguard their people. St. Paul’s advice to
Timothy has never been more apt: “I urge
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O thou who changest not, abide with me
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy
victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to
the skies
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain
shadows flee
In life, in death, o Lord, abide with me
Abide with me, abide with me,
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THE WINDOW
Acolytes in the Episcopal Church
and at Trinity
cassock-alb with girdle. A girdle is usually
a twisted rope with knots on the ends
which is secured round the waist; it may
be white or of the liturgical color. Wearing
crosses or other special pins or symbols is
the prerogative of the individual church.
In some more 'traditional' parishes,
the acolytes are ranked as they develop
their abilities to serve: Trainees, Junior Acolytes, Senior Acolytes, and Acolytes of
Merit. In others, the functions of acolytes
are performed without vestments, and
without significant formal training by persons available in the parish. In other parishes, Acolytes are referred to according
to the roles they perform. e.g. Gospel
Bearer, Crucifer and Thurifer, together with
Left and Right Torches.
At Trinity we have youth acolytes,
who serve three Sundays a month, and two
teams of adult acolytes, one of which serves
one Sunday a month and as needed for
special services. All youth who are interested
in participating in this very fulfilling ministry
should contact Acolyte Master John Cloud
at [email protected]
On September 11, 2016, Aloha Sunday, the
Trinity Acolyte Corps was recognized at the
10:30 Service, and John Cloud was presented with a mounted retired altar linen as
a memento of his many years of service as
Acolyte Master, in which role he continues
to serve our parish and enrich the lives of all
the members of our Acolyte Corps.
In many Christian denominations, an
acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial
duties such as lighting altar candles. In Anglican churches – such as the Episcopal
Church of the United States, the Church in
Wales, the Church of England, the Scottish
Episcopal Church – altar servers are often
called acolytes and can be of either sex
and any age (although usually no younger
than ten).
An acolyte can assist in worship by
carrying a processional cross, lighting candles, holding the Gospel book, holding candles or "torches," assisting a deacon or priest
set up and clean up at the altar, swinging a
censer or thurible or carrying the incense
boat, handing the offering plates to ushers,
and many other tasks as seen fit by the
priest or acolyte warden.
In Anglo-Catholic churches acolytes
commonly wear cassock and cotta, and in
less Anglo-Catholic churches commonly
14
Michaelmas, 2016
15
October 14-15, 2016
at Christ Episcopal Church Cathedral, Houston
Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, October 14th
Programs continue Saturday, October 15th with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m.
Register on-line at http://faithandreason.org/index.php/main/seminar/spirituality-selfsociety or call 800-882-7424 to register.
Joan Chittister, OSB (The Order of St. Benedict) is coming to Houston in October 14 and
15, 2016, for three public lectures on the theme, "Spirituality, Self and Society."
Chittister will be presented by Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, The Bishop John E.
Hines Center for Spirituality and Prayer, and The D. L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation. In addition,
sponsoring congregations and communities will include St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church,
Grace Episcopal Church, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Memorial Drive United Methodist
Church, Covenant Church, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul’s United Methodist
Church, Plymouth United Church (UCC), Trinity Episcopal Church, Covenant Baptist
Church, Foundation for Contemporary Theology, and The Joe B. and Louise P. Cook
Foundation.
Sr. Joan will base the three lectures on her latest book, The Rule of Benedict: A
Spirituality for the 21st Century. Lecture titles are: "Compassion: The Glue of Society";
"An Uncommon Case for A Common Good"; and "The Role of the Public Intellectual in a
Just Democracy."
Each of Chittister's lectures will be followed by audience conversations and responses by
four responders representing the Wisdom literature in Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and
Christianity. All lectures will be in the Nave of Christ Church Cathedral,
1117 Texas Avenue, Houston 77002.
Michaelmas, 2016
17
Parish Life
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(From Your Rector, continued from page 3)
Washington, D.C. and in Houston. Thank you
for celebrating with me and continuing on
the journey! You really surprised me with that
Mayor’s Proclamation of September 6th as
Reverend Hannah Atkins Day in Houston. Let
us continue to proclaim the love, mercy, justice, inclusion, and grace of God together in
this great city responding to God's call on our
lives with a resounding, "yes!"
By mayoral proclamation, Sept. 6 was Rev.
Hannah Atkins Day in Houston, in honor of her 20
years of ordained ministry, and 9 years of service
at Trinity Midtown!
18
Michaelmas, 2016
Trinity Youth spent one week in Costa Rica on a mission trip this summer. Upon their return, they
were awarded their mission t-shirts during the 10:30 service at church!
Trinity continued a back to school tradition this year by offering blessings for students’ , and adults’, bags
and backpacks.
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Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
MAJOR AND LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS
This year The Window will continue to look at the major and lesser
feasts and fasts of the Church year.
September 24 St
Gerard Sagredo –
church planting in the
11th century
It’s amazing how little
some things change
down the centuries.
Take the life of
Gerard Sagredo, for
instance. He left his
‘comfort zone’ of
home and church
because
he
felt
God’s calling on his
life. He travelled abroad, and taught in order to earn his living in a non-Christian country. In his spare time he shared his faith with
the people he met, and gradually some
were converted. Soon he had ‘planted’ a
little church.
Gerard’s life sounds like that of a
western missionary in parts of the developing world today. In fact, he was an 11th
century monk from Venice. He was the prior
of San Giorgio Maggiore, but gave up the
security in order to attempt the pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. But God stopped Gerard
when he reached Hungary, for King Stephen
not only welcomed him, but pressed him to
become tutor to his son.
Gerard agreed, and soon he had
converted a group of people around him. In
those days monks didn’t just plant churches
– they planted entire ‘sees’ of the church,
and so the see of Csanad was established,
with Gerard as its first bishop.
But the problems of then and now
seem surprisingly similar. Gerard Sagredo
worked in the face of growing hostility from
local people of other faiths, and halfhearted commitment from some of his own
converts. Nearly 1,000 years later, Christian
missionaries all over the world are still facing
the same two struggles.
Sadly, the next bit of the story is also
all too familiar: King
Stephen died, and
the new people in
power hated Christians. In 1038 persecution began. In 1046
Gerard was attacked
in the street, and
stoned. A lance was
thrust through him. His
body was then hurled
into
the
Danube.
Gerard Sagredo had
become a martyr of
the Persecuted Church.
The non-Christians killed Gerard that
day, but they did not kill Christianity. In the
years to come many more thousands of
Christians would die, while the church grew,
not shrank. Meanwhile, Venice paid homage to her first ever martyr by translating
some of his relics back to the island of Murano in 1333.
October 2 Guardian Angels –
keeping an eye on us
The teaching of Jesus encourages us to believe in guardian angels. He once said, ‘See
that you do not look down on one of these
little ones. For I tell you that their angels in
heaven always see the face of my Father in
heaven.’ (Matthew 18:10)
The existence of angels was suggested in various Old Testament texts, Jesus
mentioned them explicitly, and the early
Christians accepted their existence and
work (Acts 12:15).
In England, devotion to the angels,
both in Anglo-Saxon times and later, was
strong. In modern times, the great American evangelist Billy Graham has written an
entire book on the existence and work of
angels.
Alcuin described them as intercessors (in the 11th century Leofric Missal); Her20
Michaelmas, 2016
bert of Losinga, Bishop of Norwich (d 1119)
specially praised them, and his contemporary, Reginald of Canterbury, wrote prayers
in their honor.
Honorius Augustodunenis (d 1151)
clarified the existing belief of the time by
asserting that each human soul, when infused into the body, is entrusted to the particular care of a single angel, who protects
both body and soul and offers prayers to
God.
For many centuries Christendom was
satisfied with the feast of St. Michael (and all
Angels), but the special feast of the Guardian Angels was introduced in Austria, Spain
and Portugal in the 15th – 16th centuries.
Guardian Angels were then seen as guardians of particular towns or regions, or of each
individual. Pope Clement X made the feast
day universal in 1607, fixing its date to October 2.
public square of the town. The Bishop of
Assisi provided him with simple garments,
and Francis began his new life.
His inspiration was always religious,
not social, and the object of his quest was
always the Crucified Christ, not Lady Poverty
for her own sake. Francis rebuilt San
Samiano, and then travelled as a pilgrim. His
compassion for the poor and lepers became famous. Soon disciples joined him,
and they set up a communal life in simple
wattle and daub huts. They went on occasional preaching tours. (Not until later did
they become an Order whose theologians
won fame in the Universities.)
In 1219 Francis visited the Holy Land,
and his illusions about the Crusaders were
shattered. He went on to seek out the Sultan, and tried to convert him. Back home,
he found his Order was now 5,000 strong,
and growing. Francis stepped down as
head, but continued to preach and was
immensely popular. He died after a prolonged illness at 45, and was canonised in
1228.
Francis’ close rapport with the animal creation was well known. The story of
his preaching to the birds has always been a
favourite scene from his life. He also tamed
the wolf of Gubbio. This affinity emphasises
his consideration for, and sense of identity
with, all elements of the physical universe, as
seen in his Canticle of the Sun. This makes
him an apt patron of nature conservation.
October 4 St. Francis of Assisi –
love for the Creation
St. Francis (1181 - 1226) is surely one of the
most attractive and best-loved of all the
saints. But he began by being anything but
a saint. Born the son of a wealthy clothmerchant of Assisi, Francis’ youth was spent
in fast-living, parties and on fast horses as a
leader of the young society of the town.
Then he went to the war between Assisi and
Perugia, and was taken prisoner for a year.
By the time of his release, Francis had
changed. Perhaps his own suffering had
awakened him to that of others. In any
case, he abandoned warfare and carousing, and began to help the poor and the
lepers of his area. Then one day a voice
which seemed to come from the crucifix in
the small, semi-derelict church of Damiano
Assisi ‘Go and repair my house, which you
see is falling down’.
This religious experience was a vital
turning point in Francis’ life: Jesus Christ became very real and immediate to him. His
first action was to begin repairing the
church, having sold some of his father’s
cloth to pay for materials. His father was not
amused, in fact he was furious - until Francis
renounced his inheritance and even his
clothes by his dramatic stripping off in the
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Trinity Midtown
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22
Michaelmas, 2016
Christian Martyrs: St. Alban
Countless Christians have died for their faith. This month
we begin a series on martyrs, starting with St. Alban.
by Ted Harrison
The city of St Albans in
Hertfordshire is today
home to thousands of
London commuters. Its
history is as a thriving
market town and its
magnificent abbey cathedral is world famous.
Nearby are the remains
of the town the Romans
knew as Verulamium - an
important
stopping-off
point on Watling Street,
the road to the north.
Sometime during
the Roman occupation,
before Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the empire, Christians suffered
much cruel persecution. Alban, or Albanus,
is said to have been a Roman soldier who
sheltered a Christian priest in his home. He
was so struck by the priest’s faith and godliness that he asked to be instructed in the
faith and to be baptized.
When soldiers came to arrest the
priest, Alban put on the priest’s cloak, hid his
face and allowed himself to be taken. When
the local governor realized the deception,
he instructed Alban to worship the pagan
gods. Alban refused, though he knew that
to defy the governor and deny the pagan
gods meant certain death.
Alban was taken in chains to the
place of execution, but on the way he had
to cross a river. His way was blocked by the
crowds who had come to witness his end.
He prayed that the river would dry up so
that he could cross quickly to his martyrdom
and his prayer was miraculously answered.
But that is not quite the end of the
story. The executioner was so impressed by
Alban’s miracle that he refused to do his
duty. He threw aside his sword and declared
that he, too, was a Christian. A replacement
headsman
was
summoned and the two men
were beheaded together.
The exact date of
Alban’s death has been
disputed by historians and
the legend has undoubtedly been embroidered
over time, but there is no
doubt that the reputation
of a brave martyr who
challenged the Romans
became a source of great
inspiration to later generations. He has been hailed
as the first British martyr
and for centuries his relics drew pilgrims to
the abbey in the city that now bears his
name.
$
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THE WINDOW
Michaelmas: The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels
Michael is an archangel, whose name
means ‘who is like unto God?’ He makes
various appearances throughout the Bible,
from the book of Daniel to the Book of Revelation. In Daniel, he is ‘one of the princes’ of
the heavenly host, and the special guardian
of Israel. In Revelation, he is the principal
fighter of the heavenly battle against the
devil.
From early times, Michael’s cult was
strong in the British Isles. Churches at
Malmesbury
(Wiltshire),
Clive
(Gloucestershire) and Stanmer (East Sussex)
were dedicated to him. Bede mentions him.
St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall was believed
to commemorate a vision there in the 8th
century. By the end of the Middle Ages, Michael had 686 English churches dedicated
to him.
In art Michael is often depicted as
slaying the dragon, as in the 14th century
East Anglican Psalters, or in Epstein’s famous
sculpture at Coventry cathedral. Or he is
found (in medieval art) as weighing souls, as
at Chaldon (Surrey), Swalcliffe (Oxon.),
Eaton Bishop (Hereford and Worcester), and
Martham in Suffolk. Michael’s most famous
shrine in western Europe is Mont-SaintMichel, where a Benedictine abbey was
founded in the 10th century.
The ‘All Angels’ bit of this feast-day
was added in 1969 when Gabriel and Raphael were included in with Michael.
What is an angel? Easy, people think.
A shining figure with glorious wings, who appears from time to time to do some mighty
work for God or bring a very special message from him.
Well, that’s right in one sense (apart
from the wings, which owe more to stained
glass windows than the Bible). But the fact
that not all ‘angels’ in the Bible are ‘glorious’
or ‘shining’ should make us hesitate to categorize them in this spectacular way. After all,
the three apparently ordinary men who visited Abraham and Sarah to tell them that
she would have a son even though she was
long past child-bearing age had none of
those outward embellishments. Nevertheless
Abraham recognized them as divine messengers.
The Bible is full of angels, from the
early chapters of Genesis to the last chapter
of Revelation, and often they had a key role
in crucial events. It seems, from just two instances, that Michael was their leader, an
’archangel.’ In stained glass he’s often seen
with a sword, because in a vision in Revelation he led the angelic host who fought and
defeated Satan and his army.
In the Gospels an angel of the Lord
appeared to Zechariah in the Temple, to tell
him that his elderly wife was to have a son,
the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist. An angel - Gabriel - appeared to Mary
to tell her that she would be the mother of
the Messiah, the Son of God. . An angel appeared ‘in a dream’ to Joseph, the village
carpenter in Nazareth, to tell him to go
ahead and marry his fiancee, Mary, and
later - also in a dream - warned him not to
go back to Bethlehem. A ‘young man,’
whom we take to have been an angel, was
sitting in the empty tomb on Easter morning,
waiting to tell the startled women that Jesus
wasn’t there - he had risen (Mark 16:5).
Without going into every biblical reference to angels, those should be sufficient
to show that the word covers an enormous
diversity of experience. So the Letter to the
Hebrews speaks of those who practice hospitality as sometimes ‘entertaining angels
unawares.’ Sometimes people recognized
angels for who they were, and sometimes
they didn’t. Angels, quite simply, are God’s
agents or emissaries, messengers and ministers of his will. Sometimes they are human;
sometimes they seem to be spiritual beings.
Perhaps we could even say that
anyone, in any situation, who is at that moment God’s ‘messenger’ to us, or serves us
graciously, is an ‘angel’. So when we say,
‘Oh, be an angel and run to the pharmacy
for my prescription,’ we may be nearer the
heart of the matter than we think!
24
ART
Michaelmas, 2016
This month we include pieces from Cross and Crown: Traditional and Interpretive Quilt
Blocks by Adelaide Socki, currently on display in the Holman Street Gallery.
25
Trinity Midtown
THE WINDOW
He Gave Us Eyes to See Them:
The Church Bells
by the Rev. Michael Burgess
gencies, and calling people away from
more worldly pursuits to worship. That is why
bells have always been blessed at their installation for their true function is to ring out
the harmony of heaven.
The tenor bell at Warburton Church
in Cheshire is inscribed with the words, ‘I bid
you to the house of prayer. St. Werburgh’s
hallowed name I bear. Good folk draw near
and humbly pray, as prayed that saint in
olden day.’ As a little boy, John Betjeman
would listen to the bells with his teddy bear,
Archibald. ‘I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky, deep beyond deep, like
never-ending stars.’ For him, for the people
of Brookland, and for all of us, the bells were
like stars lighting up the sky with faith and joy
and praise.
Trinity Bell Tower at dusk: Photo by Elmer Romero
Summoned by Bells is the title of John Betjeman’s poetic autobiography, where he describes how bells summoned him to school
and to church. Bells announcing the joy of
weddings and Sunday services; and also
marking out times of sadness and the death
of loved ones.
One of the strangest bell-towers is at
St. Augustine’s Church, Brookland in Kent,
north-east of Rye. It was originally built in the
medieval period, and now stands as a triple
coned, wooden, octagonal tower detached from the church, and clad with shingles in 1936.
The story is that the tower looked
down at a beautiful bride about to marry an
unpleasant groom: it was such a surprise
that the tower jumped off the church in
shock. The truth is that the church was built
on marshy ground, and a stronger foundation was needed for the bells. And so the
tower was built north of the church.
Like all belfries and steeples, it is an
impressive witness to the place of bells in
human life and work: as time-keepers, announcing both festive occasions and emer-
St. Augustine’s Church, Brookland; photo courtesy
of the Romney Marsh website:
www.theromneymarsh.net
26
Poetry
Do You Still Love Me?
by Megan Carter
A fire was lit as the night was long and cold,
He moved towards it as he tried to warm his hands,
‘You were with him, I saw you’ the girl called out,
‘I don’t know him’ he cried ‘What are you talking
about?’
Three times he was asked and every time he
denied.
And then the cock crowed and he remembered it
all too well
Then Jesus turned slowly and looked into his face,
And Peter ran out weeping in abject disgrace.
Another fire was lit with fish on the coals
The Lord called out to his disciples to come and
eat,
Three times He asked Peter ‘Do you still love me
today?’
‘You know that I do’ was all that Peter could say.
The Lord is gracious and knows in ourselves we are
weak,
But He loves us, forgives us, and then He fills us
anew
Enabled by His Spirit we can stand firm on His word,
So that like the disciples we continue to follow the
Lord.
The Trinity EfM group will be held Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm (after the Wednesday
Eucharist) in the Masterson room. The cost for EfM is $350 per year, however scholarships may
be available. Contact Rob Rumph, [email protected] or Rhonda Rogers,
[email protected] for more information.