A Glorious Easter Vigil Indeed!

As I mentioned a couple days ago, the rector of the Anglo-Catholic St. Matthias church promised a “glorious” Great Vigil, mentioning it was their chief celebration of Easter. It was glorious indeed!

Due to missing the right exit, I arrived only about 5 minutes early, and the sanctuary was packed. I could have found a pew seat if I wanted I suspect. But being the courteous guy I am, I decided to take one of the metal folding chairs in the side aisles. The sanctuary was completely darkened. The only light was coming through the windows on that damp night. In the night, I saw robed ministers run by outside.

As I had been warned, the rector methodically lit a big paschal fire in back. And from there, much of the service was candlelit. You couldn't miss the theme of light out of darkness.

The Exsultet was sung well. Really, I haven't even heard of it before. I found out I had been missing something special. I was quite moved. (And for those who watch for such things, there were bees in the Exsultet.)

After four scripture lessons on redemption with prayers, there was the baptism and chrismating of not a few. We relit our candles for this and there was a procession to the font in back. The baptismal liturgy was wonderful and unrushed even with so many getting baptized (about 15 I would guess). We all said our Baptismal Covenant. I like that. There’s something about firmly restating one’s Christian beliefs that’s good for the soul. Saying the covenant and the creeds fires me up somehow.

We then prayed over the candidates for baptism. By the way, many of the prayers were sung, including by the congregation. When we all together sung our prayers and amens, it sounded great.

There was a humorous moment when the rector blessed the font. When he lifted up the Paschal Candle to dip it in the font, he lifted it up too high and burnt a black spot on the ceiling. I kidded with him about that afterwards.

After the candidates were baptized, they were given baptismal candles lit from the Paschal Candle.

During the procession back, the rector sprinkled us with holy water using an aspergill (Look it up.). Then we sang the Litany of the Saints.

This was the one part of the service I could not conscientiously fully participate in. So I just stood with the rest as they asked every saint imaginable to pray for them. I’ve never heard of a lot of those saints. I might post more on this in the future.

Then was the Kyrie, always a favorite part of a service for me.

Then . . . the Gloria. That was fun. You see, the Gloria is not sung during Lent. So when it’s finally sung again for Easter, it’s a big deal. Well, as soon as the Gloria began, the lights went up, and there were so many bells ringing, I honestly thought it was a fire alarm. I later learned people bring bells from home to ring during the first Gloria of Easter. I think the kids especially get into that. Quite a number of people sure did! It was so loud, I gave up on keeping the tune.

That began the first mass of Easter. (Yes, they are very Anglo-Cath. They call it “mass.”) During it the scripture lessons were sung. And there was quite the ceremony about everything. I thought they used a lot of incense before then, but they really threw it around in preparing the eucharist.

But, hey, I like ceremony. As I told the rector as St. David’s when we chatted, I have low church tendencies in my beliefs, but high church tendencies in how I like to worship.

Oh, I forgot. I got a nice birthday blessing. They don’t skimp on those either. Although I don’t recall them using incense for that.

When in line, to receive communion, I made a point to see how people were receiving in front of me. Most took in the usual way. But I noticed a boy holding out the wafer. The priest then took it, dipped in the wine and put it on his tongue. I’ve received that way before, and it was meaningful to me. So I received that way this time. Yes, yes, I know that seems very “Catholic.” But I think the symbolism of that is very Biblical. I might post more on this in the future as well.

The service ended well with the organist joyously playing a Festal Postlude by Handel.

Then was quite a food-filled feast of a reception. After gentle prompting by the rector, I did a mild fast from Maundy Thursday (the first time I’ve done that for Holy Week.). So the food tasted that much better.

I’m not quite as Catholic as these brothers and sisters, but I greatly enjoyed the Easter Vigil with them. I’m glad I went to St. Matthias, and I intend to visit again.

Do we have to be rude? II

Back on February 25th, I expressed amazement that some North American liberals were advising ignoring the Primates and their request to not send representatives to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). They instead advocated sending Episcopal and Anglican Church of Canada representatives anyway.

While aghast, I still expressed the hope and expectation that most liberals and leaders in those two churches had more sense than that.

But now I’m beginning to wonder.

The rumblings have grown that the two North American churches may indeed defy the Primates and send representatives to the ACC in June. And it’s not just what is said, but what is not said. When the ECUSA House of Bishops met after the Primates Meeting, their “covenant” said not one word about the Primates’ request to withdraw from the ACC. And ++Griswold and Canadian Primate ++Hutchinson haven’t been exactly overwhelming in their response to the Primates’ request either.

Relevant bodies of the two churches are scheduled to make the decision about Anglican Consultative Council representatives this spring, April for ECUSA, May for the Anglican Church of Canada.

And that begs the question: What happens if the North Americans do stiffen their necks and send representatives? Will the rest of the ACC refuse to let them be seated or let them have their way? And if the ACC does seat them, what in turn will be the response to that from the Global South?

This summer may make Dromantine look like a Sunday picnic.

Now, there’s an additional question I have that I haven’t seen much written on: Just exactly what is the composition and leanings of the Anglican Consultative Council? I take it that they are the most liberal of the instruments of authority. Are they perhaps liberal enough to seat North American representatives in spite of the Primates’ request?

Please answer to your heart’s content.

Easter!

Back to my Easter weekend. The highlight was Easter Eve.

First, I went to Christ Church in Plano for the Saturday 5:30pm service. It played such an important role in drawing me to Anglicanism. Among other things, it was the first Anglican church I visited, opening my eyes to another world of worship. And I’ve wanted to celebrate Easter there for a long time.

What’s funny is the first time I went in the Fall of 2003, I thought, “This is so Catholic.” Now I think, “This is so evangelical.” Many of the songs are from the 1990’s led in a Praise and Worship Lite manner. I much preferred the more traditional songs with their big organ cranking and leading. I love their organ. I wish they used it more.

Now, the service didn’t annoy me like Denton Bible’s song time the next night . . . except for the Gradual. Now, to me, the Gradual means you read or sing a Psalm. But instead, we had How Great Thou Art sung in a very operatic manner while we just sat. I really like Psalms and participation better. (I’m not at all knocking the lady who sang. She was very impressive. But the format is not my worship style at all.)

But still the service meant a lot to me, and I left pumped up about Easter.

And I do appreciate how they reach out to those who might be freaked out by a more traditional formal service (perhaps me a year and a half ago?). Just because something isn’t my style doesn’t mean it’s not excellent. And they do mix things from both traditional and evangelical forms to reach a broad range of people.

Speaking of which, it was packed out. Communion took a long time.

Oh yeah, I went up front and got a birthday blessing from +Roseberry! I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time, and it meant a lot to me.

God bless Christ Church!

What made it that much more special for me was Ed Weaver and his daughter went to the service with me and out to coffee afterwards. He guided me and supported me through that rough time a couple churches ago. So he has played an important role in God’s grace and faithfulness to me these 30 years. It means a lot to me he was there.

Now his daughter was a very annoying little girl back then. She’s very cool now, however. ;^)

We had to cut coffee short, however, so I could get to St. Matthias for their Easter Vigil. Their rector had invited me specifically to that, promising it would be “glorious.” And, oh boy, was it!

But that will have to wait for another post.

Easter?

Well, this past Easter weekend was every bit as special for me as I anticipated. I’m still smiling over it.

And it was wide-ranging, from the fire and bells and smells of the Easter Vigil at St. Matthias to the Sunday evening service at Denton Bible last night.

There’s so much to tell about and a lot of reflections that come out of the weekend. So I’ll post in pieces.

I’ll start with last night. Like I said, I went to Denton Bible, my old church. And the first 20-25 minutes of the 6:30pm service was, as usual, a string of songs all while standing up. I can’t stand for long periods without discomfort, so I sat down before the last one. Continuous singing wearies me as well, so I barely sang the last song. And, as usual, I stuffed Kleenex in my ear because the worship leader’s voice was overamped. (You can see how the first time I visited a good Anglican church was like finding an oasis for me.)

But what annoyed me more was not one song was Easter themed. In fact, if any song mentioned the resurrection, I missed it.

And when I mentioned it to a couple people afterwards, they said they hadn’t noticed. And, say, three years ago, I wouldn’t have noticed either. But I did notice last night. I wanted to belt out some joyous Easter songs. So “Wondrous Cross” just didn’t cut it for me.

I might post more on the church calendar and worship sometime.

But the service and I quickly recovered. Two friends who had a difficult pregnancy dedicated their baby daughter. Another friend who is about to go to China was recognized and prayed over. And, as usual, the sermon by Tommy Nelsen was excellent – and, yes, an Easter sermon. It was both the meat of good teaching and evangelistic. Some like to water down their Easter messages, but not Tommy.

Oh, some humorous insight into college kids: For most Easter services, people show up early to be sure to get a decent seat. But the 6:30pm Denton Bible service is mostly college-aged. So guess what? At 6:25, it wasn’t even half-full. :^)

I also enjoyed hanging with some old friends. And that’s a big reason I went – to celebrate this special Easter with them -- who have been such a special part of my 30 years as a Christian.

So it was an excellent time last night – even if the worship leader seemed to forget it was Easter.

A congregation of one

I enjoyed an interesting Holy Saturday morning over at St. David’s. I went over there for the 9am Proper Liturgy for Holy Saturday. I expected small attendance, but it was just me and the rector. I didn’t mind at all though. It sure helped me pay attention!

Afterward, I poked my head into the side room (rectory) and said hi to the rector. I remarked it was a small congregation. Then he amiably said that there was a misprint in the bulletin. The service was at 10am but was printed as 9am. So he came early just in case someone came.

I thought that was cool he carried on with the service just for one and told him. Then I offered to help with any pre-Easter preparation. The paschal candle needed to be carved down to fit in its candlestick. I was flattered he trusted me to help with that. (For those who don’t know, they are special candles for Eastertide . . . and are not cheap.) He even had me sit down in the bishop’s chair (then in the rectory) to carve!

As I helped with the candle, we had a good wide-ranging conversation, mostly on Anglican-related things. I let him know how much I appreciated the parish and his passion for liturgy.

I wished I could have stayed longer, but I felt I should go well before the 10am service even though the rector was quite welcoming. It was a neat time.

What happened tomorrow 30 years ago.

I don’t think I’ve told you all just what happened 30 years ago, so here goes. (I’ll try to condense it a bit.)

My foster dad (My mom died when I was 13.), Rick Mill, was the youth worker at Casa Linda Presbyterian Church. He and his wife Annette had already been quite an influence on me. I was still not yet a Christian, however.

Well, he invited me to the junior high group lock-in he was leading. My attitude was that it sounded like fun – even if it was a church event – so I went.

Wellll, at the lock-in, this cute girl liked me and quickly made that quite clear. I quickly very much liked her. At the end of the night, she invited me to communicants class. I didn’t know what the hey communicants class was, but she was in it, so I went. It was like an Anglican confirmation class that prepared us to make our first profession of faith, whereupon we would take our first communion (Hence the name “communicants.”).

Well, the communicants class retreat was quite eventful. There, an elder of the church presented the Gospel to us in a Four Spiritual Laws format popular at the time. Some might remember how it goes:

1. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

2. But our sins separate us from God.

3. Jesus died for our sins, taking upon Himself our punishment and bridging that separation.

4. We receive God’s forgiveness and enter into a relationship with Him by trusting in Jesus.

I might have the wording off and I’m leaving out a lot, of course. But that was the first time I heard the Gospel and understood it. And it immediately clicked. I knew that was right.

I don’t know the exact moment I trusted in Christ. But it was either then or not long afterward.

However, the girl, Kelli, dumped me on the retreat -- and I ran to my cabin and cried a bucket. Lost the girl; gained the Lord. Good trade – although I didn’t feel that way at the time.

Our first communion and profession of faith was on Maundy Thursday 1975 – March 27th, my 14th birthday.

I still remember the peace I felt after the service, like I’ve never felt before.

The 30 years since have not been easy. But God has lavished His faithfulness and grace on me through them all.

And that’s why this Easter, March 27th 2005, is all the more special to me.

Happy Easter.

”Christ hither and away”

I wish I could post more on this very special day. Between a vigil and brief Morning Prayer at St. David’s, an excellent noon service at St. Matthias, and this and that, it’s been hard to post.

But I can’t let this day pass without noting it. I’ve already posted on how this is a particularly special Holy Week for me (and will post more tomorrow). But this Good Friday stands out in being on Annunciation Day, the day that celebrates the Annunciation to Mary.

Because of the rules of precedence for holy days, the Annunciation will be celebrated later, next week I think. But the correspondence is still very worthy of note. It is rare for one thing. If I have my facts right, the last time it happened was 1932. The next time is 2016 (which I guess makes Easter falling on my birthday, much less the 30th anniversary of my first profession of faith, very rare as well).

The excellent sermon at St. Matthias today noted it well, using a poem by John Donne, The Annunciation and Passion that he wrote for the same occasion. It begins:

TAMELY, frail body, abstain to-day; to-day
My soul eats twice, Christ hither and away.
She sees Him man, so like God made in this,
That of them both a circle emblem is,
Whose first and last concur; this doubtful day
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away.

God, in all His pure love, came down to be one of us. Yet He “came and went away” because we could not endure Him. We hated Him. And we killed Him.

And yet His love for us was undiminished. Instead, it was manifested by His dying for us on the cross. “Greater love hath no man . . . “

Oh, Lord Jesus, we don’t deserve You becoming one of us. We don’t deserve You dying for us. We deserve only Your eternal judgement. Yet You’ve given us Your eternal love. You’ve given us even Your eternal life.

What can we say except thank You . . . thank You . . .