You know you're an Episcopalian:
. . . when you watch Star Wars and they say "May the force be with you," you automatically reply, "And also with you."
. . . if you recognize your minister in the local liquor store and go over to greet him.
. . . if you have totally memorized Rite I, Rite II, and the first three episodes of The Vicar of Dibley.
. . . if hearing people pray in the language of "jesuswejus" makes you want to scream.
. . . if your choir director suggests discussing something over a beer after choir rehearsal.
. . . if you catch yourself genuflecting as you enter a row of seats in a theater.
. . . if, when visiting a Catholic Church, you are the only Ah-men amongst a sea of A-mens.
. . . if your covered dish for the potluck dinner is escargot in puff pastry.
. . . if you know that a Sursum Corda is not a surgical procedure.
. . . if you don't think Agnus Dei is a woman.
. . . if your picnic basket has sterling knives and forks (entree, fish, salad, and cake).
. . . if you know that the nave is not a playing card.
. . . if your friend said, "I'm truly sorry..." and you replied, "and you humbly repent?"
. . . if you know that the Senior Warden and the Junior Warden are not positions in the local prison.
And finally, you know you're an Episcopalian...
. . . if you think the most serious breach of propriety one can commit is failure to chill the salad forks.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Sunday's latest news
After running in to the rector at Marshall's Grill the other night, Ryan and I felt obligated to show up for Mass at St. Paul's K Street this morning, and Ryan actually managed to drag himself out of bed early enough to go to the 11:15. I think it was Ryan's first experience with a high church Anglo-Catholic Episcopal service (he's a recovering Baptist) where most everything is chanted by the celebrant, but last time we went to church together in D.C., we went to a Catholic parish, so he was at least prepared....a little.
The choir sang the Communion Service in F by Herbert Sumsion for the Mass setting, an Anglican chant setting by Herbert Howells for the psalm, and Gregorian chants for the gospel alleluia and the various antiphons for the introit, offertory, and communion. The offertory anthem was "Anthem" (Let my complaint come before thee, O Lord) by Adrian Batten (c. 1585-1637) and the communion motet was "Show us your mercy, O Lord" by Peter Hallock (b. 1924). They still have their paid core choir of sixteen voices around for the summer, so everything sounded fine. The basses were particularly prominent today for some reason, though.
The processional hymn was a new thing I didn't know called Coe Fen with the opening lyric "How shall I sing that majesty which angels doth admire?" by Ken Naylor (1931-1991) they included as a program insert. Other hymns were Melcombe for the sequence, O Welt, ich muss dich lassen at communion, and Lyons for the recessional. The organist played "March for a Pageant" by Eric Harding Thiman for the postlude. We didn't make it in in time to hear it, but he also played Thiman's "On an Irish Air—Elgia" for the prelude.
The associate rector was celebrant and preacher this morning, and he spoke on the gospel reading, mostly about delegation of church duties to others and how Jesus was not well received in Nazareth—"familiarity breeds contempt"—and how that represented Jesus' only "failure" reported in the Bible. I'm pleased to report that the associate rector, who's been with us for about a year now, is finally chanting better.
I was completely out of change and one dollar bills this morning, so I got stuck having to put a $5 into the collection plate today. :(
After Mass, I introduced Ryan to the associate rector, since he's a Yalie, and I don't think the Dartmouth and Yale people particularly get along. :::EG:::
After communion, I asked Ryan if he liked eating Catholic Jesus or Protestant Jesus better (Baptists don't have "real" communion, since they don't have real priests), and he liked the Protestant Jesus better because the wine was better. Well, duh....we were at a Whiskeypalian church, what did he expect?
The picture above is Ryan in the chapel after Mass. He says he doesn't like feeling like a tourist (well, "Japanese" was the word he used), but it think it was more because he was feeling self-conscious around all the gay men in the parish. LOL
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Church reports
Just as it was time to walk to the church for the afternoon Mass, the skies opened in a huge, high-wind downpour and great, rolling claps of thunder. As I walked the three blocks to St. Stephen's, I kept having to shift the direction of my umbrella to stay somewhat dry; as it was, everything below my knees was soaking wet once I arrived.
There was no keyboard player tonight, so the cantoress simply led one verse of a hymn a capella for the processional hymn and two verses of another for the the recessional hymn. They seemed quite short staffed tonight, since she not only had to lead those hymns, she also ended up reading the lessons and psalm. Otherwise, it was a low Mass with nothing being sung, the exception being that the celebrant decided to sing the Gospel Alleluia, though pitch and tone was not one of his gifts.
I never could figure out what the homily was about, and I kept thinking, "I need a quote," "I need a subject description," but I was at a loss.
There were three guys from Poland sitting in front of me. It was kind of obvious their were visitors, since they dashed up for communion instead of waiting in line and then they came back down the center aisle instead of walking around to the side aisle. I chatted with them after Mass and the two younger ones were here this week for some sort of engineering competition and the elder one was their adviser.
It was a calm walk home as a lull in the storm gave a brief respite from the rain (though not the droplets falling from the trees and buildings). Later, though, the thunder, lightening and rain continued. Things are quiet now, though. I hear these sorts of sneak storms are supposed to happen for the next couple of days. Will we get rained on during the fireworks?
There was no keyboard player tonight, so the cantoress simply led one verse of a hymn a capella for the processional hymn and two verses of another for the the recessional hymn. They seemed quite short staffed tonight, since she not only had to lead those hymns, she also ended up reading the lessons and psalm. Otherwise, it was a low Mass with nothing being sung, the exception being that the celebrant decided to sing the Gospel Alleluia, though pitch and tone was not one of his gifts.
I never could figure out what the homily was about, and I kept thinking, "I need a quote," "I need a subject description," but I was at a loss.
There were three guys from Poland sitting in front of me. It was kind of obvious their were visitors, since they dashed up for communion instead of waiting in line and then they came back down the center aisle instead of walking around to the side aisle. I chatted with them after Mass and the two younger ones were here this week for some sort of engineering competition and the elder one was their adviser.
It was a calm walk home as a lull in the storm gave a brief respite from the rain (though not the droplets falling from the trees and buildings). Later, though, the thunder, lightening and rain continued. Things are quiet now, though. I hear these sorts of sneak storms are supposed to happen for the next couple of days. Will we get rained on during the fireworks?