The Choir Corner: Lent

David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist

In Lent we bury the Alleluia, meaning we stop using the word in worship and in our hymns. As in Advent, we also give up the Gloria in excelcis, the festive music that comes just after the opening hymn at 10:30am worship. If you attended the noon service Ash Wednesday, we sang the Rite One setting of the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) from Healy Willan's Missa de Sancta Maria Magdelena.

We just passed the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Willan, a great Anglo-Canadian organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer. He's worth looking up! In Rite Two Eucharists, we are also going for a more solemn setting by using the Schubert setting of the Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Richard Proulx adapted this from Schubert's Mass in G. Schubert's short life was on the cusp of the transition from the Classical to the Romantic period, with his prime starting about the time of Beethoven's death.

Nativity Easter Egg Hunt and Ice Cream Social

Saturday, March 30, our youth group will hide eggs all over Nativity for the benefit of our
pre-school and elementary aged children. And, because candy isn't enough sugar, we'll also
be feeding them ice cream! With toppings! But before we do all this, we'll need to recover our “Alleluia!” banner so that our celebration of the resurrection can begin! The fun begins at 3pm. EYC kids check with Steve on when to report to make preparations.

Kirkin' o' the Tartans

Sunday, March 4, Nativity has been invited to join in First Presbyterian's annual celebration of its Scottish heritage. At 10:15am, weather permitting, a parade of bagpipers, drummers, and Presbyterians will march down Church Street and stop in front of Nativity to play a song before parading on. We're mostly participating because it's fun. However, it is also the case that The Episcopal Church received its first bishop with the help of some Scottish Anglicans; we have some shared heritage! You are invited to wear your plaid scarves or clothing to the parade!

A Note from Peter (March 2018)

The Rev. Peter Gray

The eight days from Palm Sunday to Easter – Holy Week – are, as the name implies, the most important days of the Church calendar. To prepare for Easter, we gather as a church family to tell one another the story that makes all the difference for our lives, the story to which we entrust our lives. Here's a quick reminder of all the unique ways we worship and live out that story during Holy Week:

Palm Sunday, March 25 – We remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, as crowds praised him as the one sent by God, cutting branches from trees to wave in the air. At both the 8am and 10:30 services, palm branches, folded into the shape of the cross will be available to hold during worship. For 8am, we begin worship at the back of the church, bless the palms, and process. At 10:30, those who are able will gather on the small patio on Howard Street to bless the palms and then process into the sanctuary. By the time I arrive in my place at both services, the starkness of the week begins as we hear Mark's account of the crucifixion. At the 10:30 service, this passion narrative is read dramatically, divided into parts.

Contemplative Eucharist – March 26-28 - Nativity will offer Holy Eucharist at 12:05pm Monday and Tuesday and 10am on Wednesday. In lieu of a sermon, we'll share five minutes of silent prayer and contemplation before sharing communion together.

Maundy Thursday – March 29 at 5:30pm - Thursday night we reenact the story of the night before Jesus’ death. We celebrate the gift of Holy Communion that Jesus gave in that moment, and we also hear the difficult invitation to wash one another's feet as a symbol of our call to servanthood. If footwashing is a bridge too far for you, please come knowing that this act is not required of those who attend. The service ends with the altar being stripped of all adornment to symbolize Jesus' arrest.

Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane – Thursday at 6:30pm until Friday at Noon - After the altar is stripped on Maundy Thursday, the last thing to leave the sanctuary is the Reserved Sacrament, a small amount of the Body of Christ. Members are invited to sign up and pray with the sacrament as Jesus asked his disciples to pray with him the night before he died. To sign up for a portion of this prayer vigil, contact the church office.

Good Friday Liturgy – March 30 at 12:00pm – A solemn remembrance of Jesus' death on the cross is the focus of this service. All music is led by the piano, John's passion account is read, and a rugged cross in brought in to contemplate. We pray for the needs of the world and then share communion from the reserved sacrament.

Stations of the Cross – March 30 at 1pm - As in years past, a small group of us will stay after the main service to recall Jesus' steps to Golgotha as we pray, hear bits of scripture, and move the rugged cross from the noon service around the perimeter of the church.

Easter Sunrise Service - A candlelit sunrise service welcomes Easter as the dawn breaks at 6am. The service begins in the memorial garden where we light a fire, then process into a darkened church with candles. While the sun rises, we hear important stories from the Old Testament of God’s saving activity before I finally announce, “Christ is risen!” and Easter begins. The lights will come on and we'll share communion.

Easter Morning - If you can’t quite make it to church at 6am, we’ll still be celebrating the resurrection at 8 and 10:30! Beginning at around 10:15, you’re invited to bring flowers into the church to help us flower the cross.

Peter+

Frank L. Abbott Jr.

Frank L. Abbott Jr., 76, of Greenwood died suddenly Thursday at his residence. Visitation will be at 2 p.m. today at The Episcopal Church of The Nativity in Greenwood with memorial services following at 3 p.m. The Rev. Peter Gray will officiate. Greenwood Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Frank Lynch Abbott Jr. was born on May 8, 1941, in Greenwood. He graduated from Greenwood High School in 1959. He attended Mississippi State University, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and earned an electrical engineering degree.

He worked for Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama, during the 1960s and early ’70s on the Saturn rocket program, including the lower stage of the Saturn V rocket of NASA’s Apollo moon missions.

Frank next lived in Nashville, where he and a team designed and set up a large centralized computer complex and system for the State of Tennessee government, a project that spanned several years.

He then worked for AT&T in Birmingham and Jackson before moving back to Greenwood, where he did IT work for Scientific Telecom and the John Richard Collection. In the past several years he enjoyed using his professional computer skills doing volunteer consultations and work on his friends’ home computers.

Frank had served as treasurer at the Episcopal Church of The Nativity.

Preceding him in death were his parents, Frank Lynch Abbott and Leila DeLoach Abbott.

He is survived by his brother, James (Jim) DeLoach Abbott, and his wife, Cynthia, of Oxford; nephew Jim D. Abbott Jr. (Tiffany) of Hinsdale, Illinois; niece Catherine (Katie) Abbott Kluttz (Brad) of Greenville, South Carolina; and five great-nephews and nieces, Whit, James and Leila Kluttz and Blake and Harlow Abbott.

Memorials may be made to The Episcopal Church Of The Nativity, P.O. Box 1006, Greenwood, MS 38935 or to a charity of your choice.

An online guestbook may be signed at www.greenwoodmsfuneralhome.com.

The Choir Corner: Epiphany, Lent and Easter

David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist

Looking at Hymn 135, “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” one notices that this is a seasonal hymn addressing the themes of this Epiphany season. The repetition of "manifest" reminds us of the manifestation of Christ to all, not just the descendants of Israel. It covers the Baptism of Christ and the Transfiguration, which are the focus of the first and last Sundays after Epiphany. The wedding at Cana is also alluded to for those years with a longer Epiphany in which we hear in the lectionary Jesus’ first miracle. The tune name is "Salzburg," harmonized by Bach, representing some of the best hymnody in the German/Dutch/Swiss Protestant tradition.

Contrasting to this is Hymn 448, "O Love how deep, how broad, how high," which is used extensively in both the Lenten and Easter seasons, and usually several times in the Season after Pentecost. The allusion to the Love of God is obvious in the title, and regardless of the season, it sometimes is the most cohesive choice for coordinating with the Collect, Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle and Gospel of a given Sunday. The Tune is "Deus tuorum militum," alluding to the original Latin text, "O God of your soldiers." It is French in origin, written just after the death of Bach, and represents the "new school" of Roman Catholic hymnody that emerged as a result of the Counter Reformation.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Loosen your belts, put on your dancing shoes, and join us for one more celebration before we begin Lent! Nativity’s annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper begins at 5:30pm, Tuesday, February 13. Join us for pancakes, sausage, Mardi Gras beads, and the last Alleluias of Epiphany before we begin the fast on Ash Wednesday.

A Note from Peter (February 2018)

The Rev. Peter Gray

“A season of penitence and fasting...self-examination and repentance...of reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” These are the words the Book of Common Prayer uses to describe the season of Lent, the six and a half weeks Christians spend in preparation before Easter. Very often as we look toward Lent, we begin having conversations about our fast, that is, what it is we are going to give up during this period. This year, I invite you to prepare for Lent by focusing on what it is you’d like to gain.

On February 4, I’m going to try something new. Rather than announcing what I think we should study on Sundays as we move toward Easter, I’m going to let you all set the agenda. How do you want to grow as a Christian? What parts of scripture are most intriguing or interesting to you? Is there some part of the Church’s history that you’d like to hear more about? Or maybe you’ve been looking for new ways to nourish your personal life of prayer? I want to know what you want to learn about, and on February 4 Nativity will make a decision on how we spend our Lent.

Whether you attend 8am or 10:30 worship, come ready to rip a corner off your bulletin and scribble down your idea. Drop that scrap of paper in the offering plate as it comes by. I’ll sort the ideas by topic, and the top vote-getter will be our topic for adult forum during Lent. The Nativity Facebook account will announce what we’ll be studying that Sunday afternoon, and on Monday morning, I’ll get to work learning, studying, and exploring what it is Nativity wants to learn about.

One of the gifts of having a church family is that we are constantly reminded that the spiritual life is not an individual sport, but a team one. As we enter Lent, the prayer book invites us to a season of self-reflection and learning. Some of that will happen in the silence of our own prayers, but some of it will take place here at Nativity surrounded by sisters and brothers who, like each of us, are looking to grow in the knowledge and love of God. So, what do y’all want to learn?

Peter+

Time and Talent Surveys

Every member on Nativity’s mailing list should have received a four-page time and talent survey at the beginning of December. As we continue our work together as a church family, we are always in the business of recruiting new leaders to guide those ministries that make up our life together.

This survey is our way of asking you how your gifts and interests might align with the needs of the church and of the world. Moreover, finding ways to participate more deeply in this life of the church encourages us to build relationships with the people we worship with, but may not know particularly well. If you haven’t already, please take time to review the survey along with your whole household, and write each person’s name by the ministry s/he is interested in participating in, and then return the completed survey to the church office.

New Service Opportunity for 5th-8th Grade Youth

For the Spring of 2018, we are creating a new service opportunity for our 5th-8th grade youth on Sunday mornings at 9:30am. Instead of Sunday School, these members of our church will be invited to assist with our youngest Godly Play classroom. As our 3k-5k Godly Play teachers can attest, we have lots of energy to manage in that room! Before assisting, youth will be invited to attend a brief training with our Godly Play teachers so that they can understand the particular format of the program and how they can be helpful. After attending the training, these youth will be scheduled as helpers just as adult teachers are. Our hope is that their participation will continue to nurture a spirit of service in our youth while also exposing them to the rich biblical teaching of Godly Play.