Honoring the memory of George Floyd Sunday, May 31, 2020
By leaving flowers at the Homeless Jesus.
Pentecost Photos – On Sunday, May 31 Calvary celebrated the Feast of the Pentecost. The liturgical color for the day is RED.
Virtual Bible Study: Forty Minutes at Four o’clock
Tuesdays: April 28, May 5, May 12
4:00- 4:40 PM
Join the rector in studying the book of 1 Peter in a three-week Bible study hosted virtually via Zoom. If you are interested, Allison will send you detailed instructions on how to start a Zoom account and how to connect to the study. Jump in anytime during the three-part series.
Connect with the Calvary Community and ground yourself in the ancient message and hope of Holy Scripture at the close of the upcoming Tuesday afternoons. Interested? E-mail Allison English at allison@nullcalvaryclifton.org to sign up and get log-on instructions.
Dear Calvary Parish,
I want to thank the Staff, Vestry, Youth Group members, and fellow clergy members for sharing in creating “Holy Week at Home” last week. It was a team effort that assured us with the Christian mystery and hope in this time and always that: Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.
I said in my Easter Evening message this, and it will hold true for us in the weeks and months to come:
[This is the] hope of what Jesus was promising: Good news for all people – something that has no cost, that anyone from anywhere can enter, that is small that has a huge influence, that starts within you and flows out. That is right here, right now, and also yet to come.
Think of the greatest hopes of your own life. Imagine the fervor building in Jerusalem over what Jesus had promised. The Gospel says that people were so excited about what Jesus was announcing, illustrating, and evidencing that all the people were up at the crack of dawn to come to the Temple and listen to him.
And then the hope was dashed. The hope physically annihilated…
Those of you who know and have experienced great suffering will have a lot of wisdom to share with the rest of us in the days and weeks that lie ahead. You know the weight of that walk to Emmaus, those conversations and long silences in the days that follow tragic death and upended lives.
Where might the Resurrected Jesus show up for us in the days to come? [Since we can’t gather right now in the church,] it won’t be within the walls of the church. It will be from our homes or in our essential work or in our phone calls or our permitted and necessary outreach.
Jesus Christ is risen in spite of us and everything happening around us.
The Reverend Erika Taraks refers to Jesus as “mother hen” — how Jesus refers to himself in Matthew 23:37 — in her poem “A Coming Alleuia” for Easter 2020:
Ssh. Be still.
Do you not hear her?
Clucking close by like an old mother hen,
brooding and sighing and
stretching her wings?
Fear not, she says,
for I did it before –
in the silence
in the dark
in a closed and locked room
in a world that had known
only death.
Did I not once prove
once for all
that there is nothing you can do,
no decision you can make
(for good or for ill)
that can stop
me
rising?
May we continue to experience the Risen Christ in the midst of Eastertide this year.
Blessings,
Allison+
Join us online for Holy Week at home. Every day starting this Sunday (Psalm Sunday) video services will be available online at our website and on Facebook at @CalvaryClifton. The videos will be posted at the following times,
Palm Sunday: 10:30 AM
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Holy Week: Noon
Maundy Thursday: 6:00 PM
Prayer Vigil: 9:00 PM on Maundy Thursday to Noon on Good Friday.
Good Friday: Noon, Holy Saturday: Noon
Easter Vigil: Anytime from Sun Rise to Sunset between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday: 10 AM: Join Episcopalians from throughout Southern Ohio at the Christ Church Cathedral Livestream Click Here
Calvary’s Response to Coronavirus
March 27th, 2020
This situation is rapidly unfolding and Calvary’s response is subject to change in real time and subject to protocol of CDC and the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
We’re starting our third week since the Coronavirus outbreak began to fold into a pandemic. I will say, I deeply miss what is at the heart of our life as Christians– coming together week by week for corporate worship. It’s something that connects us one to another and shapes our life of prayer.
There are two things I’d like for us to be thinking about as a community this week:
- How we can pray while apart.
- How to stay connected to each other in life-giving ways.
First, Prayer. On Wednesday morning, I woke up with my mind a mess of chaos. Between the constant hum of “Breaking News,” the needs of my children, and the needs of the church (all co-existing in one space at home!), my heart and mind have been racing to rest in a new rhythm. Racing to rest is solidly oxymoronic.
It’s no wonder my prayer life has been messy at best. I was reminded before I got out of bed of two prayer practices I’ve learned through the years that keep me grounded.
One is from author Anne Lamott. She urges our prayers can be as simple simply saying, “Help!” or “Thanks,” or “Wow.” I like adding, “I’m Sorry” to those simple prayers.
In my teenage years, a youth leader taught me a simple way to structure my prayers. I go back to it in times like these. Just remember A.C.T.S.
Adoration- adoring God in a time like this? Yes, finding ways to give praise to a God that is beyond all things and in all things is good during a time like this.
Confession- With more time at home, and time moving from place to place converted to time “in place,” examining our consciences is a good exercise.
Thanksgiving – And for what do we give thanks. Imagine other times and places in the face of pandemic. That alone should give you cause for thanksgiving to God today.
Supplication – Ask God to help. For whom do you pray? I suggest being specific. And you’ll have time to take note– how exactly is God answering your prayers? What is God’s answer?
The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer defines prayer like this:
“Prayer is responding to God, in thought or deed, with or without words.”
I am seeing a lot of prayer in active deeds, without words, already happening among faithful people.
Prayer, by this definition, saves lives. Your deed may be sitting at home. It might be quietly staying calm and practicing social distancing in a grocery store or your essential workplace. It may be organizing, making phone calls, or preparing to-go meals for hungry people.
Keep up the prayers.
Next, how do we stay connected?
I think in a time like this, the danger is to be overly-connected in ways that don’t give life. I suggest making a rhythm of connection. Turn off and on the TV or your phone at specific times each day.
Since we can’t be at church together, I highly recommend scheduling online worship into your week. See below for instructions on how to worship virtually. (If you can’t connect in that way, you can at least make a sacred space in your home and open your prayer books. Pray the Daily Office and know you are not alone.)
Get involved in the Calvary Connection Circle initiative. You will be hearing from a member of the church this week about ways you can connect weekly with others at Calvary. I believe this simple, weekly connection will serve to help us “be the church” to one another even though we are apart.
Let us pray.
Let us remain connected one to another.
Blessings and Peace,
Allison+
The Reverend Allison English
Rector
Join us for a Public Service of Healing on March 21st at 11 AM. In this service we will pray for each other, those who have requested our Prayers, and for a hearting world. All are welcome to Join us, both in person and via our Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/CalvaryClifton/.
Healing Prayer is one of the oldest Christian traditions. In addition to the many stories of Jesus healing those who came to him for help, the Epistles tell us that the apostles prayed for those who needed help. When we pray for healing for ourselves or someone we love, we are asked that God be present with us in the midst our brokenness or illness, and that we would be open to the transformation that the presence of God produces. While healing takes many forms, I think the act of praying for one another also reminds us that we are bound together in a common life, and that we are all in need of God’s healing grace.
As we work our we journey through Lent, save the dates for Holy Week and Easter Services.
Apirl 5th: Psalm Sunday: Services at 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM, and 10:30 AM
April 9th: Maundy Thursday: Service starts at 7:00 PM. The Watch (Prayer Vigil) starts after the service and continues until Noon on Good Friday.
April 10: Good Friday: Service at Noon, Stations of the Cross starts at 6:30 PM, and the late service starts at 7:00 PM
April 11: Holy Saturday: Holy Saturday Liturgy (no Communion) starts at 10:00 AM
April 12th: Easter Day: Great Vigil of Easter at 7:00 AM, Family Service at 9:30, and Festival Service at 10:30.
Lent is almost here. Calvary has three opportunities to receive the imposition of ashes and honor this fast days,
- February 26th, 7 AM
- February 26th, 12 AM
- February 26th, 7 PM
Services take part in the context in the Celebration of Holy Eucharist, including readings from scripture, a sermon reflecting on the scripture, Prayers of the People, and the sharing of Holy Communion. Ashes are also imposed during each service.
The Carnegie Hall Preview concert will take place on Sunday, February 23 at 7 PM. The Concert will feature original compositions by Howard Helvey, who will also be one of the conductors of the combined choir. The Preview Concert will feature our own Calvary Episcopal Church Choir and the Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble. Join us for a night of music as we celebrate the work of Howard Helvey and the Choir as they prepare for their Carnegie Hall debut.
The concert at Carnegie Hall will take place on Sunday, March 15th, at 2 PM at the Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall. Tickets for this concert can be ordered online at www.carnegiehall.org
