Beloved,
This summer marks a transition for our Cathedral parish in our approach to social justice in our community. The Jubilee Social Justice Committee has done good and hard work for the past many years and had many successes. After much conversation among the three of us and with the leaders and members of Jubilee, we think the time is right to open wide the work begun with the Committee to the larger parish. Our goal in this is to engage more fully with our local community agencies and groups, committing ourselves to both hands-on work and systemic work. Many of you have expressed an interest in more information and more hands-on work with our community, and we are excited to offer this new idea.
We are now asking for people to come forward as liaisons to various community agencies and organizations, with two people (sending two by two!) as liaisons to each agency. The role of the liaison is threefold: 1) build relations with the agency by visiting the site(s) and getting to know the leaders as well as the people they serve; 2) bring the needs of that organization to the Cathedral to spur concrete, hands-on involvement on the part of adults, families, youth, and children of this faith community; and, 3) meet with the Dean and Deacons, and with one another, at least twice a year to check in, share, learn, and plan.
We will start with these agencies/groups: COTS (begun as the Committee on Temporary Shelter); Spectrum (providing services to at-risk youth and families); JUMP (Joint Urban Ministry Project); Elmwood Community Shelter (the pods); Feeding Champlain Valley (formerly Feeding Chittendon) food and services center; and, Migrant Justice (Milk with Dignity).
If you are interested in being a liaison to any of these agencies, please speak with one of us! We hope to commission our liaisons in September and to celebrate the incredible work of the (now former) Jubilee Social Justice Committee.
Beloved, you are beautiful. We love you and God adores you.
Greta, Stan, and Susan
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Cathedral Church of St. Paul News & Events | |
Thank You
The Welcome Ministry wishes to thank all who contributed ice cream, scooping, cleaning up, coffee making and more cleaning up last Sunday. A joy to watch groups of us all talking to each other. Let’s do it again in August and polish off the leftovers before the snow flies!!
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This Sunday's Plate Donations to Support Vermont Flood Relief
As some of our parishes and communities continue to recover from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, St. Paul's has pledged 100% of the plate offering on Sunday, July 28 to the diocesan flood recovery efforts to help congregations contend with daunting insurance deductibles and pressing community needs.
You can give online here. You can also use our new TipTapPay machine as you come in the door on Sunday!
Donations will support congregations throughout the diocese. Two congregations in the Northeast Kingdom reported damage to their buildings: St. Peter's in Lyndonville and St. Andrew's in St. Johnsbury. Additionally, many communities and congregations are involved in recovery efforts. For example, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre is again taking a lead effort in its community's recovery.
Thank you for considering making a donation to help other parishes in need.
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Summer Social Justice Speaker Series
This Sunday, July 28 the Cathedral will be hosting a guest speaker from Feeding Champlain Valley. When the worship service ends, we hope you'll grab a snack and take a seat to hear about their important mission and work to address hunger locally.
Feeding Champlain Valley works to alleviate hunger by feeding people and cultivating opportunities. Services include education and training, grocery distribution, meal production, food rescue, deliveries to homes and food access sites, an online market, food kiosks, and a food truck.
Over the years their name has changed as their work to alleviate hunger has grown from acting as an emergency food shelf, to a meal program, to delivering 1400 meals per day to those sheltering in place during the pandemic, and now providing food services and education in the four counties of Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle. This year in recognition of this larger area of coverage their name has changed to Feeding Champlain Valley.
Now with the help of more than 250 volunteers Feeding Champlain Valley continues to play a very important role not only here in Chittenden County but in the surrounding counties as well. Clearly, the need for food support continues today.
To learn more go to Feeding Champlain Valley website.
This summer's speaker series accompanies our Social Justice Outreach fundraising. We will hold an ingathering on Discipleship Sunday, which takes place on Sunday, September 8 this year. To donate, you can drop a check in the offering plate with "Social Justice Outreach" on the memo line, or you can make an online donation via the Cathedral website here using the Social Outreach line.
Stay Tuned! On August 11 we'll hear from Mark Redmond from Spectrum. Jonathan Farrell from the Committee on Temporary Shelter will join us on a Sunday in later summer as well.
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Cashless Donations Now Accepted via Tiptap Pay
Next time you're in the South Porch, take a moment to check out our newest method of collecting donations via Tiptap Pay, a contactless payment device that allows visitors to make fixed-denomination contributions using credit cards, debit cards, or mobile wallets.
With so many of us no longer carrying cash, Titap is an easy way to give electronically with your credit/debit card or mobile wallet. This is great solution for visitors, special collections, or just general offerings in lieu of cash.
Donations made to the Cathedral via Tiptap are akin to cash in the collection plate - there will not be a receipt issued from our finance office. It is also not designed to capture pledges. However, your credit card or bank statement will reflect the Cathedral as the recipient of the donation for your records.
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Youth Choir Concert Camp
A free one-day camp for Cathedral and area youth with singing experience, sponsored by Cathedral Arts, pairs our choristers with those of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Middlebury, with the goal of singing together with the Vermont Choral Union for its concert on November 3.
Our workbook is the Fauré Requiem; a video-making exercise, lunch, and a trip to Burlington Bay for a creemee will round out the schedule. For audition, schedule, and further information, please see a dedicated page on the Cathedral website here.
Please pass the word and help launch our fall season! It is possible to participate in the concert without attending the camp.
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COTS Back to School Bonanza
Do you remember going to the 'stationary store' to pick up all those things on your school supply list? I loved that day every August. Even if I was nervous about my class or my new teacher, I loved putting together the supplies for school.
That day would not have been fun at all if I'd known I had to go to school without everything on the list. Lots of kids in our community don't have the resources to get to school on that first day prepared to jump in with a back pack full of supplies. That is just a crummy way to start school.
The COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) Back to School Bonanza is a program where school- aged kids (K-12) can get what they need for 'back to school' (including backpacks, school supplies, first day of school outfits, haircuts) in a fun, carnival-like setting (think face-painting, bouncy house and snow cones!). Did you know that, in Vermont, 1 in 4 people experiencing homelessness are children? While we cannot readily fix the housing shortage, we can participate in small ways to 'do unto others' as Jesus calls us to do, and have fun doing it!
COTS is always looking for volunteers to help both the day before (August 2) and the day of the event (Aug 3).
Please check out this opportunity to work with our community (or to donate new school supplies) to make this world a better place for kids. https://cotsonline.org/backtoschool
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Cathedral Office Closed August 7
Please note that the Cathedral office will be closed on Wednesday, August 7 so that the staff may participate in an off-site planning day.
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Church school is on summer hiatus. We'll continue to publish the Sunday Paper weekly. To view or download the Sunday Paper for this Sunday, click here.
If you have questions, please contact Katie Gonyaw at kgonyaw@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
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From Out of Vermont Kitchens: Recipe of the Week
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My garden is producing its first ripe tomatoes this week - finally - and it is a feast-or-famine situation. After weeks of watching them ripen, I'm now faced with the conundrum of how to use up more than we can possibly eat before they begin to rot. Not being much of a canner, this week's recipe is an interesting option.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Spinach
Excerpted from the introduction of the 1990 edition of Out of Vermont Kitchens:
St. Paul's Cathedral published our first cookbook, Out of Vermont Kitchens, in 1939. The world and the small corner of it that is Vermont were very much different then, and yet some things stay the same. The values that first book represents - fresh ingredients cooked with pleasure and creativity for family and friends - are with us still today.
Vermont itself is a blend of old and new, a study in contrasts. It is still a rural state with many small family dairy farms and sugarbushes, but in recent years an influx of new residents from "down country" has brought us new life and richness with their interest organic gardening, sheep raising, and the production of a variety of cheeses and homecooked products now sold far beyond our borders. While treasuring our wonderful maple syrup and dairy products, we also welcome the addition of a broadened range of produce, herbs and spices to our shelves.
Vermont is a place of distinct seasons and sometimes harsh climate, but always of outstanding beauty. Much of our life continues to involve church suppers, town fairs, country auctions, and rigorous outdoor activity, along with a penchant for self-reliance and the homegrown. Our more recent neighbors have often settled here because they too love these simper pastimes and values. Those of us fortunate enough to live here wouldn't be any other place.
So come into our kitchens. Sit down and browse awhile through our recipe files and well-thumbed favorites. Then join us around the table to share a dish that, in the universal spirit of kitchen creativity, you have made your own.
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Join us for our Worship, in person or via our Live Stream on YouTube.
Holy Eucharist, 10 a.m. in person and Live Streamed.
You can view or download the order of worship on our website.
Other Regular Services
All are welcome to join us for our weekday services:
Morning Prayer, Monday - Friday at 8:30 a.m. on Zoom.
Tuesday - Friday at 8:30 a.m. in person
Compline, Sundays and Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on Zoom.
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For Our Prayers This Week |
We pray for blessings and joy for those who celebrate birthdays this week: Paul Van de Graaf, Judith Contompasis, Lillian Robinson.
Let us name before God those for whom we offer our prayers: Ken's father; Patti's father; Mike Bell; Jane and Zibilla Wolfe; Laurie Donaldson; Gail Ernevad; Barbie Kimberly; Joan Braun; Deloit Strickland; Debby Galbraith; Stan Walker; Katie and baby; Aimee Viens; Steve Savage; Delores and Vaughn Altemus; Tom Ely; Alice Van Buren; Jasper Davies; Jim and Linda Larson; Joseph and Abby Gonyaw; Gina Hilo; Ben; Alex Versaw; Steve Burns; Barbara; Genevieve; Terrence; Jaya and Abby Kelly; Fran Carlson, Devin Starlanyl; Karin Davis; Laura Macke; Jay Slobodzian; Thomas McGrade; Ashton Christy; Randy and Ruth Booze; Jennifer Jenkins; Michael Fay; Henry Maciejewski; P.J.; John; Lindsey Fay; The Anthony Family in Moscow, Russia; Marie Cole; Kim Martin; Helene; Cole; Nancy Johnson; Ella Baskett; Mary Magot; Jean Erno; Jackie; Lillian Robinson; Peter Adams; Elizabeth Webster; Pat Barra; Debbie Altemus; Vaughn Altemus; Naomi Hodgett; Helen McGrath; and Mary Carter. For Ukraine and those fleeing its borders and for the people of Russia, and the ongoing wars in Sudan, Myanmar and Ethiopia. For peace in Jerusalem and between Israel and Palestine. For all victims of gun violence. For all who grieve.
For al
We pray for those who are in the discernment process: Henry Kellogg.
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"The soul has to learn how to respond when bad weather comes, as well as sudden bliss.
-- Alla Bozarth-Campbell
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Lessons for July 28: The Season After Pentecost,
Proper 12
| O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. | |
July 29 Marks 50 Years Since First Women Priests Ordained in the Episcopal Church
The eleven women who were ordained priests at the Church of the Advocate, Philadelphia, on the feast of St. Mary and St. Martha, July 29, 1974, two years before General Convention authorized the ordination of women.
The women ordained were Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield, Jeanette Piccard, Betty Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig. The bishops who presided at the service were Daniel Corrigan, Robert DeWitt, and Edward Welles II.
These ordinations, and the ordinations of four more women in Sept. 1975 in Washington, D.C., were widely criticized as irregular because the Episcopal Church had not yet authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood. In 1976 the House of Bishops affirmed the validity of the ordinations by requiring of the fifteen women only “an act of completion” that would be “a liturgical incorporation of what was done on those two occasions” in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
All of the “Philadelphia Eleven” participated in public events of “completion” within the following year, with the exception of Marie Moorefield who left the Episcopal Church to join the United Methodist Church.
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Deacon Stan Baker Reflects on Committee Work at General Convention
Deacon Stannard Baker had a good time chairing the House of Deputies Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music at the recently concluded General Convention of the Episcopal Church. That’s not always the case for the person who leads the committee, which, in recent decades, has handled some of the most controversial questions facing the Episcopal Church— questions such as whether to authorize rites for the marriage of same-sex couples, whether God must be referred to as “he” and whether to revise the Book of Common Prayer.
“It was an honor,” Baker said. “And I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a terrific committee, very skilled, thoughtful, Spirit-filled and sprinkled with enough humor to make it a pleasure to do our work.”
It wasn’t that the committee wasn’t assigned a great deal of work. It dealt with 44 resolutions, including two that at previous conventions would have provoked impassioned debate: whether to put marriage rites for same-sex couples in the Book of Common Prayer, and whether to redefine marriage as between “two people,” rather than “a man and a woman,” in the church’s catechism.
Since both resolutions involve revisions of the Book of Common Prayer, both require passage at two successive General Conventions, and this was the first reading for each. Proposing the resolutions was a moment of particular personal importance for Baker.
He was the named plaintiff in Baker v. Vermont, one of the first judicial rulings in the United States to establish a right for same-sex unions, and he has been among the more visible leaders of the campaign for equal marriage in the Episcopal Church.
“I knew, even before presenting the marriage resolutions, that it would be an emotional moment for me,” he says. “Of course, I didn’t know quite how that would manifest in the actual moment.”
He imagined presenting the resolutions with his vice-chair, the Rev. Ruth Meyers, “long-time shepherding mother of the same sex marriage movement and rites in the Episcopal Church.” But Meyers had tested positive for COVID.
“Once I was on the platform podium, sitting and waiting as people testified, I started to well-up with emotion, and the tears came,” he says. In Meyers’ absence, he had asked Deputy Cynthia Black [of Newark, another leader in the marriage equality movement] to join him on the podium. “As we stood there, arms around each other’s backs, the tears came. They were tears of joy and relief — tears given to me by the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
Efforts to include same-sex marriage rites in the Book of Common Prayer had been frustrated at the two most recent two General Conventions, but this time, remarkably, they passed overwhelmingly and with little debate, an outcome made possible by accommodations arranged through other resolutions for conservatives who believe such marriages are not valid. The resolution on changing the catechism passed overwhelmingly as well.
But the emotional moments were not at an end. Baker also presented Resolution C032, which expressed the Episcopal Church’s remorse for the “irreparable harm” done by indigenous boarding schools, some of which were staffed, administered or sponsored by the church. The resolution directed the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, in consultation with Indigenous communities in the church, to determine an appropriate date on the church calendar to commemorate the Indigenous children who were forced to attend these boarding schools.
The resolution contained A Prayer to Remember the Innocents, which was read aloud by three Indigenous deputies after the resolution had passed.
“Their story is so poignant and horrible and they are so resilient,” Baker said.
Baker’s committee also took on more typical legislative tasks, such as authorizing a new expansive language version of Eucharistic Prayer C; approving alternative texts for the Good Friday liturgy in response to perceptions that the current texts are antisemitic; and establishing feast days on the church calendar for Harriet Tubman, Bishop Barbara Harris and the Philadelphia 11.
“I have to say that, despite having to begin at 7 a.m., I thoroughly enjoyed being on the committee and chairing it,” Baker says.
It was unusual that he found himself chairing the prayer book committee, because a deacon almost never holds that position. In another sign of his stature in the church, Baker was also elected to the church’s Executive Council.
“I was very moved by that and I’m feeling very humble and also kind of excited about it,” he says, noting that he would be the only deacon on the council.
“Deacons, we’re ordained to be servant leaders,” Baker says. “Often folks focus more on the servant part than on the leader part. Sometimes that keeps deacons from realizing their own sense of authority,” he says.
Baker credits his Quaker upbringing with instilling in him “a balanced response to authority.” He understands and respects the vertical organization of the Episcopal Church, he says, but feels that everyone, no matter their place in that hierarchy, has things to teach and things to learn.
“It’s my experience that some cradle Episcopalians — and others — are ‘authority bound,’ feeling they have no agency when dealing with bishops and priests, and — as a result — sometimes resenting their feeling of loss of agency. My sense is that I am not bound by that sense of ‘less than.’”
image: The House of Deputies and House of Bishops Committees on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music at the 81st General Convention.
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Deacon Susan McMillan Connects Vermont Interfaith Action to Diocese
After a career in veterinary medicine, Deacon Susan McMillan is finding herself working toward the healing of other ills.
Since her ordination in December, McMillan has been serving as the diocese’s liaison to Vermont Interfaith Action, a statewide network of faith communities working for policy changes on issues including housing, immigration, economic dignity, climate issues and racial justice. The assignment fit well with McMillan’s call to social justice work.
“A deacon’s role is to interpret to the church the needs of the world — to bring church into the world,” she says. “VIA works to find systemic changes to societal problems in communities and across the state. It’s a good match. As we get involved with Vermont Interfaith Action, we can study problems in a community, break the problem down into smaller pieces we can address and work with those involved in that issue to find a fix. It’s a great way to see a need in the world, bring it back to the congregation, and work to make change.”
The recently passed legislation on overdose prevention is an example of how effective the VIA can be, McMillan says. The law allows for a safe injection site in Burlington where people can use narcotics under the supervision of trained staff and be revived if they take too much. The center will provide referrals to addiction treatment as well as medical and social services. It also will offer education about overdose prevention and distribute overdose reversal medications.
“Correctional reform is a big issue that seems insurmountable,” McMillan says. “By narrowing down, doing the research, meeting with stakeholders, and continuing to learn, VIA took a small step toward the de-criminalization of substance abuse and addiction.”
VIA’s advocacy efforts are not focused exclusively on the legislature. The organization is currently urging all 247 of the state’s cities and towns to adopt and implement a Declaration of Inclusion which, among other things, “condemns racism and welcomes all persons, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, or socioeconomic status.” So far 152 cities and towns, home to 77 percent of the state’s population, have done so.
“Racism is a problem in Vermont, McMillan said. “This declaration is not simply a statement of intention, but a set of actions to take.”
Faith organizations are sometimes criticized for participating in politics, but McMillan says the connection between the diocese’s mission and VIA’s are clear. “Bishop Shannon is really focused and calling us to focus on looking past our church doors. It can be painful and scary, but I think our survival is tied to us [members of the diocese] getting outside our buildings and working with other faith communities toward Beloved Community.
“We all know Vermont is one of the least churched states, but that doesn’t mean Vermonters aren’t spiritual or people of faith; perhaps they are simply not finding connection to that big building in town. Our call is to be living out our faith in way that’s contagious.”
When Bishop Shannon named McMillan the diocese’s liaison to VIA, she charged her to start by visiting parishes — especially those without dedicated clergy — as they discern what God is already doing in their congregations and what they might be called to do in their community. “We do charity really well but we are also called to do justice,” McMillan says. “I’m just getting my feet under me with VIA. I don’t have the answers, but we’ve all heard Bishop Shannon remind us that we’re called to step out of the boat, to have courage and faith to take risks in community, even when we’re afraid and stretched and stressed. We don’t have to do it on our own, however. VIA helps us to collaborate with others and work together.”
VIA’s committee and subcommittee meetings are held on zoom, allowing individuals from across the state to attend. Anyone interested in learning more about VIA’s work, or in working with VIA on an issue not currently being addressed, should email McMillan. “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she says. “VIA is available to assist in addressing an issue.”
Vermont Interfaith Action will be offering a three-day workshop in September on ‘Building Beloved Community in Vermont.’
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Submission Deadline for St. Paul's eNews | This weekly e-newsletter is circulated on Fridays. Please send your submissions to Jennifer Sumner at admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org by noon on Wednesday. Thank you. | |
Contacts:
The Right Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown, Bishop of Vermont
bishopshannon@diovermont.org
The Very Rev. Greta Getlein, Dean and Rector
ggetlein@stpaulscathedralvt.org
The Rev. Canon Dr. Robert K. Leopold, Canon for Adult Formation
rleopold@stpaulscathedralvt.org
Peter Stoltzfus Berton, Director of Music and Cathedral Arts
pberton@stpaulscathedralvt.org
The Ven. J. Stannard Baker, Cathedral Deacon and Diocesan Archdeacon
sbaker@stpaulscathedralvt.org
The Rev. Deacon Susan F. McMillan, Cathedral Deacon and Diocesan Liaison
smcmillan@diovermont.org
Jennifer C. Sumner, Office Administrator
admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org
Barbara F. Comeau, Financial Administrator
finance@stpaulscathedralvt.org
Katie Gonyaw, Children's Formation Coordinator
kgonyaw@stpaulscathedralvt.org
Adam Skiff, Property Steward
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