9.25.21 Choral Evensong with Installation of Members of the Cathedral Chapter and Honorary Canons

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] what yeah [Music] [Music] there we go [Music] [Music] yes [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] so friends welcome to this very special even song thank you so much for being with us as we install some new members of our chapter and welcome our new chapter for this fiscal year and as we celebrate with two very special people and make them honorary canons of this cathedral john cenafield and jenny mars are a very special part of this cathedral community and they have been for many many years jan and i were talking just a few minutes ago that you have to use very few fingers to actually count all the honorary canons there have been at this cathedral it is an honor one of the greatest honors we can bestow upon those who have honored our lord and honored this place and the work of building god's kingdom for so many years and both john and jenny are fine fine examples of that so thank you for being with us as we pray as we praise our god first and foremost and give thanks for their ministries i hope all of you will join us for reception in the garth following the service and the easiest way to get there from here is just to go through the root screen and turn right and go right out the transept doors on the north side and right down to the garth i hope you will join us for that and for further celebration now let us begin worship how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of god and this is the gate of heaven may the gracious favor of the lord our god be upon us prosper our handiwork o prosper the work of our hands oh lord open the lips [Music] oh god makes me to save us [Music] glory be to the father unto the son and to the holy ghost [Music] is [Music] praise ye the lord [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so foreign [Music] is [Music] oh is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] a reading from the prophet jeremiah blessed are those who trust in the lord whose trust is the lord they shall be like a tree planted by water sending out its roots by the stream it shall not fear when heat comes and its leaves shall stay green in the year of drought it is not anxious and it does not cease to bear fruit the word of the lord myself [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] a reading from the gospel according to saint matthew jesus said do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also the eye is the lamp of the body so if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is unhealthy your whole body will be full of darkness if then the light in you is darkness how great is the darkness no one can serve two masters for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and wealth the word of the lord [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord he was conceived by the power of the holy spirit and born of the virgin mary he suffered under pontius pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again to judge the living and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen the lord be with you [Music] let us pray [Music] oh [Music] our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen oh lord show thy mercy upon us [Music] oh lord save the state [Music] and do thy ministers with righteousness oh lord save thy people r [Music] give peace in our time oh lord [Music] oh god may clean our hearts within us [Music] almighty god to whose glory we celebrate the dedication of this house of prayer we give thee thanks for the fellowship of those who have worshiped in this place and we pray that all who seek thee here may find thee and be filled with thy joy and peace through jesus christ our lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever almighty god whose blessed apostles peter and paul glorify thee by their martyrdom grant that thy church instructed by their teaching and example and knit together in unity by thy spirit may ever stand firm upon the one foundation which is jesus christ our lord who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same spirit one god for ever and ever [Music] o god who does manifest in thy servants the signs of thy presence send forth upon us the spirit of love that in companionship with one another thine abounding grace may increase among us through our savior jesus christ [Music] let us bless the lord [Music] in the name of god amen good afternoon everyone what a privilege as it is for me to speak among you people i so admire and look up to whose service and ministry take my breath away i i'm humbled to be among you services like this one remind us that the leadership roles and organizations to which we dedicate ourselves become part of our vocation our life's work vocation has a rich spiritual overlay to it particularly appropriate to what we're doing today but it's true for any endeavor we undertake when it becomes a part of us when we give something precious of ourselves something of our talent or of our skill our insights when we give sacrificially of the wealth that has been entrusted to us when we give our time in giving of course we also receive blessing upon blessing from others engaged in the work with us from the work itself from the grace of god that finds particular expression in human creativity for in our work in our many vocations we are co-creators with god a religious leader that i admire once took it upon himself to identify the means the various means that god uses to seek relationship with us think about that as a concept for a moment god reaching from god's side to pursue us and after interviewing hundreds of people over several years he came to identify what he called five faith catalysts ways in which god works to draw us closer to god and one of them he called personal ministry personal ministry whenever we personally engage in an act of service and in particular he said the ones that stretch us beyond what we think we can do or offer especially when we've said yes to something and we didn't really understand what the commitment was until later and we realized that there's this enormous gap between what we thought we said yes to and what we're actually committing to right or perhaps we had a sense from the beginning that it was a really big deal and we said yes to something we knew we could not accomplish on our own you see for it's in that gap between what's been asked of us and who we are and what we have to give that we meet god because god shows up in those times of despair or doubt when we know we're in over our heads and we're not quite sure what to do or when we're in a collective striving with a group of people and we get to offer our bit alongside everyone else's and we sense that collective energy and power or when or when we actually get to feel from the inside what it's like when the holy spirit is working through us accomplishing in us as saint paul says far more than we could ask for or imagine our faith can't help but grow as a result of that right and even if other people as they sometimes want to do want to give us all the credit for what we did inside we know that it was god actually who filled the gap who showed up in that space between our offering and what was needed and accomplished through us what only god can do it's amazing makes me a believer by the way every sunday morning preachers will know what i'm talking about bit more about this when we give ourselves in service in particular we what we give becomes an expression of sacrificial love and that's the love that god offers us all revealed most dramatically and completely in the life and death resurrection of jesus and when we participate in that kind of love no matter the cost to us something changes inside us there's this spiritual alchemy that happens and we realize that we're becoming bigger inside a bit more like the ones created in the image of god more of ourselves yet more aligned with god preparing for today and thinking about all of you from the chapter who are completing your terms and those we are welcoming as new chapter members and our two soon-to-be honorary canons that we are celebrating today two distinct um streams of thought entered my mind and a good rule of preaching is to pick one um and to keep things simple but i'm breaking that rule today because you're all really smart people and i'm trusting you can stay with me and the first has to do with the act of giving itself and here i'm going to speak specifically about jenny and john because they are seasoned givers they've been giving all their lives sacrificially giving of time and talent and wealth and more than that and we all know this they are very quick to invite other people to join them in this over-the-top giving for the good of something else like the mission and vision of this cathedral as one example something worthy of the best we all can give not just what we have left over after we've tended to ourselves they they call us to more and it can be a bit uncomfortable actually to be in the company of those so adept at giving because it looks so easy to them right as if they had all the energy and creativity and wealth and time in the world to give and meanwhile the rest of us are like we never feel like we have enough and how could we possibly give more but you see john and ginny know from experience that when we give beyond what's comfortable we become more like those trees planted in in water like jeremiah said close to waters we're strong and we're rooted we become strangely enough we become less anxious about lesser things as hard as it can be at first when we give beyond ourselves in a big way we feel lighter somehow grounded in our values inspired by our highest aspirations i don't know how it works i just know that it does yes the cost is real it's sacrificial they know that all chapters you all know this i'm not speaking just about the two of them but that's precisely the point there are some things in life that are so important that they deserve gifts that actually cost us something because that's where our treasure is as jesus said and that's where our hearts will follow and they they grow bigger and that's that's what he doesn't say and that we learn on our own that our hearts grow bigger with each gift there's a story that the poet david white tells about himself he was in conversation with his very best friend the late great john o'donoghue one of the finest poets and priests of ireland contemporary ireland and in that conversation he was ruminating aloud about a gift he was thinking giving his father a gift of some money and and david who's very um self-revelatory in his poetry almost never writes about his father so you as opposed to his mother whom he writes about all the time so you have to sense that his relationship with his father is a bit prickly perhaps but his mom has passed on and he's clearly worried about his father and he lives alone in england his dad does is david's long since retired or not retired but relocated to the pacific northwest and so he's talking about the amount of money he's thinking about giving his father and john asked him well you know how much are you thinking and david told him and he said very good very good now now go beyond yourself double it okay so david i i will very good said john now go beyond yourself again and double that david said man with a friend like you a man could go broke to which john replied you will never regret this and sometime after that conversation john died a sudden an early death which makes of course those last conversations all the more vivid in a person's mind um and he did what john suggested he went beyond what he thought he could do and he gave enough money to change his father's life forever and for the better and john was right never once regretted it ginny and john you know something about that go beyond yourself kind of giving and when they invite the likes of us to join them it it may feel it possible at first and good they would say that's good that's how you're supposed to feel now go beyond yourself because you won't regret it you'll never regret it now the second thought i would like to offer this afternoon in honor of the two of you and and the new chapter members and all of you really this applies to all of you but particularly to these two and that's a reminder to all of us about the spiritual courage the spiritual courage required to go first to be the one to take the first step in response to a call or a vision or a dream when we go first we have no idea if other people are going to join us when we go first we don't even know exactly where we're going we walk in the beginning more by faith and by sight as the poet antonio machado ryan reminds us that in life often there is no road we make the road by walking it and how many times in the life of this cathedral has john cenafield or jenny mars gone first first to make the gift first to chair an important initiative first to go out on the road first to say out loud and a meeting we need to consider this or we need to do that and then after taking the first step they went ahead and took another and another after that and they forged road for us all of us by walking and it is that combination of courage and tenacity that is a wonder to behold especially in the beginning stages of anything important because there's absolutely no guarantee that anything will turn out the way you hope failure is always a possibility they know that we all know that you i'm talking about something you all know and have done yourselves but they know and we know that it's better it's better to fail at something big and important than to succeed in a string of mediocrity and here's the funny thing after in the in retrospect you know when we are celebrating an accomplishment it has this air of inevitability about it as if it was preordained all along and all of us who caught up later were all basking in that glow as if it were our idea too right as if we were one of the first ones and then people like ginny and john they just smile and they don't require us to be reminded of how highly we reacted negatively in the beginning they just let that go friends this is such an important moment in this nation and in the world arguably for our species it's a very important moment in the life of this cathedral and all that it represents and i've been speaking about john and ginny as if their work is in the past tense which is of course ridiculous because they're right here and continuing among us but we are we are each one of us called in some way and it may well be that ahead of us i dare say there will be an invitation to go beyond ourselves a call to go first or at least second or third in an adventure of great courage maybe we're on that road right now i dare say we are but we're here today and inspired by all of you we're here reminded of the value of our life's work and what we choose to say yes to and to commit ourselves before god and one another that we can we can be counted on even in those moments when it's hard and scary to go beyond ourselves and to go first or second following the one upon whom everything rests and who is in fact not only ahead but behind and on our side and within whose strength we rely on in more ways than we know may god bless you all and thank you for the privilege of serving among you amen bishop marion i present to you madeleine k albright extension wayne a.i frederick extension neil folger snapchat greg gibson j kloss and james r woody and ask that they may be admitted and installed as members of the chapter of the cathedral church saint peter and st paul have they been duly elected to this ministry and instructed in their governance and fiduciary responsibilities they have been lawfully selectedly elected and i believe them to be well equipped for the responsibilities of governance thank you my friends be diligent so to take your part in the government of this place that here the word of god may be faithfully preached and the sacraments duly administered in all things so uphold the honor and dignity of this great cathedral church the offering of its worship and the furthering of its mission will you attending to the guidance of the holy spirit commit yourself to this trust and responsibility will you and all your deliberations conform to the bylaws of this cathedral the protestant episcopal cathedral foundation and the cannons of the diocese of washington and the episcopal church speaking now to the current members of the of the cathedral chapter will you enthusiastically receive and support these new members and with the guidance of the holy spirit continue in ministry with them dear people of god all of us now dear people of god will you who witness this new ministry this new beginning support and uphold this ministry in the name of god i'm marianne edgar buddy bishop of washington do hereby induct and install you as members of the chapter of the church of saint peter and saint paul with all rights and dignities and opportunities for service in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen amen let us pray eternal god the foundation the foundation of all wisdom the source of all courage enlighten with your grace the members of the chapter of the cathedral church of saint peter and saint paul and so guide their councils that in all things they may seek your glory and promote the mission of your church through jesus christ our lord amen as dean of this cathedral i now invite you to take your stalls symbolic of your office and responsibilities you guys know where you're going um that's right take these stalls that you may be set forth that you may set forth the glory of god by your authority and example and make it your chief concerned to build up the body of christ in this cathedral church fill our hearts o god with the love that inspired peter and make us bold with the truth revealed to paul may the ministry of this cathedral church entrusted to us in christ's name gather all people into god's love and serve the truth that makes all people free through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit one god forever friends will you join me in welcoming the newest members of the cathedral go back up we give thanks for lewis baylor patrick gross virginia mars and hollis mclaughlin who are concluding their terms as members of the chapter let us pray gracious god we thank you for the work and witness of your servants who have enriched this community through their service by your holy spirit bless preserve and guide them as they find new ministries that call forth the continued use of their gifts may they always serve the one who is the way and the truth and the life jesus christ our lord amen we give thanks this day for the life witness and ministry of margaret richardson we know as peggy for her generous spirit and dedicated service to this cathedral as a member of the chapter let us pray mighty god we remember your servant peggy who has gone before us with the sign of faith and now rests in peace according to your promises grant her and to all who rest from their labor's refreshment light and peace through jesus christ our lord amen yes [Music] so [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] so oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign my [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] so please stand bishop marianne it is also our purpose to install two honorary lay cannons of this cathedral church let the presentations be made i present to you john hale shenafield and virginia cretella mars lay persons in the church of god who have been chosen to serve as honorary canons of the cathedral church of saint peter and st paul i believe that they have demonstrated competence and faithfulness and have been prayerfully and lawfully selected john you have been chosen to serve as honorary canon in this cathedral church as such you will have the responsibility and privilege of the stewardship of this great institution the upholding of its dignity and honor the offering of its worship and the furtherance of its mission do you in the presence of this congregation commit yourself to this new trust thank you ginny you have been chosen to serve as an honorary canon of this cathedral church as such you will have the responsibility and privileges of stewarding this great institution the upholding of its dignity and honor the offering of its worship and the furthering of its mission do you in the presence of this congregation commit yourself to this new trust dear people of god will all of you who witness this new beginning support and uphold this ministry receive the holy scriptures and this prayer book and be ever mindful in all your counsel to promote the well-being and the mission of christ church thank you so much hmm receive these medals in recognition of your exceptional leadership and as a sign of the collegiality with your fellow canons let these symbols be signs of the ministry which you share with me the dean and with the canons of this cathedral church i'm marianne edgar buddy bishop of the diocese of washington do hereby induct you john and virginia duly and lawfully elected as honorary canons of the cathedral church of saint peter and saint paul with all rights duties and privileges in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen as dean of this cathedral i now invite you to take the stall symbolic of your office come with us the two at the top almighty and eternal god soul draw my heart to you so die my mind so fill my imagination so control my will that i'm giving former viewers utterly dedicated to you i pray as you will and always to your glory and the welfare of your people to jesus christ our lord amen please join in congratulating and celebrating our newest my brothers and sisters we are the body of christ let us endeavor to keep the unity of spirit in the bonds of peace may the peace of the lord be always with you let us pray o god of unchangeable power and eternal light look favorably upon your whole church that wonderful and sacred mystery by the effectual working of your providence carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation let the whole world see and know the things which were cast down are being raised up and things which had grown old are being made new and then all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made your son jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen remember that the holy spirit is at work in you accomplishing far more than you can ask for or imagine now may the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be with you and remain with you this day and forevermore amen [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] marks where's donovan oh

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Length: 99min 30sec (5970 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 25 2021