Church of the Advent

[adventboston]

Incredibly grateful to have been able to support Sarah Durfey Dunham and the Abolitionist Network in the work of opposing human trafficking in Boston and New England (via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0majAE5vrU)

[cityofbostonarchives]

On this day in 1809, the cornerstone for Park Street Church was laid. Five years prior, in 1804, a small group of Bostonians began to meet for weekly lectures and prayer. This group, called the “Religious Improvement Society,” organized the charter of Park Street Church in February of 1809 and three months later, on May 1, laid the church’s cornerstone.

Since its founding, the church has been an active participant in Boston’s religious and cultural life. Early in the church’s life, Bostonians referred to the church as “brimstone corner,” either because of the fire and brimstone preaching, or because gunpowder was stored in the church’s basement during the war of 1812. 

The church wasn’t only known for fire and brimstone, however.  In 1815, the Handel and Hayden Society was founded at the church.  In 1826, the American Temperance Society was founded at the church, and in the same year, Edward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and a strong abolitionist, became the church’s pastor. Three years later, on July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison used the church to make his first public statement against slavery.

In the 20th century, Park Street Church played key roles in the founding of  the Boston branch of the NAACP, War Relief (now World Relief), Gordon-Conwell and Fuller Theological Seminaries, and the religious publication Christianity Today.

The archival records of Park Street Church are available through the Congregational Library, learn more here

Park Street Church, circa 1970s, Peter H. Dreyer slide collection, Collection #9800.007, City of Boston Archives.

[adventboston]

I'm so grateful for the presence of #ParkStreetChurch in our city. Their school has educated my children, their outreach has assisted friends in #Boston, and their clergy have been winsome colleagues.

[adventboston]

Veiling crosses in Lent

Why do Christians do this, and what’s the theological significance?

If you’re curious about the veils that appear around the Advent this time of year.

[adventboston]

And in Lent, the system is designed, this year in particular, to funnel us right into the center of the universe. It’s no accident that the event Christians believe the story of the universe centers on, is also what our liturgical year centers on. We did that on purpose. We designed the whole system around Jesus’ death and resurrection, because that’s where the power is. Holy Week, and specifically the three days that we call the Triduum that culminate in the Great Vigil of Easter. Technically, those three days function as one service; it takes that long to bear the weight of what’s happening. It’s the heart of life, the Triduum, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and if you want to experience Easter as real, the Triduum is just non-negotiable. If you look at the calendar and discover you have a family event that falls over those three days, April 13, 14, and 15, call the family and try to reschedule it now. If you’re on to work that weekend, it’s six weeks away; see if you can get it off.... Of course anybody who likes can just show up on Easter morning in isolation, but if you do that, let me now in the name of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church disavow all responsibility for the consequences. The Triduum is the church’s prescription for what is killing us. If you don’t take it as prescribed, we can’t be held liable.

From a wonderful homily by the incomparable Mother Beth Maynard (http://www.emmanuelmemorialepiscopal.org/sermons/the-lenten-system). Thank you, @bethmaynard!

[cubswn]

Download "The Shape of Lent at the Church of the Advent" for 2017

At the Advent, we try to keep the communal nature of Lenten practice as a parish family every year. To that end, we create a booklet with a schedule of what we will do together during this holy time – corporate disciplines, readings and prayers for each week, a selection of suggested reading for the season, and the like. Download the booklet to do Lent with us in 2017!

[adventboston]

Beloved in the Lord: Our Savior Christ, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood as a sign and pledge of his love, for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of his death, and for a spiritual sharing in his risen life. For in these holy Mysteries we are made one with Christ, and Christ with us; we are made one body in him, and members one of another. Having in mind, therefore, his great love for us, and in obedience to his command, his Church renders to Almighty God our heavenly Father never-ending thanks for the creation of the world, for his continual providence over us, for his love for all mankind, and for the redemption of the world by our Savior Christ, who took upon himself our flesh, and humbled himself even to death on the cross, that he might make us the children of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, and exalt us to everlasting life. But if we are to share rightly in the celebration of those holy Mysteries, and be nourished by that spiritual Food, we must  remember the dignity of that holy Sacrament. I therefore call  upon you to consider how Saint Paul exhorts all persons to prepare themselves carefully before eating of that Bread and drinking of that Cup. For, as the benefit is great, if with penitent hearts and living faith we receive the holy Sacrament, so is the danger great, if we receive it improperly, not recognizing the Lord’s Body. Judge yourselves, therefore, lest you be judged by the Lord. Examine your lives and conduct by the rule of God’s commandments, that you may perceive wherein you have  offended in what you have done or left undone, whether in thought, word, or deed. And acknowledge your sins before Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life, being ready to make restitution for all injuries and wrongs done by you to others; and also being ready to forgive those who have offended you, in order that you yourselves may be forgiven. And then, being reconciled with one another, come to the banquet of that most heavenly Food. And if, in your preparation, you need help and counsel, then go and open your grief to a discreet and understanding priest, and confess your sins, that you may receive the benefit of absolution, and spiritual counsel and advice; to the removal of scruple and doubt, the assurance of pardon, and the strengthening of your faith. To Christ our Lord who loves us, and washed us in his own blood, and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father, to him be glory in the Church evermore. Through him let us offer continually the sacrifice of praise, which is our bounden duty and service, and, with faith in him, come boldly before the throne of grace [and humbly confess our sins to Almighty God].

Book of Common Prayer, p. 316-17 (to be used, in whole or in part, either during the Liturgy or at other times)

[adventboston]

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree, Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes -- Some have got broken -- and carrying them up to the attic. The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt, And the children got ready for school. There are enough Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week -- Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot, Stayed up so late, attempted -- quite unsuccessfully -- To love all of our relatives, and in general Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed To do more than entertain it as an agreeable Possibility, once again we have sent Him away, Begging though to remain His disobedient servant, The promising child who cannot keep His word for long. The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory, And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are, Back in the moderate Aristotelian city Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid's geometry And Newton's mechanics would account for our experience, And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it. It seems to have shrunk during the holidays. The streets Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten The office was as depressing as this. To those who have seen The Child, however dimly, however incredulously, The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all. For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be Grew up when it opened. Now, recollecting that moment We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious; Remembering the stable where for once in our lives Everything became a You and nothing was an It. And craving the sensation but ignoring the cause, We look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit Our self-reflection, and the obvious thing for that purpose Would be some great suffering. So, once we have met the Son, We are tempted ever after to pray to the Father; "Lead us into temptation and evil for our sake." They will come, all right, don't worry; probably in a form That we do not expect, and certainly with a force More dreadful than we can imagine. In the meantime There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair, Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem From insignificance. The happy morning is over, The night of agony still to come; the time is noon: When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure A silence that is neither for nor against her faith That God's Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers, God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph. IV Chorus He is the Way. Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness; You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures. He is the Truth. Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety; You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years. He is the Life. Love Him in the World of the Flesh; And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.

W. H. Auden, "For the Time Being" (from Selected Poems)

[adventboston]

Are We Not Luddites?

From time to time I could do with a little more technology around the Advent -- “Wouldn’t it be nice to amplify the sermon?” I ask myself. And I almost always answer “Why, yes; yes, that would be nice!” although I know that’s not the only opinion around here. Or I get an almost irresistible urge to Snapchat the choir. To Instagram the way the incense is catching the light. (Indeed, sometimes I can’t help myself -- just check my Instagram feed). Couldn’t we set it up where I can just swipe my phone and not have to write out a check to put in the plate? Bibles, Prayer Books, and Hymnals on an iPad, anyone? 

Maybe someday some of those practices will be commonplace around here; maybe not. But sometimes I think we’re better served to play the role of sacrament to the world around us, to be a sign of distinctly analog living in the midst of a breathtakingly digital world. 

It does me good now and then to read things like these words from Read Mercer Schuchardt: 

The church’s true calling in a technological society is to do the slow, difficult work of embodying God’s love, one embodied soul at a time. Embodied love is profoundly inconvenient, painful, and even excruciating. But the opposite of love is not hatred; it is efficiency. Hatred has a specificity and heat that can be persuaded and cooled. Efficiency is anonymous, cold, and ruthlessly indifferent. Efficiency communicates to the masses. Efficacy -- love -- saves one soul, willing to leave the 99.

It is Mary, not Martha, who best embodies the church’s relationship to technology. She sat still, at our Lord’s feet, and listened. (NB: Perhaps that’s an invitation to sit nearer the altar and the pulpit?) She quieted herself, turned away from her distractions, and heard the still, small voice. It was not as exciting as the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. It did not sound like Siri. But she chose the better part, and it could not be taken away from her. It could not be switched off.

[adventboston]

Mozart and the Cubs

It’s practically noon, and I’ve only been up a couple hours -- the cost of being glued to ESPN until the wee hours basking in the glow of a Cubs World Championship (can’t stop humming “The strife is o’er, the battle done” either; sleep deprivation and Easter hymns -- gonna be a strange day).

But the lifting of a 108-year-old curse wasn’t the best thing I got to witness last night. I hope you were at the Advent for Mozart’s Requiem Mass because it was, as a friend just put it, “stupendous.” Mozart gave us an amazing cultural artifact, delivered last night by supremely talented musicians (led by the best choirmaster in the world), to a full house. 

Here’s what I’m still thinking about on the day after, even in the wake of something like that Game 7 -- it’s the Dies Irae. I’ve heard the words a thousand times, even celebrated Mozart’s Requiem Mass once as a curate back in Washington, DC, but last night was different. Somehow the rhyming had always seemed, I don’t know, hokey? But Thomas of Celano or Latino Malabranca Orsini, whichever one (or neither) wrote the Dies Irae, got something right. It’s something we desperately need. And it’s something we miss almost every day:

God is a fire. 

I hold a high view of God, I guess you’d say. I preach about the holiness of God a lot. I quote Lewis’ Mr. Beaver:

'Course he isn't safe. But he's good.

Or I crib Annie Dillard’s warning about our explosive God: 

It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.

When and how did we make God a house cat? Whatever we think we’re worshiping, I suspect it ain’t God. We need the Dies Irae:

Day of wrath and doom impending / David’s word with Sibyl’s blending! / Heaven and earth in ashes ending! 

Oh, what fear man’s bosom renders / When from heaven the judge descendeth / On whose sentence all dependeth! 

That’s why I need more 12th and less 21st century in my life. Modernity, an old seminary professor of mine says, has “flattened” everything. The modern God isn't holy, he isn’t even all that “heavy.” But the God of the Bible, and of whomever wrote the Dies Irae, is aflame. That old seminary professor again:

Without such a vision of the burning holiness of God, “worship loses its awe, the truth of his Word loses its ability to compel, obedience loses its virtue, and the church loses its moral authority.” (John Jefferson Davis, Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2010): 56 (quotation omitted).)

The church needs the Dies Irae. (Oh, and by the way, it’s not all medieval superstition and bluster, either, just in case you were wondering. Think, kind Jesu, my salvation / Caused thy wondrous Incarnation / Leave me not to reprobation. Hello -- the Gospel, anyone?) 

We need the mass, not a concert. 

We need worship . . . real worship. 

Without worship of a burning God, the church doesn’t have a chance. But on nights like last night, that God sneaks up on us and comes crashing in. That’s what He does for a living. N.T. Wright says:

God’s way of action, now as then, is through a people, maybe even though an individual, who have glimpsed a fresh vision of his fire . . . . They will almost certainly be unlikely people. Like Moses, they won’t be expecting it. They may well not want it. But if they will only stand in fear before the living and burning God, they will be enabled to stand without fear before the Pharaohs of today. (N. T. Wright, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdman’s, 1997): 72-73.)

I’ll never forget last night. Been waiting for the Cubs to win a World Series for my whole life. But I suspect the thing that’ll stick with me, or at least I hope what sticks, is what happened in Boston, not in Cleveland. I remembered God is a fire. And I wouldn’t have got that but for what happened in worship. Check that; make it Worship. 

Gives a whole new meaning to #FlyTheW.

That’s just a thought --

Fr. Wood (proud holder of the [email protected] email address)

[adventuresoftheholyghost]

Episode 48: Charts

[adventboston]

Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee // #holycross #relic #truecross

[adventboston]

Tues. 10 May 2016 @ 7p // Bethany Farrell Rivello

Tues. 10 May 2016 @ 7p // Bethany Farrell Rivello

Theology on Tap returns for the season finale on May 10 @ the Rattlesnake! We close out the year with a visit from an old friend, Bethan Farrell Rivello, and her presentation on sacred art: The Beautiful, the Strange, and the Huh? Sacred Art in Sixteenth-Century Italy Art enthusiasts often perceive sixteenth-century Italian art as the apex of the Christian image. But while Michelangelo frescoed…

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[adventboston]

Tues. 12 April 2016 @ 7p // The Rt. Rev. Alan Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts

Tues. 12 April 2016 @ 7p // The Rt. Rev. Alan Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts

Theology on Tap returns Tuesday, April 12, with an evening with the Right Reverend Alan Gates, the Bishop of Massachusetts. Bishop Gates, a native of Massachusetts, came to the Diocese from Cleveland, Ohio, where he was the rector of St Paul’s Church. He was consecrated in 2014, and this will be his first time at ToT — it’s a great opportunity to engage him in conversation and ask questions! Come…

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[adventboston]

The value of fasting consists not only in avoiding certain foods, but in giving up of sinful practices. The person who limits his fast only to  abstaining from meat is the one who especially lowers the value of it. Do you fast? Prove it by doing good works. If you see someone in need, take pity on them. If you see a friend being honored, don't get jealous of him. For a true fast, you cannot fast only with your mouth. You must fast with your eye, your ear, your feet, your hands, and all parts of your body.

St. John Chrysostom (who was made a bishop on this day in 398), “On Fasting”

[adventboston]

Tuesday Mar.8 @ 7p // Del Case // WARNING: This Music is NOT Meant for Church!

Tuesday Mar.8 @ 7p // Del Case // WARNING: This Music is NOT Meant for Church!

Boston Theology on Tap returns on Tuesday 8 March 2016 when, in our annual partnership w/ St. Chrysostom’s in Quincy, we present an evening with composer, conductor, educator, scholar, and performer Del Case! WARNING: This Music is NOT meant for Church! Boston-based composer Delvyn (Del) Case joins us to discuss his catalog of sacred concert music: compositions in the contemporary classical genre…

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[adventboston]

Wesley on “Fasting”

Fullness of bread [increases] not only carelessness and levity of spirit, but also foolish and unholy desires, yea, unclean and vile affections . . . . Even a genteel, regular sensuality is continually sensualizing the soul, and sinking it into a level with the beasts that perish. It cannot be expressed what an effect a variety and delicacy of food have on the mind as well as the body; making it just ripe for every pleasure of sense, as soon as opportunity shall invite. Therefore, on this ground also, every wise man will refrain his soul, and keep it low; will wean it more and more from all those indulgences of the inferior appetites, which naturally tend to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as well as debase it. Here is another perpetual reason for fasting; to remove the food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections.

John Wesley, “Sermon XXVII, On Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount” 

[adventboston]

Tues. 9 February 2016 @ 7p // Megan DeFranza, “Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God”

Tues. 9 February 2016 @ 7p // Megan DeFranza, “Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God”

Boston Theology on Tap returns on Tuesday 9 February 2016 with a visit from Megan DeFranza — theologian, liberal-arts educator, speaker, peace-maker, and author of the newly-published Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God. What does it mean to be “Intersex”? Intersex is a broad term used of persons whose bodies display some physical characteristics…

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