the Vicar
Recently, one of our members suggested that I write in a more philosophical vein for this column. Not every time, but sometime. I have never thought of myself as being philosophical. I had great trouble in seminary with the Philosophy of Religion course I was required to take. I remember telling my professor that the course was difficult for me. His response was, "You are a nurse, aren't you?" I replied that nursing was my first career and I held a nursing license in the Commonwealth of Kentucky where the seminary was located. He said that I practiced the principles of philosophy all of the time in nursing. Hmmm, I had never thought about that and it took me some time to relate.
Today, before I began to write this message, I took the time to look up the word philosophy in the New Century Dictionary. It refers, in general, to the entire concept of wisdom, logic, the ability to reason in action, thought, and speech, to be rational, sensible and calm in difficult and stressful circumstances. In other words, to be able to "think on one's feet". I realized I do that all the time. I have found that one of my strongest gifts is the ability to "problem solve". I actually have a passion for being able to confront a problem and help to find the solution that provides the greatest benefit for all concerned.
Preaching provides me with a venue for offering solutions to the human problems we face everyday. During the weeks prior to preaching on a given text on a given Sunday, I read the lessons for that Sunday. I pay close attention to what is going on in the world around me by reading the newspaper, listening to the radio news and watching the TV news. But, most of all I watch and listen to people. I can learn so much just by being quiet, watching and listening to those about me. In our world today we do not pay enough attention to each other. We are far too busy with ourselves, our own needs and desires. Even in families, who should at least be concerned for one another, individual members often seem to be self-absorbed.
For example, a mother ignores her crying child and continues to talk on the phone without attempting to find out what is wrong. I remember a year or two ago there was an advertisement on TV in which the mother apparently ran her own business. She was on the phone while her daughter was making quiet responses to what she was hearing her mother say. The daughter was talking about going to the beach, her mother had promised they would spend the day there but now there was business to take care of and the little girl was trying to resign herself to the fact that, once again, they would not go. Suddenly, the mother realized what her daughter was saying behind her back. She stopped in mid-sentence in her phone conversation. Then she said, "I'm sorry, that will have to wait. I have other plans for today." She hung up and the next scene was the child excitedly getting on her bathing suit and collecting her beach toys.
If we pay attention, we can see all around us those who are crying for attention, for help. God has called us as Christians to be aware of the needs of others. Especially, those who do not know God and his love. The philosophy of many people today is to concentrate on "number one" and for them that is not God, but self. We witness wars, devastation, human inhumanity to others, cruelty to animals, even the destruction of land and vegetation around us.
The premise of the Episcopal Church is service, loving and helping others because that is what Jesus taught. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus reminds us that there are two great commandments. We must first love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. Second, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. He says that every other commandment is based on those two. In the Old Testament book written by the Prophet Micah we read what is good, what God requires of those who say they love him. What is that? To do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.
Take some time and scan the Concordance of a good study Bible. Take note of how many times the word love appears in the Holy Scriptures. Go about your life everyday remembering that love is the key to our relationship with God and with each other.
In the love of Christ,
I am your Friend and Pastor.
Barbara+
Bishop Chane had several years experience working with a deaf ministry in the diocese of San Diego which is located in St. Paul's Cathedral where he was the dean. He is looking forward to working with deaf people in the diocese of Washington and especially with the members of St. Barnabas.
There may be some value in trying to work together with the Lutherans in deaf ministry. There are a number of avenues to be explored and we will be discussing those in Mission Committee and with those who attend St. Barnabas. We are investigating the seating for deaf persons in the National Cathedral. We should soon be back in our original seating in the first two rows on the right facing the high altar. We will also be discussing the interpreter situation for diocesan and Cathedral events, attempting to make it a more equitable arrangement for both the interpreter and deaf communities.
In subsequent meetings we will be discussing how St. Barnabas can become a "church". The bishop is anxious to meet with the members of St. Barnabas and we hope to arrange an informal meeting where we can eat together and discuss our vision for deaf ministry in this diocese.
Marshall Wick
I appreciate all the help I have been given during this time because the production and distribution has been a team effort. This is my last issue. With a new permanent Vicar, it is time for change once again. I will continue to do the website until the end of this year. I hope that you will continue to keep this a team effort and support the Vicar as she assumes responsibility for the newsletter.
Changes
We will also continue to have a healing service on the third Sunday of each month. The dates for that for the next two months are July 21 and August 18.
Ms. Leira Wurdemann remains at The Meadows, Brooke Grove Retirement Village located at 18100 Slade School Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860.. She is active and doing well. She enjoys visits and would welcome any of you who know her to stop by. It is best to call ahead since this facility offers many activities for the residents and they are often on short day trips. Leira is the only deaf resident there. Fortunately, there is one staff member who is fluent in ASL. This helps her to feel less isolated. Please keep her in your prayers, send a card or note and visit when you can.
Ms. Patty Ann Ellis was recently discharged from the hospital after suffering a serious kidney infection and upper respiratory distress. She is resting at home and her son, Richard Ellis, and daughter, Tamara Jo Beatty, have requested prayers for her recovery.
Steve Holst and Beth Hill flew to England to spend a week with Beth's family in May. Her brother rented a place for all of them to get together in Silloth, which is a very small town and is located at the northwest of Carlisle. It is peace and beautiful. The house the family of 16 stayed at is a farmhouse that has 7 bedroom and 4 bathrooms. Steve and Beth also visited cities such as Carlisle, Windmere, Keswick and a few others. Beth had to drive most of the time because Steve forgot to bring his drivers license and although she was familiar with English roads, she dreaded driving on the opposite side of the roads there.
Jacob Lock Gelinas, born September 22, 2001, was baptized at his Great- Grandmother's home, Ms. Laura Epperson Lock, by the Rev. Mitzi Noble on June 16, 2002 at 10:30 AM. Although he is hearing we have registered his baptism at St. Barnabas' Mission of the Deaf because his family has no church. The Rev. Noble, former vicar of St. Barnabas, remains a member of our mission and asked that Jacob be registered here. Our hope is that this will be a positive witness of God's love for his family and for him.
Contributions to the Little Red Church Fund will be presented by our delegate at the ECD Convention. Money will be collected during services during the month of July. Please bring or mail your contributions before the end of the month so they will be included in the presentation.
with
St. John's,
Norwood Parish
We will be joining St. John's for a Strawberry Festival on July 21, 2002 after our individual worship services.
We will once again have two members from St. Barnabas and two from St. John's meet on a regular basis to coordinate activities of both congregations, as we did several years ago.
We believe that we share our space here at St. John's, a hearing church, in the same way that a family shares a home. We need to know each other as family and work together to help each other as we share God's love with a hurting and needy world.
to the Ordinary
Six members of St. Barnabas, including the vicar, attended the meeting on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at St. Patrick's Church on Whitehaven Pkwy. in the District. We enjoyed light refreshments before the meeting. The meeting was designed to help members of the churches in the diocese learn more about our new bishop and his vision for our diocese and to inform him of our dreams and goals for ourselves.
For our Vicar, the most significant aspect of his vision is his desire for the bishop, the churches, the clergy and the laity to work together as a team to build the diocese and to spread the love of God. The Episcopal Church is hierarchical in government. Bishop Chane proposes to change that model to one of teamwork and equality.
Marshall Wick spoke, expressing his appreciation to the Diocese for providing increased accessibility to deaf persons through both providing interpreters at Cathedral events and for the increased dissemination of diocese news and events through the web--the web site, the weekly news through emails and the webcast of the Consecration Service which included the program in PDF format for downloading. .
This meeting provided good visibility to St. Barnabas' Mission.
Bishop Dixon has been a friend of St. Barnabas Mission of the Deaf and of the Washington Deaf Community. She has been a strong advocate for accessibility for deaf persons to all Episcopal entities and events in the Diocese of Washington.
At the Evensong Bishop Dixon was presented a stole made up of swatches of material from churches in the diocese. These pieces had been cut from vestments, altar hangings and other items holding memorial significance for each particular church.
St. Barnabas sent a swatch of material from a chalice veil which had been used many years ago when the Rev. Otto Berg was vicar at St. Barnabas. Each church sent with their swatch the story of the item from which it was taken. We, at St. Barnabas, sent our story. These stories were made into a booklet which was presented to Bishop Dixon.
A beautiful reception in the Bishop's Garden followed the service. We had five members of St. Barnabas attending, including the vicar.
Laurent Clerc was born and raised in Catholic France.
At the time of his birth (1785) and youth, the Catholic Church was not like it is there today. It had political power and had become very wealthy.
In 1789, the French Revolution began, and for the next five years, the common people battled the aristocrats, and since the Catholic church had been supportive of the aristocrats, especially of King Louis XVI, the revolutionaries considered the Catholic clergy their enemies. Young Laurent Clerc, attending a school for the deaf in Paris, was in the middle of all this and he sympathized with the common people. In addition, while he was grateful to Abbe Sicard, the priest who ran this school, for educating him, he perceived what he believed was duplicity and buffoonery on Sicard's part showed that he was not really a holy person so Clerc never became devoted to the church.
During Clerc's early years in Hartford, Conn. at the American School for the Deaf where he moved to become a teacher, there was no Catholic church and few hearing Catholics, let alone deaf ones but as a true Christian, he felt the need for a religion. His co-worker, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a Congregationalist preacher and Congregationalism was the state religion so why did Clerc not become a Congregationalist? When, in 1818, the announced his impending marriage to Eliza Boardman, a deaf student at his school, Thomas voiced his vehement disapproval; not being aware of modern genetic knowledge, he thought that Laurent and Eliza' children would be deaf and did not support this. Clerc was deeply offended by this and instead of having the wedding at the local Congregational Church, where his and Eliza's friends would be, the couple traveled to Cohoe's Falls in upper New York State and were married at her uncle's home by an Episcopalian clergyman, in front of Eliza's guardian and family.
It is not clear when Clerc formally became an Episcopalian but he was no doubt also influenced by Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., an Episcopal school. It was near his home and less expensive than Yale. His son, Francis, attended Trinity as did Thomas Gallaudet, (the younger) and Edward Minor Gallaudet. Francis Clerc was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1848 and served the deaf in Pennsylvania for over sixty years. He worked closely with the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet (as their fathers had done) on church matters. The Rev. Gallaudet founded St. Ann's church in New York City.
So Laurent Clerc probably never planned to convert but events carried him into the Episcopal Church.
2002
Schedule and Readings
Services are in Sign Language with voice interpretation for hearing persons.
Zechariah 9:9-12; Romans 7:21-8:6; Matthew 11:25-30; Psalm 145:8-14
July 14 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10
Isaiah 55:1-5,10-13; Romans 8:9-17; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23; Psalm 65:9-14
July 21 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11
Wisdom 12:13,16-19; Romans 8:18-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43; Psalm 86:11-17
July 28 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12
1 Kings 3:5-12; Romans 8:26-34; Matthew 13:31-33,44-49a; Psalm 119:129-136
Aug 4 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13
Nehemiah 9:16-20; Romans 8:35-39; Matthew 14:13-21; Ps. 78:14-20, 23-25
Aug 11 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14
Jonah 2:1-9; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33; Psalm 29
Aug 18 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28 Psalm 67
Aug 25 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16
Isaiah 51:1-6: Romans 11:33-36: Matthew 16:13-20; Psalm 138
Aug 27 Feast of Thomas Gallaudet with Henry Winter Syle
Isaiah 35:3-6a; Mark 7:32-37; Psalm 19:1-6
Sept 1 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17
Jeremiah 15:15-21; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:21-27; Psalm 26:1-8