Rector's Reflection: January 6, 2024

Beloved Members of St. Martin’s,

Today, January 6, is the official Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany, meaning “manifestation” or “appearance” in Greek, has also come to mean over the ages a sudden understanding or revelation—to use another Greek word, a “eureka!” moment.

This is the day when we remember the Magi coming to offer the Christ child gifts, and in so doing, becoming the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. It is a day in which we speak of “wise men” and stars, and paying homage to a mystery when encountered, as those Magi did when they knelt at the feet of a baby at the center of his young family.

So close to this New Year, I pray for all of us to dedicate ourselves anew to pay homage to the gospel that was then promoted by that child when he had grown to manhood: a gospel of grace, love, community, and shalom that seeks the welfare of others, healing, and reconciliation. Those would be the greatest gifts we could offer to Christ today. May this be our resolution today, and always, as we seek and serve Christ in every person we encounter.

In Christ,

Mother Leslie+

Camp Phoenix is back in 2024!

Camp Phoenix will restart in 2024 with a new location and week: August 4 - 9 @ Camp Wyman in Eureka.

All children from 8 to18 years old are invited to register as a camper, and anyone over 18 years old is encouraged to apply to be a counselor. We will have special treats and responsibilities for those campers who are in high school (14 - 18 years old). This camp will feel very episcopal, but is open to all children.

Registration for campers and counselors will open December 15 at https://www.diocesemo.org/camp-phoenix/

Intake interviews for counselors will begin virtually in January.

Based on the parishes’ feedback, we gauge that spots will fill very quickly. Please register campers and counselors in December to ensure they have a space at Camp next year.

This year’s Camp theme is all about NEW NAMES! Throughout scripture, God often re-names a person for a significant purpose. During the camp week, our campers will decide together on a new name of Camp Phoenix.

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A special note from Erin:

Thank you, Diocese of Missouri, for your patience with us as we pray, plan, and build on what Camp Phoenix means to all of us. A group of ten make up the Camp Phoenix Leadership Team and we meet monthly to discuss and prepare. In October we had a very encouraging retreat day where we got to know each other better and planned for the following year. Together we understand Camp Phoenix’s rich history for forming young people in the love of Christ. We look forward to carrying on this vision!

Read more of this story by clicking here.

Music Notes from Denise, January 6, 2024

This Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Epiphany when we read about the three “wise” visitors who come to visit the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. Our Processional hymn is We three kings of orient are, written by John Henry Hopkins in 1857. Our Bible doesn’t describe the visitors as kings, and they aren’t limited to three, but traditionally we represent the three gifts with three visitors. Our choir basses usually take on this portrayal by processing in crowns and singing the three inner stanzas. The opening stanza is about the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem. The middle three stanzas explain a meaning for each of the three gifts. Gold signified royalty, and frankincense, deity. Myrrh foretold that the Christ child was born to die. The last stanza summarizes the song, calling Jesus the “King and God and Sacrifice,” and ending in a peal of alleluias. (hymnary.org)

Our Sequence hymn will be The First Nowell. This carol is an anonymous folk song, probably from the 17th century. While the tune The First Nowell is also a folk song, it did not appear in print until William Sandys's Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern in 1833, with this text. According to Alan Luff, the melody may come from Cornwall, England, because Sandys transcribed it there, and because two other songs from that region are quite similar (The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3A, p. 223). This carol tells a story loosely based on the Gospel accounts in Luke 2 and Matthew 2 of the events surrounding Jesus' birth, with the shepherds, the star, and the wise men. The first two lines of the final stanza calls us to action – as the wise men reverently worshiped the Christ, so we should “with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord.”  (hymnary.org)

The St. Martin’s Choir offertory will be a new hymn written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette: The Old Ones Among Us, sung to the familiar Cradle Song tune that we sing for Away in a manger. Carolyn gave me permission to use this new hymn after she wrote it on 12/25/23, this past Christmas evening. It tells the story of Simeon and the prophet Anna, who had waited so long for the Messiah to come.

The old ones among us have wisdom to share; we learn from their joy and the pain that they bear. Their years of experience point to the way that we can be faithful and hopeful each day.  Old Simeon knew he had waited so long. So when he held Jesus, his heart filled with song: “My eyes have now seen the salvation God brings; this baby will bring us incredible things!”  A prophet named Anna— a widow— was there; her life was a pattern of worship and prayer. So when she saw Jesus, she spoke of the boy; her heart overflowed with God’s good news of joy.  O God in this pairing— in two stories told—may we find new hope through these ones who were old. May we see, through them, what’s in front of our eyes—the blessing of Jesus who changes our lives. Text: Copyright © 2023 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Email: carolynshymns@gmail.com   New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com

Our Communion hymn is also one written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, All of You Who Walked in Darkness. From her book, God’s World is Changing (Copyright Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2022) she wrote: “As we live through this current time of great change—a changing climate, changing conversations, a changing church, and our changing calling—we welcome God’s gift of light. It’s not just that we share the light of Jesus’ love with others. We welcome the light of Christ that others bring to us through their faithfulness and love.”

Our Final hymn will reflect the additional observance on the First Sunday after the Epiphany, the baptism of Jesus. The hymn Christ, when for us you were baptized, was written by Francis Bland Tucker (1895-1984). The son of a bishop and brother of a Presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, he was educated at Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained priest in 1920 after having served as a private in Evacuation Hospital No. 15 of the American Expeditionary Forces in France during W.W.I. From 1925 to 1945, he was rector of St. John's Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Then until retirement in 1967 he was rector of John Wesley's parish in Georgia, old Christ Church, Savannah. In "Reflections of a Hymn Writer" (The Hymn 30.2, April 1979, pp.115–116), he speaks of never having a thought of writing a hymn until he was named a member of the Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal in 1937 which prepared the Hymnal 1940. Later he served on the Theological Committee which reviewed material for the The Hymnal 1982. There his poetic talent was most adept at providing new phrases in older hymns where the original lines were too obsolete or sexist for late-twentieth-century users of the hymnal. (Leonard Ellinwood, DNAH Archives)