Grace Cathedral
“And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
— Jesus of Nazareth
“My! People come and go so quickly here!”
— Dorothy of Kansas
Yesterday the cathedral’s Thursday Evensong swelled in prayer, song, emotion and solidarity as we bade farewell to Head Verger Charles Shipley on the occasion of his retirement and his being named an Honorary Canon of Grace Cathedral. Our whole community is feeling renewed in commitment even as we are already missing such a wonderful model of that commitment in the person of Charles.
This Sunday, May 1 at 11 am Choral Eucharist, we welcome the Rev. Dr. Greg Kimura as our Vice Dean. After two interims have accompanied the cathedral congregation since the departure of the Rev. Dr. Ellen Clark-King just before the pandemic, we are blessed now that Greg and his family have chosen to make Grace Cathedral and the Bay Area their new and lasting home. I am personally so grateful and excited that God has called the cathedral community and such an experienced and inspiring witness to the values of the Gospel together to pray and work in service to the world. And on Sunday we also welcome an absolutely unique new set of festal vestments specially commissioned for Grace Cathedral!
After a few years of longing, we are anticipating a Congregation Retreat on the last weekend of May. In the spirit of our “Year of Connection,” it will be a restorative experience for all: single adults along with every shape and kind of family and household. Registration is now and not for long! And while you’re on that page, review the invitation to come to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in September!
Looking outward, our congregation and its leadership welcome the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, along with our own Bishop, the Right Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus, on May 11 for a spirited dialogue about the growing movement in our nation to “End Slavery for Good.” This is your chance to be up to date and part of this expanding awareness and call to action.
“So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high!”
— Luke 24:49
With affection and gratitude,
Mark
The Rev. Canon Mark E. Stanger,
Interim Executive Pastor
Grace Cathedral is pleased to bless and inaugurate the use of a newly-commissioned set of vestments for festal worship services. The atelier of designer Julia Berger, specializing in high-quality custom textile products for domestic use, exceeded the expectations of the donors and design consultants for this addition to the cathedral’s active collection of liturgical vesture. This group of vestments exhibits extraordinary creativity in design and excellence in craftsmanship, with delicate hemstitching and hand embroidery on white linen showing a hint of sky blue featuring representations of Northern California flora and fauna. The set includes a group of copes (cape-like vestments worn by assisting ministers in processions and special services), a chasuble (designated for the priest or bishop presiding at a service of Holy Eucharist), appropriate accompanying stoles, and a magnificent full-sized fabric altar frontal for Grace Cathedral’s monumental Holy Table (high altar) of wood and stone.
The new ensemble will be blessed and employed in common prayer for the first time on Sunday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. Choral Eucharist. One of the Sundays in the seven-week celebration of Eastertide coincides with the arrival of the cathedral’s new Vice Dean, the Rev. Dr. Greg Kimura.
The use of distinctive vesture for worship has a long tradition in both Eastern and Western Christianity, with many variations in shape or color yet within a generally accepted scheme according to the occasion, level of solemnity, feast or season. The primary vestment for all ministers is a plain white tunic called an alb or variations on it (e.g., surplice). It recalls the white robe of baptism and the imagined white robes of the martyrs, saints and prophets in glory. The vestments worn over the alb might be white, gold, green, red, blue, violet or other colors depending on the season or commemoration.
These newest vestments are appropriate for the Sunday of Easter and the fifty days which follow, for feasts of Christ or the mysteries associated with the life of Jesus (Christmas, Epiphany, Baptism of Jesus, Presentation, Transfiguration, etc.) and other important celebrations.
Grace Cathedral has a generally modest yet carefully curated store of vestments, from the simplest obtained from commercial suppliers to unique works by seasoned artist vestment makers. Some lively yet noble twentieth-century classic designs include those by the Stadelmaier Nijmegen, Slabbinck and Gaspard studios. The cathedral is blessed to have several works by Anna Crossley, and Katreen Bettencourt, as well as sturdy and beautiful examples from notables such as Marsh and Fisher.
We look forward to praying and celebrating the mysteries of our faith with the inspiration and beauty of this new festal set to accompany us.
Some evangelical preachers have condemned Pixar’s movie Turning Red, and they even call it demonic. What does Dean Malcolm Clemens Young think? Watch this week’s #MoreGoodNews on YouTube to find out!
Dear members of the Grace Cathedral congregation,
I can’t seem to find the text but I’m remembering a favorite bit from the American poet X.J. Kennedy about the uncertainty and disorientation that may arrive with spring, or any new life season of growth:
Spring has no household
no abiding heat
pokes forth new branches
from sidewalks of concrete
the snow at least
keeps track of peoples’ feet
I confess to sometimes feeling off track even when things, when the weather, when relationships are getting better, start blossoming. Suddenly I’m challenged to keep up, stay with it, find the new rhythm, learn the new steps, figure it out in a new way. It means time to drop the cooped-up cynicism and let some things out into the sunlight. A bit nervous about how and in which way they might start growing or glowing. A control issue? I’m not sure.
Our springtime worship life lines up with Jewish Passover and its liberating, dizzying, disorienting tale of freedom. Our Holy Week, beginning this year on April 10, with Palm Sunday walks us through some life-upsetting and life-resetting rituals. The great Three Days (Triduum) of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday night April 16, let us lose track in a good way while we surrender to the great drama of God’s action in Jesus passing through death to new life. I wouldn’t miss this chance to be together anew after a few years of going it nearly alone.
Meanwhile, we anticipate the arrival of the cathedral’s new Vice Dean, the Rev. Dr. Greg Kimura and the chance to re-dedicate, re-vision, re-commit to new and maybe unimagined pathways and growth. Easter means a fresh start, leaving the winter hothouse or the dark cold tomb for new chances and choices for the flourishing of Grace Cathedral and our testimony to freedom, growth, connection, courage and joy.
Still working on the Lenten journey but see you soon… just ahead on the Palm Sunday road!
Mark
The Rev. Canon Mark E. Stanger
Interim Executive Pastor
Dear people of Grace Cathedral,
I was moved by the Rev. Canon Jude Harmon’s reflection at the 8:30 am Holy Eucharist last Sunday as the words of Jesus which Deacon Miguel had proclaimed from Matthew’s gospel were still echoing in the Chapel of Grace: Love your enemies. Jude’s insights into the present Russia-Ukraine sadness referenced decisions world leaders have made over the decades, wondering how the words of Jesus put into action might have ameliorated this and other situations. Positively, he gave the example of a leader giving the “enemy” real choices –– an “out,” if you will –– to lessen tensions rather than inflame them.
Each choice we make contributes either to the world’s pain and hurt or to the world’s progress and healing. Jude’s sermon made me remember this moment in the 1969 film “The Lion in Winter”.
We are each invited to join with the universal community of Christians in a springtime of renewal, reflection, regeneration, restoration and reconciliation. Called the “fasting time” (Fastenzeit) in German, or in several languages, the “forty time” (cuadragésima/cuaresma in Spanish; quaresima in Italian; carême in French), English-speakers know it simply as Lent: a lengthening (of daylight hours), a slower and more deliberate rendering (like lento in musical notation). While naming it lent might be dodging our task (fasting) or its duration (forty days), it could be the clue and cue to our embrace of this time: longer moments of reflection, slower reactivity to annoyances, more deliberate encounters with God, with our deepest self, and in our relationships. Joy has been a theme of Malcolm, our Dean: “Serve with joy” and “reimagining church with courage, joy and wonder.” The Episcopal church’s 1979 Book of Common Prayer gives a primary motive for our praising and thanking God in Lent: “You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Paschal (Easter) feast.” Why? The anticipated outcome is pretty wonderful: that we “may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.”
How about some Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) pancakes after the 11 am Choral Eucharist this Sunday to give thanks for the love and abundance in our lives? Lent begins on Ash Wednesday which falls this year on March 2. Together, let’s go long on love during these longer days of spring’s approach.
For the love of God can’t we love one another just a little?
That’s how peace begins.
We have so much to love each other for.
We have such possibilities, my children.
We could change the world.
––Elinore of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter
Mark
The Rev. Canon Mark E. Stanger
Interim Executive Pastor
P.S. Our hearts go out to everyone touched by the war in Ukraine. Have courage, because God is near. Watch on #MoreGoodNews on YouTube today!
John Poynter
(June 24, 1930 — December 28, 2021)
Dear members of the Grace Cathedral congregation,
With both personal and shared sadness, I am writing to tell you of the death of our faithful congregation member and companion in faith, John Poynter, which occurred on Tuesday, December 28, at the age of 91. His husband, Gary Jennings, was with John when he suddenly collapsed at home a week after his successful heart surgery during what appeared to have been a strong and promising recuperation.
John participated in the Cathedral’s life of prayer and service in so many ways, most recently and notably in his ministry as a carillonneur. Many of us valued his solid and unsentimental faith joined to a sharp intellect and gregarious personality.
Gary expressed his love and gratitude for the spiritual and personal connections they have shared with the Grace Cathedral community. Gary has been assured of our prayers and ongoing accompaniment.
A Requiem at Grace Cathedral will be announced as soon as arrangements can be made.
“Jesus said, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.’” –– John 14:1-3
The Rev. Canon Mark E. Stanger
Interim Executive Pastor
The Rev. Deacon Dorothy “Doe” Gene Yates
(September 25, 1938 – September 1, 2021)
The presence among us at Grace Cathedral
Join us on Friday, October 8 at 11 am to celebrate the Requiem of the Rev. Doe Yates, beloved deacon of the Diocese of California and Grace Cathedral. The Right Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop, will preside and the Very Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, ThD, Dean, will preach. Attend in person by registering below, or join via Zoom.
The Rev. Deacon Dorothy “Doe” Gene Yates died peacefully in the Lord early in the morning of September 1, 2021, at Coming Home Hospice, San Francisco. The Ministration at the Time of Death (“Last Rites”) had been celebrated at her bedside by Dean Malcolm Clemens Young the previous afternoon. Deacon Doe had been cared for by Bishop Marc Handley Andrus, faithful cathedral staff and dedicated congregation members in the last weeks and months of her life.
A native of Washington state where she was baptized as a young adult, Doe moved to San Francisco at age 21, was confirmed at Grace Cathedral by Bishop James Pike, and completed university studies here. In 1986 she completed her theological studies at the School for Deacons of the Diocese of California and was ordained to the diaconate. Deacon Doe’s service to many church communities and ministries is acknowledged with gratitude, especially her presence among us at Grace Cathedral, where in worship she proclaimed the gospel with deep conviction and lived out its commands serving in our many outreach programs.
“I saw in heaven a great multitude standing before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!’ These are they who have come out of the great tribulation. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve God day and night within God’s temple; and the one who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.” (Revelation, chapter 7)
If you would like to attend the funeral, please register below:
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
A homeless God. That story didn’t start with Mary and Joseph looking for a motel room in Bethlehem but from the ancient Jewish tradition. Today David is lounging in the palace when he has an “ah-hah” moment: “I’ve got decent digs but what about the Ark of the Covenant?” Thus starts the David-Solomon project to build a temple in Jerusalem. But it’s a gift that God neither needs nor wants! God intends to move through the world, take up residence in human hearts and lives.
Jesus comes as flesh and blood, a homeless family ending up in a cave on the edge of town (in Luke’s story), a family of refugees fleeing to and from Egypt (in Matthew’s story). Our cathedral church is not technically a house for God but a House for God’s people. This Christmas mystery and good news is that God now dwells permanently in and among humanity— especially the poor, the homeless, the refugee.
Mary received a choice: can you accept a God in flesh and blood? Will you put your own body and life on the line to make it happen? We have the same choice to accept this wonderful gift…today, tonight, tomorrow and life-long. Merry Christmas!
This reflection was written by the Rev. Canon Mark Stanger, Canon for Formation.
Jeremiah 22:13-16; Galatians 6:14-18; Matthew 11:25-30
Today we replace our regular Sunday observance with the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi for whom the city of San Francisco is named. Francis is one of those few saints with almost universal recognition and appeal. During the 13th century, Francis and his associate, Clare, inspired a spirit of simplicity, active care for the poorest of the poor and an appreciation for the divine imprint in all creatures. Franciscan ideals continue to enliven and challenge us today.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians cries out against both the new age and old time religions of his time: only “a new creation” matters. A new creation means sacrificing ego so that we might open up to the divine presence and impulse within and around us. This death of the ego –– the cross –– is the sign of throwing ourselves body and soul into the world’s repair and renewal. Beyond sentimentality, the life-changing sacrifices needed for peacemaking are revealed in the mystery of the cross. Tradition holds that Francis manifested marks of crucifixion –– the stigmata –– as a visible sign of his identification with the outpouring love of Christ.
Jesus calls the yoke of service both easy and light, if taken up in the spirit of love. His humility, which Francis embraced, remains a challenge for individual Christians and for the whole body of the Church.
Today our pets are blessed as a token of the love St. Francis showed for all created beings, in whom one day the final glory of Christ’s triumph will be revealed completely. Our share in the Eucharistic meal gives us a foretaste of the destiny we will share with the glorified Jesus –– all of creation renewed in perfect love, beginning now with this assembly gathered in praise and thanksgiving.
Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36; 2 Peter 1:13-21
The Transfiguration as a feast day was first observed by the desert monks of the ancient Christian East and later embraced by the West. Here in the Western Christian tradition, with our reminders of human weakness and the need for redemption, we welcome this Eastern Christian emphasis on affirming the reality of transfiguration and divinization of all that is human, which cannot stay hidden even in the face of evil and death. Our life need not be spent only tiptoeing through a minefield, careful to avoid evil. What if it were a search for hidden radiance, glimpses of the divine, hidden gifts of grace, hidden chances for transformation and renewal?
We also celebrate the Transfiguration on the last Sunday after the Epiphany, with the real possibility of glory established before the Lenten journey to Easter. It occurs about forty days before Good Friday, when the glory of the Crucified One shines even from the cross. Similarly, today’s celebration comes forty days before September 14, the Feast of the Holy Cross. This balance is appropriately observed at the spring and autumnal equinoxes, with the balancing of daytime and nighttime.
Worldly powers cannot tolerate this possibility of transfigurative light shining through our humanity. The Roman occupying power and their collaborators killed Jesus. On this day in 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bombs ever used on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Still today, from the halls of power, tens of thousands around the globe are bombed and shelled, or left to die from starvation and curable diseases.
The Transfiguration mystery upholds our call to radiant transformation into God-like-ness, even in the face of a culture of death.
This reflection was written by The Rev. Mark E. Stanger, Canon for Formation.
Iftar means ‘fast-breaking,’ and it is an integral part of the Muslim community life during the sacred month of Ramadan. Muslims break their daily Ramadan fast with a community dinner called an “iftar.”
Please join St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, MCC East Bay and speakers including myself for a potluck iftar dinner during this holy month. We gather to create a peaceful society by building new relationships around the traditions of fasting and hospitality in the three major Abrahamic faiths.
Dishes may or may not be strictly Halal or Kosher, but please no pork or shellfish. The potluck supper begins at sunset at 8:30 p.m. Keynote speakers include Dr. Ali Ataie, Muslim Interfaith Council & Zaytuna College, Berkeley; Rabbi Larry Milder, Congregation Beth Emek, Pleasanton and myself, representing Grace Cathedral.
The dinner will take place at St. Bartholomew’s, 678 Enos Way in Livermore.
The evening will also feature local artist John Erlich who will be playing traditional Middle Eastern music on the ‘ud (Arabic/Turkish lute).
I hope to see you there!
For more information, email me at marks@gracecathedral.org.
Grace Cathedral marked the 18th World AIDS Day on Thursday, December 1st, with a midday service of the Holy Eucharist, celebrated in the cathedral’s unique AIDS Memorial Interfaith Chapel.
The focus of the Chapel is a bronze and white-gold triptych altarpiece entitled The Life of Christ, the last work of Keith Haring completed just weeks before his own death from AIDS. Worshippers and four of the cathedral’s clergy gathered near a hanging section of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and the cathedral’s Book of Remembrance which honors over 500 persons of the cathedral community who have died of AIDS-related causes. Keith Haring’s stunning altarpiece triptych artwork, a sermon by the Rev. Stephen Beal and the special prayers for the service emphasized our Christian hope, and highlighted:
- the theme of commitment from our nation’s official theme for 2016, “Leadership. Commitment. Impact.”
- the issue of continuing stigma in this country and internationally, formulated in the official World AIDS Day theme of “HIV Stigma: Not Retro, Just Wrong.“
- the U.N.’s focus on prevention as well as rights and access to treatments
We are proud to have been at the forefront of embracing this community in the 1980s and honored to continue to be an ally to all affected by AIDS.