Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The Chapel St. Chronicle
Welcome to the Chapel Street Chronicle, your weekly St. John’s digest.
Click on the images to view related content.
Sermon Series
"Faith In Times of Waiting"
The Rev. Anne C. Williamson
How do we keep faith in times of waiting? How do we remain patient, trusting in God’s goodness? This gospel story is a good one to reflect on when waiting feels more hopeless than hopeful because this story reminds us that we do not have to wait alone! We have the gift of community – young and old, single or partnered; varied in race, wealth, gender, ability, sexuality — each person has an important place in our community and if we leave anyone out, if we exclude anyone, we are diminished. It is actually one of the gifts of being church together – where else do you have such breadth and the depth of ages and stages coming together regularly? Not just to worship, but to learn, to laugh, to wait patiently together.
Go and Do!
BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL OF NH PRESENTS:
2025 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire presents the 2025 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talk Series. This year's series explores how African philosophies of war, resilience, and collective action have shaped African American history and survival. As an Episcopal community committed to truth-telling, reconciliation, and justice, we share this opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about our nation’s history ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Sunday, February 9 at 2:00pm: Hopes and Impediments: War and Strategies for Belonging
This session will highlight how rather than passively accepting their imposed status, African and African American involvement in early wars like the Revolutionary War and the Civil War was both an offensive strategy and a spiritual defiance against a society that deemed them inferior.
Participation is both in-person and online, and more information and registration links for both can be found here,
MUSIC
FROM THE VAULT!
An unreleased recording from March, 2024 of the Parish Choir performing "Deep River," arranged by Alice Parker, under the direction of Jennifer Mulhern, Director of Music.
On the piece: This beautiful spiritual is well-known by many, and I found a very compelling article that discusses its context in further detail. Click here to read more on this famous spiritual.
On the composer: If you are not a choral singer or director, you may not be aware of Alice Parker and her outsized influence in the world of choral music. She passed away in December of 2023, and we have worked to honor her legacy by performing her music here at St. John's. Read more about this local legend here.
From the desk of The Rev. AARON JENKYN
RECAPPING OUTSIDE THE BOX: Highlighting the work of Karuna USA.
This past weekend Outside the Box hosted a discussion on Karuna USA and its compassionate work in India. Mary Ellen Burke, an ordained Buddhist leader and friend of St. John's led the talk in which she shared her experience fundraising for this organization and talked about the way her Buddhist faith informs her work.
Following that wonderful discussion, I’d like to recommend Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. This book beautifully bridges Buddhist and Christian traditions, emphasizing the shared values of mindfulness, compassion, and deep presence. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist invites us to see the sacred in everyday life and to recognize how Jesus and the Buddha both embody paths of liberation and love.
If Karuna USA’s mission of alleviating suffering through compassionate action resonated with you, then this book will deepen that reflection. It challenges us to move beyond dogma and into a lived spirituality that nurtures connection, justice, and peace. It is a thoughtful and transformative read, and one that I return to over and over again.
https://www.parallax.org/product/living-buddha-living-christ/
FROM THE DESK OF The REv. ANNE WILLIAMSON
Last week, Aaron Jenkyn shared a reflection on Bishop Budde's sermon at the National Prayer Breakfast on Inauguration Day. I offer this brief reflection of my own:
I am thinking about Bishop Budde’s sermon and this verse from Micah 6:8 keeps coming to me: ‘And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ (New International Version)
Additionally, I wanted to share the poem from my sermon, entitled I will light candles this Christmas," by Howard Thurman, from his book The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations:
I will light candles this Christmas;
Candles of joy despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all the year long.
What are you reading? Listening to? Thinking about? Do you have any great recommendations that you're eager to share? Let Aaron know!