Pastoral Letter for Ascension Day

Ascension Day

The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Thursday 25 May 2017

Friday 5 May 2017

Dear Holy Cross Family,

Today is the 20^th day of our Easter Celebration.  The 40^th day is coming quickly.  On the 40^th day of Easter, the Church commemorates the ascension of our Lord to the right hand of God the Father, the place from which we profess in the Creed Jesus reigns as the victorious Lord of life who has conquered death by his death and shown forth his victory of life by his resurrection from the grave.  The Feast of the Ascension is one of the major feasts in the life of the Church.  We will join our brothers and sisters in keeping this feast of our Lord Jesus Christ at a Holy Day Mass that will gather together all Episcopalians from throughout the Wyoming Valley.  The Mass will be celebrated at 6 PM on Thursday 25 May at St. Stephen’s.  Following the Mass, we will share in a meal, thus providing an opportunity not only for our souls to be fed with the Blessed Sacrament, but also for our bodies to be fed as we share in fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters of Christ.

I know that in times past we have struggled to support and be present for moments such as this that have taken us away from our own house of prayer.  Today I wish to strongly invite you all to resist this temptation.  We can do this.  In the Lenten journey that we walked earlier this year, we turned out for joint times of prayer and fellowship not only at our own church, but also at St. Clement & St. Peter Wilkes-Barre, Grace Kingston, and Prince of Peace in Dallas.  On this occasion we will gather at St. Stephen’s.  I urge us all to make it both a commitment and a priority to come to the feast on the 40^th Day of Easter.  We are not coming together as strangers.  We are all brothers and sisters, and as such, we need to make a profound statement of Christian love one for another by our presence at the Altar and at the dinner table.  The impact of such witness is not for us alone.  Here is a wonderful opportunity to show to our community that we are united in the name of Jesus, committed to serving God and our neighbor in the love that we first received and have been commanded to share not only with friends but with strangers also.

I look forward to seeing you all at the feast of the Ascension!  Let’s fill St. Stephen’s, and show each other and this community in which we live our devotion to God and our affection for one another.

Blessings,

Timothy +

The Rev’d Timothy Alleman, Rector of the Church of the Holy Cross

Corpus Christi

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Sunday 23 April 2017 – The Second Sunday of Easter

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Dear Parish Family,

At today’s Vestry meeting, there was some brief conversation on the topic of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

You may recall that when I became Rector, there was a long-standing tradition that our parish kept this feast.  On a good many occasions, one of the bishops of the diocese was present with us and served as the chief celebrant for the liturgy.  Early in my time, this liturgy became a parish celebration only.  This lasted one year, primarily because of the sacrifice that I was making to take PTO from my full-time employment in order to be present for this liturgy.  Attendance on the last occasion was so poor that I decided it was not worth doing again.

This feast is traditionally kept on the Thursday following the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the Sunday after Pentecost.  Thus Corpus Christi Day, the official name for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is, this year, Thursday 15 June.  I am scheduled to work 4pm – midnight on that day.  If we are to attempt to revive the celebration of this feast, I will need to take PTO again.  This request would need to be submitted by 15 May, as I am expected to put in requests a month in advance.

I am writing you all to see if there is a desire to keep this feast and a willingness to commit to being present if the feast is kept.  Ideally it would be at 7 pm that evening.  Another possibility which would not require use of PTO on my part is if the liturgy were to be during the day.  Either way, especially in the event that this would involve a 7 pm Mass, I want to know that there is a desire and a commitment of a significant number of parishioners to be present for the feast.  I do not have a set number in my head as to what that significant commitment would look like.  Please share your thoughts and I will stew on them and share my thoughts in the weeks to come prior to the point in which I would need to submit a formal request to take that day off from work.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

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Fr. Tim+

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The Rev’d Timothy Alleman, M.Div.

Rector – The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross

Cell: 570-540-3535

http://fathermayhem.blogspot.com/

On the Start Time for the Sunday Mass

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Sunday 26 March 2017 – The Fourth Sunday in Lent

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Dear Parish Family,

At this month’s Vestry meeting, the topic about the time of the Sunday Mass was introduced by certain lay members of Vestry for consideration.  It would appear that at least amongst a portion of the Vestry and amongst a portion of the membership of the parish that there is a desire to push the time of the Sunday Mass back a half-hour in order that it would begin at 9:30 AM.  This appears to be of concern mostly for some of our younger families who are getting kids and youth ready in the morning to come to Church.

In the initial discussion on this matter at Vestry, the chief concern that was raised as a possible impediment to this was concern over the impact of this decision on our organist.  I have, with the knowledge of Vestry, discussed this with Darice.  My thought initially was that if we were to do so we might be in a position where we would need to raise the salary of our organist as this would likely mean that she would need to give up playing at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, one of our neighbor parishes in the North End of the City.  Darice also plays the organ for them.  Their Sunday service is currently at 10:00 AM.

In my discussion with Darice she reminded me that St. Luke’s never starts on time.  Their service tends to start closer to 10:30 as this tends to be when people actually arrive at that Church.  She spoke with the lay leaders of the parish today and reported back to me after their service that they are willing to change their time to 10:30, which is more accurate to when their service actually begins presently.

Therefore I, on behalf of Vestry, am now requesting feedback from you, the members of the parish, on the Sunday Mass.  I am aware, and wish to share with you, that some of the younger families with children ideally would like to see Mass held at 10:00 AM.  These members of the parish are aware that there are some who might be inclined to wish to remain at 9:00 AM.  Thus the suggestion of 9:30 AM is a compromise that meets in the middle between these two times.

The next meeting of the Vestry is scheduled for after the 9:00 AM Sunday Mass on Sunday 23 April, the Second Sunday of Easter.  At that meeting we will place discussion of the time of the Sunday Mass at the beginning of the Vestry meeting.  I encourage you to give your feedback to the members of the Vestry or to me in between now and that day.  One possibility also is that at the conclusion of the Mass on that Vestry Sunday we could begin the Vestry meeting in the Nave at the conclusion of the Mass and thus have a parish family discussion before those present for the Mass depart and the Vestry resumes the remainder of business for the month.  This is possible, for remember that the meetings of the Vestry are all public meetings at which any and all members of the parish are welcome to be present to witness the work of the Vestry.  By keeping this upstairs and prior to the departure of our family present already, there would be a greater ease to include as many voices as possible in this decision.

Please know that if we do go to a 9:30 start time for the Mass, I will be reviewing the general order of the Mass and making some adjustments in our normal pattern to ensure that we are done in a timely fashion that would enable Darice to be at St. Luke’s at 10:30 for the start of their service.  I have a few thoughts in mind already at this point that I think will allow for this.

I also want to be clear that I do not want this to become a divisive issue in the life of our parish.  At the very least I believe a matter such as this requires a super-majority (67%; 2 of 3 persons in agreement).  I think it wiser to say that I would like to see closer to a 75% agreement in the parish and ideally a complete consensus in the Vestry if we are to make this change.

Finally I am including in this letter the membership of your Vestry so that you know to whom you may direct your feedback on this matter.

Father Tim, Rector of the Parish & Chair of the Vestry

Bill Falzone, Senior Warden [Rector’s Warden] & Member of Vestry

Lucy Salvo, Junior Warden & Member of Vestry

Debbie Hocko, Clerk & Member of Vestry

Linda Abner, Treasurer & Member of Vestry

Sue Stella, Interim Bookkeeper & Member of Vestry

Juli Oja, Member of Vestry

Pauline Hylton, Member of Vestry

I look forward to your feedback.

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Fr. Tim+

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The Rev’d Timothy Alleman, M.Div.

Rector – The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross

Cell: 570-540-3535

http://fathermayhem.blogspot.com/