Wednesday, March 4, 2015

First Contact – Part 25 – Anglican / Episcopalian



I combine Episcopalian and Anglican together in this one post for one simple reason. The Episcopal community is a part of the greater Anglican community. Here is a quote from The Episcopal Church Web site.

“The Episcopal church, established shortly after the American Revolution, has its roots in the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, known as the Church of England, had a strong following in colonial America. But when the colonies won their independence, the majority of America’s Anglican clergy refused to swear allegiance to the British monarch as was required. As a result, the Episcopal Church was formed.”

When I started searching my brain for contacts I had had with the Episcopal Church I was amazed at how many there were.

My journey begins about 1981. I was still a fledgling member of the Church of Christ. A friend from church knew I was an amateur photographer so asked me to take photos at her wedding which was to take place at Trinity Episcopal Church. This church was built in 1894 and is a nice place for a wedding. I arrived ahead of time and talked to one of the church staff about any rules I needed to observe while photographing the wedding. I was told that I should not use a flash. This concerned me in that it was rather dark in the sanctuary. In those old film days, you couldn’t just dial up the ISO setting, you were stuck with the ISO of the film you had available. But I abided by the rules. Unknown to me, my friend actually had another photographer taking pictures also. Based on the equipment he had, I took him to be a professional. Apparently I was a backup photographer in case something went wrong. However, the real photographer was using a flash. I thought, “Does he not know the rules?” No one tried to stop him. Anyway, the bride just wanted me to give her the undeveloped film, which I did. But I warned her that my photos would probably not be any good because I had been banned from using a flash. I vaguely remember the bride telling me later that my photos had not come out well, but that was to be expected given the flash restriction put on me.

When my son Andrew was 4 years old, Kathy and I decided he would benefit from being in a half-day K-4 program. At that time St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church (St. Bart’s) had half-day K-4 and K-5 programs that were considered extraordinary. Sometimes they had a waiting list to get in. Interestingly, neither of the teachers were members of St. Bart’s. In fact, the K-4 teacher was a member of the Church of Christ congregation where we went. Fortunately we were able to get Andrew into the K-4 program where he had a wonderful experience. On a down note, many other churches and schools in our area started K-4 and K-5 programs, some of which were full day. Eventually, St. Bart’s shut down their program.

When Andrew was much older he attended a couple of services at St. Bart’s Church. One evening they had a guest organist visiting to perform a concert. If memory serves, the church was dedicating a new organ. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love organ music. The organ at St. Bart’s was not as majestic sounding as those in big cathedrals, but it was quite good and enjoyable.

By the way, if you are ever in Philadelphia and want to hear an amazing pipe organ without going to a church, be sure to stop by the downtown Macy’s. The infamous Wanamaker Organ is located there and someone plays it on a regular basis. The history of this organ is quite amazing. There are a number of videos on YouTube, but I guarantee you that your computer sound system can’t come close to duplicating what you will hear inside Macy’s atrium.

When Andrew was in the 6th grade, his class took a bus trip to New York City (where apparently all non-Pace picante sauce is made) and Washington DC. One of our stops in NYC was The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which is an Episcopal Church. This was indeed a cathedral as evidenced by its extremely high ceiling. The tour of the cathedral was quite enjoyable. It seems that every large church and aged church building I visit has repair work going on outside. St. John’s was no different.

    Andrew Outside St. John’s
 

    Inside St. John’s

In 2013, Kathy, Andrew, and I took a trip to Scotland, England, and Wales. We saw a lot of churches and cathedrals, some very old. In York, we were able to tour York Minster cathedral. This was an amazing building. Given how magnificent it is and the fact that it was completed in 1472, my guess is that aliens had a hand in its construction.

    Outside York Minster

    Inside York Minster
 

In London, we saw the famous Westminster Abbey, which is an Anglican Church. Wow! The architecture behind this building is incredible, which again indicates aliens were involved. Fortunately, we were in London on a Sunday, so Kathy and I decided to attend Westminster Abbey’s Evensong that evening. And yes, we were able to hear pipe organ music. Unfortunately, photo taking was not allowed during the service and that was the only time we were actually inside the building. I thought the service was a bit odd. We were sitting there along with a lot of other people listening to the organ with no organ or organist in sight. The minister preached, yet he was nowhere to be seen either. After the service was over, a bunch of people began filing out of another section of the church building. I then realized that we had been relegated to the visitors’ section while the members had been in the main worship hall.

    Westminster Abbey
 

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