A Reconciling Rite for the Brokenhearted

Posted on September 22, 2011 by kathrynrickert

“A Reconciling Rite of Consolation and Hope for the Broken-hearted”

Moving from Mourning into Joy, Reconciling Gifts of Grace from God

Preparation: Arrange the gathering in a circle, with some kind of table in the center.   On this table have enough room to place at least one candle, any images or items representing the much needed reconciliation we have identified in our world, as well as a substantial metal, stone or wooden bowl into which the stones may later on be cast. Have ready as basket with enough small stones so that each person may take 2-3.

Opening Acclamation

Leader: Blessed be God, who is near to the broken hearted People: The Holy One, who saves those whose spirits are crushed

A Litany of Wounds, Brokenness, and Injustice

Leader: We see in our own lives and the world around us these ingredients of              injustice and tragic suffering, and manifestations of evil that distort and damage our  relationships with one-another, with God, ourselves and the whole Creation:

(Each person reads one, aloud, until all are read.)

insecurity  abandonment physical distance expectations, known & unknown isolation ANXIETY   inevitable imperfection DIFFERENCES/ UNIQUENESS mental illness incomplete communications broken trust habits which allow for brokenness (denial) bitterness that stunts relationship betrayal blame, given / received death alcohol and drugs human development IGNORANCE resistance to change Prejudice racism ethnicity homophobia life approaches lack of RESPECT travel age related learning-curves (IT) fear of annihilation disease DENIAL OF REALITY conflict around being an “institution” vs. a community of spiritual and religious   LIFE                                                                                            

Leader: When we become aware of the ways in which we engage in or fail to notice the ingredients of injustice and suffering around us, we come together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, to pray:

All: Have mercy on [us], O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out [our] offenses. Wash [us] through and through from [our] wickedness, and cleanse [us] from sin. For [we] know [our] transgressions only too well, and [our] sin is ever before us.

All: Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered himself to be sacrificed for us to the Father, forgives our sins by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks be to God.

Leader: We are separated from God, each other and the Creation not only by what we have done, left undone or by “things done on our behalf”, but also by the wounds and brokenness of injustice and tragic suffering. At times, we receive these wounds and experience them in our own bodies and souls.

The Word of God for the Broken -hearted:

First Reading Jeremiah 31:1-7    http://bible.oremus.org/

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.                                                           People       Thanks be to God.

A Psalm of Response Psalm 34, Saint Helena Psalter

1 I will bless God at all times; * and praise shall ever be in my mouth. 2 I will glory in Most High; * let the humble hear and rejoice. 3 Proclaim with me the greatness of God; let us exalt God’s Name together. 4 I sought, and God answered me * and delivered me out of all my terror. 5 Look upon the Most High and be radiant, * and let not your faces be ashamed. 6 I called in my affliction, and the God heard me * and saved me from all my troubles. 7 The angels encompasses those who fear God, & God will deliver them. 8 Taste and see that God is good; *happy are they who trust in the Most High! 9 Fear the Most High, you that are God’s saints, * for those who fear God lack nothing. 10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek God lack nothing that is good. 11 Come, children, and listen to me; * I will teach you the fear of God. 12 Who among you loves life * and desires long life to enjoy prosperity? 13 Keep your tongue from evil-speaking * and your lips from lying words. 14 Turn from evil and do good; * seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of God are upon the righteous, and the ears of God are open to their cry. 16 The face God is against those who do evil, *to root out the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and God hears them * and delivers them from all their troubles. 18 God is near to the broken hearted * and will save those whose spirits are crushed. 19 Many are the troubles of the righteous, but God will deliver him out of them all. 20 God will keep safe all their bones; * not one of them shall be broken 21 Evil shall slay the wicked, * and those who hate the righteous will be punished 22 O God, you will ransoms the life of your servants, * and none will be punished who trust in you.

Second Reading James 5: 13-18 The Message 13-15

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.                                                      People            Thanks be to God.

A Psalm of Response 36, Saint Helena Psalter

1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; * there is no fear of God before their eyes. 2 They flatter themselves in their own eyes that their hateful sin will not be found out. 3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; *they have left off acting wisely and doing good. 4 They think up wickedness upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way; * they do not abhor that which is evil. 5 Your love, O GOD, reaches to the heavens, & your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,  your justice like the great deep; * you save all your creatures, O God! 7 How priceless is your love, O God! * your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; * you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the well of life, * and in your light we see light. 10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, * and your favor to those who are true of heart. 11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, * nor the hand of the wicked push me aside. 12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! *they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.

Third Reading John 11:32-36 (NRSV)

32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

People                   Thanks be to God.

A Psalm of Response Psalm 41: 13-15

13 Hear my prayer, O God, and give ear to my cry; * hold not your peace at my tears. 14 For I am but a sojourner with you, * a wayfarer, as all my forebears were. 15 Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, * before I go my way and am no more.

A Song              “Some times I feel, like a motherless chil’”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvZv5-uTkwc&feature=related

Some times I feel, like a motherless chil’                                                                                       Some times I feel, like a motherless chil’                                                                                      Some times I feel like I’m almost gone,                                                                                          A long way, from home; a long way from home.

(In the silence following the song, pass around the basket of stones, and invite each person to take 2-3.)

A Ritual of Casting Cares, Grief, Fear, Anger, Rage…and other strong emotions:

On the table is a basket of stones. After a time of silence, we call to heart and mind some of the wounds, injustices, and suffering that break our hearts, distorting our relationships with each other, with God, with ourselves and with the whole Creation. As so moved by the Spirit, each person is invited come to the table in the center, to place (or even throw) their stones, one at time, into the bowl. If desired, the people are invited to say out loud a name, offer a prayer of petition or lament, or other brief comment about their distress.

Once all have cast their stones…pause in silence before reading aloud, together the following:

Cast your burden upon God, who will sustain you; * God will never let the righteous stumble.                                             Psalm 55:24 Saint Helena Psalter & I Peter 5:7 3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, 4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 2 Corinthians 1:2-4

A Psalm of Hope, Psalm 126, Saint Helena Psalter

(Reading antiphonally in two sides, and then together after verse 5…)

A        1 When God restored the fortunes of Zion, * then were we like those who dream.      B        2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, * and our tongue with shouts of joy. A        3 Then they said among the nations, * “God has done great things for them.”       B        4 God has done great things for us, * and we are glad indeed.

All      5 Restore our fortunes, O God,  like the watercourses of the Negev.                              6 Those who sowed with tears * will reap with songs of joy.                                                       7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, * will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Let us bless God, who is near to the broken hearted                                      People:           The Holy One, who saves those whose spirits are crushed                                           Thanks be to God!

A Blessing                    May the blessing of the God of Abraham and Sarah, and of Jesus Christ, born of Mary, and of the Holy Spirit who broods over the world as a mother over her children, be upon us and remain with us always. Amen.

_____________

Compiled by Kathryn Rickert, PhD., September 21, 2011             kathrynrickert@gmail.com for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Seattle WA

Posted in God in Creation, God in Relationships, God in Struggle and Distress | 1 Comment

Commemorating David Pendleton Oakerhater in Light of the Doctrine of Discovery

Posted on September 2, 2011 by kathrynrickert

 A Commemoration of

David Pendleton Oakerhater
Deacon and Missionary of the Cheyenne, 1931

 God’s Warrior

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…in light of the Doctrine of Discovery

 

 

 

Thursday, September 1, 2011 Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Seattle, Washington

A Preface Celebrant:

For many years now, we in the Diocese of Olympia have gathered together to commemorate the faithful lives of First Nations’ Holy Women and Holy Men, including Matoaka, Enmegahbow and David Pendleton Oakerhater. As a diocese, we have acknowledged and read aloud the Apology offered to the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest in 1987. In 2008 we commemorated the New Jamestown Covenant, in recognition of tragic legacy of an unholy alliance behind the settlement of this nation. Today, we gather again, summoned by the vows of our Baptismal Covenant to prayerful reflection, learning, and worship in honor of Oakerhater– all in light of the Doctrine of Discovery.

At the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, 2009, our church took a major step by making a repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. This “doctrine” refers to several documents and policies of church and state that governed the arrival in and conquest of the Americas by people from Europe. Together, these documents and policies encouraged, sanctioned, blessed and made legal the attempted destruction of the Indigenous Americas. And while 1492 was a long time ago, the consequences of that arrival continue to be manifest in practices and attitudes that do great damage to Native people.

Today, we come together as God’s people to be guided by the Holy Spirit in our listening, speaking, learning and doing as we commemorate the life and ministry of David Pendleton Oakerhater in light of the Doctrine of Discovery. This is a collaborative, interactive liturgy; we all are called to listen and respond to the word of God in the Talking Circle. We all are called to offer in our own words the prayers for the Church and the world.

An Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist

The People and Priest gather in a circle outside the cathedral

Celebrant  Blessed be the God of our salvation:                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The People* Who bears our burdens and forgives our sins.

Canticle G A Song of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36:24-28 (from Enriching our Worship)

Leader and The People together, say:

I will take you from among all nations and gather you from all lands to bring you home.                                                              I will sprinkle clean water upon you; and purify you from false gods and uncleanness.                                                                  And a new heart I will give you, and a new spirit put within you.                                                                                                   I will take the stone heart from your chest and give you a heart of flesh.                                                                                         I will help you walk in my laws and cherish my commandments and do them.                                                                               You shall be my people and I will be your God.

_________

Oakerhater is pronounced: O-Kuh-ha-tah)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    * “The People” is an English equivalent for what many First Nations tribes call themselves, e.g. Dine, in Navajo, means, the people.

A PRAYER OF THE FOUR DIRECTIONS

Leader: We pray in four directions to locate our worship in this time and place, being mindful of those who have come before us and in whose midst we live and pray. Today, as we ponder the implications of the clash between our faith and the history of our nation, we also name some of the perspectives from which we come to this challenging and important task.

(Please turn to each direction as the leader invites. East is opposite the cathedral doors. As we pray in each direction, you are invited to add water to bowl in the center. Following the prayer, this water will be used for a blessing.)

Leader: We face the East. We give thanks for our sisters and brothers: the Snoqualmie, Yakima, Colville, Kalispell and Spokane peoples, and for the gifts of the rising sun, the Cascade Mountains, Snoqualmie Falls and Mount Rainier, a place sacred to many people, and for Jesus, our Light of humility, vision and new life.

We pray with all people whose ancestors came here from Europe that we may learn to live together with respect and wisdom.

The People: Come, Light of the World, shine in our darkness.

Leader: We face the North. We give thanks for our sisters and brothers the Samish, Lummi, Stillaguamish, Nooksack, Sauk-Suiattle, Suquamish, Swinomish and Snohomish Peoples; and for First Nations Peoples of Vancouver Island, British Columbia and Alaska, and for the gift of Mount Baker, the fertile Skagit Valley and for the wisdom and dignity given to all of God’s people.

We pray with all people whose ancestors came to this land from Africa, Asia, and India, may we share power wisely.

The People: Come, Spirit of wisdom and make the circle whole.

Leader: We face the West. We give thanks for our sisters and brothers, the Quileute, Quinault, S’Klallam, Makah, Shoalwater, Suquamish, and Hoh Peoples, and for the great Pacific Ocean with its mighty whales, winds, birds and water creatures; and for the gifts of compassion and unity with all of God’s creation.

We pray with all people whose ancestors have lived on this land for more than a thousand years, may we work together for healing and hope.

The People: Come, Holy Spirit, and give us grace to be your people.

Leader: We face the South. We give thanks for our sisters and brothers, the Puyallup, Nisqually, Steilacoom, Squaxin, Muckleshoot, Chehalis, Skokomish, Duwamish, Lower Elwah, and Chinook; and for the gifts of the abundance of the earth; for Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens and the Columbia River.

We pray with all people whose ancestors come from all of these places, may we dwell together in peace.

The People: Come Creator and abide with us.

Leader: We turn toward each other to complete the circle. We look at our circle and see one another, praising you for the gifts you have given us here. We give you thanks for you son, Jesus, who binds us together in love and dignity. We honor and remember those who are not present with us this day. We ask you to bless us and make us holy by your presence with us. Give us arms ever reaching to increase the circle, ears quick to hear both laughter and tears of relatives and strangers, eyes seeking new vision and hearts strong with the courage to be God’s people in this place.

The People: Amen.

Celebrant: Almighty God, who through the water of baptism has raised us from sin into new life, and by the power of your life-giving Spirit ever cleanses and sanctifies your people. Bless, we pray you, this water for the service of your holy church; and grant that it may be a sign of the transforming power of you grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[ An optional water blessing.]

The Smudging

As we enter the cathedral, we will be offered the fragrant smoke from a mixture of sage, cedar, fir and sweet grass. We will “wash” the smoke over our bodies as a symbol of our acceptance of God’s grace and purification. Fragrant incense has been used within the Church for centuries, to remind worshipers of the presence of God, and as a symbol of the restoration that comes from a heart open to God’s healing.

The procession continues into the cathedral

A Song Beautiful Morning (Traditional Cherokee)

We n’ de ya ho, We n’ de ya ho, We n’ de ya, We n’ de ya Ho ho ho ho, He ya ho, He ya ho, Ya ya ya Translation – “A we n'” (I am), “de” (of), “Yauh” –the– (Great Spirit), “Ho” (it is so). Written as: A we n’ de Yauh ho (I am of the Great Spirit, Ho!). This language stems from very ancient Cherokee

Celebrant:       The Lord be with you.
The People: And also with you.
Celebrant:        Let us pray.

Proclaim and Respond to the Word of God

Collect for the Day

O God of unsearchable wisdom and infinite mercy, who chose a captive warrior, David Oakerhater, to be your servant, and sent him to be a missionary to his own people and to exercise the office of a deacon among them: Liberate us, who commemorate him today, from bondage to self, and empower us for service to you and to the neighbors you have given us; through Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Please be seated for the readings.

A Reading from the Book of Isaiah (52:7-10)

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

After each reading:

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
The People: We open our hearts to hear.

Psalm 96 (St. Helena Psalter)

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the whole earth. 2 Sing and bless God’s holy Name; proclaim the good news of salvation from day today. 3 Declare God’s glory among the nations God’s wonders among all peoples. 4 For God is great and greatly to be praised; more to be feared than all gods. 5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; but it is God who made the heavens. 6 Oh, the majesty and magnificence of God’s presence! Oh, the power and the splendor of God’s sanctuary! 7. Ascribe to God, you families of the peoples; ascribe to God honor and power.

Romans 8:1-6

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

After each reading:

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
The People: We open our hearts to hear.

Gospel Acclamation: Helelluyan (Wonder Love and Praise #783)

He-le-lu-yan, he-le-lu-yan; he-le, he-le-lu-yan; he-le-lu-yan; he-le-lu-yan; he-le, he-le-lu-yan; (Muscogee, Creek,)

                      The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke (Luke 10:1-9)                                                                        The People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

10 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

                      The Gospel of the Lord.
The People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

An Invitation to a Guided Talking Circle:    “Commemorating the Life of David Pendleton, Oakerhater in light of the Doctrine of Discovery”

Creator God of the Salish Sea, Mount Tahoma and the Great River*; God of those who came to this land and of those who were here long ago;                   As you sent Jesus to be God with us, bringing healing and hope to our wounds and brokenness through your Holy Spirit;                                                      grant us wisdom to live with generosity and compassion that we may be reconciled to you and to each-other                                                                                     as we live together in this land that is yours, that you may be our God, and we may be your people. Amen.

* Earlier names for Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier and the Columbia River.

The Talking Circle

Prayers for the World and the Church

Leader: In these prayers we respond to the Four Directions Prayer, readings, music, gestures, and the Talking Circle, as we pray for ourselves, the world and the church. Today we use our own words and call upon the Spirit to help us with groaning to deep for words.

(After each bidding, we respond)

                                You are our God,                                                                                                                                                                     The People: We are becoming your people.

We remember with thanksgiving those who have come before us, especially David Pendleton Oakerhater and …

We give thanks for …                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  We lament the injustice and cruelty of our past …                                                                                                                                                                                                                We repent for the things done our behalf that do not proclaim Good News to all people…                                                                                                                              We ask your presence for healing and hope for all people….                                                                                                                                                                                          We ask for your guidance upon our efforts to learn about and attend to our past …                                                                                                                                                For what else shall we pray…

Exchange the Peace

                                               The peace of Christ be always with you.
The People: And also with you.

Giving and Receiving

Today’s offering will go to the Diocesan Ethnic Ministry in their work throughout the diocese. The First Nations Committee of the Diocese gives you a copy of the collect prepared today’s gathering.

Celebrant: Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east,  and from the west I will gather you;  I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters form the end of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’ (Isaiah 43:5-7)

A Song Come now, O Prince of Peace (Wonder Love and Praise # 795)

Prepare the Table

The Great Thanksgiving

Celebrant The Lord be with you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The People And also with you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Celebrant Lift up you hearts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The People We lift them to the Lord.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Celebrant Let us give thanks for the Lord our God.                                                                                                                                                                                                             The People It is right to give God thanks and praise.

The Celebrant gives thanks for God for the created order, and for God’s self-revelation to the human race in history; recalls before God the particular occasion being commemorated;

And, so we join the saints and angels in proclaiming your glory, as we say,

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,  heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.                                                                      Blessed in the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Christ Jesus.                                                                                                                                 On the night before he died for us, our Savior Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his friends, and said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      “Take, eat: this is my Body which is given for you.          Do this in remembrance of me.”                                                                                                                                      As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said                                                                      “Drink this, all of you: This is my blood of the new Covenant,  which is poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for remembrance of me.” …                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Remembering now the suffering and death                                                                                                                                                                                                        proclaiming the resurrection and ascension of Jesus our Redeemer, we bring before you these gifts.
Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Christ. …                                                                                                                           Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,                                                                                                                                                          to you be honor and glory, and praise, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Celebrant: As Christ teaches us we pray

(The Lord’s Prayer from A New Zealand Prayer Book)

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all, loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name, echo through the universe,
The way of your justice, be followed by the peoples of the world.
Your heavenly will be done, by all created beings.
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom, sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
With the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign, in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant: We break this bread to share in the Body of Christ.
The People: We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread. Celebrant: The Gifts of God for the People of God.

Hymn “Peace Before Us” Wonder Love and Praise, #791

Post-communion Prayer

Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image and nourishing us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. Now send us forth a people forgiven, healed, renewed; that we may proclaim your love to the world and continue in the risen life of Christ our Savior. Amen.

A Blessing May the blessing of the God of all people,                                                                                                                                                                                                                              the peace of Christ and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit                                                                                                                                                                                                               be behind us, under our feet,   within us,   over us and all around us.                                                                                                                                                                          May all around us be peace. Amen.

Closing Hymn Many and Great (Lacquiparle, Dakota Chant) Hymnal# 385

                               Let us bless the Lord.                                                                                                                                                                  The People: Thanks be to God.

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David Pendleton Oakerhater (O-Kuh-Ha-Tah)

Originally named Making Medicine, David Pendleton Oakerhater, a Cheyenne warrior, was held prisoner at Fort Marion, Florida following disputes over Indian land rights. While there in Florida, Oakerhater, moved from leadership and distinction in battle to a lifelong ministry of peace. He became “God’s warrior in a war that makes all for peace.” At his baptism in 1878 he took the name David Pendleton, in honor of his benefactress. Ordained to the diaconate in 1881, his fifty years of ministry among the Cheyenne and Arapaho included founding and operating schools and missions, and pastoral care, often through great personal sacrifice and in the face of apathy and resistance.

Oakerhater’s signature glyph portrays a man in a sun dance lodge. His long life of faith and ministry was sustained by both traditional Native spirituality as well Episcopalian Christianity. The Whirlwind Mission of the Holy Family, in Watonga, Oklahoma is still active today. St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City has a chapel and an annual celebration to the memory of Oakerhater.

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The Baptismal Covenant

is the Apostle’s Creed followed by the following questions.

Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

Celebrant Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Celebrant Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Celebrant Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
Celebrant Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

The answer to each question is, ThePeople I will, with God’s help.

(See the Book of Common Prayer pp 304-305.)

Note: This Liturgy was prepared by the First Nations Committee of the Diocese of Olympia for September 1, 2011. You are encouraged to use it.          Please acknowledge where you found it.   kathrynrickert@gmail.com

Posted in God at Gatherings, food, drink and holy stuff, God at Work, God in Creation, God in Relationships, God in Struggle and Distress, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Poem / prayer on Giving Thanks

Posted on April 29, 2011 by kathrynrickert

This poem was an assignment for my SALT students, and my version of a Psalm of Thanksgiving

?# 7.A  common format for PSS of Thanksgiving included these elements:                    (Write a psalm of thanksgiving with the following sections.)  

Address & invitation                 

To the God who transforms what is beyond transformation —                                                   dry bones and dead bodies, broken minds and closed hearts,                                                long dead and buried stunning feats of ignorance and stupidity                                                much too long-lived silly, yet devastating slights, failures to notice or pay attention breath catching, unexplainable, beyond-comprehension tragic events —                                            by taking into Yourself, all that is at play in this world                                                                by never making light of what seems SO important to us,                                                          — food, clothing, houses, relations, love

To the One who comes back at us, with us, again and again, in all things Emmanuel…

Remembrance of a painful, difficult, dangerous experience;

In memory of things I cannot write or say,                                                                                with embarrassment, grief, shame, fear, anger, rage…too deep for words,                              as well as huge desires and longing, too big to be believed, for YOU                                       and an ever-growing list of gravely ill friends, newly diagnosed diseases, failures, tragedies, loss…

A Shift from danger, sadness, etc. to joy, strength,

This move from sadness to joy is invisible, impossible to describe because it                  comes out of the darkness as a mystery, a surprise, grace.                                                     Rather, what is known is how it feels after that move is made.                                                What happens in-between the earlier joy, and the new darkness,                                              but before I am able to dance in joy                                                                                                 is unsayable. It is.

Entrance into a place of thankful praise 

This is the mystery, rare words of thanksgiving.                                                                            The way out of darkness is not announced,                                                                                     there is no door on the inside of grief.

Thanksgiving arrives like an owl in the forest,                                                                               that flies away from us towards the south,                                                                            through the trees behind our house on the Island.

Thanks giving appears with all the elegance of a Great Blue Heron,                                  preening her feathers, like a woman in front of a mirror.

Only after many, many repetitions of suffering, amazement, and involuntary awareness that the Holy One is here,                                                                                                                 is with us, is providing,                                                                                                                  again, and again, and again,                                                                                                             …then, maybe then                                                                                                                        does Thanksgiving begin to become a normal part of my life.

It takes more than time,                                                                                                                     it takes some combination of faith, woven into awareness and enough dots connecting,       the bad with the good in life,                                                                                                  through God. Amen.

I give THANKS for this amazement that You are, that we are here together,

to study, pray and learn.

Thank you, Holy One. Thank You, Emmanuel. Thanks be to GOD. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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A Hate Crime on my Street

Posted on April 16, 2011 by kathrynrickert

We live close enough to Puget Sound so that there is some kind of economic screen, between the kinds of crime and problems that show up on police records in the newspaper that usually happen on the other side of town.

This morning, as we made our usual leisurely walk before breakfast to the outlook in Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, I noticed the  grafitti — anti-gay, sexually explicit — and a broken living room window in the house at the top of our street on 20th.

So far, I am some what stunned.  It is disturbing and unsettling

I wanted to do something, not jut walk by it. Although I have met her one, and would recognize her, I don’t know the name of the woman who lives there, (She is at least 93). It seemed the least I could do was to call the Shoreline Police to report it. I did. And, unless the people in the house call and report it, the police will do nothing. So I called another neighbor,..the kind of guy who knows everybody, inlcuding the police, to see what he could do. He will do something, That much I know.

I am still listening to this event…not yet knowing what to make of it. In part, I am very interested to see if other people find out about this and if we as a community do anything to respond to a hate crime right here where we live.

Mostly, this event may ask questions that will lead us into some kind of meaningful action.

May whatever is amiss in the life of the person who did that, be some how transformed!

Posted in God in Relationships, God in Struggle and Distress, God in the Streets | 2 Comments

Lamentation over the Doctrine of Discovery

Posted on April 5, 2011 by kathrynrickert

Just the idea that such a thing could happen, even if it does not, is miles beyond what I had dreamed possible! Thanks be to God. Working with this group in this way is simply amazing; no one is trying to take over. Everyone is listening to each other. We don’t know where this will all lead, but we are all working together to find out. What an honor, what a gift!

I am probably too happy about this day to begin to be able to write down very much of how it unfolded. The short version is to say that we read, listened to and pondered Isaiah 29:17-24…allowing it to sink into and then responded to it.

We read and heard and pondered and responded to the various historical documents, (in excerpt form) of the Doctrine of Discovery:

Papal Bull Dum Diversas 1452  = okay to enslave perpetually any non-Christian on the planet                                                                                                                                             Papal Bull  Romanus Pontifex 1455 = okay to take everything of “theirs” and use it for profit…

“Doctrine of Discovery, ( as the context for) Manifest Destiny and (US dealings with ) NA”

….And then I offered a brief version of my work on Laments as tools, voices for healing and reconciliation.

And then another person said that it had come to him during his morning prayer today that we should begin the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church with a whole church lament over the Doctrine of Discovery, Conquest and the on-going consequences.

And then yet more good ideas, good work were shared. Such a rich feast.

We had dinner with the Christ Church Cathedral NA Committee…which was really wonderful, until the fire alarm went off, the fire men arrived and we had to leave early.

That was followed by walking to and from Kentucky. What a day!

I think I will sleep soon. This has been a very good day. Thanks be to God.

Posted in God at Gatherings, food, drink and holy stuff, God at Work | 2 Comments

Wintertalk 2011

Posted on January 25, 2011 by kathrynrickert

Wintertalk 2011 by Kathryn Rickert

Wintertalk is an annual gathering of Episcopalians who are engaged in
Native American ministries. It has met for about 20 years, at various locations
where such ministry is on-going. This year’s event was held at the Cathedral
of St. John in Albuquerque, NM. In addition to the 70 adults from all over the US and Canada, there were also about 30 Episcopal Native American young people present, including James Dofelmier of our Diocese.

(This church was Maureen Lyons father’s (George) church and is where he
is buried.)

Before I share something of this valuable experience with you, I want to offer
the “official” words about this event. I do this, because they are important
and describe well what happened:

Theme: It’s Our Time…

* To teach and learn our own history (stories)
* To remember our relationship with the Creator
* To tap into what is available in our communities
* To become much more visible in the Church
* To share our strengths and our faith with each other
* To move from being in an impoverished state of existence
* To become more proactive in raising up and supporting leaders from our communities

The goals above are those set forth by the planning team for the event, in
coordination with our new, young, wonderful National Missioner for Native Ministries,
Sarah Eagleheart. Two local dioceses collaborated to help with the event; the Episcopal Church of Navajoland, and the Diocese of Rio Grande.

I was honored to be invited to Winteralk XVIII a few years ago. Until that time,
only Native Americans were part of this event. ( I have been part of the First Nations
Committee of the Diocese of Olympia since 1989, and am currently the co-chair.)
As a person of Euro-American heritage, it is a rare and valuable experience to be allowed
to be present and to learn with and from our sisters and brothers in the Episcopal church
who are Native Americans.

Our Episcopal Church is deeply blessed by a long and rich tradition of ministry to and by
Native Peoples through out this country. It is a part of church history that some of
us may not know. In addition to providing strong, clear examples of deep and creative
Christian faith at work, this history also challenges all of us to reflect on and attend
to the considerable experiences of injustice that have been, and at times continue to be,
part of the stories of Native American Peoples.

As the goals above suggest, while the stories of Native American Episcopalians do contain aspects of injustice, the more prominent features in both the stories and the goals is a wisdom that is of tremendous benefit to the entire Church, not only to Native Americans.

As a shorthand way of trying to share in a brief manner what could take a lifetime to
summarize — the beauty of the land, the songs, stories and prayers,
the weaving, pottery and jewelry; the grief at the injustices past and present,
and the depth of faith, courage, laughter, joy and wisdom found in that gathering– I offer
this prayer used by many Native American Episcopalians, from A Disciple’s Prayer Book:

Creator,                                                                                                                                             we give you thanks for all you are and ll you bring to us for our visit within your creation.
In Jesus, you place the Gospel in the center of this sacred circle through which all of creation is related.
You show us how to live a generous and compassionate life.                                                       Give us strength to live together with respect and committment as we grow in your spirit, for you are God, now and forever. Amen.

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Pondering Native Americans and “Thanksgiving”

Posted on November 30, 2010 by kathrynrickert

Beyond Guilt

This post was written as a follow-up for a Salon meeting tonight, Nov 29th, 2010. The salon invites folks to ponder giving thanks in light of our history with our First Peoples. It is a lot like the one on “Harsh News”…because it is another group taking on the same question. In this case, I offer basically the same array of five responses, but then in each case I have inserted a poem, liturgical text or brief comment of my own composition.  The list of five possible responses is followed by suggested actions that may flow from the reflection that is hopefully coming out of the event.

First… to suggest an array of responses to this painful and difficult news about injustice and oppression in our history:

–-Stunned Silence –> “…wait, without hope…” T. S. Eliot                                            “East Coker III”

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope                                                                      For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,                                         For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith                                                But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.                                                   Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:                                                       So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

Denial –> “mots” – more of the same; status quo

An unfortunately popular world-view arising primarily from ignorance, lack of information about, and / or experience of First Peoples, and which is highly unlikely to nurture the necessary qualities of vision and wisdom which permit new awareness of that which is not already within one’s range of view.

Guilt –> Repentance

God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you,                                    opposing your [presence] in our lives.                                                                                          We have denied your goodness in each other,                                                                             in ourselves, and in the world you have created.                                                                            We repent of the evil that enslaves us,                                                                                             the evil that we have done,                                                                                                            and the evil done on our behalf…                                                                                           Forgive, restore, and strengthen us… (Enriching Our Worship I p 56)

Now quit your care and anxious fear and worry;                                                                           for schemes are vain and fretting brings no gain.                                                                     Lent calls to prayer, to trust and dedication;                                                                           God brings new beauty nigh;                                                                                                         reply, reply, reply with love to love most high;

To bow the head in sackcloth and in ashes,                                                                                    or rend the soul, such grief is not Lent’s goal;                                                                           but to be led to where God’s glory flashes,                                                                               God’s beauty to come near.                                                                                                           Make clear, make clear, make clear where truth and light appear;

For righteousness and peace will show their faces                                                                      to those who feed the hungry in their need,                                                                                       and wrongs redress, who build the old waste places,                                                                  and in the darkness shine.                                                                                                    Divine, divine, divine it is when all combine!

Words: Percy dearmer (20thC) Music: Quittez, Pasteurs, French carol; harm. Martin Fallas Shaw (20thC) Sequence: Cathouse Pandemonium, Ltd

Grief –> lamentation, to cry out in distress with Others to God

A Psalm of Lament, 129:1-2, 4-5

Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth,                                                                          let Israel now say;                                                                                                                           “Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth,                                                                       but they have not prevailed against me….                                                                                        Our God, the Righteous One,                                                                                                            has cut the cords of the wicked.                                                                                                        Let them be put to shame and thrown back,                                                                               all those who are enemies of Zion..

The advantage of lament is that it opens us to each other, rather than closing in on, and around our heavy guilt. We are able to look out and see, rather than to be overwhelmed by our status of guilt. It is not that the guilt, if that is what it is, is not important; rather, it is that guilt, as such, does not often lead towards transformation and openness to the other. Too often guilt simply strengthens our defenses and resistance towards the other with whom reconciliation is needed.

Make a pilgrimage to SEATAC on the Light Rail, and experience a traditional Welcome Song sung by the Duwamish People at the Airport Station. Then, give thanks for the continued presence and contribution of the Tribes of the State of WA, named in the artwork over the escalator to the airport. (No security clearance or ex-rays required!)

Love –> be changed, be transformed by new openness and awareness

We, i.e. our First Nations Committee,  don’t want to trivialize what is actually a very long and challenging process by suggesting that people may be zapped into pseudo-constructive action without acknowledging that a huge amount of work/ learning /healing / transformation needs to take place in between an awareness of grave injustice towards Native Peoples and present desires to do something about that injustice.

The kind of “love” advocated here is anything but easy or simple. This love                           is very costly, difficult, and at times, uncomfortable. It has none of the comfort of an idealized or romantic notion of innocence.  Rather, always tinged with  reminders of tremendous suffering and injustice, this is a kind of love that does not give up even when it fails, as it often does.

If your response to his evening bids you to some action, please consider…

◊ Reading Playing Indian, by Philip Deloria (non-fiction), Green Grass, Running Water (book and film) Thomas King

◊ Paying attention, reflecting (blogging, journaling, tweeting, FBing etc.)

Go home tonight and do that much. Write for ten minutes on what you learned tonight, or what you wondered, or what grabbed you, or whatever your heart is moved to write. And then, listen to yourself. What are you learning, thinking and feeling here and what do you want to do about it?

Pay attention to your own “heritage”. What is it? If you don’t know, try to find out. If you can’t find out, then harvest one from your experience, and desire. Then honor that, and try to figure out why you need to have a “heritage.” And thus, why it matters when “we” get in the way of the heritage(s) of other people.

◊ Praying … for all people, for specific people, for what is on your heart, for the World!

“We need for them to….” (Elsie Dennis)

◊  Write to Congress about the need for federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe   http://www.duwamishtribe.org/index.html

◊ go to the “Fry-bread for Justice” fund raisers, at the Duwamish Longhouse

◊ help at or contribute to Chief Seattle Club,  http//www.chiefseattleclub.org/

◊ write in support of the United States supporting the UN Declaration, etc.

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html the declaration
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html an update

◊ go to pow wows, especially with a pow wow etiquette workshop before hand [We – First Nations Committee, Diocese of Olympia – will be offering some of these in the spring and summer. See the “bookmark”.]

◊ go to Native Ministries Consortium Summer School at VST July 11- 2, 2011

http://www.vst.edu/main/about/native-ministries/nmc/summer-school

◊ go to SAM…. and other museums…to see the things and to learn what can and cannot be learned both from what is there, and what isn’t, and how!!

◊ take part in / be present to and observing of somebody else’s celebration, e.g.                  The Feast of Guadalupe, – an occasion that both indigenous, and Christian –                        St. Mark’s Cathedral, Sunday, Dec  12th, 4 pm                                                                                                                                                   http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=461109276057#!/event.php?eid=165149330189840

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C.S. Lewis and UN MDG #2 learning to read

Posted on November 8, 2010 by kathrynrickert

The response to last night’s Evensong  — 5 pm, first Sundays at St. David Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Shoreline — was such that I thought I might share some of it.

We paired UN MDG #2 Universal Primary Education with a commemoration of C. S. Lewis.  According to the UN, something like 69 million children in Africa and SE Asia are NOT in school of any kind. Those of us who have learned to read and or watched our own children learn to read through the works of C. S. Lewis, (as well as having our faith shaped by his theological works, e.g. Mere Christianity), it seemed like a rich combination.

As is demonstrated by the tone of the quote below, both C. S. Lewis and our Evensong celebrations share a quiet, modesty, gentleness, and beauty in our efforts to write, think about and worship God. Below is the reading that we heard from the works of Lewis. Rather than some portion of the Chronicles of Narnia, it is a piece from the introduction to Mere Christianity, which subtly connects imaginary doors, such as those in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, with how we sort out and make sense of the many traditions and worldviews in which we live.

Enjoy these words from Clive Staples Lewis! And then, enjoy your own room.

A Reading From C. S. Lewis The Introduction to Mere Christianity @ http://lib.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl.txthttp://lib.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl.txt

“I hope no reader will suppose that “mere” Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the  existing communions-as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else. It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable.

It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait.

When you do get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must  regard it as waiting, not as camping.

You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling. In plain language, the question should never be: “Do I like that kind of service?” but “Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?”

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those Who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common of the whole house.

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ENTERING INTO THE DEPTH OF HUMANITY THROUGH FILM…EXPIRATION DATE, THE MOVIE, NOV 12TH, ST MARK’S CATHEDRAL

Posted on November 6, 2010 by kathrynrickert

Our First Nations Committee, of the Diocese of Olympia is presenting a Film Night as part of St. Mark’s Cathedral’s regular Friday Night Films, Nov. 12th.  (For more details about the film and our committee see below.)

Most of the members of our group have seen the film and agreed that it is worth showing and reflecting on. When I asked Daren Chidester, (Blackfeet / Athabaskan) what he thought about the film, it was hard to figure out if he liked or not. Finally he something like…

D. – “It’s too good…it shows too much.” K.  – Well, don’t you want other people to know these things? D.   (…. no clear answer, but the hint is that, maybe not.)

“Sharing too much?”   –

Different world views engage each other in the question above.  One world view, i.e. my own Euro-American, overly educated perspective,  assumes both that it is good to share as much as possible of one’s life and world view with others, that other people want to know these things, and that sharing such knowledge is good both for other people, as well as for those of us who share them. The other perspective in this little dialogue questions all three of those assumptions. Daren’s response acknowledges that the film has done a good job, perhaps too good a job of telling something of an experience that is his — fancy dancing and at times questioning the value of his experience in the face of “mainstream” practice.

One of the challenges set forth by the film, Daren’s response, my response, and other responses is that it may appear that any one of these responses is “definitive”, the only correct response, and or THE response for all First Nations people, or THE response for all others. None of these is the case.

We show this film in the hope that it will provide both entertainment, as well as the kind of learning that challenges and forms us into more thoughtful people. Our hope is that by watching and reflecting on this film we might take a small step towards contending with a painful past and present of injustice.

In his “convention address” our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel said of those who founded this Diocese 100 years ago:  “Of course, they often thought they had arrived as the first people, and the first spiritual presence. We know they were wrong, and we still have that to contend with today, and we should.”                           The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, Convention Address, Oct 29th, 2010

Our goal for presenting this film is to work together toward reconciliation and healing among First Nations and others peoples in the PNW. Watching, reflecting on, and being transformed by films such as this one, and many others, is one of the ways to contend with our past mis-perceptions of the world and our place in it. In order for such reflection and transformation to occur we need to go beneath superficial observations of film, each other, and life around us. I.e. we need to learn how do what our bishop commended to us in that same address — to  “launch into the deep of humanity.”

“―I say that we fear to launch out into the deep of humanity  and     instead,  go all our lives long coasting along the shore of opportunity, privilege and power. Some day soon,  the church will have to give an account. And I fear for it.”

That sounds more than a bit daunting, especially for an event that is cast as “entertainment”. This is Friday night and it is supposed to be “fun”! Well, this film is fun, funny and thought-provoking. These dimensions of imagination, creativity, playfulness and humor are some of the great gifts — along side of the popcorn which we will eat this night — to this Nation from our First Peoples.

In spite of what many of us have to come to think of as the “only” effective way to solve all problems,  — direct, head-on attack — many of our First Peoples know that indirect approaches such as story telling, humor, subtlety, listening, and observation are actually more effective in addressing especially complicated problems, such as our need for contending with our past and present needs for reconciliation and learning how to “launch out into the deep of humanity.”

With an opportunity to hear the panel respond to the film you will be invited indirectly into the story, the humor, through listening and observation. You will hear very different responses to the film from various people, including the film maker Rick Stevenson, some FN people and others. (No one FN person speaks for “all Indians.”) One of the advantages of humor is to disarm our overly serious efforts, cause us to take a step back and laugh long enough so as to be able to see something more than we saw at first, on the surface.  That is, then we might be able to peak into something of the depths of humanity, seeing beyond our own experience. This sort of initial glimpse into the depths of humanity may begin with simply noticing that some people do and see things differently — without having to choose or join either side.

We enter into such a deep when we ponder, Why do we share our traditions? What do we hope to gain by it? What does it mean to share too much of someone else’s traditions?  or Why do we hesitate to share our traditions and hold them dearly, fearing their loss or destruction by others who do not treasure them as we do?

Join us on Friday Night.

What: a screening of Indie film EXPIRATION DATE, in celebration of Native
American Heritage Month, followed by a discussion, with local filmmaker Rick
Stevenson as guest

When:  Nov. 12, 2010; 7:30 p.m.

Where: Bloedel Hall
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
1245 10th Ave E
Seattle, WA  98102

Suggested Donation: $5

About Friday Film Night
FRIDAY  FILM NIGHT  aims to inform, to pique  curiosity, to trigger
discovery as  well as to inspire, in support  of Church in the  World  Ministries Mission to work boldly for  justice, reconciliation  and peace among all people, to resist injustices perpetuated  against the earth and its inhabitants and to  engage the entire community of Saint Mark’s by creating awareness  of and  fostering responsibility for our impact on the world.

About First Nations Committee (Diocese of Olympia)
Since its inception in 1991, the mission of the First Nations Committee  has
been to encourage an appreciation of the presence of peoples of the  First
Nations, their spirituality and their ministry within the diocese  of Olympia.
From 2004 onward, the committee has greatly increased the  types of education
and liturgical resources within the diocese specific  to First Nations.

The  Diocese of Olympia is one of 100 dioceses in the 2.4 million-member
Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). ECUSA
(www.episcopalchurch.org) is one of 38 provinces in the 77 million-member
Anglican Communion (www.anglicancommunion.org), which spans 164 countries
worldwide.

We are inclusive; we are growing and learning;  we are stewards; we are
evangelists; we are on mission; and we are the  church in the world. The servant
leadership style is one of consultation  and collaboration, with ministry of
congregations our primary focus.

About the film Expiration Date (2006, NR, 94 minutes, USA)
In celebration of Native American Heritage Month: A special joint event  with
First Nations Committee (Diocese of Olympia);  Special guest  Rick  Stevenson,
film maker;  Bloedel Hall

Death interrupted: a romance  – Charlie Silvercould III carries around a family curse passed down from  his grandfather; death by a milk truck on his 25th birthday. With eight  days left, Charlie accepts his fate and starts taking care of his  unfinished business, like watering his plants and returning his library  books and so on. But while he’s out casket hunting, he meets a girl who  just won’t let him die in peace. Rick Stevenson writes and directs this dark romantic comedy, which is set in Seattle Winner of 17 awards including American Indian Film Festival, Bluegrass Independent Film Festival, Durango Film Festival, Ojai Film Festival,  Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival, Sedona Film Festival

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Singing Together, or more than one way to be a multicultural church

Posted on October 4, 2010 by kathrynrickert

[This post is a follow up to one titled, “Harsh News”]

St. David-Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a small congregation is Shoreline, WA, just north of Seattle. Most of us are “Anglo”, but not all. Yet we probably don’t consider ourselves to be a “multi-cultural church.” However, we share our facilities with two other Christian congregations, one Methodist and the other, a Guatemalan-Spanish speaking congregation of the Church of God in Christ.

On Sept 19th, Sunday afternoon, we had a church potluck that brought together the Korean Methodist congregation and the English-speaking Episcopal congregation. Both groups are small and there is nothing famous about either of us. We have had at least three previous shared meals, with less of the beautiful coming together than we experienced that day.

The third attempt happened about two months ago, when without advance preparation, someone simply asked, “What hymn do we know that we could sing together in the both languages?” Of course, the first reply was, “Amazing Grace.” Then we found that we knew some of the same Christmas carols, and at least 3 other hymns. It was rough, but we sang together.

The event of Sept 19th – our forth attempt at eating and singing together – had a rather inauspicious beginning. It was listed in the Church calendar as beginning at 5 pm. However, at 5 pm there were perhaps 5 people standing around waiting for something to happen. And neither of the pastors of either congregation was present. By 5:10 there were 10-12 members of the English-speaking congregation and enough food for a nice little dinner. But there were no Koreans, and no Korean food. What point was there to this event if only the English singers sang? We tried singing a few songs in English and called it “practicing”. “What a friend we have in Jesus” and one more of those really old hymns that we hoped some body knew.

At about 5:15, with one Korean speaking woman, who does not speak English, standing with us in a circle we were about to sing the Doxology — one song that I was rather sure everyone would know– more Koreans drove up. So we waited for the Korean pastor’s children and wife, Yun, to come into the circle. We actually cheered as they arrived, since we could hardly do this thing without them. Thanks be to God, the awkward beginning and insecurity around how people who speak distinct languages connect with each other was not indicative of the quality of the gathering as it unfolded.

We had tried to do this before and remembered that while there were people from both congregations present, they were mostly at separate tables, speaking different languages and eating their own food. This time, partly because of the confusion as to the starting time, many of the English-speakers had arrived earlier, and spread themselves around the four tables, leaving space at each for some Korean-speakers to join them. And this time, it worked. Each table included at least two people from each group eating together and trying something from each other’s kitchens.

The food was beautiful — black beans, corn and red pepper salad, a Waldorf salad made from home-grown apples, a cornbread soufflé, yam noodles with spinach, a Korean pot sticker (whose name I was taught, but do not remember,) small egg rolls, a Mexican style hot dish with ground turkey and tortillas, home-made cookies, water melon and sticky rice balls for the Korean Harvest festival that was to be celebrated on the following Wednesday in Korea, but not here in the USA.

Yesterday, it was different. Each table had both Korean and English speakers, sitting together, trying out each other’s food, and then singing together, in both languages at one time, 10-11 hymns and songs found in the hymnals of both congregations. Two of the young people, (10 or so) from the Korean congregation, with the encouragement and direction of Yun, the pastor’s wife, practiced the violin and cello parts to go with 5 of the shared hymns. They had practiced well. Although they did not play the songs as fast as we might have ordinarily sung them, they played them beautifully, in tune and with a marvelous musicality. The slower tempos did not allow us to take for granted or fail to notice the beauty of singing together — “What a friend we have in Jesus.”

I don’t know the words needed now to describe the unfolding of singing together slowly, old songs accompanied by a small string “orchestra”on one side of the four round, blue and white cloth-covered  tables, and the piano on the other side of the room. (Some how, we were in tune.) No language is adequate to express that kind of beauty.

Helen Congelton, the organist of the parish, and I took turns playing through the list. And, I had brought along, El Himnario, i.e. the Spanish Episcopal Hymnal, just in case  some of the Guatemalans joined us. They did not, this time.

The conversations at the tables were slow, halting, some in English, some translated Korean, and some reluctant Koreans speaking English that was really quite good. We talked about the Korean Harvest festival, the food we were eating, where people worked or went to school, and the wonderful musicians.

The most powerful expressions were the two or three silences just after we had finished singing, in Korean and English, “Just as I am without one Plea” and “O God our Help in ages past”, and a favorite of one of the St. David’s people,”Sing, Alleluia to the Lord.” After the Korean Pastor, the Rev. Seyung Park prayed powerfully in Korean, and the Rev. Jerry Hanna prayed also powerfully, in English, we sang “Amazing Grace”. Then we concluded with hugs. Thanks be to God.

What a friend we have in Jesus
Peace Like a River
Guide me O Thou great Jehovah
O God our help in ages past
Jesus Loves Me
My faith looks up to thee
Amazing Grace
O Master let me walk with thee
Just as I am
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
Posted in God at Gatherings, food, drink and holy stuff, God in Relationships | 2 Comments