Labor Day marks the giving way of summer to the beginnings of fall, even in the age of “Corona-tide,” and as is the custom of St. Thomas the Apostle, we mark that passage with changes to our liturgy. There are several things that deserve your knowledge and attention.
Our Song of Praise will be Canticle 13, “Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers,” which we will initially speak, but in the coming weeks will be sung by all. We will reintroduce the intonation of the psalms, led by a cantor.
In conjunction with the book study we are undertaking on Monday evenings (“Caste,” by Isabel Wilkerson), we are reintroducing Prayers of the People composed by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, at the request of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, written specifically to address the issue of racial reconciliation and social justice.
And, this Sunday, it is an honor to welcome the Rt. Rev. G. Wayne Smith for his visitation. Bishop Smith will be with us via Zoom on Sunday morning, and also for the book study on Monday, and our Vestry meeting on Tuesday evening!
Hopefully, in some of these things, you will find comfort and consolation, or irritation, and maybe a little disturbance. Something will feel different. You will have a different experience with and of God. Liturgy has a way of doing these things, sometimes all at once!
