WINTER A.D.

2019

VOL. 61 NO. 4

Photo by The Rev. Joe Calandra, Jr., © 2014

 Published quarterly by the Society for Promoting and Encouraging
Arts and Knowledge of the Church (SPEAK, Inc.).

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHARLESTON D. WILSON
VICE CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHRISTOPHER COLBY

SECRETARY/TREASURER
THE REV. DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
THE RT. REV. JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT,
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY J. BURTON,
THE REV. CANON NEAL O. MICHELL
MARIAN CHANCELLOR

HONORARY MEMBER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY F. M. CLAVIER,
CATHERINE S. SALMON

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2 anglicandigest.org
 Reflecting the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion for more than fifty years.

connecting gathering telling

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winter 2019 3
For this issue, we are revisiting some beloved essays from years
past, primarily focusing on Christmas and Epiphany. We hope
you will enjoy it,and perhaps share it with others. Please keep
the Digest in your prayers, and please consider a year-end gift
to assist us in our mission of connecting believers throughout
the Anglican Communion by sharing essays that tell the story
of our shared faith.

5 Seeing Mary
8 When Men Were Numbered
11 Reflections for the Family of God
14 The Answer of Christmas
14 A Sign
15 Caroling
18 Christmas Dance
19 The True Meaning of Christmas
24 Shadows Remembered
25 The Three Magi
26 Who Were the “Three Kings”?
27 The Other Wise Man
28 Epiphany – The Shining Forth
40 The Christian in Epiphany
41 More Epiphanies
44 Sense in Incense
45 Epiphany
47 Need to be “Shown”
50 Church-Going
53 Brightest and Best
55 A Smoldering Wick

4 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

seeing mary She and her husband called

ahead and they said it was $20
Kelly Grey Carlisle, Ph.D. each, but now they were told
Associate Professor, Trinity
University in San Antonio, TX; $28. They only needed $8.
Editor of the online journal
“1966” “I don’t have any cash,” I said,
which was the truth, but I had
My church’s parking lot is next a credit card. “I’ll come pay
to the Greyhound station in for your ticket.”
downtown San Antonio. On
my way in to choir tonight, “And we can give you the rest
a woman stopped me. She of the money back!” she said.
was young, a little straggly, “I’m so sorry to bug you. I’m
but clean. Her pregnant belly sorry to take up your time.
pooched out a little, the way My husband didn’t even want
pregnant bellies do on thin me to ask nobody.”
people, cute as a button. The
kind of pregnant belly you’d We walked together to the
want to touch. station. People were wait-
ing on the street for rides or
She was short $8 for a bus smoking a cigarette during a
ticket to Austin, she said. cross-country’s dinner break.
Greyhound wouldn’t cut her
a deal. She and her husband “It’s okay. When are you due?”
needed to get to Austin. I tried to change the subject. I
didn’t want her to be embar-
I’d watched her ask a couple of rassed.
other people in the dark park-
ing lot, but they said no. “I have two more months to
go.”
“How much does the ticket
cost?” I asked. We turned the corner.
winter 2019 5
connecting

“My husband’s round front,” It was crowded in the station,

she said. people going all sorts of plac-
es, but mostly now just wait-
There were lots of people ing, pacing. I used to fit in at
there too. A lot of them were Greyhound stations; I don’t
asking for money. anymore.

“Miss, Miss,” a man wrapped Her husband wasn’t there.

in a thick parka, in spite of
the warm night, called to me. “Ma’am, I don’t want to keep
“Miss, don’t listen to her.” you. I don’t want to waste
your time.”
“I don’t see my husband,” the
young woman said. “Have you “It’s okay.”
seen a man in a white sweat-
er?” she asked the crowd. Then another woman came
up to the pregnant woman.
No one had. “Here’s your eight bucks, hon-
ey. I found some for you.”
“Let’s go into the station and
look,” I offered. “I can buy “Thank you,” she said, taking
your ticket. We don’t need it, then holding it tightly in
him for that.” her fist.

“But then I can’t give you the “You’re welcome, honey.” The
money.” other woman left.

“It’s okay.” “So, you all set?” I asked.

“Well, my ticket’s attached to “Yes.”

his. He has to be here.”

6 anglicandigest.org
gathering
“Merry Christmas. Good
luck.” I touched her shoulder
and left.
A man stopped me on my way
out of the station. “I hope you
didn’t give her any money.
She’s a professional con wom-
an.”
“I didn’t,” I said.
“Good!”
Here’s the thing, though. I
would have bought her that
ticket even if she were a pro-
fessional con woman, which
she may or may not have
been. If I’d had cash, I would
have given it to her.
I didn’t see that pregnant
woman tonight, the woman
who said she wanted to go to
Austin. I saw my own mom,
thirty-seven years ago, sev-
en months pregnant with me
and just as desperate, if not
more so. My father had just
been put in jail. She lived in
telling
a motel. She would have lied
for money; she would have
done anything for us. After I
was born, she turned tricks to
keep us alive. That’s what she
was doing when she was mur-
dered, three weeks after I was
born. That woman outside
the Greyhound station was
my mom. That cute little baby
bump was me. I don’t care if
she was lying or not.
I didn’t see that pregnant
woman tonight, the woman
who said she wanted to go to
Austin. I saw a pregnant girl
from 2,000 years ago, looking
for an inn in a strange town,
being told “no,” “no,” “no.” I
saw her Son who promised
that women like the woman
in the bus station would in-
herit the earth. Who prom-
ised a new world where there
wouldn’t be that enormous
gulf between me and her, be-
tween me and the people in
the station.
On my drive home after choir,
winter 2019 7
connecting
I thought of the thousands of
mothers between Mary and
the mother I met tonight,
including my own. I wonder
how much longer we will have
to wait for that promise to be
filled. Lord, quickly come.
Dr. Carlisle’s memoir, We Are
All Shipwrecks, was recently
published by Sourcebooks.
QQQ
“It will not bother me in the
hour of death to reflect that I
have been ‘had for a sucker’
by any number of imposters;
but it would be a torment to
know that I had refused even
one person in need.”
– C. S. Lewis
QQQ
Christmas is built upon a
beautiful and intentional
paradox: that the birth of the
homeless should be celebrat-
ed in every home.
– G.K. Chesterton
8 anglicandigest.org
when men were
numbered
The Rev. Dr. J. Barry Vaughn
On September 23, 63 BC, a
son was born to a prominent
Roman family. They gave him
the name Gaius, but when Ju-
lius Caesar adopted the young
man, he took the name Octa-
vian. Elected consul in 43, the
Roman Senate gave him the
title “Augustus” on January
16, in the year 27 BC.
Somtime around 3 or 4 BC,
the Gospel According to St.
Luke tells us, the divine Au-
gustus ordered “that a census
should be taken of the whole
inhabited world.”
In the distant, backwater
province of Judea, men and
women descended on their
ancestral homes. Hundreds
streamed into Bethlehem,
a small, dusty village about
15 miles south of Jerusalem.
Among them were a peasant
couple from another dusty
gathering
village, Nazareth, up north,
in Galilee. Their names were
Yosef and Miriam – or, as they
have been anglicized, Joseph
and Mary. And again Luke
tells us that, while they were
in Bethlehem, Miriam went
into labor and their first child,
a son, was born. They named
him Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus, a
Hebrew name meaning “God
saves”.
Like hundreds of others in
Bethlehem, Yosef registered
himself and Miriam and Ye-
shua. The minor Roman bu-
reaucrat who registered them
treated Yosef with the indif-
ferent contempt that conquer-
ors feel toward the conquered.
Their names were scratched
with quill pens on the papy-
rus, and the requested number
of copies were made. Perhaps
a copy was kept in the Roman
headquarters in Caesarea Ma-
ritimas, and perhaps another
copy was sent to Rome. How-
ever, it is unlikely that it ever
came to the attention of the
telling
divine Augustus that a Jewish
peasant named Yosef and his
wife Miriam had a son named
Yeshua.
Augustus presided over a pe-
riod of extraordinary peace,
the Pax Romana. An inscrip-
tion dating from 7 BC states
that “it is hard to say whether
the birthday of the most di-
vine Caesar is more joyful or
more advantageous; we may
rightly regard it as like the
beginning of all things, if not
in the world of nature, yet in
advantage; everything was de-
teriorating and changing into
misfortune, but he set it right
and gave the whole world
another appearance. … The
birthday of the god was the
beginning of the good news
to the world on his account.”
Then, on August 14, in the
year AD 14, something hap-
pened to the divine Augustus
that is not supposed to happen
to gods: he died. The Jewish
infant Yeshua, who had been
winter 2019 9
connecting

registered in the Roman cen- Rome fell to Constantine.

sus in Bethlehem many years Unlike his predecessor Au-
before, was then a young man gustus, Constantine did not
nearly 20 years old. accept divine honors. Instead,
he honored the divinity of the
Augustus died; Yeshua – Jesus Jewish peasant Yeshua and ac-
– lived. He lived, and taught, cepted baptism in his name.
and called men and women
to follow him and learn from Constantine raised a great
him, and worked miracles, church in Bethlehem over the
and of course he ran afoul of site of Yeshua’s birth, and to-
the authorities, was arrested, day a church still stands over
given a mock trial, was cru- the site of Constantine’s basil-
cified, and died … and rose ica.
again and lives … and lives …
and lives. Even though we are not in
Bethlehem, we can, as the
About 30 years after Jesus Bidding Prayer invites, “go in
died and rose again, an author heart and mind … even unto
we know as St. Mark wrote an Bethlehem.” We can go be-
account of the life of Jesus. cause, unlike the divine Au-
Perhaps echoing the inscrip- gustus, the divine Jesus lives.
tion that honored the divine
Augustus, Mark began his ac- His birth was a sharp, bright
count of Jesus’ life in this way: spark of light in the midst of
“The beginning of the good darkest night. It was a flame
news of Jesus the Messiah …” that has kindled other flames,
spreading throughout Judea
One Roman emperor fol- and Samaria, going on to
lowed another and, in the Rome, and out to the ends of
course of time, the rule of the world.

10 anglicandigest.org
gathering
The inscription honoring the
divine Augustus was wrong.
The birthday of Augustus is
forgotten. Augustus, the bu-
reaucrats who administered
his census, and the papyrus
on which it was recorded, all
lie in the dust. Jesus, though,
who proclaimed that his king-
dom was not of this world,
rules in the hearts of men and
women on every continent.
It is his birthday which “we
may rightly regard as the be-
ginning of all things … every-
thing was deteriorating and
changing into misfortune,
but he set it right and gave
the whole world another ap-
pearance … [his] birthday …
was the beginning of the good
news to the world.”
QQQ
The best way to prepare for
the coming of Christ is nev-
er to forget the presence of
Christ.
– William Barclay
telling
REFLECTIONS FOR
THE FAMILY OF GOD
The Rev. Kent Walley
For you know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor,
that you through his pov-
erty might become rich. (II
Corinthians 8:9)
My nine-year-old son burst
into the room and spoke
with great enthusiasm: “Dad,
you’ve got to come and see
this! It is so awesome!”
As I followed him up into the
playroom, I wondered what I
was going to see. He’d been up
there playing for a while. Per-
haps some new level had been
reached on a video game.
Maybe he was playing with
one of his many toys. Perhaps
some expensive gift was no
longer collecting dust but ac-
tually being enjoyed.
winter 2019 11
connecting
We reached the playroom
and he pointed with a smile
beaming on his face at a long
pile of magazines on the floor.
“Watch this!” He went to the
end of the room, walking past
a long row of magazines pa-
pers. At the end of the papers
was a padded mat. Then he
took off at full speed and, as
he came to edge of the papers,
he slid on them across the
floor and down onto the mat.
“This is so cool!”
A day or two later, my four-
year-old said to me, “Dad-
dy, watch my new game.” He
proceeded to take an empty
Kleenex box and kick it along
the floor. “Wanna play it with
me?”
Meanwhile, bins full of toys
lay idle, collecting dust.
As we approach Christmas,
I have to remind myself of This year, I am considering
these stories. I always have other gifts for my children.
visions of how happy my chil- Here is my list:
12 anglicandigest.org
dren will be when they open
their presents on Christmas.
I think of them playing for
hours, days, and years with
them. The truth is, this rare-
ly happens. We spend lots of
money, as do our relatives, on
toys that the kids play with for
a day or two, and then go back
to kicking the Kleenex box or
sliding on magazines.
I know I need to be careful
not to allow the emotions
from this “illusion of my own
making” that they will love
the toys forever, and the com-
mercialism of our culture,
persuade me to spend lots of
money on toys. Now, don’t
get me wrong: I’m not against
buying toys for the kids, but I
have to remember that a mod-
est, frugal budget for toys can
still bring a number of nice
presents for the kids to open
on Christmas morning.
gathering
1) Take an afternoon and sur-
prise them with my coming
home early and playing with
them. What my kids need
more than toys is my time and
my love.
2) I’ve asked the grandpar-
ents to keep the toy presents
fewer and simpler. We will
use “Christmas money” for a
family trip instead.
3) The most precious gift I can
give is to share with them the
blessings of life lived in faith-
fulness to Christ. I will strive
to give them more intentional
times in which we talk about
and share what life in Christ
is all about.
4) I plan to give them time to
prepare for and be more reg-
ular with family devotions,
when we study Scripture to-
gether.
5) I plan to linger longer with
them at bedtime and not al-
low our weekly schedule to be
such a hurried blur.
telling
6) I plan to put my own spir-
itual life more wholly, consis-
tently in order, so that I can
set an example for them.
Jesus warns us that it is “eas-
ier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than a
rich person enter the king-
dom of heaven.” Why make
our children “rich with stuff ”
that might actually burden
them with material things
that could turn their hearts
away from God? Why focus
their attention on the materi-
al, which might hinder their
walk with Christ, rather than
help it?
QQQ
I said to the man who stood
at the gate of the years, Give
me light that I may tread safe-
ly into the unknown. And he
replied: Go out into the dark-
ness and put your hand into
the hand of God. That shall
be to you better than light and
safer than the known way.
– Taddled
winter 2019 13
connecting
THE ANSWER OF
CHRISTMAS
The Most Rev. Michael Ramsey
It is because we believe that
God has an answer to man’s
predicament, the answer of
the Word-made-flesh at Beth-
lehem, that we have hope,
and, having hope, are rejoic-
ing once again at Christmas.
Christians for whom this
hope is a reality have been
able to rejoice even when they
have been in the world’s dark-
est places. It was in prison in
Rome, with the prospect of
death awaiting him, that St.
Paul wrote, “Rejoice, and
again I say, rejoice … in noth-
ing be anxious, the Lord is at
hand.”
The proof of our Christian
hope is the existence of men
and women who have lived
by it and have radiated its joy
even in dark and heartbreak-
ing circumstances. Each of
14 anglicandigest.org
us will have known such men
and women, and it is in them
that Christmas is seen to be
alive.
The Child born on this day is
set for the rising and falling of
many, and when the sword of
Bethlehem pierces our own
souls, may it find us on the
side of those who know the
costly secret of Christmas joy.
A SIGN
The Most Rev. George Carey
“And this shall be a sign unto
you: ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12)
A sign. It is important to re-
member that Christmas itself
is only a sign. A sign speaks of
something beyond itself. All
the trappings of Christmas –
the decorated tree, lights, the
presents we give, the crib, tin-
sel, crackers, the eating and
drinking which make up our
gathering telling

celebrations – are only signs. season of hope which sets be-

But what, please, is Christmas fore us the hope of his coming
a sign of? to restore all things and bring
all things to a glorious conclu-
Christmas is a sign of God’s sion.
presence with us.
That is the message of Christ-
You see, even at the time, it mas: come home. Come
was only a sign. The baby did home to his love. Come home
not open his eyes and start to an understanding of the
preaching a sermon. He did world which puts God at the
not hand out “Sayings of Je- center. Christmas is a sign of
sus”, or give Christmas pres- God’s gracious invitation to
ents. The baby was only a sign celebrate his love personally
and could only have been un- by welcoming him into our
derstood later in light of the hearts and lives, not just once
life of the person who was to a year but every day we live.
be Saviour of the World. In-
deed, here is a reminder that May God bless us all this
Christmas can only be under- Christmas time as we make
stood in light of later events, our way to the Manger and
can only be discovered in all celebrate the gift of his love
its wonderful freshness and and life.
life when we discover for our-
selves that Jesus is the human
face of God. The sign of God- CAROLING
with-us, Emmanuel. Taddled

But a sign also of God’s com- What is a Christmas carol,

mitment to his world. You anyway? A tender lullaby? A
see, Christmas is linked with hymn? Yes, now it is, but it
the season of Advent – the wasn’t always that way.
winter 2019 15
connecting
Originally, a carole was a cir-
culare space. Corral, a circular
space for horses, comes from
the same root. A carol was a
song for circle-dancing. Car-
ols have a certain form, which
many of them still retain: a re-
frain (called a “burden”) and
a verse which everyone might
sing, or which might be im-
provised by a soloist.
There were carols for every
holiday. They made little dis-
tinction between sacred and
secular. Some move, in one
verse, from asking for more
beer to asking for God’s bless-
ing. Some (called “maca-
ronic” carols) mix liturgical
Latin with everyday speech.
The best embody a precious
insight, that Christ is Lord of
all people and all life and the
giver of joy. We hear echoes
of that insight at Christmas,
the only time when you hear
in the supermarket or in the
shopping mall some of the
same songs you sing in wor-
ship. We are too prone to see
16 anglicandigest.org
life in unrelated fragments,
and carols give us a broader
vision. What some denounce
as the “secularization” of
Christmas could also be seen
as the “sacralization” of all life,
seeing everything as whole,
instead of just in parts.
Of course, real life is messy,
and there have always been
people who saw carols as the
bearers of unwanted disor-
der. In the sixteenth centu-
ry, carols became the objects
of a clean-up campaign. The
Reformers took a hard line
about people’s preferences for
drinking, singing, and danc-
ing instead of working. There
was, admittedly, a problem.
The number of work-free holy
days had risen above 200. Lots
of people, not all of them blue-
nosed grouches, saw a society
in danger of partying itself to
death. Since carols were rec-
reation music, they got sat on.
They were restricted mostly to
great feasts, and then, finally,
mostly to Christmas, which
gathering
came at a time when there
wasn’t much work to be done.
By the nineteenth century,
rediscovering old carols had
become a mania. Old man-
uscripts were searched. The
oldest carols now sung were
first written down in the fif-
teenth century (such as “Dost
thou in a manger lie?” and
“Unto us a boy is born”). Trips
to isolated hamlets found old
tunes and words passed along
by word of mouth. Carols
saved or composed by mu-
sic-loving Lutherans were im-
ported and translated. Songs
cheaply reprinted for holiday
singing gained a new approv-
al, and that probably rescued
“The first nowell” and “God
rest ye merry, Gentlemen”
from oblivion.
Carol-writing also became
popular. Some were “repro-
ductions”, new stuff made to
look old. Some were unabash-
edly new, with new concerns
about wealth and poverty,
telling
war and peace. A few – “It
came upon a midnight clear,”
“O little town of Bethlehem,”
“We three kings” – have stood
the test of time and made it
to genuine popularity. Old
tunes were fixed up with new
words. Greensleeves – origi-
nally a song about a prostitute
named “Greensleeves” who
was “all my joy” – was remod-
eled into the decorous “What
child is this?”, Charles Wes-
ley’s Christmas hymn “Hark!
the herald angels sing” was
married (over the composer’s
protests) to a tune Felix Men-
delssohn originally composed
for a cantata about the inven-
tion of printing; the chorus
was originally about Guten-
berg, not the new-born King.
Several hundred (or more)
carols are known, but only
thirty or forty are popular. If
printing and recording have
enlarged our corporate mem-
ory, they have also restrict-
ed our usage. Unsung carols
are in the library, but what
winter 2019 17
connecting
is on our lips tends to be the
same everywhere, because we
all hear the same tapes and
records and sing from the
same books. Mostly, howev-
er, they are good tunes with
heart-catching words, which
capture the unique joy of the
season so that it is not wrong
to call them gifts of grace.
CHRISTMAS DANCE
The Rev. Bruce Jenneker
Tomorrow shall be my
dancing day.
I would my true love did so
dance
To see the legend of my play
To call my true love to the
dance.
Sing, O my love, O my love,
my love.
This have I done for my true
love.
In a manger wrapped I was,
So very poor, this was my
chance,
18 anglicandigest.org
Betwixt an ox and a silly poor
ass,
To call my true love to the
dance.
What is remarkable about
this traditional English carol
is its celebration of Christ-
mas as the graceful dance of
God’s love. In this dance, God
gives himself to us in Jesus
Christ; in it, we find ourselves
to be those chosen and loved
of God, sisters and broth-
ers across time and space, all
united in the rhythm of the
dance.
In the life of Jesus Christ, the
Babe of Bethlehem and the
Savior on the Cross, we are
invited to dance with God the
movements which transform
our lives and give meaning to
our history. This is the dance
of the grand, leaping moves of
love and forgiveness, of mys-
tery and harmony; it is also
the dance of the quiet, subtle
gestures of attention by which
we see and hear and know the
facts of life with the compas-
gathering
sionate redeeming heart of
God.
The Christmas of this carol is
playful and merry and full of
delight – precisely because it is
the invitation to enter into the
dance of life with God in Jesus
Christ. Joining in the dance is
risk; it requires stamina and
lots of practice, a keen ear and
an obedient will. It demands a
team spirit and a willingness
to try new things that twist
and turn one’s body a bit. But
the dance – its movements
and its dancers – is exhilarat-
ing ecstasy; in it, all things are
held together, and through it
we discover truth with all its
challenges and hopes, for at
the center of the dance, there
is God dancing with and for
us the dance of our humani-
ty perfected. As W. H. Auden
put it:
I know nothing, except what
everyone
knows – if there when Grace
dances,
I should dance.
telling
THE TRUE MEANING
OF CHRISTMAS
Richard Lederer
The great English etymol-
ogist, Owen Barfield, once
wrote that “words may be
made to disgorge the past that
is bottled up inside of them,
as coal and wine when we
kindle or drink them yield up
their bottled sunshine.” When
we uncap the sunshine that is
bottled up in the many words
that relate to the Christmas
season, we discover that the
light that streams forth illu-
minates centuries of human
history and customs.
The word Christmas comes
from the Old English Christes
maesse, meaning “the festival
mass of Christ”. Christmas is
a fine example of a disguised
compound, a word formed
from two independent mor-
phemes that have become so
closely welded together that
their individual identities
have been lost. Christmas is
winter 2019 19
connecting
the only annual religious hol-
iday to have received official
and secular sanction by all
the states. The word holiday is
another disguised compound,
descending from the Old En-
glish haligdaeg, or “holy day”.
With the change in pronun-
ciation has come a change
in meaning so that holidays,
such as Independence Day
and Labor Day are not neces-
sarily holy.
The name Christ is a transla-
tion of the Hebrew word mes-
siah, “the anointed one”, ren-
dered through the Greek as
Khristos. Jesus also goes back
to ancient Hebrew and the
name Yeshua (Joshua), which
is explained as Jah (or Jahveh,
i.e. Jehova) is salvation”. We
learn about Jesus through the
Gospels; gospel is yet another
disguised compound, from
the Old English god (good)
and spel (news). The four Gos-
pels spread the “good news”
of the life and work of Christ.
No surprise then that the four In the Christian calendar, the
20 anglicandigest.org
men who wrote the Gospels
are called evangelists, from
the Greek euaggelion, which
also means “good news”.
The babe was born in Beth-
lehem, a Hebrew word var-
iously interpreted as mean-
ing “house of bread or food”,
“house of fighting”, or “house
of (the god) Lahamut”. The
Christ child was laid in a
manger, a word related to the
French verb manger, “to eat”.
Why? Because Jesus’ crib was
a large wooden box that had
served as a trough for feeding
cattle. We call the worship of
the new-born Jesus the Ad-
oration, from the Latin ad-
oratio: ad- “to”, oro- “pray”;
hence, “pray to”. Among those
who came to worship were
“wise men … from the East”,
magi, the plural of magus, a
Latin word for “magician”.
Magi were members of an an-
cient Persian priestly caste of
magicians and sorcerers.
gathering telling

period of preparation for the

those for Santa Claus and
birth of Christ is called Ad-
Kris Kringle. When the Dutch
vent, deriving from the Latin
came to the New World, the
advenire, “to come toward”.
figure of St. Nicholas, their
The word yuletide, as a syn-
patron saint, was on the first
onym for the Christmas sea-
ship. After the Dutch lost con-
son, dates back to a heathen
trol of New Amsterdam to the
and then Christian period English in the seventeenth
of fasting about the time of
century, Sinterklaas (a form
the winter solstice (Decem-
of St. Nicholas) gradually be-
ber 22). The origin of yule is
came anglicized into Santa
uncertain; one suggestion is
Claus and acquired some of
that it issues from the Goth-
the features of the English Fa-
ic giul or hiul, which meant
ther Christmas. Kris Kringle
“wheel”. In this context, yule
involves an even more drastic
signifies that the sun, like a
change from one language to
wheel, has completed its an-
another. The Germans and
nual revolution. The Gothic
German-speaking Swiss who
ol or oel and the Anglo-Saxon
settled in Pennsylvania in the
geol, all meaning “feast”, and
eighteenth century held the
the Middle English yollen,custom that the Christ Child,
“to cry aloud”, have also been
or Christkindl, brought gifts
considered as sources of yule.
for the children on Christmas
Whence the tide in yuletide?
Eve. When those Pennsylva-
From an Old English word nia German (also known as
meaning “time”, as in Easter-
Pennsylvania Dutch) com-
tide and “Time and tide wait
munities were joined by En-
for no man”. glish-speaking settlers, the
Christkindl became Kris Krin-
Among the most intriguing gle. By the 1840’s, Kris Krin-
Christmas etymologies are gle had irretrievably taken on

winter 2019 21
connecting

the identity of St. Nicholas, or tia are all no-no’s) words in

Santa Claus. Slogans like “Put the English language. Some
the Christ back in Christmas” dictionaries list both poin-
were coined in an effort to re- sett-ee-uh and poin-sett-uh
mind people of the holiday’s as acceptable ways to say the
holy origins. name of the plant, but lan-
guage guardians much prefer
Of the various plants associ- the first pronunciation.
ated with the Christmas sea-
son, the poinsettia possesses Another botanical Christmas
the most intriguing history item is the pear tree. In the
etymologically. A Mexican seasonal song “The Twelve
legend tells of a penniless boy Days of Christmas”, have you
who presented to the Christ ever wondered why the true
Child a beautiful plant with love sends not only a par-
scarlet leaves that resembled tridge, but an entire pear tree?
the Star of Bethlehem. The That’s because, in the early
Mexicans named the plant French version of the song,
Flor de la Noche Buena, “Flow- the suitor proffered only a
er of the Holy Night”. Dr. Joel partridge, which in French
Robertus Poinsett, the first is rendered as une pertriz. A
U.S. minister to Mexico, dis- 1718 English version com-
covered the Christmas flower bined the two – “a partridge,
there in 1828 and brought it une pertriz” – which, slightly
to this country, where it was corrupted, came out sound-
named in his honor in 1836. ing like “a partridge in a pear
The poinsettia has become tree”. Through the process
one of the most popular of known as folk etyomology,
Christmas plants – and one the partridge has remained
of the most misspelled (point- proudly perched in a pear tree
settia, pointsetta, and poinset- (une pertriz) ever since.

22 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Agatha Christie

Gold, frankincense and myrrh. ... As Mary stands

Beside the Cross, those are the words that beat
Upon her brain, and make her clench her hands,
On Calvary, in noonday’s burning heat.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Magi kneel
By simple shepherds all agog with joy,
And Angels praising God who doth reveal,
His love for men in Christ, the new born Boy.
Where now the incense? Where the kingly gold?
For Jesus only bitter myrrh and woe.
No kingly figure hangs here – just a son
In pain and dying. ... How shall Mary know
That with his sigh “Tis finished,” all is told;
Then – in that moment – Christ’s reign has begun?
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Br. Glen Weeks, OSF,
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e-mail minister-general@fodc.net
or call 716-652-6616
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winter 2019 23
connecting

Did You Know? are going to turn out to cele-

Epiphany is a feast day older brate his patronal festival on
than Christmas itself; it was Boxing Day [December 26].
observed as early as A.D. 194. The same could be said about
Celebrated on January 6th by the whole string of celebra-
the Church, Epiphany com- tions in Christmas week, for
memorates the revelation to those who worship on Christ-
the Gentiles of Christ as Sav- mas Day as well as the previ-
iour, portrayed through the ous and succeeding Sundays
coming of the Three Wise are not likely to be diligent in
Men. other liturgical observances
that week. Yet all these major
SHADOWS festivals have been placed af-
REMEMBERED ter Christmas for a purpose:
St. John the Evangelist, be-
The Rt. Rev. Hugh Montefiore
cause the theme of light and
I always feel rather sorry for darkness which are so ap-
churches placed under the posite at the turn of the year
patronage of St. Stephen, be- relate to the Christmas Gos-
cause not many parishioners pel itself; the Holy Innocents
SOCIETY OF KING CHARLES THE MARTYR
XXXVI ANNUAL SOLEMN MASS OF S. CHARLES, K.M.
11 a.m., Saturday, 1 January 2020
St Paul’s Cathedral, Springfield, IL
Followed by BUFFET LUNCHEON
Reservations required for luncheon; $25/person
Make check to “St. Paul’s” - memo line “SKCM”
Send by 18 Jan. to St. Paul’s Cathedral, 815 S. Second St.,,
Springfield, IL 62704 USA
Local contact: stpaulepca@comcast.net or 217-544-5135
SOCIETY INFORMATION
www.skcm-usa.org or email membership@skcm-usa.org
Join our growing devotional society via our website; click Join or contribute
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24 anglicandigest.org
gathering
because their massacre took
place, according to St. Mat-
thew, shortly after the nativity
of Jesus; and St. Stephen be-
cause he was the protomartyr,
and Simeon, according to St.
Luke, warned Jesus’ parents
shortly after his birth that he
would be the cause of the fall
and rising again of many. And
so, right after our celebration
of the Incarnation, we are re-
minded of the shadow side:
even if we walk in the light,
we are surrounded by dark-
ness in which children will
be hurt and people will have
to forfeit their lives. The sym-
bolism is vivid, and deserves
to be heeded during a season
renowned for self-indulgence.
“God is light and in Him there
is no darkness at all.” But
there is plenty of darkness to
overcome in the world.
The Three Magi
Although their numbers var-
ied from two to twelve, by the
telling
sixth century it became ac-
cepted that there were three
Magi who journeyed to Beth-
lehem to greet the newborn
King. The Magi were priestly
scholars, members of the Zo-
roastrian sect found among
the ancient Medes and Per-
sians. They were especially
well-trained in astrology. Tra-
ditionally, the three priests
who visited the young Christ
are also called Wise Men and
Kings.
At age sixty, Melchior was the
eldest and King of Arabia.
He brought the Christ Child
gold. Next came forty year old
Balthasar, King of Ethiopia,
who brought a gift of fragrant
incense. Third of the Magi
was Gaspar, King of Tarsus,
who presented myrrh.
Each of the presents brought
by the Magi held a symbolic
meaning. The gold represent-
ed a gift for a king. Frankin-
cense was given to the young
Christ as a symbol of him as
high priest. Myrrh was used
winter 2019 25
connecting

in making medicines and ly used for powerful Eastern

symbolized Jesus becoming a religious leaders, so we can
great physician and healer. draw a logical conclusion that
these were Zoroastrian priests
The day of the arrival of the from Persia or India. Zoroas-
Three Kings at the manger trianism, a religion that was
is called Epiphany. The jour- widespread in the Middle
ney of the Kings to the crib East in those days, is steeped
of the Prince of Peace is also in astrology. The appearance
believed to symbolize the sur- of a new star would have had
render of worldly power to great meaning to them.
the divine, spiritual authority
embodied in Christ. If the magi were in the East
and the star appeared in the
East, why would they go West
WHO WERE THE to Jerusalem? (Remember,
“THREE KINGS”? they went first to King Herod,
where they learned of the
The Rev. Richard R. Losch prophecy that the Messiah
would be born in Bethlehem.)
The idea that the magi were The star then led them to
kings comes from the proph- Bethlehem, South-southwest
ecy of Psalm 77:10, “The of Jerusalem. Unfortunately,
kings of Tarshish and of the the King James translation
isles shall pay tribute, and the “we have seen a star in the
kings of Arabia and Saba of- East” is incorrect. The Greek
fer gifts.” The original Greek clearly says “rising star”, not
uses the term magoi (from the “star in the East”. Zoroastrian
Persian magav; Latin magi), Magi were scholars of the first
which is translated “wise rank, and it is perfectly rea-
men”. The term was common- sonable that they would have

26 anglicandigest.org
gathering
been studying in Joppa (now
Tel-Aviv) or in one of the Ess-
ene monasteries west of Jeru-
salem. These were important
learning centers that would
have attracted religious schol-
ars. If the magi were there,
they would have seen the star
over Bethlehem, in the East.
To Christians, it is significant
that the first worshippers of
Jesus were simple shepherds
and powerful pagan Gentiles,
emphasizing his message that
he is for all people, not just
for a select few. For this rea-
son the 1662 Book of Com-
mon Prayer gave Epiphany,
the celebration of the visit of
the Magi, the subtitle “The
Manifestation of Christ to the
Gentiles”.
We can be so inoculated
by small doses of Chris-
tianity that we can’t catch
the real thing.
– Taddled
telling
THE OTHER WISE
MAN
Caroline Pyle
You know the story of the
Three Wise Men, but you may
not know the wonderful sto-
ry told by Henry Van Dyke of
the Other Wise Man. He too
saw the star rising in the East
and set out with wondrous
gifts to offer the King whose
birth had long been foretold.
This one did not reach the
young Child along with his
brethren because he stopped
along the way to help a sick,
elderly man by the side of the
road. This Other Wise Man
did not find the Holy Family
in Egypt where they had fled.
Instead, he saved one inno-
cent child in Bethlehem from
Herod’s massacre.
The great desire of this Oth-
er Wise Man was denied, and
yet in a strange way he found
the One whom he sought.
He knew that the Child he
sought would not be found
winter 2019 27
connecting
in a palace or among the rich
and powerful, but feeding the
hungry, clothing the naked,
healing the sick, comforting
the captive, and reaching out
to the lost. For the light which
he sought was a new light that
rose out of patient and trium-
phant suffering.
As the years went by, he
searched and used his gifts of
healing and gave of his great
wealth to the poor and the
lowly and the oppressed. Fi-
nally, in his last act of giving
when his last hope of finding
the King was gone, the Oth-
er Wise Man found peace. He
had done the best he could do
from day to day. He had been
faithful and, in that last act of
love, found the King. In his
searching and in his giving,
the Other Wise man of Van
Dyke’s beautiful story became
like the King he sought – of-
fering himself in love and re-
vealing Christ to the hungry,
the naked, the sick, the cap-
tive, and the lost.
28 anglicandigest.org
If we seek to find Christ, we
too would do well to look for
Him there. And the King will
answer, “Inasumuch as ye
have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye
have done it unto me.”
EPIPHANY – THE
SHINING FORTH
The Rt. Rev. Robert E.
Terwillinger
The shining forth is the sec-
ond part of our celebration
of the Incarnation of God;
the first part is Christmas,
the time of the divine humil-
ity, the hiddenness of God,
the lostness, the rejection.
It’s curious that we so seldom
grasp the connection between
Christmas and Calvary. When
God comes to us, he humbles
himself in obedience. This is
the meaning of the rejection,
of his being born in a barn, of
the glory of his tremendous
undergoing of the problems,
Continued on page 34
 ANGLICAN
BOOKSTORE

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We also offer bargain books, which are priced at $3.00 each. You may also order by calling
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connecting
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ITEM F015 (leatherbound, 128 pages, $20)

THE PSALMS AS CHRISTIAN PRAISE:

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Following in the style of their companion vol-
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THE END OF THE BEGINNING: JOSHUA AND JUDGES

By Johanna W. H. Van Wijk-Bos
This book presents a chapter-by-chapter interpretation of Joshua

30 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

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EXACTLY AS YOU ARE: THE LIFE AND

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winter 2019 31
connecting

FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIPS: EMBRACING

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32 anglicandigest.org
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winter 2019 33
connecting
disasters, and forsakenness
which we experience in this
life. Until we understand this,
we do not realize the glory of
his overcoming; we do not re-
alize that the Light shines in
the dark; we do not realize
that we must see the dark be-
fore we see the meaning of the
Light.
Now all of this is something
which is of tremendous beau-
ty and tremendous power. It
plays its part in the greater
carols of the season, but it also
plays its part in our percep-
tion of the Christian life, and
of the Christian Church at
this very moment. We need to
perceive again the fact that Je-
sus didn’t come into the world
to get lost. He came into the
world to be revealed – but
not by some edict, or by some
great blast of divine power,
but by the invincible humility
of the Light of the world.
In Christian history, this has
always been the pattern of the
34 anglicandigest.org
great moments. Curiously, we
look for the breakthroughs
in Christian doctrine, for the
breakthroughs in the forms
of Christian life, not in the
moments when there were
mighty movements of major-
ities of Christians who were
suddenly all going in the right
way. The great moments have
often been moments of dark-
ness, as in the earliest Church,
when Paul had to deal with
such a problem place as
Corinth, out of which came
the tremendous manifestation
of Christian truth in his epis-
tles to the Corinthians. Later
on, it was in the awful battle
with the Arians, out of which
we got the faith of the Incar-
nation in its mighty fullness.
It was during the time of the
secularization of the Church
under Constantine that we
had the birth of the monastic
movement and, later on, there
were the great reforms of this
movement, always led by
some mighty man, very often
seemingly alone. Let’s not for-
gathering
get the power of the solitary
individual – the Anthanasius,
the Benedict, the Francis of
Assisi.
This has been true also in An-
glicanism. The seventeenth
century divines were not a
great multitude which no
man can number, but a few
people, some of them in lost
and lonely places, who were
so vivid and radiant with their
joy, and with what they had to
offer, that they brought to the
whole Church of England a
newness of life. It turned out
that the civil order which they
preferred seemed to be de-
feated and to die, but the fact
is that all they stood for in
spirituality is now accepted as
part of the patristic tradition
of Anglicanism.
The way of renewal is to re-
member the radiation of the
Light of the World.
QQQ
telling
I think that many of us, when
Christ has enabled us to over-
come one or two sins that
were an obvious nuisance, are
inclined to feel (though we do
not put it into words) that we
are now good enough. He has
done all we wanted Him to
do, and we should be obliged
if He would leave us alone.
But the question is not what
we intended ourselves to be,
but what He intended us to be
when He made us.
Imagine yourself as a living
house. God comes in to re-
build the house. At first, per-
haps, you can understand
what He is doing. He is get-
ting the drain right and stop-
ping the leaks in the roof and
so on. You knew that those
jobs needed doing and so you
are not surprised.
But presently He starts
knocking the house about in
a way that hurts abominably
and does not seem to make
winter 2019 35
connecting
sense. What on earth is He
up to? The explanation is that
He is building quite a differ-
ent house from the one you
thought of – throwing up a
new wing here, putting on an
extra floor there, running up
towers, making courtyards.
You thought you were going
to be made into a decent lit-
tle cottage, but He is building
a palace. He intends to come
and live in it Himself.
– C. S. Lewis
THE ORDER OF ST. ANDREW
A Religious Order of men and
women, both married and single,
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36 anglicandigest.org
It had been a particularly
tiring day for a four-year-
old girl and her parents.
After putting their daugh-
ter to bed, they collapsed
into their room. But the
little girl was too tired
to fall asleep and be-
came fearful of the dark.
“Mommy, Daddy, come
here, I’m scared” came
just as her parents’ eyes
closed. “It’s okay, God’s in
there with you,” they re-
plied, hoping to ease her
fears. A minute passed.
“Mommy, Daddy, come
here, I’m scared.” “But we
told you, God’s in there
with you.” “I know He is,
but I need somebody with
skin on them!”
God knows what we need:
And the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us
… as we beheld His glory
… full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-18)
– The Rev. Joseph Arps
gathering telling

THE THREE KINGS

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Three Kings came riding from far away,

Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;
Three Wise Men out of the East were they,
And they travelled by night and they slept by day,
For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.
The star was so beautiful, large and clear,
That all the other stars of the sky
Became a white mist in the atmosphere,
And by this they knew that the coming was near
Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.
Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,
Three caskets of gold with golden keys;
Their robes were of crimson silk with rows
Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,
Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.
And so the Three Kings rode into the West,
Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell,
And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,
And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,
With the people they met at some wayside well.
“Of the child that is born,” said Baltasar,
“Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;
For we in the East have seen his star,
And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,
To find and worship the King of the Jews.”
winter 2019 37
connecting

And the people answered, “You ask in vain;

We know of no King but Herod the Great!”
They thought the Wise Men were men insane,
As they spurred their horses across the plain,
Like riders in haste, who cannot wait.

And when they came to Jerusalem,

Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,
Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;
And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem,
And bring me tidings of this new king.”

So they rode away; and the star stood still,

The only one in the grey of morn;
Yes, it stopped – it stood still of its own free will,
Right over Bethlehem on the hill,
The city of David, where Christ was born.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,
Through the silent street, till their horses turned
And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;
But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,
And only a light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,

In the air made sweet by the breath of kine*,
The little child in the manger lay,
The child, that would be king one day
Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

38 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

His mother Mary of Nazareth

Sat watching beside his place of rest,
Watching the even flow of his breath,
For the joy of life and the terror of death
Were mingled together in her breast.
They laid their offerings at his feet:
The gold was their tribute to a King,
The frankincense, with its odor sweet,
Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,
The myrrh for the body’s burying.
And the mother wondered and bowed her head,
And sat as still as a statue of stone,
Her heart was troubled yet comforted,
Remembering what the Angel had said
Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.
Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,
With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;
But they went not back to Herod the Great,
For they knew his malice and feared his hate,
And returned to their homes by another way.
* “Kine” is an archaic plural of cow.
QQQQQQQQQ
I myself am very glad that the divine child was born in a stable,
because my soul is very much like a stable, filled with strange
unsatisfied longings, with guilt and animal-like impulses, tor-
mented by anxiety, inadequacy and pain. If the Holy One could
be born in such a place, that One can be born in me also. I am
not excluded. – Morton Kelsey
winter 2019 39
connecting
THE CHRISTIAN
IN EPIPHANY
The Rev. Dr. Max A Myers
For the Christian, there is the
perennial gap in the litur-
gical year between the high
points of Christmas and Ash
Wednesday leading to Eas-
ter. The onset of the winter
“blahs” in many people’s lives
coincides with the liturgically
nondescript period of the last
part of Epiphany season.
Advent has the image of awak-
ening and expectant waiting
as its theme. So what is the
theme of Epiphany? What
does Epiphany call us to do?
It seems to me that the theme
of Epiphany is shining. The
traditional symbol of Epipha-
ny is the star leading the wise
men to a manifestation of the
Divinity, and the themes for
the first Sundays in Epiphany
echo that theme. But how do
we make that theme of shin-
40 anglicandigest.org
ing something real in our lives
as we struggle with snow and
cold and a general feeling of
bleakness?
In answering that question,
I suggest that we ponder for
a moment how we are called
to shine, to show forth God in
our lives. For Christians, our
lives show God to others the
more we model them on the
life of Jesus. In other words,
in Pauline language, our lives
reflect the glory shown forth
already in the life and message
of Jesus the Christ.
The way to show God to oth-
ers is first of all to come into
a living relationship with the
One that Jesus called Father,
and call him our father as
well. Just as Jesus did, we have
to spend some time with God
in prayer, contemplation, and
meditation every day. As we
do this, we develop our abili-
ties to listen to God, in silence
as well as in Scripture and in
the liturgy of the Church.
gathering
But our calling does not end
in contemplation for God in
our lives. Jesus tells us to love
our neighbors as well as God.
Our shining as we reflect God
is not a shining in a dark vacu-
um; it is a directed, intention-
al shining. We have to listen to
God, in order to find out how
our shining can reach into
their darkness. And this is the
hard part; we have to learn to
cut through lies, distortions,
illusions, and surface distrac-
tions – both our own and our
neighbors’ – to get to our re-
ality.
This is always difficult, in
large part because a part of
us wants to believe the easy
falsehoods. We want to accept
what the mass media and our
government tell us about the
world, because it is easier to
do so than to search out real-
ity. We prefer the soothing il-
lusion because, to paraphrase
T. S. Eliot, humankind cannot
stand too much reality. Facing
reality and the God of real-
telling
ity might force us to change
and to suffer discomfort. Es-
pecially after 9/11, we have
collectively gone into a kind
of sleep, in large part, out of
shock, anger, and fear – un-
derstandably, perhaps. But
there are signs that some peo-
ple are beginning to stir and to
begin to brush off the dust to
let a little more light be reflect-
ed from them. May we shine
with them this Epiphany.
MORE EPIPHANIES
The Rev. William S. Musselman
The Word “Epiphany” means
a manifestation, a showing
forth. It comes from anoth-
er Greek word, “theophany”,
which literally means a show-
ing forth of God.
In ancient times, through the
East and Mideast, kings would
pay yearly visitation to each
town under their rule. The
occasion was always a time of
winter 2019 41
connecting

great rejoicing. At a time in me, desensitized in beholding

history when there was little his appearing.
to celebrate, the kingly vis-
itation gave cause for much Not long ago I left a sick
merriment. The king would room. I had read the ancient
throw a party. It was a day off prayer of commendation for
for everyone. It was not un- the dying – a prayer that al-
usual for the king to pardon ways moves me:
criminals. If one can identify Depart, O Christian soul,
with the times, when most all out of this world,
were poor, one can see why In the Name of God the Father
people called such a visita- Almighty who created thee;
tion a theophany. The festive In the Name of Jesus Christ
nature of it all was equated to who redeemed thee;
the joy that would surely In the Name of the Holy Spirit
come if God ever visited his who sanctifieth thee.
people. May thy rest be this day in
peace; and thy dwelling-place
I suppose one of life’s great- in the Paradise of God.
est tragedies is that we are
so caught up in our own lit- As I walked down the cor-
tle worlds that we miss God’s ridor, a nurse, not known to
continued epiphanies. Here me, said “Thank you for com-
I speak of myself, not just ing, we appreciate your con-
the reader. How pathetically cern.” Now I, who had gone
easy it is for us all to be over- to minister, was being minis-
wrought by so many things tered to! Perhaps the young
that we are blinded to see our lady could read on my face
King as day by day he seeks to that it had been a trying day. I
reveal himself to us. We are frankly don’t know. But this I
inclined to be, beginning with do know: I beheld an epipha-

42 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

ny. For you see, wherever pure Two turtledoves are the
love is, there is God, for God Old and New Testaments.
is love and he is forever trying Three French hens stand for
to make that known to us. faith, hope, and love.
Four calling birds are the
That I care about you and you four Gospels.
care about me – that is an Five golden rings recall the
epiphany. It is God working first five books of the Old
to make a bridge between his Testament (the Pentateuch),
children who are so inclined known as The Law.
to build walls between them- Six geese a-laying stand for
selves. the six days of creation.
So, dear Reader, in the new Seven swans a-swimming
days ahead, yet one day at a represent the sevenfold gifts
time, let us be more attentive of the Spirit.
to looking and listening for Eight maids a-milking are
God. Let us be more sensitive the eight beatitudes.
to his appearing as, day by Nine ladies dancing are
day and in countless ways, he the nine fruits of the Spirit
seeks to make himself known (Galatians 5).
to us. If we do this, I have no Ten lords a-leaping are the
doubt that we shall see more Ten Commandments.
epiphanies. Eleven pipers piping stand
for the eleven faithful
disciples.
THE TWELVE DAYS Twelve drummers drumming
OF CHRISTMAS, symbolize the twelve points
INTERPRETED of belief in the Apostles’
Creed.
The partridge in a pear tree is – Taddled
Jesus Christ.

winter 2019 43
connecting
SENSE IN INCENSE
Taddled
Incense has been used from
time immemorial. It is com-
mended for use in the first
books of the Old Testament
and was used regularly in Jew-
ish worship. Incense was one
of the three gifts brought to
the infant Jesus by the Magi.
Offering of incense was prac-
ticed by both the Jews and the
Romans of the time. With the
Romans, incense was used to
indicate reverence for the em-
peror, and refusal of any citi-
zen to burn incense in honor
of him was regarded as proof
of disloyalty – sometimes
punishable by death.
In the Jewish-Christian tradi-
tion, however, incense is of-
fered only to God, and many
of the early Christians suffered
martyrdom rather than burn
incense to the emperor. They
did not make a distinction, as
most of us do today, between
religious and patriotic obser-
44 anglicandigest.org
vances. Today, we see nothing
contrary to religion in such
patriotic ceremonies as salut-
ing the flag or standing as the
national anthem is played, but
early Christians regarded the
burning of incense as a rec-
ognition of divinity, and thus
were ready to die rather than
burn incense to the emperor.
Incense was used continuous-
ly in the early Church to show
reverence to God. The Chris-
tians agreed with the Psalmist,
who sang, “Let my prayers be
set forth in thy sight as the in-
cense.”
When Protestantism entered
the scene in the 16th cen-
tury, the use of incense was
dropped, and it was left to
the Roman Catholic, Ortho-
dox, and Anglican Churches
to preserve the use of incense
as a part of Christian worship.
Since our human nature is
physical as well as spiritual, it
is in accordance with our na-
ture to accompany our prayers
with some sort of physical ac-
gathering
tion, such as kneeling, making
the sign of the Cross, lighting
a candle, or burning incense.
God, of course, does not need
the candle or the incense, but
he is pleased that we worship
him in accordance with what
is natural to us. To limit our
worship to thoughts or feel-
ings or words is to offer God
only a part of ourselves: to
accompany our worship with
physical actions is a more
complete offering of our na-
ture to him. This is why we use
ceremonial in our worship,
and it is why we light candles
and burn incense. God knows
that we are not pure spirits,
and he does not expect us to
be purely spiritual in our ap-
proach to him. A purely spir-
itual approach would be, to
us, artificial and unrealistic,
for it is contrary to the nature
which God has given us. In
the Revelation of St. John the
Divine, incense is used: “And
another angel came and stood
at the altar with a golden cen-
ser; and he was given much
telling
incense to mingle with the
prayers of all the saints upon
the golden altar before the
throne; and the smoke of the
incense rose with the prayers
of the saints from the hand of
the angel before God.”
The use of incense, and of oth-
er outward and visible actions
is not only scriptural, but is
of true value. To refuse these
things is to withhold from
God an important part of our
nature. To use them, cheer-
fully and reverently, is to do
homage to God, with all we
are and all we have.
EPIPHANY
The Rev. Canon Peter Gorday
Following the feast day of the
Epiphany on January 6, the
season of Epiphany will run
until Ash Wednesday, and
will contain several Sundays.
(The specific number depends
upon when Easter falls and,
therefore, when Ash Wednes-
day will occur.)
winter 2019 45
connecting
An important contemporary
theologian, David Tracy, has
said that God through Christ
comes to us in two ways, man-
ifestation and proclamation.
Both ways are joined in the
Eucharist where bread and
wine show forth the presence
of Christ, while the word pro-
claims him. Different seasons
of the Church Year might be
said to lean to one way more
than the other, with Christ-
mas and Epiphany emphasiz-
ing more the “manifestation”
or “showing forth”. Indeed,
that is what the word Epiph-
any means: to show forth
something that was veiled or
hidden or obscured before.
The Feast of the Epiphany it-
self introduces Jesus as the
One awaited by Jews and
Gentiles when the Magi come
to worship him at the crib in
Bethlehem (Matthew 2). His
baptism by John at the Jordan
(Matthew 3) further reveals
his divine status and mis-
sion, as does John’s testimony
46 anglicandigest.org
to him as the Lamb of God,
along with his first gathering
of disciples (John 1, Matthew
4).
This last theme then leads to
the final Epiphany Sunday
readings that have to do with
the Transfiguration of Christ,
with that moment in the min-
istry when Peter and James
and John begin to realize that
Jesus is a heavenly figure full
of the light of God. This fitting
climax to Epiphany season sets
the stage for Jesus’ final trip to
Jerusalem, the denial by his
disciples, the final teachings,
and his Passion, death, and
Resurrection. The revealing of
so much glory in Jesus during
Epiphany season is empow-
ering for the disciples and an
unveiling to all people of the
extent of God’s love, but it is
also and paradoxically genera-
tive of resistance and rejection
on the part of those who have
established turf, pre-set ideas,
and guilty secrets to protect.
gathering
And so, suffering and death lie
ahead. The Church’s response
is to end Epiphany and begin
Lent with a day of deep peni-
tence, Ash Wednesday.
NEED TO BE
“SHOWN”
The Rev. Kenneth J. Dorsch
Missouri is known as the
“Show Me” State, although
that kind of attitude is not
limited to any particular
state’s boundaries. All of us
want and need to be “shown”
if we’re going to put our trust
in anything. It was no differ-
ent with the people of Jesus’
generation; they too wanted
to be “shown” who Jesus was
if they were going to put their
faith and trust in him.
After the twelve days of Christ-
mas, the Feast of the Epipha-
ny and the time that follows
is the “Show Me” season of
the church year. We usually
connect Epiphany with the
telling
appearance of the three sages
who followed the star to Beth-
lehem. But the broader mes-
sage in this season is that God
“shows” the people of Jesus’
day (and those of our day) just
who Jesus is. All the Sundays
that follow Epiphany deal with
the manifestation of Jesus as
the Christ.
On the day of Epiphany, the
manifestation of the Christ
child to the three wise men
who come from the East is
a “showing” of Christ to the
Gentiles (those outside the
faith of Israel). On the first
Sunday of Epiphany, we hear
of Jesus’ baptism in the River
Jordan, at which God declares
and “shows” that Jesus is the
Son of God. In the weeks
ahead, we will hear of many
healings and miracles which
“showed” that Jesus was filled
with the power of God. And
finally, in his transfiguration
on the holy mountain (which
we always celebrate on the last
Sunday after Epiphany and
winter 2019 47
connecting

before Ash Wednesday), Jesus Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise,

is “shown” in all the glory of Manifested by the star
his divine nature. To the sages from afar;
Branch of Royal David’s stem
One of the most familiar In thy birth at Bethlehem;
hymns for the Epiphany sea- Anthems be to thee addrest,
son is “Songs of thankfulness God in man made manifest.
and praise”. It was published
in 1862 for the sixth Sunday Manifest at Jordan’s stream,
after Epiphany by Christopher Prophet, Priest, and King
Wordsworth, who described supreme;
it as a “recapitulation of the And at Cana, wedding guest,
successive manifestations of In thy Godhead manifest;
Christ, which have already Manifest in power divine,
been presented in the services Changing water into wine;
of five former weeks through- Anthems be to thee addrest,
out the season of Epiphany; God in man made manifest.
and anticipation of that future
great and glorious Epiphany, Manifest in making whole
at which Christ will be man- Palsied limbs and fainting soul;
ifested to all, when he will ap- Manifest in valiant fight,
pear again to judge the world.” Quelling all the devil’s might;
Manifest in gracious will,
Take a moment to read over Ever bringing good from ill;
the text of this hymn, which Anthems be to thee addrest,
reminds us of the manifold God in man made manifest.
ways in which God is made
manifest in Christ: Grant us grace to see thee,
Lord,
Songs of thankfulness and Mirrored in thy holy word;
praise, May we imitate thee now,
48 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

And be pure, as pure art thou; be a clear sign of God’s rec-

That we like to thee may be onciling love. For this gift of
At thy great epiphany; God’s own self – for this task
And may praise thee, ever blest, to make him known in our
God in man made manifest. own lives – may we truly of-
fer songs of thankfulness and
(You can also find it on page praise!
135 of the 1982 Hymnal, albe-
it with a different fourth verse
by F. Bland Tucker.) A HYMN FOR
You might stop for a moment THE EPIPHANY
and give thanks for God’s
self-manifestation in Jesus of Earth has many a noble city;
Nazareth, made so clear to Bethl’hem, thou dost all
us in the Gospel narrative. excel:
And let us also give thanks for out of thee the Lord from
those moments in which God heaven
continues to “show” the divine came to rule his Israel.
presence in Word and Sacra-
ment, and in those moments Fairer than the sun at
of love shared by those who morning
live in the faith of Jesus. was the star that told his
birth,
But do not forget that we too to the world its God
are called to be “epiphanies” of announcing
God. We are to manifest God’s seen in fleshly form on earth.
presence in word and deed by
reaching out to others in the Eastern sages at his cradle
power of the Spirit without make oblations rich and rare;
concern for self. When people see them give in deep
say, “Show me!”, let our lives devotion,
winter 2019 49
connecting
gold and frankincense and
myrrh.
Sacred gifts of mystic
meaning:
incense doth their God
disclose,
gold the King of kings
proclaimeth,
myrrh his sepulcher
foreshows.
Jesu, whom the Gentiles
worshipped
at thy glad Epiphany,
unto thee with God the
Father
and the Spirit glory be.
– Aurelius Clemens
Prudentius, 5th century
CHURCH-GOING
The Rev. Stephen J.
Elkins-Williams
What is the single most im-
portant thing you can do to
grow in the spiritual life? I
would reply without hesita-
tion, “Go to church at least
50 anglicandigest.org
weekly.”
There are many reasons we
come up with to avoid going
to church: ‘Sunday is my only
day to relax’, ‘That’s our fam-
ily/couple time’, ‘I don’t get
much out of it’, ‘People aren’t
very friendly’, ‘I just have too
much to do’. But in the end,
if we are honest, they all boil
down to rationalization and
selfishness. Nothing is more
important than going to
church.
Nothing is more important
because we were created to
worship God, and not just
individually, but commu-
nally. Our very nature as
those whom God created,
“knit together in our moth-
ers’ wombs”, is to pay hom-
age to God. Together we are
to “worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness,” and with
Angels and Archangels and
all the company of heaven, to
proclaim the glory of God’s
name, “Holy, holy, holy Lord
God of Hosts…”
gathering
Nothing is more important
because going to church pulls
us beyond our limited focus
and our narrow vision. The
challenge of belief, the call to
love others, and the concrete
experience of community,
of people of different ages
and needs and viewpoints,
stretches us beyond our-
selves. When we stop going to
church or go infrequently, we
cut off even the possibility of
being challenged to new spir-
itual growth.
Nothing is more important
because each time we go to
church, we offer a visible wit-
ness – to the world and to
the Church – of the presence
of the living God. Imagine if
there were no churches, or no
one went, what message that
would communicate. When
we go to church, our exam-
ple and our word (in prayer
and hymn) strengthen others
to receive “the Good News of
God in Christ.”
telling
Simply going to church –
mere physical presence – does
not ensure that we will love
God and our neighbor and be
powerful witnesses to others.
We must “go” in the full sense
of “enter into”. But if we do go
to church, faithfully and fre-
quently, not giving into our
excuses, we will be amazed at
the growth God can work in
us.
QQQ
How grateful I am to God
that there is a duty to worship,
a law to remind me that it is
time to think of God, time to
disregard my ego for at least a
moment. I am not always in a
mood to pray. I do not always
have the vision and strength
to say a word in the pres-
ence of God. But when I am
weak, it is the law that gives
me strength; when my vision
is dim, it is duty that gives me
insight.
– Abraham J. Heschell
winter 2019 51
 GUEST
QUARTERS
at Hillspeak

S
cenic vistas from atop Grindstone Mountain and the
proximity of Eureka Springs draw visitors from around
the world. Whether you are seeking the serenity of
an Ozark mountain retreat, searching the shelves in
Operation Pass Along, or doing research in the Foland Library,
Hillspeak’s guest quarters are ideal. Each unit accommodates
at least four people, and has a fully equipped kitchen and all
necessary linens. In lieu of a set fee, a donation is requested.
Call for more information or to make reservations.

Plan to spend some time with us.

The Anglican Digest

805 County Road 102
Eureka Springs, AR 72632-9705
Phone: 479-253-9701
Fax: 479-253-1277
Email: accommodation
@anglicandigest.org

Please call between 8 A.M. &

5 P.M. CT, Monday-Friday.
gathering
BRIGHTEST
AND BEST
The Rev. George William
Rutler
The brightest and best hymn
writer of recent centuries was
Reginald Heber (1783-1826).
If he has been overlooked as
a significant poet in an age of
heroic poets, his words suffice
as a remarkably generous en-
dowment of pious letters. Of
all his matchless poems, this
one of happy inspiration is the
best. All Epiphany is summed
here: haunting, majestic, poi-
gnant, ethereal, and domestic.
Heber was elected a Fellow
of All Souls upon his Angli-
can ordination in 1807. At
the age of forty, he became
the second Bishop of Calcut-
ta, and died three years later.
As a bishop of the established
Anglican Church, he had ca-
nonical oversight of millions
of souls, mostly Hindu and
Muslim. Only a fraction did
telling
he convert, and so he may
have seemed to have been a
shooting star when he died
in Trichinopoly of sudden
apoplexy. But we have these
prayers of his “heart’s adora-
tion”, and rare is the man who
has left such a continuing ser-
mon.
Heber, of Evangelical impe-
tus and dead before ritualism
ever scented the breeze, had
nonetheless a liturgical sen-
sibility and wrote this spe-
cifically for the Feast of the
Epiphany. It was included in
his posthumous Hymns, Writ-
ten and Adapted to the Weekly
Church Service in 1827. One
imagines him singing it as he
traversed his vast domain in
his long caravan with its large
retinue – for which he was
occasionally criticized, al-
though such was obligatory to
his estate and circumstances.
If his domestic arrangements
were different from those of
St. Francis Xavier, his self-
less ventures were a golden
winter 2019 53
connecting
vignette of the best imperial
benefactions. He would have
sung “Brightest and best”
to an old Scottish tune for
which he wrote it, and which
enjoyed a name appropriate
for the caravans of Persian
Magi or English missionaries:
“Wandering Willie”. Of the
tunes to which it is ordinari-
ly sung today, “Morning Star”
conspicuously fits the feel of
the season and the text. It was
composed in 1892 by James
B. Harding (c. 1859-1911),
organist and choirmaster of
St. Andrew’s, Islington, in
London; and although it was
first part of a longer anthem,
it stands mightily on its own
as a hymn, provided it is not
sung too slowly.
The opening line, repeated at
the end, is probably a con-
scious conceit alluding to the
“morning stars” and “sons of
God” in Job 38:7. Literalist
detractors from time to time
have sniffed some sort of Zo-
roastrianism in it. Rather, it
54 anglicandigest.org
sings a piety of shimmering
beauty, and a man of Heber’s
churchmanship would have
been the first to mock any im-
putation of idolatry, especially
as he wrote in another poem
about the heathen who “bows
down to wood and stone”. The
present danger in this hymn is
its tendency to provoke envy
in any poet – that is, most of
the literary world – incapable
of the imagery, especially in
the second and third stanzas.
Brightest and best of the sons
of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and
lend us thine aid;
Star of the east, the horizon
adorning,
Guide where our infant
Redeemer is laid.
Cold on his cradle the
dew-drops are shining;
Low lies his head with the
beasts of the stall;
Angels adore him in slumber
reclining,
Maker and Monarch and
Saviour of all.
gathering
Shall we then yield him, in
costly devotion,
Odours of Edom, and offerings
divine,
Gems of the mountain, and
pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold
from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample
oblation,
Vainly with gifts would his
favour secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s
adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers
of the poor.
Brightest and best of the sons
of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and
lend us thine aid;
Star of the east, the horizon
adorning,
Guide where our infant
Redeemer is laid.
telling
A SMOLDERING
WICK
The Rt. Rev. Richard Henry
McPhail Third
February begins with a feast
we used to know as Candle-
mas, and it is from a candle
that I take my theme.
It was Monday morning, and
I was trying to concentrate on
my prayers, but I was troubled
by the behavior of the candles
on the altar. One seemed to
be burning well, but the oth-
er showed no more than a red
spark. Surely soon it would
go out, and the Verger would
come and put it right, and I
wouldn’t have to worry any
more.
Meanwhile, the spark of my
own prayer was pretty dim. I
closed my eyes and began to
wonder what the little con-
gregation looked like to God.
How many ardent flames?
How many sparks still there,
winter 2019 55
connecting

but only just? How many see my face unless your broth-
quite dead and cold? er is with you.” Smug selfish-
ness closes the heart to God.
I succeeded in forgetting the
distraction. When it caught But if it is to burn at all, the
my attention again, the ailing candle needs to be hot. Luke-
candle was splendidly alive. warm wax does not catch fire.
Yet no one had touched it. No perfunctory concern for
The tiny spark had succeeded others can be identified as
in breaking through the wax- prayer. It must be warmed by
en cap at the top of the candle, love.
allowing a stream of molten
wax to escape. “Look how that Candles have won great pop-
candle is guttering,” someone ularity in modern services.
might say. But the candle is No Youth Pilgrimage or Cris-
happy, because its wick, now tingle Service would be com-
standing proud above the plete without them. During
surface, has room and air to the five years of Tony Waite’s
breathe. captivity, many churches kept
a candle burning. It was a
A candle is, I suppose, a good symbol because here the
symbol of prayer. Prayer can loving flame needed no expla-
fail, like the virgins’ lamps, nation. It stood for hope, and
through simple neglect, but it love, and for a costly and pas-
can also be stifled by too much sionate concern for others.
inward-looking piety. It needs
to be exposed to the open air There are also essential marks
of human need. I once heard of the prayer of intersession.
the words of Joseph to his Some of us find it hard, but do
brethren used in a parable of not give up. Isaiah said of the
intercession: “You shall not Messiah that “He will not ex-

56 anglicandigest.org
gathering
tinguish a smouldering wick.”
There is hope even for the
most feeble spark, for prayer
is a work of God and gift of
God and we need only to be
kindled into loving flame by
the faith and the love and the
life-giving breath of the Holy
Spirit.
O thou who camest from
above,
The pure celestial fire to
impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my
heart.
(Samuel Sebastian Wesley)
They all were looking for
a king
To slay their foes and lift
them high;
Thou cam’st a little baby
thing
That made a woman cry.
– George Macdonald
telling
Another year is dawning!
Dear Father, let it be,
in working or in waiting,
another year with thee;
another year of leaning
upon thy loving breast,
another year of trusting,
of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of mercies,
of faithfulness and grace;
another year of gladness
in the shining of thy face;
another year of progress,
another year of praise,
another year of proving
thy presence all the days.
Another year of service,
of witness for thy love;
another year of training
for holier work above.
Another year is dawning!
Dear Father, let it be
on earth, or else in heaven,
another year for thee.
– Frances Ridley Havergal
winter 2019 57
connecting

NECROLOGY
The Rt. Rev. James Win- PA, and Schenectady, Her-
chester Mongomery, 98, in kimer, and Gloversville, NY.
Chicago, IL. After graduating
from Northwestern Universi- The Rev. Dr. George Wil-
ty, he served in the U.S. Navy son Alexander II, 82, in Mar-
during the Second World War. ietta, GA. A graduate of Cen-
Following his military service, tral State College, Southern
he graduated from The Gen- Baptist Theological Seminary,
eral Theological Seminary; he Teacher’s College at Columbia
was ordained to the priest- University, Pittsburgh Theo-
hood in 1949, and spent his logical Seminary, and George
entire ministry in the Diocese State University, he was or-
of Chicago. He served parish- dained as a Baptist minister
es in Evanston and Flossmoor in 1961. He joined the Army
before becoming bishop suf- in 1964, served in the 101st
fragan in 1962, coadjutor in Airborne Division, served
1965, and diocesan in 1971, in Vietnam, then joined the
and retired in 1987. Office of the Chief of Army
Chaplains; he retired as a colo-
The Rev. Vernon Arthur nel after 22 years. While serv-
Austin, Jr., 84, of Collegeville, ing in Vietnam, he fell in love
PA. He was a graduate of with the Book of Common
Hampden-Syndey College Prayer, and was subsequently
and The General Theological ordained to the diaconate in
Seminary. He served parishes 1983, and the priesthood in
in Ambler and Norristown, 1994. He served parishes in

58 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Marietta and Atlanta, GA. ishes in Monmouth Junction,

Trenton, Mount Holly, and
The Rev. Thomas Francis Swedesboro, NJ, as well as
Beck, 86, East Haven, CT. Af- serving in a number of inter-
ter graduating from Upsala im positions.
College, he served four years
in the U.S. Air Force before The Rev. Thomas Fred-
attending Virginia Theologi- erick Brereton, 92, in Colo-
cal Seminary. He served par- rado Springs, CO. After brief
ishes in New Haven, Stafford service in the Pacific near the
Springs; and Yantic, CT, as end of the Second World War,
well as the Middlesex Area he graduated from West Vir-
Cluster Ministry. He also ginia Wesleyan College and
spent many years as a pasto- Garrett Theological Seminary.
ral counselor, and was active He was ordained to the priest-
in AA. hood in 1959, and served par-
ishes in White Cloud, MI;
The Rev. William Otis Morganton, NC; and Albany,
Breedlove, II, 78, in New Cohoes, Troy, and Richfield
Brunswick, NJ. A graduate Springs, NY. He joined the
of the Divinity School of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps,
University of Chicago, he was where he served at numerous
initially ordained a Baptist installations around the U.S.,
minister, but shortly thereaf- France, Germany, Korea, and
ter became an Episcopalian. Vietnam; he was awarded the
After many years working as Bronze Star for exemplary
a librarian and library direc- service in Vietnam. He then
tor, he graduated from The dedicated himself to hospital
General Theological Semi- chaplaincy and serving mili-
nary and was ordained to the tary church communities un-
priesthood. He served par- til he left the Army in 1972.

winter 2019 59
connecting

He continued to serve in the fessions during her lifetime

Army Reserve and eventually including teaching, book-
retired with the rank of Col- keeping, advertising and tele-
onel. vision, but her real passion
was her work as a deacon,
The Rev. Charles Halsey which focused heavily on her
“Kelly” Clark, 92, in Exeter, work in hospitals and hospice
NH. A graduate of Yale Uni- chaplaincy, and in training
versity and Virginia Theo- others to work with the be-
logical Seminary, he was or- reaved.
dained to the priesthood in
The Rev. Thomas Walter
1952. He served in multiple
Davidson, 82, in Goodyear,
capacities at Yale before em-
AZ. After a career in busi-
barking on 20 years working
ness, he was ordained to the
for the Overseas Department
of the Episcopal Church, then diaconate in 1994, and the
spent 10 years as the dean of priesthood in 2005. He served
the seminary in Quezon City, parishes in Phoenix and Para-
Philippines, before becom- dise Valley, AZ, and Victoria,
ing dean of Berkeley Divinity British Columbia, Canada.
School and an associate dean The Rev. Edward John
of the Yale Divinity School, Fiebke, 86, in Ballston Lake,
and finally 10 years as rector NY. A graduate of the State
of St. Paul’s School in Con- University of New York at Al-
cord, NH. In retirement, he bany and The General Theo-
served parishes in New York logical Seminary, he was or-
City, and Dunbarton, NH. dained to the priesthood in
1959. He served parishes in
The Rev. Marguerite June Ogdensburg, Malone, and
Cole, 83, in Las Vegas, NV. Kinderhook, NY, and Braden-
She worked in many pro- ton, FL.

60 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

The Rev. Charles Rhein served parishes in Lexington,

Floyd, 87, in Panama City Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and
Beach, FL. After a career in Cold Springs, KY, and Pom-
the U.S. Air Force, which in- pano Beach, Lake Worth,
cluded service in Vietnam, he Belle Glade, and Pahokee, FL.
retired as a Lieutenant Col- He was also active in Kairos
onel, then went on to be or- Prison Ministry.
dained to the priesthood. He
served St. Thomas by the Sea The Rev. John “Jack” Car-
Episcopal Church, in Panama lyle Harris, 89, in Washing-
City Beach, for 25 years. ton, D.C. A graduate of Wil-
liams College, Virginia Theo-
The Rev. James Edmund logical Seminary, and The
Furman, 72, in Glendale, Catholic University of Amer-
CA. A graduate of Claremont ica School of Social Services,
Men’s College, Stanford Uni- he served a parish in Oxon
versity, and Church Divinity Hill, MD, before becoming
School of the Pacific, he was the director of Clergy Train-
ordained to the diaconate in ing for the Episcopal Diocese
1973, and the priesthood in of Washington. He also devel-
1974. He served parishes in oped the first Deacons Train-
Honolulu, HI; and La Mesa, ing Program in the Episcopal
El Centro, Coronado, Glen- Church.
dale, and Mariposa, CA.
The Rev. John Robert
The Rev. William Edward “Bob” Herlocker, Sr., 84, in
Hamilton, Sr., 78, in Lake Terrebonne, OR. A graduate
Worth, FL. A graduate of Lex- of the University of Texas and
ington Kentucky Theological St Luke’s Seminary at the Uni-
Seminary, he was ordained versity of the South, he served
to the priesthood in 1977. He he served a parish in Oxon

winter 2019 61
connecting
parishes in Anchorage, AK;
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Cana-
da; Winnemucca and Battle
Mountain, NV; Ukiah, CA;
and Redmond and Sisters,
OR, before taking on dioc-
esan roles – Administrator,
Archdeacon, then Canon to
the Ordinary – for the Dio-
cese of Idaho.
The Rev. Paul Shoichi Hi-
yama, 95, in Ann Arbor, MI.
After being interned with his
family in 1942, he was permit-
ted to study and graduate from
Kalamazoo College, following
which he was drafted into the
U.S. Army. He was assigned to
the 442nd Regimental Com-
bat Team, a highly decorated
combat unit made up of Jap-
anese American men, but the
war ended before he could
be sent into combat; howev-
er, he remained in the Army
through 1946, serving in the
Military Intelligence Service
as part of the Allied occu-
pation forces in Japan. Af-
ter earning a divinity degree
62 anglicandigest.org
from the University of Chi-
cago, he was ordained to the
priesthood in 1957, and went
on to serve parishes in Claw-
son, Grosse Pointe Farms,
and Utica, MI. His interest in
sociology and then the priest-
hood was informed in part by
his first-hand observations of
Hiroshima in 1946.
The Rev. Horace Abbott
Lycett, 86, in Arvada, CO. A
graduate of the University
of Colorado at Boulder and
Nashotah House Theological
Seminary, he began his or-
dained ministry serving on
college campuses in Colorado.
He served congregations in
Craig, Ft. Collins, and Den-
ver, CO; and Goodland, KS,
as well as serving at a chap-
lain and teacher at Whiteman
School in Steamboat Springs,
CO.
The Rev. Monroe Richard
“Rich” Miller, 73, in Hunting-
ton, IN. A graduate of Ferris
State College and Northern
gathering telling

Indiana School of Theology, The Rev. Louise Emilie

he was a high school teacher Oakes (née Kaercher), 83, in
and assistant principal, and Madison, WI. During a career
also served as the priest-in- in IT, she served as deacon in
charge of Christ the King Madison, WI, for five years.
Episcopal Church in Hun- Following her graduation
tington, IN. Seabury Western Theological
Seminary, she was ordained
The Rev. Canon William to the priesthood and served
H. Moore, Jr., 93, in Wallace, parishes in Burr Ridge, IL,
NC. He was ordained to the and Greensboro, NC.
diaconate in 1990, and the
priesthood in 2001, following The Rev. John Charles
which he served as Archdea- Pedersen, 82, in Albuquer-
con of the Diocese Springfield. que, NM. A graduate of the
University of Nebraska and
The Rev. Rollin Bradford Seabury-Western Theological
Norris, 85, in Detroit, MI. A Seminary, he served parishes
graduate of Harvard Universi- in Ogalala, NE; Denver, CO;
ty and the Episcopal Theologi- Vernon and Amarillo, TX;
cal Seminary, he was ordained and Newton and Overland
to the priesthood in 1959. He Park, KS. He also worked as
served parishes in Minneapo- a Campus Minister at West
lis and Spring Lake Park, MI; Texas State University and
and Bloomfield Hills, Port Texas Tech University.
Huron, and Detroit, MI; after
retiring, he continued to serve May they rest in peace
as interim rector of parishes and rise in glory.
in Utica, Royal Oak, Dear-
born, and Detroit, MI, as well
as Newport, VT.

winter 2019 63
gathering
connecting
connecting

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