[Magdalen] Prayers for Ascension, Chicago

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

That should have read "We (not "the") had a rector..."

Very sorry for the typo. It's funny how easy it is for a unique setting to
get destroyed.  I pray your parish is able to get a good rector and can
work past this unpleasantness.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 1:43 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> I wasn't aware of that. I can sympathize, however, my former parish was
> one of a kind. It was very thoughtful, had an extremely lively adult
> education program that had all kinds of stuff going on to feed the
> inquiring mind.  Its choir made the intentional decision not to wear
> vestments. I think the rector we had was absolutely crucial, because he was
> one of the most thoughtful people I've ever known, and he was able to draw
> a huge number of brilliant presenters to him. When he left, gradually
> everything unraveled.  the had a rector who went to a fundamentalist school
> (scholarship, his ticket out of a nasty setting), and fell in love with the
> liturgy of the Episcopal Church, but he never really got it that we are a
> diverse communion. He just was incredulous about the things he found there,
> and he could not push through a choir vestment scheme fast enough.
> Now what was a gem, a pearl of great price is just a neighborhood parish.
> Before I would have driven an hour to get there, and many folks in the
> congregation did in fact do that. Now, it's nothing special.  Nice people,
> of course, but no reason to go past any other church to get there.  This is
> the result of evening things out.  It is not helping our denomination to
> thrive.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 12:06 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> It's probably not completely understood here that Ascension, Chicago,
>> is one of the famous flagship Anglocatholic parishes.  It is not just
>> your
>> average neighborhood Episcopal church.  It is an example of the  highest
>> liturgical and musical sophistication, and many of us look at the  Sunday
>> music/liturgy program, shake our heads in disbelief and drool.
>>
>> Every ECUSA parish is not going to be able or even want to be part of
>> such a sceptered-sway, but there is a lot to be learned from this type  of
>> special parish.
>>
>> The idea that we would lose such a gem is intolerable.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> David Strang.
>>
>
>