Holy Week Worship

As the season of Lent draws to a close, Nativity gathers for worship in some of our most distinctive services of the year, all of which are meant to draw us nearer to the holy mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection. Join your brothers and sisters in Christ this Holy Week and Easter as we pray our way to the empty tomb.

Palm Sunday, April 14 – At both services, our worship recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem by blessing palm branches at both 8 and 10:30 church. 10:30 church begins on the small Howard Street patio and continues with a procession into church. Our gospel for the day is Luke’s account of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and arrest. Church members should contact the church office if they’d like to read a part in this drama.

Morning Prayer – As we have all Lent, a group of Nativity members will continue to pray together Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 7:15am.

Holy Wednesday, April 17 – We will gather at 10am for our normal midweek Eucharist, but in lieu of a sermon, we’ll instead take five minutes of silent prayer together.

Maundy Thursday, April 18 – At 5:30pm, our worship recalls the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples and the two gifts he gave the night before he died. First, we recall Jesus’ example of humble service in washing his disciples’ feet. Second, we celebrate the gift of Holy Communion that Jesus gave during this meal. The service concludes with the ornamentation of the church being stripped in advance of Good Friday. Childcare is available during this service, and like previous years, Peter will be assisted by the youth group in putting on this service.

Overnight Prayer Vigil – We recall in our prayers Jesus pleading with his disciples to watch, wait, and pray with him in the Garden as he prepared for his arrest. Beginning at 6:30pm on Thursday night and continuing until 7:15am on Friday morning, individuals or small groups of Nativity members can sign up to pray in the Hamilton foyer near the reserved sacrament. A sign up sheet is available in the office.

Good Friday, April 19 – At noon, our worship recalls the hour at which Jesus was nailed to the cross. Worship includes a reading of St. John’s account of the crucifixion, as well as an opportunity to contem- plate our own rugged cross. On this solemn day, we do not celebrate communion, but this service does include distribution of reserved sacrament. After the service, the rest of the sacrament is consumed, and the church is empty of Christ’s presence until Easter. At 1pm, a service of Stations of the Cross prayer- fully recalls Jesus’ trial, death, and burial. Childcare is available during the noon service.

Easter Sunday, April 21 – Our worship this morning recalls the stunning miracle that makes all the difference in the world and all the difference in our lives. At 6am, our sunrise service begins in the dark- ness and ends in light. We hear extra scripture readings that tell the story of God’s salvation across the centuries, culminating in the empty tomb. At 8 and 10:30am, we hear the good news of women who went to anoint the body of a dead Savior and were astonished to find the living God instead! Baptisms and the renewal of baptismal vows will be a part of this service. Childcare is available at 8 and 10:30 as usual, but not at 6am.

Ash Wednesday

The 6 1/2-week period of fasting, self-reflection and spiritual practice that precedes Easter begins on Wednesday, March 6. All are invited to begin the observance of a holy Lent by worshipping as a church family. At noon, we’ll celebrate a Rite II Holy Eucharist with the imposition of ashes, and at 5:30pm, we’ll do a Rite I version of the same service. The nursery will be open during the 5:30 service.

Morning Prayer during Lent

A group of Nativity folk will lead quiet services of Morning Prayer four days per week during Lent. Beginning Thursday, March 7, join them in the choir stalls to hear scripture and pray for the needs of the world each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 7:15am until Easter. This service will last 20-30 minutes. If you are interested in helping lead, Peter will give an overview of how to do so on March 4 at 4pm

The Choir Corner: Lent

David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist

In Lent we bury the Alleluia, meaning we stop using the word in worship and in our hymns. As in Advent, we also give up the Gloria in excelcis, the festive music that comes just after the opening hymn at 10:30am worship. If you attended the noon service Ash Wednesday, we sang the Rite One setting of the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) from Healy Willan's Missa de Sancta Maria Magdelena.

We just passed the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Willan, a great Anglo-Canadian organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer. He's worth looking up! In Rite Two Eucharists, we are also going for a more solemn setting by using the Schubert setting of the Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Richard Proulx adapted this from Schubert's Mass in G. Schubert's short life was on the cusp of the transition from the Classical to the Romantic period, with his prime starting about the time of Beethoven's death.

The Choir Corner: Epiphany, Lent and Easter

David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist

Looking at Hymn 135, “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” one notices that this is a seasonal hymn addressing the themes of this Epiphany season. The repetition of "manifest" reminds us of the manifestation of Christ to all, not just the descendants of Israel. It covers the Baptism of Christ and the Transfiguration, which are the focus of the first and last Sundays after Epiphany. The wedding at Cana is also alluded to for those years with a longer Epiphany in which we hear in the lectionary Jesus’ first miracle. The tune name is "Salzburg," harmonized by Bach, representing some of the best hymnody in the German/Dutch/Swiss Protestant tradition.

Contrasting to this is Hymn 448, "O Love how deep, how broad, how high," which is used extensively in both the Lenten and Easter seasons, and usually several times in the Season after Pentecost. The allusion to the Love of God is obvious in the title, and regardless of the season, it sometimes is the most cohesive choice for coordinating with the Collect, Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle and Gospel of a given Sunday. The Tune is "Deus tuorum militum," alluding to the original Latin text, "O God of your soldiers." It is French in origin, written just after the death of Bach, and represents the "new school" of Roman Catholic hymnody that emerged as a result of the Counter Reformation.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Loosen your belts, put on your dancing shoes, and join us for one more celebration before we begin Lent! Nativity’s annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper begins at 5:30pm, Tuesday, February 13. Join us for pancakes, sausage, Mardi Gras beads, and the last Alleluias of Epiphany before we begin the fast on Ash Wednesday.

A Note from Peter (February 2018)

The Rev. Peter Gray

“A season of penitence and fasting...self-examination and repentance...of reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” These are the words the Book of Common Prayer uses to describe the season of Lent, the six and a half weeks Christians spend in preparation before Easter. Very often as we look toward Lent, we begin having conversations about our fast, that is, what it is we are going to give up during this period. This year, I invite you to prepare for Lent by focusing on what it is you’d like to gain.

On February 4, I’m going to try something new. Rather than announcing what I think we should study on Sundays as we move toward Easter, I’m going to let you all set the agenda. How do you want to grow as a Christian? What parts of scripture are most intriguing or interesting to you? Is there some part of the Church’s history that you’d like to hear more about? Or maybe you’ve been looking for new ways to nourish your personal life of prayer? I want to know what you want to learn about, and on February 4 Nativity will make a decision on how we spend our Lent.

Whether you attend 8am or 10:30 worship, come ready to rip a corner off your bulletin and scribble down your idea. Drop that scrap of paper in the offering plate as it comes by. I’ll sort the ideas by topic, and the top vote-getter will be our topic for adult forum during Lent. The Nativity Facebook account will announce what we’ll be studying that Sunday afternoon, and on Monday morning, I’ll get to work learning, studying, and exploring what it is Nativity wants to learn about.

One of the gifts of having a church family is that we are constantly reminded that the spiritual life is not an individual sport, but a team one. As we enter Lent, the prayer book invites us to a season of self-reflection and learning. Some of that will happen in the silence of our own prayers, but some of it will take place here at Nativity surrounded by sisters and brothers who, like each of us, are looking to grow in the knowledge and love of God. So, what do y’all want to learn?

Peter+

A Note from Peter (March 2017)

With the 2017 Speaker Series this weekend and Nativity hosting Happening #85 the following weekend, one could be excused for forgetting that Ash Wednesday is March 1! But indeed it is, and so, at 12:05 and 5:30pm we will gather to pray for the world; to have ashes imposed on our foreheads; and for the invitation, once again, “to the observance of a Holy Lent.”

For the last ten years, my observance of Lent has always included listening to the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach. This massive work of classical music recounts and reflects upon the story of the last supper, Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. It was originally written to be performed on Good Friday in the church where Bach served as church musician. Truly, this is a piece of classical music meant to be an act of worship. It is crushingly beautiful, and at times inspiring, mournful, and surprisingly joyful in places. Each Lent, it allows me to dwell deeply in the story of our Lord’s suffering and death and his love for us.

My hope, this Lent, is to share that gift with you all in an adult forum class I’m calling “Bible Study with Bach.” We’ll read together Matthew 26 and 27, pausing periodically to watch a performance of the Passion from the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris. In the performance, you get a sense for Bach’s own spirituality, how he interprets the biblical text, and what he thinks it all means. And just like reading scripture with any other friend, how Bach reads the story might shape how you read the story. These days, when I read of Judas giving back the money for which he betrayed Jesus, I hear the depth of his repentance that Bach puts into music. When I think of Peter in the garden denying Jesus, I hear the mourning that Bach puts into Peter’s voice. Two years ago, my entire Palm Sunday sermon was inspired by the music Bach composed for two words St. Matthew wrote: “wept bitterly.”

I’ll be assisted in this undertaking by our friend Ben Arnold, assistant professor of music at MVSU and known to many as a bookseller at Turnrow. St. Matthew Passion moves me on a deep level, but when it comes to talking music history and theory, I get out of my depth very quickly. I am grateful to Ben for helping me out in that department. In addition, David Williamson has given an introduction to Bach and the Passion elsewhere in this newsletter. As David points out, all of you already know music from the St. Matthew Passion. It’s in our hymnal, and it’s in a lot of weddings too!

This offering begins March 19 and will continue through Easter Day. Whether you’re a big music lover or not, why not take this Lent and this opportunity to spend a little more time with the story that makes all the difference in the world?

Peace,
Peter+

A Note From Peter (February 2017)

For me, one of the great highlights of the last two years at Nativity has been the restart of the Nativity Speaker Series. I consider myself unbelievably privileged to be able to learn from, spend time with, and host some of the most influential religious thinkers of our day right here in Greenwood. Never in a million years did I imagine that I would be talking theology with Walter Brueggemann over a plate of chicken livers, and yet, there we were at the Crystal Grill last year before I took him to the airport!

The first weekend in March, Nativity will welcome the Rev. Dr. William Willimon for the 2017 Speaker Series for a program entitled Why Jesus? Born in South Carolina, Dr. Willimon is now known as one of the great preachers of our day. In 1996, a survey out of Baylor University named him, alongside Billy Graham, as one of the twelve best preachers in the English speaking world. He served as Dean of the Duke University Chapel for fifteen years before being elected the United Methodist Bishop of North Alabama in 2004. Since 2012, he has been back at Duke Divinity School as Professor of the Practice of Ministry.

A distinctive feature of Willimon’s preaching and teaching is the high expectations he has of the Church as it witnesses to and follows Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior. Willimon is a fascinating fellow in that he has spent his career deep within the governance and structures of the Church but has never been confused as to Whom he owes his first allegiance. As Rusty Douglas said to me, “Willimon has been known to knock out a stained glass window or two!”

Friday, March 3, the weekend will begin with a light reception at Turnrow Books at 5:30pm. I am grateful to Lucy Swayze who is helping pull off this new feature of our speaker series. After enjoying fellowship and showing off our beautiful bookstore to out of town guests, we’ll head back to Nativity for the first lecture, “The Most Interesting Person in the World,” beginning at about 6:30pm. Saturday morning, we’ll have a light continental breakfast at 8:30am followed by lectures at 9am, “Jesus Christ: the Truth About God,” and 10:45am, “Jesus Christ: the Salvation of the World.” In between, Dr. Willimon will be available to sign books.

On Sunday, March 5, Nativity’s adult forum will be treated to some extra time with Dr. Willimon at 9:30am. All through February, we will be reading his book Why Jesus?, and on this day, he’ll lead a class that he has intriguingly titled “Jesus Christ at the Church of the Nativity.” Finally, at 10:30, he’ll be our guest preacher for the first Sunday in Lent. As we hear the story of Jesus’ trials in the wilderness, his sermon title is “Just Say No! Resisting Temptation with Jesus.”

It should be a wonderful weekend. I hope you’ll plan on taking advantage of this great opportunity and invite friends from near and far!

Peace,
Peter+