In 1976, when I crossed the Canterbury bridge and became a member of the Anglican Communion, the revival of the Easter Vigil as the liturgical epicenter of the Christian year was in full swing. I still have the recipe for Pashka that was served at the Vigil that year, and I made a batch for our very special Vigil at Holy Trinity last night. For those who asked for it, here it is.
It is intended to be spread on Easter bread:
4 8-ounce (907 grams) of cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3/4-cup golden raisins or citron
3/4-cup toasted slivered almonds
Soften the cream cheese and butter at room temperature. Cream them (I use a Kitchen Aid mixer, but the recipe calls for doing it with a wooden spoon). Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, then the vanilla. Finally stir in the raisins/citron and almonds. Chill.
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One of the things that made the Easter Vigil of 2012 at Holy Trinity so special was the baptism of two candidates and the renewal of baptismal vows of another candidate, all of whom had been part of the first catechumenal process at Holy Trinity. Several years ago, a member of the Worship Committee mentioned that we needed to take baptism more seriously at Holy Trinity. Figuring out how to do that was the challenge. The catechumenate is the ancient process of preparation for baptism or re-affirmation of baptismal promises (AKA Confirmation), and having become a true believer in the catechumenate before coming to Holy Trinity I wondered how and if the process could be introduced at Holy Trinity. I knew that if it was to be, God would provide the opportunity.
And so it was, that last September, Paul Ives came to church on a Sunday morning with his fiancée Lisa, and afterwards told me that he wanted to be baptized in an Anglican church before they were to be married at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in May of 2012. He had been dedicated as an infant in England, but never baptized. When we met for lunch to discuss baptismal preparation, I asked him if he were open to a process that would begin in Advent and continue until baptism at the Easter Vigil on April 7th, and he was game.
Shortly thereafter, as James Johnson, our Property Chair, and I were having supper in the new Eaton Centre food court, following a Property Committee meeting, I mentioned this development to James, as I thought he might be a good sponsor for Paul. James reminded me that Laura, James’ wife, was also interested in baptism, so I had lunch with Laura, and she, too, was willing to be part of a catechumenal formation process.
Then Margaret Hayley, a retired nurse, who had been steered to Holy Trinity by Cathy Crowe, told me that she wanted to renew her baptismal vows, and it was game on.
I invited Michael Shapcott and Nancy Whitla to join me as the formation team, and Suzanne Rumsey, James Johnson, and Vivian Harrower agreed to serve as sponsors for Laura Johnson, Paul Ives, and Margaret Hayley, respectively. We met about every three weeks for two hours after church on Sunday to reflect on passages from upcoming Gospel readings, on the Christian faith, on the baptismal covenant, and on the connection between social justice and baptism.
At our last formal meeting, I mentioned that baptism at Holy Trinity had been traditionally done by aspersion (i.e., sprinkling), but that the recovery of the catechumenate had been accompanied by the recovery of baptism by immersion, and that if the candidates preferred to be baptized in that manner, I would look into making that possible. As it turned out, both candidates decided they would like to be immersed, and that led to some phone calls on my part. John Hill, who recently retired from St Augustine of Canterbury, told me they had acquired an immersion font and Tay Moss at the Church of the Messiah, also had one. We ended up with a 150-gallon 6′ x 2′ x 2′ “stock tank” [i.e., a horse trough], that worked perfectly for the job last night. (We have some at Holy Trinity who were baptized in this manner. One of our honorary assistants described his baptism by immersion at age 12 in a Baptist church.)
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Holy Week, with every service being unique, and most services being joint services with San Esteban, demands much of our communities. And with Becca Whitla still on study leave in Cuba, we were down one significant team member. Thank you to everyone who helped to pitched in to help make Holy Week the rich experience it was. To Vivian Harrower, Jorge Roncal and Irma Romero, thank you for coordinating Palm Sunday. To Elizabeth Raybould, brava for pulling off the Maundy Thursday supper with help from Juan Fernando Suarez Perez of San Esteban. Kudos to Nancy Whitla, James Harbeck, and Alan Gasser for coordinating the Good Friday Service, which included the musical reflection, “Ashes of Soldiers,” by Colin Eatock (poetry of Walt Whitman) with the composer in attendance. One of the chief learnings this Holy Week was that having a Children’s Program on Good Friday is a keeper. Denise Byard, our Children’s Program Coordinator, and the kids used the time to colour the eggs that would be used on Easter Day for the Easter Egg Hunt. It worked much more smoothly than having to schedule one more activity on Holy Saturday. The Easter Vigil I have already mentioned. Michael Shapcott, fairly late in the planning, agreed not only to help coordinate the service with Jorge Roncal, but also to help with the music during the first part of the service. Thanks also to Bill Whitla for putting together the updated Litany of the Saints. I know how important that is to many of you. Easter Day has its distinctive challenges: we are indebted to the Houstons, the Sowtons, and the Whitlas for coordinating with funerals homes in the east, north, and west of Toronto, so that the flowering of the Cross could happen this morning. Thanks to Dick Moore and Carmen Garcia who coordinated the Easter Day service and to Marty Crowder, who pulled the Easter Feast together. I know many folks brought items to share, and it made for an especially bountiful buffet. Thanks also, to Alan Gasser for recruiting our organist for Easter Day, Richard Birney-Smith, from Hamilton.
The Holy Trinity staff deserve all our thanks for what they do behind the scenes. Our caretakers Charlotte Cuppage, Sean Dunals, and Adam Bruce have set-ups not only for our various services, but also for the regular tenants, like the Coptic congregation that worships at HT on Saturday or a Yoga workshop that took over our space one night this past week, or the Stained Glass AA group on Friday night. This was Denise Byard’s first Holy Week and Easter as Children’s Program Coordinator, and her suggestion to add a children’s program on Good Friday proved to be a terrific idea. Margot Linken, our administrator, like a competent air-traffic controller, helps to keep us all on the proper glide path during this week of weeks.
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On Good Friday evening, I took in the opening of Bully, the new film about, well, bullying. The MPAA, in its usual asinine way, had given Bully an R rating because the F-word appeared a few times, which meant that children under the age of 17 could not attend without a “parent or guardian.” Since the movie’s producers made the film for teenagers most vulnerable to the phenomenon, they pushed back, and with a couple minor tweaks, the film has been rated PG-13 in the States, which means many more people who need to see it will get to see it.
It is a powerful documentary. It is showing exclusively at the Varsity at the moment, but well worth catching at some point.
It is painful to watch a teenage kid putting up with relentless bullying daily on the school bus, and it is utter torture watching incompetent school administrators “dealing with” incidents of bullying.
Such a conundrum! What is an unpopular kid to do if he/she has no friends at school?
My thought: What if this kid had been able to go to a church camp, or was part of a Christian community (not that bullying doesn’t happen at church as well)? Could life have been different? Should Holy Trinity be offering something for kids who are bullied at school? What do YOU think?
Talking with an HT parishioner after church this morning about this film, she pointed out an Aha! she had had, namely, that social exclusion is the ultimate form of bullying. As I related this to church history, think of “shunning” in the Anabaptist tradition or “excommunication” in the catholic tradition, I had to concur. A pretty powerful insight!
While I thank God every day for calling me to Holy Trinity, I am also well aware of the challenges to the ministry we share.
May God’s Spirit continue to guide and empower us for mission in a crazy, f-ed up world.
The Revd Sherman Hesselgrave, Incumbent
