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ALABAMA CELEBRATED WASHINGTON – Singers from the All Saints’ Episcopal Church Chancel Choir warmed up with encouragement from their director Melanie Martin Couch shortly before stepping forward at a special Alabama service October 22 at Washington National Cathedral. “That was very, very nice,” Couch said as the group completed its rehearsal. “Yes, beautiful!” A few minutes later, the Birmingham choir began its performance before hundreds of worshipers, with Couch leading off as a soloist to sing the opening verse of the anthem, “Prayer to Jesus.” Over the next 30 minutes the 26-voice choir sang its favorite spirituals and anthems that it had been rehearsing for the past year in anticipation of the date. Couch said afterward that as the singers filled the cavernous nave with their vocal offerings, “I was thinking about how much fun we were having and what a thrill it was to be there. “It’s a wonderful experience for a choir from a parish to come have a cathedral experience like this,” Couch said. “It’s been a real blessing.” The All Saints’ choir was spotlighted at the service that celebrated the people of Alabama. The Cathedral singles out a state each month to be lifted in prayer, inviting state leaders and people of all faiths. About 80 Alabamans were among the 800 worshipers at the 11 a.m. service marking Alabama State Day. The Right Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr., bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, was guest celebrant. Worshipers who traveled from Alabama greeted him in a receiving line, as well as numerous natives from the state who now live and work in the nation’s capital. “It is particularly interesting to see so many connections here in Washington with Alabama and in that sense we are all connected,” Parsley said. “That is what I feel when I come here.” Parsley said there is much value in people gathering to pray during times of uncertainty. “The world is always in turmoil, and God gives us that deep, firm center and his life and love pull us all together in spite of all the uncertainly around us,” he said. “The church is a sign of the love that is steadfast amidst all the changes in the world. “My vision for the Episcopal church is that we be a place of reconciliation, a place of mission, a place of unbounded expansive love,” Parsley said. “That is the kind of church we are called to be as Episcopalians.” The visitors were greeted by the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of Washington National Cathedral. Lloyd extended special welcome to Bishop Parsley who he noted was also chancellor of the Universityof the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee. Lloyd joked the Cathedral truly is a uniter as he said he saw graduates of archrivals Auburn University and the University of Alabama sitting near each other. “The work goes on in bringing us all together,” he said, drawing laughter. Lloyd also delivered the sermon, in which he said people who follow Jesus should not expect positions of privilege but positions of service to others. Lloyd spoke of Dr. Paul Farmer, a medical anthropologist who treats tuberculosis among the poor in Haiti, and Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, an economist and anti-poverty pioneer who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. “Jesus does promise us a life worth living. It’s the full good life in the trenches,” Lloyd said. “It isn’t the best seat at the banquet table but the privilege of working back in the kitchen.” Bishop Parsley praised the sermon, noting the Alabama diocese has a companion relationship with churches in Haiti and he was familiar with Farmer’s work there. “I thought to myself, that is something we need to remember,” Parsley said. “We are the sort of church that is called to do servant work all around the world.” Alabama visitors played key roles throughout the service. Jack Alvey of Birmingham read Scripture. He is a Diocese of Alabama seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. James Vance marched as a teenage acolyte during the opening procession, carrying the banner of his home parish, Church of the Ascension, in Vestavia Hills, where he serves as senior acolyte. The banner was designed by Mrs. Dorothy P. Stuart and made by the Diocesan Altar Sowing Guild of Alabama. This banner was dedicated in honor of late parishioner Mr. Charles Patton Hash, Sr. Sentell Barnes, a Mobile native who is president of the Metropolitan Washington Auburn Club, carried the state flag during the opening procession, and placed it on the chancel steps where it was to remain for a week in further recognition of the state. Becky Parsley, the bishop’s wife; Jim Vance of Vestavia Hills, acolyte master at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension; Alton R. (Tony) Brown III, a vestry member of Christ Church Cathedral in Mobile; and Deborah Moore, president of the Alabama Alumni Association, delivered gifts to the altar during the Offertory. Melissa Knapp of Selma, and Michael Phillips of Selma and his young son Sutter also took part in the Offertory. Afterwards docents led tours spotlighting Alabama elements in the Cathedral, including the Cathedral Columbarium where Helen Keller is interred, and the Humanitarian Bay stained glass window that depicts Dr. George Washington Carver.
ATTN PRINT MEDIA: If you desire e-mail transmission of this account and/or photos sent as JPEG attachments please contact Elizabeth Mullen at the number above. Available on the web site are print-quality photos of Washington National Cathedral (“Photos for Print” under “News” at www.cathedral.org/cathedral). | |