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NEBRASKA CELEBRATED WASHINGTON – The teen-agers of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Nebraska City, NE, began raising money three months ago for a long-anticipated trip to Washington D.C. “We did a lot of bake sales, rummage sales, a hot dog sale, Mexican dinners, ice cream socials, car washes, everything,” Mimi Shirley, 16, rattled off the list. “We did a project every week.” The youths raised $3,500, an impressive sum given the parish membership is 100 people and Nebraska City itself has a population of fewer than 7,000. “For the size of our parish, that is pretty good,” Rector Rick Swenson said of the congregation 50 miles south of Omaha that is recognized as the first Episcopal parish west of the Missouri River. The money helped a half dozen teens to celebrate their parish’s 150th anniversary by visiting Washington National Cathedral on August 19, a day when Nebraska was elevated in a special worship service at the landmark house of prayer. During the service-opening grand procession, Ashley Churchill of St. Mary’s marched holding aloft the banner of Holy Trinity Cathedral, the diocesan seat in Omaha. “It was very thrilling,” Churchill, 16, said afterwards. “I really was representing Nebraska in the way I was holding it.” Worshipers from Nebraska City, Omaha, Beatrice, Lincoln, Norfolk and other communities traveled to the nation’s capital for Nebraska State Day at Washington National Cathedral, which each month celebrates a state’s contributions to the character of America. For many it was their first visit to the world’s sixth-largest cathedral that has hosted state funerals and other events of national significance. They were joined by Nebraska natives who live and work in the Washington area. About 100 Nebraskans attended out of 700 at the cathedral’s 11 am service. Nebraskans filled special roles in the opening procession, reading Scripture and delivering gifts to the altar during the Offertory. The visitors were welcomed by the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, the dean of Washington National Cathedral. Lloyd joked the Nebraska service was scheduled for August “because we were told to forget it once football season starts.” The Right Rev. Joe G. Burnett, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, presided at the service. Burnett said the focus on Nebraska “was a wonderful idea and the service itself was just splendid.” “There is something about the actual physical space that gives people a sense of something greater, something more powerful, that calls for a deep love and one’s whole self,” Burnett said. “Being with a community of this size in a building this splendid evokes that feeling in a way that is unprecedented and unequaled in any other setting. I think it gives people a sense of a larger purpose.” The chamber singers of the Presbyterian Church of the Cross, from Omaha, performed the choral prelude to the Nebraska service. The 18 singers represented the most experienced and accomplished voices of that congregation’s music groups, said conductor Dana Sloan, minister of music. The group premiered a piece called “Prayer,” written by choir member H. Bruce Lobaugh, a retired musicologist. It featured a solo by mezzo-soprano Marietta Morhardt. Other soloists in the group’s 25-minute program of sacred music were sopranos Jayne Fredericks and Kristi Treu, and baritone Gary Lynn. “It is a wonderful honor to be here and to sing in this space,” Sloan said. “We know of the history of the church and the musicians who have been here. That kind of tradition is quite remarkable. The choir members are aware of it and it is a privilege to be a part of that in some small way.” Lloyd delivered the sermon expanding on a passage from Luke’s gospel. Lloyd recounted how Romans viewed Jesus as a rabble rouser, and how families were thrown into turmoil—and that some still are—when an individual decides to challenge the comforts of home, the expectations of parents and worldly possessions, in order to follow in Christ’s path. Jesus recognized this, telling his disciples “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Lloyd said. “How’s that for family values?” “Families have a rough enough go of it,” Lloyd said. “It is hard to find a level of healthy family life. But as important as family life is, there is something more important. There are claims on us from God that are stronger than even the most intimate loyalties. The gospel says following Jesus trumps everything else.” Nebraskans played a number of key roles throughout the service. James Clifton, the chief executive officer of the Omaha-based Gallup Organization, read Scripture. Delivering the Offertory elements were Marilyn Mecham of Lincoln, executive of the Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska; Dr, Nancy J. Redman of Omaha, associate pastor for Caring Ministries at the Presbyterian Church of the Cross; Jonnell Jacobsen of Hastings and Lexington, a member of the Cathedral Fund Committee; Lisa Jo Bezner of Beatrice, a seminarian from the United Methodist Church. The service food basket offering, representing a fraction of dry and canned food that is collected on a weekly basis by the Cathedral for distribution to poor people, was presented by Mr. Bob Freeman, his daughters Ally and Lauren as well as Ambassador Clayton Yeutter. Each laid baskets of food at the base of the Cathedral’s communion table. Mr. Bob Freeman represented the Tri-Faith Initiative of Nebraska, an interfaith partnership between Mr. Freeman’s community of faith, Congregation Temple Israel, Omaha, the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska and the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture. The common vision of the Tri-Faith Initiative is: “To build bridges of respect and acceptance, to challenge the stereotypes of each other, to learn from each other, and to counter the influence of extremism.” It also seeks to create an ongoing forum that fosters respect, interaction and knowledge. Ambassador Yuetter, a native of Eustis who held a series of high level federal posts in the 1980s and early 1990s, delivered food baskets to the altar during the service. Yeutter served as the U.S. Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989, Secretary of Agriculture from 1989 and 1991, and chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1991 to 1992. Col. Valentine Dugie, an Air Force officer at the Pentagon who previously was stationed at Offut Air Force Base outside Omaha, carried the state flag during the opening procession. He placed it on the chancel steps where it was to remain, as well as prayers will be said for Nebraskans at the Cathedral’s daily services, for a week as a further acknowledgement of the state’s service to the nation.
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 website are print-quality photos of Washington National Cathedral (’Photos for Print” under ’News” at www.cathedral.org/cathedral). | |