Community of Sts. Clare and Francis
Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC)
I had considered a visit to this congregation for a fellowship fieldtrip as far back as two years ago. I knew then it was an inclusive community, accepting full ecclesiastical equality of men and women, straight and LGBTQ. I knew that lay members and ordained clergy shared the responsibility for and ministry of the congregation. I knew it observed the same seven sacraments as Roman Catholicism. And I knew that the line of apostolic succession of the ECC was through the Old Catholic Church, which had rejected the increased papal power enshrined in Vatican I and separated from Rome at that time. But when you live in Mt. Vernon, a fieldtrip to St. Louis is amazingly difficult to put together.
I already knew I was going to visit here during my CPE summer in St. Louis, but finding from one of my fellow CPE students that this was where he went to church, I knew I would go sooner rather than waiting till later.
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| Evangelical United Church of Christ 204 East Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves MO Photo from the church website |
This congregation meets in the building of a United Church of Christ congregation in Webster Groves, a few blocks down the street from Eden Theological Seminary (UCC) and from Webster University (Catholic). I arrived early and sat in my car as more people arrived. I was greeted warmly when I entered the building and told the greeter that a friend of mine was part of the congregation, mentioning him by name. A few minutes later, my friend's wife approached me and introduced herself. Such a lovely person! I knew my friend would not be able to come, but his wife seemed genuinely happy to meet someone who was going through the CPE experience with her husband. Before mass began, she pointed out the beautiful metal candelabra around the altar, saying that her husband had made them. In a former life he had been a blacksmith. The setting was casual, some in corporate casual wear, others wearing jeans and sneakers or shorts and sandals.
The mass was a guitar mass with two guitars, a saxophone, a violin, and light percussion. The guitarists also sang. Most of the music was familiar from a Roman Catholic setting, but the instrumentation helped make it the more informal style of mass that appeared in many Roman Catholic churches after Vatican II. Most of the congregation knew hand motions to accompany the songs; these were also led by a barefooted liturgical dancer.
The homilist was a lay member of the congregation who put together a very fine Pentecost sermon drawn not from the account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, but in the later-written Gospel of John, in which Jesus describes the coming of the Holy Spirit in the metaphor of a river that sustains life. The homilist pointed out that this river metaphor is one that flows through scripture from Genesis' Eden, whose rivers flow forth to water the earth, all the way through the Revelation of St. John, where the river flows from the throne of God, watering the tree of life, whose fruit is for the healing of the nations. He also very effectively illustrated his homily, talking of family travels to a desert area in southern Peru, where one travels miles without seeing any life, then, coming upon a river flowing from the Andes down to the Pacific, there is a ribbon of lush life on either side, with wildlife and agriculture flourishing even though surrounded by harsh desert. He also told of a work trip his wife, a journalist, took to northern Mexico, where her guide asked her to consent to a detour, where he cared for a tubercular old man whose family could not risk infecting themselves, but this young man was healthy and strong and unmarried, so he risked himself to care for this unrelated old man. It was a beautiful, meaningful homily that translates beautifully and without great effort beyond its tradition of origin.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist took place with the whole congregation gathered in a double circle around the altar, a modest square wooden table draped with red altar cloths, the liturgical color for Pentecost, matching the priest's robe. The chalice was rough earthenware. The host was a round whole wheat loaf, about 3/4" thick, and gluten free wafers were available for those who needed it. Similarly, there was alcohol-free wine for those who needed or preferred it. Communion was open to all, with no restriction even suggested. Offering each other the Peace of Christ took the form of hugs and handshakes with most people giving peace to nearly everyone present.
This is a congregation whose values of inclusion are active within the celebration of the mass itself, as well as in the activities announced after communion, including a call for people to participate visibly in the larger St. Louis community in LGBT Pride events, including the big parade. It is a congregation that displays affection for each other in bonds of mutual service. As I was leaving, several individuals greeted me and asked me if I was visiting or scouting. One man, on hearing my brief explanation of who I am and why I was there, asked me for my impression of their community and its celebration of mass. I was a little surprised at the verbal survey, but I told him. Father Frank was gracious, talked with me, told me that in the intensity of the CPE experience, it was likely I would become close with my friend who is a member of Clare and Francis. And he invited me back any time I would care to visit.
On my way out the door, I saw the homilist and stopped to express my appreciation for his beautiful, meaningful sermon.
Sunday, June 12, 10:00 AM
Christ Church Cathedral
Episcopal Church USA
I had planned to go to the 9:00 AM service at First Unitarian Church of St. Louis this morning followed by the 11:15 service at Christ Church Cathedral, but yesterday, while walking past First Church, I discovered that they have posted only a 10:00 AM service, despite the 9:00 and 11:00 clearly posted on their website. (Fail!) And then yesterday afternoon I rechecked Christ Church's website and found that their schedule had shifted too. So First Unitarian had to wait, because today is Pentecost!
Christ Church is a member of Oasis and Integrity, both Episcopal organizations supporting the full inclusion of LGBTQ people. As I looked around the nave of this beautiful mid-19th-century gothic, I saw quite a few unambiguous gay male couples and lesbian couples and individuals. The congregation was mostly white, but there were several Black individuals and families, both African American and African immigrants, and one visible Latino family. Dress was widely varied, from t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers to suits, from corporate casual to kilts with ghillie brogues and sporrans. About a fifth of the congregation wore red, the color of Pentecost. While people were quiet as they entered, the passing of the peace and the social time after the service showed this to be a very friendly church.
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| Christ Church Cathedral 1210 Locust Street, St. Louis MO |
The Cathedral is located in downtown St. Louis. Beginning today, Christ Church has moved to a reduced Sunday schedule, merging a 9:00 AM service and and 11:15 AM service into a 10:00 AM service. People who sat near me indicated they had some reservations about this since they were strongly attached to the traditional service with ancient wording and this was something of a mix. And, indeed, the mix was interesting.
The words were the venerable words of Rite II from the Book of Common Prayer (1979), but the music was mixed - old hymns from the blue hymnal (1982), a chanted Gloria, Psalm 104 chanted, the Doxology sung to the Old Hundredth tune, and in with that standard Episcopal fare: "Let us Break Bread Together on Our Knees" and Doris Akers' "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place." The gay man sitting directly in front of me told me later that they have been warned that this new 10:00 AM service may soon start using spirituals and gospel music in the mix, which leaves him worried that what he - raised Missouri Synod Lutheran and having later passed through the United Methodist Church and Metropolitan Community Church before finding a home here - values here may be diluted or lost. "Break Bread Together" and "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" were sung beautifully, but they did feel out of place in that particular mix.
Despite this, however, I felt like I'd been to church - you know, that formalized encounter with the transcendent that the liturgical churches, at their best, manage so beautifully. Nothing "common" about it! Yet it was completely accessible.
The procession started at the altar. Cross on a standard, clergy, the book of the Gospels, the choir and all the robed attendants and readers came down the center aisle, circled around the left side to the front, then the right side, coming back up the center aisle to the altar, and spaced through the procession, 10-foot standards with long red ribbons being swirled over the procession and the congregation as the choir and congregation can, to the tune Llanfair, "Hail to thee, festival day! Blest day that are hallowed forever, day when the Holy Ghost shone on all the world with God's grace!" It was quite moving!
The first lesson was from Acts 2:1-21. When the reader reached the point where the speaking in tongues occurs, she paused and about a dozen members spaced through the nave stood and all together spoke at some length, each in a different language. Starting as a cacophony, it receded as, one by one, they finished, were seated, and when the last one sat down, the reading of the lesson continued. This was amazingly effective liturgical drama!
When the gospel was read, there was a mini procession to the center of the nave, where it was read, the front half of the congregation turning toward the back so all were facing the reading of the gospel. This too dramatized the centrality of the gospel among the people rather than distant from it. Perfectly achieved without a world of explanation!
The sermon was preached by a guest priest, the Rev. Dahn Gandell. She is a former Southern Baptist minister, a Southerner with a noticeable accent, a red-head. Her stole was her own knitting, very fuzzy, in rainbow colors. Kind of a cross between a boa and a pride flag! It matched her effusive personality perfectly! Her theme was "Transformation not shared is wasted."
After the Liturgy of the Word, there was a baptism of a member's infant daughter. This was performed at the font near the entry doors to the nave. The entire congregation turned toward the back and gathered in close. At the end of the baptismal liturgy, the Peace was passed. Since many people were already away from their seats to witness the baptism, people were all over the place greeting each other.
People returned to their seats and the liturgy of Holy Communion began. This was more solemn and less dramatic than the preceding parts of the service, but beautifully done, people kneeling at the altar rail to receive the host and the wine.
Announcements were mostly focused on social justice and consciousness activities and events, and after the service, as the side of the nave, coffee and sweets and fruit were offered. People stood in comfortable conversations with friends and new acquaintances and were still at it when I left at noon.
It was a wonderful place to spend Pentecost Sunday morning.
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