E News 6th April 2023
I woke up with a headache this morning and then arrived at church and someone had taken my car park which I was not happy about. 4 hours later they are still parked there, the question is when to tow or when not to tow. So far I have chosen the latter being Easter but I’m very annoyed.
I’m looking forward to our Passover meal tonight Maundy Thursday. The Council for Jews and Christians have produced an article stating why it is not a good idea for Christians to celebrate Seder or Passover. They say that the Christian last supper may not have been an authentic Passover meal and when Christians celebrate the last supper as part of the Passover meal we distort it. I have consulted with Prof emeritus Paul Morris and did talk with Rabbi Esther of Temple Sinai. My personal view is that Jesus was a Jew and the Passover is part of our Christian tradition and by us celebrating it we are connecting with our Jewish history and tradition for me it is an affirmation of Judaism. The following is a quote from that article “For some Jews, a ‘Christian Seder’ may be a painful reminder of centuries of rejection by Christians for not accepting Jesus. Attending a Seder while thinking of Jesus places this harmful theology at the heart of an important Jewish festival.”
For me, I do not use the words of the institution of the Lord’s supper in the Passover and avoid using the words “the body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ shed for you.” We will celebrate as we do at St. Andrew’s and say Jesus sat around a table with his friends and shared the “bread of life, the cup of blessing”. Of course, everyone has their own opinions so I leave that with you to consider for yourselves at this Easter time.
Last Saturday I attended the installation of Rabbi Esther Jilovsky at Temple Sinai, it was good to represent our church along with Sandra Kirby who came as part of the DCM community. There were two other Anglican priests there from St. Peter’s. The whole liturgy was almost literally sung and chanted from their Hebrew text over a 2 hour service. During the service, the congregation formed a circle around the synagogue and the Torah scroll was passed from person to person and then finally handed over to Rabbi Esther after everyone had touched it and blessed it. It was a beautiful ritual. It was a first time experience for me to attend a Jewish worship service in a synagogue. Afterwards we enjoyed a vegetarian buffet.
Our Music Director Mark Stamper’s last service with be this Easter Sunday, he has resigned from his position. We will wish him well on Sunday.
I was going to do a zoom Easter communion after lunch on Sunday for those who wanted to partake of Easter communion through zoom at home. This has now changed to a livestream of our Easter Sunday service at 10.00am. So please join us with your bread and wine or grape juice so we can partake together at the same time.
This is Sue’s note: we will go live just before 10am on Sunday 9 April.
https://youtube.com/live/192SKctroko?feature=share
To reduce the echo on the sound going into the live feed, we’ve had to lower the volume on the input, so you might need to wind up the volume on your computer. Please bear with us while we iron out the wrinkles.
I hope you have a blessed Easter weekend and journey with us through Good Friday to Easter Sunday, there cannot be a resurrection without a Crucifixion. Fei.
PS. Reminder Good Friday service at 10am and Easter Sunday service at 10am
You can read the full E-news here: http://mailchi.mp/14b5d7c64835/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9337275
