From The Reverend Hugh E. Brown, III, D.Min.,
Priest-in-Charge

May 2008

Pentecost Love: A Holy Must

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, May 11th, the Christian festival day of Pentecost! Our 10:00AM service that day will highlight “the birthday of the Christian Church,” with a truly magnificent liturgy featuring the combined choirs of St. George’s, Nassau, Bahamas (see the enclosed Angelus article describing the visit of the choirs, clergy, people and dignitaries of the Bahamas to All Saints’ Parish in May), and All Saints’ Parish, Princeton, the visit of the Rt. Rev. Mellick Belshaw, the retired Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey and a good friend of All Saints’ Parish, confirmation, reception and reaffirmation of baptismal vows for youth and adults, liturgical dance, a dramatic reading of the Pentecost story from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles of the New Testament in different languages, stunningly moving and gorgeous music, and a marvelous reception following the service coordinated by the Parish Life and Hospitality Committee.

This Pentecost Sunday on May 11th will be a truly momentous day in the life of our All Saints’ Parish family and we encourage you to attend. Please also wear RED, the symbol and liturgical color marking the presence of the Holy Spirit, for this Pentecost Sunday!

The feast day of Pentecost, is one of the principal Christian festival days of the liturgical year, ranking in importance with Easter and Christmas. In truth, it may be the MOST important day of the year because it marks the gift of what makes possible the Christian life: The Holy Spirit, the very presence of Christ! We term Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian church, because, according to Holy Scripture recorded in Acts, chapter 2, the Holy Spirit entered the hearts, minds and souls of the disciples and created, in the words of that marvelous hymn by Brian Wren (#304 in the Hymnal 1982), a “new community of love.”

Yes, the Holy Spirit gave birth to a new people, a royal priesthood, a renewed and restored Israel, and the witness to the good news of Jesus Christ to the far ends of the earth.

Do we ever reflect on the power of these words and how, in the words of one spiritual writer, they reflect the “revolution of all things and the revaluation of all values?”

Do we realize that All Saints’ Parish, empowered by the Holy Spirit is, continuing the thought of this writer, “a community whereby we experience the changing of all conditions and possibilities, the switching of all relationships in business, state, society and everywhere?”

May 11th, Pentecost Sunday will, indeed, offer a vision of possibility, changed conditions, transformed relationships. With the visit of our guests from St. George’s, Nassau, we will worship together across the boundaries of geography, race, culture and theology.

Continuing in the spirit of Pentecost transformation, on May 11th, we will envision the full breadth and scope of the Anglican Communion. We will see the commitment and fire within the early Pentecost Church, expressed in the sacramental rite of Confirmation. We witness the early Church and its bold and passionate proclamation for the Gospel; we will envision hope and renewal in the raising up of young, newly confirmed, and recommitted Christians for ministry.

We also remember that May 11th is Mothers’ Day in the American cultural tradition; the Pentecost vision may remind us that the role of “mother” is an inclusive one, and that women are mothers whenever they exercise the gift of leadership for the mentoring of others, youth and adult. The early church believed that ALL were one in Christ regardless of gender, regardless of family role, including singles, parents, sisters, daughters, widows, and those with, and without biological children. Scholars remind us that this was one, new, radical, and beautiful aspect of the early church—it afforded women freedom to exercise leadership and life apart from traditional roles. Both men and women were evangelists and missionaries in the early Pentecost church! Women were at Paul’s side in the work of the proclamation of the Gospel! Would that the Pentecost church of today be a place of empowerment of all!

The early, “Pentecost” Church, as described in the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles, had many “marks.” In our Wednesday Bible Study, we are studying the Book of Acts and learning that words such as “bold, courageous, generous, counter-cultural and passionate marked the life of this first Christian community. BUT, one mark in particular, stamped the early “Pentecost Church.” This mark is always the true manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the “red” symbol of true Christian community: love!

The great 20th century German spiritual author, Arnold Eberhard writes, “When the Spirit was given by the risen one, he overturned everything and set it on fire. Then, the disciples were able to become a life-sharing community, and only then, did their love overflow. They were all on fire with burning love, which drew them irresistibly and for always together. Love had become to them “A HOLY MUST!”

No doubt, on Pentecost Sunday, May 11th we will experience the transforming and renewing presence of the Holy Spirit in so many ways. However, may this Sunday mark a new beginning and a new vision of what All Saints’ Parish, is, can forever be, and more deeply become: the new community of love, truly a holy must!”

Faithfully Yours,
The Reverend Hugh E. Brown, III, D. Min.
Priest-in-Charge