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THE ANCHOR NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY/ MARCH 2017
ST BARTHOLOMEW’S ANGLICAN CHURCH ST BARTS, FWI
The Parish Letter Dear Friends,
We will pray for the Diocese of the NE Caribbean & Aruba, of which we are part – which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year
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WELCOME to the February/March 2017 edition of the Anchor, your parish newsletter to keep you firmly anchored to St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church – whether you are on St Barts or reading this at home!
Sunday Eucharist 9am Sundays A contemporary service, filled with music and prayer
The Anchor also contains a letter to all our worshippers, a letter from Father Sandy Zabriskie and our usual Back Page Spirituality column; as well as details about another St Bartholomew’s Church in the world. This Anchor is published to coincide with our 2017 Celebration Mass, with our Bishop and our new Priest-inCharge from St Martin: We will celebrate the wonderful gift of our refurbished Church We will give thanks to all those who supported the 1855 Fund to make the restoration works possible We will say thank you to all those who worked so devotedly on the Church during last Summer, to give us such a resplendent building in which to worship and pray We will thank Brook Lacour for her tireless devotion to this church community by naming our Church Garden after her (as we continue the work towards its completion). This Anchor edition also contains a short tribute to Brook.
Weekly Groups & Services
Taizé Service 7pm Tuesdays Contemplative music and candles, held in the Church
Spirituality Group 11am Wednesdays -
Our Bishop will celebrate Charles Romney’s confirmation, who many of us have watched grow from a cheeky young boy, to a kind-natured teenager and devoted crucifer; and now a hard working High School student in Guadeloupe. He may have matured, but he still has the same smiling face and composed character we know so well. We will make sure the next edition of the Anchor contains photographs for those of you who are unable to join us. Happy reading!
A topical discussion group – all newcomers welcome
Meditation Group 7pm Thursdays A bilingual group, with a focus on calm reflection
Morning Prayer 8.30am Fridays An informal prayer service, held in the Church Centre
With blessings, Philip
Page 2 – A Letter to All of Our Worshippers Page 2 – We Pay Homage and Give Thanks to Brook Lacour Page 3 – A Small Church with a Big Heart – St Bartholomew’s the Less Page 3 – A Letter from the Revd Sandy Zabriskie Page 4 – Back Page Spirituality … Religious ‘Pick and Mix’
Editor & Parish Administrator: Philip Trangmar Phone: 0690 54 17 99 Email: info.stbartholomews@gmail.com Website: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchuch.com
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2 Letter from the Friends and the Vestry The Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church is a US registered charity whose main purpose is to assist the Vestry in the oversight and financial planning for the Church. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with an overview of where the Church is financially. The Friends are fortunate to have established an endowment fund, which is used for the Church’s building and maintenance projects. The Friends has several other funds that are devoted to paying a portion of the Church's annual operating expenses, and it also conducts an annual fund drive for the Church. The Church's operating costs are met by your Sunday contributions; Friends’ annual contributions; income from the Friends’ endowment fund; and also donations from weddings etc. Last year the Church had approximately €115,00 of Income from these sources and €135,000 of Expenses - a deficit of €20,000, which was met by additional funding from the Friends. As you will note from the budget below, the forecast Expenses for this year is approximately €140,000 - this increase over previous years is principally caused by increase in our administrative costs and visiting clergy with the retirement of Reverend Charlie, who was not paid a salary. To cover the forecasted expenditure we will need increased contributions to the Church and/or Friends by at least $30,000. To achieve this increase we propose to continue the Friends current annual fund drive, and in addition we would like to suggest worshippers consider a minimum contribution of $250 per worshipper to the fund, which we estimate will allow us to achieve break even. If you have already contributed to the Friends annual fund drive, we would like to thank you but would be pleased to receive any additional contributions. This letter will be distributed at Church each week during February, March and April – and, for US taxpayers, your contribution will be acknowledged for tax purposes. On the back page are instructions on how you can contribute. We thank you in advance for your consideration; we all appreciate our Church and its ministry and must realize that an increase in our financial commitment is required to continue its great history and spiritual growth.
Homage to a wonderful person – Brook Lacour Charlie Vere Nicoll coming to the island to run the hotel St Barth Isle de France, she seized it; realising how that could transform the church – and it did! Father Charlie and Charles were a great team who, alongside Brook, saw the church grow significantly in terms of both numbers in the congregation and outreach - with its spirit embracing the whole island community, not only the When Brook Lacour arrived on the island in the 1970s, St Barts was a very different place. True it had a small Anglican Church in town and very picturesque beaches, but it was not the well-known tourist destination it has lately become. When Brook met and fell in love with Roger, they set about sharing their island paradise with others. As well as having the vision to create ‘Villa-tourism’ on the island, Brook devoted much of her time and energy to keeping St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church alive and well. No task ever seemed too much trouble, and she worked tirelessly to keep the Sunday services going when the numbers were not what they are now.
Brook worked alongside our priest-incharge on St Martin and the Diocesan Bishop to allow the church to have visiting priests from the United States celebrate at services during the high season. She was aided by Bishop Ted Eastman (and his wife Sarah); and the role-call of priests who have since come to visit is almost as long as the chain attached to the Anchor opposite the Church.
Bill Barrett, Chairman of Friends and The Churchwardens
tourists who were here during the high season. The Anglican Church has thus become a spiritual centre for the whole island, and Brook played a very large part in that. Brook at one time or another led the services, helped with Sunday school and in the garden, acted as Treasurer and was a Churchwarden. After Church on Sundays, she was also often to be found with Charles Darden and Marjorie Romney, and many others, continuing her fellowship across the road at Le Boucanier! Brook’s tireless devotion and support kept the Church open and flourishing, and for that we all owe her a great deal of thanks. She will always have special place in our hearts and that is why it is important that all future visitors and churchgoers will be reminded of Brook by naming our garden after her.
Brook, Our words can never thank you enough for what you have done for St Bartholomew’s – we know that you are in the Lord’s safe hands and He is watching over you and caring for you and your family. Amen When our much-missed pianist, Charles Darden, first came here in the 1990s to be the jazz pianist at Le Guanahani, it was Brook who saw his potential to be a church pianist – a job which Charles took to with his usual aplomb, and he subsequently made lively music a hallmark of our Sunday Service. In addition, Brook was instrumental in ensuring that when the opportunity arose to have a resident priest-in-charge, with
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A little church with a big heart … St Bartholomew’s the Less You may recall an article two years ago about the best known church in London with the same name as ours – St Bartholomew’s the Great. Having the sobriquet ‘great’ means there must be a ‘less’ somewhere and that’s indeed the case – and in this instance it is only about 250 yards away. The two churches share the same name as they were both established under the auspices of the St Bartholomew’s Priory that also established the adjacent hospital, better known to the world simply as Barts.
The Less (as it is frequently known) started life as the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and was founded nearby in 1123 (at the same time as the priory). The church moved to its present site some 50 years later; but as it adopted the same name as its big brother down the road, it acquired the suffix, "the Less." Along with most other religious foundations, the priory and hospital were dissolved by Henry VIII, when the Less became a parish church serving those parishioners living close by.
Barts hospital within the Parish of Great St Bartholomew. The church actually falls within the walls of Barts Hospital. It belies the Englishman in the editor to mention that W.G. Grace, a doctor at Barts (where there is a ward named after him), and a notable English Test cricketer (from 1865 to 1908), often worshipped at the Less! Barts Hospital is also a well-known medical school that is the oldest in the English-speaking world, and it houses a museum of more than 12,000 anatomical specimens, as well as being famed for its pioneering open-heart operations.
Bestseller Book Club Every two weeks during High Season, a group gets together in the Church Centre to discuss a current bestseller or literary classic. The group is open to everyone, and we even invite people who haven’t read the book, but who are interested in the topic under review!
The tower and west façade of the church date from the 15th century. In 1790 they built a new octagonal interior within the shell of the medieval chapel, giving it a much more modern feel than its looks from the outside, with its clerestory (upper part of the knave) rising above the old walls. The new construction was made entirely of wood and was affected by dryrot, so was replaced in 1820’s with a construction in stone with an iron ceiling. The church suffered some bomb damage during the Blitz of the Second World War, but this has been repaired and the church is now subsumed as a ‘chapel of ease’ for
Monday, 27th February at 6pm Aravind Adiga – The White Tiger The 2008 Booker Prize winning book surveys contemporary Indian society from all angles, with irony and humour. Monday, 13th March at 6pm Julian Barnes – The Noise of Time Describes Shostakovich’s battle with his conscience in a fictionalised account of his life under Stalin. Monday, 27th March at 6pm Isabelle Allende – Japanese Lover Set in the US, the book covers a lot of historical and social ground: World War Two; pre- & postwar racism, treatment of the elderly and AIDs.
A letter from Father Sandy Zabriskie Greetings to all Margy and I will miss you this year. After spending 23 consecutive years, plus a few more, with you, receiving your affection and love and giving it as we have been able, you have been a significant part of our lives. We will pray for you as you re-consecrate the lovely Church and offer yourselves once again to love and serve Jesus. And, once again we ask for your prayers for us that we may continue to be faithful stewards of God’s grace and stay in good health as we grow older.
With the arrival of this new year many of us are feeling new urgency about the coming of the indwelling Christ in our personal lives, in our mission in his name, in the world suffering so greatly from war and poverty and homelessness. At this time, we remember Christ’s mission to the Jewish and non-Jewish world. You and we have been recipients of that mission, thanks to the grace of God. Now, it is our time to extend that mission, the love and grace of Jesus, to the worlds in which we live. May you and we be faithful, wherever we may be, inspired and given strength by Jesus’ love. I want to personally thank Philip for his generosity to us. He has helped us in many ways when we have been ‘on island’. We know he will be challenged to keep the Church vibrant and healthy, and also to stimulate the Church’s programs to be active and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Church particularly will miss Father Charlie, I’m sure; and we pray and hope your priest from St. Martin and all the visiting clergy will be resources for spiritual strength for Philip and the Church as a whole. I will be particularly praying for you all to be faithful as an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty. As you know, that has been a major concern of mine for many years. In the current era, this concern will very likely increase, not only for you but also for us here in the Episcopal Church in United States and indeed for the world. I ask for your prayers that we may be faithful and cheerful in the coming days and years. With blessings Sandy and Margy (email: margyzabriskie@gmail.com)
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Feb/March 2017
The Anchor
Choosing our religion: spirituality in the ‘pick-and-mix’ age People are approaching religion as consumers, picking the articles of faith that suit them best. But is it a sound concept? Past civilisations are much celebrated for their religious and philosophical diversity. Ancient Athens gave rise to the varied experiments in good living known as Platonism, stoicism, Epicureanism, scepticism and cynicism. And Ashoka’s rule in third century BC India – characterised by his respect for all religions – is now cited by scholars as an embodiment of the spirit of democracy. Then there’s Baghdad, which, in the ninth century AD, founded the House of Wisdom, a place where Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars could study Greek, Indian and Persian texts. It could be argued that we live in comparable times. Cities like London provide copious opportunities not only to study the claims of different faiths, but also to sit at the feet of their best exponents and experience their rituals and meetings. From the beauty of choral evensong in Westminster Abbey to an affirmation of life with the Sunday Assembly (also known as the atheist church); from a lesson in the Sanskrit texts of the Upanishads to a lunchtime meditation; from an evening of yoga to hearing a talk about the sci-fi community of Damanhur, whose underground temple complex contains secrets obtained via visitors from another planet. A smörgåsbord of soulful practices, fantastic myths and metaphysical convictions is widely available. People taste this rich variety of religious experience even when they are doctrinally supposed to not be mixed.
Parish Contributions: Please consider making a minimum $250 contribution per worshipper to meet the Church’s increased 2017 expenses. There are three ways to do this: 1. Send a check to the Friends – either when you get home in the post or hand it to Philip or one of our local leadership who will deliver it to the Friends 2. Online via the church website (listed on the front page) 3. In cash or local check directly to the Church Methods 1 and 2 are donations to our US Charity, which are tax deductible for US citizens. Friends of St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church Chairman: Bill Barrett; Secretary: Ann Green Address: 106 West River Road, Rumson, NJ 07760 USA Telephone: 1-732-741-1500 Email: anncwgreen@aol.com
There are folk who attend the Sunday Assembly but also go to regular church. You can learn about Buddhist meditation without having to commit to reincarnation, karma and the doctrine of non-self. Faith cocktails also blend the ceremonies of one creed with the ethics of another. In fact, religions thrive on diversity, particularly during their inception. The ancient Greeks had extensive contact with ancient India. Islam made much of the insights of the ancient Greeks. The first Christians adapted writings from Judaism and the Stoics, turning them into the central texts of what became the New Testament. Generally speaking, it’s only when seeking power or resisting threat that traditions claim monopolies on truth and ban alternatives as heresies. In other words, the pick-and-mix approach to religion is one that can propagate, fertilise and revive. And who knows what new faith might be being born today – or indeed, whether religion itself is slowly coming to an end, usurped by hope and confidence in science and technology. There is a downside, too. Variety can be dazzling and dismaying in equal measure. Which one is right? Have I enough time? The best offer might be missed altogether. Anxiety haunts the religious marketplace, as much as it can be felt in the shopping mall. But there are some timeless tips by which to form judgments. The great psychologist of religion, William James, suggested that you first examine what’s on offer by its “fruits” as well as its “roots”. That is, ask what the followers of this or that creed are like. Are they
compassionate and flourishing, or crabby and humanly diminished? You know which not to choose. Second, he noticed that wisdom traditions tend to come in one of two forms. The first teach that human beings can perfect themselves, given enough effort. They offer “mind cures” – practices that cultivate wellbeing and excellence – and appeal to those who feel similarly about humankind. The second are different. They teach that human beings remain flawed no matter how hard they try. So instead, these traditions tell of death and rebirth, teaching that what’s mended is first broken. Leonard Cohen caught it well when he wrote: “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” There’s a third, final, bit of discerning to do as you browse. The risk with spiritual shopping is that the shopping itself takes over. Pick-and-mix subtly shifts from being a search to just another purchase of the latest guru, argument or fad. Spiritual experiences stack up like self-help books, changing nothing. You can be sure that the “God-shaped hole” won’t be filled by mere consumption. Which highlights perhaps the most difficult message from the wisdom of past ages to the freedom of the present. Search, test, listen, discern, enjoy, do! But at some point, to know life in all its fullness, you have to commit. Mark Vernon, a British psychotherapist and writer, abridged from his article on www.guardian.com
SBH Prayer Chain: St Bartholomew’s has a prayer chain to offer the support of prayer for those in need. If you think this may be helpful for you or someone you know; or if you wish to join our prayer chain and include such people in your own prayers, please send an email to this address: prayer.stbartholomews@gmail.com AA Group Meetings: Open Meetings in English are held every Tuesday and Friday at 6pm in the Church Centre. Meetings at other times can also be arranged. For more information call: 0690 65 61 22 or 0690 54 17 99.
Bishop: The Rt Revd Errol Brooks, Bishop of the NE Caribbean Priest-in-Charge: The Revd Terrence Rawlins, St Martin Tel: +599 553 8199 Email: angsxm@yahoo.com Parish Administrator & Lay Reader: Philip Trangmar Tel: 0690 54 17 99 Email: info.stbartholomews@gmail.com Church Wardens: Marjorie Romney, Trinette Wellesley-Wesley and Dr Richard Lester Vestry: The Wardens, Clarion Romney, Dawn Drouant, Rachel Barrett-Trangmar, Lloyd Younger, Nancy Swann and Philip Trangmar Treasurer: Alex Harbord Director of Music: Ombeline Collin Images: Thanks to Rosemond Greaux (cover), Mandie Vere Nicoll, Philip Trangmar and many others. All are copyrighted. Published by: Le Société d’Eglise Anglicane,Gustavia, St Barth 97133