The CATHEDRAL TIMES

The weekly newsletter of the Cathedral of St. Philip · Serving Atlanta and the World · March 12, 2023

Antioch

By the Very Rev. Sam Candler, Dean of the Cathedral

In October of 2002, a year after 9/11, I set out with about 45 other pilgrims on a unique trip. We were the first group of “World Pilgrims” from Atlanta, consisting of 15 Christians, 15 Jews, and 15 Muslims. About half of us were white, and about half of us were people of color. The idea was that we would visit the holy places of each others’ traditions. Each night, our hotel roommate would be someone from a different religion. On each long bus ride, our seatmate would be someone from a different religion. With the energy and enthusiasm of our organizer, Wayne Smith, it was a memorable pilgrimage, and the first of many. That first pilgrimage was to Turkey. After changing planes in Istanbul, we flew to Adana. From there, we took our first bus trip to a town called Antakya, our first site.

Do you know where the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians?” It is one of the most frequent questions on popular Bible quizzes. The answer is “Antioch.” According to the Book of Acts, 11:26, the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. After Barnabas retrieved Saul (Paul) from Tarsus, Barnabas took Paul to Antioch, and the community of Christians grew. Along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Antioch was in that region of what is now the southeastern tip of Turkey, next to Syria and above Lebanon. It was from Antioch that Paul systematically began all three of his famous missionary journeys. Later, Antioch would become one of the five great centers of Christianity, the pentarchy that included Rome, Constantinople. Alexandria, and Jerusalem. The great early Church patriarch, Saint John Chrysostom, was from Antioch.

But, Antioch is now called Antakya. As World Pilgrims, our first inter-religious stop was at Antakya, a mostly Muslim community in the province of Hatay which has historically enjoyed generous relationships with the Christians there and the few Jews. The city was our introduction to inter-religious pilgrimage, and I will never forget it.

Thus, a few weeks ago, I was crushed to realize that Antakya was among the cities most devastated by the earthquake of February 6, 2023. Last week, Jared Malsin and Elvan Kivilcim wrote a beautiful, if tragic, description of Antakya and its destruction in an article in The Wall Street Journal of March 3, 2023. I highly recommend the piece, titled, “Ancient Antioch Survived Many Disasters in its 24,000 Years – Then Turkey’s Earthquake Obliterated It.” Here is some of what they wrote:

The near-total destruction of Antakya is a devastating blow for Turkey and the wider Middle East. Home to Turkish Muslims, Christians and Jews, the city sustained an Old World multiculturalism and sense of interreligious solidarity that has faded elsewhere during a century of nationalist rule in modern Turkey and decades of colonial war and sectarian militancy across the Middle East.

Even before the 2011 uprising and civil war in Syria that pushed more than three million refugees to settle in Turkey, many residents of Hatay province spoke both Turkish and Arabic, unique in a country where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many other elites are proudly monolingual.

“We grew up all in the same streets. Nobody said this is Christian, this is Muslim, this is Alewite, this is Sunni,” said Cemil Baklaci, a 32-year-old engineer from Antakya, who is Arab and a member of the Alevi branch of Islam. “If I had been born in the next house over, I’d be Christian,” he said, walking amid the ruined home of Antakya’s old city last week.

With those writers, I lament the devastation. I am sad that 69-year-old Josef Naseh, a Syrian Christian archaeologist mentioned in the article, has had to leave Antakya with these words: “The real devastation this earthquake created is in our minds. …We need new people who can carry on the mythology, the faith, the culture in this land. …We need people who will not erase all that.”

Indeed, the world needs those kinds of people. May God be with the people of Antakya. Disasters happen. Earthquakes happen. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires. I pray for the World Pilgrims among us, all over the world, who find the courage and strength to live on, and to build again communities of good faith. Wherever we are, and no matter what has befallen us, we can still seek good faith and the common good. God is surely with us in those endeavors.

This SUNDAY

MARCH 12, 2023 · The Third Sunday in Lent, Year A Exodus 17:1-7 • Psalm 95 • Romans 5:1-11 • John 4:5-26

8:45 A.M., 11:15 A.M. AND 4 P.M.: IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

CATHEDRALATL.ORG / THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PHILIP APP / FACEBOOK / YOUTUBE

7:45 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST, MIKELL CHAPEL

Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. Canon Lauren Holder

8:45 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST, CATHEDRAL

Celebrant: The Rev. Canon George Maxwell

Preacher: The Very Rev. Sam Candler

Cathedral Singers:

Joel Martinson (b. 1960), The Invitation

William Byrd (c. 1540-1623), “Agnus Dei” from Mass for Four Voices

11:15 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST, CATHEDRAL

Celebrant: The Rev. Canon George Maxwell

Preacher: The Very Rev. Sam Candler

Cathedral Schola:

Edward C. Bairstow (1874-1946), Lord, thou hast been our refuge

Joel Martinson (b. 1960), The Invitation

11:15 A.M. LA SANTA EUCARISTÍA, MIKELL CHAPEL

Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. Canon Lauren Holder

4 P.M. CHORAL EVENSONG , CATHEDRAL

Officiant and Preacher: The Rev. Canon Lauren Holder

Cathedral Choir:

Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988), Preces & Responses

Kerensa Briggs (b. 1991), Gloucester Service

Edward C. Bairstow (1874-1946), Lord, thou hast been our refuge

David Hill (b. 1957), God be in my head

Pastoral CARE

SUPPORT FOR SUICIDE GRIEF

A 6-week grief group

March 12 – April 30

This group is for adults across all walks of life and stages of bereavement to find a place for support and connections with others who are grieving a death by suicide. It is facilitated by counselor and suicide expert Dr. Mary Chase Mize and by Canon Cathy Zappa. The group meets on six Sunday afternoons from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. (there is no meeting on Easter Sunday). Contact Canon Cathy Zappa, czappa@cathedralATL.org, for more information or to register.

Outreach

THANK YOU FROM ST. VERONICA’S GUILD

St. Veronica’s Guild thanks our many caring parishioners who donated funds during our Epiphany Drive to support the Guild’s toiletries ministry. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue to cover costs for the over 11,000 needed personal care items–soaps, bottles of shampoo, washcloths, toothbrushes and other toiletries–we give each year to our four ministry organizations for the thousands of people they help.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON RECITALS PETER DUBOIS, ORGAN

Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester, New York

SUNDAY, MARCH 12 — 3:15 P.M.

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE AT CATHEDRALATL.ORG/RECITALS

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Prelude & Fugue in C minor, Op. 37, No. 1 Gerre Hancock (1934-2012), Air César Franck (1822-1890), Prière, Op. 20 Anton Heiller (1923-1979), Ecce Lignum Crucis — A Meditation Jehan Alain (1911-1940), Litanies

The Chenault Duo

Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault, organ

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2023 AT 7:30 P.M.

Specializing in the works written for four hands and four feet at one pipe organ console, Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault have made a monumental and unmatched contribution to the pipe organ repertoire by commissioning, premiering, and recording over 70 organ duets in a wide array of styles. The program will include two world premiere performances: a duet commissioned from David Briggs, Homage to Pierre Cochereau , and a solo work written expressly for the AeolianSkinner organ and acoustic of the Cathedral nave by Ray Chenault, Fantaisie Mystique.

Program:

David Briggs (b. 1962), Hommage à Pierre Cochereau (World Premiere) (2023)

Raymond Chenault, Fantaisie Mystique (Organ Solo—World Premiere) (2023)

Rachel Laurin (b. 1961), Fantaisie á Deux (2018)

Richard Shephard (b. 1949), Eclogue (1991)

Philip Moore (b. 1943), Allegro for Organ Duet (1993)

Charles Callahan (b. 1951), The Emerald Isle (based on Londonderry Air) (1994)

Melinda Lee Clark (b. 1945), “Two to Tango” from An American Suite (2012)

Nicholas White (b. 1967), A Spiritual Romp for Two (2019)

This FREE event is presented by Friends of Cathedral Music and the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.