St James Episcopal Church, Titusville, PA, 18 May 2014

After a string of NWPA grey days, today dawned bright and beautiful. I know others dislike it and I understand why but I love the twists and turns of Rt 27 between Meadville and Titusville in good weather when I'm not in a hurry. I had to stop for a herd of at least a half dozen deer to cross at one point.

St James has no lot so I looked for a place to park under a tree which turned out to be by the Presbyterian Church. Sorry, Presbys. 

Ushers greeted me warmly. I was a little early and had a wide choice of seats. I didn't choose wisely as I ended up behind a very tall gentleman so I had a very limited view of the altar while the choir was standing. 

They print the liturgy in the bulletin. The pew racks contained two Bibles and a Hymnal 82 only. Very few Episcopal churches I've visited have Bibles in the pews. I can't remember seeing any but there may have been one or two with the usual BCPs and H82s plus occasionally a LEVAS. 

The organ has a cipher so the piano was used. I realized how difficult it is to maintain a long phrase with the piano which decays so quickly. The choir had six or seven I think and was ok. 

I loved the sermon as it spoke to a situation that is coming up for my home parish. The peace was a jumble with some greeting everyone and others staying put. Everyone was friendly. One woman remembered seeing me there before which startled me. I attended their anniversary celebration awhile back but had never been there for a regular service. It is always nice to be remembered. After the service lots of folks were friendly. Good work, people!

The columbarium is in the hallway to the parish hall. I did not light a candle today for a change. The warden and I got into a conversation and that was that.

There was a good coffee hour and the tables were full of people gabbing. Several urged me to stay but I had a lunch date another hour north. Nice people. St James is about an hour and a quarter away unfortunately.

The church is dark but there is good lighting which, with the very bright sun, made taking pictures difficult. Sorry the windows aren't better. Everyone was urging me to go to coffee hour so I didn't spend much time on the photography. And I'm still trying to figure out this camera.

Links to all the church visits I've made are here.

What a difference a crop makes

Kind people compliment me on the pictures I post on Facebook. I'll admit that I've been given a few tips on how to make a photo interesting but I'm basically a point and shoot picture taker. When I get home I use a very old version of Photoshop Elements to make a few adjustments when necessary. Most often that means straightening and cropping. 

I took this from a moving car by lowering the window and pointing the camera held in one hand out the top of the window. Then I cropped and resized the photo.

This is what went on Facebook.

This was the original. Note the window in the upper left corner.

And I snapped two other pictures from which to choose as well as a couple of others on the other side of the highway which I didn't feel were worth working with. This was one of them.

Why didn't I like this one? There really wasn't anything interesting enough in the photo to make cropping worth the effort. If I did crop, the resolution of the resulting image would be blurry due to too few pixels. You can see that at the left of the top image.

My advice to would be photographers? Check out some online pointers then take lots of photos. Use the software that came with either your camera or your computer to adjust your photo as needed. 

Taking lots of photographs as well as looking at others' efforts provides a new way of looking at the world around us. It's fun.

PS I have a pink Panasonic 14 megapixel Lumix DMC-FH6. You will almost always see the string hanging out of my pocket.

St Peter's Episcopal Church, Westfield, NY, 11 May 2014

There are lots of reason to revisit St Peter's not the least of which is the welcome. The lady who once said she had seen me there before expressed regret that she can't remember my name. The 90 year old man who sat down beside me at coffee hour and rebuked me for not being there recently. Among others. And their willingness to marry people. I posted a few photos long ago but thought I'd take some new ones for your edification and create an official visit page.

The red door entrance to the church is in the park. I've never used that door. There are doors which go to the rest of the building on the street side which I have always used.

There is a little narthex leading to the church.

This is the initial view. St Peter's is a nice size for a church.

The Gospel procession was led by this dear one who kept the staff right up against her nose. What a cutie!

A pair of ducks (really geese I think) represented orthoducks and heteroducks and how we must all learn to get along. Most of the sermon was about shepherding of course.

The choir has several students from Fredonia who were recognized and prayed for. Great resource for the church. Fredonia has a good music program.

They light votives on the way back after communion.

The man in the blue shirt was making a video for the diocese. Each parish has been asked to dance to a specific tune. These people danced and danced and danced for many minutes. They certainly are enthusiastic.

This lovely clock was chiming when I went out to take the photo of the church.

I wish St Peter's were closer than an hour and a half! Not to mention the snow belt. I try to get there every few months to get renewed. The sermons are great. The music is tolerable and they have a choir which is ok. The liturgy is standard with an alteration or two such as "our" which I appreciate. They have a box which comes out after the offering and is used for whatever the congregation needs. They make contributions for birthdays, prayers, thanksgivings, whatever is on someone's mind. The money goes to the priest's discretionary fund and occasionally a specific project. Even tho they are friendly they don't sit and gab for a long time during coffee hour. I don't consider that a problem however.

Links to all the parishes visited are here.

St Mark's Episcopal Church, Erie, PA, 4 May 2014

Some people take "Prepare the way..." seriously. As I approached St Mark's on my initial visit, an usher opened the door for me and said, "Hello, Shelley." Uh. Thanks, Craig? It's pretty welcoming to say the least when "everyone" calls you by name even tho you don't really know or remember them from elsewhere. Perhaps something to keep in mind if you know someone is going to visit your church. 

St Mark's sits up on a small hill. It's a stunning building from the outside. Inside the double doors there is a small entrance area with a hallway on the left which leads to the parish hall.

The church itself had lots of candles and flowers this morning and was quite impressive. The light altar area and contrasting darker wood drew my attention forward immediately.

The liturgy was traditional Rite II.

The organ is no longer used unfortunately. The pianist is excellent. The only music I knew was the last hymn which was from Hymnal 82. Everything including that hymn was in the bulletin except an Alleluia which was easy enough. The choir didn't vest but came from the congregation when it was time to sing. The pianist conducted while the accompaniment was played digitally. No complaints about the choir.

The lady in front of me wore this so I had an exceptionally fun view.

I can't really judge how friendly the people at St Mark's ordinarily are. The people from Holy Spirit who now go there were especially welcoming. They met me before their parish was closed.

The Peace was short but not hurried. The priest greeted those on the center aisle which gave us time to greet those around us. Announcements were at the end. I don't believe there was a postlude tho I was engaged in conversation and didn't notice. 

The priest invited me to coffee hour and others made sure I went, got coffee and had someone with whom to sit. They gave me a welcome bag with a plastic cup, a pen, a small notepad, a booklet and some information about the parish. That is a first. I know of only one other parish that does that.

Would I attend St Mark's? Probably not for a couple of reasons, the primary one being that it is a bit over an hour away in snowy Erie. How do I put this gently? This is not music I want to sing every week. I prefer the traditional hymns. But I won't criticize them for singing what means the most to them. They seem to be a lively parish with serious interest in community service for which I give them much credit.

Easter at St John's Episcopal Church, Youngstown, OH, 20 April 2014

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

So good to have the A word back! Don't forget - Easter lasts 50 days.

Attention all congregations: Make room in your schedule to visit St Johns Youngstown for the eucharist! Soon. I don't recall passing anyone who didn't smile and give some sort of greeting. Talk about feeling welcome. Wow! Those folks are friendly. And I don't think it was just because I was with someone they know or it was Easter. I took off with my camera before the service. When I walked out the front door to take a couple of photos, a woman said she hoped I wasn't leaving. I returned via another door and people from the man helping in the parking lot to mothers corraling kids greeted me. Nobody looked aside as people have elsewhere. 

I chose this parish for two reasons. I knew there would be good music. I know several people in the choir from the old Youngstown Symphony Chorus. It was good to see them again. Their choir is twice the size of the others I've experienced.

A friend who is a longtime member of St John's choir lost her husband a few weeks ago. I knew she hadn't been back so I had an opportunity to experience all she had talked about and do a favor for her. She is resigning from the choir because she can't drive at night and she has trouble navigating physically. Everyone was happy to see her.

I thought the priest looked vaguely familiar. After the service we chatted briefly. He was an interim in Greenville, PA awhile back. I met him when I went to hear a deacon friend preach. Small world. St Johns gets a new rector on 1 May 2014.

The church is sort of like a cave. All stone interior. The hanging banners all have a stylized Episcopal Church banner on the reverse.

They have moved the altar down to the floor. Notice the eucharist minister taking photos with a pink camera like my old one.

They do something I've never seen before. They have a regular chalice for the wine but they also have a tiny silver cup on a stem, wider but similar to a cordial glass, that is using for intinction.

It's blurry but this little gal was "playing a trumpet" with the brass during the last hymn. I've since learned she plays trombone.

The HC candle is second from the right since the rightmost was already lit.

Below the party horns on either side are the columbariums. Columbaria?

It has been a beautiful day in so many ways.

I'm not happy with the church photos. There are some major differences between the way the old and new cameras handle lighting. I couldn't get decent photos of the windows. I need to do some reading. This one has lots of special settings which I haven't had time to investigate yet. Stay tuned.

Inside and outside on 9 April 2014

The ancient poinsettia is "blooming" like crazy this year. It is from Christmas 1968.

The daffodils are thinking about blooming. they might see snow again tho.

These croci are at least as old as the poinsettia having been here before I bought the house. I look for them every year.

Looking across the bay at the house.

Turtle heads kept appearing in the green but the whole turtles wouldn't come to the log as long as I was visible.

This turtle stayed just long enough to get in the photo.

St John's Episcopal Church, Sharon, PA, 6 April 2014

H. Whoops. Can't say that yet. But there is no snow anywhere here. Not even a flurry today. Some very high thin clouds this morning in an otherwise lovely blue sky. Beautiful. Since St Johns is only about half an hour away, I should have gone there on one of those snowy days. Oh, well. 

 Rt 18 is supposed to close temporarily one of these days while they fix the bridge over the Shenango Reservoir. I contemplated going the back way but curiosity got the best of me. To see what was happening I went on down. Came home via the detour to see what it is like. It was very familiar as I used to go that way when they built 18 over the reservoir and I worked in Masury, OH. That was a year or two ago. 

I'd been to St John's on several occasions, most recently for diocesan events. The first was for a concert by the combined choirs of St Johns and First Presbyterian with a few extras. I sang tenor with male clergy and a choir director. We were not well behaved. That was also a year or two ago. Probably in the mid 1960s. 

 I parked in one of the regular spots, not in a visitor spot. Two women passed me but never even looked at me. I've heard that people there are unfriendly. That wasn't a good start. I entered via the double doors to use the bathroom - helpful to have been there before. There is a handy guide on the wall but I left via the same doors to see what I would encounter if I used the red door by the Visitor parking which most visitors probably would.

The church has many red doors in various places. I don't know how many are functional. There is no ramp. (There is an elevator.) This was the closest to the parking lot and I had seen someone else go in there. The door did not go into the church but into a sort of hallway. I had to move someone aside to get in as the choir was milling around. Nobody even looked at me. Fortunately there was a red banner above the entrance to the church. The usher greeted me with a smile as did a woman in a pew at the back. 

I was surprised to see flowers on the altar during Lent. The choir entered quietly from the side. There was a short procession of the clergy to one verse of O Sacred head. I was surprised to see the priest was wearing a cope. I've never seen the eucharist done in a cope before. The church was hot so he must have been really warm. Odd also that he sang the Collect but not the rest of the service. 

They had a very short Peace. Nobody wandered. All around me shook hands in a friendly manner. 

The dozen in the choir sang "Wondrous Love" by William Witherup. Hee. For those of you who don't know, he is the organist/choirmaster at Christ Church Meadville, my home parish. He's an excellent composer, especially for small choirs. His music is published by Selah Publishing.

I understand the theology and the arguments but I don't appreciate the priest's back during the eucharist. I wonder what the disciples would have thought if Jesus had turned his back to them for the last supper. I wish I'd had the camera out to take a photo when the priest had his arms extended. He looked like a bird with his wings opened in the sun.

I was the only person who listened to the Bach postlude. I took some photos then got at the tail end of the line to greet the priest. He said he was surprised to see me. I explained. He said I am always welcome there. He invited me to come back. Then to come back all the time. To sing in the choir. And to get some coffee and goodies. He made me feel welcome. I went to coffee hour to look for the person I know but didn't find her. I was totally ignored. I left.

The white structure above the church in the tree is the carillon. I regret not taking a photo of the keyboard. I've seen it many times and didn't think about it. You walk past it on the way into the church.

I forgot to take the other side windows. Apologies. I'll catch them and the carillon keyboard next time.

This church is smallish. The ceiling is segmented and not high. The windows are right there and they are largeish and brightly colored. For some reason I felt a bit of visual sensory overload. Odd. Not obnoxious however.

No clue where to go for Palm/Passion Sunday. Not my favorite service. I'd like to go back to celebrating Christ's entry into Jerusalem without having to endure the passion then do the Holy Week services. At least I won't have to go the rest of the week since Jesus will already be dead. A week early. I might be up for a dawn Easter Vigil but you won't catch me at an evening one.