June 30 Pondering, Reading, Morning Prayer

A DEACONESS IN OUR CHURCH?  BIBLICAL & HISTORIC!    LAY MINISTRY A Brief History The recognized service of women as Deaconess in the Church dates from apostolic days.  The term diakanos—literally “servant”—used both for Deacons and, in the early days, for Deaconesses, is applied by St. Paul, Romans 16:1 to “Phoebe, a diakanos in the church which is in Cenchraea.”  Through the…

  Musical Notes: for Sunday after Ascension June 2, 2019 Prelude                   Meditation on “Salve feste dies”           Charles Callahan The hymn “Hail thee, festival day” (whose Latin title is in the Prelude) is a 6th century Latin poem with verses appropriate for Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. The author is Venatius Honorius Fortunatus, an Italian priest…

1928 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER: The Book of Common Prayer has been called “The Bible rearranged for Christian worship.”  Over three-quarters of the book consist of selections taken directly from Holy Scripture. The Old Testament Book of Psalms is incorporated in its entirety, for example, and much of the liturgy of the Eucharist is directly…