In the summer of 2017, the Center for Worship and the Arts at Samford University produced a nine-minute video on understanding church architecture. It was used in Animate, their week-long summer program for teenagers and others. I provided the narration. I’ll be referring to it in a talk at a All Saints’ Episcopal Church this week, so I’m sharing it here for easy access. I hope you find it helpful.
They produced a teaching activity handout based on my notes. If you are interested, let me know, and I’ll see if we can track down a copy.
My students know that I am fascinated by religious calendars and liturgical texts. These come together uniquely in the the formal announcement of the date of Easter and other feasts at the celebration of the Epiphany. This ancient custom originated long before printed calendars and may seem utterly unnecessary today. Indeed for most of the history of printing, it has not been performed in parish churches. Yet, in recent decades it has been revived in some Roman Catholic and other churches as a way of linking the observance of Christ’s birth to his resurrection. There now two texts commonly used for the proclamation in English. I think both have there merits and that the one more commonly used by Anglicans and Episcopalians would benefit from a few edits.
History A variety of sources from the fifth and sixth centuries testify that after parish clergy received news of the date of Easter each year from their bishop they would announce it on Epiphany. From at least the sixteenth century, however, in the Roman Rite the announcement occurred only in Epiphany masses celebrated by a bishop. It survived longer as a practice in parish churches in the Parasian Rite. But this use was curtailed in the nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1970s, Liturgy Training Publications published an English version of it for optional use in Catholic parishes (Merz 2011). A few Episcopalians, Anglicans and perhaps some other Protestants began to use it as well to add an additional festive element to the Epiphany celebration and unite the nativity and paschal cycles of the church year.
Texts, Music, and Variations Two English texts for the proclamation are in common use. A translation of the Latin text is supplied in the current Roman Missal (2011). Its content is very matter-of-fact. It begins, “Know, dear brothers and sisters that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy, we announce to you also the joy of his resurrection” and then proceeds to list the dates. Its liturgical performance, however, is more significant than the text itself. It is sung to the same tone as the Easter Proclamation (the Exsultet). For those familiar with it, it brings the full joy and solemnity of the Easter Vigil into the Epiphany eucharist. (The text and a video of its performance are near the end of this post.)
A longer form, approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1989, was used by Roman Catholics through 2011. It is still the version most commonly used by Episcopalians and Anglicans. This longer form is more instructive and can hold its own in the liturgy even if it is not sung. It was published to be sung to a preface tone, not the Exsultet. Using the same tone as the Exsultet would be an improvement.
The text itself needs improvement in at least two places. First, it states, “from Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.” This is true theologically. And thus through a “theological license” one might deem it liturgically acceptable. Yet, it is not true calendrically and the proclamation is about the details of the calendar. Second, given the Easter-centered elaboration in this text, the abrupt announcement of the date of the First Sunday of Advent sounds like an awkward. It should be included more logically into the flow of the proclamation. Here is the text as it stands, below it I will propose changes to remedy this problems.
Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation. Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the . . . of . . . and the evening of the . . . of . . . Each Easter–as on each Sunday–the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the . . . of . . .. The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the . . . of . . . Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the . . . of . . . And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the . . . of . . . . Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever. R. Amen
“The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany,” Sacramentary Supplement . . . Approved for Use in the Diocese of the United States of America by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and Confirmed by the Apostolic See (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1994), 28
The first change I propose is simply to insert the word “moveable” before “days we keep holy.” This brings the text in line with the realities of the calendar. The dates of Christmas and most saints’ days are in no way affected by Easter’s changing date.
The second change is to move the announcement of the date of the beginning of Advent until after the sentence about the feasts of the saints, and to link it to them. There are a couple of good ways to do this. My preference is to follow ancient tradition and the universal norms for the Catholic calendar issued by Pope Paul VI and state that Advent begins on the Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s Day, November 30 (Roman Missal,114). The First Sunday of Advent is always both the fourth Sunday before December 25th and the Sunday nearest November 30. Since Andrew was the first apostle called by Jesus, it makes sense that he begins the liturgical year. With this change I suggest the end of the proclamation be:
“Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. “These conclude and begin anew with the feast of Andrew, the first Apostle to follow the Lord, on the 30th of November. Thus the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ will be the … day of …. “To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever.”
(If November 30 is a Sunday, Andrew’s feast is transferred to December 1. In that case the text is given as above, but with December 1 given as Andrew’s day.)
If the mention of St. Andrew is not desirable, an alternative ending is
“These days are reckoned from the Nativity of our Lord, as is the season of his Advent which this year will begin on Sunday, the . . . of . . ..
Arguably, the reference to the “day of his return” in the opening of this long form of the proclamation invites a more significant reference to Advent and the Second Coming as a kind of inclusio, but I’ll save that proposal for others or another time.
Full texts of the short form, the long form with my edits, and other resources follow below.
‘Short Form’ Announcement of Easter and the Movable Feasts (Roman Missal, 2011) — Text and Performance
Know, dear brethren (brothers and sisters), that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Savior. On the … day of … will fall Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season. On the … day of … you will celebrate with joy Easter Day, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the …day of … will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.] On the … day of …, the feast of Pentecost. On the … day of …, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. On the … day of …, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
“The Announcement of Easter and the Moveable Feasts” Roman Missal (USCCB, 2011), 1448-49
Instructional video from the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon. The proclamation itself begins at 1:51.
As Corinna Laughlin notes in her pastoral introduction to the text, the fact that the Roman Missale does not include the text of the Epiphany proclamation without music suggests that if it is not sung, it should not be read (Proclamations 2011). That makes sense to me if this short form is to be used.
‘Long Form’ “The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany” (1989) Sacramentary Supplement (1994) — Performance
‘Long Form’ with suggested amendments incorporated
Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation. Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the . . . of . . .and the evening of the . . . of . . .. Each Easter – as on each Sunday – the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the movable days we keep holy. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the . . . of . . . . The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the . . . of . . .. Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the . . . of . . .. Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. These conclude and begin anew with the feast of Andrew, the first Apostle to follow the Lord, on the 30th of November. Thus the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ will be the … of …. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever. R. Amen
Merz, Daniel J., and Marcel Rooney. 2011. Essential presidential prayers and texts : a Roman missal study edition and workbook. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications.
Proclamations for Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter. 2011. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications.
The Roman Missal . . . English Translation According to the Third Typical Edition For Use in the Diocese of the United States of America. 2011. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.
Sacramentary Supplement . . . Approved for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America. 1994. New York: Catholic Book Publishing.
In an earlier post I mentioned that some evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump see him as “a ‘Cyrus’ figure.” A few recent publications have brought more attention to that idea.
In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Katherine Stewart reports that evangelical author Lance Wallnau has drawn draws a rhetorical connection between the 45th president and a chapter of Isaiah in which Cyrus appears, “I believe the 45th president is meant to be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus.” Stewart further explains,
Ralph Drollinger, who has led weekly Bible study groups in the White House attended by Vice President Mike Pence and many other cabinet members, likes the word “king” so much that he frequently turns it into a verb. “Get ready to king in our future lives,” he tells his followers. “Christian believers will — soon, I hope — become the consummate, perfect governing authorities!”
The great thing about kings like Cyrus, as far as today’s Christian nationalists are concerned, is that they don’t have to follow rules. They are the law. This makes them ideal leaders in paranoid times.
In a Washington Post interview published the next day, Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. doesn’t explicitly compare Trump to Cyrus, but does state that there is nothing Mr. Trump will do that will jeopardize his evangelical support. He also firmly endorses a form of a two kingdoms theology.
There’s two kingdoms. There’s the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom. In the heavenly kingdom the responsibility is to treat others as you’d like to be treated. In the earthly kingdom, the responsibility is to choose leaders who will do what’s best for your country.
Such a theology does not require supporters to value the president’s personal character or religious faith. Though as Stewart points out their preference for him as a strong, unquestioning leader does dovetail with many recent themes in conservative evangelical theology and church polity. Strong executives are in, congregational government is out.
Today, December 27, is the feast day of St. John the Evangelist. While internal evidence in the Bible suggests otherwise, tradition identifies him as the son of Zebedee, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the author of all five books in the New Testament ascribed to a John. As such his role in the New Testament is rivaled only by Peter and Paul. He is recognized in Christian art by usually being beardless or symbolized by an eagle or a chalice with a snake.
St. John the Evangelist represented as on the base of pulpit in Cordoba Cathedal, Spain, and in a rose window at St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
John, the apostle of love, has not without reason been styled by the church the “Theologian” per eminentiam. For by the eagle flight of his believing speculation into the depths of God and his Word as existing before the world and then made flesh for our salvation, he may be said to have led the way to Christian theology in its bold and glorious course. His love is only the strong will-force of knowledge, his knowledge but the keen vision of love.
The whole history of the Church furnishes proof that the men who have exerted the greatest and most happy influence, the wakers of a new life, the pillars of the temple of God, have always been distinguished also above there contemporaries by a thorough scientific cultivation.
He flies like a bird without limit, in that neither seer nor prophet ever flew higher. As much what would be fulfilled as what has been, never were so many secrets seen so purely by a pure man.
Cited in Development of the Church, 175
Schaff was an ecumenist, passionately concerned with the reunion of what he, following his German teachers, called the church of Peter (Roman Catholicism) with the church of Paul (Protestantism) in the coming church of John. He closes the Principle of Protestantism stating
The revivification of the spirit of John the evangelist, in the Church, will open the way directly for his second coming, to establish the Church absolute and triumphant, in which law and freedom shall both be perfect in one, and the results of all previous development appear conserved as the constituent elements of a higher and more glorious state. To this refers the mystical sense of Christ’s word, John 21:22, where he speaks enigmatically of John’s tarrying till his second coming.
Schaff, The Principle of Protestantism, in The Development of the Church, 190.
With such an emphasis on John–the beloved disciple, the theologian, the evangelist, the author of Revelation–as the embodiment of the coming church of the future, it is unsurprising that Americans would name him patron of their largest and most ambitious church, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. Its name was fixed in a 1873 charter when Schaff was in his prime at age 54. Its cornerstone was laid on this day in 1892 a year before Schaff’s death. Its structure, like the reunion of Christ’s visible church is still unfinished.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, New York. Crossing and choir (interior, 2009), Exterior from the south.
While for Schaff, the key attributes of John were knowledge and love, the traditional Anglican collect for this feast highlights the theme of the light of truth appropriate for this dark time of year in the northern hemisphere. The phrasing in the Church of England’s Common Worship captures it best.
Merciful Lord, cast your bright beams of light upon the Church: that, being enlightened by the teaching of your most blessed apostle and evangelist Saint John, we may so walk in the light of your truth that we may at last attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
On Christmas Eve a new setting of a Charles Wesley Christmas hymn by Judith Weir was premiered as part of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge University. Weir set nine stanza’s of Charles Wesley’s 1745 text “O Mercy Divine.” The premier performance may be heard as part of free on-demand streaming of the festival at the BBC Radio 4 website until January 21. It begins at 1:05:30. The text and a note from the composer appear in the order of service on the college’s website. The stanzas included in Weir’s setting are:
O mercy divine, how couldst thou incline, my God, to become such an infant as mine?
What a wonder of grace, the Ancient of Days is found in the likeness of Adam’s frail race!
He comes from on high, who fashioned the sky, and meekly vouchsafes in a manger to lie.
The angels, she knew, had worshipped him too, and still they confess adoration his due.
Their newly born king, transported they sing, and heaven and earth with the triumph doth ring.
The wise men adore, and bring him their store, the rich are permitted to follow the poor.
To the inn they repair, to see the young heir; the inn is a palace, for Jesus is there.
Who now would be great, and not rather wait on Jesus their Lord in his humble estate?
Like him would I be, my master I see in a stable; a stable shall satisfy me.
A cello accompanies the choir. In her note on the carol, Weir describes the accompaniment as “a musical ‘flying carpet,” on which the choir can comfortably tread and later float above. The cello’s interludes between sets of stanzas help structure the hearer’s experience of the text.
Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord (London, 1745) in which Wesley first published these words contains seventeen other hymns. One of these, “Come, thou long-expected Jesus” is frequently sung. The others are not. Weir’s carol followed the scripture telling the story of the coming of the wise men. Accordingly she omits four stanzas that mention the animals, Mary, the angels, and the shepherds. She also omits the final two stanzas. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is often said of Wesley’s hymns that they begin on earth and end in heaven. While this cannot be said of the text as Weir sets it, it is true when the last stanza is included. As reprinted on the website of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, It runs as follows:
O mercy divine, how couldst thou incline, my God, to become such an infant as mine!
What a wonder of grace, the ancient of days is found in the likeness of Adam’s frail race.
He comes from on high, who fashioned the sky, and meekly vouchsafes in a manger to lie.
Our God ever blest with oxen doth rest, is nursed by his creature and hangs at the breast.
So heavenly-mild his innocence smiled, no wonder the mother should worship the child.
The angels, she knew had worshipped him too, and still they confess adoration his due.
On Jesus’s face, with eager amaze, and pleasure extatic the cherubim gaze.
Their newly born king, transported they sing, and heaven and earth with the triumph doth ring.
The shepherds behold him promised of old, by angels attended, by prophets foretold.
The wise men adore, and bring him their store, the rich are permitted to follow the poor.
To the inn they repair, to see the young heir; the inn is a palace, for Jesus is there.
Who now would be great, and not rather wait on Jesus their Lord in his humble estate?
Like him would I be, my master I see in a stable; a stable shall satisfy me.
With him I reside: the manger shall hide mine honour; the manger shall bury my pride.
And here will I lie, till raised up on high with him on the cross I recover the sky.
The reprinting of the hymn including that at Hymnary.org reprintings of the hymn arrange it for a four-line meter by combining the first two lines of each stanza into one and combining the stanzas in pairs. Since this requires an even number of stanza’s the penultimate stanza is omitted.
Weir’s note in the order of service reflects this shorter version. She states that Wesley’s full text was fourteen stanzas, not the fifteen found in the 1745 printing of the collection.
President Trump altered his Christmas plans and remained in D.C. to deal with the government shutdown. Mrs. Trump flew back to D.C. from Florida on Christmas Eve afternoon. At 10 p.m. they attended service of Holy Eucharist at Washington National Cathedral. It was Trump’s third visit as president to the cathedral and his first for a regularly scheduled public service. They were seated by Dean Randy Hollerith immediately before the dean welcomed the congregation to the service.
In her sermon, the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, challenged worshipers to take their place in God’s redemptive story and to listen for the word that God was saying to them in this service tonight. She quoted contemporary Christian author Rachel Held Evans and the German Jesuit Alfred Delp. Her most extensive quotations, however, were from the African American theologian and mystic, Howard Thurman.
She began the heart of her sermon quoting Thurman, “Celebrating Christmas affirms our solidarity with the whole human race in its long struggle to become more humane and to reveal the divinity in which all humanity shares.” Citing Rachel Held Evans, she insisted that our lives would find their meaning in the biggest story we can imagine and place ourselves in. This could be “nationalism, follow your bliss, or he who dies with the most toys wins,” but it should be God’s story of redemption.
The story of Christmas has “social implications,” she insisted and mentioned that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were forced to flee and take refuge in a foreign country. But as for what those social implications were for those listening to her, she left that to them to discover. Whatever God was calling them to do, she challenged them to “be instruments of God’s love for love’s sake.”
The cathedral’s video stream did not focus on the Trumps or other members of the congregation, but it did show them both the President and the First Lady receiving communion and singing “Silent Night.”
The video of the service and the service leaflet are available on YouTube
[UPDATES: Late Christmas afternoon The Washington Post published a story on the sermon (click here). NPR also broadcast an interview with Bishop Budde that afternoon on All Things Considered (click here).]
On Christmas Eve at 3 p.m. in England, a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held in the chapel of King’s College at Cambridge University. It will be broadcast live around the world, in the United States over public radio at 9 a.m. Central Standard Time. (For one of many audio streams, click here. For the printed order of service click here.)
Many articles have been published to mark this anniversary and tell the history of this popular and widely imitated service. One blog post in the Guardian tells the story of the origin of this Christmas Eve service at Truro Cathedral in 1880. Another Guardian article features an interview with Stephen Cleobury who will retire this year after 37 years as the director of the King’s College Chapel choir. The BBC, which has broadcast the service since 1926, provides an overview of the history. King’s College provides a copy of the 1918 order of service.
I’ve listened to the service most years since at least the late 1980s, usually while wrapping Christmas presents. I received an LP recording of the service for Christmas some years earlier. Since my first year in college, I’ve also been to many services of lessons and carols that follow the same format and very similar prayer texts. Here are a few thoughts on this year’s selections and on the finer points of the service’s structure.
This Year’s New Carol
For over three decades the college has commissioned a new carol for the service each year. This year’s is a setting of a Charles Wesley text by Judith Weir. In the order of service, Weir describes the short stanzas of “O Mercy Divine” as “almost haiku-like.” The most poignant of them captures the world-turned-upside-down theme of Mary’s Magnificat “The wise men adore, and bring him their store, the rich are permitted to follow the poor.” It often said of Wesley’s hymns that they begin on earth and end in heaven. In its full form, this is no exception. It begins speaking of “an infant” and “Adam’s frail race” but ends “And here will I lie, till raised up on high, with him on the cross I recover the sky.” But Weir omits five of Wesley’s fourteen stanzas including this last one. In her interpretation the hymn concludes in earthly humility. “Like him would I be, my master I see in a stable; a stable shall satisfy me.”
This is perhaps appropriate to its place in the service following the eighth lesson telling of the coming of the Wise Men. After the ninth lesson (John’s prologue), the collect for Christmas Eve, and the blessing, Wesley does get the last word. His “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” is the service’s final text. It concludes “born to raise the sons of earth, born to given the second birth.”
Old Favorites
Among the changing music of the service, two of my favorite’s are returning this year. They are Elizabeth Poston’s setting of the anonymous text from New England, “Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree” and John Rutter’s setting of Robert Herrick’s “What Sweeter Music.” The latter was commissioned for this service in 1987. I like the liturgical or courtly procession of Herrick’s text and Rutter’s text is idyllic and dependably singable. My wife and I own a two-disc collection of the commissioned carols and often refer to it as “the challenging carols.” And indeed many are difficult, even if rewarding, to hear. It is not so with Rutter’s.
If you aren’t familiar with these two, there is a fine performance of “Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree” here by my university’s A Cappella choir, and here’s is the link to a 2008 performance of “What Sweeter Music” by the King’s College Chapel choir.
Structure
One aspect of the structure of the service that is often over looked in adaptations of in the U.S.A. is that the carol immediately before the first lesson is intended as an “invitatory carol,” that a call to worship, or an introduction to the service. This year, as often, the text begins “Up! good Christian folk, and listen.” It is a sung introduction to the lessons which is in some respect parallel in function to the bidding prayer. While the worship books of the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) all provide orders of worship based on the King’s service, none of them mark out this purpose for a song at this point. Indeed the Presbyterian and Episcopal books call for no song at this point. Having it and marking it as the “invitatory” carol shows the influences of prayer book offices of morning and evening prayer on the service. They each have their own invitatory that introduces the recitations from the psalms.
Lastly, the bidding prayer composed by Eric Milder-White is rightly prized and celebrated. I think one of its many strengths is the way that it is specific to the time and place of the service: “this Christmas eve” and “this chapel, dedicated to Mary, his most blessed Mother.” Similarly it bids prayers for, “the dominions of our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth,” “this University and City of Cambridge,” and “the two royal and religious Foundations of King Henry VI here and at Eaton.” In services I’ve attended and in the service books of the denominations above these specific are replaced with generics: “this house of prayer,” “our city and country.” It takes a little skill to work proper nouns into these phrases while maintaining the cadence of the prayer. I think it is worth trying to do.
All in all it is the simplicity and adaptability of the format and its focus on song and scripture that make the service successful.
There are millions of things more important than the church going customs of the president of the United States, especially at present. But since everything the president does is charted by someone, it is worth noting that President Trump’s announcement that, due to the government shutdown, he will stay in Washington for Christmas will alter his custom of going to church on Christmas Eve.
The past two years, Mr. Trump and his wife have attended a Christmas Eve service at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida. This 1925 Gothic revival church is the same church in which they were married. They have also attended this church at Easter.
In Washington, to my knowledge, the Trumps have attended regularly-scheduled services only once. Following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the president attended a Sunday service on September 3 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square to mark the national day of prayer he had declared.
St. John’s is the unofficial church of the presidents and the closest to the White House. It has been visited by every president since it opened in 1816. Recently, it was the Washington church that both President Bush and President Obama attended most frequently. None of these three recent presidents was an Episcopalian when they were elected, but all found Episcopal churches most convenient and appropriate to their churchgoing in office.
Mr. Trump was raised a Presbyterian and Mrs. Trump a Roman Catholic. One may hypothesize that like many other Protestant-Catholic couples, they find the Episcopal Church to be an appropriate common church home. Attending churches well known to the Secret Service, also is surely a convenience to the government.
This year, Mrs. Trump and her son are already in Florida. She will return to Washington to spend Christmas with the president. Given that Washington church attendance would require last-minute adjustments for security, I won’t be surprised if the Trumps skip church this Christmas eve.
If you are looking for alternative holiday viewing, you might consider the hour-long “Spirit of Apollo” program organized by the National Air and Space Museum and held at the Washington National Cathedral earlier this month. It is available on YouTube (click here)or on the Smithsonian website, where you will also find the printed program for the event.
The event commemorates Apollo 8, the first trip humans made to lunar orbit. It particularly remembers its most famous moment, the broadcast made by the astronauts on Christmas Eve 1968 in which they read to the world the creation account in the first 8 verses of Genesis. Also central is the “Earthrise” photograph taken by astronaut Bill Anders. Its effect on human perceptions of the Earth was aptly summarized by Anders, “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”
Jack Jenkins provided a fine report of the newsworthy aspects of the evening for Religion News Service. Here I’ll offer a few additional reflections. The program is an intriguing mix of the historical, the spiritual, the technical, and the artistic. A short documentary film and an address by James Lovell, one of the Apollo 8 astronauts, provides the inspiring historical story. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church who impressed the world with his sermon at the royal wedding in May, provided a stirring sermon-like address. Curry framed the evening as one of “re-consecration and dedication.” He strongly emphasized the need to draw on the wisdom of science to address the challenge of global warming, saying we need to act now “to save this oasis, our island home.”
“Our island home” was an allusion to the phrase by which Apollo’s images of Earth entered into Episcopal liturgy. In one of the eucharistic prayers included in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, God is addressed saying,
At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.
Eucharistic Prayer C, The Holy Eucharist Rite II, The Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church, 1979).
Dean Randolph Hollerith also channeled this prayer in his welcome at the beginning of the evening when he mentioned the “images of our small and fragile world.” Howard Galley wrote the prayer in the summer of 1969 as he and the rest of the world watched Apollo 11 land on the moon. Apollo’s images of Earth were very much on his mind. While the prayer is often called the “Star Trek” prayer because of this phrase, it might be better called the “Apollo” or “NASA” prayer.
The most technical, or practical address of the evening came from the NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine. He presented the president’s space policy of returning to the moon and using it as a base for further voyages to Mars. This would be possible because the moon has water ice. Since water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, that means rocket fuel.
Curiously, in driving this point home, Administrator Bridenstine returned three times to the “firmament” which Genesis 1 states God created to separate the waters from the waters. We now know, Bridenstine emphasized, what the Apollo astronauts did not when they read the Bible. We know that there is water not only on earth, but on the moon. Defining firmament as “empty space,” he emphasized that the Bible’s words about water above the firmament had “very really meaning, and that NASA is now following the water so that we can make new discoveries.”
“Firmament” is the word the translators of the King James Bible used to translate rāqîa. Many more recent translations have preferred “dome.” Firmament is an anglicanization of the Latin firmamentum, which is related to the English firm. The key thing about the rāqîa in the cosmology of the Ancient Near East is that it is a physical boundary that can separate water. Thus it allows ordered life on earth to exist amid the watery chaos of the universe. Administrator Bridenstine’s glossing it as “empty space,” reconciles it with modern science. Some popular translations such as the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version perform this reconciliation in the text itself by using the word “expanse” which suggests to most ears distance, rather than boundary. Bridenstine’s main point of course was that water which is on earth is also elsewhere, a point the ancient world view took as a given.
“Firmament” is also the title given to the choral and visual presentation near the beginning of the program where the audio of the astronaut’s broadcasts from Apollo 8 is framed by ethereal music supplied by the cathedral’s choir. The work begins with an animated visual of the cathedral’s space window in which a piece of the moon is enshrined. This sets the astronauts words, not only their reading of Genesis, but all their broadcasts as a kind of civic sacred text encapsulating “The Spirit of Apollo.”
In the age of television, the world has watched the funerals of nine U.S. presidents. These funerals had many stages, including, rites in the city of death, lying in state in Capitol Rotunda, a church service in Washington, and rites at the place of burial. For George H.W. Bush and his two immediate predecessors in death, the key stage was the funeral at Washington National Cathedral. At two hours and nine minutes, Bush’s service was a full forty minutes longer than either of theirs, and four times longer than the 1969 service at the cathedral for President Eisenhower. (Details below)
More Eulogies
One reason for the greater length of the cathedral funerals for Reagan, Ford, and Bush is that they have included eulogies. Former president Dwight Eisenhower was eulogized by President Richard Nixon in the Capitol Rotunda as was former Herbert Hoover by president Lyndon Johnson. There were no eulogies or even homilies the church services for Hoover and Eisenhower.
During ceremonies in the Rotunda, many attendees must stand. They are subject to fatigue. At the ceremony for Gerald Ford in December 2006, Michigan congressman William Broomfield collapsed. Delivering the eulogies in a church presents a more comfortable situation, though with the consequence of more intimately mixing the civic and the religious.
Nixon’s funeral included five addresses. There were four tributes by friends, family, or national leaders and one homily by a clergyman. The same pattern has been followed in subsequent services. Bush’s funeral was longer than Reagan’s and Ford’s not because of a greater number of addresses, but because of their greater average length and the inclusion of longer scripture readings, additional prayers, and music.
Liturgical Change
The three recent funerals have included more music including offerings by military and ecclesiastical groups and, in the case of Reagan and Ford, by famous musicians. They have also been conducted not only in an Episcopal cathedral, but by Episcopal clergy and according to Episcopal liturgies. While this is no surprise for Episcopalians Ford and Bush, Reagan was at the time of his death a Presbyterian. Eisenhower was also a Presbyterian, and when he was buried from the cathedral his service was led primarily by a Presbyterian minister according to the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship.
Today the Episcopal Church calls for more participation by the congregation in funeral than it did in former times. At Hoover’s Episcopal funeral in 1964, the congregation was asked to stand, sit, kneel, recite the Lord’s Prayer, and respond to other prayers with, “Amen.” At Bush’s funeral the congregation was not asked to kneel but they were was invited to sing two hymns, recite acclamations after scripture readings, participate in a litany, and recite the Apostles’ Creed as well as respond to the prayers with an “Amen.” Much of this stems from the new Book of Common Prayer adopted in 1979 as part of the liturgical reform movement that also reshaped Roman Catholic worship and that of many other denominations. One effect of these changes has been to lengthen the service.
It is tempting to hypothesize that the war-time funerals of Roosevelt, Truman, and Johnson were simpler out of deference to the many Americans who were loosing loved ones in the service of their country. It is probably truer to say that American funeral custom has changed. While singer Aretha Franklin’s day-long funeral in August was exceptional, it is indicative of a trend among some Americans.
I remember that when I was a child, my father took pride in saying that the Book of Common Prayer provided the same funeral for “king and commoner.” Comparing the Bush funeral to those in my local parish church, that is still true. It is simply that kings, or in this case presidents, have friends who are senators, prime ministers, and award-winning musicians.
Made for Television
While the funerals of Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Johnson were all well televised according to the capacity of their day, Nixon’s 1994 California funeral was the first to be carefully crafted for television in the era of the 24/7 news cycle. Reagan’s funeral a decade later did the same, but on a much larger scale. It set a new standard.
Funeral of Richard M. Nixon, April 27. 1994, Yorba Linda, California
Some traditional aspects of Reagan’s funeral, such as the horse-drawn procession, were not used by Ford and Bush. Other aspects such as the more elaborate church service were. From ancient times until the age of television, slow processions were a major way the public participated in funerals. They remained so through the mid-twentieth century for the funerals of Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. But as media have involved, so has the means of public participation. Today televised indoor services receive the most attention.
Length of Presidential Funerals in Churches in Washington, D.C.
Six of the nine televised presidential funerals have involved a service at a D.C. church with the body present. The length of the church funeral given below is from the moment the clergy receive the body outside the church to when the body exits the church. It excludes outdoor military honors.
(The timings are based on videos of the services provided at the links below. An exception is Eisenhower’s. I have not yet located a recording of the complete service, so the time is based on information provided by the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.)
1963, November 25, John F. Kennedy, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, pontifical low requiem mass, eulogy by the Most Reverend Philip M. Hannan, 1 hour 5 minutes.
1969, March 31, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Washington National Cathedral, funeral service, 30 minutes.
1973, January 25, Lyndon B. Johnson, National City Christian Church, funeral service including addresses by W. Marvin Watson and the Reverend George Davis, 54 minutes.
2004, June 11, Ronald W. Reagan, Washington National Cathedral, Burial of the Dead, Rite I including addresses by George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, and the Reverend John C. Danforth, 1 hour, 30 minutes.
2007, January 2, Gerald R. Ford, Washington National Cathedral, Burial of the Dead, Rite I including addresses by George H.W. Bush, Henry A. Kissinger, Thomas J. Brokaw, George W. Bush, and the Reverend Dr. Robert Certain, 1 hour 29 minutes
2018, December 5, George H.W. Bush, Washington National Cathedral, Burial of the Dead, Rite II including addresses by Jon Meacham, Brian Mulroney, Alan K. Simpson, George W. Bush, and the Reverend Dr. Russell Levenson, Jr., 2 hours, 9 minutes.F
Length of Funerals Elsewhere
The funerals of Hoover, Truman, and Nixon each included a televised religious service, but not from a Washington church.
1964, 21 October, Herbert C. Hoover, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, New York, New York, Burial of the Dead, President Johnson attended the service which occurred before Hoover was taken to Washington to lie in state. Hoover lay in repose before and after the service, so unlike the others the length of the service does not include a procession into and out of the church, 15 minutes.
1972, 28 December, Harry S Truman, Presidential Library and Museum, Independence, Missouri, indoor funeral service, 39 minutes. This was a private family service. President Nixon had flown to Independence to pay his respects to Mrs. Truman earlier and did not attend the service nor the official memorial service at Washington National Cathedral on January 5 which was attended by other government officials and foreign dignitaries. I do not believe that service was televised. According to the New York Times it included an address by the Very Reverend Francis B. Sayre, Jr., and lasted 40 minutes.
1994, April 27, Richard M. Nixon, Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, California, funeral service including addresses by Henry Kissinger, Robert Dole, Pete Wilson, Bill Clinton, and Billy Graham. While the burial service followed immediately at a slightly different location on the same site, the portion corresponding to the church services above was 1 hour 8 minutes.
