Phyllis Jenkins by Goldalee Katsanis-Semel

 

She was also a professional dancer and spent time in some honky-tonks A beautiful interview with a beautiful woman who will turn 90 this year: Phyllis Jenkins by Goldalee Katsanis-Semel / GKS: Phyllis, as a beloved, long-time member of our St. Luke’s Family, what brought you through our doors? What had you stay?

PJ: I was raised in the Episcopal Church and left for 40 years, feeling there was no place for blacks, women or gays. When I had my first great-grandchild, I told his mother, “Babies need to be baptized.” I’d pass St. Luke’s every day, and when I thought about baptizing him, there was no question that it would take place in an Episcopal Church. One day I walked into St. Luke’s. I told Mother Kowalski-Vesta, “I want my great-grandson to be baptized.” She said, “Why don’t you get to know us, and let us get to know you.” That’s how it started; Easter Vigil, 30 years ago.

I’ve been on every committee in this parish. I’m a retreat junkie, having gone on every retreat these last 25 years. This may sound crass but isn’t meant to be - it doesn’t matter to me who’s leading the congregation. What matters to me is worship. Worshipping is a private affair, but it’s also a corporate entity.

GKS: As a native New Yorker, can you share your childhood religious experience?

PJ: A Bronxite, I was born and raised in Williamsbridge, a racially mixed area with enclaves who preferred to socialize amongst themselves. I never went to an all-black school and had no black friends until I went to junior high. I went to the same HS as my mother. I liked school, but was bored. I was a smart a**. I got into trouble all the time. In Junior High I discovered that I could play hooky; I did that a

lot, yet my grades were good. But when I got to HS, I dropped out and ran away from home.

I lived with a guy who was 17 when I was 15. We got married. I immediately knew that I didn’t like the situation, yet didn’t know how to get out of it. I had a daughter at 16, my son at 17 and a separation at 18. I put blinders on, thinking “This is what you’ve got to do; you can’t do anything that’s going to embarrass your mother, or anybody else in your family.” When I lived on my own with my children and struggled, a good person said she’d care for the kids if I wanted to go to school. I went to college and finished at 28. I was accepted into LIU for Nursing at Wards Island Psychiatric Hospital. Six months later, I received my B.S., graduating in the top 1/3 of the class. My kids still lived with that woman, who decided that they were hers. It was agonizing, but my kids ended up with me. There are only two people on earth who know what I went through. My son’s been dead now for two years from cancer.

GKS: Returning to The Church was courageous. How did your early life inform your spiritually later?

PJ: There’s a Catholic saying: “Give me your first 7 years, and you got me.” And they had me — and my first 7! I was baptized at St. Luke’s in The Bronx; as a scientific skeptic, I left at 14. A St. Luke’s window is dedicated to my eldest brother.

I went to N.Y.U. and at 37 received my M.E. in Psychiatric Nursing, and worked in a women’s psychiatric prison, Eleanor’s General Hospital. When I moved into the nurse’s residence, across from the women’s ward, one heard constant screams. Once they introduced Thorazine, their screams were silenced, leaving medicated zombies. I was determined that this wouldn’t be my approach, pushing people towards medication; I didn’t want them to live like that.

GKS: You wanted to work in Africa; how did this enrich your heart?

PJ: A good friend, Claire Fagan, my N.Y.U. graduate mentor, was leaving to begin Lehman College’s Baccalaureate in Nursing. Claire asked me to help her start that program, and she helped me write a grant proposal to the NIMH. I was granted to support minority students in their baccalaureate nursing education. At 44 I thought, if I get it, I’m stuck here for the rest of my life in a similar position. And if I don’t get it, my ego is breached. I went with the Peace Corps to Sierra Leone. I was the first black woman and nurse to be a Medical Officer in West Africa.

GKS: You wove a thread of service throughout various cultures, wearing hats of many “firsts.”

PJ:: Prior to going overseas, I’d been meeting with a group of women; we started the National Black Nurses Association and the New York Black Nurses Association. It was the first. Today the National Black Nurses Association has legions of members.

GKS: One of the things I noted upon meeting you was your peace sign necklace.

PJ: This is a teardrop piece I had made during the Vietnam era; I hadn’t worn it for years. I guess about 15 years ago I thought, I’m going to resurrect it. The world is in tough shape these days, and we are still trying to have peace, as we did then. I wear it every day and usually get comments on it.

GKS: As a black, gay woman, what’s impressed you in this welcoming, inclusive parish? Also, February is Black History and Absalom Jones’ Feast Day.

PJ: Yes, and Richard Allen, who founded the AME Church. Well, we have a very small number of black parishioners. Yet at our recent Annual Meeting, I counted 9 dark faces. I wanted to shout, “We have nine!” When I came to St. Luke’s, I was the only person of color; this didn’t faze me, because of how I grew up. What impressed me then was how we on The Outreach Committee helped put a young woman through school in South Africa. During the AIDS epidemic years, we saved lives. There was erroneous fear elsewhere from those who worked with people living with AIDS, the prevailing attitude and approach, save at the now extinct, St. Vincent’s. We were the only two organizations in The Village that had any long-term, deep concentration of help. St. Luke’s held many funerals; others in our own denomination refused to bury people.

GKS: In terms of your faith, the LGBTQ community is ever evolving. What continued evolution would you like to see?

PJ: I’d see more families before we had a separate first service on Sundays, and that was great for them but it took away the kids from us.

I joked with my great-grandson, “In four years, I’ll be 90. I’m going to live just so I can vote against Trump again! If I can’t make it, then you bring me that ballot!” My friend, with whom I play Scrabble, is going to be 95 soon. During this recent election, her executor gave her the ballot; she signed it, saying, “I have now voted for the first woman president.” It didn’t come to pass.

I took the bus to the DC Women’s March, wearing my pink pussy hat. I saw an ocean of pink hats worn by men, women and babies. Walking from Union Station to the mall, I marched with new friends the whole day – The Gang of Eight. I didn’t go to the ‘63 March, but did watch it on the T.V. that’s still in my apartment, where I’ve lived since ‘60.

GKS: Phyllis, you have many pearls of wisdom to offer us.

PJ: N.Y.U. gave me a Lifetime Achievement Award 10 years ago. It was fantastic. I just couldn’t believe that it was happening. And my mentor, Claire, came out of retirement to present the award to me. My daughter, my great-grandson, and my granddaughter were all there with me. What a special, wonderful occasion.

I have nine grandchildren. My great-grandson Robert, or Bobby, he’s in my life at a wonderful time. He lived here the first seven years of his life, and these last ten. Bobby is special – he shops, cooks and cleans; I’m lucky to have him around.

GKS: Thanks so much for your time, Phyllis. It’s been wonderful speaking with you.

PJ: Thank you. I never thought that I would live this long. I’m amazed I’m still here!

https://bit.ly/PhyllisJenkinsENS

Auntie Dasch's Famous Meatloaf

This recipe reduces easily and beautifully.
While you're going to the trouble, however, don't forget this recipe freezes beautifully,
Just wait for it to cool, and Ziplock it, baybee !

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound hot sausage
1 pound sweet sausage
4 eggs
2 entire large stalks of celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 32 ounce can of 

   Hunt’s Meatloaf (it's not easy to get up north) or Hunt’s regular tomato sauce

Use your hands and get in there and combine thoroughly

add

2 cups American quick or regular oatmeal (or pork rinds, crushed)
3 TABLEspoons of McCormick® Perfect Pinch® Italian Seasoning

Use your hands and get in there and combine thoroughly

INSTRUCTIONS

Dump the meatloaf in to a dish.

Any oblong casserole dish will do.

The longer and flatter the dish, the shorter the cooking time.

After you’re done loading the meat in the dish,

use a spatula or a pastry scraper to

pull the meat away from the edges all around

and 

to cut the meat right down to the bottom of the dish,

lengthwise and widthwise, 

just like you're making precut servings.

This helps the dish cook more efficiently.

About a half an hour in, turn the dish 180º to assure even cooking.

About 45 minutes in, take a temperature reading to see if it’s done (160 degrees). 

Cooking length can take between 45 and 90 minutes.

It's generally about an hour.

Remove and let sit FOR FULL TEN MINUTES.

There will be liquid. Don’t worry, it gets absorbed back in to the meatloaf.

Serve, topped with ketchup.

This freezes beautifully. 

When ready to eat

pull out of freezer and place servings directly into a 350 degree over for 20 minutes or so.

Holy Week: What’s In the Middle …

A Sermon Preached

The Sunday of Passion: Palm Sunday

April 5, 2020

Clergy House

The Very Rev. Canon Daniel Ade Dean and Rector, St. John’s Cathedral, Los Angeles, California

pictured from Father Ade's Insta is Palm Sunday 2018 during the portion of the service when the congregation takes to the streets and shuts down downtown LA ...

<< For me, I should just say that, in my personal prayer life, I’ve been praying Psalm 118 every day for the last several weeks, and it’s the place where I find my hope in this.

And it should not be forgotten that in the typical Palm Sunday liturgy, Psalm 118 is always there, but there’s SO much to do, there’s so much to get to, that it’s kind of passed over, and it’s such a rich feast for us to be with today, because it has something profound to say about where we are in our lives now.

Psalm 118 is part of the liturgy today, and it’s part of the liturgy on Easter Day. The whole framework of the week is surrounded by 118.

What’s In the Middle …

Everything we do in telling the story of this week with Jesus can be seen through the lens of Psalm 118:

The Steadfast Love of the Lord Endures Forever.

The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

It should not be forgotten that, just as with this Psalm as the framework for this Holy Week, it is also the framework for the Passover meal. It is sung in the beginning and at the end of the Passover, and probably? Probably? Jesus himself at The Last Supper might have sung Psalm 118. It was well-known to the people of Israel.

In the world of the Psalm, it’s singing about Thanksgiving, but there’s a real reason that the Thanksgiving is sung about. It is sung in a time of chaos, in a time of social disintegration … we’re not sure, but something has happened, and the King has asked God, and offered God Thanksgiving on behalf of the people, and ... this is a big liturgy ... it’s like a typical Palm Sunday liturgy:

up to the horns of the altar,

up to the temple,

all the people,

all the gathered people should sing of the Lord’s Faithfulness.

But, they’re singing because they weren’t so sure …

it was a time …

something happened in that world and they knew that they needed, that they were dependent on, God to get them through.

Absolutely dependent on God, and their confidence, their gratitude, was firmly rooted in this robust confidence:

what God had done,

what God is doing, and

what God will do.

Both the time of the Exodus, and the time ... which is shot through in this Psalm ... the time of the exile, the time of social disintegration, this Psalm is SUNG … because it talks about What God is Doing … we know what God is doing because we know what God has Done.

The Steadfast Love of the Lord Lasts Forever and God has rescued people out of slavery, he has rescued people out of exile, he is rescuing us TODAY.

To proclaim “Hosanna” is to proclaim “Save Us.” It’s to proclaim not just this joyful “Save Us,” but there’s a reason, there’s a person to proclaim it to, it’s a respectful, joyful “Save Us” …

Save Us because you HAVE Saved Us.

Save Us because you ARE Saving Us.

Save Us because you WILL Save Us.

At St. John’s, usually this is done like a political rally. We sort of shout this like we were at a ball game. We shout it from the top of our lungs ! with drummers ! and people get up ! and it’s right before we go out in to the streets, and we go out and disrupt and interrupt one of the most important intersections in the city of Los Angeles. A whole crowd goes out and disrupts …

well, we have a permit, because we’re polite Episcopalians …

but we close it all down ! to proclaim the Lordship of Christ, the Sovereignty of Christ, over the world, over the city.

[Palm Sunday] is a disruptive day.

[Palm Sunday] is not a business-as-usual day.

It’s a place where we find our hope, but there’s also a challenge, because this is the last time before he goes through suffering and death where Christ calls people in to his Kingdom.

And all the other kingdoms of the world are put aside.

Every one.

If anything has been a lesson for us in this difficult time, it’s that we are not in Control.

We’ve had to put the Kingdom of Our Own Control aside.

You know, the other day … this is going to be an iconic moment for me … Father Mark and I had to go to the bank for St. John’s … I stayed in the car … Father Mark went in to the bank with sunglasses on and a mask and I thought, “You know, a month ago security would have thrown him right out, but no one even looked at him …”

So, we are in this weird time, and it feels like everything is disintegrating, and the social structure, and our own sense of ourselves … it’s not In Place.

But The Steadfast Love of the Lord Endures Forever.

Forever.

So this day, because of Christ’s mighty work, Christ lays claim to us … and we are called to submission under Christ’s Lordship. We are, because we’re people of hope … we are also … we’re prisoners. We are prisoners of hope because we have placed ourselves under the protection of Christ, our Lord.

We have proclaimed the Kingship of God, not only today but every day, because the Steadfast Love of the Lord lasts for ALL people, for ALL of us, EVERY day.

So this week? Pray with me, and I’ll pray with you, as we pray this Psalm together.

Pray it every day, because it’s about God saving us, God’s future, God’s past, God’s activity here and now, today.

Hosanna to the Son of David.

Hosanna to the Prince of Peace.

Hosanna. >>

ADVENT: The Bidding Prayer

 

I LOVE ! The Biddings ! and the one at Advent is a stunner, we heard it at the top of the service yesterday. 

I was reminded this morning, reading a quote from John Henry Newman, just how BAD humans are at "being," how bad we are when it comes to +waiting, and just the idea of +change, especially in light of the fact that our sacred writings talk a lot about both those things. And now here we are with an entire season dedicated to both ... 

"Advent is a time of waiting, it is a time of joy ! because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation, but the coming of Christ is also a time of commitment, because it motivates us to 

live the present 

as a time of responsibility and vigilance."

... . The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you ...

THE BIDDING PRAYER:

"It is time for us to wake out of sleep !

for deliverance is nearer to us now than it was when first we believed.

It is far on in the night; day is near !

Let us therefore cast off the deeds of darkness

and put on our armor as soldiers of the light !

... My sisters and brothers, we enter today the solemn season of Advent in which the Church bids us prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ;

a coming that we recall in the Child of Bethlehem;

a coming that we experience in the gift of his Spirit, in the bread of the Eucharist, in the joy of human lives that are shared;

a coming we wait for when God gathers up all things in Christ.

Let us in this holy season reflect on the coming of Christ who brings light to the world.

Let us leave behind the darkness of sin,

walk in the light that shines on our path,

and renew within ourselves the hope of glory to which he beckons us.

And as we turn towards the light,

let us have on our hearts all those who see no light,

for whom all is darkness and despair.

Let us pray that they too may be illumined by Christ who is our light."

The Book of Occasional Services • 2003 
Conforming to General Convention 2003
2
Copyright © 2004 by the Church Pension Fund
Portions of this book may be reproduced by a congregation for its own use.
Commercial or large-scale reproduction, or reproduction for sale,
of any portion of this book or of the book as a whole, without the written permission of
Church Publishing Incorporated is prohibited.
Church Publishing 445 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10016

Stations of Advent

 

Advent stations | Ancestors of Christ

Opening prayer 0:09

The First Station: Adam & Eve 1:09

Walk to The Second Station 3:00

The Second Station: Abraham & Sarah 4:00

Walk to The Third Station 5:31

The Third Station: Joshua & Rahab 6:31

Walk to The Fourth Station 7:58

The Fourth Station: Boaz & Ruth 8:58

Walk to the Fifth Station 10:22

The Fifth Station: David & Bathsheba

Walk to the Sixth Station 12:53

The Sixth Station: Mary & Joseph 13:53

Walk to Final Meditations 15:41

1 of 3 Collect from Times and Seasons: Advent, CoE,

2 of 3 Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, BCP,

3 of 3 Orthodox prayer for the second Sunday before Christmas 16:41

Advent is a penitential season that begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25th, which is called Advent Sunday in our tradition. It might be hard to believe that Advent is a penitential season today, but in ages past there were strict fasting rules and the liturgy had a somber tone just as it does today in Lent.  Most often the Gloria, the song sung  to the shepherds by the angels in the field outside Bethlehem, was omitted from the liturgy and only returned at the First Mass of Christmas. In the Western Church the season was certainly established by the late 5th century and the Council  of Tours in 567 ordered all monks to fast on every day of December.

During Advent the Church looks back on the whole history of salvation where God reaches out to His people again and again to be in relationship with them. The birth of Christ is God’s breaking into human history in a profound and physical way by becoming a human being. Advent also looks forward to Christ’s Second Coming in glory to fulfill the promise of the Kingdom of God for all people.  In the same  way that we prepare for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, we should prepare for his return on that last day.

=-=-=-=

We are blessed to have some works of art to help us explore the mystery of the Advent season. Simon Carr and Joan Elizabeth Goodman have created images of some of the ancestors of Christ. We are invited to look back at the people who were chosen by God to be part of the family of Jesus. They are so much like us. None of them is perfect, yet God calls each of them to do amazing things.

Thank you to Cindy Brome for the beautiful photographs of the stations.

=-=-=-=

The St Luke’s Art Guild

The Art Guild is an ad hoc group  of  parishioners,  who  are also artists, collaborating on different projects to challenge the religious imaginations of the parish.

James Middleton and Simon Carr have both created their own 8 scene Stations of the Cross series for the parish which we have used during Lent in the past few years. In 2016 we had a group of fourteen artists, including three young artists, who had each created one of the traditional fourteen Stations of the Cross which hung in the church nave from Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday.

The guild is responsible for the ofrenda that is set up in late October by the columbarium where we remember and honor our dead. The guild also sets up the Christmas Crèche with the assistance of the St Luke’s flower and altar guilds that is such a beautiful part of our celebration of Christmas.

Suggestions for new exhibits are the Prophets of the Old Testament for Advent, the men and women of the Early Church for the Season of Pentecost, and Saints of the Month where one or two saints from the church calendar are celebrated with a selection of artworks on the walls of the church nave during the month where that saint’s feast day is celebrated.

3 Minutes on The Golden Rule at Election Time

 

3 minutes to hear some guidance from the sacred writings and our traditions, from a couple of the handful of people I trust the care of my soul to, please? Video link at the bottom.

the Very Rev. Canon Daniel Ade:

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to All Saints Day. We're so glad that you could be here with us this morning.

For many months now we've been having a series of speakers come, called The Saint John Speaks Out Program, and we speak out about the issues of the day, and how we ground ourselves facing those issues in our tradition.

I've been thinking a lot about the lesson last week where Jesus tells us how to love our neighbor. We're called to love God, and then love our neighbor, and they're quite the same, and it seems for many people unclear just how you love your neighbor.

But Jesus is quoting Leviticus, and I think there's some clarity in there for us as we face this time of uncertainty. We're on the very eve of an election that will be very difficult. It might be difficult for weeks, and there will be lots of temptations for us ... to other people, so listen what to do what Jesus says when he quotes Leviticus:

“Do not hate a fellow neighbor in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you will not share in their guilt … “

and here's what we all need to listen to … well, EYE need to listen to …

“… do not seek revenge, or bear a grudge against anyone among your neighbors, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord …"

and one of the things that really struck me is that the word “neighbor” can also mean “citizen’ …

“You should love your fellow ‘citizen’ … don't bear a grudge against your fellow ‘citizen’ … don't seek vengeance against your fellow ‘citizen’”

who might have a real reason to disagree with you, maybe even passionately, but in this time of anxiety we might all be seeking revenge, and to other people who disagree with us.

the Very Rev. Dr. Canon Mark Kowalewski:

The other thing I think we need to keep in mind as we come to this week is the image of what greets us every time we enter the doors of Saint John's, and that is the baptismal font, because that is the source of our life in Christ.

We are God's wonderful, beloved, adopted children, in one family … no matter who we are, or where we come from, we are God's beloved children now.

But that identity comes with a responsibility, and, so, if you have not voted, it is your Christian Obligation to go out and vote.

We aren't telling you who to vote for, but simply to vote, and to know that many people of differing points of view also share in that same baptismal water that we all are swimming in, and to know that we are God's beloved, and as Father Dan says, we need to love our neighbor as our self.

So may God's rich blessing be with you as we come to this momentous week in the life of our nation.

FATHER DAN:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbor, your fellow citizen, as yourself.”

Two Minutes of Hate? Or the Foundation for a Day of Praise & Thanksgiving

 

THIS CANNOT BE HOW WE START OUR DAY ! We've become addicted, I have. I turn on my banked copy of Rachel, I check my twitter feed as the cathode ray tube warms up, and I get my "Two Minutes of Hate" watching in, only it's an hour and a half before I turn to my prayers. Who are we going to be, people who turn FIRST to offer thanksgivings for a brand new day, brand new breathing, all this provision and luxury and excess? or people who turn to these abominations and lies that will fill the rest of our day with fear and loathing and dread and distrust. Let's be mindful please, I say to myself for the protection of my own soul and spirit. Times seem like they're going to be rough until next year, so let's be mindful to be kinder to ourselves, especially first thing in the morning. xoxo

"The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in.

Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary.

A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.

And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp." ~ George Orwell, 1984.