No Man Is an Island

by John Donne

No man is an island, entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,

as well as if a promontory were:

as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee. 

"No One Is an Island"

Sermon by Chris Currie, July 7, 2024

Sermon transcript here | Service recording here

Pulling Out All the Stops!

UPDATE ON OUR NEW ORGAN

“In the fullness of time”…."it was bound to happen”…"it’s about time”…"haven’t we waited long enough already?” Well, it’s finally here. Our grand adventure of replacing the mighty Austin pipe organ in our sanctuary has finally commenced. As with all things that are more than just ever-so-slightly complicated, some serious preparation must happen on the front end of the process. Just a week ago Sunday we included a service of decommissioning in the regular 9:30 order of worship, just in case that was actually going to be the last opportunity to hear the organ. As it turned out we were able to squeak one more Sunday out of the old girl.

For real this time, though, this past Sunday, July 7, was the Austin’s last hurrah. You may know that we’ve been hoping all this time that some church in need would adopt the organ and that we’d ultimately transplant it [pun intended] to another location where it might live on to serve for several more years. There were some complicating factors in that hope…one is that the configuration for any destination would have to be pretty much a perfect spatial match so that the organ would fit [a tall order]. Another is that this instrument, entering its fifth decade of service, was just on the cusp of needing a major overhaul, which would not have been inexpensive for a smaller church or chapel. We did have a few nibbles, but, alas, for a litany of complicating factors, that did not work out. All is not lost, however….our parent church, First Presbyterian on Claiborne and Jefferson Avenue, had a bit of a disaster with their instrument. A team of repairmen charged with redoing the ceiling in one of the organ chambers, neglected to take proper care and actually trampled on quite a bit of delicate pipework, rendering it useless and irreparable. Fortuitously for them, their organ can make good use of several ranks of pipes from ours, so we’re sending them over that they might make a joyful noise another day….You know what they say, “when one organ chamber closes….another opens”? Or something like that.

So, for the better part of the next year, it’s going to be all piano all the time in sanctuary worship services. Some structural adjustments will need to be made to the space to accommodate the new instrument, which should start arriving for installation to begin in mid-January! While the current organ is being dismantled and removed, there will likely be some Summer Sundays during which we may need to move into Frampton Fellowship Hall. Stay tuned [pun intended] for that news. And when the Chancel Choir comes back from their summer hiatus, we’ll likely have them seated down front in the sanctuary for a while as necessary.

We have waited a long time for this. It’s going to be an exciting time for all of us, with a fair amount of unfortunate but necessary inconvenience built into the process. Let me just take this opportunity to reassure us all [myself included!] that the end result is going to be perfectly splendid and that our new Létourneau pipe organ is going to be a marvelous thing to behold!

Most fondly,

Steven

Playground Playdate Sunday

The Spiritual Formation Committee is hosting a Playground Playdate this Sunday, July 14 from 4-6 p.m. at Danneel Park Playground!  Families with children of all ages are invited to join in the fun. BYOB and snacks! Please email Pastor Sarah with any questions or to RSVP.

Challenger Class to City Putt

On Thursday, July 18, the Challenger Class (all 4th and 5th Graders) are invited to City Putt for golf from 4-6 p.m. Please RSVP to michele@scapc.org. Drop-off and pick-up in front of City Putt in City Park.

Call for Confirmands

It is time to sign up for Confirmation! Our series of nine or so classes will be from mid-August to early-October during the Sunday School hour (9:30-10:30 a.m.), and it will include one overnight weekend retreat. SCAPC Youth must be at least rising 8th graders to sign up; high school youth who have not yet been confirmed are welcome! Please let us know as soon as possible (chris@scapc.org), but no later than the end of July, if your son/daughter is interested. Click here for a deeper description of what Confirmation entails.

YAF Beignet & Coffee Meet-Up

Join YAF (Young Adults & Families) for a tasty treat after worship on Sunday, July 21! We will enjoy coffee and beignets at Uptown Coffee, 4141 St. Charles Ave, following the service (about 10:45 a.m.) until noon. Please contact tyler@scapc.org with any questions or to RSVP.