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St. George’s
centennial history is here
Copies of Cynthia
Clark’s One Hundred Years of St. George's Episcopal Church: Growth of
A Church Community In the Turbulent 20th Century are now available at
St. George’s. You may pick them up at coffee hours
March 30 through April 30, or
reserve copies for later pickup by e-mailing Cynthia Clark at
cynthia21@comcast.net. This handsome 60-page 8-1/2 by 11-inch
booklet is well illustrated, and contains stories from many St. Georgians,
as well as chronological and personal history gathered from our archives.
Facts gathered from the history of Arlington relate the character of our
church community to the astonishing changes in its locality over the years.
Anyone who ever had a connection with St. George’s and anyone interested in
the local history of Arlington, Virginia will find this centennial offering
enjoyable. Cost is $15, which includes, upon pickup, a free copy of our 50th
anniversary memorial, A History of St. George’s Episcopal Church,
Arlington, Virginia, 1908-1958.
NOTE: Cynthia Clark wants to find former
St. Georgians who might like to purchase a copy of “One Hundred Years of St.
George’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia, 1908-2008: Growth of a
Church Community In the Turbulent 20th Century.” If anyone can give her a
name or names, and if possible, addresses, Please e-mail (cynthia21@comcast.net)
or phone (703-243-621) her.
Click here to make (or see)
additions, corrections, and provide more memories for St. George’s history.
Our centennial prayer:
O God, who has given us grace to recognize what you have planted in St. George’s
Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia, help us always to act in harmony with:
- a strong sense of your presence;
- a welcoming, accepting, community;
- a biblical sense of caring for those in need;
- personal interaction; and
- lively lay interaction;
that we may include all people in working together to love and
care for others and ourselves. Amen. |
Centennial events
We are planning a slate of events in 2007 and 2008 to celebrate our
centennial anniversary. Check back soon for the entire list.
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Arlington Neighborhood Day
May 10, 2008
St. George’s
will participate in Arlington Neighborhood Day on Saturday,
May 10,
by holding a cookout with our neighbors at Tower Villas and other high-rise
buildings in the Virginia Square neighborhood. |
Night of Sacred Opera
May 30, 2008
St. George’s will hold a
“night of sacred opera” at 7:30 PM on Friday, May 30. This
concert is one example of the importance of music to the St. George’s
community. |
Arlington County Fair
August
13-17, 2008
St. George’s will have a booth at the
Arlington County Fair,
which runs from August 13 to 17,
to help share
with the wider Arlington Community the activities and resources available at
St. George’s. See you at the fair. |
Arlington CROPWalk
October 19, 2008
St. Georgians have a
tradition of
participating in the Arlington
CROPWalk to help raise awareness and provide support
to those who are in
need. The 2008 CROPWalk will be on Saturday,
October 18. We hope that you will join us in walking in 2008 to
help relieve hunger in our community and around the world. |
New Year’s Eve Party
December
31, 2008
Come celebrate the conclusion of our centennial
year at a gala New Year’s Eve party here at St. George’s on Wednesday,
December 31, where we will launch into our next 100 years. |
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Centennial kickoff:
Evening Prayer as of 1908
On Epiphany Sunday, January 6, 2008, as our beginning First
Sunday service, we celebrated Evening Prayer in the original St. George’s Church
(now the home of Iglesia San José), using the liturgy that would have been used
for worship by the original congregation.
The Order
of Service was as follows:
- Opening Hymn (Brightest and Best, Hymnal 117)
- Opening Sentences
- General confession
- Absolution
- The Lord’s Prayer
- Psalm xxxiii
- Psalm xxxiv
- Gloria in excelsis
- First Lesson Isaiah il.1
- Magnificat St. Luke i.46
- Second Lesson St. Luke iii. 15
- Nunc Dimittis St. Luke ii.29
- The Creed
- Suffrages
- Collect of the Day
- Collect for Aid Against Perils
- Anthem: Jerusalem, high tower thy glorious walls St. Cecelia Choir
- Prayers: For the President and All in Civil Authority; For the
- Clergy and People; For All conditions of Men
- A General Thanksgiving
- Hymn: Now the Day is Over, Hymnal 42
- Concluding prayer
Because women did not participate in leading the service in those early days,
choir members were the only women. Ron Crocker was celebrant and
preacher, and Rick Troiano and George Sibert read the lessons.
A congregation of a few less than 100 comfortably
filled the small sanctuary. Some came from The Falls Church, whose rector 100
years ago was the founder of St. George’s.
A potluck supper followed in the Parish Hall. There
Mrs. Lee Corey presented us
with a wonderful green
banner with fabric crosses that the first Spanish-language Sunday School class
at St. George’s had made. The names of the class members were on the banner, and
include Dennis and Toni Jaspers’ children, William and
Rosaelena Jaspers.
We thank the Centennial Committee for shepherding
us through our year of celebration. We want to acknowledge the support of the
Fellowship Committee through Helen Malone and the support of the members
of the staff. We thank Melissa Bishop and Stan Curtis for
coordinating the meal, Tracy Yeager and the members of the EYC (youth)
groups who set up and decorated the parish hall, the St. Cecilia Choir for its
music and anthem, and George Sibert and Rick Troiano for being lay
readers. This was a good beginning to our celebration, which will continue with
our pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday,
February 5.
-- Cynthia Clark and Ron Crocker
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Mrs. Lee Corey presented us
with a wonderful green banner with fabric crosses that the first
Spanish-language Sunday School class at St. George’s had made |
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ST. George’s choir |
| For other photos of this event—courtesy of
Seton Droppers—visit Seton’s
Flickr site. |
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Shrove Tuesday pancake supper
February
5, 2008
The day before Ash Wednesday—called Shrove
Tuesday—is always a day of feasting on
pancakes, by tradition as a way of using consuming the
eggs, milk and fat not allowed during the fasting of Lent. During our
centennial year Shrove Tuesday fell on
February 5, when we added centennial
celebration to our traditional pancake supper. |
Food Pantry luncheon
February
9, 2008
In 2008 St. George’s Food Pantry celebrated its
20th anniversary, even as St. George’s celebrates its centennial. The Food
Pantry represents one of the ways that St. George’s continues the tradition
of making God known in the wider community: through feeding hungry people in
God’s name. On Saturday, February 9, the
Food Pantry held an anniversary luncheon with its clients at noon in
the parish hall. We invite all St. Georgians to participate, to give thank
for all that God has given us and for this ministry and all whom it serves. |
Bishop Shannon Johnston’s visit
February
10, 2008
Bishop Shannon Johnston, Bishop Coadjutor of the
Diocese of Virginia, visited St. George’s on Sunday,
February 10. He preached at all the services
and confirmed folks at 11:00 AM. |
Fauré Requiem
March 2,
2008
On Sunday, March 2,
our St. Cecelia Choir offered Fauré’s Requiem, a choral-orchestal
setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead at the 6:00 PM First
Sunday service. |
Centennial Sunday
April 20, 2008
 I
thoroughly enjoyed the Centennial Celebration. I am always pleased to see
all the planning, scheduling, and last-minute details fall into place so an
event runs smoothly. I have been watching plans form and evolve for the past
three months. To see them come to fruition was truly grand. As Canon
Dewar-Well said in his sermon, “… St. George’s has clung to what gives it
meaning and direction: its love of music, fellowship, and ministry to those
in need.” Our celebration yesterday captured all three values. The choral,
bell, trumpet, and congregational music were strong and lively. We have been
and continue to be a congregation that likes to sing and enjoy choral music
performed well. On Centennial Sunday we were at our best.
Gathered for the luncheon, people were at their best as they moved from
table to table greeting one another, sharing stories and food, fellowship,
and love. While longtime members of St. George’s enjoyed the historical
presentations filled with memories, newer members enjoyed themselves as part
of this 100-year-old community. As I looked at tables, I noted a good mix of
longtime and recent members enjoying themselves and engaging each other in
conversations.
We expressed that sense of inclusive fellowship in the liturgy, too. St.
George’s has had a long history of including clergy who assist in our
worship as celebrants and preachers. The Rev. Al Reiners, who grew up
at St. George’s and had St. George’s as his sponsoring parish for ordination
(St. George’s first!), joined the Rev. Marlee Norton our most recent
seminarian in the liturgy. Bishop Ted Eastman celebrated the
Eucharist; Bob Hall offered the Prayers of the People with all the
many clergy members gathered for the Eucharistic prayer, with Bob
Prichard, Mark Waldo, Suzannah Rohman, and me.
The other great sign of fellowship was our laughter. We laughed in church
as well as in the parish hall, enjoying the moment and one another. But by
far the most poignant and largely unrecognized moment came at the end of the
luncheon when the caterer was clearing tables and consolidating leftovers.
One of the homeless men who is a client of our Food Pantry came in out of
the rain looking for a cup of coffee. All the coffee pots were empty, so he
settled for a handful of grapes. As he sat eating his grapes, one of the
parishioners went into the kitchen and brought him a plateful of sandwiches.
These are the on-going marks of our community: good music, fellowship, and
ministry to those in need.
I thank all who did so much to make the Centennial Celebration a success,
especially Suzannah Rohman and did who coordinated so much of the
work.
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