Church #24: St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church
The question running through my head this week as I walked to church is whether or not there is a point to regularly going to church every week yet not ever hanging out afterward for coffee hour or getting involved outside of the service. Is there still something to be gotten out of the experience of the service while remaining disconnected to the larger community? Do very many people do that? Or do most people who go to church consciously become part of the community and make friends?
This week’s church, St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church, is adorable! So simple and quaint. It‘s like an old-timey country church. The pews and floors are dark wood, as are the beams on the ceiling. Maroon or burgundy cushions are tucked under the pews to use for kneeling. A choir of eight people and an organ are staged in the back of the room. The place felt very English, like a church I would see in New England.
The church was founded “in the Anglican tradition” in 1893, the same year as the famous Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago, and the building was completed in 1894. I’ll provide some of the church history highlights, but this is a video that details the history in a multi-part series that is in great detail.
At the time, the Episcopal population on the north side of the Chicago River was growing. St. James Episcopal Church had been founded in 1834. There was also the All Saints Episcopal Mission nearby that was founded in 1886, but it closed in 1892 - in debt. Throughout this time, they were meeting in a variety of different storefronts.
A rector named Thadious Alexander Snively moved to Chicago and reopened it in 1893. Snively had been in an arranged marriage, and after having two sons, the couple got divorced, likely making it difficult for him to find a church position. But this job suited both the church and him.
However, the mission’s name was then changed from All Saint’s to St. Chrysostom’s (and changed from a mission to a parish). One possible explanation for this choice was that the name of a saint not in the Bible would indicate that this was a high church, as opposed to St. James, which was traditionally a low church.
The church was quickly out of debt and had enough money to purchase the current land where the church stands. The building has gone through many changes, expansions, and even a fire in the years since.
Snivley resigned in 1907, disappointed at the dropping attendance and the tendency of people to be more interested in automobiles, golf and parties. He was replaced by Rev. Robert M Kempt. He had not been previously employed when hired by the church.
But he only lasted a few months. He left due to what he claimed was ill health.
A newspaper article from the time claims he left thanks to an “overindulgence in the use of alcohol and objectionable behavior to the choir boys.” The diocese conducted an investigation; however some believed Kempt’s claim of ill health, and others believed the choir boys. Kempt did move back to New York and ended up being arrested for public drunkenness. But although he was never given another parish, he was never removed from the church either.
One reason I wanted to bring this up is because sexual abuse of one type or another seems to keep coming up, but the accusations I’ve discussed have been fairly recent. Yet here is an accusation from 1907! Ugh.
But the controversy certainly hasn’t ended there.There have been accusations of child sexual abuse, particularly at the hands of Vicar Richard Kearney at a church in Oregon, Illinois. The abuse was reported to Chilton Knudsen in 1990. (She was asked to serve as assisting bishop in Chicago in 2021-2022 while the Bishop-elect Paula Clark recovered from a health issue.) However, there have been accusations that Knudsen did not act immediately on the news and then the church, without admitting wrongdoing, finally settled with one of the victims in 2022.
But this bishop is at the heart of another controversy. Knudsen is a woman and openly gay. Bishop Paula Clark was the first woman and first black to be consecrated as the Bishop of Chicago, a huge move for women in the church but difficult to swallow for those who did not subscribe to the growing revisionist wing of the church.
Then to add to the controversy, in June of 2023, the church decided to allow a blessing for same sex marriages. In fact, according to the church’s website, the current rector of St. Chrysostom’s Church, Rev. Dr. Ian Burch, lives with his husband Travis, a social worker and therapist, and their dog.
The church website declares the church motto: “You are welcome here as you are.” But that has led to those who oppose gay marriage and oppose women priests to declare that they indeed are NOT welcome in the church. This was especially true after a congregant in Chicago wrote a letter expressing this opinion, and the church sued him and tried to get him kicked out.
I did some research on the Episcopal denomination when I visited the Church of the Ascension. I won’t repeat all of that here, but you can read more about that HERE.
But back to my visit.
When I walked in, I grabbed a program. Some churches, like this one, have every single bit of the service listed inside. So the music and lyrics to every hymn (despite hymnals in the pews), every word of the prayers spoken by both the priest and the congregation, the petitions, and even “stage directions,” which are printed in red (“the people sit,” “The lector says,” The people stand,” “Silence is kept,” etc.).
After the initial hymns and prayers, a woman from the choir read from Genesis 25:19-34.
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram[a] and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated;one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.[b] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[c] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[d])
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
The next reading, done by an older man who had been sitting in the congregation, came from Romans 8:1-11:
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness.11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you.
After this, the deacon carried the Book of Gospels down the aisle to the middle of the church. The priest followed him and then read Matthew 13: 1-9 as the deacon held the book open for him. The congregation turned and faced the priest.
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Next was the sermon. It was not given by a preacher but by Sophie Grosserode, a part of the Youth and Children’s Ministries and a Master of Divinity student at the University of Chicago. She hopes to be ordained.
She began by singing the song “Father Abraham, had seven sons. And seven sons had father Abraham…” (enjoy this oldie here). Then she went on to discuss Abraham’s descendents, who became the Isrealites.
His story is the story of family, and we all have a family, she reminds us.
For us to understand how we interact with people and with our family, we need to understand our family’s history. And to understand our family’s history, we need to know the stories. The stories of marriage, divorce, children, pain, death, secrets, etc. Some stories might make us cringe or say “yikes.”
I actually love this, for this is the theme of my book Cassandra’s Daughter, which you can order HERE!
The same is true of families in the Bible. For example, Rebekah favors one son, and she lets him lie and cheat. There is a lot of bad stuff going on in that family..
But it is easy for us today to dismiss those in the Bible as being so remote from us and so different that the stories are alien. For example, many men in the Bible have multiple wives. It is easy to dismiss them. But we can’t - just like we can’t ignore our own ancestors and their histories and their impact on us. Their pain is a part of our system.
And we are also a part of Abraham’s family, Grosserode reminds us.
For a moment, she asked us to imagine that Esau and Jacob are your father and uncle. And all you know is that your father doesn’t speak to his twin. You find out that your father cheated his brother and that your grandmother (their mother) supports it. Your grandmother also lets you know, by the way, that she hates your uncle’s wife. How might this impact your father and his parenting? And how would this then affect you?
The value of the Bible and these stories is that the wrongs of Abraham’s family could be our lessons. We should visit them every once and a while.
The young woman was very good, very polished. Of course, she’s young, and it did feel a bit like an “A” student’s speech in a college speech class. But was that a problem? I don’t think so.
Following the sermon, someone got up to the lectern to offer prayers to those “who died as a result of gun violence in our city the past week.” Specifically, the following names were included for prayers.
Joshua Devon Jr, 24, who was shot while crossing the street on the west side of the city at 12:15 AM. Several people shot at him, and all fled. No arrests had been made.
Kenneth Douglas, 28, a documented gang member, got in an argument at 11:15 AM on the southwest side. He got in a car with a woman and someone shot at them. He was hit and died. No arrests had been made.
Devonte Fitzpatrick, 26, was shot multiple times in Washington Park at 2:15 AM. No arrests had been made.
Anthony Jackson, 40, was shot at 9:45 PM in Austin on the west side. The car with the shooter drove off. No arrests had been made.
Leonardo Martinez, 24 was shot at 7:20 AM in New City on the south side, when a car pulled up to him, someone got out, and he shot him. No arrests had been made.
Tyrone Moore, 35, was killed at 5 AM in West Englewood at a big street party. Five others were injured, one of whom was beaten and in critical condition. At least 200 shots were fired. No arrests have been made
Bryson Roundtree, 32, was shot multiple times on the south side at midnight. Another woman was injured. No arrests had been made.
Michael Shores, 49, was arguing with a woman in River North at 12:30 AM when she pulled out a gun and shot him. She was arrested.
Steven WIlson, 32, was in Austin at 9:50 AM when a car pulled up next to him and shot him multiple times.
“Four persons whose names are unknown to us at this time.”
A couple of points on this list. First, I am confused about the four people whose names we don’t know. So they knew of four more people killed but have no idea who they are? That seems odd.
The other point is that I did the research to find the information on those whose names were listed. And it was unbelievably difficult to find the information that I did find. Sometimes all I could find was an Instagram post made by a friend. Why was that so difficult? What does that say about this city? Are there so many shootings that they don’t qualify as news? That would be my guess. Disturbing.
After this was a community confession. I had not experienced anything quite like this before. The entire congregation was asked to kneel and then to confess, in silence. We were then absolved by the priest.
The priest then was the one to give the announcements. When he finished, he asked us if anyone in the congregation had any announcements to make. Then he asked if anyone had a birthday or anniversary they wanted to celebrate. Three people went up to the front: a man celebrating 73 years, a man celebrating 77, and a woman celebrating an anniversary (not sure for what). We all said a prayer for the three of them.
Following that was the offering, the Lord’s Prayer, and communion. The only thing of note here is that the program explained that “Gluten-free wafers are available upon request.” I hadn’t seen that before.
One of the last people to take communion was an old lady with a cane who walked very slowly down the aisle. No one was in front of her, and we all waited for her to make her way to the front. This sight really moved me. It really illustrated how important and meaningful this ritual can be for someone. It could not have been easy for her to have gotten herself to the church, but my guess is that communion is a huge part of why she makes sure to come on Sundays.
Last week I complained about the fact that the congregants were dressed so casually for the service. That wasn’t the case in this church. People weren’t necessarily in their Sunday Best, but they looked professional, like they were headed to the office. There were plenty of dresses and skirts too. In fact, I felt like I was underdressed, even wearing maroon pants and a button down shirt. In some churches, I am the most dressed up in an outfit like that!
The service ended with the organ playing Sonata on the First Tone by Jose Lidon. When you walk out of the church, you have to walk right by the organ. I found myself mesmerized by the song, which is extremely dramatic, and the playing, which was impressive. So I watched until the end. I recommend listening to the song (HERE) - it is a great example of what I have said about these fire and brimstone songs at the end of so many services.
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