LENT 2008 - THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS
6:00 PM: Light Lenten Supper in Huffman Hall
7:00 PM: Featured Speaker in the Sanctuary
The people of St. Matthew’s always seek to keep a Holy Lent. This year it seems even more significant as we celebrate a half-century as a community. As always, we have an incredible lineup of Lenten Speakers for 2008. Our Lenten theme this year is "The Beauty of Holiness." This theme was inspired by the words The Very Rev. Philip Turner used to describe the late Bishop Scott Field Bailey, a kind and gentle man who did so much in the Diocese of Texas. Holiness has a force, an attraction, a beckoning, even if we do not know what exactly it is we are being drawn toward—we just know it is something beautiful. It speaks to the soul-sadness that is our condition, if and when we take the time to feel it. This is part of what The Rev. Merrill Wade has been speaking about in the Adult Education class on Sunday mornings. A number of extraordinary individuals will be with us to help us respond to the ineffable beauty that is holiness, that is of God, that salves our souls. See: info about reservations for childcare.
February 13 – The Rev. Roger Paynter Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church; Roger was adjunct professor of homiletics at ETSS for a number of years, and is learned, a most engaging speaker, and so personable.
February 20 – The Rev. Theodore Wardlaw, Dean of Austin Presbyterian Seminary, who preached at St. Matthew's for the installation of Doug Travis, the new dean of ETSS; Ted brings scholarship and the sensitivity of a poet to an examination of holiness.
February 27 – John Patrick Cobb, artist, whose “Chapel” will be installed in the sanctuary for the Lenten season, is a genteel and gentle and very articulate man; he has exhibited widely and been the recipient of numerous awards. The chapel consists of some 18 paintings in egg tempera and gold leaf inside a small room similar to a Jewish sukkah; the paintings evoke Renaissance works while the subjects are simple contemporary people representing Biblical figures. It was installed at Laity Lodge several years ago and has also been shown at the University of Houston.
March 5 – Steven Purcell, director of Laity Lodge and formerly director of a retreat center in Europe, will speak about Taize and his acquaintance with Brother Roger who founded the community after World War II as an ecumenical center encouraging reconciliation. We will be singing some of the Taize music.
March 12 – Cynthia Clawson, great singer, friend of St. Matthew’s and co-pastor with her husband Ragan Courtney of Sanctuary in Tarrytown, will close out our series with songs about holiness and beauty.
PLEASE invite friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to join us—whether they go to church, are thinking about it, or wouldn’t dream of it! We all have the yearning for what we may not even be able to name . . . . ALL ARE WELCOME !!!
*Childcare for Lenten Series: We are happy to provide child care for infants
thru children currently attending 5th grade during the weekly Wednesday
night Lenten Supper/ Lenten Speaker Series. Childcare provided BY
RESERVATION ONLY. Please contact Tracey Nichols at 331-0653 or
ldncars@sbcglobal.net
, by 5:00 p.m., the Sunday presiding the Wednesday
program
