An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very Rev. Sam Candler
Well, that’s the way I concluded my Easter sermon last Sunday: Christ is risen in you, and in you, and in you! Alleluia!
Thanks so much, to all of you, for being part of the risen Christ this past Easter Sunday. The Cathedral Parish of St. Philip had an extraordinary Sunday of excitement and new life this past Sunday. Indeed, we gathered in so many different ways! Our primary service continued to be our online presence, pre-recorded, and filled with the beautiful people of this parish; Bishop Wright was our celebrant and Dean Candler preached. And, during the hymn, “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light,” we showed photographs of the twenty-seven (27!) people we have baptized safely at the Cathedral since All Saints Day of last year! Welcome! Speaking of welcoming, did you catch the Welcome of that service, filmed from the top of the belltower! Check it out! Did you continue watching, to see the dogwood branch asperges from the top of the belltower? We were celebrating Easter in extravagant style!
But we celebrated in two additional ways this past Sunday. We also had outdoor, in-person services at the labyrinth, which has become an even holier place in the past six months. Services there are beautiful and intimate and true. Thanks to those of you who joined us there! And we had still more additional services outside in the Cloister Garden!
Finally, the THIRD way we celebrated Easter this past Sunday morning was indoors, inside the holy Cathedral nave itself, safely distanced, and with reverence and awe. Those times were beautiful! The 6:00 am Great Vigil started outside (with our traditional huge fire!) but it moved inside after the Exsultet and Readings and Blessing of the Baptismal Water. We also celebrated safe indoor services at 8:45 and 11:15! Thank you for joining us carefully and safely!
Yes, Easter was complicated this year. It took a lot of preparation and flexibility. But it was also holy. It was holy because it involved all, ALL, of you, the faithful parishioners of the Cathedral Parish of St. Philip. You have been everything: fire builders and candle lighters, readers and acolytes, flower arrangers and altar tenders, chair movers and sign makers, preachers and singers, organists and musicians, ushers and vergers, priests and deacons, videographers and technology producers, children’s chapel leaders and pianists, security officers and sextons, housekeepers and assistants, liturgy planners and leaflet developers, printers and digital wizards, and monitors of the complex in-person registration lists! And you have all been Easter saints who wanted to gather and to pray and to serve. All of you have been holy people of prayer and action.
It was an honor for me to celebrate Easter 2021 with you! Thank you! Thank you for being the Risen Christ in Atlanta this year!
Love!
The Very Reverend Sam Candler
Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip