Stephen’s Window July 2020

Dear Parish Family and Friends, The Summer Solstice (June 21) is now behind us and we are in the heart of the summer season. July begins with a very special observance. On Sunday July 5 we will cele-brate the anniversary of the very first service at St. Ste-phen’s, held on July 5, 1959. After the diocese approved the formation of St. Stephen’s as a mission congregation, the fledgling community gathered in an open space at 82 Kimberly Drive for a service conducted by The Rev. John Davis, the new vicar, who would become the first rector when we were granted parish status about two years later. It was an exciting time as families, many of whom had been members at St. Philip’s downtown, finally gathered closer to home. St. Luke’s had been formed a little over a year before, and it was a time of growth and change throughout the Episcopal Church. We are blessed today, some 61 years later, to have a few of our founding mem-bers and several of their children still among us. We will give thanks and acknowledge the debt we owe to those faithful who came before us, and rededicate ourselves to the furtherance of God’s work through the church, and in particular here at St. Stephen’s. Please join us for this spe-cial celebration, and also for our annual observance of In-dependence Day, this year featuring the National Anthem played by the Marine Corps Band! We are pressing forward with our continued development of programs and opportunities to connect more deeply with one another and with God, even while we are constrained from gathering in person. One of the most helpful things for us, whether young or old, is to order our lives in such a way that our daily and weekly schedules can carry us along with a regularity that gives rhythm to our lives and a meas-ure of comfort to our souls. Daily prayers are an important part of that rhythm. They need not take long, but prayer or meditation is a way to be mindful of God’s presence and care, and so They need not take long, but prayer or media-tion is a way to be mindful of God’s presence and care, and so require turning our conscious minds away from the cares

of the moment and toward God. Two good ways to do that are (1) to read a little meditation such as those found in Forward Day by Day (available in booklet form through the church office or online at https://prayer.forwardmovement.org) or (2) to subscribe to one of the many email lists that sends a verse of scripture or a lit-tle thought at the same time each day (see our weekly par-ish emails for suggestions). Travel can problematic at the moment for obvious reasons, but one can always travel though videos, movies, the Inter-net, and, especially, through books. I received an email from a parishioner recently that was really a chain of pho-tographs people had forwarded to one another, showing what they could see from their front window. It was re-markable – everything from breathtaking landscapes to gor-geous sunsets to high-rise apartment blocks to trash bins. The latter was particularly poignant, as the elderly writer had appended an explanation that, while it was all she could see from her window, it was because her children had taken her into their small home so that she would not be alone during this time of pandemic, and how very grateful she was to be with them. Finally, I am grateful to Bishop Rodman for his willingness to continue my appointment at St. Stephen’s through the end of the year, and to so many of you for your expressions of appreciation and support. The extra three months will give us time to make sure things are in order when I depart. It also seems fitting both to recover time unexpectedly redi-rected to other things by the emergence of the pandemic, and also to close out the calendar year. Keep the faith, share the joy, and see you in (virtual) church! Faithfully,

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church 82 Kimberly Drive, Durham, NC 27707

From the Rector

July 2020

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From the Priest-in-Residence

Dear Friends, Last month I wrote you about a conference I attended via Zoom, which included a life-giving process of self-evaluation. I shared with you the standards presented to us in hopes that you might also find them engaging and help-ful. This month I want to share with you one more re-source I discovered from that conference, one that might also nourish and sustain you. It is “A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle and Muddle of the Ordinary,” by Brian Doyle. Our conference leader began one of our mornings by read-ing from Doyle’s book. He chose one of the 100 reflec-tive, stream of consciousness prayers entitled, “Prayer in Thanks for Decent Shoes.” It began: Do we take them for granted? Of course we take them for granted. We don them, slip them on, shuffle into them, doff them, toss them, kick them to the back of the closet, and never not once do we say, o Coherent Mercy, thank you for the skins and wood and cloth that keepeth our feet from the flinty earth, that swaddleth our flippers and protecteth our toes, that allow us to wander briskly without (a) tearing the pads of our feet to shreds in thorny bristle and granite dagger and (b) losing various toes to steamrollers and ar-rogant bicyclists and testy rattlesnakes and spinning crick-et bats and such. I was so engaged by what one reviewer, Mary Oliver, called Doyle’s “passion for the human, touchable daily life, and equally for the untouchable mystery of all else,” that I ordered a copy on line. Picking it up and meditating on Doyle’s agile prose, I find it easy to agree with Ms. Oli-ver that, “His gratitude, his sweet lyrical reaching, is a gift to us all.” Here is a “Prayer of Awed Thanks for Nurses,” particular-ly relevant in this time of COVID 19: Witnesses, attendants, bringers of peace; brilliant tech-nical machinists; selfless cleaners of all liquids no matter how horrifying; deft finders of veins when no veins seem available; soothers and calmers and amusers; tireless and patient and tender souls; brisk and efficient when those tools are to keep despair at bay; those with prayers in their mouths as their patients slide gently through the mysteri-ous gate, never to return in a form like the shriveled still one in the bed; feeders and teasers, mercies and singers; they who miss nothing with their eyes and ears and fingers and hearts; they who are not saluted and celebrated and worshipped as they ought to be; they who are the true ad-ministrators of hospitals and clinics, for it is they who have their holy hands on the brows and bruises of the broken and frightened; they who carry the new infants to their sobbing exhausted thrilled mothers; they who must carry

the news of damage and death to the family in the waiting room; they whom You know, each and every one, glorious and lovely in their greens and blues and rainbow cloth-ing; they who are You in every tender touch and quiet friendly gentle murmured remark; they who are the best of us; bless them always and always Mercy; for they are the clan of calm and the tribe of tender, and I bow in thanksgiving for them. And so: amen. Faithfully,

Celebrate the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray

It has become a tradition to celebrate the feast of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray on July 1. St. Titus', Durham, has host-ed this gathering in recent years, and this year the tradi-tion continues. Though we cannot gather in person for the celebration, St. Titus' has gathered service participants and is offering an online celebration on Wednesday, July 1 at 7p.m. The service will include music, a sermon by the Rev. Hershey Mallette Stevens, the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of North Carolina as celebrant, and a special video presentation by the Pauli Murray Project of Durham. We invite you to join us in celebration of this amazing North Carolina saint. The service will be shared on Face-book on July 1 at 7p.m.and can be viewed on the St.Titus', Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and the Pauli Murray Project Facebook pages. If you are not available to join us as the event happens, you can still enjoy the service on the diocesan Vimeo channel.

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Christian Education and Programming

Youth Activities

Dear Family and Friends of the Children and Youth Program, As we move into the summer months and say goodbye to school and the routines it affords the kids, I am brainstorming strategies for working with our youth remotely. I hope to introduce a daily devotional which we will discuss on a weekly basis. This is a scary time for most of us and many of our children need tools and resources to process the stress and im-pact of these last few months. Within this rapidly changing world, a lot of young people are facing bright, but super un-certain tomorrows. We are called to uplift and empower them as best we can because if not now, eventually they will have to examine these experiences and its impact on them emotionally and spiritually. I hope to use this summer to create a safe space for youth to confront any distress or trauma they might be experiencing. Recognizing that some young people will need resources outside of what I can provide, they should always feel like church is a sanctuary and that within the St. Stephen's community, there are avenues for exploring one's feelings and emotions. In light of recent events, people are feeling hurt, confused, and anxious. Although I cannot provide simple solutions, I can offer a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, and helping hands when needed. If you need anything, please reach out. We will get through this, but better together than alone.

Yours faithfully,

Stephanie

To the St. Stephen’s family: The story of Moses and the burning bush is one of my favorites. I’ve been spending some more time with it lately in preparation for an adult formation program. There has been quite a bit of writing about just the bush itself, especially among the rabbis and later, writers in the early Church. What kind of bush was it? What does it represent? Several translations specify it as a “thorn bush.” Now the Hebrew word is quite rare, so it’s not altogether clear what kind of bush it was. But out of that tradition comes a powerful reflection. The general idea among some rabbis was that when God’s people suffer, God also suffers. God calls from amidst a thorn bush—an painful position, indeed—to let Moses know that the cries of God’s people oppressed in Egypt have not gone unheard. It’s an idea Isaiah puts quite suc-cinctly: “In all their distress was He distressed” (63:9, Robert Alter’s translation). And the burning thorn bush is not the end of the story. God also responds to the suffering. God issues a call to Moses to go and bring the people out of their suffering…with God’s help, of course. We live in distressing times. There is much suffering. It’s easy to find oneself asking, “Where is God?” To be fair, there are plenty of moments in the Bible that reflect this question, too. Yet over and over again, the Bible affirms this idea that those who suffer are never alone. And though it’s perhaps tempting, at times, to give ourselves over to inaction, the work of God continues. The call to love is forever being issued. When we hear that call, may our answer be like Moses’ answer in the face of the burning bush: “Here I am.”

Faithfully,

Jeremy

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From the Wardens

Parish News

Dear St Stephen’s friends, On behalf of the 61st Vestry, we write to notify you that Father Bob has offered to extend his ministry at St Stephen’s through December 31, 2020. The Vestry has accepted this generous gift with sincere thanks in this time of uncertainty. Father Bob has many projects that he would like to complete in the next six months, and the Vestry looks forward to providing ongoing support to achieve these goals. Bishop Rodman is very pleased with this extension and grateful to Father Bob. He is committed to working closely with us as we move forward, and the Vestry is very appreciative of his leadership and guidance. In the coming months, the Vestry will be working with the Council of Ministries, staff and others to make plans to honor Father Bob’s time with us at St Stephen’s. We encourage active participation by all and welcome your ideas and input.

Dear Friends, Recent events have highlighted the vital need to address racial injustice and inequality. St Stephen’s joined other Durham churches a few weeks ago and rang their bells for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd. My wife and i were able to sit out on our front steps and experience it. What can I do, how can I change, what can we do, what can we change? We clearly need to be better listeners. Are we a “welcoming” church? I believe we are but how do we measure that, especially while our doors are physically closed due to Covid 19. We have begun conversations re-garding the Re-Opening the Church for Worship and are following the guidelines by the Diocese. More information to follow. In the meantime, we are very fortunate to have some very gifted and dedicated individuals who are providing virtual services, live Zoom bible study, Sunday School and other outreach opportunities. We are interested in how can we improve. The good news is that St Stephen’s remains open, in fact it never closed. We are very appreciative for those of you making phone calls, updating our Directory, running errands or doing a kind deed for a fellow parishioner or neighbor. As an usher, one of our duties was passing the offertory plate and walking up to the alter to have it received and the gifts blessed. Now that we are in a virtual offertory world, I would encourage those of you that are able to, to consider giving electronically so we can continue our mission and better serve our community. This will be especially important during the summer months. Lastly, I want to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day! Keep safe and hope your summer plans bring you close to family and friends.

Faithfully,

"ASK THE BISHOP," a new video series for children, is a hit! The questions submitted by chil-dren are wonderful, and we are greedy for more! Intended for audiences 12 and under (though enjoyed by folks of every age!), "Ask the Bishop" is all about answering the questions on the minds of children, whether it's about God, the Bible, the wider world or anything else. Learn how to submit questions for future episodes - all are welcome! Look for "Ask the Bishop" on Saturdays at 10a.m. on the diocesan Facebook page or the dioce-san Vimeo channel. Watch the first "Ask the Bishop" episodes.

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On June 9, Housing for New Hope hosted its first virtual Coffee & Conversation Event, which replaced the annual breakfast that was cancelled due to Covid-19 con-cerns. During the event, we heard updates from Russell Pierce (Executive Director), Brooke Malone (Director of Development), Cynthia Harris (Rapid Re-housing Program Manager) and Board members about status of ongoing pro-grams to provide affordable housing for Durham’s most vulnerable citizens. We learned that the street outreach program lost most of its funding this year, requiring a re-duction in staff from 4 full-time staff to a half-time posi-tion. Happily, HNH was able to secure grant funding that has enabled them to return to a staff of 4, with a fifth posi-tion being added soon. The rapid re-housing program also expanded this year, with funding from the state, doubling the previous number of clients moving into hous-ing. While previous efforts have focused on rehousing families, this funding has enabled HNH to expand its reach to individuals, who comprise 75-80% of those seeking af-fordable housing. Street outreach and rapid rehousing are especially critical during the Covid-19 pandemic as unem-ployment is rising and shelter capacities have decreased by 20-50%. We heard much about the challenges of providing and managing these services with social distancing require-ments. Other highlights discussed during the event include:

HNH was designated as the unsheltered coordinating agency for Durham through a new city-county partner-ship that provides funding to allow for growth and inno-vation to meet housing needs

HNH is now in partnership with the NC Coalition to End Homelessness and the Durham-based Community Empowerment Fund

Three of HNH’s four permanent supported housing programs were recognized for outstanding performance

Holloway place received Durham’s Heart and Home Award

NC State Representative Vernetta Alston provided per-spective on local and statewide efforts for affordable hous-ing, including a discussion of the ongoing housing crisis for McDougald Terrace residents in Durham. Finally, we heard a moving testimonial from an HNH client, Tiffa-ny. If you weren’t able to attend this event, you can view a video of the event at https://www.housingfornewhope.org/coffee. While this was a wonderful event, HNH raised only 2/3 of there financial goal. Please consider making a donation if you are able, either through a designated donation to St. Stephen’s Local Pandemic Relief Fund or directly to Housing for New Hope (https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/HousingforNewHope/alldonations.html) .

To learn more about Housing for New Hopes, please visit their website at and https://www.housingfornewhope.org/ watch the following recent local news stories:

https://www.wral.com/new-funding-means-durham-residents-don-t-have-to-choose-between-affordable-and-safe-in-housing/19137496/

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/news/2020/01/27/campaign-to-end-homelessness-launches-following-low-income-housing-concerns-in-durham

Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD) Urban Ministries continues to provide modified food and shelter services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Saturday May 30, a team from St. Stephens (Cindi Easterling, Matt&Debbie Breuer) prepared and served lunch to 103 hungry people. This looked different from usual, with social distancing requirements. But UMD’s organized system made for safe and easy distribution of food and beverages in “to go” containers! Everyone masked and washed their hands thoroughly before entering or leaving the kitchen through separate doors. While dif-ferent from usual, it was still a worthwhile and gratifying experience! St. Stephens is scheduled to serve again on Saturday Aug 29 & Oct 31. If you would like to join the team, or just learn more, please contact Debbie Breuer. While UMD’s clothing closet is currently suspended, they continue to serve three meals every day and to provide emergency shelter for a smaller number of people than usual. UMD plans to reopen its food pantry in July, so will have a tremendous need for non-perishable foods, bottled water and juices, masks and hand sanitizer. Current ur-gent needs include pasta sauce, canned pasta meals, canned fruits and vegetables, and shaving cream. Donations can be dropped off at the double glass doors under the purple awning at 410 Liberty St., Durham, NC, during regular operating hours (Mond-Fri 9 AM – 6 PM; Saturday 9AM – 2 PM). For a large donations, please email Viki Baker (vbaker@umdurham.org ) ahead of time to arrange for help unloading items.

And as always, UMD needs financial contributions. Con-sistent with what we are seeing with other relief agencies, their donations are down to approximately 2/3 the usual level of giving. If you would like to help, you can donate directly to UMD (https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/UMDurham), or make a designated donation through St. Stephen’s Local Pandemic Relief Fund.

Mission and Outreach

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Music Notes

Organ Update During the month of June great progress was made in the restoration of our 3 manual, 47 rank Flentrop organ. (A bit of review: the pipes of the organ are laid out in rows on the organ’s wind chests. Each row of pipes is called a “rank.”) The June newsletter described repairs to the 6 rank pedal division, whose pipes are located at the back of the main case, and repairs to the 8 rank Récit division, played by the top manual, whose pipes are located high in the front part of the main case. During the month of June, John Santioanni managed to repair the organ’s largest and most powerful division, the 22 rank Grand Orgue, played by the middle keyboard, Pipe work for the Grand Orgue is located in the front part of the main case. Mr. Santioanni’s wonderful photos and captions show the enormity of the repairs.

The G.O. Flute 4’ showing how tiny the pipe caps can be.

There is very little room to work inside the organ. This walkboard between the main case and the Pedal division is only about 18” wide. For the pipes that did not need repair, only cleaning, I made these stacking storage trays. Without storing them this way, all these pipes would need to be lowered out of the organ a few at a time and put in trays on the gallery floor.

The Fourniture stop plays four pipes at once and the Cymbal plays three. Many of the pipes are very small, and when depiping the organ it can be easy to mix the them up. Some pipes are only a few millimeters long-er or shorter than their neighbors. By taking them out carefully by rank and in order, wrapping them in paper, and marking each bundle, it is easier to ensure that the pipes will end up in the right holes when it all goes back together.

The pipes in the façade do not have their own windchest but receive wind from the main windchest. The lead conveyances for each pipe must snake around the feet of the other pipes and each other to get to the façade.

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Music Notes Continued During the month of July, Mr. Santioanni will repair the organ’s 3rd manual division, the 11 rank Positif devision, played by the bottom manual. The pipework of the Positif is located in the smaller case that hangs on the balcony rail. So, in case you have been counting, our organ has indeed 6 + 8 + 22 + 11 = 47 ranks.

What They Are Up To What does a concert pianist do when all the concert halls are closed? Recently, I got a partial answer from Andrew Ty-son, who was self-quarantining himself in his Philadelphia apartment. He said that he was at work learning some new concertos: Brahms 1st, Liszt 2nd, and Mozart 23rd. Later, however, I found online: Playlist No. 4: Andrew Tyson Se-lects. Andrew was scheduled to perform a concert at Princeton with violinist Benjamin Beilman on April 2, 2020, but the concert was cancelled because of the pandemic. So, in its place, Andrew curated a concert consisting of recordings of pianists from the “Golden Age of the Piano,” namely, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Benno Morselwitch, Alfred Cortot, Moriz Rosenthal, and Josef Hofmann. Regarding Cortot, Andrew wrote: "Alfred Cortot was a magician more that a musician

Some tools of the trade: shears, thermometer, tuning iron, mixture brushes and chenille sticks (to silence pipes), and tuning cones. This organ is “cone tuned,” so the tops of the flue pipes are opened or closed just a bit using the different sized cones.

At the top of the photo is the Cornet in the Grande Orgue division. This offset toeboard is mounted above the main windchest for two reasons: more pipes can be fit in since there is more room above; the pipes have more presence in the nave since they are right behind the façade. To tune these pipes, I have to balance on a rail on the case (foreground) and lean in about three feet to reach the pipes. There is not much to hang on to!

The final division to be worked on is the Positiv—the smaller separate case that hangs over the gallery rail. Here are some pipes from the Nasard stop. I have marked the pipes with an N to distinguish them from the Flute stop in this division since they look alike. You can see how the aged leather is in bad shape, and the outer leather ring is missing on some pipes. On the third pipe from the left you can see that some paper was inserted between the cap and pipe body since it must have been too loose at some point.

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and a poet more than a pianist. He dreams Schumann more than he plays it. His tone seems to float in the air, his unique rubato is endlessly enchanting.” On the Violin Channel I found Ray Chen, who once per-formed at St. Stephen’s with Andrew. The show was titled “Ask Me Anything You Want.” After playing the opening Adagio from Bach’s G minor solo Sonata, Ray glibly picks up his iPhone to start answering questions. Sample ques-tion: If it were possible, what composer would you most want to have dinner with? Ray’s answer: Beethoven. Etc. Quite engaging. Nicholas Kitchen and his wife Yeesun Kim have been very busy. As Artistic Director of the Heifetz International Mu-sic Institute, Nick is busy preparing for this summer’s vir-tual six week program, which will include “checkerboard chamber music.” He has formed 20 student string quartets. For each quartet the four students will be in their homes, equipped with microphones, headphones, computers, iPhones and the like, and their challenge will be to produce a split screen video performance of a string quartet move-ment. The Borromeo String Quartet is now rehearsing in Boston while wearing masks and spaced six feet from one another. They will soon be making a recording in Jordan Hall, again with masks and social distancing, for a lecture-demonstration on July 21 at Tanglewood. They will be recording two of Beethoven’s late masterpieces: the Heilige Dankgesang slow movement from Op. 132 and the Grosse Fugue. Nick recently edited performance tapes for the concert which took place at the New England Conservatory on the evening of March 8, 2020, a concert which may come to be called “historic.” Here at St. Stephen’s, the 10:30 a.m. ser-vice that day proved to be the last “normal” service, before all in-person services were suspended. The concert at NEC was an all Beethoven concert consisting of the F-major String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 1, the second Rasumovsky quartet, Op. 59, No 1, and the Op. 127 quartet. The concert was to be the first of six concerts at NEC in which the Bor-romeo would present the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets. Expectations for the concert were height-ened by a feature article in The Boston Globe on the day of the concert. The article by Jeremy Eicher asked: “What, precisely, did Beethoven tell his future performers?" The concert was performed to a full house. The very next day, NEC announced that subsequent concerts would not be open to the public, but only to student and faculty at NEC. A day later NEC announced that there could be no audiences whatever at concerts. On Wednesday, the stage of Jordan Hall was filled with musicians for a live-streamed performance of Haydn’s Creation, but no one was in the audience. Ten days after the concert on March 8, students

were sent home. The pandemic was firmly in the driver’s seat. Youtube recordings of the history-making March 8th con-cert are now available. A year ago the quartet made a youtube recording of Op. 127, featuring Nick’s Expressive Markings Manuscript Edition of the work. Recently Nick has created youtube recordings of the other two works on the March 8 concert, Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 59, No. 1. Here is a link to them: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGHkicdppxckncMlErqR3crwI7u42V6uf. For this video Nick used three recordings, the one from the Sunday night concert, plus two more recorded the next day in Jor-dan hall WITHOUT an audience. Three different camera angles were used for the performances, so every time you see a change of camera angle, you know that a different recording is being used. To make this happen seamlessly, everything perfectly synchronized, required a great deal of time and patience. How different our experience of the pandemic would be without the internet! The Friday Letters Just as our church has virtual services, it also has virtual concerts, both resulting from the pandemic which has turned life upside down. Every Friday a letter goes out to people on the email list of the church’s concert series which provides links to youtube performances of the won-derful artists who have already performed on the church’s (real) concert series or (in two cases) are under contract to do so. Here is the letter which was sent on June 26. The featured artist is pianist Alexander Beyer, who has appeared at St.Stephen’s four times, once in solo recital and three times with Nicholas Kitchen and Yeesun Kim. The letter is of special interest because of the picture it gives of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

“Greetings from the St. Stephen’s Concert Series,

This week you will witness Alexander Beyer perform two concertos with the National Orchestra of Belgium during the final round of the 2016 Queen Elisa-beth Competition, where Alex won Third Prize. The longer work is Rach-maninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in d minor, Op. 30, commonly called Rach 3 by pianists. It is one of the most techni-

cally difficult piano concertos ever written. The shorter work is “A Butterfly’s Dream,” composed for the 2016 competition by the Belgian composer Claude Leboux (b. 1960). This recording begins with “A butterfly’s Dream” and concludes with the Rachmaninoff. The Rachmaninoff begins at the 16:00 mark.

Music Notes Continued

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“The work is inspired,” writes Leboux, “by the ‘Butterfly’s Dream’ scene in the Zhuangzi, a book of Chinese philoso-phy that takes its title from the name of its author, Zhuang Zhou (Chuang-tse) who wrote in the 4th century BC. The book’s learned author wondered about the reality of the world, following a dream that he was unsure whether to interpret as a dream or reality.” “One time, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a fluttering but-terfly, happy with his lot and unaware that he was Zhou himself. Suddenly, the poet awoke and realized that he was Zhou. With his mind between two worlds, he didn’t know whether he was Zhou dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that he was Zhou.” The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a very popular annual event in Brussels which takes place throughout the entire month of May. (This year is an exception. The 2020 com-petition has been postponed to 2021.) It is strongly sup-ported by the citizens of Brussels who host competitors in their homes. The competition in 2016 was for pianists. There were 316 applicants who submitted DVD’s. During the month of February a six-member jury spent 12 days reviewing the DVD’s before inviting 82 pianists from 23 countries to come to Brussels. 76 came. The first round of the competition took place during the first week of May. Each of the 76 pianists presented a 20 minute recital which had to include one the 48 Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, the first movement of a sonata by Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert, etc. At the end of the week the 12 judges selected 24 pia-nists to advance to the semi-final round. The semi-final round took place during the second week of May. Each semi-finalist performed a Mozart concerto with a chamber orchestra, and a 40 minute recital. The recital had to include the piece, “Tears of Light” by Fabian Fio-rini, composed for the competition and sent to the competi-tors in March. The 40 minute recital was made yet more challenging by requiring that each pianist submit TWO 40 minute programs. The judges then selected the program they wanted to hear ONE DAY before the recital. Alex’s program included Beethoven’s Eroica Variations and Ravel’s La Valse. At the end of the second week the judges selected 12 final-ists to perform during the fourth week of May. Each day, from Monday through Saturday, two finalists performed to audiences of over 2000 people. Throughout the long history of the competition competitors have had to demonstrate their ability to master a large work with orchestra WITHOUT the help of a teacher. To that end, the 12 finalists were moved, two at a time, to a build-

ing called the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where they were sequestered. They were given a score of “A Butter-fly’s Dream” and a recording of the orchestra part. They had to relinquish their iPhones for the duration of the com-petition and they were given exactly one week’s time to master “A Butterfly’s Dream.” So, as you listen to Alex play “A Butterfly’s Dream,” keep in mind that he learned the piece in one week’s time. Stay healthy and happy.

Joe and Dorothy and the board of St. Stephen’s Concert Series”

Learning a major work in one week’s time while being se-questered can be a horrific experience. I asked Alex how it had been for him.

In an email written shortly after the competition, I asked: “How would you compare the challenge of learning “A Butterfly’s Dream” in the period of a week with the chal-lenge you had at Taos of learning and performing a major piece of chamber music in two week’s time? One im-portant difference, of course, is that you had daily coach-ings at Taos. I wonder, though, whether your Taos experi-ence made your week of being sequestered any easier.” This was Alex’s response. “It was an entirely new experience, just because of the stakes. You had to forget that you were going to play the piece for 2,000 eager audience members, including the queen. That said, experiences like Taos (and I have had several since) are always helpful because they reinforce the notion that musical intent guide the learning of notes is the only way to go! Otherwise, there’s nothing really there.”

“As for the isolation, I knew that I was going to enjoy it, and I did. Here at home I’m in the middle of the woods, and often don’t talk to people, so I was used to that.” In another email he wrote: “What strikes me about the competition in retrospect is how tightly it is woven into the national identity. The con-nection manifests in ways “good” and “bad” for the per-former — constant TV, radio and newspaper coverage, huge and appreciative audiences, always loudly voiced opinions. The prevailing opinion is that it is a world class event and one that could only find its unique form in Bel-gium.” “It was an experience which I will not soon forget.” (I can’t imagine that he will ever forget it!)

J. Kitchen

Music Notes Continued

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Weekly Services and Programs at St. Stephen’s in Pandemic Times

Every week

Event (all virtual)

Sundays

Service of either Morning Prayer or Holy Eucharist with Sermon, recorded and available any time, and a bulletin. The sermon is grounded in the reading of the day, offering reflec-tions on a topic or issue suggested by the lectionary readings. The bulletin contains the complete service (including the Lectionary readings), as well as art work reflecting some aspect of the Scripture or the service. 10:00 a.m.: Family Sunday School, livestreamed via Zoom and led by Jeremy Godwin and Stephanie Metzen, including a Bible story, activity or reflection on the story, and prayers. 11:00 a.m.: Adult Formation Program, livestreamed via Zoom and led by Jeremy Godwin. We look at spirituality at the present moment. What does faith look like in the midst of a pandemic? What practices do we engage in when we are unable to meet together in person? What does a spirituality of the home entail? Passages from Scripture, poetry, and other writ-ings from across the centuries including T.S. Eliot, Howard Thurman, St. Cyprian, the Car-mina Gadelica (Gaelic prayers), Wendell Berry, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and more are dis-cussed.

Tuesdays

7:30 a.m. Men’s Bible Study with Virtual Breakfast and fellowship, led by Fr. Stephen Elkins-Williams. Tuesday Men's Bible Study or +1 646 558 8656, Meeting ID: 178 688 713; Password: 080723.

Weekly Reflection by Fr. Bob Kaynor, emailed to the parish. Also includes interesting items, information and links about St. Stephen’s services, opportunities for seminars and other forums for spiritual growth, and opportunities for outreach to our core partners.

Wednesdays

In preparation for Family Sunday School, information distributed by email to young fami-lies and interested others by Jeremy Godwin. Material in preparation for the Adult Formation Program, distributed by email by Jeremy Godwin

Thursdays

11:30 p.m. Noonday Prayer followed by virtual lunch and fellowship, led by Fr. Bob. Thursday 11:30 Service or +1 646 558 8656, Meeting ID: 842 618 492#, Password: 009008

Fridays

Thoughts about Scripture readings for Sunday, emailed to the parish. Includes announce-ments and interesting information around St. Stephen’s and the Diocese, and opportunities for mission and outreach. St. Stephen’s Concert Series letter and musical offering, wonderful reading and beautiful music. Offered by Joe Kitchen.

Saturdays Sunday service, an email providing links to service and bulletin to parish

Monthly Stephen’s Window Newsletter

Weekly Services and Programs

11 Stephen’s Window July 2020

Dates to Remember Prayer Requests

For restoration of body and spirit:

and also for friends and family members of St. Stephen’s parishioners:

Akiko, mother of Mari Alton, fr iend of Alice and Jeanne Betsy, step-daughter of Scott Pastor Bill, fr iend of St. Stephen’s Cerue, mother of Paula David, fr iend of Bob Deb, fr iend of Wanda & Sue Edwin, brother of Clyde Fagan-Solis family, relatives of Kate Gwendoline, mother of Wendy Iris, mother of Jeanna Jane, niece of Scott Jon, grandson of Scott Judy, fr iend of Bob & Car la Kathleen, fr iend of Pr iscilla & Derek Leslie, great-niece of Derek Lyn, mother of Becky Meghan, niece/goddaughter of Nancy Nicholas, fr iend of Sue Owen, step-brother of Tom Peter, fr iend of Pr iscilla & Derek Pieter, fr iend of Wendy Ray, son-in-law of Mary Ann Ruth, fr iend of Ginger and Sally Walt, father of Julie William, fr iend of Mar lene

In the diocesan cycle of prayer:

Week of July 5: Church of the Nativity; St. Ambrose; and St. Augustine’s University Chapel, all in Raleigh Week of July 12: St. Mark’s; St. Michael’s; and St. Tim-othy’s, all in Raleigh Week of July 19: St. Thomas’, Reidsville; and Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Ridgeway Week of July 26: All Saints’, Roanoke Rapids; Church of the Messiah, Rockingham; and Church of the Good Shep-herd, Rocky Mount

The Rev. Derek Shows 7/3 Susan Steel 7/3 Ben Maynor 7/4 Jess Godfrey 7/4 Debbie Breuer 7/5 Martina Gardner-Woods 7/7 Spot Vicars 7/8 Christina Galavis 7/8 Charlotte Langford 7/14 Mark Lazenby 7/15 Catherine Cajka 7/15 The Rev. Louane Frey 7/16 Sally Graham 7/16 Ruth Barber 7/17 Bill Aldridge, Jr. 7/19 David Veasey 7/20 Dick Boyd 7/20 Carla Bullock 7/21 Jamie Cajka 7/22 Nancy McCumber 7/25 Susan Griffin 7/26 Benji Paulakonis 7/26 Walter James 7/27 Scott Hughes 7/28 The Rev. Ray Howe 7/28 Wendy Fuller 7/28 Bill King 7/29 Drew Vermillion 7/29

Margaret & Peter Bennett 7/7 Sally & Jack Markham 7/8 Becky & Steven Bonchick 7/10 Jackie & Mike Pollard 7/11 Aimee & Justin Grau 7/13 Blair & Richard Corney 7/15 Cindi & Dick Boyd 7/16 Francheska & Michael Fisher 7/16 Bristol & Brock Winslow 7/17 Gail & Bruce Waters 7/18 Mary Kay & Howie Zwiefel 7/28 Liz & Jason Jones 7/30

Lay Pastoral Care—If you have a prayer request for a loved one or yourself and would like to be included in the Prayer Network’s daily prayers, please contact Holly Latty-Mann, Martina Gardner-Woods, Claire (cmd@med.unc.edu) or the Church Office. For prayers in the Sunday service’s Intercessions (Prayers of the People), please contact Claire, Father Bob or the Church Office. To request a Eucharistic visit or other needs for yourself or loved one, please contact Claire or Father Bob.

Andy Dr. Baxter Benji Betty B. Betty M. Bill Bob Bobbie Bruce Carma

Carol Caroline Charles Cis Ginger Harvey Jim JoeAnne Libby Margaret

Milton Nancy Nello Orlando Peggy Ruth Susan Tom Tony Virginia

12 Stephen’s Window July 2020

From the Sexton, Kevin Kelly

Non-Profit Organization US Postage

PAID Durham, NC 27705

Permit No. 59

Return Service Requested

St. Stephen's is a parish within the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, part of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

www.dionc.org

The Rt. Rev. Samuel Rodman

Bishop Diocesan

The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple Bishop Suffragan

St. Stephen’s Staff

The Rev. Robert K. Kaynor

Rector bob.kaynor@ssecdurham.org

The Rev. Stephen J. Elkins-Williams

Priest-in-Residence stephenj.ew@gmail.com

The Rev. Dr. Derek Shows

Priest Associate

Dr. Joseph Kitchen Music Director and Organist

jwkitchen@earthlink.net

Dr. Daniel Monek Choir Director

dgmonek@ncsu.edu

Dr. Jeremy Godwin Director of Christian Education jeremy.godwin@ssecdurham.org

Stephanie Metzen

Youth Director stephanie.metzen@ssecdurham.org

Burke Raper

Business Manager burke.raper@ssecdurham.org

Angelica Kendall Parish Secretary

office@ssecdurham.org

Susan Steel

Membership & Stewardship Coordinator susan.steel@ssecdurham.org

Tamiko Sanders

Preschool Director tamiko.sanders@ssecdurham.org

Kevin Kelly

Sexton kevin.kelly@ssecdurham.org

Clyde Stephens

Parish Life and Staff Assistant

The 61st

Vestry and Officers of St. Stephen’s

Cathy Lavin Senior Warden Ian Shearer, Junior Warden Jim Stewart, Treasurer

Lizzie Almasy, Clerk Katherine Bick Michele Hayward Liz Jones Christian Keedy

Kathy McPherson Lucy Petruccelli Drayton Virkler Norm Woods

Well, as that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, is reputed to have stated, “Deja vu all over again.” That’s how I feel in composing this month’s summary. Almost everything from last month is applicable this month.

As I write we are in the midst of a rainy, cloudy, unseasonably cool week. When the sun returns, the grass, roses, flowers, and weeds will burst forth as if in the tropics.

We have two projects on the docket. I will install a grease trap on the commer-cial sink in the kitchen. This should reduce some of the drain problems we have experienced for years.

The big project will be new flooring in the Parish Hall. The carpet will come up and the glue removed. Then the hearing loop will be installed on the concrete floor before the laminate vinyl flooring goes down. The new flooring is hypoal-lergenic, extremely durable, and easy to clean.

I am working on preparations for welcoming everyone back to St. Stephen’s. There are touch free soap dispensers and hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the buildings with more to come. We have a small supply of N95 masks and a supply of hand sanitizer. I am also looking at different methods to mark floors to assist in maintaining social distancing.

Stay well and safe.

Rhododendron on the East side of the church

Turtle seen in woods between the Meditation Trail and cottage.