Celebrating Our King
"Celebrating Our King"
Sermon by The Reverend Cindy Carter
November 26, 2023
Several years ago, right after Christmas, my friends Tim and Suzi handed me a copy of a book titled Just Mercy. The author was named Bryan Stevenson. As they handed it to me, they said, “You need to read this book.”
I promptly took the book home and placed it in the stack of other books I “need to read” some time. And, to be honest, I sort of forgot about it for a while.
Sometime into the new year, I had an opportunity to visit my friend Jimmy, who was a prisoner at Fountain Prison in Atmore, for the first time. I won’t bore you with the details of my visit. For those of you who want details, just let me know.
Let’s just say that it was eye opening. I learned quickly that I was not “prison savvy.” I learned quickly that prison, even if you are only visiting, can be a demeaning and dehumanizing experience. I learned quickly that prisoner and visitor have more in common than one might think.
When I left Fountain Prison that day, I could not get home fast enough to find that book Tim and Suzi had given me. You see I knew that Bryan Stevenson and the organization he founded, the Equal Justice Initiative, works with the criminal justice system, works with prisoners who were wrongly accused, works with child prisoners.
I knew I had to read that book. I guess my firends Tim and Suzi had been right all along.
I will always remember when I finished it. It was during Holy Week, after I got home from our Maundy Thursday service. I will never forget it.
In a TED talk that Bryan Stevenson did and in many of his public speeches, he has said that, if you want to change the world, there are several things you need to do.
The first of these is that you have to get proximate to problems. You can’t help solve the world’s problems at a distance. You have to get up close and personal.
You have to give food and drink to hungry and thirsty people; you have to welcome strangers; you have to give clothing to naked people; you have to take care of sick people and visit people in prison.
He also says that you sometimes have to do uncomfortable things. And, we all know that doing the things that I just read, the things Jesus mentioned in this parable, can be pretty darned uncomfortable.
My visit with Jimmy brought me up close and personal with a world and people I frankly knew nothing about, and it was definitely uncomfortable.
It caused me to want to read a book that I might never have picked up again, even though dear friends had given it to me. And, while I may never change the world, that proximate, uncomfortable experience has taken me down paths I would never have imagined. Now, I definitely want to change the world for people like Jimmy.
Bryan Stevenson is certainly right about what it takes to change in the world, because you have to start somewhere. You have to be willing to get up close and personal with people and situations that might be very unfamiliar, and you have to be willing to do some pretty uncomfortable things.
Jesus also knew that’s how you change the world.
But, I think there is something else that Jesus knew. Jesus knew that when we do these things we open up ourselves to being changed. We become vulnerable so that we can be transformed.
I believe that experiencing up close a person who is hungry or thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, as a friend, as someone not unlike our ourselves, expands our vision of humanity and of God. It expands our vision of who we are as children of God. Showing grace to others changes us.
I know that when I’ve shown grace to another person, no matter how small that act of grace, I have been blessed and I have been changed. These gifts of grace have opened hard, stony places in my heart I didn’t even know were there.
I met my friend Debra a number of years ago when she attended what we called our “When Christmas Feels Blue” service about a week before Christmas in the parish where I served before my retirement. She had been invited to come by one of her friends who was a member of the parish.
You see Debra had not too long before experienced the loss of her father. He had been brutally murdered in his home just outside town. Debra was grieving and searching and questioning and, with that invitation, found her way to us.
And, she never left our parish after that evening. She became a member, was confirmed, has served as senior warden.
Debra is also a dedicated volunteer in the parish’s Rice and Beans Ministry, among the many ways she serves there. One Saturday each month, food is distributed and a hot home-cooked breakfast is served to anyone who shows up. No names are taken, and no paperwork is required. You just have to show up.
One Saturday morning, as I walked through the kitchen behind the serving line where she was standing behind very big pan of scrambled eggs, Debra asked me if I had a minute. In that minute, she told me that she had just served breakfast to the mother of the man who was her father’s murderer.
At that moment, Debra was shocked, confused, and pretty unsure of what was going on. All she knew is that she had looked at that woman and put scrambled eggs on her plate.
But, she now says that as the days and weeks passed, when she was able to process what had happened, she knew that it was a moment of grace, a moment when God began to show her that forgiveness was possible.
Up close and personal -yes. Uncomfortable – absolutely. And, in that unexpected moment of grace, transformation began for my friend Debra.
Today, we celebrate “Christ the King Sunday.” We celebrate a king who said that his kingdom in not like the kingdoms of this world. A king who doesn’t want to preserve the world the way it is, but to change it - so it is more like his kingdom. A kingdom that is full of justice and compassion and love.
A king who doesn’t want us to stay the way we are, but to change us, to transform us – so that we are more like him. People of justice and compassion and love.
A king who is more interested in the hungry and thirsty, the naked and the stranger, the sick and the prisoner than in the full and the powerful. A king who is more interested in making us vulnerable and sensitive and open to change than in keeping us as we are.
Today, we celebrate a king who spoke with a lonely, sad, thirsty woman, a Samaritan no less, a stranger to him in every way possible, and offered her living water.
Today, we celebrate a king who filled a basin with water, tied a towel around his waist, knelt down, and washed the feet of his weary disciples.
My friends, today we celebrate a king whose throne was a cross. AMEN.
More Announcements
Children’s Formation invites you to take part in a special tradition for 3rd grade Solemn Communion. One of the most meaningful moments for the children is embroidering a cross on their own prayer shawl. We need six volunteers on Sunday, February 23 , from 2:45-4:15pm in Adult Sunday School Room 223 to assist children as they sew a cross onto their shawls. No advanced sewing skills are required—each shawl is pre-made, with the cross outlined in washable ink and set in an embroidery hoop. There is also an opportunity to help prepare prayer shawls for next year (date TBD). No sewing experience is needed, as tasks include tearing fabric, ironing, and folding. If you’d like to help with either opportunity, please contact Jeannie Feldman at jeanniefeldman@att.net . Your support makes this tradition possible!
Join us on March 16 for "Soup for the Saints Lunch!" This is a special fundraiser supporting our Outreach Ministry. Enjoy a comforting bowl of potato soup, fresh salad, warm rolls, and a delicious dessert while listening to live music and watching the kids enjoy fun activities. Seating is limited, so be sure to get your tickets by March 12. Bring your friends, invite your neighbors, and share a meal that makes a difference. More details to come.
All Saints is excited to take part in a Habitat for Humanity Build! The kickoff event is set for March 13 at 8:00am, with build days scheduled for April 3, 4, and 5 from 8:00am to 3:00pm each day . We'll wrap up with a special dedication on May 3. We’re looking for 10–25 volunteers each day, and participants must be at least 14 years old. Stay tuned for more details on how to sign up!
Our youth program needs your help providing meals for Sunday school breakfast and then for dinner on Sunday evenings. You can cook or bring anything you think would be enjoyable to eat for our youth. Breakfast should serve approximately 10-20 people, Sunday school begins at 9:45am. Dinners should be provided for around 20-30 people. Check with Grace below for specific dinner times. SIGN UP to serve breakfast SIGN UP to serve dinner For more information, contact our Director of Youth Ministries, Grace Turner ( gturner@allsaintsbhm.org ).
In this message, Ian Cunningham reflects on the exciting opportunities ahead for the All Saints Choir School. He shares his personal connection to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) and highlights upcoming events and programs that will inspire and enrich choristers and their families. From Ian Cunningham I had hoped to share a few words at the Choir School Kickoff in August, but we decided that I could write a short message to the church and all those in the "Choir School Family." When I first heard that All Saints was finally becoming associated with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) and adopting the Voice for Life® curriculum, it was a dream come true. I spent my first few years at All Saints evangelizing about RSCM, since Voice for Life® was the first pillar of my music education. I later attended the nation's largest RSCM choir residency—an intensive choir camp for young singers—eleven times. The course was held at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Started in the 1990s, it took place yearly until 2019. I attended this choir residency five times as a chorister and then another six as a staff member. It was an integral part of my young adulthood, and I made lasting friendships and connections with vocalists, organists, and conductors from around the country during my time there. The weeklong camp I attended at King's no longer exists, but some of the alumni formed a new one. In 2022, this new camp began: the RSCM Midwest America Summer Choral Residency at Indiana's University of Evansville. Its registration recently opened for July 21–27, 2025. I am joining the residential staff there this coming summer, and I hope, through this program, to finally introduce my children, Poppy and Soren, to some of the most notable musicians in the country. All of our All Saints Choir School choristers aged 10 and up will have that same incredible opportunity. There is also a weekend event in Nashville on March 22–23, 2025, roughly halfway between here and Indianapolis, which would work well as a stepping stone for curious choristers and their families. The 26th Annual Cathedral Chorister Festival at Christ Church Cathedral is a two-day event that will allow choristers to work with musicians from across the nation. On Saturday, choristers will rehearse in preparation for a Sunday morning service and evensong the following day. We already have choristers signed up, and we would love for more to join. All this is to say that Maggie and Brad, bringing us into the arms of this global community, is a gift! The free workshops provided by the Choir School are priceless. The special services the choirs sing—the upcoming Contemplative Evensong on February 5, the Lessons and Carols of Creation later this spring, the Service of Remembrance every November, and the yearly Advent Lessons and Carols in December—are gorgeous and memorable events. The All Saints Choir School programs have always been something special for the Birmingham area, but all of these upcoming opportunities to sing, learn, and travel are a gateway to unforgettable experiences in the music world at large. Attached at the bottom are a few highlights from some of my favorite years at RSCM's King's course, 2009 and 2011. There aren't many visual or audio recordings, but here are a couple of resources: VIDEO FROM 2013 AUDIO FILES All of these opportunities are open to any young person. Our choirs and music programs are open to any child in the community, and any of our choristers have the opportunity to register for RSCM choral programs as well as the Nashville Choral Festival in March. Ian Cunningham ___________________________ We thank Ian for his insight and passion for our Choir School and the opportunities available to our youth! To register for a choir in the All Saints Choir School, or to find our more about our choirs, check out our WEBPAGE . Contact Maggie Gill at mgill@allsaintsbhm.org to find out more, or to receive links to sign up for the following events that Ian spoke about: March 22-23 will be the 26th Annual Cathedral Chorister Festival Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, TN *Contact Maggie Gill ( mgill@allsaintsbhm.org ) by February 20 if you are interested in this event Saturday, March 22, 2025 | Workshop and Rehearsal day Sunday, March 23, 2025 | 11:15 AM Holy Eucharist & 4:00 PM Choral Evensong (all participating choristers sing these two services) Guest Director Maxine Thévenot, from the Cathedral in Albuquerque *To see last year's Evensong from this event CLICK HERE July 21-27, 2025 RSCM Midwest in Evansville, IN This seven-day immersive choral experience is an RSCM America Summer Choral Residency for children age 10+ and adult singers.
Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, March 5! Services will be at 12:00pm & 6:00pm ( +Live Stream ) . The nursery will be available for infants - 6 years old. Falling six and half weeks before Easter, this will mark the beginning of the forty days of Lent in preparation for Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. The ashes are a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality, and may be imposed with the sign of the cross. The Ash Wednesday service is one of the Proper Liturgies for Special Days in the BCP (p. 264). Imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday service is optional.
