Author: Alfred

The 2019 annual meeting was held Sunday November 17, 2019 at 9:30 am.

The 2019 annual report has been placed on our website and can be accessed from the bottom of the giving page (Church Life, Giving tabs).

It is also available directly from this post by clicking the highlighted text above.

We want to hear which are your preferred communication methods to ensure we are effectively reaching parishioners. The Communications Team has developed a survey which is currently live. Select Read More and then follow the link to open the survey. We need as many respondents as possible to ensure all voices are heard. The survey is open to all members and regular visitors. We are listening!

Click Here to open the Survey.

When the Book of Common Prayer was reissued in 1979, it offered contemporary English usage (“Rite II”) as an alternative to the Elizabethan English usage (“Rite I”) that BCPs had used since the first in 1549. At Nativity we have almost always used Rite II in our worship services.

One interesting feature of Rite II, however, is that it provides a choice of wording for the Lord’s Prayer. The traditional version from Rite I may be used. It’s an anomaly in a rite that otherwise uses contemporary English. At Nativity in recent years we have alternated between the traditional Lord’s Prayer and the contemporary version first written by an ecumenical and scholarly group, the International Consultation on English Texts, in the early 1970s. The ICET version was adopted for the 1979 BCP.

There’s really only one substantive difference between the two versions. The traditional version reads “lead us not into temptation” and the contemporary version reads “save us from the time of trial”. What’s that about?

The translation of the first clause of Matthew 6:13 has been an issue for decades. The essential objection to the traditional language is that God would never tempt us – and therefore it’s inappropriate to pray that God not do something that God would never do anyway. The Letter of James says clearly, “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.”

The issue turns on the translation of two words in the Greek manuscripts, eisenenkes and peirasmon. Many scholars say that the meaning of “temptation” in English has shifted over the centuries and that peirasmon in this context is mainly an eschatological reference to the period immediately prior to the second coming of Christ. As you might imagine, however, traditionalists and particularly the evangelicals who see the Bible in general (and often the King James Version in particular) as literally true and inerrant have fervently defended “lead us not into temptation” – in particular the position that eisenenkes was accurately translated all along.

You see this split among bible publishers too. The 1952 Revised Standard Version, favored by The Episcopal Church at the time, retained the traditional wording. Nearly all bibles targeted for the evangelical community still do. However, the 1970 New English Bible wrote “do not put us to the test”.  The 1986 version of the New American Bible of the Roman Catholic Church chose “do not subject us to the final test”. And finally the 1989 New Revised Standard Version, which we have read in public worship at Nativity since it was published, went with “do not bring us to the time of trial”.

Liturgical texts have different objectives. While a liturgical text must be faithful to the meaning of the Greek or Latin, it should also be easy to speak and sing, easy to hear clearly, and easy to remember. So far, The Episcopal Church has stuck with the ICET version and the traditional version in parallel. In its 1980 Alternative Service Book and again in its 2000 Common Worship, the Church of England split the difference by using contemporary language but retaining “lead us not into temptation”.

As a community, we use liturgical texts authorized by General Convention and chosen by our Rector, Stephanie, under the guidance of our Bishop. As an individual Episcopalian, you are free to take any position on this and to use either version in your devotions. Personally I prefer the ICET version because I find the scholastic arguments for it more compelling, but I acknowledge that there’s room for a different view. I encourage you to reflect on the two versions and see what the Spirit tells you.

Nativity Field Trip!

Join Fellow Nativity Members for a walking tour in Durham, April 27, 10am-11:30am followed by an optional lunch.  The title of the tour is “Pauli’s Durham: History of Racial Segregation in the West End Neighborhood”, and will focus on the significance of Black Civil War soldiers, the Freedman Schools movement, unsung shero Pauli Murray – her multi-racial ancestry and heritage, and Pauli’s long history of relentless activism.  One of the first African American woman Episcopal priest in North Carolina (and one of the first women priests in the US) as well as an unsung force for social justice, Pauli Murray was recently named to the Episcopal sainthood.  Tickets are available at the link below.  If you have questions, Email Becky Showalter

Link for tickets:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paulis-durham-history-of-racial-segregation-in-the-west-end-neighborhood-tickets-56352992317?janus_fv=exp_eb_86972_related_events_v2%3DA#tickets

“In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brothers and sisters and we commit their bodies to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
– BCP, Burial II, p. 502

As the congregation journeys through Lent toward the beauty and joy of the Resurrection and new life, the Nativity Memorial Garden will also undergo a time of transition, transformation, and rejuvenation.

The Memorial Garden is our community’s place for the reflection and remembrance of our loved ones who have have gone before us. This place of final repose is in need of major renovation and a long term plan for care and maintenance with accessible and safe paths, and additional spaces for committal of ashes. The Memorial Garden Rejuvenation group has and is working to meet the needs of today while planning for the future.

The Building and Grounds Ministry Team and the “Weekly Weeder” volunteers have maintained the Memorial Garden, however, the scope of the work that to be done is far beyond the abilities of these volunteers who generously give of their time. To that end, Lesley Troan, with input from the Buildings and Grounds Team, began meeting with interested members of the congregation in the summer of 2018. With Lesley, a core group of congregants have enlisted the services of arborists and a senior horticulture student from NC State University to increase the ambience, light, safety, and ease of maintenance of the Memorial.

The plan for the Memorial Garden focuses on our needs to conserve water, use native plantings (where feasible), maintaining the current woodland feel and limiting volunteer maintenance hours to 2 to 4 hours per month. The Vestry has approved the direction of the Memorial Garden Rejuvenation plan and the group will continue work under Buildings and Grounds. The Troan Foundation has provided a very generous grant in support of this project. The work is scheduled to begin this month.

The plan includes:

• Temporary relocation of the memorial stones and monuments
• Removal of five trees and removal, relocating, trimming, and pruning of branches and shrubs to improve light, air flow, and safety
• Add soil to stop sinking in areas of committal
• Add soil amendments to encourage growth and health of new and existing plant material
• Add plant material to meet the needs of low maintenance, water conservation, beauty, and include native plants when feasible
• Add universally accessible seating and second path
• Repair and restore Mrs. Hale’s Nativity angel

“We give you heartfelt thanks for the good examples of all your servants, who, having finished their course in faith, now find rest and refreshment.”
– BCP, Burial II, p.503