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Francis Sayre Jr.,Former National Cathedral Dean, Dies at 93

October 12th in the New York Times

Francis Sayre Jr., National Cathedral Dean, Dies at 93

By DENNIS HEVESI

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr., who in his 27 years as dean of the National Cathedral in Washington raised his sonorous voice against McCarthyism, segregation, poverty and the Vietnam War while presiding over construction of the cathedral’s majestic Gloria in Excelsis Tower, died Oct. 3 at his home on Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts. He was 93.

The death was confirmed by Elizabeth Mullen, a spokeswoman for the Episcopal cathedral, one of the most influential religious institutions in the nation.

Dean Sayre, a lanky, elegant man whose grandfather was President Woodrow Wilson, first climbed into the pulpit of the monumental cathedral, in northwest Washington, in 1951. Soon after, and well before the United States Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, he was calling for an end to school segregation.

Discrimination was a recurring theme for Dean Sayre. In a 1957 sermon, as the civil rights movement gained momentum, he urged his parishioners to join the struggle. He invoked the Prophet Elijah’s Old Testament challenge, “How long will ye go limping between the two sides?” Then he said, “That question, chilling in its candor, probes rather painfully; and I’m afraid we’ve been doing a good bit of limping ourselves, and the testing may not be far off.”

In March 1965, Dean Sayre joined the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

When Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin was railing at purported Communist influence in the country in the 1950s, Dean Sayre was not afraid to denounce him. In a 1954 sermon, he called McCarthy one of a crew of “pretended patriots” and said, “There is a devilish indecision about any society that will permit an impostor like McCarthy to caper out front while the main army stands idly by."

Francis Bowes Sayre Jr. was born in the White House on Jan. 17, 1915. He was the fourth grandchild of President Wilson and the first-born of the president’s daughter Jessie. His father was a Harvard law professor who later became an assistant secretary of state.

Francis Jr. graduated from Williams College and received his divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary. He was a chaplain in the Navy in World War II and later had a parish in Cleveland.

Dean Sayre married Harriet Hart in 1946; she died in 2003. He is survived by two daughters, Jessie Maeck and Harriet Sayre McCord; two sons, Thomas Hart Sayre and Nevin Sayre; and eight grandchildren.

In his nearly three decades presiding over the cathedral, the cornerstone for which was laid in 1907, Dean Sayre oversaw phased construction that brought the Gothic structure, known officially as the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, to 90 percent completion. The cathedral’s 300-foot tower — with nearly 400 carved angels soaring on its four turrets and 32 balustrade pinnacles, and 73 bells inside — was completed in 1964.

Dean Sayre retired in 1978. Four years earlier, in an interview with The Washington Post, he said, “Whoever is appointed the dean of the cathedral has in his hand a marvelous instrument, and he’s a coward if he doesn’t use it.”

VTS Welcomes Rev. Two Bulls as Leader in Residence

Rev. Robert Two Bulls is a "leader in residence" at VTS for the next two weeks. I have met him a couple of times and he is a wonderful priest and leader in our church. In addition, he and his wife were members of the Cathedral Volunteer Service Community a few years before I was. The CVSC was the Internship Community about which I wrote an article for The Episcopal Cafe recently. I am glad that VTS has asked Rev. Two Bulls to campus, and I am sure that those who take the time to meet him will learn from him.

VTS Welcomes Rev. Two Bulls as Leader in Residence

4.18.08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Susan Shillinglaw
Tel: 703-461-1764
Email: sshillinglaw@vts.edu

ALEXANDRIA, VA - Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) welcomes to campus today the Rev. Robert W. Two Bulls as a 2008 Leader in Residence fellow. Two Bulls, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Oyate and resident of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, currently serves as Vicar of All Saints Indian Mission and Director of Indian Work for the Diocese of Minnesota.

After receiving his M.Div. in 2000 from General Theological Seminary, Two Bulls served as the curate—then Assistant Rector following ordination in 2001—at The Episcopal Church of St. George in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his work at St. George’s, Two Bulls was named the Missioner for Native Americans in the Diocese of Los Angeles, home to the largest urban Native American Indian population in the United States. In 2003, Two Bulls accepted a call to join the staff of the Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, to begin a full-time ministry as the Program Officer for Native American Ministries.

Two Bulls has served on numerous local, diocesan and national committees within the Episcopal Church and currently sits on the boards of the Executive Council Committee for Indigenous Ministries, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, the Episcopal Evangelical Society and The Phelps Stokes Foundation. He is also the founder of The Red Shirt Project which promotes cross cultural relationships and understanding between different communities in the Christian context. For the past seven summers, Two Bulls has led journeys with young adults to the Pine Ridge Reservation and is planning an eighth visit this summer.

In addition to being an artist, avid reader and music lover, Two Bulls is married to Ritchie Robertson and has two children, a son (11) and a daughter (8). He will be on campus for the next two weeks.

The Leader in Residence Program is a two-week fellowship offered to clergy and lay leaders of color who reside in the United States and are involved in active ministry. The purpose of the fellowship is to provide a leader, who may not otherwise have an opportunity for a sabbatical or time away from his or her ministries, with a time for rest and reflection.

The Leader in Residence program is made possible through the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Initiative and a grant from the Carpenter Foundation. Virginia Theological Seminary will offer two, two-week fellowships in 2008. For more information, contact the Rev. Joseph M. Constant, director of Ethnic Ministries and Community Life, at (703) 461-1765 or by email at jconstant@vts.edu.

Virginia Theological Seminary, founded in 1823, is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women, representing all eight of the domestic provinces of the Episcopal Church, as well as students from several different provinces and countries within the Anglican Communion, for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.

Hope amidst the mess - Episcopal Cafe Article

The Daily Episcopalian, at The Episcopal Cafe,has posted my most recent article today, check out the entire article HERE.

By Peter Carey

In the midst of Episcopal Church news that includes court decisions in Virginia, inhibition of bishops, and disagreements in many congregations one might be forgiven for thinking that our church is rapidly swirling down the toilet bowl.

News Flash: It ain’t!

We don’t have too look far to see the bright spots in our church. Check out the growing network of Episcopal Internship Communities across the United States. For several decades, churches and dioceses have sponsored small groups (4-8) of young adults (18-30 years old or so) who live in community and each member works at a social service agency. There are slightly different guidelines and practices between these groups, but together they are sending thoughtful, prayerful, and dedicated young people into the Church and the world.

In 1992-1993, I had the good luck to join a community that was administered by the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. At the time, the “Cathedral Volunteer Service Community” was made up of six young adults from around the country. We hailed from Texas, North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio and Vermont and came to the community from a variety of religious and political perspectives. We were lucky enough to have as our leader and mentor the Rev. Carole Crumley, who was then a canon of the National Cathedral (and is now a leader at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation). The CVSC was grounded in a Rule of Life that had echoes of Benedictine Spirituality. We pledged to live in intentional Christian Community, praying together daily, sharing in the work of the household, meeting once a week for theological reflection with Canon Crumley, and also pledged to live a life of simplicity. In this case, simplicity meant (in part) that we each only received $100 a month for food (which we pooled
to shop for the six of us) and $100 for other expenses. That was simple living!

We were challenged to feed and entertain six people on $600 a month. We were also challenged find ways to build community across our various theological and political differences, and it was not always easy...


Read the rest HERE.

Cathedral Volunteer Service Community Rule of Life - 1992-1993

Washington National Cathedral
Cathedral Volunteer Service Community (CVSC)
Rule of Life
1992-1993

Christian experience confirms these areas as helpful guideposts to those living in community and on a spiritual journey: intimacy, equality, authority, prayer, solitude, play, study, stability, and hospitality.

1. INTIMACY
Because this household is a primary source of friendship and nurturing for each member, time must be given so that quality sharing may take place.

Rule: Morning or Evening meals eaten together daily at regular and mutually agreed upon times.

2. EQUALITY
Within community life there is work of all times: the work of worship, the manual labor of the household, the work of study, and the work in the world. Before God, all persons are of equal status. At the same time, each person has different gifts.

Rule: Full sharing of responsibilities in:

1. leadership of corporate prayer times and worship
2. household chores and yard maintenance
3. planning and preparing meals
4. managing the household budget

We encourage discerning and honoring the special gifts that each person may bring to a particular area of work.

3. AUTHORITY

There is a healthy tension in being a person of authority and a person under authority. Community living involves both. Scripture puts the use of authority within the realm of service and humility (Luke 22: 25-27).

Rule:

1. corporate community meetings once a week for decisions about household standards, responsibilities and needs
2. a calling on and yielding to the authority of the Program director in situations as appropriate
3. Individual decisions that effect the life of the community be brought to the community for discussion

4. PRAYER
In order not to be torn to bits and pieces by the demands of daily life and work, some kind of reliable daily ritual is necessary if one is to grow in prayer and live in peace.

Rule:

1. honoring the natural daily rhythms of morning, noon, evening and night as occasions for corporate and private prayer
2. participating in the worship life of a church congregation.
3. lifting up special events for ritual and prayer, these may be times of celebration or sorrow, personal or communal

5. SOLITUDE
Times to pray, to be by oneself, to rest from the continual expectations and demands of work and community are a necessary balance in a busy life.

Rule: Regular periods of solitude interspersed in the daily and weekly activities of life, sought out and honored by all members of the community

6. PLAY
Integral to a balanced life is play and recreation.

Rule: the community and its individual members intend to find resources for play, time to play and ways to play

7. STUDY
Both the community household and the workplace are arenas for searching for God. Both are vehicles for expanding human awareness and knowledge and therefore schools of study and of learning this year.

Rule: A weekly reflection seminar under the guidance of the Program Director, will take place. Suggested foci:

1. sessions led by volunteers presenting a critical incident from their work experience
2. sessions led by outside resource persons on concerns related to our common humanity
3. sessions offering guided spiritual practices
4. sessions decided by consensus of household members on books, movies, events, etc. of common interest

8. STABILITY
Community life offers a particular place as well as a particular set of relationships within that place in which salvation (wholeness) is to be found and worked out. The particular place, and the relationships among the particular members of the household are the stable elements of the community. For these reasons, we expect all members of the household to enter into the life of the community as fully and honestly as possible, to respect the neighborhood standards in which they live.

9. HOSPITALITY
There is a delicate balance between the ongoing rhythms, routines and rituals of a household and the change that occurs when guests are received – be that guests for dinner or guests who stay overnight. Courtesy to other members of the household suggests that invitations to others be discussed and planned for as much as possible in advance.