Mary Lee Talbot
Staff Writer
The first ecumenical Communion service was held at 9:15 a.m. Friday in the Hall of Philosophy. This time and place of the service represents an evolution in not only in serving Communion at Chautauqua, but holding a morning worship service in the Hall of Philosophy.
In 2004, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, with her deep ties to the ecumenical movement in the 20th century and into the 21st, thought it was time for Chautauquans to celebrate Communion not just in separate denominational houses but in an ecumenical service. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to serve Communion during a community worship service, but they returned to be celebrated at the Sacred Song Service in 2024. This new venture is part of the experiment to offer community worship in a venue outside the Amphitheater and to experiment with how services are conducted.
The Rev. Rachel Stuart, pastor of the Hurlbut Memorial Community United Methodist Church, gave a short homily based on Isaiah 41: 4–10. “There are those who will tell you that you must fear God to be holy. They say this fear means reverence, but what they show you is terror. Can this God truly be good?”
The people who heard Isaiah preach had every reason to be afraid of God. They were told that their pain was their fault and the retribution of God. “But after 70 years, Isaiah does not condemn them but invites them to tell a different story,” Stuart said.
She continued, “It is true that the presence of God is unsettling, and it leaves us terrified. After our mind recognizes the danger and our body freezes, then curiosity will capture us. It may take a moment, an hour or a lifetime, but when we are ready, we dance with the spirit and the world is never the same.”
The fear of God is not a goal but the beginning of life. Stuart shared a poem by Sufi mystic Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya. “O my Lord, if I worship You from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell. If I worship You from hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Yourself alone, Then grant me then the beauty of your Face.”
The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, senior pastor for Chautauqua, presided. Sonya Subbayya Sutton, interim director of Sacred Music, played a piano work by Sophia Vastek for the prelude. The Motet Choir, accompanied by Johanna Rehbaum on the djembe, led the congregation in a traditional Peruvian gloria. Disty Lingle, co-host of the Hall of Mission, read the scripture. George Wirth and Magdelena Garcia offered the Prayers of the People. Bishop Sutton and the Rev. Rachel Stuart presided at the Communion table. The Motet Choir, under the direction of Owen Reyda, organ scholar, sang “The Sacred Feast” by Austin Lovelace. Subbayya Sutton also played a piano piece during the Communion service. The closing hymn was from South Africa. Subbayya Sutton also played “The Eternal Feminine,” a ragtime piece by William Bolcom to close out the service.
Servers for the Communion service included: Monica Corsaro, Robin Bles, Barbara Williams, Lynne Ogren, Magdalena Garcia, Curtis Paul, Erica Robinson-Johnson, Doug Robinson-Johnson and Tom Lingle. Jane McCarthy and Beth Gunnell served as sacristans.
