The Rev. Rachel Stuart, center, leads the congregation in the Lord’s Prayer during a service of ecumenical Communion Friday in the Hall of Philosophy.
Column by Mary Lee Talbot
“Joseph was prepared for the seven years of famine; he was prepared. Good leaders and good systems allow the people to survive,” the Rev. Richard Meadows, rector of the historic St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Maryland, said. Meadows preached at the 9:15 a.m. Friday ecumenical Communion service in the Hall of Philosophy. His Scripture text was Genesis 45:1–15.
He praised Chautauqua for its week themed around food. Food sustains life and brings joy. Agriculture creates new technology, and we are learning how to respond to climate change. “We still struggle with how to live together. Innovation does not grow reconciliation,” he said.
When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt looking for food, they carried with them shame and lies. Famine had exposed what prosperity had hidden. Yet Joseph said to them, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” Joseph refused to let evil have the last word. “Joseph welcomed his family, embraced them and restored his family. After 20 years, the brothers talked and reconciliation made restoration possible,” Meadows said.
He continued, “I look for a future where enemies become family, where wounds become wisdom, where we can gather at one table. We need justice in our distribution of food, we need to make neighbors of enemies, we need to restore relationships.”
The words of God, Meadows said, are “come closer, prepare the feast with love and forgiveness. Feed the hungry, open the doors, cross the distance. Come closer. God’s future is not famine. Come closer.”
The Rev. Richard Meadows preaches during the service.
The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, senior pastor of Chautauqua, presided. The Rev. Rachel Stuart, an associate in the Department of Religion, celebrated Communion. The Motet Consort, consisting of Barbara Hois, flute, Rebecca Scarnati, oboe and Joseph Musser, piano, played the prelude and postlude from Trio, Opus 3, No. 1, by Pietro Locatelli. The Motet Choir sang “The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee” by Jean Berger, under the direction and accompaniment of Sonya Subbayya Sutton, interim director of Sacred Music, on the Steinway piano. Sutton, Hois and Scarnati led the congregation in incidental music during communion. The prayer leader was the Rev. Sally Evans, chaplain of the week at the Baptist House and director of programs at the Center for Interfaith Relations. The Scripture reader was Evan Welkin, Friend of the Week at the Quaker House and executive secretary of the Friends World Committee for Consultation — Section of the Americas. The Communion ministers were the Rev. Tim Bobbitt, pastor of First Christian Church of Alexandria, Virginia, and chaplain at the Disciples House; the Rev. Melissa Sumner Long, general presbyter for the PCUSA Presbytery of Eastern Virginia and chaplain at the Presbyterian House; and the Rev. Chris Henley, pastor of the Glenwood Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio, and chaplain at the Lutheran House. Support for this week’s services is provided by The Samuel M. and Mary E. Hazlett Memorial Fund. Support is also made possible by Week Eight Presenting Sponsor Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, AHN Westfield Memorial and HealthNow Administrative Services.
