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Pentecost Fire: A Birthday Celebration, a Cookout Planned by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy "Pentecost is a Greek word meaning 'the holiday of fifty days.' Fifty days after Easter, Jesus' disciples and a large band of followers gathered to hear St. Peter tell the story of the Lord's resurrection and ascension into heaven. As Peter was preaching, the sound of a might wind filled the house; tongues of fire appeared on the heads of the disciples; people from various nations began speaking in strange tongues; and according to Christian belief, the Holy Spirit was given to the Church. As a result of this phenomenon, 3,000 people were reported converted on that day (Acts 2:1-13). This gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church was fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus before his ascension: 'I will not leave you desolate.' (John 14:18) Like Easter, this festival has been a part of the Church from the very beginning. American Christians, however, tend to regard it as a minor festival, while many Europeans consider it of greater importance than Easter. As a result, attendance at public worship on Pentecost in Europe is higher than at any other time of the year."
Pentecost is one of the three major feast days of the Christian year and ought to be better celebrated. Liturgically, we do offer baptisms on that day (although coming so close to Easter, there often are not baptisms scheduled). We do sing songs about the Holy Spirit, twirl a bright red umbrella and fly a Pentecost dove - which last year got hung up on one of the chandeliers due to user error! But beyond these "special effects", we don't celebrate this great day with as much production as we do Christmas and Easter. We can do better. Pentecost is Sunday, May 27th and this year, we propose to celebrate The Birthday of the Church with a Pentecost Fire in the form of a cookout on the lawn during the 10:30 a.m. service. We will have our worship on the patio that day and combine that with a lunch of grilled things afterwards. Details will emerge as the day approaches, but for now, please do set aside the day and plan to be with us. Oh, and wear something red! Copyright © 2007 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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