• ABOUT
    • Mission and Core Values
    • Progressive Christianity
    • History
    • Vestry
    • Church Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Weekly Services
    • Schedule of Services
    • Jazz Vespers
  • OUR MINISTRIES
    • Social Action Ministries
    • Liturgical Ministry
    • Music Ministry
    • Hospitality Ministry
    • The Cyprian Center
    • Compassionate St. Aug
  • NEWS & EVENTS
    • Events Calendar
  • WEDDINGS
  • Donate

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church


Jazz Vespers - Feast of St. Cyprian

9/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Printer-Friendly Version
Good afternoon! This evening we are celebrating the return of our Jazz Vespers service after a summer sabbatical with the music of the Marc Dickman Jazz Quartet, and we are remembering the patron saint of this church, Cyprian of Carthage.
This congregation is the namesake of Cyprian, a third century bishop in Carthage, a North African city in what is now Tunisia. There are 12 Episcopal Churches in the United States that are named St. Cyprian’s. The main reason for naming a church after Cyprian of Carthage is that it is assumed that he was a person of color, and all of these congregations were originally formed as churches for African Americans. The feast day of Cyprian of Carthage in the Church’s calendar is September 14 … this past Monday … thus the occasion for remembering Cyprian this evening. An interesting sidebar is that the Rev. P. W. Cassey, who is memorialized on the brass plaque near the door to the church, and who served this congregation in its early years, was affiliated with three of those twelve congregations named St. Cyprian’s.
17 Pentecost
September 20, 2015
Jazz Vespers
The Feast of Cyprian of Carthage

In the name of the God of all Creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.

Good afternoon! This evening we are celebrating the return of our Jazz Vespers service after a summer sabbatical with the music of the Marc Dickman Jazz Quartet, and we are remembering the patron saint of this church, Cyprian of Carthage.

This congregation is the namesake of Cyprian, a third century bishop in Carthage, a North African city in what is now Tunisia. There are 12 Episcopal Churches in the United States that are named St. Cyprian’s. The main reason for naming a church after Cyprian of Carthage is that it is assumed that he was a person of color, and all of these congregations were originally formed as churches for African Americans. The feast day of Cyprian of Carthage in the Church’s calendar is September 14 … this past Monday … thus the occasion for remembering Cyprian this evening. An interesting sidebar is that the Rev. P. W. Cassey, who is memorialized on the brass plaque near the door to the church, and who served this congregation in its early years, was affiliated with three of those twelve congregations named St. Cyprian’s.

However, Cyprian of Carthage, this third century bishop, was known for something other than just the color of his skin. In the third century the Church was still in its formative stage, and in many places it was in conflict with the powers of the Holy Roman Empire. Carthage, just across the Mediterranean Sea from Sicily and Italy was one of those places. The new Christian faith was converting thousands of people, yet it was not without a cost. Depending upon the local governor, or the orders from Rome, the newly converted Christian would face persecution. The Roman Empire wanted its subjects to sacrifice to the Roman gods … or be killed. Thus, under the pressure of Rome and the persecutions many Christians recanted their newly found faith and then, when the pressure was off they would come back seeking a home again in the Church. Some bishops welcomed back into the fold these people who recanted, but others felt they had committed an unforgivable sin and so they were refused re-entry were excommunicated. Cyprian, our hero and namesake, championed the cause to allow the outcasts back into the community of faithful. It seems to me, almost 1,800 years later, that Cyprian’s legacy is about inclusion, not just the color of his skin. Cyprian was martyred in 258 when he would not sacrifice to the Roman gods, and was beheaded.

This St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church … on this corner in the historic Lincolnville neighborhood of St. Augustine for 115 years … today in 2015 stands for that radical inclusion of all of God’s children, regardless of why they may have been estranged from the Church. We welcome those who have been marginalized in our society, and disenfranchised from their community of faith. That is the legacy that we have inherited from Cyprian of Carthage … and the legacy we offer this generation of those on their spiritual journey. St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church has been a cornerstone in this historic neighborhood of Lincolnville for 115 years … and it will continue to be so in the future. And the legacy of our namesake, Cyprian of Carthage … a legacy of radical inclusion … will be our hallmark.
Amen.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    PAST SERVICES

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

GET IN TOUCH


37 Lovett Street
St. Augustine, Florida 32084
904.829.8828
Email Us

ABOUT


DIOCESE OF FLORIDA
VESTRY
CHURCH STAFF

CONNECT


THE LATEST NEWS
​FACEBOOK
BREEZE