Episcopal Life Online September 23, 2007
Trumpet the gospel, Presiding Bishop tells New Orleans cathedral congregation
Hand-made Elysian Trumpet blessed in Irvin Mayfield Sr.'s memory
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told the congregation gathered September 23 at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans to become "trumpeters of good news, banishers of disease and division, and proclaimers of the presence of God in our midst."
Jefferts Schori presided and preached at the Eucharist, which was held during the House of Bishops' fall meeting. Many of the bishops attended the service while others visited Episcopal churches throughout Mississippi and New Orleans for Sunday worship.
The service also included the blessing of the Elysian Trumpet, hand-built by David Monette, a modern master of trumpet design, and dedicated to the memory of Irvin Mayfield Sr. and all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The trumpet, played during the service by Mayfield's son, will, in Jefferts Schori's words, "proclaim life, to sing of grief and to claim the ultimate victory of life over death." She called it "a tool for proclaiming the gospel in the multiple variations of jazz."
The full text of the Presiding Bishop's sermon is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90299_ENG_HTM.htm
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90301_ENG_HTM.htm