The Rev. Dr. Paul F.M. Zahl, former Rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in the greater Washington, D.C. (Chevy Chase) area, will preach at the Church of the Redeemer on Sunday, January 15, 2012, at the 7:30, 9, and 11 o’clock morning mass. As well, Dr. Zahl will teach at 10:15 a.m., during the Rector’s Class, speaking on the topic of “God’s Grace and Our Emotions: What Does It Take for Mercy to Get Through?” The public is warmly invited.

“Paul Zahl has been an articulate, well-informed, nationally known voice for orthodoxy for decades within the Episcopal Church,” says the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson, Rector of Redeemer. “Those who hear him speak can expect to be challenged, edified, and inspired.”

Over his career, Dr. Zahl has served as Dean of Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, and was also Dean/President of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. He has served parishes in New York City, Westchester County, and Charleston, South Carolina as well. He retired from All Saints in 2009.

Dr. Zahl holds academic degrees from Harvard College; the University of Nottingham; St. John’s Theological College in the Church of England; and the University of Tuebingen in Germany, where he was awarded the doctorate in systematic theology in 1994. He has written several books, the most recent of which is “Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life”(2007).

Dr. Zahl and his wife Mary, a leader in Southeastern garden design, reside in Maryland, and have three grown sons, John, David and Simeon, all of whom are in Christian ministry./end

The Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave., downtown Sarasota, invites the community to join in worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve, Redeemer’s afternoon Family Mass (Rite II) begins at 4 p.m., and is preceded by a festive half-hour of traditional Christmas carols, beginning at 3:30 p.m., including favorites such as Silent Night and Joy to the World, sung by the congregation and choirs. During the Eucharist, St. Nicholas makes a surprise visit, receiving a special blessing from The Rev. Fredrick Robinson, Rector of Redeemer, and reminding all of the true meaning of Christmas. Babysitting for toddlers and infants is provided beginning at 3:30.

The early evening service is a Choral Mass (Rite II) which begins at 6:30 p.m. This mass is preceded by a half-hour of singing of traditional Christmas carols, which begins at 6 p.m., and is accompanied by the festive sounds of trumpets and organ. Babysitting for very young children and infants is available during this Mass.

Beginning at 9:30 p.m., Redeemer’s late-evening “Midnight Mass” is preceded by a joyous musical celebration of organ and brass with Bradenton organist Michael Stuart performing with two festival trumpets — played by world-renowned trumpeter Daniel Mendelow, first trumpet for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; and well-known local trumpeter Andy Kemp. At 10 p.m., the choir of Redeemer will sing anthems and carols for thirty minutes, heralding the High Solemn Mass (Rite I with incense) which begins at 10:30 p.m.

Christmas Day, December 25, Redeemer offers Holy Communion at 7:30 a.m.; Choral Mass at 10 a.m., and a Mass in Spanish at 1 p.m.

Complimentary parking is available at the M&I Bank Garage on McAnsh on Christmas Eve day beginning at 3 p.m., and ending at 1 a.m., on Christmas Day morning. Christmas Day parking is available in the garage between 7 and 1 p.m.

For more information, call 941.955.4263.

As part of the second annual Gillespie Week/Owen Burns Celebration in Sarasota, the Church of the Redeemer and the Women’s Outreach Ministry hosted a fabulous Tea and Scones and Church of the Redeemer Tour for all those interested in learning about Redeemer’s role in the early days of settling Sarasota.

Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie — after whom our Gillespie Hall was named — was the leader of the group of early settlers from Scotland. He was the first mayor of Sarasota and was also the founder of the first area golf course and public library and eventually was ordained a deacon for the Church. (To read more about Redeemer’s fascinating history, click here.)

Complimentary tea and scones were served in Gillespie Hall, and noted local historian and author Jeff LaHurd signed copies of his new book about Colonel Gillespie, and Bobby Brader played Scottish and Victorian ballads on the pianoforte.

Tours of the church were offered throughout the two-hour Tea & Scones afternoon, which took place on Saturday, October 29. Scroll below to see the great photos of the event captured by Nick Catsakis.

The clergy and parish family of the Church of the Redeemer invite the entire community to celebrate Thanksgiving Day during a special Choral Mass at 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, November 24. A collection of non-perishable food to help feed the hungry in our community will be collected.

Church of the Redeemer Celebrates 400th Anniversary of King James Bible

The Church of the Redeemer is joining churches around the world this year in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the publication and enduring legacy of the Kings James version of the Holy Bible. Since 1525, when William Tyndale produced the first printed translation of the New Testament in English, there have been numerous translations of the Bible. No previous version, however, was as influential as the 1611 translation, commonly referred to as the King James Bible.

This year, 2011, marks the 400th anniversary of the 1611 publication and the Church of the Redeemer has planned several opportunities for parishioners and the entire community to learn about the origins of the King James Bible and gain a deeper understanding of its impact around the world.

On Sunday, 9 October, during the 7, 9, and 11 o’clock worship, the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson, Rector, preached on the significance of the King James Bible. Services were modeled after the 17th-century service of Holy Communion using the liturgy from the 1559 Book of Common Prayer that would have been used by King James I and the divines assembled for the Hampton Court Conference. All clergy were dressed in vestments of the period of 1559. Scripture readings came from the authorized version (after 1611) of the Bible, and music was contemporaneous to the period.

SNN Local News 6 covered this special day of worship on television.

Bishop Martins of Springfield, IL to Preach in Sarasota for All Saints’ Day

On November 1, All Saints’ Day, the Right Reverend Daniel Hayden Martins, Eleventh Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, will be the special guest preacher at the Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave. All Saints Day is a day for commemorating all saints, known and unknown, and Bishop Martins will preach during the morning 10 o’clock mass and the evening 6 o’clock Solemn High Mass.

Bishop Martins will also preach on Sunday, October 30, during the 7:30, 9 and 11 o’clock morning masses, as well as during the Solemn Evensong later that day at 5:15 p.m.

The Rt. Rev. Martins obtained his BA in Music from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, and his Masters in Music History from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He writes several Internet blogs, including, Confessions of a Carioca (www.cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com), and, Woe to Me If I Preach Not the Gospel (www.frdanssermons.blogspot.com). He is the author of a novel, A Slight Momentary Affliction.

He answered the call to the Episcopal priesthood after earning his M.Div. (cum laude) from Nashotah House. He was ordained into the diaconate by Bishop Robert Ladehoff in the Diocese of Oregon in June of 1989. Bishop James Barrow Brown in the Diocese of Louisiana priested Martins just in time to celebrate a Christmas Mass. Following his ordination, he became the curate and school chaplain at St. Luke’s and later became the vicar of St. Margaret’s, both in Baton Rouge. He went on to serve as rector at St. John’s in Stockton in the Diocese of San Joaquin before becoming the rector of St. Anne’s in Warsaw, Indiana.

The Church of the Redeemer held its Annual Blessing of the Animals in Honor of St. Francis Day on Sunday, 2 October. The event is held in recognition of St. Francis Feast Day (October 4), which honors St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order and patron saint of animals.

Sunday, beginning at 8:47 a.m., the Church of the Redeemer will toll its massive and powerfully resonant, 3,335-pound bass bronze bell at the precise times that the World Trade Center towers fell, the Pentagon was struck, and Flight 93 was purposefully – and heroically – crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Special music and scripture readings will inform the 7, 9 and 11 o’clock morning masses; the church invites the entire community to join in worship and prayer “for peace and reconciliation among all people.”

Click on the hyperlinked text below to read the March 26th Sarasota Herald Tribune article featuring Rev. Fredrick Robinson:

‘Stations’ at Church of the Redeemer

Noted Christian theologian and Duke University ethicist Dr. Stanley Hauerwas preached at morning services at the Church of the Redeemer on Sunday, March 6. That same evening at 7 p.m., he lectured on “Moral Theology” to a very large audience of parishioners and folks from the community.

Dr. Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professors of Theological Ethics at the Divinity School of Duke University, and is an internationally renowned moral theologian who has devoted his life to the study of current issues and how they relate to Christian moral teaching.

Listen to the audio of his lecture here: