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In 1886 a group of Episcopalian families met in a building at Bryn Mawr and Winthrop Avenues and decided that a Church should be established in Edgewater. In November 1888 the group became a Mission of the diocese to be known as The Church of the Atonement. The cornerstone of the original Church was laid in November of 1889 at the present site at Kenmore and Ardmore. The Church was finished in June of 1890.
The architect was Henry Ives Cobb. He is known for the Potter Palmer Mansion, the Newberry Library and the Old Chicago Historical Society on Dearborn and Ontario Streets (now a nightclub). He also designed the Fisher Building. He had the east wall of wood to make expansion easy.
In May of 1898 the Mission became a Parish and had 120 members.
The Parish house south of the Church was built in 1898. In 1910 the Church was enlarged to twice its capacity and served over 500 members. This expansion and the 1919 expansion were under the guidance of William Pridmore. He carefully maintained the original character of an English Gothic Church. The first service after the last expansion was on Easter in 1920. The Church then had 650 members. In 1922 a new Parish House was begun and completed in 1924. Stained glass windows were begun in 1929 and finished in 1946. The best example of the stained glass is the Christ the King window in the North Chapel. It has been recognized in books on stained glass in Chicago as one of the best.
On the second level of the Parish House, is the Elizabethan Room. It was brought to the United States from England in 1620. The paneling is registered with The Art Institute of Chicago and is the only authentic example of its kind in the Midwest.
On June 1, 2003 The Very Reverend Dean Paxton Rice retired. He had served the Parish since 1956.
The Rev. John David van Dooren was elected rector in June 2005.The Rev.Thomas Harris, deacon, has been the organist and choir master since1960. Our diverse congregation comes from all over the world.African-Americans, Anglo-Americans, Africans, Asians and Hispanics areall active and vital parishioners. The church is proud of its diversityand welcomes all to worship with us.
Current History
Fauxhouse-Atonement, Chicago, DC and New Orleans
Adrienne van Dooren (703) 971-8252
info@fauxhouse.com, www.fauxhouse.com
100 international artists join forces/talents in Chicago & DC to build a Habitat House in New Orleans
Chicago Celebration GALA to be held on Monday July 17, 2006
Top artists from Rome, England, France, and across the U.S have come together to donate their own special talents to fund a New Orleans Habitat House as well as homes for animals displaced by the hurricanes. The painter’s version of “We are the World”, this project includes internationally renowned artists to include Barth White who did the Vegas Bellagio faux, Several members of the international artist’s salon and nationally published artists Gary Lord “It’s Faux Easy”, Pierre Finkelstein “The Art of Faux” and Melanie Royals “Stenciling Trompe l’oeil Murals”.�
The project began in DC with a residential fauxhouse which raised $35,000 for Habitat through ticket sales. As the project grew in scope and more top artists wanted to participate, the Chicago Project was launched. One of the interested artists, Jacek Polanski of Chicago, is renowned for church restoration so it seemed the perfect fit. The church project also provided plenty of wall space for donated murals from artists across the country. John David van Dooren, who had recently taken over as Priest of the “Church of the Atonement” Episcopal Church in Chicago allowed artists to choose any room in the church or rectory to showcase their talents.
Jacek Polanski chose the church’s Narthex and completely transformed it from crumbling white cement and plaster to a painted and gilded masterpiece. Gary Lord, author of several faux books, chose the rectory dining room creating incredible panels using metallic foils. Other artists completed the church’s hallway, 2 baths, a study, a kid’s room and a hand painted and gilded Icon. The Chicago project will raise money thru a fundraising GALA/media event on the 17th of July, when the Artists will return to discuss their work. The remainder of money needed for the house will come through book sales of the project’s before and after book. 40k more is needed to fund “the Habitat House that Faux Built.”
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Once funded, many of the artists and volunteers will also go to New Orleans to work on the Habitat house. A concurrent birdhouse contest is raising money for Noah’s Wish, an animal rescue charity.
The project has been featured in Decorating Solutions, Paint Magic and 10 other national magazines. The House That Faux Built: Transform Your Home From Shabby to Showplace Using Paints, Plasters and Creativity (ISBN 0-9778967-2-2) was published last month with full color before and after photographs of the Arlington and Chicago projects. It is currently available in special edition through Amazon, the website: www.fauxhouse.com or by calling toll free 1-877-780-3965. The edited 1st edition will be released to bookstores this fall.
Should the public wish to view the church art work shown above they may attend Sunday services @ Church of the Atonement, 5749 North Kenmore Ave, Chicago, IL 60660. 773-271-2727, www.churchoftheatonement.org.
For more info on the overall project, contact the Project Chair, Adrienne van Dooren,(571) 239-6656; 7317 Castleberg Ct, Alexandria, VA 22315; chair@fauxhouse.com or http://www.fauxhouse.com. �
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Professional before-during and-after pictures available upon request
Garden Guild Formed
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The St. Fiacre Garden Guild will hold its first meeting on Saturday, June 10th, at 11 A.M. The garden guild will be vested in the planting, upkeep, and general beautification of the grounds of the church. This will be a great opportunity for parishioners to get know one another, and use our collective talents and green thumbs to the church’s benefit while enjoying God’s natural gifts in the outdoors. Bring your gloves, some sunscreen and a love of gardening. A light lunch will be served. If interested, please email Taylor St. John at anglocatholicanglican@yahoo.com or call 312-735-8995 or the Church of the Atonement at 773-271-2727.
St. Fiacre
 St. Fiacre was a hermit at Kilfiachra, Ireland. He left to go to France, and then lived as a solitary at Breuil, Brie, on land given him by St. Faro, bishop of Meaux. Fiacre built a hospice for travelers, attracted many disciples, was known for his charity and aid to the poor, and was consulted by many for his spiritual wisdom. His miracles of healing became legendary. He is the patron saint of gardeners and the cabdrivers of Paris, whose vehicles are called fiacres, since the first coach for hire in Paris was located near the Hotel Saint-Fiacre. He is mentioned in Roman Martyrology for this day.
His name is pronounced phonetically as fee a cray.
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Society of Mary Formed
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Founders Photo
(click to enlarge)
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Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus is by far the most popular and beloved of all the saints. Churches throughout the world honor her with chapels, altars and shrines. The Book of Common Prayer honors her with four special feast days, to which is added several others in many places. It is fitting that there be within the Anglican Communion, a society which honors the Blessed Virgin Mary, and bears witness to the mystery of Christ's Holy Incarnation.
The Society of Mary was formed in 1931 by the union of its parent societies, the Confraternity of Our Lady (founded in 1880) and the League of Our Lady (founded in 1902). It has members all over the world and is not confined to Anglicans alone.
The Church of the Atonement has formed a ward within the Society and Fr. Van Dooren will serve as the Superior and Spiritual Director. Fr. Robert Francis Cristobal will serve as the Secretary.
This is a wonderful opportunity for those of us within the Atonement family to honor Mary the Mother of God with the rosary, special celebration of Marian Feast days and Masses along with the celebration of communion and friendship within our parish.
Episcopalians dedicated to the Glory of God and the Holy Incarnation of Christ under the invocation of Our Lady, Help of Christians
Our organization meeting was held on April 29th following the 10:00 AM Mass. The next meeting will be held on Saturday June 3 after the 10:00 am Healing Mass. Future meetings will be held on the first Saturday of the month at 9:30am before the Saturday 10:00am Healing Service starting July 1.
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Episcopalians dedicated to the Glory of Godand the Holy Incarnation of Christunder the invocation of Our Lady, Help of Christians
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Stations of the Cross and Benediction
During Lent, we will participate in two ancient, beloved, and profoundly meaningful devotions of theChurch. Whether you are new to the Stations of the Cross and Benediction,or if they have been in your life since childhood, our faith promisesa discovery of God’s presence whenever the knees of our heartsbend before them.
The Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross (also referred to as the Way of the Cross)remains one of the simplest and oldest of Christian devotions.Its origins trace back to the Holy Land when early Christians (pilgrims)attempted to trace Our Lord’s final moments of suffering in orderto walk, as it were, in his steps.
In the aftermath of the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center,thousands of ‘pilgrims’ felt a need to physically stand where thetowers and 3,000 souls once existed. The journey of body and suitcaseproved, for many, an active and noble form of prayer.
For 2,000 years, this kind of pilgrimage has deepened the faithof countless Christians. The fourteen Stations of the Cross representscenes of Christ’s suffering and death recorded from scriptureand inspired tradition. Whether the stations are plaques hangingin a church or memorial gardens and shrines separated by miles,the practice of passing from station to station accompanied withspecial prayers and meditations, shares a commonality known theworld over.
Benediction
While centuries old, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is a newer devotion compared to the Stations of the Cross. It reaches back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Like the devotion of the Stations, Benediction is almost awkwardly simple and sometimes misunderstood.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament attaches merit and faith to the act of looking at the Blessed Sacrament.
A very ill man once requested that I place a crucifix on the wall that he faced while lying and dying in bed. He explained that the image gave solace and strength to his soul. Likewise, for centuries, Christians have found strength, courage, and inspiration by viewing the consecrated communion host as a reminder that Our Lord, in a wonderful sacrament, promises to be present with us.
An old seminary professor of mine used to say, “It means something if it means something.” Forcountless souls, known and unknown through the ages, the Stationsof the Cross and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament have meantmuch indeed.
The Church invites each human soul to discover the riches of theseholy devotions. Let us come before them bending the knee of ourhearts! “Blessed, praised, hallowed, worshiped, and adored beJesus Christ on His throne of glory, in the most Holy Sacramentof the altar and in the hearts of His faithful people.”
With Loving care, Fr. van Dooren
Father Johnson Honored-Named Associate Rector Emeritus
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Father William Francis Johnson
received resolution from Alice Casey,
Senior Warden and Michael Agunloye,
Junior Warden and Father Van Dooren
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Adopted by the Vestry of The Church of the Atonement
This 13th day of November inthe year of our Lord 2005WHEREAS, The Rev. Father William Francis Johnson, a devout priest of The EpiscopalChurch of the Atonement for 41 years has: faithfully and selflessly servedthe parish and the neighboring Edgewater Community, has lived a life intrinsically,innately, and outwardly focused, and has nourished and supported the ideaof a parish where …“all are welcomed and none are despised.”
WHEREAS, The Rev. Fr. William Francis Johnson conveys a wealth of experience and influence with his continued ministry to the parish in which the Episcopal Church of the Atonement rests: and
WHEREAS, The Rev. Fr. William Francis Johnson continues to teach, encourage, affirm, challenge, and bless the spiritual family of the Episcopal Church of the Atonement; now, hence,
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Clergy and Vestry of the Episcopal Church of the Atonement of the City of Chicago, assembled here this thirteenth day of November, 2005, A.D. do hereby bestow the title of Associate Rector Emeritus to The Rev. Fr. William Francis Johnson; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable public announcement of our gratitude be extended to The Reverend Fr. William Francis Johnson.
New Rector Installed Oct. 1 (See Photos)
Our new Rector, Father John David van Dooren was installed by Bishop Persell on Saturday October 1 2005 at 4:00 PM at the Church of the Atonement. A reception followed. For those who could not join the over 200 at the installation, a photo essay follows:
Opening Procession
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Concelebrating Priests
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Bishop Percell and Father van Dooren
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present Fr. van Dooren to Bishop1.jpg)
AliceCasey and Michael Agunloye (Wardens) present Fr. van Doorento Bishop Percell
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New Rector Praying Prayer of Commitment
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Bishop Percell offering final blessings
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Angelus Before the Mary Shrine
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Senior and Junior Wardens in Procession
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Our New Rector Father John David vanDooren
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All photos provided by Jeff Eng
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Sermon on Installation of John David van Dooren
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Dr. Orens |
Church of the Atonement, Chicago
1 October 2005
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This is as good as it gets. Your searchis over. Your new rector has arrived. And in a few minutes, John Davidvan Dooren will be installed as your parish priest with all the ceremonythat we Anglo-Catholics can muster. But before we get carried away bythe joy of the occasion, let me ask you three questions: Do you knowwho your rector really is? Do you know who you really are? And do youknow where you and rector are really going?
Do you know who your rectorreally is? If you are hoping that I am about to share some juicy gossip,I am afraid that you will be disappointed. Alas, Fr. van Dooren is exactlythe man he is supposed to be. As most of you have discovered, he is afine preacher, a loving pastor, and a sensitive liturgist with the voiceof an angel to boot. What you may not realize is that these gifts makehim a very radical fellow in the literal Christian sense of the word.You see, his priesthood is nourished by the radix, the root, of the Catholicfaith, and that is something very different from the wisdom by whichthe world lives. He will bless you and comfort you. But he will alsochange you and inspire you with an authority so gentle that you may notnotice what is happening until you awake one morning and find your soultransformed.
Consider his sermons. They have no political agenda. Theyare alive instead with stories of friends and family, teachers and classmates,wise elders and bright-eyed children. In fact, Fr. van Dooren has somany stories that you may soon feel as if you have met everyone who evercrossed his path, including most of the inhabitants of his native stateof North Carolina. Yet tender and uplifting though his sermons may be,they are also radical: radical because they challenge our indifferenceto the men and women who cross our paths every day; radical because theyreject the categories with which we divide the human family and rendthe body of Christ; and they are radical because, like the Bible itself,they weave our stories into God’s story, leading us to the incarnateroot from which we all spring.
Your rector is devoted to common prayer, and this is also radical. Thereis nothing out of the ordinary about his spiritual life. Fr. van Doorenis a model Prayer Book Christian. He reads the daily office, marks theseasons of the Church year, and celebrates the holy mysteries with dignityand grace. In other words, like most of you, he is a faithful Anglican,and what could be more harmless than an Anglican? But in this harriedand self-absorbed age, when we rarely dine together, let alone pray together,to pause, to embrace God’s time, and to join our prayers to those ofour fellow Christians, is a declaration of spiritual independence.
Of course, the world would have you think otherwise. Why waste time incommon prayer when you can pray more efficiently on your own, perhapswhile doing your e-mail? Just the other day I stumbled across this adon the web: “Looking for God? Find what you want. www.ebay.com.” The world worships the god of easy answers, and against this idolatry the Anglican tradition we love is our strongest defense. Follow you rector’sexample, remain steadfast in your faith, and you will find somethingmore precious than the God you want. You will find the God you need:the God to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whomno secrets are hid.
Fr. van Dooren is a very radical man. But now, as the caterpillar askedAlice, who are you? By any measure, you are a remarkable parish. Youare musical, liturgical, multicultural, and gloriously Gothic. From whatFr. van Dooren tells me, you possess every virtue St. Paul commendedto the Romans. You rejoice in hope, you are patient in suffering, andyou persevere in prayer. You contribute to the needs of the saints. Youare hospitable to strangers. And these virtues of yours, like your rector’s, are radical. They are rooted in faith; their blossom is God’s image restored in each and every one of us. And so they point beyond themselves to the mystery of our human identity; a mystery revealed in today’sgospel.
Our Lord is speaking to the disciples in the shadow of his impendingdeath. In the few hours that remain, he must impart the truth on whichtheir lives and ours depend. But he gives no moral code. He says nothingabout whom we should ordain. The truth he speaks is the truth of whowe are. Jesus tells the disciples: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” I wonder if we grasp how extraordinary these words are. Jesus and his Father are one. Earlier that night, Philip had begged Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father.” And how had Jesus answered? “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” WhatJesus promises the disciples, what he promises you and me, is nothingless than this same unfathomable intimacy with God.
Who are you? You are God’s beloved for whom Christ gave his life so that you might share God’s life. The mystery of who you are, the mystery of who we all are, lies in the mystery of who God is. Jesus tells the disciples just before the verses we read: “I am the vine and you are the branches.” Youand I are rooted in Christ. Nothing could be more radical, and nothingcould be more communal.
God’s love is not a solitary grace. To receive God’s love is to love one another. It was because Father Rice knew God’s love, that he could minister so faithfully to this parish for forty-six years. And it is because you know God’s love that you have been able to minister to one another. Community is not a divine afterthought. God the Holy Trinity is community, shaping this and every parish into an icon of the divine life in which, as the Athanasian creed teaches, “noneis afore, or after other; none is greater or less than another.”
That life begins for us at the font. There God, with reckless and indiscriminate grace, knits our divided humanity into one body, his body, the Church. And that grace is renewed at every Mass as the body of Christ receives the body of Christ so that it may become more fully the body of Christ. Ours is a religion of embodied love, and one of the glories of your parish is that its sacramental worship bears daily witness to this fact. But as you know from your engagement in the wider community, we Anglo-Catholics must beware lest we confine Christ to the Church and imprison love in a tabernacle. Jesus does not want us to abide in a sanctuary. Go, he tells us. Go and bear fruit.
So where are you and Fr. van Dooren going? Well, after this service we are all going to the parish hall for what promises to be a glorious reception. And tomorrow morning, most of you will be here again, sharing the sacrament and your love for one another. But God has set another banquet, one for which even this votive Mass is only a foretaste. It is the banquet of the Kingdom of God. The whole world has been invited, and you are its heralds. Your friends, your families, the people who cross your path every day, the poor and the lowly for whom our Lady sang Magnificat: they are waiting for you to welcome them to the feast. It is to them that you must go.
More than eighty years have passed since Bishop Frank Weston summonedthe Anglo-Catholics of his day to this same pilgrimage, but his wordshave lost none of their power. “I say to you with all the earnestness I have,” he pleaded, “thatif you are prepared to fight for Jesus in his Blessed Sacrament, thenyou have got to get out from before your Tabernacle and walk out intothe streets and find the same Jesus in your cities and villages. Go outinto the highways and hedges. Go out and look for Jesus in the ragged,in the naked, and in the oppressed, in those who have lost hope, in thosewho are struggling to make good. Look for Jesus. And, when you see him,gird yourself with his towel and try to wash his feet.”
These have not been easy times for Anglicans, and there are plenty ofcynics who say that we have reached the end of our road. They are wrong.We have a precious legacy to uphold and a sacred mission to fulfill.Today we mark the beginning of a new chapter in that mission, prayingGod’s blessing on the extraordinary priest you have called into your midst. But the ministry we celebrate is not Fr. van Dooren’s alone. It is yours; it is your bishop’s;indeed, it belongs to everyone in this church because it is the ministryof the Kingdom of God. And the wonder is that the Kingdom we seek alreadysurrounds us. As T. S. Eliot writes:
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We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
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We are on God’s time now. Pause and look at yourfamiliar world through God’s eyes. Christ sits beside you; love him.Christ dwells within you; honor him. Christ wanders the streets of thiscity; serve him. Christ is in the Blessed Sacrament; worship him. No missionwas ever more radical, more Anglican, or more blessed.
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Meet the New Rector Updated 7-17-05
Meet the New Rector Father John David van Dooren This section will supply new information each week so that you may know about our new Rector before he arrives. It will add information each Monday until Aug. 21, 2005.
Father John David van Dooren has been a member of the Episcopal Church all his life. He comes to us from All Souls Episcopal Church in Washington, DC where he has been Rector for 14 years. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and received his MDiv from the Virginia Theological Seminary. Previously he served at St. Stephen's School in Alexandria, Virginia and St. Martin's in the Field, Severna Park, Maryland. You may read information on his current church at www.allsoulsdc.org
Father van Dooren actually knows the Church of the Atonement rather well. He has been a regular summer visitor at Atonement for the past 10 years. He believes it to be one of the most beautiful and functional worship spaces in the country. "It has a 'spirit' that I could come to love and be part of, and I have felt the presence of God whenever I have worshiped there. The music and sense of camaraderie amongst the people, has impressed and touched me". So said Father van Dooren when applying.
Father van Dooren says Mass Aug 21 2005
Father van Dooren began his tenure as Rector on Sunday Aug 21 2005. His homily was on the subject of the Virgin Mary. More than 200 parishners welcomed him and attended the lunch following the service. Tom Elkins supplied the following two photos.
 
New Rector First Sunday Mass August 21
The Wardens and Vestry, with the approval of Bishop Persell are pleased to announce the calling of our next Rector, The Rev. John David van Dooren. He received the highest votes from both the search committee and the vestry. He had a superb recommendation from his Bishop as well as a very positive endorsement from our Bishop. Father van Dooren comes to us from All Souls Church in Washington, DC where he has been Rector for 13 years. The search committee worked long and hard to find the person who fits our parish profile with the best skills and a proven performance record. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the search committee and vestry believe we have found that person. Father van Dooren’s first Sunday Mass will be August 21st and we know you will make him feel he has found a new home. We have been blessed to have Father Rosa as our Interim Rector; someone who already knew us and loved us. We look forward to continuing to make the Church of the Atonement a welcoming place for all as we continue God’s work. Please continue to pray for our church.
Father Brady Thank You Event Sunday July 31
Over the years, Father Brady has given his time selflessly to the Church of the Atonement. On Sunday July 31 after the 11:00 am mass, we would like to say thanks. We are hoping to give him a gift as well (perhaps paying for a part of his vacation.) We are planning a party in his honor and a card for people to sign will be available. If you would like to contribute please make your check to Church of the Atonement/Fr. Brady and forward in care of Larry Foster or Cass Buscher.
Homily for the Very Rev. Dean P. Rice by Bishop Persell
My sisters and brothers,
Today we gather in Christ's presence and in Christ's Holy Name to give thanks for the life of Dean Paxton Rice, to recall what he has meant to each one of us and to so many persons over his 71 years, to offer him into God's loving care and to recommit ourselves to continue in the worship of God and the support of the Church which Dean Rice loved and served so faithfully throughout his life.
Dean Rice was a most unusual priest. On being called to one cure, he did not immediately update his resume and clergy deployment profile, looking for the next step up the ladder of clerical advancement. Nor did this congregation try to send him on his way. Rather his ministry was a remarkable example of Benedictine stability with the people of the Atonement. Wedded to this church, these people, this neighborhood, he served his entire ordained ministry in this place, as Curate from the time he graduated from Seabury-Western and was ordained in 1956, and as Rector from 1958 to this year. During his rectorship, Fr. Rice served as Dean of the Chicago North Deanery and a member of Diocesan Council from 1969-1991 and also served the wider church as a member of the Board of Examining Chaplains working with those in the ordination process.
Fr. Rice's stability, his faithfulness to the Church for the long haul, is a much-needed example to all of us living in a throw-away society and a time when some think that differences over issues require schism and separation. Think back over the changes in church and society that Fr. Rice experienced and observed from this church on Kenmore Avenue. Through it all he led this traditional, eucharistically-centered parish to meet new challenges and opportunities in this changing neighborhood.�
We best remember and honor Fr. Rice not by seeking to freeze time at a particular point, keeping things the same as they were or are, but by dealing with new realities in our lives, in Church and society, with a strong commitment to Christ and a sensitivity to where the Holy Spirit is leading us today.
Just five weeks ago the Church of the Atonement had a grand service and luncheon to honor Fr. Rice and to thank him for his years of ministry in this place. It's almost as if he had the privilege of attending his own funeral and hearing all the kind, loving, good things that people had to say about him. In fact one visitor who was present for this service got confused and thought it was his funeral. She reported to her rector the next day that she had attended Dean Rice's funeral. The rector called me quite upset that she had not been notified and preceded to make me upset
that no one from the parish had contacted me. But soon a member of my staff who had attended the service straightened out all the confusion.
My first service at the Atonement with Fr. Rice, some of you will remember, was shortly after my consecration as Bishop. It was the hottest Sunday in years and the north side of Chicago was experiencing a brown-out. Somehow in all of this the heating system of the church came on and started pouring additional hot air into the building. Towards the end of the service, four tall men held the canopy over my head as I carried the Blessed Sacrament around the block in a wonderful procession. Bells were ringing, drums were pounding. But the men carrying the poles of the canopy were not always attentive to low branches and would smack into them, upsetting Fr. Rice no end.
This year I was also present for Corpus Christi and although he was unable to process around the block we were all grateful that Fr. Rice could be there for the service and a well-attended luncheon, which followed.
Fr. Rice was a man who appreciated beautiful things, good food and drink. How appropriate that today we heard the lesson from Isaiah about our Lord's banquet, "a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filed with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear." I picture
Fr. Rice, who so often presided at the Eucharist, the foretaste of the heavenly banquet, now at the table with our Lord. I must say, I do wonder, if there are any ashtrays on the table. Fr. Rice may have to make some difficult adjustments.
I'm told that one of Fr. Rice's favorite passages of scripture was what was read as our Gospel on this St. John's Day. It is part of the story of Jesus' raising of Lazarus in Bethany. Jesus promises resurrection life, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." Dean Rice believed and lived his faith, in ways that brought water as a gift from the spring of the water of life to the thirsty from many nations, races, and peoples. Generations have been touched by his life and ministry here at Atonement, in the Chicago North Deanery and in the Diocese of Chicago. Now we give him back to God, sad to have his earthly ministry come to an end, but thankful for his life and leadership and with confidence in Jesus' promise that everyone who lives and believes in him with never die, but will have life everlasting.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercies of God rest in peace. And may light perpetual shine up him.
Amen
Eulogy by Jim Rice, nephew, read December 27, 2003 at the funeral of Rev. Dean Rice
I would like to share with you today what I learned about my Uncle Dean during the time we spent together. The rest I will leave for those of you who knew him better.
I used to visit my uncle whenever I traveled to Chicago on business, which was about once a year. I'd go over to his apartment after business hours, and we'd sit in his kitchen and talk. I enjoyed talking to Uncle Dean because he knew so much about our family. He would tell me stories about relatives I had never really known, like my great-grandmother. Uncle Dean has said that when he was young, she told him about life in the late 1800's - no refrigeration, no efficient transportation, no phones, no dry cleaning, and everyone smelled of horses. I can still hear Uncle Dean finishing his story with a quote from my great-grandmother, "So you see, the 'good old days' weren't really all that good."
In turn, I would tell Uncle Dean about my progress in putting together our genealogy, which would usually elicit even more stories from him. And we would always discuss my father, who had Alzheimer's, and how my mother was doing.
So most of what I learned about my Uncle was what he remembered and how he felt about his family. For me, Uncle Dean was my link to my father, my grandparents and great-grandparents - they lived on through him. He knew their hopes, their dreams, their joys and sorrows. And given our usually limited time together, I always wanted to spend it listening to what Uncle Dean had to say about them.
Now, while Uncle Dean understood my desire to learn more about my family, and cheerfully regaled me with story after story, he apparently saw the need to teach me something else. While I don't remember his exact words-it when something like this:
"A family is not a group of people related by blood and marriage. A family is a group of people who sincerely love each other, and take care of each other. I have seen where one relative will not speak to another for something trivial that happened years ago. Or people who have ignored or neglected their parents in old age or sickness. They are not family. They are relatives, but not a family."�
I learned then that Uncle Dean's family was more than just his relatives. And that being a relative didn't automatically qualify you for membership in the family. You had to be a family member to be in the family. It was not a birthright.
Uncle Dean's revelation regarding family disturbed me. Before then, I had allowed myself to believe that I was special to him because I was his only nephew. Now I had learned that being a member of his family was not quite that simple. It seemed cold to discard the old world concept of family-you know, that blood is thicker than water. But after thinking about it for a while, I came to the realization that Uncle Dean's concept of
a family was straight out of the New Testament. I recalled the passage where Jesus said, "And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
Being in God's family isn't just a matter of being a close relative, either.
So as it turns out, I had an intellectual understanding of this concept of family all along. But Uncle Dean, he had lived the truth of it, and it was written on his heart.
And from that conversation I learned, that while many of my Uncle's relatives held a special place in his heart, he considered the people here in this church to be his real family, and he loved you very much.
In closing, I would like to share with you now part of a letter that my Uncle wrote to the parishioners here at Atonement back in December, 1966.
Dear Parishioners,
I look back with great happiness for the ten years I have been with you in this parish. These years have brought joys and disappointments, accomplishments and setbacks and in fact all the various facets of living we all share no matter what our job or vocation might be. I can be honest in saying that there is no other place where I would have rather have shared these experiences of life other than the Church of the Atonement. You have taught me much in these years and I still have a great deal to learn. And I thank God for the many of you who have been very dear to me in my journey through the priesthood, the many who have helped me in my job in so many ways. Without your support, encouragement, prayers and help the journey would have indeed been a bleak one. The journey has not been bleak, my work has been rewarding and my sprit filled with the works of The Lord that I have seen wrought in this place.
The work of a priest is not always the easiest. To live in the world yet not be devoured by its pleasures. To be a member of each family, yet belonging to none, to share sufferings, to penetrate secrets, to heal wounds, to go from men to God and offer Him their prayers, to return from God to men and bring pardon and hope, to have a heart of charity, to teach and bless-these are all works of a priest. Where I have not always brought these virtues to their full potential I beg your pardon and prayers. Where I have helped and conveyed some of these virtues into the lives of others I ask that we continue in our journey together, praying for each other, and rejoicing with each other on that road toward perfection which we all as Christians should be seeking.
May God richly bless each one of you and your loved ones during the year to come. I shall remember each of you at God's altar during this Holy Season. May the love that flows from the tiny manger of Bethlehem touch each of you during Christmas? As the priests remember you at God's altar during this season, we ask that you also remember us in your prayers. May the happiness of Christ come to each of you who live your life for Him.
Signed, Dean Paxton Rice
May he rest in peace with The Lord.
The Very Reverend Dean P. Rice
The Very Reverend Dean P. Rice passed away of cancer at home among friends and fellow clergy on Sunday, December 14 th . He was the Rector of The Episcopal Church of the Atonement in Chicago from 1958 until he retired on June 1st of this year.�
He was born on April 9, 1932 in Danville, Illinois and was the beloved son of the late James T. and Margaret Paxton Rice. His only brother Donald L. (Nancy Rice Cartee) Rice preceded him in death. Survivors include his niece, Nanette Rice Mellen of Danville and his nephew, James M. Rice of Flower Mound, Texas. He was a board member and part owner of Paxton Wholesale Grocery Company (Grab-It-Here Stores), a family business in southern Illinois.
He was a 1950 graduate of Georgetown High School and in 1953 received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He then entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating with a Master of Divinity Degree in 1956.�
Father Dean Rice was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Gerald Burrill on December 21, 1956 and was instituted as Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Atonement of Chicago on May 17, 1958. He served there for 45 years and was made Rector Emeritus upon retirement. Beginning in 1962, he served multiple terms as the President of the Seabury-Western Alumni Association. He also served on the Board of Examining Chaplains from 1965-1995 for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Between the 1960's and the 1980's, he served several terms as the President of the Catholic Clerical Union. Also, in the 1960's, he was one of the founding fathers of ECRA (The Edgewater Clergy-Rabbi Association). In 1969, Father Rice was appointed Dean of the Chicago-North Deanery and served until 1991 when he was made Dean Emeritus. During the same period, he was a Member of the Diocesan Council. In 1979, he attended the first Chicago Episcopal Cursillo Weekend and remained active in Cursillo until 1997.�
Under Father Rice's leadership, The Church of the Atonement was the spiritual home in the 1960's for what would eventually become the St. Augustine's Center for American Indians. In the early 1970's, when the Hispanic congregation began to grow, Fr. Rice assisted the Reverend Carlos Plazas in the establishment of The Parent-Child Latino Center which offered social services with an emphasis on education. As a result of this, Atonement became the center for a bilingual education program between 1972-1977. Out of this program developed St. Augustine's College which officially moved in 1979 from Atonement to its current location. Fr. Rice was one of the signers of the College's corporation papers in 1980 and served on the College's Governing Board from 1980-1988. The Hispanic congregation at Atonement eventually moved on to form the Mission of Cristo Rey in 1979.
Visitation will be on Friday, December 26 th from 3:00pm to 9:00pm, and Saturday, December 27 th , from 9:00am until the time of the Funeral Mass at 11:00am at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement, 5749 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago, 60660, (773)271-2727. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Church.
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