6-2016 Seek: voices of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

SeekJune 2016

© The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, 1210 Locust St., St. Louis, Missouri 63103 ph: 314-231-1220 web: diocesemo.org

Episcopal Diocese of MissouriOffices of the Bishop1210 Locust St.St. Louis, Missouri 63103

ph: 314-231-1220www.DioceseMo.org

voices from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

When we were in Uganda May 17-22, Debbie Smith and I spent valuable time with Bishop Stephen Dokolo and his wife Lillian, both from the Diocese of Lui. Noel Night, Dean of Fraser Cathedral in Lui Town, was there, as was Rina, the Moth-ers’ Union Coordinator for the diocese. Also present were nine people from Lui’s partnership with the Diocese of Lund in the Church of Sweden, and one person representing the partnership with Black-more Vale Deanery in the Diocese of Salis-bury. We sat together in collaborative conversation for many hours over several days at our hotel in Kampala.

We heard long reports about the situation on the ground in the Diocese of Lui, where the people have suffered dev-astation at the hands of the army and the rebel forces. Homes, churches, schools, fields, and seed stores have been burned down, and much of the property loot-ed. Inflation is rampant, bringing even greater hardship to the people of South Sudan. There are also army garrisons in every town along the major east-west road through the diocese. In the midst of this bad news, there is some good. The

Back from Kampala, Bishop Wayne reports on the state of Lui Diocese in South Sudan

With some of the Diocese of Lui diaspora at the Kiryandongo Refugee Camp in Uganda. On left in the blue shirt is Sosthen, preacher at Emmanuel Church in the camp. Bishop Stephen Dokolo is on the far right next to a member of the mission partners group, Anne Powell, from the Diocese of Salisbury, U.K.. Larger copies of this and other images online at diocesemo.org/June2016Seek. Photo: Debbie Smith.

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MAKING DISCIPLES BUILDING CONGREGATIONS FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD

INSIDEBack from Kampala, Bishop Wayne reports on the state of Lui Diocese in South Sudanby Bishop Wayne Smith

Wait, wait, DO tell me!Jeanie Bryant interviews Bishop Wayne

Not always maracas and ay yi yiby Martha Baker

On Not Belongingby Rebecca Ragland

602 Brewster Rd in Eureka: St. Francis’ new location

Absalom Jones commemorated with "Living Apart"by Flossie Kohn and Agnes Bolwell

Bishop Wayne appoints Loren Lasch Youth Missioner of the Diocese

Changing the Hearts and Minds of Those Who Hate by Chester Hines, Jr.

For the Love of St. Luke's

The Micah SocietyA Different Pathby Kevin McGrane, Sr.

Welcoming Wiggles: Calvary Church in Columbia's new family communion service

From the Wilderness to the Gar-den, ECW retreat

Stories of Resurrectionby Deaconess Anne House

The Returning Chalice Bearer

Laundry Love in St. Charles

The Certainty within the Mys-tery by Barbi Click

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Postcard-ECM-SummerCelebration2015.pdf 1 4/28/2015 12:21:38 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 24

What: Summer Celebration Family Fun CarnivalWhen: Friday, June 24, 2016Time: 5:30 to 8:30 pmWhere: Grace Episcopal Church, 514 East Argonne Drive in Kirkwood

Please join Episcopal City Mission at our annual Summer Celebration Family Fun Carnival! Gather inside for a delicious meal and beverages which are included in your ticket price. Adults can enjoy a silent auction in the fellowship hall or hang outside where there will be complimentary carnival game booths for all the kids, as well a bounce house, petting zoo and balloon artist!

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the office at 314-436-3545 or email [email protected]. Tickets will also be available in your parish in June or can be purchased at the door.

$15 per adult, $5 for children 5 – 12 years, Children under 5 are FREE! No more than $50 per family. RAIN or SHINE – In the event of inclement weather, we move indoors (even the petting zoo).

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The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri DIOCESEMO.ORG

warring factions in South Sudan signed a Compro-mise Peace Accord on April 26, and tensions are in fact abating. It is now possible to travel safely along the major road running east to west through Lui. The government appears to be settling into a tenuous stability, although the emphasis must go on the word “tenuous.” I ask your prayers, that the peace might hold.

Bishop Stephen has asked the partners for assistance in obtaining one item of relief, and one item only. He has asked for help in procuring seed stock to replace all that the army destroyed, an action which has left the people of Lui, subsistence farmers all, at risk for starvation. If the seed can get to Juba, then Bishop Stephen and the Church can arrange for distribution throughout Lui. I have made some queries here in St. Louis, and I am hopeful that we may be able to respond.

We spent one day visiting the refugee camp in Kiryandongo, about a five-hour drive northwest of Kampala. About a thou-sand refugees from Lui and the surrounding Moru tribal areas have settled in the camp. The Moru Church is thriving in Kiryandon-go and is the most visible and consolidating institution around. Sosthen is the pastor of Emmanuel Church, as it is called, and Is-mail and George are assisting him. Some of us know Sosthen and Ismail from the time that they lived in Lui Town, and Sosthen is

Back from Kampala continued

faithful in posting news of the Moru refu-gees on Facebook, where you can find him at “Sosthen Amin Lati.” The quality of life is moderately good in the camp, although the community is anxious about the possibili-ties of food shortages. There is also a seri-ous health problem with jiggers, very small sand fleas that burrow into the feet, causing severe pain and the risk of infection. If you are strong of heart, you can Google for information about the affliction. The photo-graphs are disturbing. Children and elders

are most at risk, but prevention is relatively simple—closed-toe shoes and foot-wash-ing with soap. Here again the international partners might provide aid.

The truth is that the people of Lui need us and the other partners now more than ever. Both the Moru people still living in their South Sudanese homeland and the Moru people in the diaspora are in need. I am very glad to know them as friends and partners—and as dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Everyone in Lui is a subsistence farmer, pastors and lay. In Kiryandongo camp every family gets 1/2 acre to farm, which is something but not as much land as they are used to farming at home or that will support the whole family.

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Jeanie: The theme for convention was “Be Reconciled.” Why this theme?Bishop: It’s been something very much on my heart and mind ever since the racial ten-sions in St. Louis and Missouri came to the fore in August of 2014. Part of our charter as Christians is to find reconciliation with God and with one another, and to use the power of Christ to work toward reconcilia-tion in the world. I thought and still think there is a crying need for reconciliation in the world and we do well when we prac-tice that. Some of the best ways to practice reconciliation, I think, are in sharing our stories, the narrative of what’s happening in our own lives. And to find from those moments of reconciliation and Grace, the source for being agents of reconciliation on a larger scale.

Jeanie: You grew up in West Texas. In your reconciliation story at convention you painted a picture of your childhood. You even referenced Wolf Brand Chili. What was that like for you?Bishop: How long has it been since you’ve had Wolf Brand Chili? I think many of you know I grew up a Southern Baptist and became an Episcopalian while I was in col-lege at a Baptist university. I went to Baylor and it was an important bridge for me. I grew up in a farming community of about 500 people. So Baylor had a familiarity for me, but it also became a bridge for me to something different, something beyond rural West Texas. In my narrative that I gave

Wait, wait, DO tell me!The stage was set, the parish hall was packed, and the bishop took the mic. After Sunday service and a great lunch together during Bishop Wayne’s most recent visitation to Grace Episcopal Church in Jefferson City, parishioner Jeanie Bryant interviewed the bishop in the manner of her favorite news-quiz show on public radio.

at convention I talked about how I mostly didn’t fit in when I was growing up, and I’ve learned that that’s not such a bad thing. It’s helped me to understand what Philippians talks about in terms of Christians being res-ident aliens and that our allegiance belongs to another and different place. And if we are really paying attention, maybe we will realize that to some degree none of us are to fit in completely.

Back to my Baptist to Episcopal Church pilgrimage. There was a long time when I was counter-dependent upon everything Baptist. If some-thing was Baptist that was what I was against. That was the folly of someone in his early 20s and 30s. I realized at some point, wait a minute, these are the people who told me the Jesus story in the first place. It is from them that I was set upon the course I’ve been on all my adult life—which is to be a serious Christian, and also to be ordained in the Episcopal Church along the way. So I can thank the Baptists for what’s happened to me. And these days if you say something ugly about Baptists, you’re talking about my people, and I’ll stick up for them.

Jeanie: I’ve never been a Baptist, but I won’t say anything bad about them.Bishop: I appreciate that. [laughter]

Jeanie: The Offices of the Bishop are locat-ed next to Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis. Describe your office, the physical space and any favorite objects in your office.Bishop: My office is on the third floor of the Bishop Tuttle Memorial Building. The BTM

was designed as a com-munity center built in 1923 and the third floor was designed for wom-en’s activities. My office was a dance studio. It used to have a dance rail and the windows are high up to provide good lighting and so that no one from the outside could see in. So I love my office because of the really good lighting it has. The high windows make it a very comfort-able space.

I have a collection of rocks and other such things like archae-ological artifacts that are all in kind of a pile, as rocks tend to be. I’ve got a geode that comes from Mount Sinai, where Bedouin boys will crack them open and sell them to a westerner for a dollar. I have some pottery

Jeanie Bryant is a member of Grace Church in Jefferson City and a part of the church team involved with Episcopal School for Ministry’s Program for Congregational Development.

20. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, ac-cording to the working where-by he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:21-22, King James Version Bible

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shards from Jericho. I have a piece of Texas pink granite that comes from Enchanted Rock. It’s in the hill country of Texas and it’s the second largest granite outcropping in the world, second only to Stone Mountain in Georgia. Texas pink granite is a lovely stone and the capitol of Texas is made out of it. I have some petrified wood my father found, probably back in the 1960s. It’s an extraordi-nary piece of petrified wood, with its pre-served bark. It’s really quite something. So, it’s a pile of rocks.

Jeanie: If I’m not mistaken the columns at the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City are made from pink granite.Bishop: But not Texas pink granite! That’s from Missouri.Jeanie: I tried.

Jeanie: You can’t be an Episcopalian and not like music. In fact you are a skilled sing-er of shape notes. Why shape notes?Bishop: Singer. Not skilled.Jeanie: Okay, I’ll give you that one. Singer.Bishop: Has anyone ever sung shape notes? The four note system, also called Sacred Harp. (Two people raised their hands.) It gives you an eerie sound. Very beautiful. But it’s not a spectator sport, it’s a participatory sport. One of the great old men of Sacred Harp is David Ivey. He says that he regular-ly travels hundreds of miles to get to sing shape notes, but he wouldn’t go across the street to listen to shape notes. [Baby crying in the background] Now there’s a voice for shape notes.

One of the things about Sacred Harp is that it is very loud and it is very forgiving, so that’s why I’m drawn to it. If you come to a shape note singing, we’ll pester you until you sing with us and also we’ll help you to sing and show you that you can sing. Even people who think they can’t sing, can sing this stuff. To me it always sounds Scottish. Scotland is where my roots are.

Jeanie: There is a follow-up question.Bishop: I see that.Jeanie: Do you play any musical instru-ments?Bishop: I used to play, and get ready for this, I used to play the oboe. Double-reed people are special. Any double-reed people out there? [Several hands go up and lots of laughter in the background.] Yes, yes, bas-soonist, oboist. You talk about quirky—you find a double-reed person and you’ll find the very definition of quirky! I’ve played piano along the way as well. I don’t play any instruments any more.

Jeanie: A few years ago you recommended The Sparrow as a good book to read. And several of us did read the book. Why does or

did that novel speak to you?Bishop: This is a science fiction novel by Mary Doria Russell. She wrote this novel and a follow-up novel called Children of God. I think The Sparrow is an extraordi-narily painful book to read and you can’t stop there—you have to read the sequel for some sense that there is grace in this, after all. The very beginning of the book is what I always come back to. The novel is set in the future, and a voice, a beautiful singing voice from somewhere across the universe comes into the radio telescope at Arecibo in Puerto Rico. And it’s a singing voice and they start calling this voice ‘the sparrow.’

So here’s the best thing I like about it. The world government at the time cannot

Earlier that Sunday ,Bishop Wayne confirmed nine new Episcopalians at Grace, six of whom are pictured here.

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Sandra Montes came to Trinity Episco-pal Church in the Central West End on the first day of May and said, "Try it."

She had been asked by Trinity's rector, the Rev. Jon Stratton, to speak on multi-cul-tural music. The topic he gave her specif-ically was "Incorporating Intercultural Music into a Majority-white Congregation without Practicing Liturgical 'Colonialism.'"

She can speak—and sing—volumes on this topic in two languages. Montes lives in Houston, Tex., where she teaches elementa-ry school and studies for a doctorate; she is the daughter and sister of Episcopal priests and she is an Episcopal lay leader. Montes has served on the Standing Commission for Liturgy and Music and consults with the Episcopal Church Foundation.

She can ask the important questions, starting with the basic: Why? "Why add multicultural music?"

The bad reason: "It's cool."The murky reason: "To grow the

church." If that's the answer, said Montes, the question "why?" needs to be repeat-ed and the answer deeply considered. "Churches want to grow, but not in a way that might upset them," she said. As food for thought, she added, "The Church isn't dying. We seem to be killing it. And, you know, it might need to die, but we are children of the Resurrection. What we have always done might not be what we must do

from now on for it to revive."A second question: How are you going

to make intercultural music authentic? Montes told stories of churches with mostly white congregations accompanying their eucharists with mariachi bands as a way to bring in new (brown) people; however, that liturgical offering too often comes with lit-tle or no understanding of Hispanic music, which sways way beyond Mexico. Montes, who is Peruvian-American, emphasized that in her culture, congregants do not shake maracas or sing "ay yi yi yi!"

Being authentic, sharing a voice that seekers long to hear, matters, she says.

And a third question: If you know how and why, what are you waiting for? That's when she exhorted Trinitarians to "just try it." Take the first step, she encouraged, "even if you're not ready. That is what God is calling you to do."

For example, she said many Spanish and Latino ministries have been started by non-Spanish speakers, "by people with a mission and a vision." Liturgists need to continue to grow. They need to move be-yond that initial invitation in order to avoid "liturgical 'colonialism,'" that is, taking power from "the other." She cited a man who barely knew Spanish but saw the need so translated English into Spanish rather crudely but sincerely. But he was using the same poorly written translations 10 years later. "That is unacceptable," she said.

Montes noted that a church's organist can find authentic, intercultural music to teach to a congregation.

Jeffrey Nall, Trinity's organist and choir director, appreciated the spirited con-versation that Montes' presentation elicited at Trinity. "Sandra acknowledged an entire world of valid spiritual expression we have not even scratched the surface of," he said, "but she cautioned that drawing from these traditions runs the risk of exploiting them."

Montes started her presentation by praising Trinity for having Lift Every Voice and Sing in every pew rack. She did not start the conversation at Trinity about "in-tercultural music" in a mostly-white con-gregation, but she entered into the conver-sation with enthusiasm and expertise.

Said Rector Stratton, "Sandra invited Trinity to experience the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers to all people afresh, through multi-cultural ex-pressions of praise and thanksgiving in the liturgy.”

It’s not always maracas and ay yi yi

Sandra Montes, Martha Baker

by Martha Baker, Trinity Church in the Central West End

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The other night, I had a dream. I was standing in a beautiful historic cemetery before a curved, well-kept tombstone. As I stood there, an Episcopal priest wearing vestments appeared by my side. He hand-ed me a wrought-iron crucifix, which, by instinct, I took and placed in a holder in front of the tombstone. Then he began to read from a prayer book. There were many well-healed men and women all around the cemetery. They were all listening intent-ly, but I couldn’t understand his words. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then, the service was over.

The priest nodded to me, and I reached for the cross and lifted it. Together we led the procession down a sidewalk through the cemetery toward a lovely, colonial-style parish church.

As we walked, I realized I was wearing my clerical collar. I said to the priest, “You know, I’m from St Louis, and I’ve never par-ticipated in that service before. I think it would be nice if you had explained what you were doing before you started off so that ev-eryone would know what was going on.” He just looked at me, with eyebrows raised.

Immediately, I felt ashamed. Of course, I, an Episcopal priest, should have known what was going on. Not knowing meant I didn’t belong.

It is a wonderful thing to belong. My fa-vorite places are those where I belong, and better still, where the opinions I express are shared by the people I’m with. I could warm myself at those fires all the time!

But what happens when we only seek out places of belonging? Places of comfort and confirmation? We forget what it feels like to be outside the circle. I suspect that we risk those places inside the circle be-coming cemeteries.

When was the last the time you truly felt like you didn’t belong? When did you feel that sense of otherness; of being a stranger? I suspect the memory comes up pretty quickly. It might have been years ago, but you still remember. If it wasn’t recently, perhaps it should happen again. Here’s why I say that.

We as church members need to get a taste of not belonging. Otherwise our services risk becoming walled ‘cemeteries’ of insider services. We need to remember how it feels to be excluded from a commu-nity’s secret language (words like under-croft or narthex, when to say “Alleluia”) and secret knowledge (where the parish hall is located, who sits where in the pews).

Here are some musings on belonging that my dream conjured up in me:• Benevolence doesn’t count as in-

corporation; a visiting dignitary or a homeless person still wants to belong. A personal introduction and expression of respect matters to all of us.

• Belonging means understanding the language —‘helps’ in the bulletin, on pew tabs or in the room could explain what’s going on.

• Learn a name. Introduce yourself…again. Be willing to admit you forgot. It’s okay. Using a name is a way of cherish-ing someone.

• Be willing to invite and share truth-telling. Welcome observations and incorporate ideas as appropriate. A willingness to listen helps newcomers feel they belong.

• Push yourself to not belong. Be a stranger. Experience that outsider feel-ing again.

For me, the biggest take away from my dream was the relationship between shame and not belonging. I felt shame when I didn’t know what everyone else appeared to know. That happens to newcomers all the time. Shame is a disabling feeling. If people come to our churches and feel shame, they aren’t coming back. Would you?

As Gospel people, the last thing we want to do is cause people to feel stupid and ashamed because they don’t know our church culture. Choosing to not belong is one way to see our churches with fresh eyes. Choosing to make our language and ‘secret knowledge’ accessible to everyone will take us a long way toward tearing down those walls. We want to effectively bring those who are outside into the circle. We know that new life is possible – even in cemeter-ies! It’s the fulfillment of God’s dream!

by Rebecca Ragland

On Not Belonging

The Rev. Rebecca Ragland is Director of the Deaconess Anne House, Episcopal Service Corps

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They’d found a beautiful piece of land in Eureka for $400K, made a full price offer and the people of St. Francis were ready to begin moving closer to their dream of a real church home. The deal fell through, they didn't get the land that day in February 2015.

So the hunt continued. Eureka is grow-ing, land is not that easy to find without the challenges of rail tracks, bedrock, or flood plain location. In April, Eureka's Mayor Kevin Coffey contacted Vicar Sally Weaver. Would she like to look at property? With real estate agent in tow they toured the area, looking at property not on the market but held in trusts. They saw three acres, made contact with the family that held it, and 10 days later had a signed contract.

The location is at the intersection of the two streets which are the entrance to a new 527 home subdivision being built, one with walking trails and dog parks. Immedi-ately across the street is 13 acres on which the school district will build a new elemen-tary school.

On February 20, 2016, the people of St. Francis went to Diocesan Council to ask for funding for the building project. A year ago February, sixteen had accompanied their priest. This time, thirty members came along.

At the meeting, the Bishop and Council approved funding for the building from the New Witness Fund and the Future Mis-sion Building and Property Fund. "I looked around the room at the vote, everyone from St. Francis was crying," said Vicar Sally. There are members of twenty five years who have been working towards this day. "We were beside ourselves with joy."

Their capital campaign begins with promised sacrificial giving, to offset as much of the diocesan money as they can. After the vote most of the group went out to lunch and over fried baloney sandwiches.

602 Brewster Rd in Eureka: St. Francis’ new home"Our energy level is unbelievable." Vicar Sal-ly had held off writing her sermon for that Sunday until after the council meeting. But at home, she couldn't sit down to write.

Last weekend St. Francis' Bishop's committee held their retreat, and have been able to coordinate the framework for build-ing project decision making. With basic plans they are now in the architectural drawing phase. Once that is finished they plan on another three months to obtain permits and a best-case scenario of nine months to build. "Book us for Mass on the Grass!" said the vicar with enthusiasm.

There are some drawing and plans on their website, and in this month's issue of their newsletter, The Chalice. The spaces are flexible and multi purpose. Groups can use part of the meeting space without

having to open up the whole area. A chil-dren's wing is taking shape. "Daycare and preschools are already at a premium in Eureka," said Sally. St Francis' members have been talking to Emmanuel's preschool team and Jefferson College preschool about designing an ideal space.

St. Francis' has been growing in atten-dance these past six years (60%) in space that is deteriorating. "This is an incredible group of people. And we are so excited for the future with this gift from the Diocese of Missouri."

View the St. Francis campaign materi-als "Faith Under Construction" along with larger resolution images at:diocesemo.org/June2016Seek

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On Saturday, Feb. 6th, over 90 people from local Episcopal congre-gations and other area churches, joined the diocese’s Dismantling Rac-ism Commission in commemorating the life and work of The Rev. Absa-lom Jones, (1746-1818) an abolitionist and first Black man ordained as priest in the Episcopal Church. The day’s theme was: “Living Apart: Race, Residency and Reality.”

The morning started with “getting here”, an exercise in using public transpor-tation. Participants were tasked with find-ing a route from the parishes in the metro area to the event location at St. Tim’s. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t easy! “We discovered it takes quite a bit of time, patience and the ability to walk at least ½ mile or more,” reported Flossie Kohn.

Participants did a “wagon wheel” exercise designed to encourage intense listening as our discussion partner seated opposite shared thoughts and answers to questions such as: When did you first notice race where you lived as a child? What have been your experiences with race where you currently live? and, If you could change one thing about where you live, what would it be? We then reversed roles.

Statistics show housing in the St. Louis metropolitan area is notably divided by race, and has become more so with time. Both laws and social norms, such as how real estate is marketed, have encouraged racial separation in residential areas. To simplify: White families move to the sub-urbs and black families stay put, leading areas to develop as all-white or to transi-tion to all-black. The Absalom Jones event explored this reality by discussing how individuals make housing choices. Regard-less of race, and within the confines of our finances, turns out we all want the same: To

live in a place where the schools are good and our children can play safely outside. We acknowledge that this challenge and others surrounding institutional racism are long-lived and complex. The Dismantling Racism Commission, sponsor of the event, hopes that the discussion will lead to more exploration of race issues within individual parishes.

A part of the day was devoted to re-membering and celebrating the lives of two important members of the commission who had recently died, the Rev. Emery Washing-ton, Sr. and Michael McDowell.

Deacon Chester Hines and Tony Co-rey spoke about the lives of Father Emery and Mike, and then announced in memory of each one of them, and from a generous contribution by the Church of the Holy Communion, scholarships have been es-tablished to help high school youth par-ticipate in Anytown, the youth program of the National Conference for Community

and Justice. “Anytown” is an eight-day, full immersion, residential program for high school youth interested in making their school and community environments more socially just. Participants have the oppor-tunity to explore topics of discrimination through experiential exercises and group dialogue, while making close friends from across the state and St. Louis region. Mrs. Alice Washington and Mrs. Teresa McDow-ell were present to accept the honor on behalf of their late husbands.

The day’s activities wrapped up with a commentary from Bishop Smith and a closing prayer offered by St. Tim’s Rector, Marvin Foltz.

Flossie added, “The enthusiasm and evident enjoyment of the attendees as they left St. Timothy’s was witness to a morning well-spent.”

Article contributors include Flossie Kohn and Agnes Bolwell, members of St. Timo-thy's Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur.

Absalom Jones commemorated with "Living Apart"

Tony Corey, Mrs. Teresa McDowell, Mrs Alice Washington, Chester Hines, Jr.

The Episcopal Church in the Worldwide Anglican Communion: 80 million Christians around the world,

led by the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Jus-tin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

in The Episcopal Church: 2 million Episcopalians in 109 dioceses and three regional

areas in 17 nations, led by the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate.

in the Diocese of Missouri: 11,500 members in 42 congre-gations, campus ministry and

an intentional community, led by the Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, 10th Bishop of Missouri.

SEEK, June 2016Episcopal Diocese of MissouriOffices of the Bishop1210 Locust St.St. Louis, Missouri 63103

Seek is a quarterly publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Dioc-esan members may request a com-plimentary subscription by mail: send address to the Offices of the Bishop attn: Seek Subscription. Seek is also distributed to each congregation in the diocese. Archived editions of Seek are online at diocesemo.org.

Editor: Ms. Beth Felice, Director of CommunicationsEditorial Board: the Rev. Dr. Dan-iel Handschy, Dean of the Episcopal School for Ministry; the Rev. Edie Bird, rector Christ Church, Cape Girardeau; Mr. Kurt Greenbaum, St. Martin’s Church, Ellisville; Mr. Paul Jokerst, Transfiguration Church, Lake St. Louis; Dr. Carter Whitson, All Saints’ Church, St. Louis; the Rev. Joe Chambers, Can-on to the Ordinary, Diocese of Missouri.

Submissions by post attn: Beth Felice, or online via diocesemo.org/submit.Deadline: August 5, 2016 for the edition available September 2016.

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get its act together to find out where the voice comes from, to follow the voice across the universe, but the Jesuits can. And so the Jesu-its organize this pilgrimage to find the voice. Someone asks why they are doing this? And the answer is what really captured me. ‘We do it because that’s what Jesuits have always done. We have always gone to find God’s other children.’ And I love that. I think that really is the work of mission, to find God’s other children and to hear their stories. That’s the way this book unfolds and it is very profound. The author discovered her Jewish ancestry and converted to Judaism. There’s a virtuosity in her writing that I like. Jeanie: What are you reading now?Bishop: Right now I’m reading a biography of George Armstrong Custer. He was not a nice man. The book is called The Trials of Custer. I love reading biography, and I read a lot it.

Jeanie: We won't take a commercial break, but the next segment is a lightning round, just say the first thing that comes to mind. What is your favorite hymn?Bishop: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It’s one of my favorites, because the music helps me cross the bridge back to my Baptist heritage. Being able to sing that hymn in the Episcopal Church means a lot.

Jeanie: What do you do to relax?Bishop: Sit on the deck. Read. I used to run but my knees don’t like me to run as much as I used to so I do a lot of fitness walking. I play with my dog and cat. And I sit happily in our den with my wife, Debbie Smith, and we read. Read, read, read.

Jeanie: When you’re not reading, what keeps you awake at night?Bishop: There’s usually some ‘thing’ in the dio-cese that seems unsolvable. There’s a problem right now that seems unsolvable. Those are the things that keep me awake at night. Most times they prove to be solvable, but not by anything that I did. I think it’s called Grace.

Jeanie: The final question relates to the ser-mon you preached at Ascension. You men-tioned the Eucharist is a meal for people who are going somewhere. Will you elaborate?Bishop: I don’t think the Last Supper was a Passover Meal—there are a couple of problems with that. First of all, there’s no mention of a lamb. And second, none of the accounts use the technical word for unleavened bread. They use the term for ordinary bread. But the Last Supper was at least in the timeframe of Pass-over. Passover is intentionally a meal eaten on the hurry. Not a lot of time to allow the bread to rise. Leave nothing uneaten because you have a great journey to be on.

The early church took this very seriously. There is almost nothing in early liturgies after the receiving of communion. They were stand-ing, walking, and then they were gone because it was on to the next thing for them.

There are three soft spots in the liturgy that begin to accumulate a lot of stuff: the beginning, the middle and the end. [Laughter.] I’ll just talk about the end. The early church typically had either a prayer, a blessing, a dis-missal, a post communion prayer, or a hymn. So we have all those things. And that’s the way the liturgy tends to go. It’s easy to accumulate stuff, it’s more difficult to carry it out. I wish in our practices that we could get a sense of people on the move. Early Christians were pilgrims on to do something.

Wait, wait, continued

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[April 21, 2016] Bishop Wayne Smith is pleased to an-nounce the appointment of our next diocesan youth mission-er, the Rev. Loren V. Lasch.

Loren comes most recently from Washington D.C. where she is the Assistant to the Rector at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church. Loren and her husband Ian will move to St. Louis with their 15 month old son Elias.

Raised Episcopalian in a small central Virginia town, Loren credits a church retreat for youth as a big turning point in her faith life. That retreat inspired her participation in youth programs and with the youth commission in the Diocese of Georgia. During her undergraduate years at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs) she was involved with the Episcopal center on campus, and a member of the music team, the Epis-copunks.

Loren served as a lay youth minister, discerned a call to ordination from the Diocese of Georgia. She graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2008 and spent the next five years as an assistant rector and youth minister at Good Shep-herd Episcopal Church in Augusta, Georgia.

She met future husband Ian in Georgia. He discerned his call to the priesthood and the couple moved back to the D.C. area while Ian attended VTS.

A primary focus of Loren’s is the truth that we too often speak of our youth as the future of our church, when they ac-tually are full and vibrant members right now. “When we don’t appreciate that truth, we are doing ourselves and our Church a huge disservice,” she said. “They show us God in so many new and exciting ways.”

Loren is a Disney fan, she and Ian got engaged at Disney World and also honeymooned there. She thinks Christian hos-pitality might take some pointers from Disney hospitality; how much more would we be following the Gospel when people are always invited and included?

In summer of 2013, Loren co-led a youth trip to Domin-ican Republic from the Diocese of Georgia. They took a great but small group of young people to lead a vacation Bible school large group of youth from the small D.R. town of Mao. “It was so cool to see our youth with the D.R. young people. They were so open and welcoming, learning from each other, following

one another’s lead.” And it struck her that this was such an ex-ample of welcoming one another as Christ welcomes us, how the language of faith is so much deeper than the languages we speak. “God is present whenever we are gathered together.”

Loren begins her position with the diocese on July 18.

Bishop Wayne appoints Loren Lasch Youth Missioner of the Diocese

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On Saturday, April 23, 2016 I made a trip to Memphis, Ten-nessee to visit the National Civil Rights Museum along with approximately thirty others from Christ Church Cathedral, the diocese and St. Louis Community. It was a pleasurable trip with smooth travel and excellent weather. The food and fellowship was good and plentiful on both the trip down and back.

This was not my first trip to the museum as I had taken my sons there years ago to help them get an education and a broader awareness of the plight of black people in America and to help to fill in the major gaps that are created in the history of America when one depends on the general public educational systems provided by schools districts in St. Louis and across the country to tell the whole and true story of slavery, Jim Crow and segrega-tion in America.

Even though I had visited the museum previously, it was like being there for the first time. It reminds me of reading the Bible; each time I read a passage in the Bible, I get a different perspec-tive and draw a different conclusion about what I read.

On my previous trip to the museum I was struck by how much information is being excluded from our children when they study the history of the United States. This time I was struck by the amount of hatred that existed in and continues to exist in America when the issue of race is on the table.

As I went from exhibit to exhibit, I could only see how hate-ful the elected officials, adults and children were in working to keep little black boys and black girls from getting an education; I could only see how hateful the elected executives, highway patrol officers and policeman were in denying constitutional rights to peaceful protests by law abiding citizens of this country; I could only see how hateful county elected registrars were in denying black people their constitutional right to participate in the Amer-ican political process by denying them the right to register to vote; I could only see the hatred that was exhibited by the mur-

dering of innocent children, young men and women, community leaders and ordained clergy persons both black and white at the hands of white men; I could only see the hatred that occurred when travelers were bombed because they dared to use the American interstate travel system; I could only see the hatred of a bus driver who was working to make a living seizing the opportu-nity to take the dignity and diminish a black seamstress because he could; I could not see any justice or moral right in his acts and actions. Each succeeding exhibit served only to aggravate my internal emotions and to cause a great deal of discomfort. I felt a sense of both great pain and at the same time a sense of guilt.

I reflected on the numerous times in my own life that I have experienced many of these same types of challenge, harm and insult because of the color of my skin. On occasion I have had the opportunity and ability to respond to these personal and institu-tional assaults but on too many occasions I have had to take the bitter pill and swallow hard. That is a very painful experience.

Hate is an extremely powerful emotion and I wondered whether those who risked their lives (many of whom perished) experienced any of the raw emotions I experienced as they lived through those challenging days of crime and punishment. I know in my heart they had to experience the fear that comes with the hate that was and is exhibited by those who have the power and authority.

So I give thanks and praise to God for the lives that they lived in order to make the lives of all other black Americans (and intrinsically all white Americans) better. Lastly, I pray God will change the hearts and in so doing change the minds of those who hate because of a person's skin color.

The Rev. Chester Hines, Jr. is Deacon at Christ Church Cathe-dral, St. Louis, and chairperson of the diocesan Dismantling Racism Commission.

Changing the Hearts and Minds of Those Who Hate

Upcoming Dismantling Racism Commission eventsMonthly meetings on the first Saturday of the month, 10 AM to Noon as Trinity Episcopal Church, 600 N. Euclid in St. Louis City. (When holidays fall on that weekend, meeting is the second Saturday.)

Next training the next 14-hour workshop on dis-mantling institution-al racism is sched-uled for October 14-16, 2016.

Open House and presentation on December 3, 2016, 10 AM to Noon, location TBD.

Absalom Jones Commemoration will be held Feb. 11, 2017, from 9 AM to 1 PM at Em-manuel Church in Web-ster Groves.Website: diocesemo.org/DR

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Ascension Sunday at Trinity Church in St. CharlesEveryone is given a balloon as they leave the

communion rail. The congregation then release the white helium balloons after the final Alleluia of the Dismissal. This symbolizes the Ascension of Jesus into the clouds. We do this indoors so that there is no harm to the environment. In a few days the balloons deflate and drift down. —Nancy Noel, Acolyte Director at Trinity

Thank you Diocese of Missouri!

27 backpacks with school supplies and cash contributions for school children in rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan were deliv-ered by diocesan Epis-copal Church Women board members travel-ing to their annual pro-vincial meeting held this year in the Diocese of Northern Michi-gan. This was a joint project between the hosting diocese and the ECW groups in Province V of The Episcopal Church. Their theme was exploring the Five Marks of Mission. The back sacks were lovingly filled with supplies by 16 parishes and one 7th grade girl who wanted to give a bag just like her own to another 7th grade girl in th U.P.

Web link to this issue’s online galleries.

Navigate with your smart phone,or go old school and open your browser to:

diocesemo.org/June2016Seek

More photos, more videos, more hyperlinks, more related articles in this issue’s online location.

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All Saints Episcopal Church in St. Louis and Episcopal Church of the Ascen-sion in Northwoods have been discerning a merger. Both churches have now voted and their intent is to merge no later than December of 2017.

In recent history the two congregations have worked together, shared annual picnics, and this Pentecost Sunday held a first joint worship service at Ascension.

The ongoing work of merger details continues, and leadership of the two congregations meets on June 25 to consider what joint worship will look like, talk about the church name, how the existing staff at each church will integrate into the new structure, and how the church will maintain a presence to North St. Lou-is City. Current plans are for the two churches to worship together at Ascension as the merger progresses.

Parts of the merger process will happen at different times, and it is likely that a new by-laws will not be ready until closer to the Dec. 2017 date. The questions involved with joint worship are now being discerned. Ascension’s music director Susan Young recently answered the call to also work with All Saints and has been supporting the music at Sunday services in both churches. Deacon Deborah Gold-feder has been serving both parishes since March. This is possible because All Saints' service is currently held earlier on Sundays than Ascension's.

Please continue to pray for these two parishes as they discern their work towards a merger.

Photo from the joint worship on Pentecost held at Church of the Ascension. A stitched panorama from Ron Goldfeder.

The vote to merge

Diocesan Facebook page Facebook.com/ EpiscopalDioceseOfMissouri

Cycle of Prayers is on Twitter.com/DioceseMONews from bishop and parishes Twitter.com/DioMoNews

Join our pinners! Pinterest.com/DioceseMO

Re-gramming parish and diocesan selfies and mission Instagram.com/MissouriEpiscopal

Join the conversationon social media

15


AppointmentsThe Rev. Loren Lasch was appointed by

Bishop Wayne as Diocesan Youth Missioner. She begins her tenure on July 18, 2016.

Deacon Jerre Birdsong was appointed Diocesan Disaster Coordinator He has just com-pleted training with Episcopal Relief and Devel-opment, and looks forward to working with the parishes of the diocese on this important topic.

On May 11, Ms Barbi Click was appointed by Bishop Wayne Diocesan Jubilee Officer.

Clergy newsThe Rev Teresa Danieley resigned as rec-

tor of St John's Church in Tower Grove Her last Sunday was Easter.

The Rev. Johnette Shane resigned as rec-tor of Trinity Church in Kirksville and has been called to be the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family in Park Forest, IL. Her last Sunday in Kirksville was Easter.

The Rev. Dan Appleyard announced his retirement as rector of Emmanuel Church in Webster Groves. His last Sunday will be June 26, 2016.

Graduating this May from Sewanee were the Rev Dr. Pamela Dolan with the D.Min. de-gree and the Rev Jon Stratton with the Diplo-ma in Anglican Studies.

Bishop Wayne will be taking one month of deferred sabbatical in addition to his one month of vacation. He will be away from the office from late June through late August.

This summer in June, some of our deacons are participating in the triennial Association of Episcopal Deacons meeting in Chaska MN.

Clergy deathsThe Rev J. Stephen Barber, vicar of Trinity

Episcopal Church in St. James, died April 19, 2016, of complications from surgery.

Supporting Children in DetentionI recently received a call from the staff at St. Louis City Juvenile De-

tention Center at 10:30 PM asking if I could come in. There was a child who needed me.

You see, Mike had just found out that he had lost his fourteen-year-old sister to gun violence. He was very upset after receiving the news. When I ar-rived at the detention center, Mike’s grandparents were there with him. I had the opportunity to pray with the family and give words of encouragement during this very difficult time for them.

Episcopal City Mission (ECM) has been partnering with juvenile deten-tion for over 60 years. Our role as ECM chaplains is unique because we are the ones the center calls when a youth needs to talk about religion, God or faith. As Nathan Graves, Assistant Superintendent of the St. Louis City Juve-nile Detention Center said at ECM’s annual meeting, “Our staff by rule are not allowed to engage deeply into these topics. If not for ECM, this connection to their faith would be left to their own questioning, at a time when they need the most guidance.”

ECM’s Executive Staff, Beth Goad and Rhonda Choflet, and Chaplains, Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker, Jeff Fabbiano, and I bear witness to a God full of surprises and special healing powers. Thanks to you and other Episcopal City Mission friends and supporters, we share our trust and faith in God with these children every day in the Juvenile Centers in St. Louis.

God’s people have always offered hope and healing to those in need. Let us do it together again on behalf of hurting children.

—the Rev. Kevin L. Aldridge, Chaplain, Episcopal City Mission

Community of HopeThe Community of Hope at the Church of St. Michael and St George

announces a new training program to be held at the church in the Fall of 2016. The Community of Hope (COH) is a Christian community of lay pas-toral care givers united in prayer, shaped by Benedictine spirituality, and trained for pastoral ministry. Lay pastoral caregivers are taught a minis-try of presence in order to bring the presence of Christ to the suffering.

Community of Hope members give spiritual care to people in hos-pitals, prisons, nursing homes, homeless shelters and private homes. Please consider joining this very personal and important ministry.

The fall class will meet 5:30-8:30 pm on Thursdays, September 8- December 1.

Informational meetings will be held in the library at St. Michael’s on Thursday, June 2 from 5:30-6:30 PM and Sunday, June 12 from 11:30-12;30 after the summer 10:00 AM service.

For more information, contact Nancy Ferriss at 314.974.3386 or Mary Ann Cook at 314.726.5860.

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Introducing (some) of Deaconess Anne House 4.0

Tell your graduate about Deaconess Anne House!Deaconess Anne House is still recruiting recent college grad-

uates for a year of non-profit internship, spiritual formation and intentional community in the heart of St Louis.

We are delighted to be almost to capacity but are still accept-ing applications.

Go to www.esc-stl.org to learn more and apply. Meet some of our incoming members of the fourth class of

the Deaconess Anne House (2016-2017), Episcopal Service Corps. (Not pictured is Samantha Prescott.) Jose Marks

Alaina Monts

Katie Morse

Douglas Hulsether

Chris Sturgeon and Julie Nguyen arrived at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Manchester three years ago and they imme-diately felt welcomed and at home. And they wanted to share that feeling of welcome with the rest of the community.

Long-time St Luke’s rector Bill Luley retired in Dec. 2014 and the parish has been discerning, with the help of interim rector Doris Westfall, their path towards calling their next leader. Part of that process is identifying who they are, and where they are called in faith to go as a community.

Chris has some training in film making and Julie is an avid creator of short videos. They toyed with the idea of a high produc-tion video to introduce St. Luke’s to poten-tial candidates and church members, but the high cost associated with that high pro-duction value slowed them down. Until they decided to just do it, make what they called a ‘low rent’ video, and work smart with tools at hand. The result was a video that feels homey and authentic, much like the feeling of welcome they experience at St. Luke’s.

For the Love of St. Luke'sChris shared some tricks, such as run-

ning two cameras, with two focus lengths; using a laptop as an editing tool or “slate” with a word document identifying each video take. He plans to write a top ten list of techniques for parishes to use, and both he and Julie are happy to consult with a church just starting down this path.

They filmed over the course of two Saturdays. Six people interviewed. All ques-tions were provided in advance to help peo-ple feel more comfortable. No make-up or fancy dress, it was about grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down with a friend to tell them why you love your church. Julie edited using iMovie, an application that came with her computer.

They have great hopes for the little parish, to see it grow and be present in the community, to share their enthusiasm for Jesus and the warmth of their worship at St Luke’s.

You can view (and vote on) the two vid-eo versions on the diocesan Facebook page or for a direct link, as well as video tips from

Chris, visit: diocesemo.org/june2016seek.

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“I feel called to a vocation,” she told me, “but I don’t feel led to ordination. I feel neither fish nor fowl. What am I supposed to do?”

And I replied, “You may be called to a different path. Have you ever heard of the Micah Society?”

An increasing number of Christians are embracing the ancient practice of “Christian communities,” but updated for the 21st century. Some call their commu-nities “new monastic orders,” others “re-ligious societies” or “fellowships,” but they all have two things in common: they are composed of like-minded people who wish to lead a deeper, sanctified life with Jesus, and dedicated to a specific mission. Such is the Micah Society.

The Micah Society is a society of Chris-tians who lead a sanctified life by dedicating themselves to the Five Marks of Mission and following The Practices.

The Five Marks of Mission are the guidelines created by the Anglican Con-sultative Council which summarizes the meanings and manifestations of mission. They are:

1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom.

2. To teach, baptize, and nurture new believers.

3. To respond to human needs with loving service.

4. To seek to transform unjust struc-tures of society, to challenge vio-lence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation.

5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of Creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

The Micah SocietyA Different Path

by Deacon Kevin McGrane

Members of the Micah Society em-brace and study the Five Marks, finding within them each person’s specific call to a ministry, be it meeting a human need, addressing an injustice, or raising up new disciples in God’s church. The Society will help each person find their ministry and support them in their efforts.

The Practices, a program of spiritual formation, helps each member deepen and sanctify their lives in Jesus Christ. St. Ben-edict has his Rule, AA has the 12 Steps, and the Micah Society has its Practices. They are practices and prayers that are simple and adaptable to every person’s life. They are segmented into Daily, Weekly, Month-ly, Quarterly, and Annual practices. For example:

Daily: Pray a Daily Office, or a daily devotional, or some other daily program of prayer; at noon, make a Particular Exam-ination of Conscience; sometime during the day, read a portion of Sacred Scripture; in the evening, make a General Examination of Conscience.

How The Practices are arranged, and how they are lived, is unique for each and every member of the Society, for each of us are unique people with our own unique life-demands. The Society encourages the

freedom to explore how you can live out the Practices, and will support you in your efforts.

These two foundations—the Five Marks and The Practices— form the basis of the Micah Society. They are deeply root-ed in community spirituality, and respect-ing the demands and the freedoms of the lay life. A person who wishes to consider joining the Micah Society goes through a 6 month discernment program during which time they take courses on the Five Marks and The Practices, as well as participate in the Society's meetings and get-togethers.

The Society wants each and every prospective member to fully understand what the Society is and what it is about, so prospective members will engage fully in Society life during those six months: there are no surprises down the road with the Society. The prospective member does not go through any interview process or testing during the six months—the discernment decision is completely with them, not with the Society.

At the end of six months, if the person discerning a vocation with the Society is ready, she or he will be commissioned as

Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece: Prophet Micah, about 1431

continued on page 20

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The two Sunday services were full, getting to the point of people bumping into one another with parking becoming more challenging. And the people of Calvary Church in Columbia were involved in broad-er conversations about worship, about changing patterns for American families on Sundays, and the parish’s commitment to Christian formation. So, how to envision a new service?

“We needed a service and liturgy acces-sible to families with young children,” began Calvary’s rector, the Rev. Knute Jacobson. This past fall they started a 9 AM family service based upon the Rite Place liturgy (developed by Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL, and published by Church Publishing), but adapted it to the culture of the parish. “We’re finding that not only families with young children, but people in their 70s, and seekers just learning about Christianity are attending and saying, ‘This is pretty cool, I like this.’”

The service is held in the Chapel, a fully-outfitted, yet smaller worship space that has a cross, with a screen that can drop down to illustrate the sermon being preached. “We’re inviting everyone into the Gospel, watching as they hear the story unfold. And hoping to reach children with media they are familiar with,” said Father Knute. Familiar traditional and contempo-rary hymns are sung with fresh accompani-ments using guitars and violin, sometimes piano. It is an Episcopal eucharistic liturgy and there are roles for the children to help with the service, which lasts a joyous 45 minutes. Afterwards, children may choose to go to Sunday School.

Informal conversations and a card survey two Easters ago, when Calvary is typ-ically filled with children, asked “If we were to offer a child friendly service, would you have any potential interest?” The response was positive. Vestry considered the vi-brance of the church with so many children there on Easter. ‘Would it be possible to add a service for families without taking away the things dear to us’—the spoken 8 AM liturgy using the more traditional language of Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer, the 10:30 AM choral eucharist using Rite II (keeping the children’s chapel part of that service intact), and Sunday School? They had to negotiate the times of services and length of Sunday School, but were excited about reaching a new cohort of people.

Designing the service over that next summer fell to pastoral associate the Rev. Cathy Rosenholtz, ordained in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). It dovetailed a parallel discussion Pastor Cathy was having with a newly-gathered Christian formation team focused on de-veloping a seamless formation from birth to the end of grade 12. “So that by the time kids go off to college or their next step after high school, they are going with a strong, grounded and confirmed Episcopal faith,” said Cathy.

The non-negotiables, as Father Knute and Pastor Cathy saw it were: child and family friendly, shorter, liturgical, eucharis-tic, Episcopal, and welcoming. “We wanted a particular welcome to kids at all stages… welcome to wiggle or color or make noise,” said Cathy Worshiping as a family was hap-pening at the 10:30 AM service, but with an

adult centered liturgy. This service flipped the perspective.

Cathy began with the Rite Place lit-urgy, simplified some of the language and the formatting, working along the way with parents and Sunday School teachers. With a child sized altar, children may participate in all aspects of the service with gentle sup-port from adult guides, serving as acolytes, ushers, and communion assistants. From her Lutheran tradition, Cathy drew upon her experience of introducing the ELCA’s new (2006) worship book to the metro New York area. “A hallmark of that book is flexi-bility within the order of the liturgy: gath-ering, word, meal, and sending,” similar to both the Episcopal and Rite Place liturgies.

She also tied in materials that Calvary has used for the past 20+ years in Sunday School formation, The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd from the Roman Catholic tradition which uses a “sort of Montessori approach which is very centered and litur-gical.” The end result is an Episcopal ser-vice, within the framework of the "Rite III" provisions of our Prayer Book.

The new service launched after All Saints’ Sunday. Calvary is reaching out to the public and new people are finding this service. For instance, Downtown Columbia sponsors a family friendly “Halloweenie” af-ter-school event. Along with candy, Calvary passed out invitations to the service.

They continue to have adult formation class, which overlaps the family service time. Some adults are choosing the service and Calvary may add an additional forma-tion class for those adults. The service is now attended by 30-35, and has welcomed

Welcoming Wiggles: Calvary Church in Columbia's new family communion service

19


as many as 47 on a recent Sunday, about the maximum number of participants the small chapel can hold. So the tweaking continues as the service develops.

“This is a service where the youngest among us and those new to liturgical wor-ship feel welcome. We say ‘Let us show you and invite you to participate,’” said Cathy.

Calvary has added additional encoun-ters with formation and worship outside the church doors. This past Lent, members

met on Sunday evenings for dinner church, ”to share a meal and talk about church without the physical structures, how to cel-ebrate faith together, learn to pray together, to bear one another’s burdens and support each other,” said Knute.

Cathy and the formation team are also sharing Christian education materials for parents to use at home to supplement their worship and formation activities at the church. “In the time of Jesus,” said Knute,

“the home was the locus of learning.” That resonates with Cathy. “Martin Luther cre-ated the Small Catechism so parents could teach their children at home.”

You'll find links to Calvary’s news-letters and other materials mentioned in this article online at diocesemo.org/June-2016Seek, and you are always welcome to contact leadership at Calvary or participate in the family service at 9 AM on Sunday in Calvary’s Chapel.

“Fat Albert” Comes to Dwell at the Lohman Prayer Garden

by Jeanie Bryant

The tranquility of The Salvation Army Lohman Prayer Gar-den in Jefferson City was the perfect setting for the tree planting and dedication of the tree in memory of Mary Elizabeth Lee, wife of the Rev. Dr Marc Smith. Forty parishioners and friends, in-cluding Prince and Sylvia Thomas from St. Louis, gathered at the grape arbor at 11:00 on the morning of April 9. Salvation Army Major Richard Trimmell welcomed us and expressed his thanks for what the parish has done in the garden over the years.

Those who arrived early were able to watch Don Mueller and his landscaping crew guide the giant auger through the earth in the hillside overlooking the car wash. We said a short prayer be-fore the drilling, hoping the auger would not encounter bedrock. Fortunately, it did not! The landscapers amended the soil with compost and the “Fat Albert” Blue Spruce was placed beside the hole, waiting to be planted.

After the Major’s brief remarks, the Rev. Marshall Crossnoe and Ted Koenig accompanied us with guitars and led us in sing-ing “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” as we processed down the path and over the bridge to the tree planting area. A crew of Grace parishioners had worked over the past month to “spruce up” the garden, and additional flowering plants and palms were added along the pathway.

The beautiful liturgy, crafted by Fr. Marc seemed to capture the holy ground of the garden. His homily spoke of wisdom and his love for Mary and her life dedicated to community ministry.

Marc’s granddaughter, Cait Catanzaro, and his grandson Wil-liam "Willy" Williams participated in the dedication ceremony.

Since Mary was a breeder of championship Airedales, Marc brought the ashes of her beloved pets to the garden to be interred below the tree’s roots. Willy, Cait, and Marc scattered the ashes in the hole waiting to receive the tree. The Rev. Shariya Molegoda blessed the stately tree and the ashes. Cait placed the granite memorial marker by the Blue Spruce. As the chilly winds of this beautifully sunlit day swirled about the cedar trees, we sang “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” and lingered while the tree was placed in the ground.

Thanks be to God.

Photo of Marc Smith, grandson Willy and granddaughter Cait.

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While Episcopal Church Women con-sider every woman member of the denom-ination a ‘member’ the reality is far from this ideal. For years the diocesan ECW has had an annual meeting or conference, often with workshops and speakers. This year the ECW board came up with an idea to both give a gift to women in the diocese that was physically and spiritually nourishing and to reach those not previously that involved with ECW. They gave a gift of a 24 hour retreat at the Pallottine Renewal Center. The board had enough funds to pay for 50 women to spend the night and have meals.

The plan was to share news of this

invitation at the spring diocesan Leader-ship Conference. A few days before that conference, the planned retreat facilitator discovered they were not able to make the date, and in 48 hours ECW president (and just back from her wedding) Cheryl Ward Gaynor found a retreat leader, a new date, a different location, and got invitation materi-als in time for the planned release.

Pamela Dolan, rector of Good Shep-herd Church and visionary of Shepherd Farm led “From the Wilderness to the Garden.” Women were asked to bring Bibles and prayer books, and a snack to share at arrival on Friday afternoon.

from the Wilderness to the Garden

a gift of retreat to Episcopal women from the diocesan Episcopal Church Women board at the annual meeting April 29-30, 2016 at Pallottine Retreat Center in Florissant

from the Wilderness to the GardenCarole Holtwick from Christ Church

Cathedral brought two arms full of flowers from her garden that perfumed the chapel and center. Another Cathedral member, Eliz-abeth Watkins, heard about the retreat from Carole. She hadn’t been to a retreat for many years and was pleased with the “fellowship and spirituality.” Meeting other women from around the diocese was a bonus. Machelle West from Ascension felt refreshed after the retreat. “The Bible study, exploring Scripture that took us through both the wilderness and the garden was a wonderful time for learning and reflection. The services of Compline, Morning Prayer and the closing eucharist were renewing and uplifting. I think God heard us singing and was very pleased,” she said. Lori Fisher from Good Shepherd appre-ciated the small group discussions around ‘wilderness’ “I was grateful for the women who shared their stories about how they are living (or had managed through) feelings of being alone in their personal wilderness.”

The ECW board bought Thistle Farms products at cost and sold them at the retreat, all proceeds going to Magdalene St. Louis. The gratitude continued with a collection for United Thank Offering.

“Pamela Dolan took us on a journey thru Exodus, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Job, and onto Matthew, Mark and Luke,” said ECW board vice-president Jeanne King. “As we sojourned though the Biblical wilderness and gardens, we shared our own wilder-ness and garden stories, both physical and personal. I was touched to see the beauty in wilderness revealed by the women.”

Micah Society continued

a member with the “Commissioning for Christian Service” liturgy on page 420 of the Book of Common Prayer. The commission-ing is not an ordination and is not binding like ordination, but it is a serious commit-ment made by the member before God and the community.

There are no charges for anything with the Society. All training and class material

is free. There are no dues or tithing. From time to time, if some expenses like a room rental for meetings occur, we will pass the hat. Costs for retreats must be paid by the individual members.

This life can be led as normally as any-one’s lay life, or as dedicated as a member of a common life group - whatever manifes-tation various members of the Society wish to try. It’s up to the Holy Spirit to lead one’s

vocation, not the Society. The Society exists to follow the guidance of Micah 6:8: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (NIV)

If the simple explanations above speak to you, and you wish to know more about The Micah Society, feel free to contact me, Deacon Kevin McGrane, at St. John’s-Tower Grove, or email me at [email protected].

21


Stories of ResurrectionAt the midpoint of their year in community at Deaconess Anne House, Epis-copal Service Corps members reflected on life—in the house, in the commu-nity, in this diocese. DAH Director the Rev. Rebecca Ragland wrote, “Life in community offers almost constant opportunities for transformation. As you read these updates, may you be blessed by the witness of God's faithfulness and know that God is indeed renewing the stagnate places of your life too.”

Intentional Community Living Change and Stability by Martin Geiger

One of the great things about Deacon-ess Anne House is our backyard - there’s a old brick wall with a mural by neighbor-hood artist Jamaica Ray, a great patio, and best of all, a firepit. But as great as our back-yard is, I’d sort of forgotten it was there over the winter. The plants were dead, it was cold, and it was a good time to be indoors. So when, on a recent Monday, someone brought up the idea of having Eucharist outside, I was quick to be concerned. Wasn’t it cold? I still hadn’t adjusted to the fact that spring had actually arrived in St. Louis, and that it was, if not warm, at least tolerable.

But as we gathered our things and moved outside, built a fire, and prepared to have church together, it was perfectly nice out, and I found myself seeing my house-mates in new ways, hearing them different-ly, and reminded of the strong connections we’ve built. a good time to be indoors. So when, on a recent Monday, someone brought up the idea of having Eucharist outside, I was quick to be concerned. Wasn’t it cold? I still hadn’t adjusted to the fact that spring had actually arrived in St. Louis, and that it was, if not warm, at least tolerable.

But as we gathered our things and moved outside, built a fire, and prepared to have church together, it was perfectly nice out, and I found myself seeing my house-mates in new ways, hearing them different-ly, and reminded of the strong connections we’ve built.

We can sing together more easily, even

as we struggle to read the words in the fire-light. We’ve learned more about each other through the discussions we’ve had about the Gospel. As we passed the bread and wine among us. I realized that even as we all make plans for next year, there’s plenty of new life and connection still to be found within our community.

That ongoing sense of new life and deeper connection is a wonderful part of the Easter season for me. Several of us took a hike in a nearby state park recently, and there too I was noticing signs of spring everywhere. These chances to be outside for the first time this spring have given me a whole new space to be with my fellow corps mem-bers, and to explore our life together. As we move further into spring, I’m excited to find more ways to be outside, to be out in the neighbor-hood, and for our backyard to be part of our life to-gether again.

New Spiritual Insight by Sophie Lively

One of the greatest appeals of a year of service with the Episcopal Church was the chance to explore my spirituality through the lens of a different tradition and apart from the influence of my parents. I hoped the year would provide opportunities to grow in faith and experience God in new ways. It certainly has.

“Spiritual Direction”—like much Epis-copal vocabulary—was a new term for me this year. I decided to give it a go, and I’m glad I did! You Episcopalians know a thing or two about practices that enrich faith life. For me, spiritual direction has been the most spiritually formative part of this year. In the deep and personal conversations that are part of this practice, I have begun to learn about the grace of God in a way that is finally real to me and have glimpsed God’s unconditional love—love that envelops me even when I fail in so many ways to live well in community.

Through all of this chaotic and some-times destabilizing spiritual development, it is fellowship with the parishioners at St. Barnabas and my friends at Deaconess Anne House that has fed and sustained me. Thank you for this opportunity to experi-ence God anew.

22


“I love that church and its peo-ple,” began Joanne Harwood, member of Trinity Church in Kirksville. Being in a wheelchair made her participa-tion as lector and chalice bearer nigh impossible. “Johnnette [Johnnette Shane, Trinity’s vicar through March of this year, now called as rector of a church in Illinois] was wonderful about bringing me communion every week,” she continued, “but I missed the church.”

Trinity has completed a new accessible entrance with elevator to the lower level where parish hall and kitchen and newly refitted bathrooms are located. No easy task when your building is on the Historic Register, and a large outlay of cash for a small, rural mission.

“You know we tried setting up the church so handicapped could be carried in. We discussed and dis-cussed and discussed how to remedy the entrance but we didn’t have enough money or the nerve to get the project started.” Joanne sees Johnette as being a catalyst committed to the project. “She said we’re going to do this,” and building proj-ect manager Krista Baker helped make the impossible possible for the little church, “Lord knows how they accomplished that,” said Joanne.

On Joanne's first Sunday using the new entrance, as Tim Baker pushed her wheel-chair through the door and they emerged from the elevator, everyone clapped. “I got so excited, I thought I might have a heart attack.”

At her previous parish in California, she was a lay reader and eucharistic min-ister. “Since I’ve been in the wheelchair, didn’t think I’d be able to do that again.” But Joanne has been Chalice bearer twice and is on the rota. The technique is a bit different from a sitting position. “You get a different perspective on getting the chalice to peo-ple.” She finds that many people are reticent to touch the chalice because it is holy. And she chuckles when she recounts her conver-sations with other chalice bearers about the universal problems: big hats and big mous-taches.

The new entrance is acclaimed as beautiful. Artwork makes it welcoming. “The bishop was thrilled with it when he visited,” she said. “He could not picture from the description how beautiful it was. And that’s the way we all feel, it makes your heart swell.”

The people of Trinity are still working on paying for the addition and are grateful for donations. A popular fundraiser this year was a calendar, and there are still a few left. Send a note and a donation by post to the church.

The Return of the Chalice Bearer

The people of Trinity Episcopal Church in Kirksville wave helo, Joanne Harwood is front and center.

23


“Hmmm, could we do this?” was a thought shared by many in November 2014 at the diocesan convention in Cape Gi-rardeau. We watched a video about a Laun-dry Love project in California. “Hmmm, we could do that,” was the thought in the mind of Paul Jokerst from Transfiguration Church in Lake St. Louis and Bill Cramer from Trinity Church in St. Charles.

Both men went home and began talking to their churches.

Laundry Love began with a conver-sation over 12 years ago between a church member and a homeless man. When asked how the church might “come alongside your life in a way that would matter” he said “If I had clean clothes I think people would treat me like a human being.” In Cape Girardeau, Mike Angell introduced us to a video pro-duced about an Episcopal Church that showed up at a laundromat regularly with soap and money to pay for the machines for the homeless and impoverished com-munity. That shared time together in the laundromat became one of fellowship and connection, and had a profound effect on everyone participating.

Bill and Paul found interest in their churches. The next step was to work out a structure of the program and apply for a New Ventures in Community Ministry grant, which they received from Diocesan Council. That grant was announced at last year’s convention in St. Louis, and the two churches took that time to work out the fine details.

Finding a laundromat wasn’t sup-posed to be the hard part! But not all own-ers wanted to try this new thing, or had anxiety about ‘allowing’ the population in their business. Paul knew the owner of Star Crest Laundry in St. Charles. Not only did they agree to be the location, they put an extra staff person on duty to help during

the laundry nights and donated 50 lbs. of laundry soap, with more to come when that runs out.

And the first night they had partici-pate—drum roll, please—just one person. But each time there are more to do laundry, and always they have found out by word of mouth from other members of the com-munity. This past month they did about 18 loads. Bill said, If you haven’t recently been to a laundromat, you might be surprised to see that the larger machines that can handle 3-4 conventional machine loads cost $5 per load.”

Some folks want to talk, some are happy to relax with the hum of the washing machines and dryers. Members of both churches are on site. Bill has a good friend from St. John’s AME Church in St. Charles who volunteers. Church members brought sandwiches and small personal care packages to distribute, and now Tranfig’s Lord’s Table group is looking at alternating bringing food with Trinity. Paul has begun discussions with the St. Louis group that has a mobile shower bus to visit on laundry nights. This is a community effort.

Both of the churches collect funds for the machines, Bill has a large jar he pass-es around at his Bible Study and other groups at St. John’s and Trinity.

Getting people to know about the laundry evenings has meant a lot of contact with social service providers and also some word of mouth. Paul is a police officer and also begin-ning discernment for police chaplaincy. In the course of an investi-

gation he spoke to homeless persons and decided to return the next day to talk to them about the laundry project about to begin. He was in his uniform still, but he told them he was there on personal busi-ness and wanted to them to know about a program of the churches and diocese. “We have a new ministry with funds for once-a-month to wash your clothes for free, if that doesn’t offend you.” Paul saw expressions change when he added that last clause. One man had a few tears and said he had not ever had contact with a police officer that cared about his situation. That man has been to every laundry night since and helps spread word in the community. It was a revelatory moment for Paul, who has been thinking for years about a path to po-lice chaplaincy, to help build relationship between police and community. “It’s not only right, it’s needed,” he said.

Will the program continue? Are other volunteers needed? Right now the plan is to work the bumps out and build community. Both vestries are tracking the progress. The hope is that other church-es will participate, either with their own laundry love nights or helping out in St. Charles. You can talk to Paul or Bill, or learn more about these kinds of programs around the country at laundrylove.org.

Laundry Love in St. Charles

24


The Certainty within the Mystery by Barbi ClickWhen I first saw her, I could tell she

was near tears. A volunteer had come to tell me that there was a young woman that I needed to see. She was a small woman with a backpack cutting into her shoulders. She looked as though she was carrying the weight of the world.

As soon as I said hello, her eyes filled with tears. She told me her story. She was homeless, her car was out of gas, and she and her two month old baby had spent the night in the park. She had three more chil-dren with her but she was able to find them a place to stay for the night. The problem was that she had nowhere to spend the night and this night, she would have all the children with her. She was frightened.

A major blessing of working at Trinity Food Ministry is having a nurse from Dea-coness Faith Community Nurse Ministries (faithnurses.org) there. While my resource list is growing, I am often at a loss as to help people when their needs are so far beyond the immediate need of food. I introduced her to our nurse.

This was all just a part of the story. She began working for a man four years ago. He was disabled and needed help around the house. She and her little girl moved in with him. The man had two children of his own that came to live with him after their moth-er went to prison for drugs. At some point, the relationship between the man and the young woman became romantic and later, she became pregnant.

She left his house with all the children after the man was arrested for hitting her. While she had a place at a domestic violence shelter, she could not take his two children there because she did not have custody of them. As a result, she couldn’t enter into the shelter until she found a place for the two. Their grandmother was coming from Kansas City to pick them up but would not

be able to be in St. Louis until the following day. That left her one more night with four children.

After many phone calls, we were able to get her into a motel for the night so that she and the children would be safe. Arrange-ments were made for her to meet the grand-mother and for the shelter to pick her up. I filled a bag with food and other necessities for the evening and she was on her way. As far as we know, all things worked out.

That’s the thing, isn’t it? The Mystery. The Great Unknowing. We do what we think we are supposed to do, to help, to pray, to offer food and drink, then we simply have to rely on the idea that it all was enough. That it was exactly what we were supposed to do. That God heard our prayers.

As a culture, we seek certainty. We want to know that what we do matters. We want to know that if we do good things, good things will follow, that all will be well simply because we think that is the way it should be.

Yet, the only certainty in life is that it will end at some point. We can try to force the is-sue but all in all, life happens and sometimes it is very messy regardless of how we try to fix it. At some point, all we have is faith.

Faith is a mystery. God is a mystery. It is what it is. Simply. Profoundly. Mystery.

We accept that we have been command-ed to help the “least of these”, to feed, to tend, to care for the children of God who are less able to care for themselves.

No car. No phone. No money. The young woman could have turned the two children over to Family Services. But she didn’t. She put herself at risk to make certain they were handed over to a family member rather that slipped into a system where they could dis-appear under mounds of red tape. She had a faith that she was doing the right thing.

It often feels as though the problems of this world are so large and so numerous

that it threatens to overwhelm me. I feel smothered by the need surrounding me. But community pulls me out from under the cloud, fills me with the breath of God so that I can walk up to the next person with God’s smile in my eyes and say, “Hel-lo. How can I help you today?

It is in that common core of commu-nity that I find my life. It is in the midst of that community that I know I am called to beckon to others. How do I know that? I don’t know “how”, I only know that I do know. It is that mystery.

It is in that mystery that regardless of where that young woman ended up, I know that along her way, she found a short respite where people cared enough to sit, to pray, to listen, and then to do what could be done. She searched out and found a community that could help her. I trust that it was what was needed at that moment in time.

Barbi moved here from Texas in 2008 after an eight-month pilgrimage with her partner and son. Invited to numerous parishes and colleges, they listened to the stories of gays and straights alike, from California to Ohio, at a critical time in the life of The Episcopal Church. They found a home at St. Paul’s, Carondelet. Barbi manages the Food Minis-try (TFM) atTrinity Church/CWE and is a licensed Lay Preacher at St. Paul’s. An Episcopalian since 1985, she holds a Master of Theological Education de-gree from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth.

6-2016 Seek: voices of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

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