Inside The Harvest From the Bishop
Bishop Wolfe reflects on the 10 years since he became a bishop and noted that it has been both a long time and a short time. Page 2
Help send youth to EYE
Do you want to help provide a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience for some diocesan youth? Help them get to the Episcopal Youth Event next summer in Philadelphia. Page 4
Christians and Muslims
The Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler has spent most of his life living in predominantly Muslim countries. He has found more in common between Islam and Christianity than you might think. Page 5
Bishop Kemper School receives $50,000 ministry grant By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest The Bishop Kemper School for Ministry has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Roanridge Trust for its groundbreaking work in providing local education of lay or ordained leaders. This was the largest of the nine grants given, which together totaled $170,000. There were 29 applications submitted. The Roanridge Trust supports transformative work in the Episcopal Church, especially in ministry to small towns and rural areas. It awards yearly grants. The school’s dean, the Very Rev. Andrew Grosso, said he applied for the grant because the school needs to expand its program development and administrative oversight, especially as it seeks to find new ways to deliver its content to the people of the four dioceses that own the school — Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas. Grosso said the school’s board will discuss how to implement
the grant when it meets after the first of the year. In announcing the grant, the Rev. Sam McDonald, director of mission for the Episcopal Church, said, “We are assured that it will further the work of the gospel through your programs and look forward to hearing about its progress.” While the Bishop Kemper School educates people to serve in a variety of ministry settings, bishops in the owning dioceses have said a pressing need is leadership development for clergy to serve small congregations, often in rural areas of the Midwest. The school, which holds classes in Topeka once a month for 10 months a year, not only is less expensive than a traditional residential seminary, but students do not have to give up their jobs or uproot their families while they study. The current cost to attend is $1,800 a year. Priests normally study for three years and deacons for two. (Please see Grant, page 3)
Bishop Thomas Vail
In 2014 the diocese will mark the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the first bishop, Thomas Vail. To get ready, you can read more about the life of this remarkable frontier bishop. Page 6
BKSM students prepare for new church needs
Episcopal anniversary
By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest
A few photos help illustrate some of the work and ministry of Bishop Wolfe during the 10 years since his ordination and consecration as the ninth bishop of Kansas. Page 7
Informally dubbed “Venture House,” ESS opened its doors on Jan. 6, 1983, in a house across the alley from St. John’s in Wichita. The
Episcopal churches in the Midwest in the 21st century find themselves in a new reality that mirrors what is happening across the nation — fewer people are involved in organized religion, more people identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” and the culture no longer places churches, and church membership, in an exalted position. The Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, which was formed this summer by four area dioceses, aims to educate lay and clergy leaders in a new way, to meet the new challenges churches now face. The Very Rev. Andrew Grosso, the school’s dean, said that in recent years it has become very clear that the role the church plays in American society is changing. “We used to be seen as the provider of spiritual goods, the chaplains to the culture” he said. “And the culture supported that mission and the place of the church in society.” But now, “that’s over,” he said. “There’s been a cultural shift.” This means that the church is beginning to rethink what it means to be a Christian community in the 21st century, a process that starts at the local level and eventually will continue with dioceses, provinces and the entire Episcopal Church. That process is a hard one, he said, but it does prompt new questions about how leaders should be formed and educated for this new understanding of how to be the body of Christ in the world. Grosso said the Bishop Kemper School is asking those questions and shaping the education it provides so potential clergy and lay leaders have the skills they need. He said increasingly parishes will need clergy who serve the church while earning their salary from secular employers. Some may
(Please see ESS, page 5)
(Please see Students, page 3)
Good Apple Award
Good Shepherd, Wichita, received a special award from the Wichita Public Schools to recognize the church’s work with at-risk students in more than a dozen schools. Page 8
Supreme Worthy President Debhra Fegan of Church of the Covenant in Junction City now heads the Social Order of the Beauceant, a Christian women’s organization within the Masonic fraternity. Page 9
ER-D gets major grants
Episcopal Relief and Development has received two grants from major foundations, including one for a million dollars, to expand its work in Zambia and in Ghana. Page 10
Special Haiti collection
All Episcopalians are called to make a special contribution on Jan. 12 to the effort to rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Page 11
Christmas message
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori offers her annual Christmas message. Page 12
Submitted photo
A building named Venture House was the first home of Episcopal Social Services in Wichita. The agency opened in January 1983, and it is commemorating its 30th anniversary at the end of 2013.
Wichita’s ESS marks 30 years of service By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest In 1982, the churches of the Southwest Convocation took a bold step. At the urging of Bishop Richard Grein and using funds from the diocesan Venture in Mission campaign earmarked for local efforts, they created Episcopal Social Services in Wichita. From its beginning ESS had a two-fold purpose: help the poor, and provide a place where church members could express the love of Christ through service to others. Dr. Barbara Andres, ESS’s executive director, said, “Over the past 30 years, thousands of people have entered through the door of Episcopal Social Services to find God’s love through kind words, a warm meal, help with a financial problem or learning to cope with mental illness. In 1983
a group of faithful Episcopalians listened to God’s urging to start a social service agency that would help the poor and disabled, and Kansas Episcopal churches continue to support the ministries of ESS.” Today, ESS has evolved into a broad-based social service agency that serves people of all faiths in Wichita. Since its founding it has served more than 30,000 people. ESS decided to mark its anniversary at the end of 2013, to coincide with its annual appeal to Episcopalians in the Wichita area for financial support.
Opened in January 1983
2 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
From the Bishop
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe
Publisher: The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Bishop Editor: Melodie Woerman A member of Episcopal News Service and Episcopal Communicators, The Harvest is published six times a year by the Office of Communications of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas: February, April, June, August, October and December. Stories, letters and photos are welcome. They will be used on a space-available basis and are subject to editing. Send all material (preferably in electronic format or by email) to: Melodie Woerman, editor The Harvest 835 SW Polk St. Topeka, KS 66612-1688 phone: (800) 473-3563 fax: (785) 235-2449 mwoerman@episcopal-ks.org Send address changes to: Receptionist 835 SW Polk St., Topeka, KS 66612-1688 receptionist@episcopal-ks.org Upcoming deadlines: January-February 2014 issue: Feb. 1 March-April issue: April 1 Subscription rate: $1.50 annually Third class mailing Permit No. 601, Topeka, Kansas POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Episcopal Diocese of Kansas 835 SW Polk St. Topeka, KS 66612-1688
The Anglican Communion
A global community of 70 million Anglicans in 38 member churches/provinces in more than 160 countries.
Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend and Right Honorable Justin Welby Lambeth Palace, London WE1 7JU, United Kingdom www.anglicancommunion.org Episcopal seat: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England
The Episcopal Church
A community of 2 million members in 109 dioceses in 16 countries in the Americas and abroad. Presiding Bishop The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (800) 334-7626 www.episcopalchurch.org Episcopal seat: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas
A community of more than 11,000 members in 46 congregations, two diocesan institutions and one school in eastern Kansas.
Bishop The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe 835 SW Polk Street, Topeka, KS 66612-1688 (785) 235-9255 (800) 473-3563 www.episcopal-ks.org Episcopal seat: Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka
Ten years as bishop? Time really has flown by Dear Friends, It is highly unusual to catch any clergyman, let alone a bishop, speechless. But I’ve been asked to reflect upon having completed my 10th year of service as Bishop of Kansas, and I’ve discovered I don’t really know what to say about this anniversary. People genuinely want to know if it has been a good 10 years for me and for my family. It has been, in ways far too numerous to list here.
More determined than ever
They want to know if I still am motivated by this work. I am. In fact, I am more determined than I have ever been to see this work successfully accomplished. And they want to know if I’ve solved the systemic problems that faced this diocese when I began. I haven’t, of course, even though I was (and still am) wildly enthusiastic about doing exactly that. But leadership is about vision and energy and gumption, and we have been able to do far more through an unrealistically positive outlook than we could ever have accomplished through a realistically negative approach. Ten years is both a long time and a short time. It is twice as long as I have been in any previous job I’ve held (in or out of the church), and it is a longer tenure than at least two of my predecessors. But it also feels as if this time literally has flown by. It feels to me as though it can’t possibly be 10 years since we gathered at Grace Cathedral in Topeka for my ordination, one of the most powerful moments of my life. But whenever I think 10 years couldn’t have passed, I remember our son, William, who was 11 at the time, and I compare that picture in my mind’s eye to the 21-year-old college junior who will come home to be with us this Christmas. Apparently it has been all of 10 years!
Triumphs as well as defeats
What I am aware of constantly is the abundant grace that has been part of this work over the years. Many of the decisions I have made in collaboration with members of the staff and the Council of Trustees have been difficult and complex. This has been a period of unprecedented turmoil in our denomination, and often the decisions we made collaboratively could have been decided differently. It is said that the satirist H. L. Mencken responded to his numerous critics with a one sentence letter. “You may well be right.” There has been a resilient sense of God’s amazing grace, blessing all our conflicts and our defeats, as well as our triumphs. I tell new bishops one of the great and underestimated resources of the office of a bishop are the prayers of the people. I was aware from the very beginning of my episcopate that the clergy and laity of this diocese were praying for me, and I cannot tell you what comfort and what strength that has brought to me over these past 10 years. I am particularly proud of the work we have done to unite the diocese and to focus on the work we can agree upon while refusing to be divided by the topics on which we disagree. We have done good work in sustaining our fine diocesan youth programs and in implementing a creative college campus ministries program. I believe our clergy are establishing deeper collegiality between one another, and the enthusiasm of our clergy seems to be quietly building. We have worked to draw gifted younger priests to our diocese and to balance the age of our clerical leadership. The diaconate continues to evolve and grow in a diocese that has a long history of excellence in this order, and our archdeacons continue to model sacrificial, servant leadership.
Newly consecrated Bishop Dean Wolfe stands with his wife, Ellen, and son, William, in Grace Cathedral, Topeka, on Nov. 8, 2003.
Following a tremendous economic downturn, our endowments are returning to historically high levels, and we continue to maintain a disciplined approach to costs and expenditures.
Staff excels in spite of turnover
The diocesan staff has experienced a fair amount of turnover in recent years, but not so much that our work has been completely disrupted. We are still coping with the loss of a campus ministry and a stewardship and development position, which puts our mission at a disadvantage. We have been able to attract excellent diocesan staff in every area of ministry, and we continue to look at strategies that would allow them to be deployed even more effectively. More people than ever before are in our ordination process, and all our efforts to combine the energies and resources of four dioceses are paying huge dividends in the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry. We continue to close in on our fundraising goals to complete the Leadership Center, even while we continue to identify people who have not yet experienced the joy of contributing to this effort. This school has the power to change our diocese for the next 100 years, and our efforts at the Bishop Kemper School going forward will focus more on programs for the development of lay leadership as well as ordained leadership. While our effort to plant new churches hasn’t yet reaped a plentiful harvest, we continue to search for new ways to share with the world the joys we have discovered as Episcopalians. Our diocese was one of 33 (out of 109) dioceses in The Episcopal Church that experienced numerical growth last year, and there are reasons to be hopeful. Willa Cather, in her classic novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, wrote, “The miracles of the Church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what there is about us always.” Over these past 10 years I would observe that my perceptions have grown subtly finer, and I continue to be profoundly grateful for the privilege of seeing and hearing “what there is about us always.” I give thanks for the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, and I continue to draw inspiration and courage from their faithful example. May you all have a joyous Christmas. +Dean v
November/December 2013 • The Harvest • 3
Students: Forming leaders has to match changing realities (Continued from page 1)
Special prayers offered for BKSM students
earn a part-time church stipend, but others won’t. Given that, they won’t be able to be the do-it-all priest or deacon the church has expected in the past. A new model will call lay parishioners to exercise their own ministry, Grosso said, so that together teams provide administrative, liturgical and pastoral care ministry for church members, and share the gospel in the community. “If we do ministry in more ways, then we need formation that is adequate to the task,” he said. “We have to prepare them for more forms of ministry.”
New kinds of clergy leaders
The bishops of the four dioceses that operate the school — Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas — have said that whether small and rural or large and urban, their churches are going to require well-educated leaders. The Bishop Kemper School does this, and all at a cost ($1,800 a year) that is a fraction of a residential seminary, and without students having to give up their jobs and uproot their families. The post-graduation plans of many of the 35 students match that growing need for innovative clergy leadership. The current roster includes people who are preparing for ordination as priests or deacons in all four dioceses, as well as two people from the Diocese of Kansas who are engaged in personal studies. The course of studies for priests is three years and for deacons, two, and there are students at each stage of the process. There also are seven students enrolled in a special course of Anglican studies, for those with precious theological education from other traditions who need further exposure to Episcopal theology and practice.
Variety of settings
Four priest-track students from the Diocese of Western Kansas who answered a request from The Harvest for information
Photo by Deacon Bob Hirst
The Very Rev. Andrew Grosso, dean of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, leads a theology class Dec, 14. The school prepares lay and clergy leaders in four Midwestern dioceses for a church whose role in society is changing rapidly.
said they expect to serve a small church and support themselves through secular employment. This matches Bishop Michael Milliken’s description of his diocese as “rural/frontier” and made up of very small congregations. The same is true for two priest students from Nebraska, who say together they are being called by their diocese to serve as bivocational clergy in Seward, a town of about 7,000. For students from Kansas and West Missouri, some report a call to serve in small congregations, while others see themselves in larger, urban settings. Two longtime deacons from West Missouri currently are finishing studies for ordination as priests, to enable them to provide sacramental ministry in small congregations. They also expect to continue their non-church employment. Other priest candidates from that diocese indicate they hope to be assigned to larger congregations, or perhaps in specialized ministries such as parish interims or health care chaplains. Among Kansas students, Greg Doll, a
member of St. Paul’s, Marysville, said he expects to return to lead the churches in Marshall County (St. Paul’s and St. Mark’s, Blue Rapids) as part of a ministry team. Doreen Rice of St. Aidan’s, Olathe, said she sees herself in some form of parish ministry, to share her passion for evangelism. Charles Everson, a member of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, said he hopes to assist in an urban or suburban congregation while continuing his career as a banker. For those in the Anglican studies track, two indicate that they want to engage in full-time parish work. Chas Marks, a member of St. Mary’s, Kansas City, Mo., has a graduate degree from a Roman Catholic seminary, and he hopes to serve a parish in West Missouri. Jon Hullinger, a member of Grace Cathedral in Topeka, last year left his position as priest at a local Roman Catholic church to become an Episcopalian. He said after he completes his studies, plans call for his ordination to be recognized in the Episcopal Church so he again can serve full-time as a parish priest.
During November members of the St. Bridget’s chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King, at St. Aidan’s, Olathe, created unique bookmarks for each of the students at the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry. They will serve as a reminder of a broader ministry the Daughters are offering to BKSM students — ongoing prayers. Members of the order (Episcopal women who commit to a rule of service and prayer) in the four dioceses that operate the school — Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas — together have committed to ongoing prayer for each of the students, individually by name. Additionally, Daughters from the Olathe chapter and the chapter at St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, have committed to provide treats and gifts to the students periodically during the school year. v
Since the primary ministry of deacons is in the world outside a congregation, those who answered shared plans that reflect that. Some look to minister in a hospital, or with college students, and others in reaching out to the community.
Nothing to fear
Grosso said that as his students embrace the new types of leadership they will provide, he knows that some church members are less eager. “It’s a big shift,” he said, for the church to no longer enjoy a prominent, established role in American culture. Some see this as a moment of crisis, but he believes it’s really an opportunity. “We get to rethink what God is calling as to do in this time,” Grosso said. “And that is energizing” both for parishes and other Episcopal structures, and the Bishop Kemper School students who will serve them. v
Churches urged to buy automated external defibrillator devices to help save lives
Grant: School will benefit
By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest
(Continued from page 1)
The Rev. David Lynch spent 30 years in emergency medical services before he attended seminary, so he knows the value of prompt attention when a medical crisis strikes. Nothing may be as alarming as sudden cardiac arrest — when a person’s heart stops beating, resulting in a loss of blood to the brain and other vital organs. To help churches be ready in case that happens to someone in their building, he is encouraging congregations to purchase automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. “Having an AED and knowing how to use it could make the difference between life and death,” he said. Lynch, who is curate at St. James’, Wichita, said the devices “are simple to use and safe for any lay person who attempts to assist a victim in sudden death.”
Device includes instructions
An AED is a portable device that checks the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, can shock the heart back into a normal beat. It comes with instructions, including voice prompts, to help anyone use the device in the event of an emergency. When a person’s heart stops beating, death occurs within minutes if not treated. This is why having ready access to an AED is so important, Lynch said. AEDs now are located in a number of public buildings, although Kansas has no law that requires them. Lynch said churches should be among the public facilities
More information Special prices on automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are available from BoundTree medical supply company. Contact representative Tim Zeller at Tim. Zeller@BoundTree.com. To learn more about AEDs and their benefit to churches, contact the Rev. David Lynch at curate@ stjameswichita.org. that have AEDs, not only for church members and others using the building but as an additional resource in the surrounding neighborhood. He has contacted a medical supply company, BoundTree, which is offering discounted prices for two AED models. The cost isn’t cheap — prices range from $1,090 to $1,300 — but the benefit to saving a life can outweigh the initial expense. Lynch said as churches talk about the need to have one of these devices, it also is an opportunity to promote CPR training in the church and the community. He said each city’s local emergency services or fire department can be of help with training. Churches that want to learn more about this can contact Lynch by email at curate@stjameswichita.org. The BoundTree company representative, Tim Zeller, can be reached by email at Tim.Zeller@BoundTree.com. v
Roanridge has area roots
In the 1940s, the owner of a farm near Parkville, Mo., near the site of the current Kansas City International airport, gave his property to the Episcopal Church as a training center for clergy who would serve in rural areas, where most of the church’s members lived at the time. The Roanridge Center continued its emphasis on preparing non-stipendiary clergy (those who would not earn their primary wage from church work) until it closed in 1977. The farm was sold, and proceeds created the Trust that continues to support ministries that the Center had served. Each year it provides up to about $200,000 for grants to support its purpose.
Western Kansas also awarded
The Diocese of Western Kansas also received a Roanridge grant, for $10,000. Bishop Michael Milliken said he plans to use it to pay the annual tuition for students from his diocese at the Bishop Kemper School for up to one year. He said students at the school from Western Kansas are preparing themselves for non-stipendiary ministry “in our rural/frontier congregations,” and the grant will help cover costs borne by the student, his or her congregation, and the diocese. v
4 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
Fall youth events offer spiritual growth, reflection Two youth events this fall drew dozens of youth attendees and adult sponsors for weekends of spiritual reflection and growth in faith. The 88th Happening weekend in the diocese took place Nov. 8-10 at St. Thomas’, Overland Park, with 29 Happeners (those who attend the weekend) and 41 staff. Happening is designed as a once-in-a-lifetime event primarily for teens (but also open to adults) to help them focus on the person of Jesus Christ and how their own life and spiritual growth can be enhanced. Olivia Allen of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission was the event’s rector. She selected as its theme “What if God was one of us?” Teens and adults who previously attended a Happening gave a series of talks to encourage attenders in their experience. ADVENTure saw 28 youth attend the Dec. 7-8 event that helped them learn more about the season of Advent. They were joined by 15 adult sponsors for the event, which was inaugurated last year. They engaged in a variety of activities, including making Advent wreaths and graham cracker “gingerbread” houses, acting out skits describing aspects of the season, and spent an hour in silence — no cell phones allowed — with five prayer stations that incorporated music, scripture meditation, written prayers, stillness and body position.
Youth Commission adds new members
The diocesan Youth Commission has expanded its membership with the addition of four junior high-aged representative, as well as clergy and parent reps. The Commission serves as a steering committee to provide vision and accountability for the diocesan youth program. Karen Schlabach, youth missioner, said she wanted the input of younger youth, since the commission oversees events designed for them. She said the four new members were elected by their peers during diocesan MegaCamp in June. She said that until recently, all senior high members were elected at camp, but that will change in January, when those who attend Miqra will select one member. Schlabach said some active youth aren’t able to attend camp, so picking a representative during a different youth event made sense. Youth who are elected to the commission serve until they graduate from high school. The Rev. David Cox of St. Michael and All Angels, Mission, is a new clergy member, and Katherine Lundrigan, St. Stephen’s Wichita, will represent parents of youth members. — Melodie Woerman v
Submitted photos
Emily Bishop of St. Stephen’s, Wichita, makes an Advent wreath to take home during ADVENTure, the second year this Advent-themed youth event was offered. It took place Dec. 7-8 at St. Andrew’s, Emporia.
Help send our youth to E.Y.E. Dear Friends, Some experiences in life are exceedingly rare. If you miss them, you never get the chance to repeat them. Next summer, our high school youth will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the Episcopal Youth Event (E.Y.E.) being held in Philadelphia, Penn. Because this event takes place only once every three years, most high school youth are eligible to attend E.Y.E. once in their lives. This event will bring together more than 1,500 youth and their adult chaperones from every diocese in The Episcopal Church. They will arrive from all across the U.S., Europe, Central and South America and from as far away as Micronesia and Taiwan. If we want the number of youth in our parishes to grow, it is crucial for our youth leaders to be able to gather together with other young Episcopalians from around the world to learn, to laugh and to serve. Our youth will gain a fresh perspective on the strength of The Episcopal Church and on the Christian faith itself. Attending E.Y.E. creates indelible memories that our youth will keep for the rest of their lives. E.Y.E. traditionally features nationally known speakers, innovative worship experiences, a plethora of workshops, and this year it will include a pilgrimage to downtown Philadelphia to learn more about our colonial heritage. This trip will help cultivate the future leaders of our faith. I attended E.Y.E. as a youth, and I can tell you my faith and commitment to The Episcopal Church were profoundly impacted. The quality of this experience guarantees that it will not be inexpensive. The total cost (including registration fees and travel) is $650 per person for this five-day event. Our goal is to have 20 youth representing the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, and in order for us to reach that goal, we will need your help. Will you help make this rare experience affordable for our youth and their families? Will you help send a young person to the Episcopal Youth Event this summer? To contribute to this valuable experience, please send a check made payable to the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas with “E.Y.E.” in the memo line. Please mail your checks to: E.Y.E. Youth Fund The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas 835 SW Polk St. Topeka, KS 66612-1688 Thank you in advance for your generosity. Grace and Peace, Karen Schlabach, Youth Missioner
Owen Urhmacher of St. Luke’s, Shawnee, offers his paper for the “Burning of the Cares” at the start of the Happening weekend Nov. 8-10 at St. Thomas, Overland Park. At the start of the weekend participants write their worries or problems from home, or their concerns or fears about the weekend, on slips of paper, and they are offered to God by burning them.
November/December 2013 • The Harvest • 5
Priest calls on Christians to wage peace on Islam By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest Episcopal priest the Rev. PaulGordon Chandler thinks it’s time for Christians to interact with Muslims in a new way — by waging peace on Islam, rather the state of war that exists between that religion and the West since the terrorist attacks of 2001. But to pursue that kind of peace, people of both faiths first need to have a better understanding of each other. Chandler discussed how that might occur during an afternoon lecture at St. Thomas’, Overland Park, on Nov. 24. Chandler, who recently completed 10 years as rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Cairo, Egypt, grew up in Senegal, a West African nation that is 98 percent Muslim. He said that for all but 12 years of his life, he has lived in predominantly Muslim countries, which has helped him see how much alike the two faiths are. “Both faiths at heart are missional,” he said.
Elements of similarity
He said Christianity and Islam share common Middle Eastern, monotheistic roots that have become obscured by misunderstandings. The basics tenets of Islam — called the six pillars — actually have a great deal in common with elements of Christianity, he said. Creed. The Muslim proclamation “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his
centuries many Christians made a similar pilgrimage to Jerusalem, noting that the Crusades were fought to make the Holy Land accessible to Christian pilgrims after the area was conquered by Muslims in the 11th century. Charity. Christians and Muslims both are expected to make financial gifts to benefit others. Jihad. This concept has been badly misunderstood, Chandler said, since it has been used by some Muslims to justify violence. In the Koran, he said the word simply means to strive toward God, something Christians also see as their calling.
Middle Eastern Jesus
Photo by Melodie Woerman
The Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler shows a book by a Muslim writer who considers himself a follower of Christ during a lecture Nov. 24 at St. Thomas the Apostle in Overland Park. Chandler knows members of the congregation and was invited by the rector, the Rev. Gar Demo.
prophet” has parallels in the earliest Christian declaration, “Jesus is Lord,” he said. Prayer. The Muslim call to pray five times a day reflects the monastic Liturgy of the Hours, which required monks to pray seven times a day. Muslims face Mecca during their daily prayers, Chandler said, just as Christian altars are oriented to the east to face Jerusalem. Muslims learned to prostrate themselves as they
prayed by watching Syrian Orthodox Christians who used that same posture, he said. Fasting. Much as Christians practice fasting and self-denial during Lent, Muslims abstain from food or drink during daylight hours of the month of Ramadan. Pilgrimage. Every Muslim is expected, if possible, to make a pilgrimage once during their lifetime to the holy sites of Mecca. Chandler pointed out that for
Chandler said that Jesus is revered in Islam as a prophet, but they shy away from a Christ they see as a strictly Western figure. Both faiths can benefit from seeing Jesus’ roots as a Middle Easterner and placing him in the culture in which he lived. “It’s a shared heritage,” he said, and both faiths benefit from “building on the truth in each other.” The challenge for Christians is to find the Christ shown in the gospels, which can be different from the Christ found in Christianity, he said. The latter includes theology that has evolved over the centuries. In finding common ground, Chandler said individual Christians and Muslims can begin to understand each other better. To do that, he advocates more than just talk. “I’m not a fan of inter-
faith dialogue,” he said. “I prefer interfaith friendships.” Christians can take a cue from Jesus’ interactions with Samaritans, a group that was ostracized among Jews as much as Muslims are among Christians today. When Jesus included them in his parables, “they always are the hero,” Chandler said. We need to minimize the differences that do exist between the groups. “We need to allow ourselves to learn from our Muslim brothers and sisters,” he said. One can do that by seeking out Muslims in your community and asking them to teach you about their faith. “They love to talk about God and their faith,” Chandler said, so Christians shouldn’t be afraid to be bold about their own faith in return. When he served in Cairo, Chandler helped create the Caravan Festival of the Arts to celebrate “something both faiths love,” he said — visual arts and literature. Its purpose is to build bridges of understanding, respect and friendship between Muslims and Christians through art. This year’s event featured 45 life-sized fiberglass donkeys that were painted and decorated by artists (in the same way Chicago placed painted cows around the city more than a decade ago). Chandler said the donkey is a symbol of peace in both faiths, and it also represents the poor. After the festival, the donkeys were exhibited at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and were auctioned off by Sotheby’s. v
ESS: Community needs grow greater every year (Continued from page 1) Cindy Klose, a news
board selected Bob Parker, a member of St. James’, Wichita, as its first director. Parker later was ordained a deacon and guided the agency until his death in 1995. In 1983, in a brief statement of the mission of ESS, Parker wrote, “The thrust of ESS is twofold: to provide need ministries and pastoral care to the needy, and to encourage and enable outreach ministry by people who want to emulate the servanthood of Jesus Christ by working with his people.” Andres is the agency’s fourth director, following Parker, Linda Bemis and Dr. Sandra Lyon. It has moved from its original location but remains downtown, to better serve the people who need its help the most.
anchor for Wichita station KWCH-12, visits with a veteran who relies on ESS for help. After the man showed her his Purple Heart medal, she asked him why he carried in his pocket. He replied, “I’m homeless. I have nowhere else to keep it.” Photo by ESS
Ministry has expanded
When it opened its doors, ESS offered four kinds of aid, primarily to homeless men who lived in the downtown area: food ministry; health ministry; mental health ministry; and emergency needs. Today, two of those continue, although greatly expanded. ESS volunteers continue to provide a hot lunch to anyone in the community who stops in on weekdays. They regularly serve 250 to 270 lunches a day. In 2012 they provided 32,000 meals; the need has grown so much in 2013 that by July they had surpassed the 32,000 mark. The early emphasis on mental health
resulted in the creation of Breakthrough Club, a social and vocational program for persons with a mental illness. It became a freestanding non-profit organization in 1992, and in 2012 it reunited with ESS, to return it to the larger service umbrella the agency offers. Today, ESS also offers help in these areas: At-risk youth. The Teen Intervention Program is a juvenile delinquency prevention program serving offenders and at-risk youth between 12 and 17 years old. It helps them identify feelings and thoughts that
lead to problem behaviors, and it provides them with problem-solving and interpersonal skills to effectively manage difficult situations. Job readiness classes. Unemployed, low-income people are helped with a variety of job search and readiness skills classes, as well as apprentice programs in kitchens and restaurants. Case management. Clients who struggle to overcome employment barriers are helped with skill development and special employment readiness efforts. Representative payee. More than
How to help ESS welcomes financial donations from all who want to help the people the agency serves. Mail a check: Episcopal Social Services PO Box 670 Wichita, KS 67201 Give online: www.esswichita.org; click on the “Get involved” tab 280 people in Wichita, Arkansas City and Winfield receive help in managing their Social Security benefits by trained volunteers. Most of these clients have some form of mental illness or physical disability and are mandated by law to have help with their money. ESS’s payee program is the largest in Kansas, and it offers its services without a fee.
Greater-than-ever need
Today, ESS reports that it is serving more people than ever before in its history. Andres said the dedication of the agency’s staff, along with its many volunteers, allows the agency to help people out of the cycle of poverty. “We teach people new skills and help them put these skills into practice,” she said. “We offer friendship and ask people to trust in this friendship. Things begin to change for many of the people who walk through our doors.” v
6 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
Remembering Bishop Thomas Vail 2014 marks the 150th anniversary of the election of the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. As the diocese prepares to celebrate this occasion, here is a look at the man who helped shape a scattering of church members on the prairie into a thriving, growing diocese. By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest
Trinity, Atchison, was without a priest, so the wardens there offered him that position so he could earn a wage. After some initial visitations, he headed East on Feb. 1, where he spent five months trying to raise $20,000 to establish an endowment for expenses of the episcopacy. It took another trip the next year, this one of eight months, to reach his goal. He noted that Kansas truly was “a diocese only technically and in name ... poor as any jurisdiction around us.”
Thomas Vail wasn’t the new diocese’s first choice to be its bishop. But his commitment and hard work turned it from a small prairie outpost to a respective, growing diocese. In 1860, one year after the Diocese of Kansas was formed, a convention elected the Rev. Heman Dyer to be the first bishop. He turned them down, worried about the diocese’s viability because of Difficult travel its small size and lack of In his annual reports resources. to the Diocesan ConvenIn September 1864, the tion, Bishop Vail regularly diocese tried again, and lamented his inability to the 26 delegates present reach all the people in unanimously elected the Kansas who needed what Rev. Thomas Vail of MusBishop Vail, near the the church had to offer. catine Iowa, as the first beginning of his episcopate But he persisted in doing bishop of the Episcopal his best, at a time when Diocese of Kansas. The tiny band of Kansas Episcopalians travel across the sparsely populated state was more unified than in its earlier epis- was difficult. On a visit to Manhattan in late 1864, he copal election attempt, but wasn’t much bigger; there were only 147 communicants and the rector rode Indian ponies to make pastoral calls on families in remote areas, known in the entire diocese. He was consecrated in Iowa instead of because torrential rains made any other Kansas because of the turmoil in the coun- mode of travel impossible. A trip to Marshall County in 1874 in an try resulting from the ongoing Civil War and the distance from established dioceses open buggy took place in wind-whipped that could provide bishops for the service. rains that tore his umbrella to shreds,” cutAnd once he had been made bishop, just ting our hands and faces like hail,” he noted. After an extensive trip throughout the getting to his new jurisdiction was difficult. It took him four days to make the journey state in 1876, he reported to the Convention from southeast Iowa, traveling through that he had traveled 12,021 miles. He noted that a visit in southeast Kansas Chicago; Quincy, Ill.; and St. Joseph, Mo., including trips across the ice-covered Mis- that year brought out “one earnest and aged communicant of seventy years” who rode sissippi and Missouri Rivers. When he arrived in Kansas, he discov- 30 miles on horseback over rough roads ered there wasn’t any money to pay him. and through storms to be present for the Episcopal services Bishop Vail conducted. Providing ministry on the frontier could present some unique challenges, too. In Original play to celebrate 1868, he assisted a priest in baptizing some adults “who had been brought up under Bishop Vail’s ministry Baptist influences” in a river. Dr. Phil Speary, an experienced theLuckily the bishop had experience in atre director and educator, has written a such matters, because he knew to wear his play honoring the life and work of Bishop linen surplice, since, he wrote, it was “the Thomas Vail. best of all vestments for a baptism by dipEntitled “In the Power of the Spirit,” it will ping, as it falls so readily and gracefully in be performed across the diocese during the water.” Bishop Vail’s sesquicentennial year.
The first staging will be April 3-6 at St. James’, Wichita. Other locations will be announced once they are booked. Performances in Wichita will be : April 3,4 and 5: 8 p.m. April 6: 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $12. Student admission is $7. St. James’ is located at 3850 East Douglas, Wichita. Other performances in locations around the diocese are planned during 2014. They will be announced when they are scheduled.
Prairie struggles
When economic hardship hit, Bishop Vail worked to provide whatever relief he could. A massive infestation of grasshoppers wiped out almost every crop in the state in 1874, leaving many destitute and “literally freezing and starving” as farmers had nothing to sell. He spent five months writing letters to people he knew, begging for financial help. He received nearly $3,300. He and his wife,
BISHOP VAIL’S IMPACT ON THE DIOCESE When Bishop Vail was elected in 1864, there were 10 congregations in the five-yearold Diocese of Kansas, representing fewer than 200 church members. The churches were clustered in eastern Kansas.
When he died in 1889, Bishop Vail had grown the diocese to 83 congregations with more than 3,000 communicants, and the reach of the Episcopal Church had spread into far western Kansas.
Ellie, personally sorted through boxes of clothing that were sent to him, dividing up the items and sending them out to those who were suffering.
Expanded diocesan institutions
Bishop Vail inherited the first diocesan institution when he arrived. The College of the Sisters of Bethany, a school for girls in Topeka, required his frequent attention. He worked hard to solicit additional Eastern benefactors to provide financial support, and he placed advertisements in newspapers to attract students. He implored Kansas church members to send their daughters to the school, but it always was a financial struggle to keep it afloat. The bishop also found that priests who had become accustomed to creature comforts back East often didn’t last more than a year or two under the hardship of frontier life. He concluded that he needed to educate men from within the diocese to become priests, so he started the Kansas Theological School, a precursor of the original Kansas School for Ministry and now the Bishop
Kemper School for Ministry. Bishop Vail and his wife in 1884 founded Christ Hospital in Topeka, using their own money to establish the first Protestant hospital in the state. His contribution is noted to this day — after Christ Hospital merged in the 20th century with another institution, the result is known as Stomont-Vail.
Lasting legacy
After all of his early travel difficulties, Bishop Vail eventually was able to make use of the rapidly expanding railroads of the state to help him spread the reach of the Episcopal Church in Kansas. What started in 1864 as 10 parishes had reached 83 congregations, and more than 3,000 communicants, 25 years later. On Oct. 6, 1889, while on his way to General Convention, Bishop Vail died in Bryn Mawr, Penn. This report includes information from the diocesan history Plenteous Harvest by Blanche Mercer Taylor, as well as writings by Bishop Vail in several Journals of Diocesan Convention. v
November/December 2013 • The Harvest • 7
Celebrating 10 years as bishop
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe
On Nov. 8, 2003, Dean E. Wolfe was ordained and consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, in a service at Grace Cathedral, Topeka. He served as bishop coadjutor for just under two months, and on Jan. 1, 2004, he became diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. One can only guess how many miles he’s driven, how many phone calls he’s made and how many church potlucks he’s attended in those 10 years. (A few statistics are noted, at right.) But some of his ministry is illustrated in a few photos from the past 10 years.
Ten years, by the numbers Since his ordination and consecration as bishop on Nov. 8, 2003, Bishop Dean Wolfe has undertaken hundreds of official acts. Here are a few of them. Number of parish visits: Number of people confirmed:
229 1,271
Number of people received:
211
Number of people ordained:
49
Bishop Wolfe listens to a child read a book on an e-reader device at a library during a 2013 trip to Kenya. He has championed the Kansas to Kenya ministry and has been to Kenya three times on K2K missions. He also has made trips overseas at the request of the Presiding Bishop, including a trip to Zambia in 2010, and service in November at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Bishop Wolfe and Jessica Layton, of St. Thomas’, Overland Park, enjoy an afternoon group session during the Episcopal Youth Event in 2005. Support for youth ministries across the diocese has been one of the hallmarks of Bishop Wolfe’s episcopate.
Bishop Wolfe (second from left) lights the new fire during the Great Vigil of Easter in a service at Grace Cathedral, Topeka, on Easter Eve in 2010. The bishop’s liturgical role is the one most people see, as he celebrates the Eucharist and confirms new Episcopalians during parish visitations. He also officiates at funerals of clergy and lay leaders, occasionally performs weddings and baptisms, and ordains people as deacons and priests for the diocese.
Bishop Wolfe joins then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams during the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in England in 2008. In his role as Vice President of the House of Bishops, Bishop Wolfe has visited with important dignitaries from churches across the Anglican Communion.
8 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
Around the diocese St. John’s, Abilene has seen the number of young members expand greatly — four times the number as just 10 years ago — necessitating discussion of how to expand religious education offerings for them. Trinity, Atchison hosted a special parish meeting in November to discuss strategic goals and the proposed budget for 2014. St. Mark’s, Blue Rapids hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for members after the Nov. 17 service. Those attending were asked to bring canned goods to help local food pantries. Grace, Chanute hosted a communitywide service of Lessons and Carols on Dec. 15. St. Paul’s, Clay Center offered a service at a local nursing home on Dec. 15, followed by a caroling party that began there and then took musical cheer to homebound members. St. Martin’s, Edwardsville on Dec. 15 enjoyed a special Christmas pageant performed by the Sunday school, complete with sets. Trinity, El Dorado remembered all those who have served in the military with a special Veterans’ Day recognition and reception. On Nov. 10 the parish included special prayers, hymns and other music in its worship. A reception followed the service, complete with a display prepared by member Virginia Amend. St. Andrew’s, Emporia organized singers across the city for the “Not Ready for Prime Time Carolers,” who on Dec. 19 planned stops at five local adult care facilities. Afterward all gathered at the church for cookies and hot chocolate. Epiphany, Independence offered its annual holiday craft fair, joined by a cookie market and freezer fair, on Dec. 7. Handmade craft items were for sale, along with an assortment of baked goods and frozen casseroles. Santa even made an appearance. Proceeds will assist people in the area who need help. Covenant, Junction City
members helped decorate a special mitten tree during December, placing mittens, gloves, hats and scarves on it each week. They will be distributed by the local Open Door agency. St. Paul’s, Kansas City celebrated the end of its stewardship pledge drive with a “perfectly posh polka dot peppermint pledge party” on Nov. 24 between services. Members were invited to wear special hats or bow ties to toast a successful campaign with hot chocolate, peppermint and whipped cream. St. Margaret’s, Lawrence opened its doors to homeless families the week of Dec. 8-15 through the local Family Promise program. Volunteers helped greet and chat with guests, along with lots of behind-the-scenes hospitality tasks. Trinity, Lawrence provided the setting Dec. 6 for an evening service of Lessons and Carols for students, faculty and guests of Bishop Seabury Academy, the diocese’s secondary school in Lawrence. Trinity’s rector, the Rev. Rob Baldwin, is the school’s chaplain this year. St. Paul’s, Leavenworth offers a “Fibers of Faith” group meeting one evening a month, for people engaged in fiber arts — knitting, crocheting, cross stitch or needlepoint. The group makes gifts for church members and others in the community St. Paul’s, Manhattan marked Advent with four Sunday evening gatherings to help people slow down and prepare for Christmas through the “Advent Conspiracy.” By taking time to reflect and be intentional, the program says, “Christmas was meant to be celebrated, not regretted.” St. Paul’s, Marysville offers a brunch after worship on the first Sunday of each month. St. Michael’s, Mission Horizon Arts Ministry in November welcomed the East Hills Singers, a choir comprised of prisoners from the state prison in Lansing and community volunteers. The choir is part of the statewide “Arts in Prison” program. After the concert, the performers were treated
Merry Christmas! Bishop Dean Wolfe and the members of the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas wish you all the blessings of this most joyous season.
Submitted photo
(From left) Deacon Bob Hirst, the Rev. Andrew O’Connor, and Good Shepherd parishioner and Wichita South High School principal Cara Ledy display the “Good Apple” award certificates they received from the Wichita Public Schools during a ceremony Dec. 2.
Good Shepherd, Wichita, gets schools’ Good Apple Award Good Shepherd, Wichita, was recognized by the Wichita Public Schools for providing help for students in need at a local high school. The Rev. Andrew O’Connor, rector, and Deacon Bob Hirst received “Good Apple” certificates during an awards ceremony Dec. 2 at Wichita South High School, where the church provides outreach support for students and their families. Good Shepherd parishioner Cara Ledy is the principal at South High, which hosted the ceremony, and she also received an award. In its award announcement, the school district said of Good Shepherd, “Throughout the year they provide backpacks, food, clothing and gifts for our students and families. Their outreach has touched many of our families.” Hirst said the parish provides help to 12 to 15 families each year through its “Operation Plenty” ministry, including students at South. He said the church contacts principals and social workers at Wichita schools with a high percentage of low-income students. The church then “strives to assist families who for various reasons are not accessing or able to access the usual support systems.” O’Connor said he was delighted that the church was one of several recipients honored for “work done to improve lives in our community.” v
to a steak dinner prepared by the parish’s Kitchen Angels. St. Matthew’s, Newton Wednesday night book study group will begin a study of The Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan, which tells the story of those who survived the Dust Bowl era. The group recently finished studying a book about German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. St. Aidan’s, Olathe has changed the setting of its Saturday evening worship, now gathering around the side altar. Other liturgical elements reflect a more relaxed interaction between worshippers, complete with discussions. Grace, Ottawa welcomed guest preacher the Rev. Jose Martinez on Nov. 19. He is a chaplain colleague of the rector, the Rev. Robert Harris, at Truman Medical Center, and he also is a chaplain with the United States Air Force, where he served a tour of duty in Iraq. St. Thomas, Overland Park provided space for holiday cheer for the annual Interfaith Hospitality Network holiday party Dec. 14. The program that provides housing for homeless families offered a time for current and graduate
families to gather for games, crafts and activities, and children had the chance to shop from donated items for gifts. Pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus also were part of the fun. St. John’s, Parsons offered “the bright star of Bethlehem” adult study program during Advent. Grace Cathedral, Topeka collected adult-sized coats, hats, gloves and scarves for patrons of the church’s Saturday morning sack lunch ministry. New or used items were welcomed. St. David’s, Topeka youth on Dec. 15 helped move items and set up for the Christmas Shop offered by Doorstep, a local service agency the parish supports. After their hard work, they returned to the church for their own Christmas party. St. Luke’s, Wamego offered its annual “cookies by the pound” sale on Dec. 7 in the Guild Hall. They also invited 10 home-based businesses to set up tables, and the local Council of Churches raffled a doll house. St. Bartholomew’s, Wichita had help from the Junior ROTC
cadets from a local high school to set up the church’s annual winter clothes and coat give-away. The church provides free clothing in all seasons, but the switch to heavier winter wear takes some extra help. They also provided a gift room where patrons could select gifts for their families. Good Shepherd, Wichita enjoyed a formal Jingle Bell Ball on Dec. 7, complete with music from the Great Plains Jazz Orchestra and creative crafts for younger members. St. James’, Wichita reached out to people in need in a big way in December, adopting 50 families with 116 members through a variety of area service agencies. Members were asked to provide non-perishable items for food baskets as well as wrapped gifts. St. John’s, Wichita marked National Homeless Persons Memorial Day Dec. 21 with a special service to remember all those in the community who had died while homeless in the past year. The memorial service was preceded by a prayer vigil. Grace, Winfield in December began offering a Eucharist on Thursdays at 5 p.m. v
November/December 2013 • The Harvest • 9
People
Junction City woman leads national Masonic organization both were multigenerational Episcopalians. Fegan said she has enjoyed visiting other Episcopal Debhra Fegan, a member churches during her travels of the Church of the Covenant but said “being away from in Junction City, recently the Church of the Covenant began a year’s service as Suhas been really difficult.” She preme Worthy President of the said she also regretted missSocial Order of the Beauceant, ing Diocesan Convention in a woman’s Christian orgaOctober. nization within the Masonic “Absence does make the fraternity. heart grow fonder,” she said, She was installed on Sept. “because it is the people that 27 at the group’s national anwe share our lives with that nual meeting in Indianapolis enhance sharing God’s love after being elected to the top at Church of the Covenant.” leadership position in 2011 Fegan is completing a term In her year as president, on the Vestry and is a past Fegan will visit 71 local Debhra Fegan, a member of the Beauceant Assemblies in 34 Church of the Covenant, Junction City, senior warden and treasurer. states. is the new Supreme Worthy President She also is a lector, Eucharistic Fegan said she and her hus- of the Social Order of the Beauceant. minister and member of the Altar Guild. Her professional band, T. Michael Fegan, were background is in dental hyon the road from her installation in September until Thanksgiving, traveling to giene, including service on the board of the Kansas 30 Assemblies from Maine to Washington across Dental Hygiene Association. She said that in her travels she has been blessed the northern part of the United States. “We will begin the southern states in January to meet “so many wonderful people that share God’s love in so ways.” Members of the Social and finish with Hawaii in May,” she said. She said she expects to log more than 30,000 Order of the Beauceant are active in the communities, she said, and also are supporters of the Knights miles making these visits. Fegan has been involved with a variety of Ma- Templar Eye Foundation, the organization’s nasonic organization, including Jobs Daughters and tional philanthropy. She said they have raised more Eastern Star. She met her husband at a Masonic than $3 million for research for the prevention and event in Wichita in 2000, and they found they not cure of potentially blinding diseases in infants and only shared a love of Masonic activities but also children. v By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest
Play ball!
Photo by Tom Parker, Marysville Advocate
Ninety-year-old Jack Haller, a member of St. Mark’s, Blue Rapids, throws out the first pitch at the Sept. 21 baseball game in Blue Rapids to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox game on that same diamond. Helping Haller is his grandson, Dane Haller. Haller has been involved with baseball since he was a boy. He earned a contract with the New York Yankees, but the class A leagues were cancelled when World War II began. He went on to play semi-pro ball and coached many local baseball teams, including the town’s American Legion clubs in the 1960s. In 1913 the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants were on a world tour, and Blue Rapids was the only town in Kansas where they stopped; it also was the smallest among the 49 playing sites. Baseball legends such as Jim Thorpe, John McGraw and Christy “Big Six” Mathewson played. More than 3,000 fans watched the game from bleachers, fences and Model Ts. Contributing to this story was a report from the Marysville Advocate. v
Clergy news The Rev. Dennis Gilhousen has been named interim rector at St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, effective Dec. 10. Gilhousen has been an associated priest in the parish, where he has worked with the vestry on its mutual ministry review and has been an active member of the pastoral care team. He currently is the chair of the board of Saint Francis Community Services and previously worked for more than 30 years for Valley Hope, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization. The Rev. Dr. Mary J. Korte has been named priest in charge at St. Stephen’s, Wichita, effective Jan. 1, 2014. She most recently was priest in charge of a church in Rhode Island and also has served congregations in Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Kansas State University, and she also studied at the University of Kansas. Her husband, Tim, is a native of Kansas. Deacon Bobbie Barber who served at Grace Cathedral from her ordination in 1997 until her retirement, died on Dec. 17. She was 87. A memorial service celebrating her life will be Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 7801 SW 8th Ave., Topeka. v
People notes Lonnie Isaak, a member of the board of the national Episcopal Church Women representing Province 7, and former president of the ECW of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, died at her home in Independence on Nov. 15. She was 71. In addition to her long service to the ECW, she was very active in parish life at Epiphany, Independence, where she was a member, and at Epiphany, Sedan, where she previously had attended. A memorial service celebrating her life took place Nov. 22 at Epiphany, Independence. Memorial contributions may be sent to Epiphany Church, P.O. Box 655, Independence, KS 67301 or to Epiphany Church, P.O. Box 367, Sedan, KS 67361. David Tait, who served as diocesan Christian Education officer, vicar of St. Philip’s, Topeka, and assistant at Trinity, Lawrence, in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Nov. 19 in Stillwater, Okla. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory. v
10 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
National and international news Anglican news briefs Episcopal News Service and Anglican Communion News Service Priest dies in fire at Maryland church. Ocean City, Maryland, investigators say they believe a local man bought gasoline, poured it on himself and set himself on fire before he ran into St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church Nov. 26, begging for help. The man, John Raymond Sterner, 56, died on the scene and the church’s rector, the Rev. David Dingwall, died from smoke inhalation in the ensuing fire in the church’s old rectory building. A female victim, whose name was not released, was injured while attempting to leave the building during the fire, investigators said. She was treated by paramedics at the scene and ultimately transported to John’s Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Task force ready to offer suggestions. The Task Force for Re-imagining the Episcopal Church is ready to start getting increasingly specific about its suggestions for the future shape of the churchwide organization, and began the process in a letter to the church issued Dec. 11. Among the results of its listening process are these conclusions: “The Church is calling for us to reduce the bureaucracy and resource-intensity of our Churchwide processes. The Church wants the work of General Convention and other Church structures to be more relevant and more life-giving to our local parish communities. And, the Church wants us to face and grapple with the tough issues and the ‘elephants in the room’ that suck up our resources, time and energy and that block our growth.” ‘Bless’ Friday is about serving, not shopping. Instead of power-shopping the day-after-Thanksgiving sales, Robyn LaRocca and her teenage daughters were doing laundry, and preparing and serving meals to Houston-area homeless. They teamed up with about 20 members of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston for “Bless” Friday, a Nov. 29 alternative to the traditional “Black” Friday’s unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. They joined other volunteers at The Beacon, a ministry of Houston’s Christ Church Cathedral, which serves about 600800 homeless people daily. Charles Fox, an oil and gas engineer, founded the event four years ago. This year, participation rose from five area churches of varying denominations to seven. England’s House of Bishops welcomes women observers. Attending the meeting of the House of Bishops of the Church of England in York Dec. 9 and 10 were eight female regional representatives, there as participant observers with the same rights as Provincial Episcopal Visitors. As part of their discussion on women in the episcopate, the house agreed on the text of a draft declaration and regulations for a mandatory disputes resolution procedure for debate at General Synod in February 2014. The house also agreed to begin at the February Synod the process for rescinding the 1993 Act of Synod so that all the elements of the new package could be agreed by the synod in July 2014. National Cathedral to charge admission on a trial basis in 2014. Seeking to raise an estimated $300,000 in additional annual revenue, Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 1 will launch a six-month trial of charging tourists to visit its historic building. Adult visitors will be charged $10, and senior citizens, children, students, veterans and members of the military will be charged $6. The cathedral will remain open to those visiting for prayer, worship and pastoral care, and it will offer free admission on Sundays. This year, the cathedral operated at a $1.6 million deficit as a result of a shortfall in annual fundraising. Rhode Island students swarm St. Augustine’s ‘Feed a Friend Dinner.’ At its monthly “Feed a Friend” dinner on Nov. 19, St. Augustine’s Church in Kingston, R.I., fed 80 people, at least 40 of whom were University of Rhode Island students. St. Augustine’s is located on the URI campus and started the “Feed a Friend Dinners” last Shrove Tuesday when parishioners volunteered to cook students their favorite home cooked meal if they brought a friend. The first dinner had five students. For St. Augustine’s the jump in numbers is a great success. Over the past year they’ve made it their mission to better reach out to the college students around the church, to provide for their needs both spiritually and physically. Early on they recognized that two major issues for the students are hunger during breaks and homesickness. v
ER-D gets $1 million grant for work in Zambia
Episcopal Relief & Development Episcopal Relief & Development has received a $1 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to expand its Early Childhood Development (ECD) program in Zambia. The organization previously had been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Foundation to launch the program in three geographic provinces, in order to develop an integrated ECD program strategy for families affected by HIV/ AIDS in rural areas. The new grant will enable ER-D and its local partner, the Zambia Anglican Council, to broaden the program’s reach and serve an estimated 12,500 children under six. Rob Radtke, president of ER-D, said, “It is a tremendous vote of confidence to receive this grant from the Hilton Foundation. Following on a successful two-year project period, we will be able to strengthen the program over the next three years and work through the Zambian Church to introduce our proven approach in new communities.” In Zambia, the Zambia Anglican Council’s integrated rural program is based in churches and schools serving as Early Childhood Development centers. The ECD program leverages the assets of the Zambian Anglican Church nationally and locally, focusing on young children’s cognitive, psychosocial and physical development. Trained ECD volunteers facilitate support and learning groups for caregivers and play groups for children, make monthly home visits and provide referrals to needed services. Program activities support families in three additional areas: Health: water, sanitation and hygiene education, growth monitoring and malaria prevention and control through Episcopal Relief & Development’s award-winning NetsforLife program partnership; Nutrition and Food Supply: feeding practices for infants and young children, vegetable gardening and sustainable agriculture; and Livelihood Strengthening: business training, formation of savings and loan groups. Grace Mazala Phiri, the Zambia Anglican Council’s National Program Director, said, “The ECD program addresses a serious need in the community, namely for young children impacted by HIV/AIDS to receive care that supports their healthy development. “But rather than having care take place in orphan-
Photo by Episcopal Relief & Development
A trained volunteer weighs babies at one of the early childhood development centers in Zambia that will benefit from a $1 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to Episcopal Relief & Development.
ages, it is much better and more sustainable for us to work on strengthening families and enabling caregivers to provide this support. Furthermore, you cannot address only one area of need — if a child is hungry it may be because their caregiver is too sick to work or does not have skills to earn sufficient income, so you have to work on everything at once. It is not quick or easy, but it is the best way to help our communities.” Over the next three years, with support from the most recent Hilton Foundation grant, the ECD program will build on its success to expand to other rural areas of Zambia. The Hilton grant funding will also help strengthen program quality through measures such as adding a preschool curriculum for children between the ages of three and five. “The family-centered approach of this program has the potential for significant, long-term impact, particularly for children affected by HIV/AIDS,” said Abagail Nelson, Episcopal Relief & Development’s Senior Vice President for Programs. “Strong families are essential for nurturing a child’s potential, and our partnership with the Hilton Foundation has made it uniquely possible for us to build up those faith-based networks that sustain families during challenging times.” v
Gates Foundation award also goes to ER-D Episcopal Relief & Development Episcopal Relief & Development has announced that it is one of 80 Grand Challenges Explorations winners, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ER-D, in collaboration with its Ghanaian partner, the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organization (ADDRO), will pursue a project to promote an innovative, labor saving strategy for women smallholder farmers — the donkey plough. Most women farmers in subSaharan Africa do not have access to oxen for farming and are consigned to grueling and timeconsuming labor using hand tools. Women’s access has been lim-
ited by cost, cultural taboos and the difficulty of managing oxen due to their large size. In the 1990s, a plough was developed for use by a single donkey, which would be more affordable and practical for women, and save 18 or more days of labor per hectare of land versus using a hand hoe alone. However, the donkey plough has not been widely popularized to date, and cost is a major obstacle. ER-D and ADDRO will provide women smallholder farmers the opportunity to acquire the necessary equipment, as well as improved seeds and fertilizer, through affordable credit. The loan amount will cover the cost of a donkey, a plough and a cart, enabling the owners to earn extra income and repay their
loans more quickly by renting the donkey set to others for farming and transporting goods. E R - D ’s p r o g r a m s w i t h ADDRO in Ghana help farmers feed their families through improved agricultural techniques, empower women through microfinance services and train health volunteers to protect their communities from malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Rob Radtke, president of ERD, said, “It is a tremendous honor for Episcopal Relief & Development to receive the Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Gates Foundation. Empowering women economically helps bring all members of a community into fuller participation in the creation of a brighter future for their families.” v
November/December 2013 • The Harvest • 11
Anglican Communion leaders pay tribute to Nelson Mandela Anglican Communion News Service
An artist’s rendering shows the exterior of the new Holy Trinity Cathedral to be built in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Special collection on Jan. 12 will help rebuild Haiti’s cathedral Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued a call for all Episcopalians to contribute to a special collection to help rebuild the cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that was destroyed in a massive earthquake that struck in January 2010. That collection is set to take place on Jan. 12, 2014, four years to the day since a magnitude 7 quake struck the Caribbean island nation, killing more than 150,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, businesses and public buildings. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, in a letter to the church, wrote, “As Haiti prepares to mark the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in 2010, I will call the whole of The Episcopal Church to pray and give in solidarity with our largest diocese.” She said that some are asking about the wisdom of dedicating funds to rebuilding the cathedral at a time when so many Haitian remain without housing and employment. But she noted that the emphasis on a new cathedral comes from the people of Haiti themselves.
“The people of Haiti are asking for this Cathedral,” she said. “It is their priority.” She noted that Holy Trinity “has a place in their hearts, daily lives and worship that celebrates the God-given dignity of every human being,” and that the new building will be a center of the arts, music and liturgy that will bring “hope to new generations.” She said, “The new Cathedral will anchor a vibrant corner in the heart of downtown Port-au-Prince, and announce God’s active presence in the heart of a hurting world.” Before the earthquake, the now-destroyed cathedral was adorned with 14 murals paintings, completed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, that portrayed biblical stories in Haitian motifs and were crafted by some of the best-known Haitian painters of the 20th century. Three of them survived the earthquake. One of them depicts the baptism of Jesus, which is the feast day on Jan. 12, the date of the special collection. — Melodie Woerman v
Presiding Bishop offers her annual Christmas message to the church For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) Isaiah pronounces these words to a people who remember the yoke of slavery laid on their shoulders. They’ve been waiting for this child, whose birth transforms that yoke into a mantle of authority. They are promised that this authority will continue to grow as the peaceable commonwealth is established — with justice and righteousness for all, and for ever. This promise is spoken anew to people in every age, to those who have lived under oppression or in dark depression, to the hungry and ill and imprisoned. The birth we celebrate offers hope, in Word made flesh, who comes among us to heal and walk this way with us. The mantle of authority on his shoulders begins in the swaddling clothes of a child born in the humblest of circumstances.
Yet that authority is recognized even by foreigners from far away. That mantle of authority does continue to grow, through a life offered for others, raised into new life and passed on to new generations of fleshly God-bearers. Wherever justice and righteousness is done, that authority is growing, borne on the shoulders of the Prince of Peace. He comes again, bearing the grace of the One whose image he wears in flesh. Seek him, sing his new song, declare his glory, and tell out the good news to all the nations: God reigns, and he is coming bearing righteousness and truth on his shoulders. May you discover that humble authority born again on the edges of the world’s notice. May that royal inheritance and authority of the stable be born in you, enliven your heart, and rest on your shoulders. Bear it abroad in peace, this year and throughout the ages. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church v
Senior bishops from around the Anglican Communion offered tributes to Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon, who died Dec. 5 at the age of 95. Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, wrote this prayer to mark the event: “Go forth, revolutionary and loving soul, on your journey out of this world, in the name of God, who created you, suffered with you and liberated you. Go home Madiba, you have selflessly done all that is good, noble and honourable for God’s people. “We will continue where you have left off, the Lord being our helper. We now turn to you, Lord, in this hour of darkness, sadness, pain and death, in tears and mourning. We wail, yet we believe that you will console us, that you will give us the strength to hold in our hearts and minds, and the courage to enact in our lives, the values Madiba fought and stood for. “We turn to you, Lord, and entrust Madiba’s soul to your eternal rest and loving arms as he rejoins the Madiba clan, his comrades and all the faithful departed. “We pray particularly for his closest and dearest, for Ma Graca Machel, for his children, grandchildren and all his relatives; may you surround them with your loving arms, your fatherly embrace and comfort. “At this dark time of mourning, at this perfect time when you have called him to rest and a perfect end, accept his soul and number him among the company of the redeemed in Heaven. Console and comfort his family, South Africa and the world. “May his long walk to freedom be enjoyed and realised in our time by all of us. May he rest in peace and rise in glory! Amen.”
Other accolades received
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said, “The death of President Nelson Mandela was announced in memorable words by president Zuma. South Africa has lost its greatest citizen and its father. Nelson Mandela, fighting to the end, is freed to be with His God in joy and reward for His great service and sacrifice. “We pray for his family, for his friends and for his country. We are challenged to show the same degree of humanity, of courage and of generosity.” In a guest column for allAfrica. com, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who was Primate of the country’s Anglican Church during the Apartheid era, wrote, “Nelson Mandela is mourned by South Africans, Africans and the international community today as
the leader of our generation who stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries — a colossus of unimpeachable moral character and integrity, the world’s most admired and revered public figure. “Not since Kenyatta, Nkrumah, Nyerere and Senghor has Africa seen his like. Looking for comparisons beyond Africa, he will go down in history as South Africa’s George Washington, a person who within a single five-year presidency became the principal icon of both liberation and reconciliation, loved by those of all political persuasions as the founder of modern, democratic South Africa.” The Primates of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Archbishops Brown Turei, Philip Richardson and Winston Halapua, said, “We’ve just heard the sad news of Nelson Mandela’s death — and the only fit response we can make is to call our church to prayer. “To thank God, in the first place, for the life of this wonderful man, and for his remarkable witness to reconciliation and for his contribution to the peace of South Africa and of the world. And to pray for his family, and for his beloved South Africa. May Nelson Mandela rest in peace, and rise in Glory, and may light perpetual shine upon him.”
Icon of freedom
In Canada, Fred Hiltz, Primate and Archbishop said, “Today the world mourns the passing of one of the greatest men of our times. Nelson Mandela’s life is the story of the prisoner who became the president of his beloved country. He is the icon of South African’s long road to freedom from apartheid. He is ‘the father of our nation,’ writes Desmond Tutu, ‘the pride of our people.’ “Mandela only ever looked back to remember those who had been so sorely oppressed, who suffered and died. He looked ahead and with a strength of spirit that was unwavering. He pressed for truth and reconciliation in his homeland. So impressive was his foresight that it inspired the same kind of work so necessary in numerous other countries as well.” The Anglican Church of Bermuda also expressed its sadness at the death of the great anti-apartheid leader and former President of South Africa. “Having sat in Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island and met those whose lives had been changed by his example, I am grateful to God the role he has played in re-shaping our view of the possibilities of reconciliation and healing between the races — against all odds,” said Diocese of Bermuda Bishop Nicholas Dill. He continued, “Former President Mandela turned the tide of our response to our enemies with a message of forgiveness.” v
12 • The Harvest • November/December 2013
Reflections on faith and life
Sharing the Good News
Christians see two celebrations of Christmas on New Year’s Eve. In the church, though, Christmas doesn’t come We have two creches at our church. The big one until the evening of the 24th, and continues for 12 days, until the feast of the Epiphany. This Christoutside belongs to the city, and since they can’t put a nativity scene on public property, we host the mas is focused entirely on the birth of Jesus, on the incredible day when God wove manger on our front yard. The divinity into humanity and came camels are lingering next door at There is one to live as one of us, as a human the Presbyterian Church. being. City workers put that creche Christmas that we In the midst of all the other up just before Thanksgiving, powerful images and feelings of so it would be up in time for see in the malls and this season, don’t lose sight of the Christmas Parade back on on TV, the Christmas how amazing the birth of Jesus Dec. 3. It will be packed up and hauled off by the 27th. of Santa and “Jingle was.For centuries, humanity had The other creche is in our nave, and new figures have been Bells” and Rudolph been wandering, lost and lonely, hungering for God as all people appearing all through Advent. the Red-Nosed do, but not knowing how to It’s getting pretty crowded. reach God. And so God decided Between the sheep, the Reindeer. In the that the time was right to reach donkey, the ox, and the horde of shepherds (including the one church, Christmas is out to us. It is amazing at all that God playing the bagpipes), there’s focused entirely on should show up on the face of not much room left for the Holy our planet. It is even more amazFamily. Poor Mary and Joseph, the birth of Jesus, ing that the savior of the world always struggling to find a place. should begin life as we all do, Meanwhile the Wise Men are on the incredible hidden within the womb of the making their way down the hall day when God wove Virgin Mary his mother. What towards the Nave. What vulnerability! What I have no idea how we’ll divinity into humanity trust! astounding joy! squeeze them in on Epiphany, May this season of Christmas but we’ve got a little time to and came to live as give you a little time and space figure that out. one of us, as a hu- to reflect on the deep mystery of the birth of Jesus. Cultural and Christian man being. With Mary and Joseph, shepcelebrations herds and magi, we are filled We really have two Christwith excitement, with wonder, mases in our modern culture. with perhaps a little uncertainty and with a great There is one Christmas that we see in the malls anticipation for God to begin something new once and on TV, the Christmas of Santa and “Jingle again. Bells” and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Rev. Chris Arnold is priest in charge of St. This Christmas has begun already, and seems to Andrew’s, Emporia. This first appeared in the Deget earlier and earlier every year. This Christmas cember issue of the parish newsletter, Crossroads, will be done by the time the wrapping paper is and has been edited for this edition. v thrown away, and we’ll be on to the next holiday By the Rev. Chris Arnold
Diocesan Calendar January 2014
February 2014
1 Diocesan office closed for New Year’s Day
1 Youth Commission meeting
5 Bishop Wolfe at Epiphany, Sedan
2 Bishop Wolfe at St. Andrew’s, Derby
8 Bishop Kemper School for Ministry classes, Grace Cathedral and Upton Hall (through Feb. 9)
Celebration of New Ministry for the Rev. Foster Mays
11 Bishop Kemper School for Ministry classes, Grace Cathedral and Upton Hall (through Jan. 12) 14 Fresh Start, Upton Hall 18 Miqra Bible-reading youth event, Grace Cathedral and St. David’s in Topeka (through Jan. 20) 19 Bishop Wolfe at St. Thomas’, Holton
9 Bishop Wolfe at Trinity, El Dorado 11 Fresh Start, Upton Hall 16 Bishop Wolfe at St. Margaret’s, Lawrence 18 Council of Trustees meeting, Upton Hall 21 Youth peer ministry retreat (through Feb. 22)
28 Council of Trustees meeting, Upton Hall
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