July/August 2014 Church News

Ladies prepare for a group skit, performed as part of a Christian Education workshop in Goli, Uganda, during a World Mission trip.

See reflection on page 6.

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July / August 2014 The newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas

Inside this issue

View the Diocesan Profile 2014, presented by the Standing Committee, in preparation for the election of a bishop coadjutor.

See pages 16-20.

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St. Mark’s, San Marcos, Rekindles Passion for God’s Creation

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The Joy of Living: a Ugandan Lesson in Spirituality

Honoring Mothers: the annual Mother’s Day Offering Contributions

Diaconal Vows and Duties in Seminary

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News and Features 2 On the Bishop’s Mind: Journey to the Holy Land 4 St. Mark’s, San Marcos, Rekindles Passion for God’s Creation 6 The Joy of Living: a Ugandan Lesson in Spirituality 9 Mother’s Day Offering Contributions 13 St. Barnabas Encourages Congregation to Preserve Natural Resources 14 Diaconal Vows and Duties in Seminary 16 Diocesan Profile 2014

In Every

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3 From the Editor 22 Around the Circuit 24 Calendar Cover photo submitted by Kaitlin Reed. the Church News is published four times a year by the Dept. of Communication Episcopal Diocese of West Texas P. O. Box 6885 San Antonio, Texas 78209 Editor: Laura Shaver Laura.Shaver@dwtx.org Deadline for news and advertising is the 15th of the month preceding publication.

Periodicals Postage paid at San Antonio, TX and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Church News P.O. Box 6885 San Antonio, TX 78209

Volume 71 Number 3 July/August 2014 USPS 661-790 The Diocese of West TX is a family of 26,000+ members in 90 congregations across 60 counties and 69,000 square miles in South Central Texas.

Bishop of West Texas: The Rt. Rev. Gary R. Lillibridge Bishop Suffragan: The Rt. Rev. David M. Reed The Bishop Jones Center 111 Torcido Dr. San Antonio, Texas 78209 Telephone: 210/888-8245387. FAX: 210-824-2164 general.mail@dwtx.org www.dwtx.org

Communication Department Staff: Marjorie George: editor, Reflections Magazine and ReflectionsOnline Laura Shaver: communications officer

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On the Bishop’s Mind The Rt. Rev. gary lillibridge Bishop of the Diocese

Journey to the Holy Land

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s I write this, Catherine and I are preparing to leave for the Holy Land with a group of 43 other pilgrims from the diocese. Someone recently asked, “Have you ever been to the Holy Land?” I answered, “Every way but literally.”

I was only half-joking, as the question itself is a good one. I have been blessed with a lifetime of hearing the stories of scripture, reading these sacred texts, listening to sermons about them, and preaching more than a few sermons on them. These stories are centered in what we have come to call “the Holy Land.” If the land is indeed “holy,” it is not because human beings are holy, but rather because Jesus spent his earthly ministry there.

Indeed, much that goes on in “the Holy Land” is far from “holy.” Of course, that could be said about many places on earth. On the other hand, wherever a person reaches out to another in God’s Name, in even the smallest ways, a holy moment occurs. “Where two or three are gathered…” And this kind of holiness happens everywhere, all the time. Thanks be to God. Back to the original question. I have been thinking about the many times and many ways I have traveled to the holy land “in story.”

Good authors know how to take you to a place, and biblical writers are good authors indeed. They know how to tell a story and how to tell it with inspiration (in-spirited; full of the Spirit).

I have been at Jacob’s well many times, watching and listening to Jesus and the Samaritan woman converse (John 4). I have sat on the hillside grass listening to Jesus talk about those who mourn, the meek, the peacemakers, and the merciful (Matthew 5). I have taken a walk on a cold December night and heard angels say, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth” (Luke 2).

I have imagined the cool water of the Jordan River as Jesus stepped forward for his baptism (Mark 1). I have been in the room when fragrant perfume filled the house as Jesus was anointed (John 12). I have been astonished when a paralytic was lowered into a room, and Jesus told him to get up and walk (Luke 5). What a holy privilege it has been to be a fly on the wall watching Jesus take a basin of water and wash his disciples’ feet (John 13). I have bowed my head in reverence with the disciples as Jesus taught us to hallow God’s Name in prayer (Matthew 6).

I have warmed myself around a fire in the night with Peter, embarrassed at my own behavior when the rooster began to crow. I have stood in the crowd at Calvary, wondering what kind of courage, what kind of love it takes to offer one’s self for another. I have eaten grilled fish on the beach with Jesus and the disciples after the resurrection, and I have been “blown away” with the rushing wind 50 days after that resurrection.

Have I been to the Holy Land? Oh, yes. Many times. And I will continue to travel there daily, carried forth not by an airplane, but by story, worship, prayer, devotional study, and fellowship.

And when I actually set my feet in Israel in a few days, I will be able to say, “You know, it seems that I have been here before.”

May God bless, comfort, and inspire you as you travel to the Holy Land, whether on the soil or in your soul.

• By the time of publication, Bishop Lillibridge’s trip to the Holy Land is complete.You can view the pictures he sent by daily email report at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwtx/sets/ View “Journey to the Holy Land 2014”.

From the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Reflections magazine: “Spiritual practices, some call them spiritual disciplines, assist in connecting us with God and the life God desires for us. Rather than being drudgery, as they are often characterized, they make the Christian life easier. In the spiritual practices, we do not “conjure up” God; we do not stress and strain to coax him into our lives. God is already there.”

The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Reflections magazine is online, with articles and photography and lots of resources about spiritual practices.

Find it at: http://reflections-dwtx.org/ *All members of churches in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas who receive The Church News also receive the printed magazine free of charge. If you are a member of a church in the diocese and do not receive the magazine, or if you are not a member of a church in the diocese and would like to receive the printed magazine, send an email to marjorie.george@dwtx.org.

From the editor Laura Shaver

We Go and See

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friend of mine told me a story about her four-yearold son and his desire to go to an afternoon service, held twice monthly on Sundays. My friend’s husband, a priest, leads the service, and so their son loves to tag along. But really for a specific reason – the cake.

Cake is served during a short reception after each of these services, and the little boy just can’t stand the temptation. His mother will ask him, “Don’t you just want to stay home? We can have cake here.” “No,” he replies, “I just have to go see the cake, I have to go see, mom.”

We all have to go see, don’t we?

Caleb, my two-year-old son, has to “see” everything. I pull out my phone to look at pictures, there he is: “I wanna see.

I wanna see.” I begin to stir the chocolate milk, there he is: “I wanna see, I wanna see.” Many times during various activities, this is followed with, “I help you, momma.”

move was possible, in large part, to the graciousness of our bishops, who agreed to allow me to maintain my current role in diocesan communications.

I have set up office in our new home, and I travel to San Antonio once weekly to engage with other diocesan staff members in necessary meetings and fellowship. When away, I long to see the Bishop Jones Center family that is established, but while in my new home, I see the possibilities for not only wider diocesan engagement, but also for a further-stretching community of friends.

You can still reach me anytime, during normal office hours, and I encourage you to do so. My cell phone number is 210-748-7720, or reach me at laura.shaver@ dwtx.org.

We go and see, and often times, we become engaged. What we see intially brings us back, and yet, what we engage in, builds valuable community.

My family and I recently moved out of San Antonio to Portland – Texas, not Oregon. What we left was a spiritually uplifting community of friends and family, but what we have found is the kindness of the coastal community, the openness of fellow worshippers, and relationships that will be established.

My husband began working in Corpus Christi full-time last fall, and after a month or so of only seeing daddy on weekends, we decided to make the move. This the Church News

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St. Mark’s, San Marcos, Rekindles Passion for God’s Creation | By Mike Patterson Mike Patterson is a San Antonio-based freelance writer and member of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Blanco.

Contact Mike at rmp231@gmail.com.

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t. Mark’s, San Marcos, sits at the base of a gentle embankment dappled in a profusion of bluebonnets and dotted by shady live oak trees. The sanctuary is lined with soaring windows as though nature itself is invited to join the services, while a sprawling labyrinth seemingly emerges organically from a hillside to engage seekers on their spiritual quests.

“You get a sense of creation when you’re here,” said the Rev. Dr. Ben Nelson III, rector of St. Mark’s.

Photos by Mike Patterson.

“Here” is on the eastern edge of the rolling Texas Hill Country, along an elongated geological escarpment known as the Balcones Fault and atop the environmentally sensitive Edward’s Aquifer recharge zone.

And “here,” at St. Mark’s, the Environmental Stewardship Committee is engaged to raise congregational and community awareness, appreciation and preservation of

the natural treasure that encompasses their surroundings.

“That’s part of the reason why this group is so active. We’re reminded of nature every Sunday,” Nelson said. “There are gardens all around us, wildlife, birds, flora and fauna all over the place. It’s a cool worship space for us.”

The committee, now with around a dozen members, formed a decade ago, primarily to explore the interweaving of the natural environment with the mission of the Episcopal Church. One of the original members, Larry Hanson, continues to be an active member.

Initially, its work focused on recycling, but that emphasis has mushroomed into a myriad of activities, ranging from crafting homemade Christmas gifts to encouraging reusing and recycling, to the regularlyscheduled selling of environmentally-friendly coffee. The group also developed an Advent meditation booklet consisting of meditations and prayers based on daily scripture readings from the Book of Common Prayer that connect nature to God and creation.

Tall windows let natural light flood the sanctuary at St. Mark’s, San Marcos.

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“The meditations are pretty successful,” Nelson said. “We print up a couple hundred and they all disappear. It gives the committee a chance to talk about the environment and brings in people who may not normally come in contact with this.”

“Environmental Stewardship is not a political cause. It’s a taking-care-of-creation cause.”

And proceeds from the periodic sale of coffee — fair traded, locally roasted, organically and shade grown — are split between the fund to benefit Episcopal Relief and Development, a national organization, and local environmental causes.

Organized in 1874, St. Mark’s moved to its 25-acre campus in 2010 and into a sanctuary that, as Nelson describes, is “wide open to creation.” A portion of the credit for the design and placement of the building goes to the efforts of Sarah Carlisle, Florence Dodington, and Susan Hanson, master naturalists and gardeners on the committee, and an array of other volunteers who researched and provided recommendations for sustainable construction, design, landscaping, and even for the building’s physical placement and alignment with the sun.

Before moving into the new church, the committee also organized a mulching and watering campaign to preserve the sprawling live oak trees when Texas was struck by a severe drought, said Ann Walsh, co-chair of the committee. Many members of the congregation joined in with the committee to tackle this challenge.

“In the two years I’ve been here, they’ve not only incorporated projects that are really cool and innovative, but they also focus on formation of people,” with the idea that “this creation we live in is a gift from God, and it

For Nelson, environmental stewardship brings us back to our roots. “We’ve always been a people who were deeply connected to creation. All the great stories are in scripture—the emergence of our self through this idea that we were created in the image and likeness of God, and God created this world, and it was very good. That’s who we are, so scripturally, it’s rekindling and retelling that story in a way that connects to wherever we are in our life.”

A pretty dafodil graces St. Mark’s garden.

is up to us to partner with God to take care of it,” Nelson said.

“Not just that you should recycle but you should recycle because it is part of our care for God’s creation and this wonderful gift we are entrusted with as partners in ministry,” he said. “I think it’s a real gentle way to include that in the life of the parish.”

The committee keeps the idea of environmental stewardship in front of the congregation through various publicity activities. For example, environmental stewardship is mentioned in nearly every church newsletter, and the group even created a website dedicated to environmental stewardship at the church: http://stmarksenvironmentalstewardship. weebly.com.

Nelson was called as rector of St. Mark’s in 2012. By coincidence, his doctoral thesis happened to concern the environment – the spirituality of water, combined with some Hawaiian traditional values and the language of the Prayer Book and how encounters with creation can enhance, inform, and shape our life in Christ.

“I think that when the rancher, the ‘tree hugger,’ the oilman, and the developer, when they sit down and talk about their spiritual values, you can sometimes get through the differences to a place where they can start talking about caring for the earth,” he said. “Their goals may not be the same but the values can be, and that can be a language of commonality, especially if they are faithful people.”

To encourage other churches to undertake environmental stewardship, the committee hosted the diocesan Ecological Stewardship booth at Diocesan Council in San Marcos this past February. “We were trying to connect with people at other churches,” Walsh said, “to see if we could get some people who

were interested and maybe we could help mentor other churches in starting up their own committees.”

When she talked to visitors at their booth, Walsh asked if they had people who worked on the grounds of their church. If they did, she told them, “You have environmental stewardship, but you haven’t thought of calling it that.”

“We’re trying to get people to see themselves as environmental stewards.

Anytime they start the mower, they are doing environmental stewardship,”she said. “Anytime they plant a plant, anytime they make a decision about what kind of light bulb to put in the sanctuary, that’s environmental stewardship.”

Case and Walsh each had their own reasons for getting involved in environmental stewardship.

“One of the biggest steps for me is trying to get people to see the connection between taking care of the environment, God, and our spiritual world,” Case said. “It satisfies my need for a practical application of my faith.”

Walsh’s involvement grew out of a desire to find a way and an interest to become more involved in the life of the church. “It was something I could connect with. I love being outside, I’m an avid birder and gardener. For me, it was a perfect fit.”

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“We keep having activities to keep people thinking about it,’ said co-chair Margo Case.

“We try to educate people about why we’re sponsoring a particular event. We’re very careful not to politicize any of this because it’s not a political cause. It’s a taking-care-ofcreation cause.”

Nelson has encouraged their efforts by instituting periodic rogation services.

Rogation, from the Latin word “rogare” means “to ask.” The services are designed to ask God to bless the crops and all creation and “make us aware of God in creation and to get them connected to an old tradition of the church. It’s so Episcopalian and Anglican,” he said.

Environmental Stewardship Committee Co-Chairs Margo Case and Ann Walsh.

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The Joy of Living: a Ugandan Lesson in Spirituality

Kaitlin Reed is the administrative assistant for the Department of World Mission. You can reach Kaitlin at kaitlin.reed@dwtx.org.

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Photos submitted by Kaitlin Reed.

tuffing the final necessities into my suitcase, I double-checked that my peanut butter crackers, phone charger and malaria pills were easily accessible. At the San Antonio airport, we awaited our departure call for Uganda. For Marthe Curry, World Mission development director, this was nothing new. But for the rest of our little mission team (Kathy Timberlake, Lynne McMillan, and me), this definitely qualified as a Big Adventure. I felt excitement, but no anxiety or nervous energy. It was a strange feeling for those to be missing. I was at peace and comforted by the unmistakable sensation that God was in control and that I was where I needed to be.

Twenty-six hours, four Oscar-nominated movies, and six terrible airplane meals later, we stepped foot outside an airport and onto African soil. We had arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where we would stay the night. The next morning we would head for Hoima, to do some work in the BunyoroKitara diocese, and then continue on to the game park to see the beauty of African wildlife. From there we would drive farther north to a tiny village called Goli, where we were to spend the majority of our time.

The purpose of our mission to Goli was to lead several workshops for youth leaders, Sunday School teachers, and the women of the Nebbi Diocese. While there, Marthe and I would also meet with leaders at the diocesan center to evaluate our various

The Ugandan team: Kathy Timberlake, Kaitlin Reed, Marthe Curry, and Lynne McMillan.

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projects and ministries in that area. We traveled by van from Hoima to Goli, and the farther north we drove, the more rural the country became.

The villages were made up of mud huts, dilapidated buildings, abandoned construction sites, and people watching skeptically as the “muzungus” (Caucasian people) passed through. Fruit stands and grazing goats lined the narrow dirt roads.

“The people in Goli were joyful, generous, and had an incredible sense of self-worth.”

Garbage lay in ditches carved out by heavy rains. Children, excited for their new toys, snatched up empty plastic water bottles originally tossed aside as trash.

Once we reached Goli, it was different somehow. The people whom we met there lived in poverty conditions, yet we could see their pride, and that completely changed my view of their situation, environment, and culture. They did not see themselves as poor or underprivileged. They were proud of where and how they lived, and they spoke to us with dignity. The people in Goli were joyful, generous, and had an incredible sense of self-worth. I wanted to use this week to get to know them, to experience their culture, to listen to and learn their dialect.

| By Kaitlin Reed

Kathy with 2-year-old Sarah, who suffers from sickle cell anemia.

In my eagerness to immerse myself in this new culture, to take in every aspect of the beautiful and foreign country, I began romanticizing the exoticness of it all. I was in awe – even in some ways envious – of their simple lifestyle and their collective society.

Their concern for the well-being of the entire community and the emphasis on village over the individual was inspiring, and their joy of living was contagious. Even bathing in a small plastic water basin and going to the bathroom in holes in the ground became a wonderful and somewhat humorous new experience!

On our first Wednesday in Goli, Marthe and I had a meeting with Adokwun Scovia, the head of our clergy children scholarship program, and Rev. Stephen, the Director of Mission and Education. We gathered to evaluate the scholarship program. We began tossing around some ideas, eager for each other’s feedback. Marthe suggested hosting a dinner at the end of the year for the students, acknowledging their hard work and dedication to their education. “You could present the top students with something that reinforces and validates their enthusiasm for school and for learning – so they know their work hasn’t gone unnoticed,” she said. At this suggestion, Stephen’s eyes widened with

permeates their being. Pain and poverty are a part of their life, but their love and joy of the Lord is their life.

We witnessed their abundant generosity and hospitality the moment we set foot in the diocesan compound. They greeted us in song and led us, smiling and clapping, into our new home for the week.

One afternoon at the compound, we called on a wonderful woman named Monica, a diocesan worker who helps with women’s ministries, to assist in one of our workshops that week. We found out upon arriving at her home that Monica had given birth just five days ago. Along with her newborn, she has a beautiful two-year-old girl, Sarah, who suffers from sickle cell anemia and is prone to bouts of severe pain that agitate her entire body. In addition, her husband is currently unemployed, reducing their already low income to even less.

A group of clergy children scholarship recipients in Goli.

We quickly apologized and told her not to worry; we did not mind finding someone else to assist us. She brushed aside our apology and promptly invited us in for tea, insisting that helping us would be no inconvenience at all. She presented us with an assortment of delicious local staples mandazzis, g-nuts, chapati - accompanied

excitement, “This will work! And we could acknowledge it – these are facts of life give them each a bar of soap!” he beamed. for them, just as they are for us. But their That certainly wasn’t what I expected. My suffering does not consume them. It is the smile at his enthusiasm did not wane, but I steadfast conviction that God will carry felt my heart sink a little inside my chest. their burdens and ease their suffering that

A bar of soap? Sometimes when my father goes on trips, he’ll bring me back a bar of hotel soap as a cute little joke. Stephen’s comment was a grounding moment of clarity for me, a return to reality. Attempting to wash myself in one of their tiny basins with my various floralscented soaps and shampoos was nothing more than a humorous struggle for me. In this tiny, rural village, presenting someone with a bar of soap, enabling them to maintain some semblance of cleanliness, was a great honor. The people are rich in spirit, hope, and generosity. They will be the first to For more inform ation on how to volunteer or dona Director of Adva tell you, it is the love of God in their te, contact Jill Va ncement at (210 ) 424-20 65 or va ssar, ssar_j@goodsam hearts that wakes them up each center.com. morning and sees them to sleep each night. It is their faith in God that surrounds and protects their children, that grows their crops, that heals their land.

Serving Alice, Corpus Christi, Pharr, San Antonio, Sonora and Wimberley www.GoodSamaritanCommunityServices.org | Volunteer | Donate Pain and suffering are real in their lives and they are quick to

Continued on page 8.

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Our Programs and Events Are Stacking Up Nicely.

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Camp Good Sam is a six week summer program that fosters positive youth development and helps prevent summer learning loss.

The goal of Camp Good Sam is to address the “Summer Slide” by giving low-income youth a safe place to learn and have fun. Camp Good Sam serves more than 1,200 youth at seven sites in six cities throughout South Texas.

Want to be part of this growing and successful program?

Donate or Volunteer today!

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by a huge thermos of hot Ugandan tea. She didn’t think twice about whether to invite us in; she didn’t hesitate to offer us everything she had. She epitomized the breadth of their generosity, and the depth of their humanity.

My eyes and my heart were opened in those two weeks I was in Uganda, and especially during the week we spent in Goli. The people we encountered already possessed the power of the Holy Spirit – we were not there to spread Christ’s love to them, we were there to share in His love and to experience it together. There are plenty of stories of poverty and need that I could share with you, snapshots of dilapidated buildings and mud huts, of children with tattered clothes and sunken faces, but there are many more of compassion and hope, of dignity and love.

One aspect of the diocesan World Mission Department that I have come to love the most is that in the many years of work done in partnership with the Nebbi Diocese, the

department has never undermined their way of life, or proposed to know better than the local Ugandans with whom we work. We do not dominate or commandeer projects and ministries in Uganda simply because we have access to more resources; we encourage and work to provide opportunities, ensuring that it is an equal partnership, and that nothing is done to take away from their joy of living.

In the same way the gentle lions we saw in the game park defied nature’s “survival of the fittest” mentality (see Marthe’s reflection, sidebar), we, too, are called into a loving, synergetic relationship with one another.

Walking side by side, each contributing something important and unique to the partnership. Our Ugandan friends have a special place in our hearts, and we see them as people of value from whom we have so much to learn, beginning with what it truly looks like to respect the dignity of every human being.

Creative Celebration ABODE, San Antonio’s only home that gives Contemplative Community Care at no cost for those in need at end of life, is proud to present a Creative Celebration, Paintings of Big Bend by the Watercolor Gang.

This will be the 51st exhibition of San Antonio’s own “Watercolor Gang,” composed of Finis Collins, Clay McGaughy, Lee Ricks, and E. Gordon West. For the past 50-plus years, the “Gang” has visited and painted locations in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Big Bend, this year’s location, is celebrated for its grand views and scenic celebrations.

Photo submitted by Marthe Curry.

Creative Celebration Exhibition receptions are September 18, 6-9 PM September 20, 1-4:00 PM and September 2, 12-3:00 PM all at the Episcopal Church of Reconciliation 8600 Starcrest, San Antonio, 78217, 210-655-2731 Forty percent of all sales will benefit ABODE. ABODE Contemplative Care for the Dying will be opening its home at 8619 Post Oak Lane, San Antonio 78217 upon its completion in late summer. Please go to ABODE’s website for updates and announcements of the Grand Opening Celebration at www.abodehome.org.

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Loving One Another

When Jesus said, “Love one another,” he was pointing toward an internal work of the Spirit that would carry believers beyond the obligatory going the first mile and perfunctory forgiveness into abandoned display of God’s love through us.

That’s what we saw that twilight in Uganda.

I had asked our guide if we could please see some lions, a lion? We traveled through miles of dusty roads cut through the game preserve, and then we stopped. Just in front of our van was a gorgeous male lion at the side of the road under a bush only yards from us. His tail politely, but effectively, stretched across the path blocking our further approach. In his golden aura, he quietly surveyed us and his kingdom.

Momentarily, a second lion, as splendid as the first, arrived, and the lions embraced.

Their greeting was warm, full of affection, and deeply moving. Not the National Geographic attack that we’d been programmed to see.

Brother was loving brother.

Santa Elena Morn

by E. Gordon West

Four years ago when the first lion was found by park rangers, his leg had been caught in a poacher’s trap, and infection had already gone to the bone. The resident vet determined that the leg had to be amputated to save the lion’s life. And so it was that the king of the jungle was no longer able to hunt or protect himself. But his brother appeared, and for four years the brother has walked with him and guarded him, and the females have brought him food.

We watched in silence. Loving one another.

That’s what we saw.

By Dr. Marthe Curry, World Mission Development Director, who recently returned from a mission trip to Uganda with three other team members. See reflection on page 6.

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onoring others

A special offering on Mother’s Day, May 11, honored the special women in our lives and contributed to the work of World Mission.

In past years, the funds have provided such things as medical and dental treatment for marginalized children in Mexico and Guatemala; micro enterprise conferences for women of Uganda; renovations and beds for orphanages in Kenya and Mexico; and scholarships for students in secondary and technical schools and universities in Mexico, Honduras, Kenya, and Uganda.

“Our mother raised us so that each of us believed we were her favorite.”

“She worked so hard to care for us out of unbounded love.”

In honor of all mothers.

Thank you for giving to the Lord.

Donor Honoree

Donor Honoree

Advent, Alice

Maury Osborn Gardner Francis Osborn, Gail Margaret Laney Sally Duncan Harriet Means Witt The Rev. David & Julie Chalk Marie Calk-Bell, Frances Raymond,

Patricia Brooke Lynda Leadford Betty Aboltin Micheline Ellas Barbara Ellas Carol Ann Glasby Homer Lambert III Betty Morris Alice Gray Sears Cohen, Mrs. J.B. Barnhill, Jr. Ann Wilson -- Richard Ellas -Janis Allen Ramah Lorraine Schleede

Darlene Turner Maudine Turner, Darlene Berger, Phyllis Seidel

St. Christopher’s, Bandera Donna Anderson

Joan Murphy

St. Michael & All Angels, Blanco

Mary Nabers Willie Maude Burnett, Kat Burnett Chuck & Betty McNallen -Carolyn Groos Betty Kuldell Colhoun, Charlotte Kuppinger Colhoun, Nancy H. Groos Amy Edwards Fayle Leger, Dena Torres Ginger Faught Frances Busby Josephine Williamson Nancy Williamson

St. Helena’s, Boerne

Anonymous Barbara Frey Anonymous Ester Davis, Rowena Jewell Loretta Shill -Benedict Adam Regina Adam, Cherilyn Haley

St. Paul’s, Brady

Suzy Tripp Valma Douglas Joan Keeling --

Advent, Brownsville Paul & Andrea Rudnik

St. Francis, Canyon Lake

Sheila F. Morris

Anonymous Bernice Bergotedt Smith, Constanzia Torres Anonymous Mary Joy Cowper, Betty Smith Anonymous Betty Bauslaugh Anonymous Cornelia Redd Woods, Almeida Harris Anonymous Ann Eastland Anonymous Anne, Phoebe

St. Boniface, Comfort

Jane Colgate -Sayda De Hoyos Griselda De Hoyos, Rosa Caddel Michael Lamar Lillian Lamar The Rev. Lera Tyler Cecile Tyler, Elizabeth Welke Mollye J. Long Beatrice L. Johnson, Michelle L. Knize Bert & Jane Holdsworth Mary Carson, Lucile Holdsworth

All Saints, Corpus Christi

Anonymous Christine Ballard Anonymous Nancy Adams Jim Tyree Atlee Ann Tyree, Cathy Tyree Diana Naranjo Guadalupe Naranjo Marilyn Carpenter Irene Mitchell John Wills Billie Lou Wills-Havis Patricia Durham Phyllis Whitaker

Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi

Anonymous Mary Lou Lewis, Ann Harper Anonymous Charlene Bradberry Anonymous Cheryl Rister Anonymous Kathy Randl Candy Trask Peggy Booth

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Donor Honoree

Donor Honoree

B.J. Kershaw Nancy Jansky, Ada Scotland The Griffin Family Willie K. Simpson McLean Faye Bruun Ferine Bruun, Cilla Faye Pratt Carolyn Mauck -- Kathy Randl -Phyllis Stephenson Lois Stephenson, Julia Timmins

Jeannine Frost Velanne Rowland Howle

Reconciliation, Corpus Christi

Anonymous Landers Anonymous Lilly Heard, Vicky Whitty Ada Booth Mrs. O. Booth, Ms. Mildred Watson Larry Caraway --

St. Andrew’s, Corpus Christi

Anonymous Eloise Price, Janet Christenson Anonymous Edna Roberts Martin Anonymous Doreen Harris Glenda Johnson -David Whitacre --

St. Bartholomew’s, Corpus Christi

Maria Ladrillo Petra Guzman Susan Vyskocil Clare L. Newburn, Betty Williams Gigi Horn Mary Lee Tanner, Jean Carson, Margie Lassman Mike & Martha McGee Hazel McGee, Barbara Jean Harris, Carmen Joe & Barbara Dove -- Fred & Edna Heldenfels Rae Orms Heldenfels

St. Mark’s, Corpus Christi Betty Chumney

Elizabeth Breazeale

St. James, Del Rio

Anonymous Betty Hauf, Val Poleo Margo Rosenow Peggy Rosenow, Pat Davis Sarah Roche Glo Stryker Cheri Green Barbara Stubbs, Betty Green, Janell Kruppa Elizabeth Miller Martha Helen Wilson Blackwell,

Flor West, Lynda Fritts, Lisa Lujan

Mildred Roper Suzanne Toler, Carol Newberry

Good Shepherd, George West

Janis Harris Maxine Garing Marion Sehlke Cheryl Mullekin, Pam Sehlke, Rena Sehlke John Franklin Mary Franklin Virginia Horton Olivia Bryan, Lucile Horton Sue Dobie --

Messiah, Gonzales

Esther Bell Esther Janna Christian Linda Hunter

Trinity, Junction

Randi Herbst

Virginia Mahler, Dimple Sutton

St. Matthew’s, Kenedy

Anonymous Mary, Ethel Herb Baker Mae Willmott-Brennan, Maria Buchanon Arthur Clark -- David Maitland Peggy M. Henry Shirley Oleson -John Greve -Neil Nichols Charlotte A. Nichols

St. Peter’s, Kerrville

Anonymous Dr. Claudia Coggin Anonymous Barbara McKenzie Anonymous Lillian Real

Christ Church, Laredo Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Jerry Robinson George & Ann Neel Edward Glassford Steve & Angie Gutierrez

Marie Garcia, Maria Paty Frances Weir, Mallory Harris Diana Destine Denman Edna Robinson Our mothers Sheila Glassford Rosario Gutierrez, Hilda G. Lopez

Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs

Grace, Llano Lisa Wilkinson Zella Ruth Rusher Vaulandingham, Bernice Roberts Mulholland Gwendolyn Habermacher Wilkinson, Anonymous Fran Merritt Grace Virginia Roslin, Godling Wilkinson Carole M. Leeder -Jared Aleshire Mary Aleshire Sandra Slocomb -Patrcia Jetton Gladys Lois Beene Davis Anita Gail Williams -Judith Waddell -Redeemer, Eagle Pass Nancy Torgerson -Cornelia Muzquiz Jeanette Sanford Frazier, Violet Dolch Michael & Mia Marcoux Oran Logan Marcoux, Sanford, Kathryn Sanford Keehn Elysabethe Kehr Barkett Carlota Riojas -Cynthia Richerson Marion Lee Richerson Bp. Ramiro Delgado Vera -Brent & Nancy Seager Helen Finch, Genevieve Seager Rosalinda Aguilar Maria Boza Mary Gray Frances Kika Rogers, Leah Gray Emmanuel, Lockhart

St. Barnabas, Fredericksburg

Anonymous Lilah Hoover Anonymous Gertrude Lieberum, Barbara Priestly Patricia Kreuz Margaret Paton

“She comes as close to loving unconditionally as any person I have ever known.”

“She had the patience of Job.” 10

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Anonymous Patty Hanks Anonymous Lauren Mezaraups Elizabeth McGinty Pat Allred

St. John’s, McAllen

Anonymous Margaret White C. Elizabeth Lawson June M. Strafer, Lillie M. Lawson Brenda Revock Garcia Jeannette Revock Janice Mumford Edna Hall Edna Domansi Apid Cabloy Petra Biteng Felicidad Madu, Mary Bang Cawagon

Donor Honoree

Donor Honoree

Lee & Mary Baucum Jerry & Ann Greenfield Pam Simpson

Anonymous Doramae Summers, Cori Spaid Anonymous Nora Virginia Wratislaw R.F. Wallace Vivian Rita Smith-Wallace Susan Filippini Joan Bromfield Filippini, Kathryn Colwell Evans Ferol Senter Sybil Skannel Cheryl Jimenez Joyce Anglin, Mary Ann Jimenez Gwendolyn Sampson Dorcas E. Sampson, Ann H. Montes Kristine Howland Harriet Nelson Bonnie M Karl-Meacham Nilda Thompson Shirley Bryan Beatrice Longford

Sophie Philquist, Mary Baucum Gail Notestine, Wilda Greenfield June Hopper, Kay Kreidler

St. Peter and St. Paul, Mission

Leanor Fletcher -Mary Lou Salas Jesness Ann G. Salas

Trinity, Pharr

Estelle Flores Florence Tijerna Constance Boruff

Rosie C. Uresti, Lela F. Norwood Rosa C. Uresti, Lela F. Norwood Jeanne McKay, Burnette Watson

All Saints, Pleasanton

Susan Burkholder Sue Calhoun, Ruby Burkholder, Carolyn Whitmire

St. Andrew’s, San Antonio

St. Andrew’s, Port Isabel

Abigail Muschenheim Gabby Muschenheim May Hill Betty Trosper Kathryn Ayers Pauline Abbott, Elma Ayers Nancy Ostos --

Epiphany, Raymondville Robert McAllen R. Lowry McAllen

St. Peter’s, Rockport

David Herring

Christ Church, San Antonio

Margaret Looney McAlle Margaret McAllen, Anne Lieberman

Edith Sneed Herring

Anonymous Vicki Dieterle, Ann Brownlee Anonymous Antonio, Florence Anonymous Barbara Frey Anonymous Betty Child Sallie Schuchard Thomas Anne Schuchard Hebdon The Metz Family Margaret Del Prado Betty Chumney Elizabeth Breazeale, India Guilbot, Wendy Meaden Billy Chumney Betty Chumney Marthe Curry Brooks Hagee, Tish Tucker, Edith Downing Kathy Timberlake Patricia Allday, Alice Jean Timberlake,

Sarah T. Halbach, Betty Chumney, Marthe Curry, Lynne McMillan,

Ann Allen, Cecile McAllister, Jane M. Wolf, Debra S. Black, Lori G. Niles Corey & Leslie Eichelberger Elizabeth McCormick, Dorothy Eichelberger Mark & Nancy Wright Fern Saunders, Pat Wright Lisa Blonkvist Mary Duncan Sarah Goodson Yvonne C. Hoffman Charles Huey Jayne Huey Ann McRae Pat Dalton, Lindy, Kathleen Liza Huey Cindy Huey The Mangums Barbara Kongabel Webb

Reconciliation, San Antonio

“A true prayer warrior who loved Jesus as her Lord and Savior.”

Winfred Ward Marion Van Wagner

Lillie Vay Ward --

St. David’s, San Antonio

Tim & Laura Woodall Marjorie Kellner, Marie Woodall Patricia Biggs -- Kirk & Lisa Mason -Melissa Watkins Geneva Watkins Courtney Gibb -Charles & Bettie Schrade -Nancy Schweers -Catherine Lillibridge Carol Hester Carol Hester -Elizabeth Neally Jean Neally Patsy McGaughy Gladys Thompson Maria Bates -Kaitlin & Jon Reed Patti Reed Ltc. Nelda Cade --

St. Francis, San Antonio

Anonymous Rose Barrientez, Theresa Barrientez Anonymous Thelma E. Newman Anonymous Nancy May, Liane Torok Anonymous Dalina, Elizabeth Anonymous Katheryn Dorothy Rudes -David & Laura Harris Bernice Stock, Mary Harris Kevin & Jacqueline Sykes Jacqueline Somers, Marie Evant Linda Stahl Margaret T. Fox Suzanne Rodriguez Sue Scott Trainer, Elizabeth Geeson Jim Orcutt Kathryn Mooney Orcutt John & Cheryl Johnson Peggy Johnson, Marvel Coffin Sally Brown Harriet Stinson Gerald Sharp Patti Sue Sharp Sammy Sammis Lois Hart Sammis Suzanne Cude Katherine Votto Steven & Maurya Villareal Marsha Martin Chuck Ogogor Josephine A. Ogogor, Nekechi S. Ogogor Paul & Mary Ann Oroian Millicent Oroian, Mary Goulet

St. Margaret’s, San Antonio

Marise Melson Alice Landis Rosse Laura McWhirter Alice Heeg Dolores, Alice, Mary Alice Ginny Gibson Margaret Lewis Mary Francis Lewis Jean Anne Paul Patsy & Edwin Sasek Rosalie Patton Cromwell, Jane Sasek, Margaret Ware Sarah Marmion Armendariz, Judith Chestnut Madge Cummins, Bobbie Maloy Anna Brown Suzanne Lea Sim Resurrection, San Antonio St. Margaret’s ECW Anonymous Mildred Hahn

the Church News

Virginia McWhirter All Mothers Jean Paul Helen Gregory, Amy Hawkins Mary Gallagher Dona Castillo Charlene In honor of all of our mothers

July / August 2014

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Donor Honoree

Donor Honoree

St. Mark’s, San Antonio

William Hunt Louise Miner Sharon Mathers Kathleen Wilkinson Tom & Esther Rickey

Anonymous Dorothy Anonymous Beverly Nowlin Anonymous Maurleen Cobb Anonymous Juanita English, Arta Lee Boggs Anonymous Romilda Plaisance Shea Pollom Pauline, Bertha Judith Rux Florence Nunn, Marie Rux George Miller -Denise Stines Francis Zara D’Antignac Margaret Vassar Jill Vassar David Ribble Judy Ribble, Iris Ballew Nancy Reed -Claudia Maceo -Robert Pollom Shea Pollom, Stephanie Pollom

St. Philip’s, San Antonio Elizabeth Applin Dorothy Adkins Joyce Sowells Margaret Islam Ruth Nelson Terry George-Hildebrand Dorothy Bailey Shirley David

St. Stephen’s, San Antonio Janette Brandon Carla Vaughn Julia Jones Mark Moyer Lynne Barrows Barry Hitchings

Etherine Allen, Clara Etta William Josephine Warren Mrs. Helena G. Cuffins Katherine Terrell La Vada Fields Thornton, Lucille Edwards Nelson Artensie George Leila Morton Belma Fears

Julia Jones Dorothy Oliver Emma Gazaway Martha Moyer Nell lWesterhoff, Joyce Barrows Irma B. Hitchings

“A woman who suffered, prevailed, and always smiled.”

St. Thomas, San Antonio

Anonymous Marie Potter, Jinnie Pemberton Anonymous Dorothy McKown Wachsmith, Helga Meister Kusiah Anonymous Anne DeForest Anonymous Sue Rowland Anonymous Geraldine Ester Hackis Watts Anonymous Patricia Glenn Anonymous Polly Jo Mason Anonymous Cheryl Johnson Anonymous Mary Elizabeth Boore Paniter Anonymous Jessie Nesmith Anonymous Rose Melluzo Moles, Phyllis Rubottom Jerry & Carol Bernice & Helen Margaret Grunwald Mrs. John E. Williams Larry Oxford -- Ronald Lorton Grace Lorton Scott & Kathryn Robertson Mary Trowbridge, Janet Robertson Maria Weaver Flavia Figueroa Steve Denney Helen T. Denney Ann English Roberta Ann Cecil English Carol Ann Britt Thelma Downing, Eloise Hooper David Brack Elaine Brack Kristine Thomas Dorothy Aiken Martha Gaston -Stephanie Prado Mary Hernandez, Judy Prado Peggy Shearer Vivian Sterns Nancy Harwi Gerry Adams Virginia Lukefahr Helen Namir, Virginia Black, Billie Toups

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Stacey Hunt, Barbara, Missy Emily Beldon, Irene Miner Edna Earle Shirley Isabel Peach, Phyllis Wilkinson Kay Miller

St. Mark’s, San Marcos

The Metz Family Margaret Del Prado Donnelle Gooch Maxine Cooper Susan Lewis Mary King Adelaide McAninch -- Travis Pair Elizabeth Harris, Winnie Pair Joan Matthews -Peter & Dee Dee Baen Victoria A. Lopez Brenda Remme Gloria Remme Lynn Villarreal -Helen Floyd Evelyn Margaret Fraser

St. Andrew’s, Seguin

Carlotta Barker -Inez Lasell Inez Hodges Rather, Willie Law Rather

St. Philip’s, Uvalde

Sue Capt Hattie Stockley Carper Ashley Ferguson Brenda Kolinek Bill Ed Kolinek Edna Kolinek Cheryll McGehee Monica Hernandez, Melissa Cerna, Kristie Blackwell Bobbie Jean Low Patti Armstrong

St. Francis, Victoria

Anonymous Julie, Bren Claude Scott -Sasha Burns -Jack & Cynthia Buttram Lillian Buttram, Ruby Kearby Sandra Christian Ruth Sitterle Paul Roeh -Rosie Tatum Janie Dusik Andrea Wise Jeanne Palmie Arnold, Edith Robinson Wise Martha Bernhardt -Olive Crain --

Trinity, Victoria

Ricky Lenz Lea Lenz Susan Hyak Pat Hurley Joyce Baruday --

Grace, Weslaco

Anonymous Rosa Nell Smith Tom Weigel Frances Landrum Holman, Mariette Duncan Weigel, Julie Holman Weigel

St. Stephen’s, Wimberley Christy Holt

Antoinette Sadderth

And a big thank you to all of our other churches who also participated in the offering: St. Paul’s, Brownsville; St. Matthew’s, Edinburg; Trinity, Edna; Trinity by the Sea, Port Aransas; St. Christopher’s, Portland; Holy Spirit, San Antonio; St. George, San Antonio; St. Paul’s, San Antonio; St. Matthew’s, Universal City; St. Stephen’s, Wimberley This list represents the contributions received by the Department of World Mission. If others are received, they will be printed in the September/ October issue of The Church News.

St. Barnabas Encourages Congregation to Preserve Natural Resources | By Mike Patterson

Continued from page 5.

The next horizon for the committee is to involve younger children and families in caring for the environment. Walsh would like to see the natural playground, now in the planning stages, to “include some space where you can gather families together and get them actively participating in environmental stewardship activities.”

Case and Walsh invite other churches interested in embarking on their own environmental stewardship work to contact them for help as mentors. “We could tell them here’s what we’ve been doing and this is how we got started,” Walsh said. “Getting people to more actively organize themselves is something I would wish to see.”

You can reach St. Mark’s, San Marcos, at 512-353-1979 or episcopal@ sanmarcosepiscopal.org.

St. Mark’s, San Marcos.

I

n the Hill Country community of Fredericksburg, a committee at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church is working to encourage the congregation to become more actively involved in preserving natural resources.

Formed less than two years ago, C.O.R.E., Caring for Our Natural Resources and Environmental Committee, has already embarked on numerous initiatives to raise awareness of sustainability, from recycling to a Lenten “Carbon-Fast.”

The committee was organized in October 2012 at the encouragement of Steve Neale, St. Barnbaras’ lay ministry coordinator, who had received a suggested sustainability plan from a local business. Starting there, Lou Dieter, committee chair, started “soliciting other church member volunteers who had similar interests in conserving our natural resources to join the committee.”

Among the committee’s first accomplishments was placing recycling bins in various locations throughout the church’s campus. The group also organized the collection and recycling of eye glasses, batteries, aluminum cans, ink cartridges, and fluorescent light bulbs for the Rotary Club.

“Last year, we enlisted our youth group to help with recycling cell phones,” Dieter said.

“They found an organization that provides a cash return for them to St. Barnabas.”

This year, C.O.R.E. invited church members to join in a “carbon-fast” during Lent, which entailed encouraging the congregation to

focus on specific “carbon-fast” activities, such as “Drive Less, Drive Smart”; “Switch to Reusable Shopping Bags”; “Change Your Light Bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs”; and “Pay Your Bills Online.”

“Many in our congregation commented on how these suggestions really helped them change their behaviors, not just for the Lenten season, but for the long-term,” Dieter said.

In the future, the committee “will continue to look for ways to reduce the overall energy consumption in all the buildings on the church campus, make suggestions for the purchase of eco-friendly products, and work with our local environmental group, Fredericksburg SHINES on promoting a zerowaste community,” Dieter said.

Dieter said the mission for C.O.R.E. is to “inspire, encourage, and sustain an environmentally responsible program using best practices and ongoing involvement with members of St. Barnabas.” She said this supports one of the Five Marks of Mission of the Episcopal Church: “To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.”

“Our committee’s efforts to care for all of God’s creation are grounded in scripture,” she said. “It is important for us all to be protectors of creation, of one another, and the environment.”

“With God’s grace, we strive for the ability to live simply, sustainably, and with reverence for our Mother Earth,” she said.

Photo by Mike Patterson.

And for Nelson, environmental stewardship has rekindled the gift of God in him so that he doesn’t “take things for granted in creation.”

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Featured News

Diaconal Vows and Duties in Seminary | By Laura Shaver

D

uring the ordination of a deacon, a candidate vows to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by word and example, to those among whom he lives, works, and worships. Recent seminary graduates from the Diocese of West Texas were given the opportunity to live out this vow, among the others taken at ordination, while finishing their senior year in seminary.

They lived out their diaconal vows in the surrounding community and participated in diaconal duties, preparing them for their future roles as priests.

In 2013, the Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge, bishop of the diocese, with the consent of the Standing Committee, instituted the practice of ordaining seminarian students to the diaconate midway through their senior year.

The decades-long practice was to ordain deacons upon graduation from seminary.

In the Diocese of West Texas, as in many other dioceses, a transitional deacon serves six months before being ordained to the priesthood.

“In addition to an intentional reflection of the ministry of deacons in their senior years,” said Lillibridge, “this new process is also more practical for our congregations in that a graduating seminarian will, God willing, begin his or her first assignment as a priest.”

Once a deacon, one can assist the bishops and priests in public worship by reading the Gospel, setting the table and preparing the elements, reading the Prayers of the People, and delivering the dismissal at the end of the liturgy.

Recent diocesan seminary graduates have found the preparation time in seminary, while being ordained a deacon a semester early, to be a positive and life-giving experience. “Being a deacon while still in seminary enabled me to gain a high level of comfort and confidence around the altar before coming to St. Luke’s (San Antonio),” said the Rev. Timothy True, who graduated from the University of the South School of Theology in Sewanee, Tennessee in 2013, as one of two in the first class to be ordained to the diaconate before graduation.

Photos by Nancy Springer-Baldwin.

“Being a deacon while still in seminary enabled me to gain a high level of comfort and confidence around the altar.”

During his senior spring semester, True was able to spend an afternoon with a professor at Sewanee walking through a mock Eucharist. “This afternoon marked one of my most treasured experiences during my time at Sewanee, an experience I wouldn’t have known without having been ordained to the diaconate while still a student,” said True.

The Rev. Rob Harris prepares the Eucharist elements at the Seminary of the Southwest.

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The Rev. Carol Morehead, who graduated from the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin in 2013, found there were many specific ways she was able to live out her diaconal vows with regular opportunities to serve in different places. “I served within the seminary community at Christ Chapel

The Rev. Rod Clark reads the Gospel during a Eucharist service at the Seminary of the Southwest.

and on campus; in my field parish, St. Julian of Norwich; and at my sponsoring parish, Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs, where I had the opportunity to serve at the altar and to preach,” said Morehead, who now serves as assistant rector at St. Mark’s, San Antonio.

Morehead said “In the variety of places I served, I gained different views of ‘how things were done’ with each priest, vestry, altar guild, and I learned there are many ways we come together to worship and serve.”

The Rev. Brian Cannaday, who graduated from the University of the South School of Theology this past May, was also able to live out his diaconal vows liturgically on campus and at his field parish, St. Paul’s in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Once senior seminarians in the School of Theology are ordained, they function as deacons, so there is a shift in their liturgical duties on campus.

At the Easter Vigil held in All Saints Chapel on campus in Sewanee, Cannaday was asked to sing the Exultet, the Easter Proclamation, which is a deacon’s prerogative.

At St. Paul’s, Cannaday served alongside two priests, and once ordained a deacon, he set the table for Eucharist and was once asked to administer the paten, in the absence of one of the priests. Cannaday appreciated participating in a deacon’s role in the church, “teaching and serving and living out my vows liturgically,” he said.

Cannaday found that the clerical collar, an outward and visible sign of ordination, afforded him opportunities to be faithful in prayer, as parishioners willingly approached

The Rev. Brian Cannaday (left) stands with classmate the Rev. Carl Saxton from the Diocese of Fort Worth on graduation day in Sewanee, showing him a picture on his phone. Cannaday’s father could not be at the graduation, so he sent Brian a picture of him wearing a cowboy hat and Sewanee T-shirt in support of his son.

him to connect, ask for prayers, and to talk about their present-day lives. “It changed my interaction with the people at St. Paul’s, and I found that interesting and fulfilling,” he said.

“It changed my interaction with the people at St. Paul’s, and I found that interesting and fulfilling”

Once a deacon, Clark was able to give Communion to residents at a nearby retirement center and nursing home in Austin with reserve sacraments from Eucharist services on campus. He established a ministry there before ordination, visiting and praying with the residents, and was grateful to be able to deliver Communion to the residents, as he had not been able to before. “There are ministries our diaconal vows lead us to, and our efforts won’t fade when we leave, as other students become ordained while still in seminary,” said Clark.

Both Clark and the Rev. Rob Harris, who graduated this past May also from Seminary of the Southwest, began mission-focused initiatives on the seminary campus in Austin, including a bar-b-que to benefit Episcopal Relief and Development, the international relief and development agency of The Episcopal Church. “The ethos of our class was entrepreneurial, and the seminary

allowed us to be innovative in reaching out and helping others,” said Clark. “Being ordained, we were able to strengthen our established ministries relationally.”

Clark said, “Being a transitional deacon in seminary makes sense. You have one foot in seminary and one foot in ordination, and you can begin to live into your vows.” Clark and the other recent graduates recognized and appreciated the education avenue that followed after their ordinations to the diaconate, and they all encourage future seminarians to be open to this.

Morehead said, “Never assume that what is learned in seminary is the final word; always keep a listening ear and an open heart to where God is leading and where the Spirit takes us all; the formation of a clergy person is ongoing.”

The Rev. Brian Cannaday begins serving at St. Helena’s, Boerne; the Rev. Rod Clark begins serving at St. Alban’s, Harlingen; and the Rev. Rob Harris begins serving at Christ Church, San Antonio; all in July.

Photo (top) submitted by Brian Cannaday; (bottom) by Nancy Springer-Baldwin.

The Rev. Rod Clark graduated from the Seminary of the Southwest this past May and found that being in seminary while ordained a deacon was “life giving,” as he learned to balance diaconal duties, family responsibilities, and academics. “I am grateful because seminary is a workshop, and being newly ordained, a workshop is a great place to be, a safe place to learn and grow,” said Clark.

The Rev. Rob Harris (left) and the Rev. Rod Clark (right) stand for a picture with a classmate on graduation day at the Seminary of the Southwest.

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A New Bishop for the

Episcopal Diocese of West Texas Diocesan Profile 2014

A

t the 110th annual Diocesan Council, which was held in San Marcos in February 2014, the Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge called for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor on October 25, 2014 at TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas.

The Bishop Coadjutor Elect will begin serving with Bishop Lillibridge in January 2015 until the retirement of Bishop Lillibridge in 2017, when the Bishop Coadjutor will automatically become the diocesan bishop. Now in his 11th year as diocesan bishop, Lillibridge will have been ordained 35 years in 2017. This process implements an orderly leadership transition for the entire diocesan family.

The Ministry of a Bishop in The Episcopal Church is: • To represent Christ and his Church, particularly as an apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; • To guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church; • To proclaim the Word of God; • To act in Christ’s name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; • To ordain others to continue Christ’s ministry (from The Book of Common Prayer, page 855)

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Profile Survey

I

n preparation for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor, the diocesan Standing Committee developed a survey, which was sent to all churches in the diocese for distribution to their congregations.

All questions were based on the diocesan core values of faith; scripture, prayer and sacramental worship; evangelism; mission; and reconciliation.

The survey was administered online, and it was also posted on the Council website for printing at council-dwtx.org. The Standing Committee received 1,143 responses. The percentages below represent the total number of responses.

• The first three questions addressed the traits and skills desired in a new bishop.

1. Which three (3) of the following do you think are most important concerning the new bishop’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

78.57%

67.80%

61.33%

Is a Christ-centered person of deep faith Is faithful in prayer and study of Holy Scripture Respects the dignity of every human being

2. Which eight (8) of the following do you think are most important leadership skills for the new bishop?

76.47% 72.27%

69.90% 62.38% 59.76% 57.04% 52.93% 45.76%

Communicates well Provides vision for the Diocese of West Texas Is approachable Is a compassionate, caring person Models servant leadership Has experience as a rector/vicar Is gifted in mediating conflict Has strong administrative skills

3. Which three (3) of the following do you think are most important concerning the new bishop’s perspective and experience of wellness?

71.30% 66.32%

48.21%

Has a sense of humor Regularly and intentionally shares in activities with his or her family Regularly participates in personal continuing education and sabbaticals

• The last two questions addressed the social concerns and ministry priorities for our diocese.

4. What are the eight (8) most important areas in which the diocese can participate in restoring all people to unity with God and each other in Christ?

77.17% 72.35%

72.18% 66.14%

62.64% 57.92%

53.89% 51.27%

Families in crisis Alcohol, drug abuse, and other addictions Hunger Life issues for the aging and their families Homelessness Deployed and returning military and their families Mental health issues Literacy

5. Which eight (8) of the following areas do you think the new bishop should continue or develop as the most important priorities for the diocese at this time?

75.85% 69.38% 64.39%

62.29%

61.50%

60.10% 51.71% 47.68%

Ministry with children and youth Young adult and college ministries Nurturing the relationships within congregations and the diocesan family Evangelism - sharing the Gospel by word and deed The empowerment and equipping of lay ministry Church growth and attendance Collaboration among congregations Renewal experiences - Cursillo, Faith Alive, Happening

Ministries Within

U

nder the leadership of Bishop Lillibridge, the diocese has flourished, overcome challenges, and has held together well as a family.

Ministries continue to grow, including diocesan camping programs and camp scholarships, college ministries, World Mission initiatives, Habitat for Humanity efforts, and multi-generational Christian formation and education. Across the diocese, congregations have responded to Bishop Lillibridge’s emphasis on being missional in each of our communities.

locations in San Antonio and seven other cities in the diocese.

Camp Capers, founded in 1947, got a major facelift in 2013. Phase One construction included five buildings on the central campus, for a total project cost of $4 million.

Steves Hall and two surrounding lodges were completely rebuilt, while the Health Center and Welcome Center were repurposed and renovated. Construction was completed in June to the delight of participants throughout the year. The purchase of 108 acres adjacent to the original camp property of 80 acres was also completed in the fall at the cost of $2 million.

and south of Rocky Mountain National Park, Duncan Park is the site for week-long rustic camping and hiking experiences for high school students, college students, and adults. This completely “off the grid” camp comes complete with a roaring creek, a rustic lodge, beautiful trees, and easy access to the numerous hiking trails in Roosevelt National Forest.

Camps and Conferences

James Park, Colorado, was the home of the Colorado Adventure Program for the last few seasons, and 2013 brought an opportunity to purchase the property from a local Baptist church. Friends of Sally and Baker Duncan, long-time supporters of the diocese and Camps and Conferences, rallied together to fund the purchase cost and renovation expenses of $500,000. The diocese is now the proud owner of the newly named, Duncan Park.

The diocese is blessed with three camping and retreat facilities at Camp Capers in Waring, Texas; Mustang Island Conference Center in Corpus Christi, Texas; and Duncan Park in Colorado. The diocesan camping program is dedicated to bringing children and young people of all ages and backgrounds to Jesus Christ, so they may reach into the world in his name. Each facility also serves adults of all ages through various spiritual retreats and conferences.

The program is flourishing, with tremendous support from across the diocese, leading to new construction and new property.

Camp Scholarships The Diocese of West Texas offers a generous scholarship program for all three camping facilities, which is funded by an annual Camps and Conferences campaign, grants received, and an annual Bishop’s Golf Classic.

In 2013, 354 youth received scholarship monies at Camp Capers and Duncan Park (30% of all campers) and 35 families at Mustang Island Family Camp received scholarship assistance (14% of all families).

The diocese never turns a potential summer camper or family away due to their financial situation.

Camp Capers Camp Capers has been a place of summer spiritual growth and new friendships for youth in the Diocese of West Texas for 67 years. Last summer, 1,157 campers were welcomed at Camp Capers during the summer season, which consists of two separate weeks for primary age (rising 3rd5th graders), intermediate age (rising 6th7th graders), junior high (rising 8th-9th graders), and senior high age (rising 10th graders - rising college freshmen).

A week of summer camp is also dedicated for hosting inner city youth from Good Samaritan Community Services, with

Mustang Island Conference Center Family Camp on Mustang Island is now in its 12th season, offering families a place of renewal, rest, and coastal enjoyment with 12 four-day sessions each summer. In 2013, 246 families attended a Family Camp session, with 11 of the 12 sessions at full capacity. Sessions are led by a dedicated summer staff and chaplain and consist of worship and a teaching in the evenings, arts and crafts, a talent show, beach activities in the afternoons, delicious meals, and time for families to simply slow down and be together.

Construction on a new 10-bedroom retreat house, which also includes two meeting spaces, began at Mustang Island Conference Center in December 2013. This new building will open up more opportunities for families during the summer and hosting larger and/ or multiple conferences during the academic year. Total project cost for the retreat house is approximately $1.3 million. The new building is scheduled to be completed in August 2014.

For seven years the Bishop’s Golf Classic has raised money for camp scholarships.

The tournament is usually held the first Friday of November and draws golfers from throughout the diocese. In 2013, the golf tournament raised $51,660, and net revenues equaled approximately $40,560 for the camp scholarship fund. These are new records for this charitable event. In the past seven years, the golf tournament has raised over $200,000.

Duncan Park in Colorado The Colorado Adventure Program offers a camping experience unlike anything that can be found in Texas. Located west of Boulder the Church News

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Ministries Within, cont.

College Missions The Diocese of West Texas’ College Missions program exists to help students make life-giving, life-altering, and life-finding connections with Christ, their campus, their city, and the Church. The program’s mission is to grow followers of Jesus by honoring the college environment missionally, enriching students spiritually, challenging students intellectually, engaging them prayerfully, and encouraging them in servant leadership.

The diocese employs a director and two college missioners, who facilitate and lead programs on four university campuses, with working plans to extend to other campuses throughout the diocese.

Also known as Vital University Ministries, the campus programs consist of weekly gatherings that include a teaching and fellowship and a variety of connection events, led in homes, in social gatherings, and in other venues by the college missioners or college-age leaders the program is mentoring. A podcast of each weekly teaching is available online at www. vitalum.org.

The Elisha Leadership Initiative, implemented in 2013, is an intensive, year long, leadership training program in the Diocese of West Texas targeted towards recent college graduates. This program, led by the Department of College Missions, has three primary parts: individual development, Church ministry engagement, and outreach. For the 2013-2014 academic year, four college graduates participated in the internship, each serving in various capacities at Episcopal churches. These graduates worked in the youth, music, and communications ministries in their respective congregations. Additionally, the interns also led campus programs and met with and were mentored by the college missioners.

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Diocesan Profile 2014 This program includes housing for the interns and plans to hire new interns for the upcoming academic year.

Christian Education Beginning in 2006, Bishop Lillibridge asked the diocesan family to study a specific book of the Bible throughout the year. To encourage participation, an annual Bible study has been developed and is distributed to all the churches and, beginning in 2009, posted on the diocesan website.

As part of a new Adult Christian Formation Initiative, an eight-week Lenten study, “Following Jesus: Invitation to Discipleship” was introduced in 2014. “Following Jesus” can be accessed on a dedicated website: followingjesus-dwtx.org. Material is available for six days of each of the eight weeks, focused on an aspect of discipleship. The study is formatted for individual or small group use. Accompanying the written material, which is also available in audio form, an audio interview with a member of the diocese was presented each week, in which the person describes how he or she lives out the particular aspect of discipleship.

There are plans for more studies with this structure, with conversations about more enhancements and inclusion of diocesanwide, interactive conversation.

The diocese produces Reflections magazine twice a year. Reflections features spiritual formation articles by clergy and lay members from around the diocese centered on a theme, such as “The Kingdom of God is at Hand” or “The Saints Among Us.” ReflectionsOnline (reflections-dwtx. org), an ongoing spiritual formation blog, complements Reflections magazine.

The diocese employs a part-time Christian Education Coordinator, who is available to travel to churches to help implement, expand, and/or re-invigorate a Christian Education program for all ages. The diocese also houses a library of curriculum, available to any church or ministry coordinator.

Diocesan Council The annual gathering of the Diocese of West Texas is held over a three-day period every

February in rotating locations. Diocesan Council serves as a reunion, where clergy, delegates, alternates, visitors, and vendors from the diocese and beyond come to reconnect with fellow leaders. The annual business of the diocese is conducted, and participants receive updates on diocesan ministries. In 2006, Bishop Lillibridge implemented an annual Diocesan theme from scripture, which is introduced at February’s Diocesan Council. Coordinating with the theme, he encourages the diocese to study a particular book of the Bible each year.

While gathered at Council, the theme is evident in the opening Eucharist service, throughout the departmental reports, in the Bishop’s Address, and in the regular breaks for Bible study and table discussion.

A keynote speaker or entertainment group is invited to Council each year to further emphasize the theme. The theme is carried out each year at diocesan camping and retreat programs – in teachings at summer camps – in diocesan publications, and in Christian formation. Ministry Moments have become a treasured part of Diocesan Council. Diocesan staff members coordinate the efforts to film particular churches’ outreach ministries during the year, and using the latest technology, tell each church’s story in video presentation, with narrations, live action scenes, interviews, and still photography. Several Ministry Moments are developed for each Diocesan Council, and they are rooted in the theme for the year.

The videos often lead to group discussion, and for a number of years, one church’s story has inspired new ministries at other congregations.

Abide in Me In 2009, the annual theme was “Abide in Me,” from John 15:4. In June of that year,

Diocesan Profile 2014 World Mission

the first day-long Abide in Me conference was held for the purpose of bringing diocesan congregations together to focus and learn about aspects of lay leadership and stewardship.

Abide in Me has been held each June since, providing congregations and lay leaders an opportunity to form relationships with each other, to learn from each other, and to receive guidance. The Abide in Me conferences have included keynote speakers, such as Reggie McNeal, Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina, and author J. Clif Christopher. Often the conference includes an afternoon of workshops, led by lay congregational leaders, clergy, and diocesan staff members. These workshops encompass a range of topics and tools, from spiritual formation, missional focuses in our communities and stewardship campaigns, to websites and publications, financial planning and budgeting, vestry workshops, Christian education curriculum, and congregational development resources.

Sharing Faith Based on the model developed by the Diocese of Texas, the Diocese of West Texas held its first Sharing Faith Dinner event in 2013. Sharing Faith invites parishioners in each church to gather on a designated evening to share a meal and to share stories of their faith journeys. Designed for eight to 12 participants, each Sharing Faith dinner conversation is developed around 30 questions relating to personal faith journeys. In 2013, over 2,000 people participated in these evenings.

In 2014, the diocese created its own deck of question cards, centering on the annual theme of “Rekindle the Gift of God within You,” from 2 Timothy. Additionally, questions were formed specifically for diocesan young people, and youth groups were encouraged to conduct Sharing Faith dinners. The response has again been very positive, with over 50 percent of congregations participating each year and reporting spiritually enlightening experiences and meaningful congregational fellowship.

The World Mission Department seeks to engage every member and every church of the diocese in the work of evangelism and mission. The department works to be faithful to the Great Commission, Jesus’ command to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and his Great Commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).

Special Retreats Over the course of the year when summer camps are not in session, the diocesan camping and conferencing facilities at Camp Capers and on Mustang Island serve multiple groups and host a variety of functions.

Diocesan-sponsored special retreats serve particular groups of people. These include (and this is just a small partial list): the Spiritual Retreats in Recovery held twice a year at Camp Capers for anyone in a 12Step Recovery Program; the Commission on Women’s Ministry annual spring and fall retreats at Camp Capers; Nails and Prayers annual men’s retreat at Camp Capers; Mother-Daughter and Father-Son annual retreats at Camp Capers; annual retreats for Wounded Warriors at Mustang Island Conference Center, who are also invited to attend Family Camp in the summer with scholarship assistance; Food for the Soul – a cooking and fellowship weekend – at Mustang Island Conference Center; an annual Marriage Retreat based on a program or book at Mustang Island Conference Center; and Cursillo and Happening, spiritual renewal weekends for adults and teenagers, respectively, at each facility three to four times a year.

Also, Clergy Colleague Groups are formed and gather throughout the year at Camp Capers or Mustang Island Conference Center.

The groups serve as a transitional ministry for newly ordained clergy or clergy new to the diocese. In May of each year, a seminarian retreat is held at Mustang Island Conference Center, during which time current and graduating seminarians retreat together and meet with the Examining Chaplains and the bishops. A Clergy Conference is held each October for canonically-resident clergy at Camp Capers. This time of renewal, rest, and fellowship is strengthened by a keynote speaker and based on the diocesan annual theme.

In 2013 the World Mission Department sent 416 participants on 45 short-term mission teams to Belarus, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, and Uganda. Ministries in these foreign countries include: collaborative ministry in an orphanage in Haiti; providing veterinary treatment and supplies in Honduras and SE Mexico; directing summer programs in Mexico; funding construction projects in Honduras and Mexico; providing seed money for water filtration systems and micro enterprise in Mexcio, and Honduras; and funding empowerment through educational scholarships in Mexico, Honduras, and Uganda.

The department works throughout the year to strengthen local, national, and international relationships all for the purpose of spreading the Gospel message. The highlights in 2013 included: underwriting the bishop’s radio program in the BunyoroKitara Diocese (Uganda) for the fourth year; the Summer Mission Symposium that focused on Mutual Expectations-Building Healthy Partnerships; the third diocesansponsored Women’s National Tapestry Micro Enterprise Conference in Nebbi, Uganda; underwriting VBS programs in Piedras Negras, Mexico; sponsoring Isle of Hope Day Care for the handicapped in Belarus, Russia; providing blankets for those in barrios in Piedras Negras for the third year; emergency relief work in the Philippines; and helping to sponsor long-term missionaries in Honduras, Israel, the Philippines, and Uganda. The department raises funds to support missioners throughout the year. Total revenue in 2013 was over $1.2 million.

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Ministries Within, cont.

Christian Faith in Action Several strong ministries make up the Department of Christian Faith in Action, including a Disaster Response Task Force, Kairos prison ministry, recovery ministry, and diocesan-wide work with Habitat for Humanity. Each ministry facilitates and coordinates individual parishes’ access to outreach resources and expertise.

The Disaster Response Task Force responds to natural or environmental disasters locally and coordinates outreach efforts to disasters that occur nationally. The task force facilitates the assembly of disaster relief kits for future emergencies. The Kairos prison ministry in the Diocese of West Texas is especially active in Beeville, where 36 Kairos weekends have been held. The Recovery Ministries of the diocese hosts two Spiritual Retreats in Recovery each year for anyone in a 12-step recovery program. Commission members also encourage and help facilitate Recovery Sunday programs for each church in the diocese.

Diocesan Profile 2014 The diocese has a long-standing relationship with Habitat for Humanity and a dedicated task force, the Habitat Builders for West Texas. In 2012, Bishop Lillibridge asked the diocese to renew its commitment to Habitat by agreeing to build three new homes over the next six years through a congregational pledge of $300 per year. The first home was completed in Lockhart in September 2013.

Episcopal Schools There are currently 27 schools in the Diocese of West Texas, which serve over 3,600 students and are dedicated to the mission of educating God’s children. Our schools remain a source of pride for our communities and are consistently producing committed and caring individuals who are becoming leaders in our various communities. The schools in the diocese include: nine preschools; 11 schools that combine preschool and elementary ages; six schools that include preschool, elementary, and middle school ages; and one school for both middle and high school students, TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas.

The Episcopate in the Diocese of West Texas Bishops Robert Woodward Barnwell Elliott – b. 1840; d. 1887; bishop 1874-1887 James Steptoe Johnston – b. 1845; d. 1924; bishop 1888-1916 William Theodotus Capers – b. 1867; d. 1943; coadjutor 1914-1915, diocesan 1916-1943 Everett Holland Jones – b. 1902; d. 1995; bishop 1943-1969 Harold Cornelius Gosnell – b. 1908; d. 1999; coadjutor 1968, diocesan 1969-1977 Scott Field Bailey – b. 1916; d. 2004; coadjutor 1976, diocesan 1977-1987 John Herbert MacNaughton – b. 1929; coadjutor 1986, diocesan 1987-1995 James Edward Folts – b. 1940; coadjutor 1994-1995, diocesan 1996-2006 Gary Richard Lillibridge – b. 1956; coadjutor 2004-2005, diocesan 2006-present

Bishops Suffragan Richard Earl Dicus – b. 1910; d. 1996; suffragan 1955-1976 Stanley Fillmore Hauser – b. 1922; d. 1989; suffragan 1979-1987 Earl Nicholas McArthur – b. 1925; suffragan 1988-1993 Robert Boyd Hibbs – b. 1932; suffragan 1996-2003 David Mitchell Reed – b. 1957; suffragan 2006-present

Women’s Ministries The Commission for Women’s Ministries is lively and growing, strengthening relationships among all women in the diocese. The commission works to foster active communication, spiritual enrichment, and education among women of the Episcopal Church with Christ as the center.

There are two women’s gatherings (retreat weekends) each year for women at Camp Capers, during which there is time for worship, fellowship, and a keynote speaker who offers spiritual enrichment around a particular topic.

A Prayer for the Diocese Almighty God, giver of every good gift, you have given us a life-giving fellowship in the Diocese of West Texas.

Rekindle our hearts with the love of Christ Jesus that we might continue to build upon the legacy left by those who have tended this Diocese and led with Godly courage.

Look graciously upon us and upon your whole Church, and guide the minds of those who shall discern the one you are calling to be a bishop for our Diocese, That we may receive a faithful shepherd, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Diocesan Profile 2014

The Election Process

I

n The Episcopal Church, bishops are elected by the clergy and laity of the diocese where they will serve. Bishop is one of three clerical orders (deacon and priest are the other two), and the ordination is for life, although all clergy must retire from active ministry no later than the age of 72.

Our process began with the calling for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor by Bishop Lillibridge. The diocesan Standing Committee, which is overseeing the election process, is receiving names of potential nominees through July 31 and facilitating the required background checks on each individual.

On October 25, 2014, all canonicallyresident clergy in the diocese and dulyelected delegates and alternates from each congregation of the diocese will gather for a Special Council at TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas in San Antonio. The first ballot of the election will be the nominating ballot, at which time names of previously submitted potential nominees may be placed into official nomination.

Election Day Special Council Saturday, October 25 10:00 AM TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas 20955 West Tejas Trail San Antonio, TX 78257 Ballot results and the eventual name of the Bishop Coadjutor Elect will be posted on the Council website: http://council-dwtx.org “Election Live” Follow the election on Twitter @DioceseWestTX or www.facebook.com/DioceseWestTX The Process, as set forth by the Committee on the Bishop’s Address and approved by the Standing Committee.

Subsequently, the election must receive the consent of a majority of diocesan bishops and standing committees of The Episcopal Church.

April 1-July 31, 2014 (5) The Standing Committee receives information on all potential nominees. In order to be equitable to all, the information must be submitted on the standard forms sent out to all the delegates and clergy. In order to facilitate the election process, no one may be nominated without having first successfully completed the requisite background check. To accomplish the requisite background checks, the names of all potential nominees must be received by the Standing Committee no later than July 31, 2014.

If the person elected has not previously been ordained bishop, he or she will be ordained on February 28, 2015 at the 111th Diocesan Council in San Marcos.

September, 2014 (6) The Standing Committee provides the information it has received from the potential nominees to all delegates and clergy.

Lay delegates to the Special Council are the same delegates who were elected by their congregations and served at the 110th Diocesan Council in February 2014.

October 25, 2014 (7) The Council convenes at TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas in San Antonio to elect a Bishop Coadjutor. The first ballot will serve as a formal nominating ballot, whereby the previous potential nominees may become the nominees for Bishop Coadjutor.

Succeeding ballots will be taken until a single person has received a majority of votes in both the clergy order and the lay order on the same ballot.

View the Profile as a separate document, and find updates and information on the Special Council on October 25 at

October 2014-February 2015 (8) The Standing Committee seeks consents to the election from the Standing Committees and Bishops of jurisdiction in The Episcopal Church.

February 28, 2015 (9) Consecration (if needed) of the Bishop Coadjutor during the 111th Annual Council of the Diocese of West Texas to be held in San Marcos.

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of West Texas Members of the Standing Committee (three clergy and three lay) are elected for threeyear terms by the Annual Diocesan Council.

Current members are: Mrs. Thurma Hilton Mr. Richard Mosty Mr. John Warren The Rev. Ripp Hardaway The Rev. Ram Lopez The Rev. David Read Mrs. Kelley Kimble and the Rev. Scott Brown are serving as ex-officio members until October 2014. Their previous terms were extended by action of Diocesan Council for purposes of assisting in the election process.

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Around the circuit

Good Samaritan Award Cathedral House Gallery, located at the Bishop Jones Center in San Antonio, will host a photography exhibit as part

of FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA, an international photography festival that takes place in many venues throughout the month of September.

The Cathedral House Gallery exhibit, located at the Bishop Jones Center in San Antonio (111 Torcido, 78209), “Photo Contemplo,” will focus on the theme of “contemplation.”

The exhibit will host an opening wine and cheese reception on Thursday, September 4, from 6:00-8:00 p.m.; and an open gallery and visit with the artists on Sunday, September 14, from 2:00-5:00 p.m.

The exhibit will hang through September, and regular gallery hours are M-F 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Photographers in the diocese who are interested in showing in the exhibit are invited to contact Patsy Sasek at mstrdsed@ earthlink.net for more details. The entry fee for photographers is $20, and 20 percent of all sales are requested as a donation to benefit programs of the Diocese of West Texas.

On May 9th, Good Samaritan Community Services honored San Antonio businessman and philanthropist Tom C. Frost at its first Good Samaritan Award Dinner at the San Antonio Country Club. The evening included a video highlighting Frost’s work in San Antonio and South Texas throughout his life, and a presentation of an award symbolizing the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The event raised more than $100,000 to benefit the life-changing operations and programs Good Samaritan Community Services offers to more than 2,500 individuals and families in San Antonio each year.

Tom C. Frost received the first Good Samaritan Award.

SSW Honorary Doctorate, Seminary Graduates Seminary of the Southwest held its sixty-third Commencement on Tuesday morning, May 13, at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Austin.

The seminary awarded a honorary doctorate to Mr. John Jockusch, philanthropist, lay leader, and member of St. David’s, San Antonio. You can view Dr. Jockusch’s citation at: http://www.ssw.edu/john-sealy-jockusch Mr. John Jockusch (third from left) receives a

Photos submitted by Kathleen Judson and Nancy Springer-Baldwin.

In the citation written by the seminary staff, honorary doctorate from the Seminary of the the Rev. Lisa Mason, rector of St. David’s, Southwest. Surrounding Jockusch (left to right) said, “Whether in a leadership role or in one are Bishop Gary Lillibridge, Bishop Suffragan Dena of support behind the scenes, John is a pillar Harrison (Diocese of Texas), Dean and President of SSW Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, the Rev. Lisa Mason, to clergy and laity and Bishop Suffragan David Reed. alike.” Jockusch is currently serving as the co-chair of St. David’s Church and School capital campaign, Growing the Tradition.

Chair of the seminary’s board of trustees, Diocese of Texas Bishop Suffragan, the Rt. Rev. Dena Harrison and Dean and President Cynthia Briggs Kittredge awarded 33 diplomas to seminarians completing the Master of Divinity, MA in Religion, MA in Counseling, MA in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care, MA in Spiritual Formation and Diploma in Anglican Studies.

From the Diocese of West Texas: the Rev. Rod Clark and the Rev. Robert Harris received their Master of Divinity degrees. Clark will begin serving at St. Alban’s, Harlingen, and Harris at Christ Church, San Antonio, both in July. Barbara Duffield and Susan Douglas both received a MA in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care, and Mary Olive Judson received her MA in Counseling.

Bishop Gary Lillibridge, left, and Bishop Suffragan David Reed, right, along with SSW Dean and President Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, third from right, surround Diocese of West Texas 2014 graduates of the Seminary of the Southwest: the Rev. Rob Harris, Mary Olive Judson, Barbara Duffield, Susan Douglas, and the Rev. Rod Clark.

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In the commencement ceremony at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, on Friday, May 9, the Rev. Brian Cannaday received his Master of Divinity degree. Cannaday will begin serving at St. Helena’s, Boerne, in July.

Around the circuit

In Memory: Bishop McAllister

T

he Rt. Rev. Gerald (Gerry) Nicholas McAllister died Tuesday morning, June 10, 2014 at home after a lengthy illness.

Bishop McAllister was born in San Antonio on February 16, 1923, and graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the diaconate September 30, 1953, and he was married to Helen Black Teague two days later.

Bishop Everett H. Jones ordained him to the priesthood on September 24, 1954. He served the Diocese of West Texas at Epiphany, Raymondville, as a Deacon from 1953-54; St. Francis, Victoria, as Priest-in-charge from 1958-63; as Canon to the Ordinary from 1963-70; and St. David’s, San Antonio, as Rector from 1970-77.

He was consecrated as Bishop in the Diocese of Oklahoma on April 15, 1977 and served there until 1988. Upon his retirement, he and Helen moved back to San Antonio. In his later years, Bishop McAllister served as a Bishop-in-Residence at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin and Chaplain to Clergy Families in the Diocese of West Texas from 1991-1993.

The funeral was held on Friday, June 13, 2014 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas.

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.

Summary of apportionments through June 30, 2014.

Photo of Bishop McAllister on file at the Bishop Jones Center, 2003.

Please note: 2013 Audits are currently due.

Contact Susan Hardaway, susan.hardaway@dwtx.org. the Church News

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Episcopal Diocese of West Texas P. O. Box 6885 San Antonio, TX 78209 www.dwtx.org Send address changes to The Church News, P.O. Box 6885, San Antonio, TX 78209

the

Church News

calendar of events

Diocesan events JULY

Portal 13 College Missions, in close partnership with Camp Capers and youth ministries all over the diocese, is once again hosting Portal 13, Friday-Sunday, July 18-20, at Camp Capers. This is a special weekend for rising high school seniors and first year college students to come to Camp Capers and explore the challenges and hopes associated with the transition from high school to college.

Portal 13 will be held the weekend before Senior High B, and the cost is $100/participant. Check in at 7:00 on Friday night, and the retreat will wrap up by noon on Sunday. Find registration at www.dwtx.org/events Episcopal Night at the Ballpark-Corpus Christi The annual Episcopal Night at the Ballpark will be held in Corpus Christi on Thursday, July 24, at Whataburger Field as the Corpus Christi Hooks take on the Midland Rockhounds. Game time is 7:10 p.m. Tickets are $10 each (ages 3 and under are free). For more information, contact Leigh Saunders at 888/210-824-5387.

August

Happening #128 Happening #128 will take place at Christ Church in San Antonio (510 Belknap Place, 78212) Friday-Sunday, August 1-3. Happening is a spiritual retreat for high-school-age teenagers, sophomore grade level and above.

Find registration at www.dwtx.org/happening.

Women’s Contemplative Group The next session of the women’s contemplative group at Viva Bookstore in San Antonio will begin on Wednesday, August 20. The group will gather from noon to 1:00 p.m. Book six in the Bridges to Contemplative Living series by Thomas Merton will be used,

“Writing Yourself into the Book of Life,” and can be purchased from Viva for $25. For more information, contact Marjorie George at marjorie.george@dwtx.org EfM Mentor Training Annual mentor training for those who are currently serving as Education for Ministry (EfM) mentors and those considering becoming mentors is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, August 22-24, at Camp Capers. Both Basic mentor training and Formation training will be available. Registration forms can be requested from Sheryl Jeffery by email sljeffery@omniglobal.net or 830-896-3308.

October

104th Spiritual Retreat in Recovery The 104th Spiritual Retreat in Recovery will be held at Camp Capers Friday-Sunday, October 3-5. The retreat leaders are the Revs. Jeff Hammond and Bur Dobbins.

Registration opened on July 1 and will close on September 26. If you would like to receive email notifications about the retreat and when registration is available, please send an email to DWTX Spiritual Retreat in Recovery at dwtxsrr@gmail.com or contact the diocesan office at 888/210-824-5387. Register online at www.dwtx.org/events

September

World Mission Symposium The annual World Mission Symposium will be held on Saturday, September 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Mission Room of the Bishop Jones Center (111 Torcido, 78209) in San Antonio. The focus this year is on “Enriching Your Team.” The cost is $20 per participant, and this includes lunch, snacks, and materials. Register online at www.dwtx. org/events Sunday Night Live Sunday Night Live (SNL) will kick off for the academic year on Sunday evening, Sept.

21, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Bishop Jones Center (111 Torcido, 78209) in San Antonio. SNL is a gathering for high schoolage youth in the San Antonio area and is led by students that participate in the diocesan College Missions programs on various college campuses. The evening includes worship, a talk, small groups, fellowship, and dinner. For more information contact Greg Richards at greg@stirflux.com

The Diocese of West Texas Online

www.dwtx.org/blog

Read ministry stories from our churches in between issues of The Church News. The blog also features current news, national news, and diocesan ministry updates.

ReflectionsOnline

The diocesan spiritual formation blog, ReflectionsOnline offers weekly reflections and resources for your spiritual journey. www.reflections-dwtx.org “Episcopal Diocese of West Texas Bishop Jones Center” @DioceseWestTX