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Advent 2007

Crosswalk The official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

this issue The ministers of the Church— lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons

inside 4

Claiming our Godgiven authority Renowened theologian and teacher Verna Dozier reminds us that the Church is not an institution, but rather the people of God.

15

Apostle, chief priest, and pastor A retired bishop reflects on episcopal ministry

16 17

Faith and Community Two priests, one seasoned and one brand new, consider the priestly ministry.

18 19

Living in two worlds A deacon and a transitional deacon share the different ways in which each is called to a “both / and” ministry

COVER ART: Robin Smith (see page 27)

www.edusc.org

Advent 2007

Crosswalk

Bishop’s Desk

FROM THE

Advent 2007 Sisters and Brothers, dearly Beloved:

Around the Diocese Bishop Henderson announces staff changes

“Who are the ministers of the Church?”

Crosswalk

Official Publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina 1115 Marion Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201 803.771.7800/800.889.6961 803.799.5119 fax dioceseusc@aol.com Crosswalk E-mail Address phill@edusc.org Bishop The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr. Executive Assistant to Bishop Henderson Jane B. Goldsmith jgoldsmith@edusc.org Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Mark Clevenger mclevenger@edusc.org Assistant to the Canon to the Ordinary The Rev’d d’Rue Hazel dhazel@edusc.org Assistant for Administration Roslyn Hook rhook@edusc.org Canon for Finance and Administration Julie Price jprice@edusc.org Director of Finance and Insurance Cynthia Hendrix chendrix@edusc.org Canon for Communications, Editor of Crosswalk Peggy Van Antwerp Hill phill@edusc.org Canon for Youth Ministry The Rev. L. Sue von Rautenkranz suevon@edusc.org Assistant for Communications and Youth Ministry Bethany Human bhuman@edusc.org Archdeacon and Senior Pastoral Assistant to the Bishop The Ven. Frederick C. Byrd fbyrd@edusc.org Assistant to Archdeacon Byrd Bonnie Blackberg bblackberg@edusc.org Visit us on the Web at: www.edusc.org

I grew up in a branch of Christianity in which young people were regularly challenged to consider whether God is “calling you into the ministry.” In that context, “the ministry” refers only to those ordained to preach the gospel.

In Anglicanism, “The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons.” All of us are ministers.

How do we become ministers? When we are baptized we become members of the Church, which is the body of Christ (Rom. 12:4–5, Eph. 4:14–16). If we are part of his body, then we are part of his mission and ministry.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it,” St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:27. And in his letter to the Ephesians, regarded as the most sublime of all of Paul’s writings, it is clear that at baptism all Christians are called into ministry: “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:11ff.). As you may have been reminded on the Feast of All Saints, the word saints is used in the New Testament to describe all baptized Christians, not just the famous heroes of the Church. Thus, St. Paul affirms that all Christians, whether lay or ordained, are ministers. “[T]o equip the saints for the work of ministry. . . . ” This issue of Crosswalk examines the ministry of the ministers of the Church—that is, your ministry and mine, as a consequence of our having been baptized into the death, resurrection, and body of Christ. Christ himself commissions you in your ministry at Holy Baptism, which finds specific definition in his Great Commission. He directs us to “Go . . . make disciples . . . baptizing them . . . and teaching them . . . ”(Matt.

28: 19–20).

And to what end is our ministry directed? St. Paul describes the saints’ work (our work) of ministry to be “for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery. . . .

But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (Eph. 4:12b–16).

We have described our corporate ministry as the body of Christ in Upper South Carolina as “One Body, One Mission: Changing Lives.” As we approach the end of the season of Advent, a time of expectation and preparation for the celebration of the Incarnation and of Christ’s Second Coming, let us recommit ourselves to the intentional use of our gifts in ministry “for building up [Christ’s] body” and, by the grace of God, for changing lives—beginning with our own.

Faithfully yours in our Lord,

`äÉîÉåÖÉê _ìääÅçâ Bishop Henderson has announced the resignation of Canon to the Ordinary Mark Clevenger and the appointment of the Rev. Michael Bullock as his successor. Clevenger has accepted a call to serve as rector of St. Anselm’s Parish in the Diocese of Long Island, beginning January 1, 2008. Bullock will join the diocesan staff on February 1.

In announcing Clevenger’s resignation Bishop Henderson said: “Canon Clevenger has had an impact on our diocese that will long outlast his presence here.

His redesign of our structure, creating a commissionstyle organization, is nothing less than brilliant. . . .

His ministry with vacant congregations . . . has been both efficient and effective in matching priests with congregations, and the congregations’ vision.”

“There’s more, of course,” the bishop continued, “but it would take at least one volume to discuss them in full. But ‘to file by title’ at least a few: (1) implementing the Statement of Mission process ‘from the pew up’; (2) beginning the Healthy Church Initiative program; and, (3) presenting two leadership conferences.”

It is with “great reluctance,” Bishop Henderson said, “that I accept his resignation from my staff.”

85th Convention affirms mission, looks ahead, elects GC deputies, members of DEC Upper South Carolina, meeting October 26-27 for its 85th annual convention at Christ Church, Greenville, was called to renewed focus on mission, continued commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and prayerful preparation for the transition to come when Bishop Henderson reaches his 72nd birthday, and mandatory retirement, in January 2011. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OR

Please send all Crosswalk address corrections, deletions or additions to: Trevett s Mailing Service 2217 Lake Murray Blvd.

Columbia, SC 29212 phone: 803.781.3150 email: mail@trevetts.com

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Crosswalk

Advent 2007

WHO ARE THE

M I N I S T E R S O F T H E C H U RC H ?

THEY ARE

LAY PERSONS, BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND DEACONS. (BCP, PAGE 855)

L

THEO OGY OF AY MINISTRY

_ó=aìåÅ~å=`K=bäó

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer lists four orders of ministry: laity, bishops, priests, and deacons. Laity appears first on the list for several reasons: for emphasis; because the laity comprises all but a very small part of the Church; and to remind us that the laity—like the other three orders—derives part of its authority and inspiration for ministry from our baptismal vows. Lay people share the ministry of the Church with the other three orders. Each is equally vital and equally valued; each is different and has its own responsibilities. The 1979 Prayer Book is the first revision to include the laity as an order of ministry, signifying the culmination of a dramatic shift in our understanding of ministry in general and lay ministry in particular.

An evolving theology The theology of lay ministry is dynamic rather than static: it changes as our understanding of it evolves. The Old Testament portrays priests as mediators between God and God’s people, and describes priests offering sacrifices and prayers on behalf of the laity. The Levitical, or priestly, families rigidly controlled the temple cult and its worship, and the laity was relatively uninvolved. In contrast, the New Testament Church expected and depended upon the laity to minister as part of the body of Christ. The New Testament institutes Christ as high priest (Heb. 7:23–28), and depicts the beginnings of the orders of bishops, priests, and deacons. As the Christian community grew, the orders of bishops, priests, and deacons grew proportionally, and the papacy and further hierarchy evolved. Interestingly, early doctrine (roughly based on 1 Peter 2:9) made all Christians responsible for the preservation and propagation of the gospel, but made bishops, priests, and deacons responsible for the liturgy and sacraments. This early concept clearly involved the laity—at least with regard to preserving and spreading the gospel—and lay people ministered in many and various ways in the early Church.

qÜÉ= íÜÉçäçÖó= çÑ= ä~ó= ãáåáëíêó= áë= Çóå~ãáÅ= ê~íÜÉê= íÜ~å ëí~íáÅW=áí=ÅÜ~åÖÉë=~ë=çìê=ìåÇÉêëí~åÇáåÖ=çÑ=áí=ÉîçäîÉëK= Some history However, as the centuries of the first millennium passed, the laity saw a gradual and unfortunate loss of status, and by the Middle Ages lay people once again became the passive recipients of the clergy’s administration, as they were in Old Testament times. One reason for the clergy’s ever-increasing control over ministry was that the Church became more and more hierarchical; another reason was that some clergy were at least somewhat literate (as opposed to many of their lay brothers and sisters) and could read—or at least recite—the liturgy and canons. Only very wealthy lay people were educated and could afford access to copies of the Scriptures, liturgies, and laws of the Church.

The Protestant Reformation changed the way many people thought about the ministry of the laity. In 1520 Martin Luther rearticulated the early New Testament concept that lay people belong to the priesthood of all believers and therefore share in the ministry of the Church with bishops, priests, and deacons. This theology holds that Christ gave everyone equal access to God. Therefore all of God’s people belong to the priesthood of all believers, and have the same capacity and freedom to minister in the Church and in the world. In Ministry: Lay Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, Dennis Boyle says that several protestant reformations, the American and French revolutions, Vatican II, Christian feminism, and African and Latin American liberation movements have represented attempts over the years to reestablish lay power that had been lost.

Lay ministry defined Different denominations understand lay ministry differently. Most Protestants reject the idea of priests and view clergy as administrators, pastors, and preachers coministering with lay people. Anglicans, Old Catholics, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and others believe that bishops, priests, and deacons are a unique and vital part of the Church. Anglicans—and Episcopalians—typically take the middle view that bishops, priests, and deacons are essential orders of ministry, and lay people are as well.

Several factors have led to the reconsideration of the importance of lay ministry, and to their ever-increasing re-involvement as ministers. A perceived shortage of priests late in the last century and early in this one initially caused many people to look to the laity to reassume some of their former responsibilities—roles now being filled by women as well as men. And many jobs which had reverted to clergy—such as chaplains, eucharistic ministers, eucharistic visitors, readers, pastoral associates, formation directors, educators, parish administrators, diocesan officials, spiritual directors, and seminary faculty—are today being filled by lay people. In the Episcopal Church, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer states its theology of lay ministry by listing the laity—and putting them first—as actual ministers of the Church.

Together for the kingdom All of the orders of ministry—the laity, bishops, priests, and deacons—are rooted in our baptismal promises. Bishops, priests, and deacons were originally lay people; they took their baptismal vows before they took their ordination vows, and did not leave their baptismal vows behind just because they were ordained. Our understanding of lay ministry is developing and expanding. We have come once again to appreciate more fully the Church as the body of Christ and to see the Church’s mission as everyone’s responsibility. We are all God’s people serving God and each other, whether lay or ordained. In a broader sense, all of us are involved in full-time ministry in our careers as well as in our other occupations and avocations. Everything we say or do and all the ways in which we use our God-given resources—our time, talent, and treasure—are based on our gratitude to God and our desire to actively minister together to bring about God’s kingdom. jêK=aìåÅ~å=`K=bäó=áë=~=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ=píK=mÜáäáéÛëI=dêÉÉåîáääÉK

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Advent 2007

Crosswalk

THE

A

UTHORITY OF THE AITY

bÇáíçêÛë= åçíÉW= iÉ~ÇáåÖ= béáëÅçé~ä íÜÉçäçÖá~åI= íÉ~ÅÜÉêI= ~åÇ= ä~ó= éêÉ~ÅÜÉê sÉêå~= açòáÉê= ENVNTÓOMMSF= áë= âåçïå ÉëéÉÅá~ääó= Ñçê= ÅÜ~ääÉåÖáåÖ= éÉçéäÉ= íç= ~ÅÅÉéí íÜÉ= ~ìíÜçêáíó= íÜÉó= êÉÅÉáîÉÇ= áå= Ä~éíáëãI êÉÅä~áã= íÜÉ= ëíìÇó= çÑ= pÅêáéíìêÉI= ~åÇ= í~âÉ ëÉêáçìëäó=íÜÉ=êÉäáÖáçìë=îçÅ~íáçå=çÑ=all çÑ=íÜÉ éÉçéäÉ=çÑ=dçÇK=qÜÉëÉ=íÜÉãÉë=~êÉ=ÅÉåíê~ä=íç ÜÉê= NVUO= Äççâ= The Authority of the Laity, áå= ïÜáÅÜ= ëÜÉ= ÅÜ~ääÉåÖÉë= êÉ~ÇÉêë= íç êÉÅçåëáÇÉê=íÜÉ=êçäÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=ä~áíó=~ë=áí=Ü~ë=ÄÉÉå=íê~Çáíáçå~ääó=ìåÇÉêëíççÇK= qÜÉëÉ=ëÉäÉÅíáçåë=~êÉ=í~âÉå=Ñêçã=Confronted by God: The Essential Verna Dozier, «=OMMS=sÉêå~=açòáÉêK=^ää=êáÖÜíë=êÉëÉêîÉÇK=rëÉÇ=Äó éÉêãáëëáçå=çÑ=`ÜìêÅÜ=mìÄäáëÜáåÖ=fåÅçêéçê~íÉÇI=kÉï=vçêâI=kvI ïïïKÅÜìêÅÜéìÄäáëÜáåÖKçêÖK I had the unhappy experience recently of hearing a capable, intelligent woman executive say how insignificant she felt in a meeting with some distinguished clergy.

She said, “I felt I had no ground on which to stand that was important enough to claim their attention.” Tragic. Her very being was ground for claim to their attention! She was the reason for their existence. How topsy-turvy it has all become!

Unfortunately, I often feel more alone and isolated when I am with institutional Church groups than as a black person with all-white groups or as a woman with allmale groups. Consciousness-raising has worked well enough with whites and with men that they at least understand, even if they do not heed, the protest I bring from my sex and my race. The cry that I raise from my lay consciousness is not even understood by many in the institutional Church—either clergy or laity!

“Lay ministry?”

People are more likely to talk about “lay ministry” than about the ministry of the laity, and I think appropriately so because it is something very different! In the clerical mind, “lay ministry” ranges all the way from “finding something for the laypeople to do” to “getting some help with the work because I can’t do it all.” In the minds of most laity, “lay ministry” means being let in on the institution’s work—or being trapped into it. But to me the ministry of the laity is not parish renewal nor liturgical reform nor sharing the ministry. All of these may be a part of it, but all of these are shifting the cargo in the ship. For me, the ministry of the laity means changing the port toward which the ship is headed.

This is not the first time the ship has been diverted from its course. Long ago Israel, the chosen people, became Israel, the nation. Amos and a long line of prophets following him cried out, “We’ve missed the mark! This is not what it is all about.”

What are we about? What are we called to? And what does that say about our basic understanding of ourselves?

The people of God For me the problem is that Church has come to mean institution and not people—not the people of God. I do not think that most people, in response to the

4

L

question “What is the Church?” would answer “the people of God.” They (accurately) view the Church as an institution with a professional hierarchy, concerned about maintaining itself. That is what institutions are always all about. They could not possibly be about anything else. And their contact with the world outside of them is designed to maintain themselves. That is one reason why evangelism has gone astray, as I see it. Evangelism has become putting people in the pews; it has become equated with church growth because numbers are necessary to maintain the institution.

No secret Laypeople err in the direction of idolizing institutions by the deference they pay to clergy. Laypeople see clergy as somehow being privy to esoteric knowledge that is very important for life after death or very important for comfort in this world. Most people seem to think the Bible is some kind of magic book containing the secret of how to live my life. When I am in trouble, if I can decipher that secret everything will be all right. When I fall sick or somebody in my family falls sick, that secret is the magic by which I can make them get well. It is widely accepted that the Church holds that kind of secret because there was a time in the history of the Church when church people had the power to make sick people get well. We have now for the most part lost that secret, though clergy, it is believed, have a better chance to break the code than laity.

Bondage to the institution That approach of reading the Bible to recapture the magic started very early in the Church; it is not just a 20th-century American invention, as we sometimes suppose.

We now inherit a malaise of the Church that began a long time ago. Periodically the church has fought battles to break out of that bondage to “magical” thinking, with its implicit dependence on clergy. But each time, when the victory was won, almost as soon as the battle was over the victory was institutionalized. I always think with great sorrow of how people lost their lives so that the Bible could be translated into the language of the people. That battle was fought and those people were willing to die because they understood that the Bible contained no magic remedy, but a life-giving message that people needed to have in their own language. The tragedy was that the message was never released. People were too firmly in the habit of letting somebody else do the deciphering of the mysteries for them. Although the Bible was put into the language of the laity, the laity still would not accept the responsibility for learning how to use it. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OQ

qÜ~í= íÉãéí~íáçå= íç= Éëí~ÄäáëÜ= ~= ëÉí= ~é~êíÒ= ãáåáëíêó= çÑ= íÜÉ çêÇ~áåÉÇ=Ü~ìåíë=íÜÉ=ÅÜìêÅÜK=tÉ=Ü~îÉ=ÖêÉ~í=ÇáÑÑáÅìäíó=Öê~ëéáåÖ íÜÉ= áÇÉ~= íÜ~í= ~ää= çÑ= ìë= ~êÉ= Å~ääÉÇI= ~ää= çÑ= ìë= ~êÉ= ãáåáëíÉêëK= fÑ= ~ ä~óéÉêëçå= ÉîáÇÉåÅÉë= ~= é~êíáÅìä~ê= áåíÉêÉëí= áå= _áÄäÉ= ëíìÇó= çê íÜÉçäçÖóI=ëççå=ëçãÉçåÉ=áë=ÄçìåÇ=íç=~ëâI= e~îÉ=óçì=ÉîÉê=íÜçìÖÜí ~Äçìí= ÄÉáåÖ= çêÇ~áåÉÇ\ÒÔ~ë= áÑ= çåäó= íÜÉ= ÅäÉêÖó= åÉÉÇ= íç= âåçï íÜÉáê=ëéáêáíì~ä=êççíëK=lê=ïÉ=éêçãçíÉ=ëéÉÅá~ä=çêÇÉêë=~åÇ=ê~åâë=çÑ ä~áíóI=~=ëçêí=çÑ=êÉäáÖáçìë=îÉêëáçå=çÑ= ~ää=~êÉ=Éèì~ä=Äìí=ëçãÉ=~êÉ ãçêÉ=Éèì~ä=íÜ~å=çíÜÉêëKÒ —Verna Dozier, Confronted by God, page 52

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

_äççã=ïÜÉêÉ=óçìÛêÉ=éä~åíÉÇ=K=K=K=

The M inistr y of S ong... çê=Üçï=íÜÉ=mÜ~ê~çÜ=ÑçìåÇ=Üáë=ï~ó=ÜçãÉ

Growing in ministry at Holy Trinity, Clemson

_ó=içååáÉ=oçëáÉê Growing up in the small town of Barnwell, South Carolina, I attended the First Baptist Church. My father made it a point that all of us would attend the Sunday service. Sunday school was optional . . . for my father. My brother and I were left with one of the many Sunday school teachers who loved to teach the five-, six-, and sevenyear-olds. This, I think, was the beginning of my interest in being a part of the worship experience.

Hooked One of the methods the teachers would use to teach us about God was to have us act out certain scenes of the Bible. While we honed our acting skills portraying David and Goliath, Moses, and the great Samson, the teachers were busy bundling these Bible stories into a makeshift play for our troupe to perform for the congregation. I got the lucky part of playing the Pharaoh. The part was easy—just having to say, “No!” when the six-year-old Moses shrilly commanded, “Let my people go!” The highlight of that scene was when I had to feign a swoon, fall to my knees, and cry out loud when Pharaoh’s son is killed. Not quite an easy thing to do when you’re a boy of seven years and your peers are giggling among themselves out in the congregation. But all in all it was pretty cool. In fact I was hooked.

God in the music As I matured into my teenage years I discovered that there weren’t quite as many eager Sunday school teachers for that age group. The minister of music, our very own Mr. Rogers, invited me to join the choir. I eagerly accepted, knowing that singing would bring me back into the fold of the EéÜçíçW=ÜííéWLL~êÅÜáîÉëKìãÅKçêÖLF worship experience, as well as closer to my heart’s desire. Girls. I never could understand why more guys didn’t join the choir.

While I did enjoy being one of three males in a 15-member choir, I also found joy in something I wasn’t expecting: God. God, especially in music. I felt a relationship with God in singing and socializing with others in my age group that comforted and nurtured me. And it was great. For a while. Then, what happens to a lot of us, happened to me: I stopped going to church, mainly because I went off to college.

Downright exhausted

_ó=`~êçäóå=tÜÉÉäÉê On any given day, if you walk past Holy Trinity, Clemson, you might happen upon a person, not necessarily a parishioner, sitting on a bench in the quiet of our garden. Or you might find a class of Clemson University horticulture students with their instructor, peering intently at one of a myriad of unusual plants, for there is an incredible variety in a reasonably small area. Or you might see Dr. Byron Harder, a physician who recently retired from the aêK=_óêçå=e~êÇÉê=áå=ãáåáëíêó university’s athletic department, on his knees weeding or trimming, replacing seasonal plants, resetting the sprinklers, pressure-washing the sidewalk, or sifting through the soil with his gloved hands and depositing stones he finds into a large pail.

Because, you see, his ministry is the reason you might find the other people in this place.

A promise and a gift When asked about his work, he will usually answer in his unpretentious way that it just sort of “grew.” Then he will give you a bit of the history of that growth as though he were more of an observer than the driving force. It seems that he has always had an active interest in gardening which he credits in part to his grandmother, Mrs. Gillon Fishburne, who offered her talents to the Church of the Holy Comforter, Sumter, and who taught him most of what he knows about gardening. In fact, he promised his grandmother that he would care for her church garden if he returned to practice medicine in Sumter.

Having come to Clemson instead, he bequeathed that promise to Holy Trinity.

His ministry started as a simple gift of time when he and another parishioner volunteered to care for the old Holy Trinity church grounds, provided the money saved would be used in outreach projects. At one point Harder enlisted another parishioner and her horticulture class to redesign the foundation planting areas; then when a new church was built, the classes again helped with the overall design. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ==OQ

After college, the priority became work and building a career. Then came age 28, by which time I had been gone from any sort of church activity for more than 10 years. I was focused on getting as much sleep as I could on Sunday morning. I was well rested physically, but my spirit was downright exhausted. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OQ

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Advent 2007

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C C

anterbury ommunities

By Meggen Mitchell

What is a peer minister? According to Webster’s, a peer is “one who is of equal standing; one belonging to the same societal group especially based on age, grade or status.” Minister is defined as “one who gives aid or service.” Thus, a peer minister is “one who is of equal standing and gives aid or service.” Yes. I have to agree. That is peer ministry in a nutshell. However, that nutshell cracks when you try to squeeze all of what peer ministry encompasses inside.

Welcoming diversity Where can you find a peer minister? Peer ministers are the “leaders” of the Canterbury Communities around the diocese. In case you don’t already know, Canterbury is a ministry with young adults. Though most of our communities are located on or near college campuses, we are not strictly a campus ministry. Anyone 18 to 29 years old is welcome. That includes people with, without, or working toward college degrees. This also includes people of every background. As a matter of fact, I grew up in the Lutheran church, but now consider myself a proud Episcopalian. As peer ministers, we place great emphasis on welcoming and encouraging diversity.

Who are peer ministers? Peer ministers are young adults who receive specialized training each year. Every August, peer ministers from each Canterbury gather for our Annual Peer Minister Training session. This is a weekend spent discussing the responsibilities of a peer minister, improving our leadership skills, and developing better communication and listening skills. We also brainstorm ideas for the future, receive “Safe Church Training” and participate in activities to strengthen ties within the network of peer ministers. Each year we also receive training from outside resource people who generously share their expertise. We are particularly blessed by the presence and guidance of Archdeacon Byrd (or, as I lovingly refer to him, Papa Byrd).

tÜç=~êÉ=éÉÉê=ãáåáëíÉêë\==mÉÉê=ãáåáëíÉêë=~êÉ=óçìåÖ ~Çìäíë=ïÜç=êÉÅÉáîÉ=ëéÉÅá~äáòÉÇ=íê~áåáåÖ=É~ÅÜ=óÉ~ê=áå çêÇÉê=íç=éêçîáÇÉ=ëìééçêíI=çééçêíìåáíáÉëI=~åÇ=êÉëçìêÅÉë Ñçê=ÖêçïíÜ=áå=íÜÉáê=äçÅ~ä=óçìåÖ=~Çìäí=`~åíÉêÄìêó `çããìåáíáÉëK In the same boat Why have peer ministers and not chaplains or clergy? I suppose the easiest answer is that young adults have the tendency to respond better to other young adults. Peer ministers are not as much leaders in the conventional sense as we are mediators or facilitators. We are not authority figures. Because Canterbury is a community of equals, peer ministers do not make all the decisions. Our main responsibility is to provide opportunities and resources for Canterburians to grow and learn.

Another advantage to having peer ministers is that we are facing similar decisions and experiences to those of other Canterburians. We can relate. It is often easier to approach a peer for counsel and advice than it is to approach someone who may be perceived as an authority figure or out of touch with our generation. One of our goals

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Ministry without the generation gap

as peer ministers is to recognize and meet the needs of our fellow young adults. I guess, to say it bluntly, there is no generation gap to get in the way. Plus, it is hard to keep up with the times (ask any of our lay or clergy advisors).

Culture and technology are changing at such a rapid pace, even I have a hard time keeping up.

So, maybe you are still wondering why it’s so important to have peer ministers? Let me use myself as an example. I was having a Peer ministers together at the most recent training (left to right really hard time adjusting to and top to bottom): Archdeacon Byrd, Peer Minister Advisor; college life and just couldn’t Lockey Powers, Nick Roosevelt, Lindsay Sacks, Michelle seem to find a niche—that is, Thilger, Gregg Gafford, Scott Parnell, Meggen Mitchell, until I found Canterbury. It Spencer Cantrell, Jessi George, Katie Klammer, Amy Ratliff, was word of mouth that got Diana Rambo, chair, Committee on Young Adult Ministries me there, and it was the people that kept me coming back. I was anxious about my first Canterbury meeting, but the peer minister offered me immediate friendship. The assistant peer minister offered to have lunch with me that Friday. It became a weekly tradition. We became good friends and continue that friendship today. I’m not sure I could’ve made it through my freshman year without the encouragement and support of my Canterbury Community, especially my peer ministers.

My peer ministers proved to be invaluable role models for me. They were involved in more than just Canterbury. They participated in a variety of other ministries as well.

For example, they were active in local congregations and were members of the Committee for Young Adult Ministries (CYAM). Through their example, I realized that I too was called to be involved. I joined a group dedicated to the revival of Vocaré (a spiritual renewal weekend for young adults similar to Happening and Cursillo) in our diocese. As a result of that experience, I felt I was called to become a peer minister.

It only takes a spark . . .

After two and a half years, I am about to step down from my role as peer minister.

It is now more than ever that I realize the significance this ministry has had in my life and in the lives of my peers.

In parting I ask you to remember one thing: young adult ministries, such as Canterbury and Vocaré, are just the beginning. We are not members of today’s Church; we’re the future of our Church too, and it is here in young adult community that we are developing a stronger foundation in our faith and a better understanding of our baptismal call. The spark is here! We young adults need kindling to keep going and growing in the Church. We need your love, your prayers, and your support.

If you would like more information about peer ministry or how you can support your local peer ministers, please visit the diocesan Web site, www.edusc.org, and click on “Young Adults.”

Ms. Meggen Mitchell is peer minister for Canterbury of Columbia.

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

cÉÉÇ=ãó=ëÜÉÉéK=K=KÒ

HOT DOG MINISTRY FEEDS COLUMBIA’S HOMELESS

_ó=k~åÅó=i~åÉ

If you drive through downtown Columbia around lunchtime on any Saturday, you might notice a line of people next to a white van in a parking lot. Every Saturday, that’s where a group of volunteers under CJ Bilka’s leadership converge—in every kind of weather—to offer a simple meal and a welcoming smile to anyone who needs one.

Sometimes basic necessities (socks, tee-shirts, clothes, blankets, or toiletries, for example) become available as well, but the one thing you can count on is that someone will be there every week.

“I was hungry and you gave me food…”

This is the regular weekly gathering of His Hands Ministries. It’s been going on every Saturday since 2003, growing from the three original volunteers who did all the preparation and serving to the many people who participate in His Hands today.

Every Labor Day, an outpouring of volunteers under Bilka’s leadership has put on a cookout in Finlay Park with hamburgers, lots of homemade salads, and desserts added to the regular Saturday meal (hot dogs, chips, and drinks), along with clothes and toiletries for all comers. These are outward and visible signs of Bilka’s unwavering determination to respond to Christ’s call in Matthew 25—“Come, you that are blessed by my Father . . . for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing.”

God at work Bilka is a remarkable man with an unforgettable voice and a thousand stories. He is the heart and mind and soul of His Hands Ministries, but he will tell you that it is God at work here. Asked what led him to begin his ministry, he says that he didn’t start out on a mission to help the homeless . . . it just happened.

“I didn’t have a clue,” he says—it was God acting through him, even if he didn’t know it. When a day shelter in downtown Columbia closed in 1996, his vision of a centrally located place where homeless people might receive mail, take a shower, wash their clothes, and start to put their lives back together came to him and His Hands `çãÉI=óçì=íÜ~í=~êÉ=ÄäÉëëÉÇ=Äó=ãó was born. Over the following years, he has c~íÜÉê=K=K=K==Ñçê=f=ï~ë=ÜìåÖêó=~åÇ=óçì worked in and with several ministries inside and Ö~îÉ=ãÉ=ÑççÇÒ=Ej~ííK=ORWPQÓPRFK outside the Episcopal Church to feed and clothe his friends, as he calls the people he serves. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OP

eÉäéáåÖ=ãáåáëíêó=Ü~ééÉåK=K=K

A PARISH ADMINISTRATOR’S LIFE _ó=^åå=e~êâÉå Every lay employee who works in a church chooses to work there. Most of us could work in the private sector, a service industry, or manufacturing, using the same skills we bring to the church. We all choose to work here. Why? Because it is not just a job; it is a ministry.

A calling, pure and simple The timing and circumstances that brought me to Church of the Advent in Spartanburg verify for me that my job here as administrator is a calling. I have no doubt that I am meant to be here at this time in my life. My husband had been sick for about a year when I interviewed for this job. The doctors were having a hard time diagnosing what was making him ill. I accepted this job on July 1, 1994, and exactly one month later, my husband was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and had to retire on disability. I know that, if the events had been reversed, I would never have left my higher

paying job to accept the position at the Advent.

Starting work here was the best thing I could have done both personally and professionally. For the first time in many years, I had a fairly normal schedule that allowed me more time at home. The job was both challenging and comfortable. The comfortable part was the knowledge and experience I brought with me about accounting, policies, and supervision. The challenging part was working with professionals whose jobs were ministries, as well as with a large corps of volunteers, while adhering to my own job requirements of organization and policy.

Change??!!

My job was created as a result of a study of Advent’s operations by an outside firm. I had a complete job description and a sizeable consulting report to use as a blueprint. One of my main responsibilities was to protect the assets of the church for the parishioners.

Being a left-brain person, I was eager to implement policies and procedures, but I soon learned that

changing things in a church is serious business.

Even when the changes are for the good of the church and the parishioners and even though the changes were spelled out for me in my blueprint, change does not happen easily.

Along with the changes, I had to fit into an already established team with work ^åå=e~êâÉå=~í=ÜÉê=ÇÉëâ=~í=íÜÉ patterns and relationships ^ÇîÉåíW= f=Å~ãÉ=íç=Çç=~=àçÄ with which they were ~åÇ=ÉåÇÉÇ=ìé=ïáíÜ=~=ãáåáëíêóKÒ comfortable.

As the support staff supervisor, I had to help keep alive the esprit de corps and provide task-oriented advice. With the program staff, I had to analyze what the support staff could do to further their particular ministries. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OP

7

Advent 2007

Crosswalk

UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA _ó=pìÉ=îçå=o~ìíÉåâê~åò

Lasting change

DYTLC coming up

The mission experience

However, too often young people come away from these times feeling as though they were on just another trip and the communities encountered are also left feeling angry or powerless. There are never guarantees in any youth event or experience, no matter how detailed the planning or well-intentioned the hopes. Because each youth comes to an experience at a different place in their faith development, it must be expected that each will be impacted in a different way. It is important for the leadership of these events to understand the faith development of the young people who are a part of the experience and to make sure that each experience is appropriate for the participants.

The Diocesan Youth Leadership Training Conference (DYLTC), which will be held, February 8–10, 2008, will be focused on mission experiences. It will feature our diocesan missionary Cameron Graham Vivanco as our keynote speaker, and Roberto Vivanco, who will lead our music. This event is for young people in 9th through 12th grades and focuses on developing leadership skills for congregational ministry. The event will be held at Camp Bob at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Further information about registration and programming will be available through our electronic youth ministry newsletter youthspace and on the Web at www.edusc.org/Youth.

Since the summer of 1990 I have had the pleasure of taking young people to many places to open up opportunities for them to be in relationship with people who live in communities very different from their own.

These have been transformative experiences for many of them, as well as for me. To me, there is no better way to cross cultural differences, language barriers, socioeconomic gulfs than by allowing the Spirit to guide the relationships that are created in these situations.

What is most amazing is the impact that these experiences can have on the life of a young person for years to come. They can affect how they feel about their world, how they make decisions about daily life, and what they will do in their baptismal ministry as a member of the Body of Christ.

Resources for ministry

For help in making these experiences transformative for all involved, check out the following resource: Handbook for Ministries with Older Adolescents: Part VI – Service, Mission and Social Action which can be downloaded from the following mWeb site: www.episcopalchurch.org /50071_50290 _ENG_HTM.htm. The section "Social Action Projects" is particularly helpful for creating checklists for planning and evaluation of mission experiences: www.episcopal church.org/50071_11646_ ENG_HTM.htm.

The handbook is also available for purchase from Episcopal Parish Services: www.episcopalrééÉê=p`Ûë=mvb=ÅçåíáåÖÉåí=çå=íÜÉ=ÄÉ~ÅÜ=~í=_~ó=píK=içìáëI=jáëëáëëáééá bookstore.org.

REMEMBERING PYE 2007 _ó=oó~å=_ÉåáíÉò Looking back on my experience at PYE (Provincial Youth Event) 2007, I remember quite a mix of emotions during that week. On one hand, the design team did an amazing job with creating the experience for all those who were attending. We were blessed to have been given air conditioned facilities (Quonset Huts!) to eat, sleep, and worship in, which was very much appreciated considering how hot and humid it was in Mississippi.

Each worship service was held at Christ Church, Bay St. Louis, which consisted of a big Quonset Hut since all that remained of the original church was the bell tower.

Relationships

Every service was accompanied by the music team who did an amazing job selecting songs that served to

8

Upper SC & PYE 2007 Every three years the youth of Province IV—the 20 dioceses of the Southeast— gather for a youth event called PYE (Provincial Youth Event).

For the second consecutive PYE, youth from all over the province participated in a mission experience, this time to the Gulf Coast of aáÖÖáåÖ=áå=~í=mvb=OMMT Mississippi to assist in recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=íçé=çÑ=åÉñí=é~ÖÉ

B Y R YAN B ENITEZ

AND

K ATIE R EILLY

get participants both energized and focused on Christ.

As far as the actual mission work itself was concerned, everyone there had been assigned to work teams which were denoted by color (I was on the gray team) and they were then assigned to different locations to do their part in helping with the Katrina relief effort. Some of the teams were assigned to stay and help with improvements that were so desperately needed at Christ Church while other teams were assigned to go to different homes in the community to work. For those of us who went out into the community, one thing they stressed to us was that the most important thing we could do would be to build a relationship with the owners of the houses we were working at, and that the relationship we would build would be more important than anything we could possibly build with our hands. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OM

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

YOUTH IN MINISTRY After the storm

Mission Ecuador

For five days the youth and adult sponsors worked in 15 different teams assisting individual home owners and community agencies. Mission on the Bay, a ministry of Lutheran Episcopal Services of Mississippi, served as the home base. This site is located on the grounds of Christ Church, Bay St. Louis, one of the Episcopal churches that was completely wiped out by the water surge of the hurricane. This ministry site for youth is the sister site to Camp Coast Care, a base camp for adults who assist with the ongoing recovery of the area. It is located on the grounds of Coast Episcopal School in Long Beach.

In a phone conversation in late 2004 the dream of taking a team of Happeners to Ecuador began—a simple question, “Do you think it would be possible?” was answered with, “Well, sure!” From that point forward many prayers, many donations, the building of relationships, and a great deal of planning led us to the summer of 2007.

Much to be done Volunteers are needed at all times, especially skilled workers. It is estimated that it would take the building of 50 homes each day for 10 years to replace what was lost in the storm. For more information about these ministry sites and how to be a part of this experience visit their Web site, www.campcoastcare.com.

“Happening Uno” The team of Upper SC youth and adults who journeyed to Quito, Ecuador, had a sister team of adult leaders from the Diocese of Central Ecuador who had been a part of a Happening weekend in the summer of 2005 at the Bishop Gravatt Center. Together they gathered and crossed barriers of language and culture to bring the Happening program to Central Ecuador, and with the Spirit’s presence a joyous weekend was created for 18 new Ecuadorian Happeners.

REMEMBERING HAPPENING UNO _ó=iáë~=_~áäÉó Wow. Where to begin? When I traveled to Ecuador this past summer, as clichéd as this sounds, my life was changed. I went to Ecuador thinking I knew everything in regard to my faith. I had been to Happening as a candidate and on staff, felt the “spiritual high,” and so I assumed that was it—there is no beating that, right?

Boy, was I wrong.

A new “spiritual high” Being in Ecuador was a completely different spiritual high than I had ever imagined. There just is no comparison. At Happening Uno, I met people my age whose faith was stronger than many adults I know. I felt Christ in each tear that was cried, saw him in each laugh that was shared, and heard him in each song that was

sung. Being in Ecuador showed me what it means to be a true Christian.

I heard stories people in the States would not believe about the trials the natives have gone through to worship Christ. I have seen how one dream can change the course of a whole diocese; how the work of one person can change a life. The time I spent in Ecuador, the friends I made, the family I found, is something that I would not trade for anything in the world. I am grateful to have been a part of that experience.

Ms. Lisa Bailey is a member of Trinity Cathedral.

e~ééÉåáåÖ=bÅì~Ççê=íÉ~ãI=pìããÉê=OMMT

BY LISA BAILEY

AND

EMILY HOROWITZ

and I was afraid that the language barrier would hinder my communication with the people. My experience was quite contrary to my original belief; because the community we entered did not speak English and I could not speak Spanish, I felt that our communication was based solely on God’s love working through all of us, and I made the deepest connections and friendships I have ever made. I am thankful to still be in contact with some of the staff and candidates from Happening Uno through e-mail (my Spanish has improved since the weekend, by the way, as it is now my major in college).

Seeds planted _ó=bãáäó=eçêçïáíò Being a part of Happening Uno with the Diocese of Upper South Carolina in the Diocese of Central Ecuador is by far one of the biggest, most blessed opportunities in my lifetime. Being able to have communion and worship with our brothers and sisters in Quito threw me into the reality of what the body of Christ is truly about and what the purpose of spreading God’s love entails. Although our mission was to spread God’s love, I believe that each one of us received at least twofold of what we gave. God’s grace is funny in that way; he gives us more than we could ever ask for or imagine receiving.

God’s love working iáë~=_~áäÉó=EÅÉåíÉêF=ïáíÜ=ëáëíÉê=e~ééÉåÉêë=^åå~=_ìêåë EäÉÑí=F=~åÇ=`~êçäáåÉ=i~åÖÑçêÇ

It is the hope of the Diocese of Central Ecuador to have “Happening Dos” in the spring of 2008 and possibly another weekend at the end of the summer.

Our Upper SC Happening program continues to sponsor this endeavor through funding (the offering from our fall closing service) and prayers, and, of course, by continuing our relationships. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OM

The community in Ecuador embraced us before they even knew us. I was very nervous during the days before Happening because I did not understand much Spanish,

Every morning that I have woken up since arriving home to Greenville, I have had an excitement in my heart about God’s call for mission to spread His Message in the world. God has showed me that when it comes down to it, we’re really not all that different from each other, no matter what culture we are from or what country we live in. He has given me strength to become less scared of being a Christian and to shine with my faith a little more boldly. Cameron Graham, one of the head directors of Youth World in Quito and the woman who ultimately made Happening possible in Ecuador, spoke of returning home and bearing fruit from our experiences. I know that since our arrival in Quito, hundreds of seeds have been planted, and many will grow up and bear fruit in God’s good time, and God will continue to make his face to shine upon the ministries in Quito, Ecuador.

Ms. Emily Horowitz is a member of Church of the Redeemer, Greenville.

9

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

W

Seeking and Finding

a n d e r i n g s

By Duncan C. Ely

Wandering through lay ministry Lay ministry is the work of those who are not professional clergy.

—Anne Van Dusen Lay ministry has been such a huge part of my life that I can’t imagine living without it. I have wandered around a lot trying to find ministries that were a good fit for me at a particular time in my life. I have been an administrator, board member, chaplain, consultant, editor, eucharistic minister and visitor, friend, house builder and renovator, meal deliverer, mentor, painter, preacher, roofer, Scout leader, soccer coach and referee, spiritual director, teacher, trainer, youth minister, and writer in many places locally, regionally, nationally, and abroad. In my desire to make a positive difference, I used to say yes to almost everything people asked me to do; I would become overly committed, spread too thin, and not do a very good job. I have grown older and wiser; now I am more focused on how I minister. I limit my involvement and therefore am able, I hope, to make more of a difference.

Since the Episcopal Church is such a vital part of my identity as a Christian, I focus part of my ministry there. The specific ministries change over the years, but I try to make a difference locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Right now I am involved in local congregational activities; I volunteer in this diocese and others as a congregational consultant, educator, and trainer; nationally I work with the General Board of Examining Chaplains; and internationally I minister in Haiti. I also minister locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally outside of the Episcopal Church. I settle on one organization through which I can help make the world a better place. Locally and regionally I am involved with The American Red Cross as a blood donor, an Emergency Medical Technician, and a member of the Disaster Relief Team; nationally I serve as a chaplain for a Christian chivalric and charitable organization of which I am a member; internationally I am a trustee of a foundation that provides money for mission trips. When I feel as though I have made the difference God has called me to make or when a term of office expires, I try to discern where God wants me to work next; and I move on to fill the “vacancy” in that local, regional, national, or international area of my ministry.

Bringing the kingdom We’re all in different places with our lay ministries. Some people do not have much free time and others have a lot. Some people are physically active, while others may be challenged in one way or another. Some are rich, while others are poor. Some of us have reached out in the same way for years, and others move from ministry to ministry. What is important is for each of us to find what works for us at a specific time in our lives so that we are doing our part to bring about God’s kingdom by using our time, treasure, and talent. The 1979 Book of Common Prayer lists lay people first among the four orders of ministry in the Episcopal Church. As committed and responsible lay people, how can we not minister?

tÜ~í=áë=áãéçêí~åí=áë=Ñçê=É~ÅÜ=çÑ=ìë=íç=ÑáåÇ=ïÜ~í=ïçêâë=Ñçê=ìë=~í ~=ëéÉÅáÑáÅ=íáãÉ=áå=çìê=äáîÉë=ëç=íÜ~í=ïÉ=~êÉ=ÇçáåÖ=çìê=é~êí=íç=ÄêáåÖ ~Äçìí=dçÇÛë=âáåÖÇçã=Äó=ìëáåÖ=çìê=íáãÉI=íêÉ~ëìêÉI=~åÇ=í~äÉåíK

dçÇ=çÑ=áåëéáê~íáçåI=Ñáää=ìë=ïáíÜ=óçìê=eçäó=péáêáí=~åÇ=ëÉåÇ=ìë= íç=Çç=íÜÉ=ãáåáëíêó=óçì=ïçìäÇ=Ü~îÉ=ìë=Çç=íç=ÄêáåÖ=~Äçìí= óçìê=âáåÖÇçãI=Ñçê=gÉëìë=`ÜêáëíÛë=ë~âÉK=Amen.

10

I search for God, elusive, hidden God, I long to dwell in the heart of Mystery.

I search for my true self more of who I already am, knowing there’s so much yet to be discovered.

I search for love, the unconditional love that enfolds me and asks to be shared.

I search for vision in the shadows of my soul, impatiently awaiting the moment of lighting.

I search for a quiet heart amid life’s harried schedule; my soul cries out, yearning for solitude.

I search for compassion in a world gone deaf to the cries of the hurting, and the pleas of the powerless.

I search for Home, always for Home, unaware, of course, that I am already there.

— Joyce Rupp From May I Have This Dance,

by Joyce Rupp, © 1992 by Ave Maria Press, P.O. Box 428, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.

Used with permission of the publisher, www.avemariapress.com.

qÜÉ=éä~ÅÉ=dçÇ=Å~ääë=óçì=íç=áë=íÜÉ=éä~ÅÉ ïÜÉêÉ=óçìê=ÇÉÉé=Öä~ÇåÉëë=~åÇ=íÜÉ=ïçêäÇÛë ÇÉÉé=ÜìåÖÉê=ãÉÉíKÒ ÔcêÉÇÉêáÅâ=_ìÉÅÜåÉêI=Wishful Thinking:A Seeker’s ABC

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

jó=âáÇëKKK thoughts on hanging with youth _ó=`ÜÉëäÉó=oçïÉ I have had the pleasure of working with the youth at Holy Trinity, Clemson, in the Rite-13 and J2A (Journey to Adulthood) programs for the past seven plus years.

Journey to Adulthood involves a commitment with other team members to teach every Sunday morning and to plan activities for at least two Sunday afternoons each month for a two-year span of time. I have also been one of the leaders on three pilgrimages.

Why do I do it? Why do I keep doing it? Well, first, I believe that we all have a responsibility to support evangelism and other ministries. This belief is born of my support for our diocesan mission statement: “We are a people passionate to love with the heart of Christ, think with the mind of Christ, and act in the world as the body of Christ.”

Finding the call My next thought was that I needed to do something. Many of my friends were happily involved in church life, and I knew that there was work for me as well. So I started with what my wife would call my engineering approach—asking questions.

What needs to be done?

What could I do that would add value?

In what areas could I also grow?

When making any decision, I also include my two rules of life: If you want to learn a subject, try teaching or training others; and I have never met anyone from whom I could not learn.

Getting started was the hardest part. With a little prodding (or maybe a lot) from our youth minister and a bit of a selfish look at what I might enjoy, I started looking into leading a Rite-13 youth group. I had enjoyed my conversations with youth during band competitions, softball games, and soccer matches that I had attended in support of my own children. I enjoyed coaching youth baseball and softball. I discovered that I could teach kids to play. I could even teach girls to throw! So matching something that I enjoy with something that I believed I could do led to my first two-year commitment to the Rite-13 program.

Love, think & act During my time as a youth leader, I have enjoyed watching, and joining, the youth as they thought, loved, laughed, joked, cried, grew, matured, and moved on. And I have watched them return (and amazingly, they do keep growing). At some point during the journey, each youth, every one of them, is influenced by their participation in J2A in some way. Every one of them at some time “gets it.” Every one of them at some point loves, thinks, and acts with the heart of Christ. These moments are the rewards and benefits. The job, of course, is not a bed of roses. However, it is incredible! ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OP

cçê=~=ëéÉÅá~ä=ãáåáëíêóI=îáëáí=K=K=K=

THE SPECIAL NEEDS SECTION _ó=^ãó=p~åÇÉê=jçåí~åÉò It wasn’t the first time I had invited a friend to attend church with me. In fact, I’ve taken many friends to church. But this might have been the first time I was taking a friend who had never been to what she called a “traditional” church. She grew up basically unchurched until as a teen she found a small community church. After attending a Bible college, she found her way to what some might call more fundamental, conservative churches. But she was struggling in that setting, her theology at real odds with what was being preached, taught, and modeled, and I knew she was searching. So, I invited her.

“Exhausting!”

We got there early enough to sit up front. She’ll like it better, I thought, if she can easily see the processional, the lectors, the preacher, the celebrant, the choir, and the altar. The pageantry of it can be fun, stimulating, symbolic. I explained the two books to her. I showed her the service bulletin, carefully pointing out the difference between the hymnal page numbers and The Book of Common Prayer page numbers. Then I remembered to show her the Service music, the numbers proceeded by an “S,” because I knew she liked to sing and I knew she would want to sing along. I explained about the colors on the altar, and a little about the lectionary. “This is exhausting!” I whispered to her, and we both giggled.

I worked hard during the service to stay one step ahead of things. I pointed to things in the prayer book, because in our liturgies we are often given three or four

choices of what could happen next. If you’re just following along, expecting the Gloria, for instance, the next “choice” may not be the Gloria at all, but might, instead, be the Kyrie. I turned her pages for her, when we skipped from 387 (the end of Prayers of the People) to 364 for the Lord’s Prayer. A couple of times, I handed her my book and took hers, so she could keep following. I looked up the service music in advance so she could sing along without skipping a beat. Thank God for the sermon, so I could catch my breath!!!!

When it was time for the Holy Eucharist, I told her just to copy me at the altar as there was no quick way to explain what to do at communion. I added quickly that it was real wine and not grape juice so she wouldn’t choke on it. And when we got back, we kneeled in silence, my prayer one of gratitude for having her worshipping with me.

She sat back down, I handed her the post-communion prayer (the second one), and when all that was said and done, she turned in her hymnal and proudly said, “Look, I found it all by myself!” When I looked, she had turned to S-230 instead of 230 for the final hymn. Gosh, I just hated to burst her bubble, but I handed her my hymnal and we both just laughed.

An aerobic workout Ours is not an easy service to assimilate. Visitors need help. Left to their own, they might feel totally lost or worse yet, maybe a bit despairing, like they’ll never get it. I heard the comic Robin Williams refer to the Episcopal service as an aerobic workout.

Stand, sit, kneel, stand, kneel, sit, kneel, stand, shake, and so on. It’s hard to worship when you’re out of breath! ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OO

11

Advent 2007

Crosswalk

A LTA R G U I L D

íÜÉ=èìáÉí=ãáåáëíêó

_ó=p~åÇê~=hÉääó The Altar Guild—sometimes referred to as the Church Mice—is always present and always busy. Service with the altar guild is a way to give back to God some of the blessings he has bestowed on us. It is truly a ministry of devotion within the church— keeping linens clean and pressed, brass and silver polished, furnishings in good repair, and much more. When we think of the Last Supper, we don’t usually think of someone having to prepare the meal and clean up afterward, but could this have been the beginning of the altar guild?

Stability, flexibility amid change

ritual. As changes in liturgy and ceremony occur altar guilds must change as well and work to stay informed and flexible.

Guild outreach The local altar guild has an opportunity to be part of the diocesan and national altar guilds. In Upper South Carolina our diocesan altar guild is a part of the Episcopal Church Women, which gives us a channel for communicating with altar guilds in local churches. The diocesan altar guild is responsible to the bishop of the diocese.

—continued on page 22

Our procedures, or standard protocols, have changed over the centuries as our prayer books and order of worship have changed. Still, we remain the same—no matter which prayer book is in use, the altar guild is the stabilizing ministry behind the scenes, making sure all is in order and beautifully presented to God’s glory.

In the early years the altar was tended by men known as sacristans; women were not allowed to approach holy things. Eventually, by the 19th century, women began to assist the sacristan and now both women and men are valuable members of the altar guild.

There is a great diversity among Episcopalians concerning our worship; we go from “high church” with “smells and bells” to “low church” with a minimum of formal

THE NATIONAL ALTAR GUILD ASSOCIATION PRAYER _ó=íÜÉ=oíK=oÉîK=bK=açå=q~óäçêI=sáÅ~ê=_áëÜçé=çÑ=kÉï=vçêâ=`áíó Most gracious Father Who has called me Your child to serve in the preparation of Your Altar, so that it may be a suitable place for the offering of Your Body and Blood; Sanctify my life and consecrate my hands so that I may worthily handle those Sacred Gifts which are being offered to You. As I handle holy things, grant that my whole life may be illuminated and blessed by You, in whose honor I prepare them, and grant that the people who shall be blessed by their use, may find their lives drawn closer to Him Whose Body and Blood is our hope and our strength, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ëÉêîáÅÉ=~åÇ=ÅçããáíãÉåí THE

ACOLY TE

’S

MINISTRY you; the character it takes to give up Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons for training; and the flexibility it takes to juggle the demands of school, jobs, and social activities in order to continue in this ministry.

_ó=p~åÇó=tççÇï~êÇ The first time, he was barely tall enough to carry the censer without dragging it down the aisle, but he performed with grace (and with such enthusiasm that we could hardly breathe, there was so much incense in the church).

Since that Christmas Eve of my son’s fifth-grade year, the role of the acolyte has become a focal point of every service for me, as I have watched not only my own child but also many others, at my own church, Holy Trinity, and elsewhere, who have served so faithfully and so well.

Symbols, teachers

Not “extras,” but ministers In the course of a very short time period, I watched my son serve as crucifer for a regular Sunday service, a wedding, the procession for the ordination and consecration of Bishop Henderson, and the funeral of a schoolmate. It hit me, then, that acolytes are an integral part of the way we worship. These young people are not just “extras” in the service, thrown in for eye appeal.

They are ministers, just as are the priests, eucharistic ministers, and other adults who serve.

So I began to appreciate their ministry. I began to appreciate the commitment it takes to rise early to make the 8 a.m. service; the confidence it takes to carry the cross, torches, and banners when all eyes are upon

12

qÜçëÉ=ïÜç=Å~êêó=íÜÉ=ÅêçëëÔíÜÉ=ëóãÄçä=çÑ=çìê ë~äî~íáçåÔ~åÇ=íÜÉ=íçêÅÜÉëÔíÜÉ=ëóãÄçäë=çÑ=íÜÉ=äáÖÜí=çÑ íÜÉ=ïçêäÇÔ~êÉ=íÜÉãëÉäîÉë=ëóãÄçäë=çÑ=~ää=íÜ~í=áë=íç=ÅçãÉÒ EéÜçíçW=gçÜå=_ÉíÜÉääFK

Certainly acolytes are not perfect. Sometimes they forget a service. Sometimes they whisper and fidget and cause minor distractions. But still they come, and still they serve. For me, acolytes are the best and most powerful symbol of service and commitment. In the service of ordination and consecration, the bishop begins his “journey”—the procession—in the simple white alb of the acolyte. This is truly the first step for many toward greater and deeper ministry. But even if it is the only role a young person ever plays in service to the Church, the role of acolyte is in and of itself a ministry to be noted.

We often speak in the future tense about the youth of the Church. We say they are our "future," and indeed they are. Those who carry the cross—the symbol of our salvation—and the torches—the symbols of the light of the world—are themselves symbols of all that is to come.

But, more important, they are our present. They are our teachers by their example and by their faithful ministry.

Thanks be to God! jëK=p~åÇó=tççÇï~êÇ=áë=~=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ=eçäó=qêáåáíóI=`äÉãëçåK

Crosswalk

L ICENSED

Advent 2007

L AY M INSITRIES

_ó=_ÉíÜ=bäó The ancient Church did not make the same distinctions between lay and ordained ministries that we do now. In the beginning, ministry was just ministry. As the Church became more hierarchical and the years went by, many ministries once shared by lay people and clergy became the property of only the clergy. It remained that way for many centuries. Even the memory of the ministries that lay people did in the ancient Church was lost, and many thought that certain tasks, such as handling the sacrament, had been always off-limits to lay people.

qÜÉ=~åÅáÉåí=`ÜìêÅÜ=ÇáÇ=åçí=ã~âÉ=íÜÉ=ë~ãÉ ÇáëíáåÅíáçåë=ÄÉíïÉÉå=ä~ó=~åÇ=çêÇ~áåÉÇ=ãáåáëíêáÉë=íÜ~í ïÉ=Çç=åçïK=få=íÜÉ=ÄÉÖáååáåÖI=ãáåáëíêó=ï~ë=àìëí ãáåáëíêóK Recovering lay ministry Vatican II from 1962 to 1965 ushered in a new way of thinking about the ministries of clergy and of laity. It did not so much invent something new as it tried to help the Roman Catholic Church recover valuable things lost over the centuries.

Since then, the Episcopal Church has also begun the process of recovering and recognizing the value of lay ministries.

This process has been a long, slow one, involving many steps. For example, the canon providing for the lay ministry of carrying the bread and wine to the sick at home or in a hospital or nursing home—which now identifies that lay person as a “eucharistic visitor”—has progressed from calling that person “lay reader” to “chalice bearer,” then “lay eucharistic minister,” “lay eucharistic visitor,” and finally “eucharistic visitor.” As our understanding of the value of specialized lay ministry has grown in the last half century, each “new” lay ministry has had to be separated out from a previous form of lay ministry as it is better understood and defined. For example, a chalice bearer was once required to be a lay reader. Particularly for those ministries associated with our worship life, we now license many of them as a way of standardizing and regulating them.

Lay liturgical ministries get under way The first canon regarding lay liturgical ministries in the Episcopal Church was passed in 1804. It said that if no priest was available, worship could be conducted by a candidate for holy orders, but the candidate could do no part of the service assigned to the priest, including distributing the sacrament. He also only could preach a sermon written by a clergyman. The 1871 General Convention allowed lay men to do this, and in 1904, the first legislation regarding licensed lay readers was passed. This made it possible for men who were in charge of parishes with no priest to preach as well with a license from the bishop. Ninety years after the first man was licensed as a lay reader, women were allowed to serve, though not with the same rights as men until 1969.

Defining ministries In 1967, licensed lay readers were the first lay people in the Episcopal Church allowed to serve the chalice during Holy Communion, but they had to get special permission. At that time the Church was struggling to define and differentiate

distinctive lay ministries. Administering the cup was considered a part of the ministry of a lay reader, although we now realize that this particular ministry (later known as chalice bearer and now known as eucharistic minister) requires a different type of training and different gifts. Remarkably, this ministry was first proposed at the 1931 General Convention.

Expanding lay ministry Those known today as eucharistic visitors are very recent in the history of the Episcopal Church. They came into being at the 1985 General Convention, after having been narrowly rejected at the prior convention in 1982, when it was proposed that chalice bearers be separated from lay readers and not be required to undergo the same training. The canon providing for lay eucharistic ministers with their own specialized training passed the 1985 General Convention as part of a restructuring of the Title III canons. At that time, these canons also introduced the Church to other “new” lay liturgical ministers, then called lay preachers and lay catechists. These are also ministries recovered from the ancient church but long forgotten.

The 1988 General Convention honed the canons, making more explicit the difference between the ministries of a lay eucharistic minister carrying the sacrament out of the church to the sick and a chalice bearer administering communion in church during a service. Since 1988, nearly every General Convention has made changes in the canon, reflecting the church’s growing understanding of the theology of all ministry. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OO

DEFINING MINISTRIES The following designations were adopted by General Convention in 2003. Definitions are from Title III of the National Canons. Each of these ministries requires licensure by the bishop.

Worship leader (formerly lay reader): A worship leader is a lay person who regularly leads public worship under the direction of the member of the clergy or other leader exercising oversight of the congregation or other community of faith.

Eucharistic minister (formerly chalice bearer): A eucharistic minister is a lay person authorized to administer the consecrated elements at a celebration of Holy Eucharist.

Eucharistic visitor (formerly lay eucharistic visitor, lay eucharistic minister (LEM): A eucharistic visitor is a lay person authorized to take the consecrated elements in a timely manner following a celebration of Holy Eucharist to members of the congregation who, by reason of illness or infirmity, were unable to be present at the celebration.

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Advent 2007

Crosswalk

The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist Something has happened to the bread and the wine.

They have been blessed.

What now?

The body leans forward to receive the gift from the priest’s hand, then the chalice.

They are something else now from what they were before this began.

I want to see Jesus, maybe in the clouds or on the shore, just walking, beautiful man

Using gifts with joy

Thoughts on licensed lay ministry _ó=qçåá=póäîÉëíÉê For a long time, I wanted to share my faith in God and my joy at his presence in my life with other people, and, since I knew I didn’t want to become ordained, I looked for opportunities as a lay person.

I wanted a ministry that I could perform working behind the scenes and one-on-one with people. My home church of St. Francis of Assisi, Chapin, has given me many opportunities over the years, and the training and support to carry out the diocesan licensed ministries of worship leader, eucharistic minister, and eucharistic visitor,* and the ministry of lay chaplain as offered by the new diocesan program Community of Hope (COH).

As a worship leader, I have been able to share the joy of the Scripture with people, reading about God’s assurance that he is always with us, and that he loves us, forgives us, and cares for us. As a eucharistic minister, I have been able to assist the priest at the altar, connecting with members of the congregation in a special way by administering the chalice at Holy Eucharist.

A special calling Over time, however, I realized that I identified most with people who were experiencing grief, illness, or the sadness that comes from the major disruptions of life. These types of experiences can isolate a person, which I knew from personal experience. However, from a young age, I was blessed to be around people for whom God was real, and they made him real for me. I was taught that God is always with me and I could feel his presence. I took God’s presence in my life for granted until I became an adult and realized that not everyone had been blessed with the certainty I had been given.

I wanted to share my faith with others, especially those who might feel isolated.

I began looking for a ministry that would allow me to reach out to those who feel alone, and I knew I needed more training. First, I became a eucharistic visitor, taking the eucharist to people who could not come to church. Not only do eucharistic visitors take communion to church members, but they also bring a tangible witness that the person has not been forgotten by the church family. The visitor brings that church family along so that the person knows he or she is still part of the community.

Using gifts with joy Finally, through the wonderful new diocesan program, the Community of Hope (COH), I became a lay chaplain, able to visit people in hospitals, nursing homes, and their homes. I also use the COH training to help with the prayer desk during Sunday services at St. Francis, where we offer special prayers for anyone who comes with a request. Again, I try to share my conviction that God is with us in every situation and that he does help us. I am moved by the requests people bring to the prayer desk and humbled that God is using me to reach out to them.

Lay ministry is often a quiet servant ministry, unseen and unrecognized, but those who are lay ministers always know the joy that comes from using their gifts to serve others.

and clearly someone else besides.

On the hard days I ask myself if I ever will.

jëK=qçåá=póäîÉëíÉê=áë=~=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ=píK=cê~åÅáë=çÑ=^ëëáëáI=`Ü~éáåK *For definitions of these ministries, see page 13.

Also there are times my body whispers to me that I have.

—Mary Oliver cêçã=Thirst Äó=j~êó=läáîÉêK=`çéóêáÖÜí=«=OMMS=Äó j~êó=läáîÉêK=oÉéêáåíÉÇ=Äó=éÉêãáëëáçå=çÑ=_É~Åçå mêÉëëI=_çëíçåK

14

Photo: © Kryczka | Dreamstime.com

qÜÉ=`çããìåáíó=çÑ=eçéÉ=íê~áåë=ä~ó=ÅÜ~éä~áåë=ïÜçëÉ=ãáåáëíêáÉë ã~ó=áåÅäìÇÉ=çìíêÉ~ÅÜ=ïáíÜáå=íÜÉ=ÅçåÖêÉÖ~íáçåI=íç=íÜÉ=Üçëéáí~äáòÉÇI ÜçãÉÄçìåÇI=ÜçãÉäÉëëI=áãéêáëáçåÉÇI=~åÇ=çíÜÉêëK=cçê=áåÑçêã~íáçå çå=íÜÉ=`çããìåáíó=çÑ=eçéÉ=éêçÖê~ã=áå=çìê=ÇáçÅÉëÉI=îáëáí ïïïKÉÇìëÅKçêÖL`Üêáëíá~åcçêã~íáçåL`çåíáåìáåÖbÇìÅ~íáçåKëÜíãäI Å~ää=UMPKTTNKTUMMI=ÉñíK=OOI=çê=ëÉåÇ=ÉJã~áä=íç=ÅçÜ]ÉÇìëÅKçêÖK

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

WHO ARE THE

M I N I S T E R S O F T H E C H U RC H ?

THEY ARE LAY PERSONS,

BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND DEACONS. (BCP, PAGE 855)

Apostle, chief priest, and pastor

tb i s h o p h em i n i s t r

By Rogers S. Harris

Apostle and overseer Our catechism states, “The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese” (BCP, p. 855). We begin with the bishop as apostle. In the New Testament the word apostle means “one sent,” as on a mission.

Jesus Christ is the Apostle of God, for though he eternally had the nature of God (Phil. 2:6), he was sent into this world on God’s mission to redeem the world.

This is the apostolate of God, sending the eternal Word of God to reconcile all people to God and to each other.

The crucified and risen Christ then sent his Church to the world as apostles to represent the risen Savior, to witness to his resurrection, to proclaim to all people the good news of the reign of God. As the apostolic Church our Great Commission is to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . . ” (Matt. 28:19).

From very early times the Christian Church has chosen some to lead this apostolic church in mission.

The New Testament word for this mission leader is episcopos, which means “overseer” or “bishop.” First of all, therefore, the bishop is to oversee the apostolic mission of the Church.

Peter, Paul, Augustine, Patrick, et al.

Throughout the history of the Church there are some wonderful examples of bishops fulfilling their

apostolic calling to lead the Church in mission to all people in the world. The apostles Peter and Paul began the world mission. Both gave their lives as martyrs in Rome during the persecution under the emperor Nero.

We also remember Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory I as missionary bishop to England; Patrick who was missionary bishop to Ireland; and Boniface who was missionary bishop to Germany.

For the Episcopal Church in the 19th century this apostolic role of bishops was revived on the frontier.

Philander Chase was sent as our apostle to Ohio and Illinois. Jackson Kemper was missionary bishop to Missouri and Indiana. Benjamin Bosworth Smith and James Hervey Otey, though not sent from outside, were certainly missionary bishops to Kentucky and Tennessee.

qÜÉ éêáã~êó êçäÉ çÑ ~ ÄáëÜçé áë íç äÉ~Ç~ÇáçÅÉëÉáå~éçëíçäáÅãáëëáçå íç ~ää éÉçéäÉ ïÜçã dçÇ äçîÉë îÉêó ãìÅÜI Äìí ïÜç Çç åçí óÉí âåçï íÜÉ äçîÉ çÑ dçÇK Once the Church is established in an area, we often forget our primary reason for existing, which is mission to those outside the Church. Maintenance is so much easier than mission. The primary role of a bishop is to lead a diocese in apostolic mission to all people whom God loves very much, but who do not yet know the love of God.

Chief priest The classic statement of a bishop’s priestly ministry was written by Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who died as a martyr there in 115 A.D. Ignatius wrote: “Only that eucharist is to be considered legitimate which is celebrated under the presidency of the bishop or under that of one the bishop appoints. There where the bishop appears let the community be, just as where Jesus Christ The Rt. Rev. Charles Duvall, reitred bishop of Central Gulf Coast who is, there is the whole Church.” In the first several assists Bishop Henderson in our diocese, administers the sacrament of centuries, this close relationship between the bishop and Holy Confirmation at St. Paul’s, Fort Mill (photo Lizann Lutz).

s y

sáëáíáåÖeçäó`êçëëIpáãéëçåîáääÉIçåÄÉÜ~äÑçÑçìêÄáëÜçéI íÜÉ oíK oÉîK oçÖÉêë e~êêáë éçëÉë ïáíÜ åÉïäó ÅçåÑáêãÉÇ a~ååó ~åÇ ^åå iÉçåÉK the Christian community was easy to see. Then a bishop, assisted by deacons and priests, was shepherd to all the Christians in a town. This began to change in the year 312 when the emperor Constantine was converted to the faith. The Church began to grow rapidly.

Ministry of bishops extended to multiple congregations spread over surrounding towns. This process led gradually to the development of the modern diocese, with each bishop as chief priest over a wide geographical area.

“Homecoming” Today it is more difficult for the average Christian to see the bishop as the unifying provider of sacramental life in the diocese. Most see their bishop in this role only at a local-church visitation once every year or two. Many will consider their bishop a visiting dignitary, sometimes welcoming the bishop cordially with the hope he or she might come to visit again sometime.

A more accurate way to think of the bishop’s visitation is the practice of one parish rector who called it “the bishop’s homecoming.” This is correct, for the bishop is “at home” in every parish of the diocese and is the chief priest in all of them. Today we are recovering this traditional teaching in our Prayer Book, where the first act of a newly consecrated bishop is to celebrate Holy Eucharist with the congregation (BCP, p. 522).

And when the bishop is present for a baptism, then the bishop “is expected to preach the Word and preside at the Baptism and the Eucharist” (BCP, p. 298). ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ çå é~ÖÉ ON

15

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

WHO ARE THE

M I N I S T E R S O F T H E C H U RC H ?

THEY ARE LAY PERSONS, BISHOPS

30

, PRIESTS, AND DEACONS. (BCP, PAGE 855)

Faith, community, risk, and prayer . . .

YEARS OF PRIESTLY MINISTRY

_ó=a~îáÇ=cK=lK=qÜçãéëçå

“How does it feel to know that you began doing this for all the wrong reasons?”

At first I didn’t know how to answer that question. I returned to seminary for an advanced degree and also to sort out for myself what the priesthood really meant to me and meant to the institutional Church. I wasn’t sure about my ordination and whether I wanted to continue in this vocation for the rest of my life. I found the priesthood to be hard, demanding, rewarding, and exhausting. It seemed, at least to me, that so much was expected. It was like preaching to the seminary community: challenging and frightening with many, many unspoken expectations. My spiritual friend had been right on target: I had entered into the ordained ministry for all the wrong reasons. But I had enough insight to know that I followed in the footsteps of my foremothers and forefathers who had walked along side God in ignorance, fear, and joy but with faith! I had enough faith to believe that God would and could redeem what had been offered in ignorance.

Faith in community The priesthood is walking in faith with God in the midst of community.

Sometimes this means that I walk ahead, leading the way, sometimes I walk behind being drug along, and sometimes I walk side-by-side with other pilgrims who are walking the Way of the Lord. I’m never sure about where I am supposed to be in this pilgrimage, but I do know that I am called to walk and that I am called to point out to others their importance to the community of God. I am always amazed by what is expected of the priesthood today. We are called to uphold the traditions of the faith, while being prophetic, calling people to be open to the will God in Christ, helping them raise money, ministering to the sick, studying, preaching, and administering the sacraments. Just writing this sentence threatens to overwhelm me! I honestly don’t do all those things well, and I am old enough to know it and not to worry about it.

A gentle concierge I do know that the Church has changed tremendously in the 30 years that I have been in the ordained ministry, and change seems to be happening much more rapidly in the last five years. People crave tradition while at the same time they feel so rootless that they cannot hold on to the one thing that will help them with both tradition and belonging: community. My metaphor of “Church,” for now, is a hotel, and I am the concierge who gently guides folks to some of the “Godly” activities during their stay.

After 22 years in one parish, I know how rootless we all are. It is as if we have spiritual ADHD, searching for something that comes ironically from stability and not constant change.

As a priest, I point through word and sacraments to the obvious: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” In other words we are loved and wanted by our

16

píK=_~êíÛë=êÉÅíçê=a~îáÇ=qÜçãéëçå=EêáÖÜíF=~í=íÜÉ=~äí~ê=ïáíÜ=_áëÜçé=eÉåÇÉêëçå=~åÇ íê~åëáíáçå~ä=ÇÉ~Åçå=j~êâ=^ÄÇÉäåçìê=EéÜçíçW=gçÜå=_ÉíÜÉääF creator, redeemed by Jesus Christ, and renewed by the Holy Spirit. We are beloved sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of the Christ. We are family.

Safety and risk

I shouldn’t be surprised how often this message falls on hearing-impaired ears, for we live in a culture of fear and mistrust. This is why it is so hard for the Church to be the Church where the people of God gather around the altar to be fed by word and sacrament. We don’t trust anyone! We are trained to be safe, but we also must learn to take risks. The priesthood is about taking risks that threaten who we are and what we are about. Many years ago in an article for the periodical Context, a theologian declared that often people who worship in liturgical churches take for granted the very sacraments that we offer. We treat them as if they were tame and tepid, not realizing that they are full of power and strength. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=é~ÖÉ=OM

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

Love, pray, act, show up . . .

_ó=j~êó=`~íÜÉêáåÉ=båçÅâëçå It is 5 p.m. on a Saturday in October. The sun is shining brightly as it considers setting behind me. With a dock populated by children and youth to my left, and a kayak or two to my right, I stand, calf-deep in cool rippling water. “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” As these words pour from my mouth, a pitcher of water pours over the heads of two young boys receiving their baptism. Looking out at the congregation gathered, I am amazed that this is my life, and I thank God that this is my job.

of a new priest

In community Just shy of ten months prior to this day, I myself stood, knelt, and prostrated myself before a congregation of people and received not baptism, but the bestowal of holy orders as a priest in the Episcopal Church. On this day, before friends, family, and the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, I made my vows to the study of scripture, conformity to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal faith and Church, and to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. I vowed to care for God’s people and to lead them in worship as a spiritual companion and leader.

I joined many communities that day. I joined the ranks of fellow clergy in many faith traditions. Within my own faith tradition I become one who stands in the historic line of the apostolic succession. I joined the community of female priests who have served the Episcopal Church since 1974. I became one among many who have answered a call to a life in ministry before the age of thirty. And now I have the responsibility and the privilege of inviting, welcoming, and baptizing into the fold new members of the community of faith in Christ.

And now, a sacramentalist As a young adult, as a woman, and as a priest, I have spent the last year of my life living into a call to ordained ministry. I have worked in a new church, a new diocese, a new part of the country for me. I have entered a parish community as a youth and young adult minister, participated in two mission trips, taught a confirmation class, and attended several diocesan events and gatherings. I have fed the hungry, visited the sick, prayed over the dying, and held the hands of those who mourn and those who rejoice. But, these are all things that I had done as a layperson.

In addition to each of these opportunities to learn about, live, and love in Christian community, I have functioned as a sacramentalist. I have preached the gospel. I have celebrated the eucharist in Canterbury communities, at Camp Gravatt and at my church. I have baptized babies and young children. I have anointed the sick, and pronounced the gift of forgiveness to the repentant. I have participated in weddings and funerals. As an ordained minister I have stood before a community gathered for worship, offered prayers and thanksgivings to God, and conveyed God’s blessing to those present. I have experienced new things by allowing my voice, my hands, and my heart to be vessels of expression of God’s love and grace in this world.

Love, pray, act, show up Many days of the week I perform very normal office tasks: checking e-mail and phone messages, attending staff meetings, preparing articles for the newsletter, making photocopies of receipts for reimbursable expenses. I work with committees and put dates on the calendar, sending invitations, notices, and thank you cards for upcoming gatherings and past pleasantries. At times these mundane tasks are soothing, because they are tangible. But of course, there is a great deal more to my day-to-day work than just the mechanics.

x f z í = á ë = ã ó = Ö ê É ~ í = Ö á Ñ í = í ç = Ä É = ~ = é ~ ê í = ç Ñ = í Ü É = ï ç ê â = ç Ñ = Ä ì á ä Ç á å Ö íÜÉ= âáåÖÇçã= çÑ= dçÇÒW= qÜÉ= oÉîK= j~êó= `~íÒ= båçÅâëçå= ïÉäÅçãÉë= íïç= íç= íÜÉ= ÑçäÇK Every day I love people. I do this in a variety of ways—from one-on-one meetings with those hoping to explore their faith life through the Episcopal Church, to those who are hurting and in dire need of a safe place right here, right now.

I pray. I pray with and for those whose names are given to me, and those whose names are known to God alone.

I act. I act on behalf and alongside the faith community that gathers in this church, serving those in need, and holding out their needs to those who may have the means to make a difference.

I show up. Much of my work is just being present so that when a need arises there is a helping hand and a caring response in the name of God.

Building the kingdom The joy of my work, my life as a priest, is that every day when I enter my work space—the world around me—I manage to say that I love my job. The incredible surprise in my job is the fact that there is always work to be done, and it is never work that I can do, nor do I attempt to do, alone. As one whose job description includes inviting, welcoming, and baptizing new members into the fold, it is my great joy, my great wonder, and my great gift to be a part of the work of building the kingdom of God by nourishing and caring for the builders.

I am amazed that this is my life. Thank you, God, for the gift of community, and for the opportunity to be a leader in the midst of it. qÜÉ=oÉîK=j~êó=`~íÜÉêáåÉ=båçÅâëçå=áë=~ëëáëí~åí=íç=íÜÉ=êÉÅíçê=~í=lìê=p~îáçìêI=oçÅâ=eáääK

17

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

WHO ARE THE

M I N I S T E R S O F T H E C H U RC H ? ,

THEY ARE LAY PERSONS BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND

DEACONS. (BCP, PAGE 855)

A DEACON’S LIFE _ó=qáãçíÜó=bêîçäáå~

Cross and towel

^åÇ=g~ÅçÄ=Å~ääÉÇ=íÜÉ=å~ãÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=éä~ÅÉ=mÉåáÉäI=ë~óáåÖI= cçê=f=Ü~îÉ=ëÉÉå Notice, deacons, don’t “read” the gospel, they dçÇ=Ñ~ÅÉ=íç=Ñ~ÅÉI=~åÇ=ãó=äáÑÉ=ï~ë=ë~îÉÇKÒ “proclaim” it. The gospel selection is the ÔdÉåK=POWPM centerpiece of the Liturgy of the Word, the time What does it mean to be a deacon? It means losing a wrestling match with God. It means walking with a spiritual limp, for the rest of your life. It means living in two worlds, comforting the one and holding the other accountable.

Hobbling away Through years of discernment, I came to understand why I was unashamedly in love with the world (even estranged as it is from God) and in struggle with the Church (especially when it reacted to the world in an un-Christ-like way). Like Jacob at Peniel, I hobbled away from my encounter with the Holy One. I was not called to be a presbyter (priest); I was being formed to be a deacon. I was learning to interpret the world to the Church and the Church to the world. When the long night of wrestling was over, I found that I could stand between the two worlds and speak a tongue that each could understand.

Like presbyters, deacons must be trained in theology, though with different emphases. They are taught to be preachers and teachers, so they can begin the interpretive process. They need theological formation to understand the Church’s language thoroughly. They need pastoral training to show Jesus’ own compassion for a world whose people who are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).

To be a deacon means, first, to acknowledge the absolute sovereignty of God, a difficult task for those who, like me, yearn to have control. Giving up control, first of the ordination process itself and later of my own ministry, taught me at long last to trust that God really does run the universe, and that God’s will is being done, even as my own is subsumed into it. It means learning to be an icon, through whom people can see Jesus at work in their lives.

In the theology of the Eastern Church, icons are used as windows into the gospel.

Pictures of saints are used in the East to remind us of the fact that all are called to be servants. Seeing an icon of the Blessed Mother, Francis, Patrick, David, or Thérèse, we are reminded of their holy deeds done in Jesus’ name. The deacon serves the Church as an icon of Jesus: the one who saw thieves, drunks, whores, and demon-possessed not as lost, but as worthy of love.

Telling the old, old story Deacons act in Jesus’ name to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. That’s why we work as prison chaplains, as AIDS workers, as homeless shelter directors, or in a thousand other ministries amid the pain and suffering of the world. We do not do this because we love misery and suffering, but by doing this we learn a language that we speak in the other world in which we live.

Deacons are not just social workers with collars. While they “are called to a special ministry of servanthood directly under [their] bishop,” they are also charged “to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the World . . . [and] to assist the bishop and priests in public worship and in the ministration of God’s Word and Sacraments.” Those public tasks include proclaiming the gospel during the Holy Eucharist, bidding the Prayers of the People and the Confession of Sin, and preparing the Lord’s Table for the Holy Communion.

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when Jesus himself speaks to the Church through the deacon. No deacon ever approaches that moment without a trembling in his or her soul.

It’s a key way that deacons interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world, since the gospel is good news to the world (and bad news, quite often, for the Church!).

Many deacons are also called to be preachers and teachers and to use those opportunities to challenge the Church to be faithful to Jesus’ call aÉ~Åçåë=qáãçíÜó=bêîçäáå~=~åÇ=pìÉ for justice, reconciliation, and peacemaking. îçå=o~ìíÉåâê~åò=íÉ~ÅÜ=~=Åä~ëë=Ñçê=íÜçëÉ In leading the prayers, deacons have a special ëÉÉâáåÖ=çêÇáå~íáçå=íç=íÜÉ=Çá~Åçå~íÉK opportunity to help the Church pray for the unloved and unlovely in their midst and in the world, aware that prayer shapes belief.

In leading the confession, deacons are especially mindful of their own sins and how their lives do not perfectly reflect Jesus. When they set the Lord’s Table, or serve as the bishop’s chaplain, deacons are acting as servant leaders, modeling the way that Jesus cared for his disciples—and the way we are all to care for each other. That’s why they wear a stole draped across one shoulder and fastened at the waist as a symbol of the towel Jesus used as he washed the disciples’ feet.

Prophetic ministry Sometimes, deacons must speak to the Church in words that may seem harsh or judgmental, calling it to account for the ways it denies Jesus by its actions, or fails to do justice, or becomes compromised in its witness. That prophetic ministry of justice is often the hardest ministry of all, since speaking the truth in love can be confused with simply being a jerk (by both the deacon and those prophesied to). That’s why deacons must be grounded theologically, focused spiritually, and filled with the Spirit.

The deacon stands in the holy place between world and Church, between redemption won and redemption realized in our midst. There, on a cross-shaped ledge, the deacon reaches out to comfort and console those who do not yet know their infinite value and pull them to the safety of God’s loving arms. The deacon reaches out to his or her fellow believers to remind them that Jesus died not for our sins only, but for those of the whole world.

Having seen God face-to-face, and having the limp to show for it, deacons know their lives are saved, and want yours to be too. qÜÉ=oÉîK=aÉ~Åçå=qáãçíÜó=bêîçäáå~=ëÉêîÉë=~í=píK=j~êíáåÛëJáåJíÜÉJcáÉäÇëI=`çäìãÄá~K

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Crosswalk ONE FOOT IN TWO ORDERS

Advent 2007

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TRANSITIONAL DIACONATE _ó=h~êÉå=cK=eìãÄÉêí When I left for seminary, and theological places unknown, I had little comprehension of the impact that transition would have on my life and that of my family over the next few years. A new way of seeing, thinking, and being became nearly dietary supplements during the three years I was steeped in theological education. Almost as soon as it began, seminary ended and I left the place of hopeful expectation for ordained life in the parish. Girded with the mantle of ordination to the transitional diaconate I, along with three others, took my place at the table and began to learn what it meant to be one of the ordained in what was to become yet another adventure into places unknown.

Deep longing For six months I stood at the altar every week in an ill-fitting priest stole worn sideways (left shoulder to right hip) and expectantly watched for the moment in the liturgy when the celebrant proclaimed “The gifts of God for the people of God,” upon which I was to assist by raising the chalice alongside the paten. Aside from the deep longing I had to serve as the celebrant, I was to discover that the ill-fitting stole became an apt metaphor for my experience of the transitional diaconate. Even in the best of circumstances transition of any kind is usually difficult for those of us who find comfort in things grown rote, familiar, and known. Moving through ordination to the other side of the altar rail was indeed new.

One foot in two orders As a transitional deacon I learned that I was living with one foot in two orders, the order of deacon and the order of priest, being always mindful upon which foot I was presently ordained to stand. During the ordination liturgy to the transitional diaconate the bishop asked, “My sister, do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to the life and work of a deacon?” The answer I knew I was to say caught in my throat when the solemnity of the liturgy and my recollection of the time spent discerning a call to the priesthood converged into an obedient response. In the pause of a breath, years of preparation and reflection flooded into my own question, “Am I not called to be a priest?”

There in the space of Trinity Cathedral and one’s own truth I was confronted by the ambiguity of the ministry upon which I was soon to embark. Answering both questions, I audibly responded to the bishop, “I believe I am so called.” The truth is, embedded in the call of every priest is the heart and mind of one who serves, a deacon.

In the time of waiting for ordination to the priesthood, first there must be the practice of servanthood and along with it much longing.

Both / and Servanthood produces its own form of education for the one who serves. While none of ministry is supposed to be about oneself, it in fact sometimes is, and surprisingly so. The meaning of transition becomes clear when you find yourself on the other end of the microscope on how you lead liturgy, or whose name you forgot at an inopportune time, or the question you were asked in the hospital parking lot because you were wearing a white collar. There were times during my transitional

K=K=K=xbzãÄÉÇÇÉÇ=áå=íÜÉ=Å~ää=çÑ=ÉîÉêó=éêáÉëí=áë=íÜÉ=ÜÉ~êí ~åÇ=ãáåÇ=çÑ=çåÉ=ïÜç=ëÉêîÉëI=~=ÇÉ~ÅçåK=få=íÜÉ=íáãÉ=çÑ ï~áíáåÖ=Ñçê=çêÇáå~íáçå=íç=íÜÉ=éêáÉëíÜççÇI=Ñáêëí=íÜÉêÉ ãìëí=ÄÉ=íÜÉ=éê~ÅíáÅÉ=çÑ=ëÉêî~åíÜççÇ=~åÇ=~äçåÖ=ïáíÜ=áí ãìÅÜ=äçåÖáåÖK

h~êÉå=eìãÄÉêí=EÑêçåí=~åÇ=ÅÉåíÉêFI=~ë=ëÜÉ=áë=éêÉëÉåíÉÇ=Ñçê=çêÇáå~íáçå=íç=íÜÉ íê~åëáíáçå~ä=Çá~Åçå~íÉI=qêáåáíó=`~íÜÉÇê~äI=gìåÉ=OMMS diaconate when I thought the collar had mysteriously turned into a white flag notifying anyone in sight I was the one in need.

That the experience of explaining what it means to be a transitional deacon is no simple task is affirmation of its intended formative ambiguity. The transitional diaconate is living into the both / and of who you are called to be. You learn that the line between deacon and priest is distinct and somewhat blurred, is by design after all.

Most of us who discerned a call to the priesthood and followed that call all the way through seminary found ourselves somewhere along the way already acknowledging our priesthood before the ordination rite. As a professor of liturgics once candidly affirmed, “there is no magic ping when it comes to ordination; in fact, God has been long at work before that day ever arrives.”

Real integration Post graduation, with degrees eagerly in hand, my class was ready to be set loose on congregations. I pictured the transition into parish ministry much like the question imprinted on one senior class’s tee shirt that cited Job 39:5— “Who has let the wild ass go free?” Following multiple examinations of both the mind and the personality, and an ordination process that is very often years of personal reflection, theological education, and much prayerful waiting, it’s no wonder ordinands are like thoroughbreds at the gate ready to launch into ministry. The trouble is that, as in most any vocation, theory and practice are two sides of the priestly business and must ultimately be integrated.

As a neophyte with a little over a year’s service in ordained ministry and six months of it spent as a transitional deacon, I now suspect real integration takes a little longer, possibly a lifetime. God willing. qÜÉ=oÉîK=h~êÉå=cK=eìãÄÉêí=áë=~ëëáëí~åí=íç=íÜÉ=êÉÅíçê=~í=píK=^äÄ~åÛëI=iÉñáåÖíçåK

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Advent 2007

Crosswalk

Youth ministry

ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=V Our fall weekend had a Latino flavor, with music was led by Roberto Vivanco. Our Happening “Moms” were our diocesan missionaries, Cameron Graham Vivanco and Laura Jennings. If you would like more information about how to support this relationship between our dioceses, please contact The Rev. L. Sue von Rautenkranz, Canon for Youth Ministry: suevon@edusc.org.

Making disciples While in Ecuador, we were also connected to Youth World International, a program and ministry that exists to identify, teach, and equip leaders to nourish young people and families as disciples of Jesus Christ. Before and following the weekend we learned about this ministry and assisted with some of their ministry endeavors, including a day of work at a ministry site in a disadvantaged neighborhood. To learn more about this program visit Youth World International’s Web site at www.youthworld.org.ec/index.htm. oó~å=_ÉåáíÉòI=píK=_~êíÜçäçãÉïÛëI=kçêíÜ=^ìÖìëí~I= áå=_~ó=píK=içìáëI=jáëáëëáééá=Ñçê=mvb=OMMMT

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REMEMBERING PYE 2007 Remembering PYE

A “big bucket”

B Y R YAN B ENITEZ

A gift of hope Some of the survivors who had talked to some of us said that the only reason they are here today is because of the efforts of volunteers, that we have given them something that no monetary donation could give—we gave them hope. So I guess as I reflect upon PYE 2007, my sense of accomplishment is not in how much work I was able to do, but rather I feel accomplished because I can say that I gave at least one person hope. jêK=oó~å=_ÉåáíÉò=áë=~=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ=píK=_~êíÜçäçãÉïÛëI=kçêíÜ=^ìÖìëí~K

_ó=h~íáÉ=oÉáääó

“Welcome Home” My work group spent our entire week at the house of an elderly woman, Edwina and her son, Reggie. We cut and trimmed the months and months of overgrown grass, cleared out debris from the house, and redecorated her yard with a number of her Edwina’s lawn ornaments. Unfortunately, we never got to meet Edwina or ^q=mvb=OMMTI=h~íáÉ=oÉáääó=EäÉÑíF=ÜÉäéë=êççÑ=~=ÜçãÉ ÇÉëíêçóÉÇ=ÇìêáåÖ=eìêêáÅ~åÉ=h~íêáå~K Reggie but we did converse with some locals and we learned about what amazing people we were helping. So, before we left, my work group decided to add a personal touch with a hand-painted sign saying, “Welcome Home.” This coming summer I look forward to hopefully returning to Mississippi and leaving a little more of my passion and heart on that coast.

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, will forever hold a place in my heart. The people I met on this mission trip will also be in my heart forever. After spending a week in the most ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ= Ñêçã= é~ÖÉ= NS

We play with them and are bored with them, not understanding that they have the power to heal and to kill, to raise up and to destroy. We play games with sacraments forgetting that they are full of power, grace, and love.

Priesthood of all believers Perhaps if we understood this more, we would understand what it means to be the priesthood of all believers: the faithful and the faithless all standing around the holy table holding on to one another in wonder and fear. In wonder that God has touched us so intimately with the miracle of the incarnation and in fear that somehow we have missed something or that we really don’t belong. But faith is standing before the altar waiting to receive what cannot be explained: wine and bread becoming the body and blood of Christ. These ordinary staples become extraordinary gifts which sustain us on this spiritual journey called life—a journey that is so full of twists and turns, ups and downs, that we could never, ever have imagined all the possibilities and temptations when we first began this amazing pilgrimage at our birth. It is here at the holy table that we become honest, for just a few seconds each week, and boldly declare, as we

20

K ATIE R EILLY

ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=U== humid and hot weather ever, I truly can’t wait to go back. The worship services, small groups, work groups, and program made the week even more memorable.

However, I do remember it still being extremely frustrating for some groups who felt like all the toil and labor they had put forth really had not amounted to being any great help. To use the popular metaphor, it seemed that all that work only amounted to drops in a bucket, and it was a rather big bucket at that. It was very surprising how much work still needed to be done this long after the storm. One sign down there that I particularly liked was one that said “Katrina was big, but God is bigger.”

30 years

AND

jëK=h~íáÉ=oÉáääó=áë=~=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ==píK=a~îáÇÛëI=`çäìãÄá~K reach out our hands to receive what we can’t explain, that we need community. We need God and we need one another.

f=ëíáää=ÇçåÛí=êÉ~ääó=ìåÇÉêëí~åÇ=ïÜ~í=f=Çç=~åÇ=éêçÄ~Ääó åÉîÉê=ïáääK=f=~ãI=äáâÉ=m~ìäI=~=Ñççä=Ñçê=`ÜêáëíK= Offer, and pray I am a priest because of all of this. I am a priest because I was touched by God in the fields of Western Maryland as I marveled at the God of creation. I am a priest because I believe in Christ’s resurrection, and I have seen this resurrecting force at work in my life and the lives of others. I am a priest who perhaps began the journey for all the wrong reasons but who has had his ineptitude blessed with redemption that only the Triune God can provide. Like all the disciples—Mary Magdalene, Peter, John, Bartholomew, and Lois—I offer what I have and pray that God will bless it and use it for the good of the Church. I still don’t really understand what I do and probably never will. I am, like Paul, a fool for Christ.

—qÜÉ=oÉîK=a~îáÇ=cK=lK=qÜçãéëçå=áë=êÉÅíçê=çÑ=píK=_~êíÜçäçãÉïÛëI=kçêíÜ=^ìÖìëí~K

Crosswalk Bishop’s ministry

ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=NR

Most eucharists and baptisms in a diocese will be celebrated by those whom the bishop has appointed, not by the bishop personally. But it is the bishop who, with advice from the Commission on Ministry, selects those to be made postulants for ordination. And it is the bishop who, with consent from the Standing Committee, makes them candidates and ordains them to be deacons and priests of the Church.

It is the bishop who assigns the newly ordained to a congregation. When a parish is without a rector, it is the bishop and the bishop’s deployment officer who advise the vestry on the calling process. It is with the bishop’s consent that the vestry may call a priest. Then it is the bishop, or one appointed by the bishop, who installs the new rector. In all these ways the bishop functions as the chief priest of the diocese.

Above: “A first among equals”— Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori confirms a parishioner during a visit to the Diocese of Central Ecuador (photo: Richard Schori / ©2007 Episcopal Life Online).

Pastor The word pastor comes from Latin for “to feed.” Originally it referred to a shepherd, one who leads and feeds a flock. So when our risen Lord commands Peter, “Feed my sheep,” Peter is receiving one of the primary responsibilities of the bishop.

The model which all clergy must hold as the ideal for their vocation is of course the one who says, “I am the good shepherd,” though none of us can come close to his perfection. The Good Shepherd knows all his sheep by name. The flock will follow his leadership because they know the shepherd is willing to die for the flock.

Our Lord sets the example of pastoral leadership by the way he was constantly teaching his disciples. So the bishop must be constantly feeding his people by teaching, preaching, writing, and other means of communicating the Christian vision. This role can only be filled by one committed to Christ as Lord and Savior.

Therefore the bishop must be a person of faith, constantly seeking strength through prayer and study.

OUR BISHOP: THE RT. REV. DORSEY F. HENDERSON, JR. Below: qÜÉ=ÄáëÜçéÛë ÜçãÉÅçãáåÖÒW=_áëÜçé eÉåÇÉêëçå=ÄäÉëëÉë=íÜÉ=ÑäçÅâ ÇìêáåÖ=Üáë=îáëáí~íáçå=íç píK_~êíÜçäçãÉïÛëI= kçêíÜ=^ìÖìëí~= EéÜçíçW=gçÜå=_ÉíÜÉääFK

Advent 2007

Left: vÉí=íÜÉó=äÉ~å=çå=íÜÉ içêÇ K=K=KÒ=EjáÅ~Ü=PWNNFW _áëÜçé=eÉåÇÉêëçå=äÉ~åë=çå= Üáë=ÅêçòáÉê=~ë=íÜÉ=ÖçëéÉä= áë=êÉ~Ç=íç=ëóãÄçäáòÉ=íÜÉ= `ÜìêÅÜÛë=ÇÉéÉåÇÉåÅÉ ìéçå=dçÇÛë=Üçäó=ïçêÇ= EéÜçíçW=gçÜå=_ÉíÜÉääFK

Left: Bishops abound at the November 4, 2006, investiture service of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (Washington National Cathedral photo from Episcopal Life Online).

THE PRESIDING BISHOP: THE MOST REV. KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI The presiding bishop has no extra authority in the Episcopal Church, but shares authority with every other bishop. By the nature of the office, however, she has certain honors and she speaks from an honored position clearly identifying her with the Church. She is a first among equals and is a spokesperson for the Episcopal Church. The presiding bishop is elected from the membership of the House of Bishops and is the chief administrative officer of the national headquarters.

F r o m The Episcopal Church Welcomes You, by William and Betty Gray

Faith and leadership After faith, the skill most necessary for a clergyperson is leadership. Bishops need skill to lead clergy and laity in the apostolic mission of Christ to the world.

About 50 years ago I remember reading some advice from a very wise man, one then known as “advisor to presidents.” He wrote that a leader must always be out in front of those he would lead. One cannot lead from the rear. But, he cautioned, the leader must not be so far out in front that he loses touch with the people. The good shepherd is forever ahead of the flock, but always close enough to call them individually by name.

At ordination a new bishop is told by the presiding bishop, “With your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world.”

Every bishop will share this pastoral responsibility in provincial synods, church conventions, and at the Lambeth Conference which, once a decade, brings together Anglican bishops from nations all around the world. It is a very important task of all bishops to teach their dioceses that the mission of Christ is worldwide. Christ died for all people of all nations and all races and all cultures on earth. Therefore the bishop must always pastorally lead the Church out of narrow parochialism into mission, which is universal and catholic.

So the ministry of a bishop is to be apostle, chief priest, and pastor in the mission of Christ’s Church. Our perfect model for all this is Christ Jesus: the Apostle of God, the High Priest forever, and the Good Shepherd of his Church.

xqÜÉz=éÉêÑÉÅí=ãçÇÉä=Ñçê=x~=ÄáëÜçéz=áë=`Üêáëí Right: xqzÜÉ=ÄáëÜçé=ãìëí=ÄÉ Åçåëí~åíäó=ÑÉÉÇáåÖ=Üáë=éÉçéäÉ Äó=íÉ~ÅÜáåÖI=éêÉ~ÅÜáåÖI ïêáíáåÖI=~åÇ=çíÜÉê=ãÉ~åë=çÑ ÅçããìåáÅ~íáåÖ=íÜÉ=`Üêáëíá~å îáëáçåÒW=_áëÜçé=eÉåÇÉêëçå éêÉ~ÅÜÉë=~í=~=ÇáçÅÉë~å=pÅÜççä Ñçê=jáåáëíêó=Öê~Çì~íáçå EéÜçíçW=_çÄ=`ÜáäÉëFK

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gÉëìëW=íÜÉ=^éçëíäÉ=çÑ=dçÇI=íÜÉ=eáÖÜ=mêáÉëí ÑçêÉîÉêI=~åÇ=íÜÉ=dççÇ=pÜÉéÜÉêÇ=çÑ=Üáë=`ÜìêÅÜK qÜÉ=oíK=oÉîK=oçÖÉêë=pK=e~êêáëI=êÉíáêÉÇ=ÄáëÜçé=çÑ=pçìíÜïÉëí=cäçêáÇ~I=ëÉêîÉÇ=~ë ëìÑÑê~Ö~å=ÄáëÜçé=çÑ=çìê=ÇáçÅÉëÉ=Ñêçã=NVUR=íç=NVUVK

21

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

Lay ministries

ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ= Ñêçã= é~ÖÉ= NP

What’s in a name?

After stating that LEMs (lay eucharistic ministers) would be known as “lay eucharistic visitors” in the 1997 canon, the 2003 evolution went even further by changing the names of all specialized lay ministries and dropping lay in each title. Thus, in still another version of the Title III canon in 2003, lay eucharistic visitors became eucharistic visitors and chalice bearers became eucharistic ministers. Lay preachers became preachers, lay catechists became catechists. A pastoral leader was added at that time also. Even the oldest title among them all was changed: lay readers became worship leaders!

These changes reflect the ongoing understanding of the normalization of lay ministries, that even to call

Special Needs

ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=NN

At the front door, when she shook his hand, I heard my friend thank the priest for occasionally announcing the page numbers. “I am the special needs section!” she exclaimed. “Yes!” I added. “A special needs section wouldn’t be a bad idea.” This was a great reminder to be sensitive to newcomers and visitors, and to reach out and help anyone who looks lost or is stumbling over pages and juggling books. Some churches have gone to full service flyers, printing out everything except the hymns and the service music. Perhaps this is helpful.

Looking forward to graduation The greatest joy of hosting my friend, though, came after the service when we went to lunch together. After

Altar Guild

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We sponsor two meetings each year—spring and fall— to gather and share ideas, discuss problems and find solutions, as well as to teach and learn new and old techniques. One interesting altar guild idea is to make prayer pillows from old, worn-out consecrated vestments to give as “comfort pillows” to shut-ins and those in the congregation who are sick.

The diocesan altar guild also sponsors the donation

these ministries “lay” ministries rather than simply ministries suggests that lay people are being “allowed” by the Church to do special things. The current theology of ministry reminds us that we are all called to minister and that no call is above or below another; ministry is the normal way of life for any Christian.

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As Nathan Mitchell reminds us in his book Cult and Controversy, this is not new thinking but “an ancient Christian insight: ministry is the ordinary mode of life, for all Christians. It is neither exceptional nor extraordinary; all believers are called by baptism to carry on the service (diakonia) of Jesus who was priest not by virtue of any ordination but in virtue of his self-offering on the cross.”

The rediscovery of and opening up of all ministries is an ongoing revelation in today’s Episcopal Church. qÜÉ=oÉîK=_ÉíÜ=bäó=áë=îáÅ~ê=çÑ=píK=mÉíÉêÛëI=dêÉÉåîáääÉK This article comprises selections from A Manual for Lay Eucharistic Ministers in the Episcopal Church, by Beth Wickenberg Ely. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY. www.churchpublishing.org.

ordering, she looked at me and said, “Amy, I’ve been really surprised this morning. I didn’t expect to hear Jesus proclaimed and so much at the center of the worship experience.”

“Really?” I was shocked. “Why not?”

“Because that’s what I’ve been told and taught—that churches like yours do not really believe in Jesus and do not preach Jesus.”

It took my breath away for a moment, and brought tears to my eyes. Our entire service is centered around the proclaiming of and the worshipping of the Trinity.

We read more Scripture every Sunday than almost any other denomination. We celebrate our Lord’s Supper every Sunday, and if that doesn’t proclaim Jesus as the center of our lives, I don’t know what does. How is it that other Christians have such misinformation about our way of worshipping and about our core beliefs?

Actually, that question is food for another article!

After a precious and intimate conversation about what we each believed, about our struggles, doubts, and disbeliefs, we both agreed that what we treasured most was our love of God, friendship, community, and a church based on love and not fear. I agreed to be her tutor for a few more Sundays, and she agreed to be in the special needs section a few more weeks. She will graduate and no longer need me to coach her along. She will be able to sit by herself and to worship next to other parishioners. I’ll miss her when she does that, but I’ll be on the lookout for the next person who needs my help in the special needs section!

of vestments, altar linens, frontals, and so on, to churches that have been destroyed by natural disasters and to new and old churches struggling with budgets.

We have donated to churches in Mexico, Haiti, Africa, and many more. We all have “stuff ” in sacristies that needs a home—why not share with those who have nothing?

Another important duty performed by the altar guild is to maintain an inventory of all materials and equipment for which we are responsible. This includes vestments, paraments, linens, silver, brass, and so on. A pictorial inventory is best to help insurance and police should theft, fire, or flood occur.

Southern states) of the Episcopal Church, just as our diocese is. There is a Province IV altar guild meeting each summer at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC, with a keynote speaker, workshops, worship, and fellowship.

The national altar guild is responsible to the presiding bishop of the Church and functions through a national board of seven. It tends to the ecclesiastical needs of the Episcopal Church, serving the presiding bishop, altars at the Church Center in New York, and the needs of the clergy in the Armed Forces. Every third year at General Convention the national board meets with the parish and diocesan altar guild chairs for a program, worship, a display of ecclesiastical art and antique vestments and paraments, and to elect officers.

Guilds within guilds

The quiet ministry—work, faith, vocation (photo: Sue Zoole)

Ongoing revelation

The diocesan altar guild chair is available to the parish and mission guilds to provide programs for teaching new members, as well as resources and information relevant to the care and provision of sacristies, sanctuaries, and altars. The current diocesan altar guild chair can be contacted through the ECW Diocesan Board (www.edusc.org/ECW/Executive Board.shtml).

The diocesan altar guild is a part of Province IV (nine

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Setting the table Working with the altar guild is an important commitment. It gives an opportunity to be a vital and special part of the worship of the church. Altar guild members share the ministry of setting the table and inviting all to come. We open our hearts and spirits to purposeful change as our focus and worship change.

Ms. Sandra Kelly is a member of St. Andrew’s, Greenville.

Crosswalk His Hands

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People from everywhere Bilka is a member of St. David’s, Columbia, which donated the van he drives today and has supported the ministry for years, as have several other Midlands churches, for which he is thankful. But His Hands is not a ministry of the institutional Church; it’s a Christian one. When people ask, “What church are you from?” we say that we’re from all over, responding to Christ’s call to act as his hands in the world. Bilka says that he is amazed by God’s power and that God has sent him people from everywhere, wonderful volunteers who have done everything he asked. The list of people he admires and thanks is long (Barbara Kovacs, Eddie Guess, Jimmy Jones and Christ Central ministry, Judy Nance, Ken

Administrator’s life

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Hard work The word support has several meanings, two of which are 1) to promote the interests or cause of, and 2) to assist, to help. The Advent’s support staff does both of these. Our policy states that support staff may not be parishioners, but our job is to support the clergy, program staff, and parishioners in their spiritual journeys. The support staff also assists the program staff, clergy, and parishioners by providing the logistical support to assure that the programs, events, and ministries of the church happen seamlessly. We help ministry happen and, in doing that successfully, we realize our own ministry.

While the support staff is arranging logistics, the clergy, vestry, program staff, and volunteers are free to plan and develop the services, events, and activities of the church. Here at the Advent all is accomplished by a team dedicated to serving the parish. Ministry doesn’t just happen. It takes a lot of hard work.

My kids...

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There is not a Sunday that I don’t walk into church without looking for some of “my kids.” The ones that come back from their freshman year of college answer my questions before I even ask them, “Yes, I’m going to class; yes, I’m listening in class; no, I’m not text messaging in class; and, well, my professor will know my name soon . . . she just doesn’t yet . . . I’m working on that.”

qÜÉêÉ=áë=åçí=~=pìåÇ~ó=íÜ~í=f=ÇçåÛí ï~äâ=áåíç=ÅÜìêÅÜ=ïáíÜçìí=äççâáåÖ Ñçê=ëçãÉ=çÑ= ãó=âáÇëKÒ Ties that bind

In addition to working with the youth, there is the added advantage of working with the other adult leaders

Suggs, Joyce Sims and Geralyn Anderson, and many others). He says he’s thankful to have the opportunity to be in the same room with them. “Many Saturdays,” he says, “I am reminded of the verses in the Gospel of John as our Lord tells Peter that if we love Him, we must ‘Feed His sheep.’ But His command is also to ‘Follow Him’ if you love Him. I pray that I demonstrate obedience.”

Those of us who volunteer with His Hands know that we’re no better than those we serve. We’re all God’s children and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to share God’s love in fellowship with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Volunteers and donations are always welcome.

Contact CJ Bilka at cbilka@bellsouth.net to find out how you can participate.

jáåáëíêó=ÇçÉëåÛí=àìëí=Ü~ééÉåK=fí í~âÉë=~=äçí=çÑ=Ü~êÇ=ïçêâK= New dimensions Though I have always thought of my work as ministry, recently I have had an epiphany that has added another dimension for me. I am honored to be included in a program put together by the Spartanburg County Foundation and the United Way of Spartanburg called the Grassroots Leadership Development Institute. The group has used for the basis of its study the Spartanburg Community Indicators for community needs. While listening to community leaders talk about the current needs in Spartanburg County and the programs that address those needs, I was shocked. I was stunned by the vast scope of the needs.

My involvement with the mission and outreach areas of Advent has been limited to providing financial

Advent 2007

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information for the committees that have oversight. But as I sat in the meetings for the leadership group, my mind was racing—With the resources available at the Advent, why couldn’t we step up to help with some of these community needs? Since the Advent Children’s Center falls under my purview, the first thought I had was that we could offer scholarships to our preschool for underprivileged children. With the rector’s approval I wrote and submitted a request to our outreach commission. The request was approved, and this year we have one student in our preschool under scholarship.

Next year we will have two students, and the following year we will have three.

I’m not the same person who walked into the Advent more than 13 years ago. I came to do a job and ended up with a ministry. The ministries of this church, the parishioners, and the staff have enriched my life, and I am thankful.

Ms. Ann Harken is parish administrator at Church of the Advent, Spartanburg.

in the program. The time we spent together and the effort of working as a team with a common goal, the planning, traveling, discussing that we have done together are things that bind us always.

Should you try lay ministry? And what ministry should you try? I suggest that you prayerfully consider the same questions that I did as you try to love with the heart of Christ, think with the mind of Christ, and act in the world as the body of Christ.

What needs to be done?

What can I do that would add value?

In what areas can I also grow?

What you find may not be teaching Sunday school or leading a youth group, but you will find a meaningful place to serve that will bring joy to you and to your church community.

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Advent 2007

Authority of the laity

Crosswalk ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=Q

Objectifying laypeople Another battle was fought to open the Lord’s table so that everybody could partake of the bread and the wine.

That very important battle was won. But the end result was institutional: now you have a church that gives communion in both kinds and a church that doesn’t, and that’s all the victory has now amounted to. It is an old, old struggle that we are talking about, and a struggle that threatens to continue, because we are trying to change a centuries-old way of responding.

Interestingly enough, those battles were fought by the very people who were the leaders of the institution, by enlightened clergy who saw that something was seriously wrong in the Church. Laypeople never really participated in those reforms because they had long since given up believing that the Church was anything in which they really had any ownership. Laity were

Ministry of song

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And then something wonderful happened. I met my future wife, Laura, who happened to be an organist and choir director. And although she never pressured me to go back to church, I was completely compelled by her to take action because she had something I had not seen in a very long time—something that I wanted, needed, and was eager to share with others: passion. Passion for music, passion for people, and passion for God. So, one particular evening, while sitting on the front stoop of her house, I asked if she could use a tenor. That great

Growing in ministry

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Harder noted that an architect said that the new Holy Trinity footprint is common to many English

always the recipients of the Church’s bounty. They were the objects. The institution’s history has been dominated by that kind of theology.

Sweeping the house clean To turn all that history around is very difficult. Both laypeople and clergy have a hard time understanding what I am talking about. It sounds heretical. I believe that in the Bible we have only one part of the story, though I know that is not an idea that people are going to warm to. The Church has always acted as if one needs to know nothing outside of the biblical record. The theory about the inerrancy of the Bible got its strength from people’s fear that if part of the structure was attacked the whole thing would come tumbling down.

As if that structure was something that could be destroyed! The Bible was rarely understood as the response of people who saw God acting in history. We could tear apart all those records that are left to us and

and lovely wonderful smile came across her face, and she knew that she had me. And before long, I had rediscovered my voice as well as a spiritual path in the new and very strange environment of the Episcopal Church.

Joy, passion, and song And although this environment is no longer strange, it has opened up an avenue of music that I had never seen before. Through the liturgy I can see and feel that presence I felt but couldn’t understand when I was a teenager. I can see the people’s response when the choir

country churches with the bell tower set between church and parish hall. So the garden is done in the English style, an added tribute to his grandmother Fishburne, who came to this country from England. Those of us who were here when our beloved old church was deconsecrated and taken down know that the garden was a constant during a time of much change. We also know how Byron Harder carefully took the topsoil from a portion of the old garden where the ashes of several parishioners had been scattered, so that they could join us on the next phase of our journey.

Beauty and peace Many of the large plants that anchor the overall design were given as memorials from parishioners, and Harder says that all the landscape purchasing is done with gifts, rather than with funds from the annual qÜÉ=Ö~êÇÉå=~í=eçäó=qêáåáíóI=`äÉãëçåK= budget. Many people have also given

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i~áíó=ïÉêÉ=~äï~óë=íÜÉ=recipients çÑ=íÜÉ=`ÜìêÅÜÛë=ÄçìåíóK=qÜÉó=ïÉêÉ íÜÉ=objectsK=qÜÉ=áåëíáíìíáçåÛë Üáëíçêó=Ü~ë=ÄÉÉå=Ççãáå~íÉÇ=Äó=íÜ~í âáåÇ=çÑ=íÜÉçäçÖóK not destroy that witness. We can sweep the house clean of all the ideas that we have had about the Bible and the church and fill it with a new content. Most people do not see that. We cannot bear the void. We think that if we sweep the house clean, the devils are going to rush in immediately, but the story is that devils rush in only if the house is left empty.

adds their own unique color to our worship canvas—a color that offers people a clear, soft setting in which to meditate, praise, mourn, laugh, and cry with God. The girls are gone, left behind with my teenage years, but the other thing that I discovered while singing with that youth choir years ago is still here and has always been: the joy of God, the joy I find when I sing for God. And I sing, because one day maybe someone will see a passion in me, a passion for music, a passion for God that may lead that person to say a prayer, or come to a service, or even join a choir. jêK=içååáÉ=oçëáÉê=ëáåÖë=Ñçê=dçÇ=~í= píK=j~êíáåÛëJáåJíÜÉJcáÉäÇëI=`çäìãÄá~K

what he calls “pass-along plants”—ones that have been important in their lives or memories that they would like preserved in the churchyard.

Again in his unassuming style he simply states that he was fortunate to have a job that gave him several hours in the middle of the day while his children were in school and his wife was at work. For him gardening is a good way to get some daily exercise and also to remember his grandmother. He reports the main difficulties he faces are weeding, watering during dry spells, and trapping the occasional groundhog. Those of us who saw him outside during the hottest August in South Carolina’s recorded history can attest to two of those difficulties, and anyone who knows Harder also knows that he does not kill God’s creatures: he just lovingly gardens around them.

Byron Harder might be too humble to call his tending the church garden a ministry, but for all who stop to wonder at the beauty of creation or to find a bit of peace in our garden, it certainly is a ministry, and a very important one.

Ms. Carolyn Wheeler is director of Christian formation at Holy Trinity, Clemson.

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

Around the Diocese ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=é~ÖÉ=O

Not home yet . . .

“This,” Bishop Henderson remarked, is “the 13th time I have addressed this convention.” “We have journeyed many miles together,” but “Beloved, we’re not home yet.” Focusing on the theme of transition, in his address the bishop set forth four goals for the remainder of his episcopacy: 100 percent participation in the diocesan Healthy Church Initiative (see related articles below), launched in mid-2006; development of an effective mission strategy that includes a plan for planting new churches and a “strategy for assisting congregations already in place for assertive evangelism”; continuing emphasis on Christian formation “from the womb to the tomb”; and ongoing engagement with the Millennium Development Goals.

“Beloved,” Bishop Henderson concluded, “it is my most fervent desire that, when the time comes, I have the ability to deliver into the hands of my successor a vibrant, confident, and healthy diocese and episcopacy.

But my desire is not sufficient. It requires the faithful commitment of each of you and that of each person in each pew in each congregation. I need your help to reach this point of clarity and promise. . . . ‘Come, labor on.’ ”

Elections Elected to serve as deputies to General Convention are, in the clergy order, the Very Rev. Dr. Philip C. Linder (Trinity Cathedral) and the Revs.

David F. O. Thompson (St. Bartholomew’s, N. Augusta), Calvin R. Griffin (St. Luke’s, Columbia), and Fletcher qÜÉ=sÉêó=oÉîK=aêK Montgomery (St. John’s, mÜáäáé=`K=iáåÇÉêI=ÅÜ~áê Columbia). Lay deputies çÑ=çìê=dÉåÉê~ä elected are Messrs. Belton T. `çåîÉåíáçå=ÇÉéìí~íáçå Zeigler (Trinity Cathedral) and Arthur M. Bjontegard (St. Michael’s, Columbia), Ms. Angela Daniel (St. John’s, Columbia), and Ms. Scooty Burch (Holy Trinity, Clemson).

New members of the Diocesan Executive Council (DEC) are the Revs. P. William Greeley (Advent, Spartanburg), qÜÉ=oÉîK=cäÉíÅÜÉê Emmanuel Mercer (Trinity jçåíÖçãÉêóI=ÉäÉÅíÉÇ Cathedral), Deedie Phillips éêÉëáÇÉåí=çÑ=aáçÅÉë~å bñÉÅìíáîÉ=`çìåÅáä=~í Marshall (Christ Church, íÜÉ=~ååì~ä=êÉíêÉ~í=áå Lancaster), and Nancy J. kçîÉãÄÉêKsáÅÉJ Kenney (St. Augustine of éêÉëáÇÉåí=Ñçê=OMMU=áë Canterbury, Aiken), who was jêK=bãÉêó=`ä~êâX elected to fill a two-year term. ëÉÅêÉí~êó=áë=aêK=píÉîÉ Lay persons elected are Messrs. mÉíÉêëçåK Herbert Bynoe (St. Luke’s, Columbia) and Robert C. Clawson (Good Shepherd, Columbia) and Ms. Mary Anne Park (St. Bartholomew’s, N. Augusta).

Healthy churches—A bumper crop!

Following are a few of the many “Healthy Church Initiative” (HCI) success stories unfolding all over Upper South Carolina. HCI, funded by a generous gift from a member of the diocese and spearheaded by Canon to the Ordinary the Rev. Mark Clevenger and HCI founder the Rev. Tony Watkins, is designed, in Bishop Henderson’s words, to assist congregations in developing a plan that will enable them “ever to be more and more effective in reaching and converting the unchurched, while simultaneously enhancing Christian community, spiritual growth, and renewal.” The bishop has asked that all Upper SC congregations participate in the initiative. You can get started by contacting the bishop’s office at Diocesan House, 803.771.7800.

Feeling their oats at Holy Cross

By Christi Stewart A congregation doesn’t have to be unhealthy to benefit from the Healthy Church Initiative. Holy Cross, Simpsonville, was a thriving congregation when they began participating in HCI. They were clear in their identity as a child-centered congregation (they have a licensed child–care facility on the grounds—Holy Cross Academy) that also does a lot work with Habitat for Humanity. They were already living into their mission statement—“making Christ visible in his community.”

So how, exactly, has Holy Cross benefited from HCI? Jeffrey B. Froman, Holy Cross’s HCI committee general gifts chair, puts it this way: “In order to grow, action needs to be taken. What that right action is and how to make it happen is often a mystery to those working inside the congregation. Tony Watkins [the diocese’s HCI consultant] brought the outside view and the right ideas to get us off our collective butt.”

foster lay ownership at Holy Cross was by conducting training with about 15 church leaders based on teachings from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church. In addition to ownership, the training also helped create cohesiveness and a shared vision. Flanagan has noticed that this community decision-making has generated a “tremendous amount of positive enthusiasm about our future as a community of faith. We are widening our vision of who we can be in this part of the world. We see with new eyes and have set new goals for our future.”

Faithful to the call Flanagan said that one of Watkins’s gifts is his ability to sense the “personality” of each congregation and begin there. “He has not tried to reshape our church.

He came and experienced who we are —beginning with our worship—and then looked at how we could emphasize the positive energy and excitement for God that was already here. He has taken our mission statement and used it to frame our capital campaign.

His work has assisted us in sharpening our focus on who God is calling us to be. Tony has been very good about helping us stay focused on God throughout the course of the program—what does God want our mission to be? Reminding us that if we do what God calls us to do, we will always be successful, because success is simply being faithful, and Tony has helped us to do that.” ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=åÉñí=é~ÖÉ

Ownership & shared vision In addition to an outside view and right ideas, Holy Cross’s rector, the Rev. Mike Flanagan, appreciates the time Watkins gives to each congregation. He said that Watkins is always available on the phone and that the time he spent with folks at Holy Cross working on the initial parish survey aided the congregation in clarifying their plans for the future, including undertaking a capital campaign to build a new sanctuary. Flanagan thinks it was important that Holy Cross’s building plans were the decision of the community rather than of a just a few folks. While the importance of lay ownership to a capital campaign may be obvious, knowing how to cultivate it often isn’t.

One of the ways Watkins helped

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25

Advent 2007

Crosswalk

Around the Diocese ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=éêÉîáçìë=é~ÖÉ

St. Augustine of Canterbury— Stepping up to the plate _ó=`Üêáëíá=píÉï~êí I felt like a VIP walking into St. Augustine of Canterbury in Aiken for the Sunday worship service. Within just a few minutes, I was greeted by three, maybe four, people.

At the end of the service I was given a St. Augustine mug with four different kinds of homemade cookies, one of which was on a stick like a popsicle. One member of the congregation jokingly said “I see you’ve been mugged.”

The warmth and friendliness of this congregation were identified by Tony Watkins, the diocese’s Healthy Church Initiative consultant, as two of its many strengths. Going through the HCI process helped members of St. Augustine build upon those strengths as well as add a few more.

Remembering why Three members of St. Augustine, all deeply involved in the HCI process —Mackie Walker, Kathy Cook, and Kathy Miles—shared with me how the initiative has changed their congregation. It was truly inspiring to hear them talk about how their struggling mission has increased in health and focus. All three agree that much of the reason for this change is their work with HCI, which has helped them remember why they are there in the first place.

Walker described the initiative as helping the congregation focus on mission rather than getting lost in the nuts and bolts of running a church. He said that, prior to the initiative, St. Augustine’s was so focused on paying bills, there was hardly time to remember what the church’s mission was. Post-HCI, the congregation is stronger and healthier both financially and emotionally. What’s more, because everyone is so qÜÉ=oÉîK=k~åÅó=hÉååÉó=ÄäÉëëÉë=íÜÉ= clear and focused on the bigger picture, the ~åáã~äë=~í=píK=^ìÖìëíáåÉK logistics seem to be taking care of themselves.

The Rev. Nancy Kenney, St. Augustine’s priest-in-charge, said, “Tony Watkins showed us what our strengths are. It was very helpful to see that fellowship is one of our main strengths and to know that we should build on our strengths, not try to buoy up our weaknesses. We have successfully built on our love of fellowship together by having events that allow us to share and care for each other around food.”

incredible people who have enabled us to do things we never dreamed possible. We are definitely ‘God-led’ now.”

Cook was trained by Watkins to teach classes at St. Augustine’s based on Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church.

She appreciates that Watkins is able to adapt a nonEpiscopal resource and make it relevant to Episcopalians, and, specifically, to each congregation. The classes provide an opportunity for new church members to bond and find common ground.

Kenney thinks the most helpful aspect of HCI is the emphasis on spiritual growth that is helping move St. Augustine from an inwardlooking, maintenance_ìáäÇáåÖ=çå=ëíêÉåÖíÜë=~í=píK=^ìÖìëíáåÉÔ oriented church to an ï~êãíÜI=ÑêáÉåÇäáåÉëëI=ÑÉääçïëÜáé outward-looking, missionoriented church. “We are more interested in how we can meet the physical and spiritual needs of others than we are in increasing our own physical comfort. We have less conflict and more people who are ready and willing to serve God as he has called them. That is a sign of a healthy and growing church that God will use to expand His Kingdom and that is why we are here, to fulfill the Great Commission.”

dçÇ=Ü~ë=ÄêçìÖÜí=xíç=píK=^ìÖìëíáåÉz=áåÅêÉÇáÄäÉ=éÉçéäÉ ïÜç=Ü~îÉ=Éå~ÄäÉÇ=ìë=íç=Çç=íÜáåÖë=ïÉ=åÉîÉê=ÇêÉ~ãÉÇ éçëëáÄäÉK=tÉ=~êÉ=ÇÉÑáåáíÉäó=ÚdçÇJäÉÇÛ=åçïKÒ —Kathy Cook

“God-led now” Pre-HCI, there were only a handful of people “stepping up to the plate.” Now, people are volunteering left and right to take charge. Cook said: “God has brought us

Planning for growth and service at St. Paul’s, Fort Mill _ó=iáò~åå=iìíò

As many new neighborhoods sprang up in the Fort Mill Township, St. Paul’s began planning almost two years ago long-range goals to meet the needs of newcomers and to make St. Paul’s a vibrant part of the community. The diocesan Healthy Church Initiative’s suggestions became part of these plans.

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jëK=`Üêáëíá=píÉï~êí=Ü~ë=ÅçãéäÉíÉÇ=~å=áåíÉêåëÜáé=ïáíÜ=CrosswalkK=pÜÉ=Öê~Çì~íÉÇ Ñêçã=rp`=áå=aÉÅÉãÄÉê=OMMT=ïáíÜ=~=ã~ëíÉêÛë=ÇÉÖêÉÉ=áå=ã~ëë=ÅçããìåáÅ~íáçåëK

“We incorporated the findings of the congregation’s assessment and their ideas. We also worked in the suggestions of Tony Watkins, HCI consultant, who worked with the vestry on our objectives,” the Rev. Sally Franklin, St. Paul’s rector, said.

Reaching out One of the long-range goals for the parish is reaching out in the ever-growing township. Growth into the Lancaster County panhandle, part of the township, has

exploded in the area called Indian Land, which includes a sprawling Sun City development. St. Paul’s has begun an evening service at the Indian Land Recreation Center.

The hope is to let folks in the numerous new neighborhoods in the northern part of Lancaster County know that the parish of St. Paul’s is close by.

Several members who live in Sun City have already invited their neighbors to the new service, as well as to the church, which represents another one of the longrange goals. ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=çå=åÉñí=é~ÖÉ

Crosswalk

Advent 2007

Around the Diocese ÔÅçåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=éêÉîáçìë=é~ÖÉ to meet our parish needs [and to] to reach out in The long-range planning committee, along with the response to growth in our area, and to help us venture HCI assessment, also identified the need for Christian out into new ministries.” education direction. St. Paul’s is close to hiring a partMs. Lizann Lutz is a member of St. Paul’s, Fort Mill. time director to build on the ministry to children and teens.

Another goal that has been met with ten-week training is the creation of lay pastoral care teams called Caring Community Caregivers. By responding to others, in the parish and in the community, lay caregivers can be extra hands and extra hearts who support the priest.

St. Paul’s parish continues its outreach goal with York Place’s Hart Cottage, with work days at the cottage and other activities planned to meet the needs of the young residents.

In Franklin’s words, “The HCI questionnaire and Watkins’s q~âáåÖ=~Çî~åí~ÖÉ=çÑ=~=ê~êÉ=Åççä=ãçêåáåÖI=ãÉãÄÉêë=çÑ=píK=m~ìäÛë=é~êáëÜ=ÖêÉÉí=É~ÅÜ suggestions helped us brainstorm çíÜÉê=~ÑíÉê=íÜÉ=NMWPM=ëÉêîáÅÉ=EéÜçíçW=iáò~åå=iìíòFK

M O N E Y

ON THE COVERS FRONT COVER: Photo montage by Robin Smith showing scenes from Bishop Henderson visitation to St. Martin s-in-the-Fields, Columbia, November 2007.

Artist and photographer Robin Smith is owner of Photo Vision in Columbia and a member of St. Martin s-in-theFields. Contact him by phone at 803.738.2121 or by e-mail to robin@artbyrobin.com.

BACK COVER: Grace for the World, watercolor by Jack Hardaway. The Rev. Jack Hardaway is rector of Grace Church, Anderson, which is portrayed in miniature in his watercolor. Contact the artist at 864.225.8011 or by e-mail to frjack@bellsouth.net.

T A L K

27

Advent 2007

Crosswalk The official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

Watercolor by Jack Hardaway, see page 27.

Diocesan calendar

Jan 1

Diocesan House closed

Mar

Feb

1

Diocesan Executive Council, All Saints’, Clinton

2

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to All Saints’, Cayce

2

Ordinations to the priesthood,Trinity Cathedral, Columbia

6

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to Grace Church,Anderson

3

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to St. Mark’s, Chester

10

Deans and lay wardens quarterly meeting, Diocesan House

6

Ash Wednesday

7-9

Happening #59, Gravatt

DYLTC, Camp Bob, Kanuga

7-12

House of Bishops, Camp Allen,Texas

11

Commission on International Concerns and the Anglican Communion, Diocesan House

12

Commission on Ministry of the Baptized, All Saints’, Clinton

13

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to St. Paul’s, Batesburg

19

Commission on Congregations,All Saints’, Clinton

20

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to St.Augustine,Aiken

21

Diocesan House closed

24

New clergy orientation, Diocesan House

25

Commission on the Diocese,All Saints’, Clinton

27 Catawba Convocation meeting,York Place 28-30 Clergy pre-Lenten retreat, Gravatt Commission on Province IV and the Episcopal Church, 31 Diocesan House

Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina 1115 Marion Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201

8-10 17

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to All Saints’, Beech Island

16

Palm Sunday

18

Diocesan House closed

21

Diocesan House closed

24

Bishop Henderson’s visitation to Holy Trinity, Clemson

23

Easter Sunday

28

Clergy day, All Saints’, Clinton

24

Diocesan House closed

30

Bishop Harris’s visitation to St. George’s, Anderson New building consecration, St. Mary’s, Columbia

DEADLINE for next issue of Crosswalk: February 15.

Send submissions to phill@edusc.org Send photos to photos@edusc.org Send items for the calendar to bhuman@edusc.org

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