November/December 2012 • The Harvest • 9
People
Canon Craig Loya selected for structure task force By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest
of Public Affairs said the task force’s 24 members include 10 lay people, four bishops, nine priests and one deacon. Three members are under age 30, eight are in their 30s, five are in their 40s, four are in their 50s, and four are age 60 and older. Nine are people of color. Resolution C095 said that the membership of the task force “shall reflect the diversity of the Church, and shall include some persons with critical distance from the Church’s institutional leadership.”
The Rev. Craig Loya, Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, has been named one of 24 members of a special task force established by this summer’s General Convention to recommend changes to the structure, governance and administration of the Episcopal Church. He was selected from more than 500 applicants and is the only person from Kansas picked. Time for reinvention His appointment to what is ofLoya said that the church ficially called the Task Force for throughout its history “has been Church Structural Reform was called to reimagine and reinvent made in a joint statement by Preitself in both larger and smaller siding Bishop Katharine Jefferts ways,” and that this is another Schori and the Rev. Gay Jennings, The Rev. Craig Loya such time. president of the House of Deputies. He said, “The Holy Spirit is constantly moving They later asked Loya to be one of two people to organize the group’s first meeting as a co-convenor. to renew the face of the church and draw all people Loya said of his selection, “I am honored to be to Christ. Our job as the church is to figure out how part of such an outstanding group and to be involved we can best stay out of that Spirit’s way and get behind what God is up to in the world. The task with such an exciting project.” force’s project in this moment is just one more way of doing this work that we are always called to, and Plan due by summer 2015 General Convention resolution C095, which cre- that Episcopalians in Kansas do every day.” ated the task force, charges the group with presenting a plan to the next General Convention in 2015 “for Leaders ask for prayers Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori said,“We are reforming the Church’s structures, governance, and delighted at the collection of gifts that have been administration.” It also says the task force must conduct a special offered for this work, and overjoyed at the constelgathering with representation from every diocese lation assembled in this task force.” “Please join us in praying for the members of the in preparation of its final report, which is due by task force as they begin their work,” said President November 2014. The date and location of the special meeting will Jennings. “The Episcopal Church must restructure faithfully and thoughtfully to bring us closer to the be determined later. A news release from the Episcopal Church Office heart of God and those we are called to serve. ”
Mission rector is bishop nominee in Southwestern Virginia The Rev. Gail Greenwell, rector of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, is one of four nominees for election as bishop of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Nominations were announced on Dec. 4, and the election is slated for March 9, 2013, at St. John’s, Roanoke, Va. In information about each nominee posted on the diocesan website, Greenwell wrote, “Unlike some of my brethren who have always known they wanted to be The Rev. Gail Greenwell bishop, I did not feel compelled to seek the episcopacy. Then I read your ministry profile and met the good people of your Diocese.” She also wrote, “There is no perfect human vessel to serve as your bishop but I believe I am equipped with the love, patience, passion, and faithfulness to serve in a way in which I can be a resource for you to accomplish where God is calling you to go, as well as in a ministry that will be spiritually engaging for me.” Other nominees are priests currently serving in Louisville, Ky., and Asheville, N.C., as well as a bishop in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The process calls for any nominations by petition to be submitted by Dec. 18. The ordination of the sixth bishop of the diocese is scheduled for July 20. The next bishop will succeed Bishop Neff Powell, who has served the diocese since 1996. The diocesan headquarters is in Roanoke. Greenwell has been rector of St. Michael’s, the largest parish in the diocese, since 2008.
Ordination of three priests and one deacon set for Jan. 5 in Topeka Bishop Dean Wolfe will ordain three priests and one deacon at a diocesan service set for Saturday, Jan. 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Cathedral, Topeka. Those to be ordained priest are: The Rev. David Jenkins, who currently serves at Church of the Covenant in Junction City and will become priest in charge upon his ordination. He previously was a member of St. David’s, Topeka. The Rev. David Lynch, curate at St. James’, Wichita. He previously was a member of St. Michael and All Angels, Mission. The Rev Adrianna Shaw, who is serving in a parish in the Diocese of Texas. She was a member of St. Paul’s, Leavenworth. The deacon-to-be is Lavonne Seifert, a member of St. Michael and All Angels, who returned to Kansas after studying at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. She is serving as an intern at St. Aidan’s, Olathe, while taking additional coursework at the Kansas School for Ministry. A reception will follow the service. Because this is one of two diocesan ordination services conducted each year, Bishop Wolfe has said he expects all active clergy in the diocese to be present for the service and vested (red stoles) and walk in the procession. Attendance is optional but appreciated for retired clergy.
Clergy news Photo by Brad Goebel
Francis “Beau” Minx, the husband of Deacon Patty Minx, who serves at St. Paul’s, Kansas City, died on Monday, Dec. 3 at his home in Olathe. He was 92. A funeral celebrating his life took place on Dec. 6 at St. Luke’s, Shawnee.
The Rev. Richard McCandless (left) and Bishop Dean Wolfe pause after a service celebrating McCandless’s 50th anniversary as a priest, on Dec. 8 at Trinity, El Dorado, where he previously had been rector. Another celebratory service, at St. John’s, Parsons, where he also had been rector, took place Dec. 15. McCandless was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 21, 1962.
Margaret Montgomery, mother of Cate Zimmermann, wife of the Rev. Matt Zimmermann, rector of St. Margaret’s, Lawrence, died in Kansas City on Dec. 11.
McCandless celebrates 50 years as priest