ABUNDANT Times May 2018 pdf

THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE

MAY 2018

THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE Abundant Times is the official news publication of The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. The diocesan offices are located at: 37 Chestnut Street Springfield, MA, 01103-1787 Call us: (413) 737-4786 Visit us: www.diocesewma.org Follow us: @EpiscopalWMA We welcome the submission of articles via email to the editor, The Rev. Vicki Ix. Email: communications@diocesewma.org

At Diocesan House The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, IX Bishop of Western Massachusetts The Rev. Pamela J. Mott, Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Dr. Richard M. Simpson, Canon to the Ordinary Steven P. Abdow, Canon for Mission Resources

Missioners The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Missioner for Creation Care The Rev. Hilary Bogert-Winkler, Youth Missioner The Rev. Christopher Carlisle Director, “Building Bridges” Veterans Initiative The Rev. John Edgar Freeman Missioner to the African Community of Worcester The Rev. Jennifer Gregg, Missioner for Servant leadership The Rev. José Reyes Missioner for Hispanic/Latino Ministries The Rev. Meredyth Ward, Urban Missioner for Worcester On the Cover: Episcopalian youth, clergy, bishops join peaceful witness outside Smith and Wesson, Inc. in Springfield.

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Contents From Bishop Fisher

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Episcopalians March For Our Live

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Youth lead speaking truth to power at gun factory

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The truth will set us free

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Street Stories reveals truth of poverty and homelessness 8-9 Interfaith leaders preach the truth about our planet 10-14 Loving the Questions: Seeking the truth that lies within 15 Ten years of Grace in Haiti

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Bishop appoints Episcopal chaplain for women’s correctional facility

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Ministry with vets in the news

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Mothers Out Front: Care for creation when you light up the map 20-21 Archives: Asccension Farm School, South Lee, MA From the Editor

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From Bishop Fisher

The truth will tell us where our mission is

BY THE RT. REV. DOUGLAS J. FISHER A bishop once said, “Wherever St. Paul went, a revolution broke out. Wherever I go, people serve tea.”

Oh, yes, we have tamed Jesus. We have reduced Jesus to a private spiritual advisor. When, in fact, Jesus constantly preached a new Kingdom, a radically new way of living in the world. Jesus invites us to a mission of mercy, compassion and hope which will mean telling the truth about situations and systems that are merciless, heartless and cynical. The call of Christ is constant engagement with our world, to transform it from what it is into what it can be in God’s love. Or, as our Presiding Bishop inspires us: “We are the Jesus Movement that is out to change the world from the nightmare it is for so many into the Dream God has for it.”

Following Jesus requires us to expand our faith from private to public, from abstract thought to incarnational action. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached “if the world does not change then Jesus was just another Utopian dreamer.” Consider, too, this wisdom from writer Elie Wiesel: “The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy. The opposite of faith is indifference.”

Recently a Peruvian immigrant, who has been in the USA for nineteen years and has two young children, was scheduled for deportation. South Congregational Church in Springfield - two blocks from my office offered her sanctuary and she accepted it. There are dozens and dozens of Bible passages commanding us to “welcome the stranger.” “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them…Love them as yourself ” is one of them. South Congregational decided that was not an abstract thought and they took incarnational action. We stand in solidarity with them.

We all know that there is a public health crisis of gun violence in our country. Over thirty thousand deaths a year. Our President and Congress are mostly ABUNDANT TIMES

indifferent about it. The students at Parkland High School who experienced this crisis first hand, decided to act. The March for Our Lives and local witness, like the one our youth and church leaders took at Smith and Wesson, is a “rising” that may make a real difference. As was said during the Civil Rights demonstrations, “I felt like my feet were praying.”

One of my favorite spiritual writers is Richard Rohr. He explains “Jesus hung on the Cross in total solidarity with the pain of the world, and for too many lives on this planet that have been nasty, lonely, brutish and short. After the cross, we know that God is not watching human pain as much as God is found hanging with us alongside human pain. Jesus ministry of healing and death, of solidarity with the crucified of history, forever tells us that God is where the pain is.”

The Jesus Movement is called to go where the pain is. We know where the pain is from our own awareness, but that is also where a free press comes in. In February we held the first ever “Blessing of the Journalists” at our Cathedral.

They have been wonderful telling the story of sanctuary at South Church. They have covered the story of our youth rising up and not being indifferent to the pain of gun violence. Again and again they have told us stories of pain and heroism from around the world. Indeed they have exposed the pain of our earth itself, as climate change does great damage on a daily basis. The truth will set us free.

And the truth will tell us where our mission is.

Let’s not tame Jesus. Let us take our faith public and engage the pain of our time, and there we will find grace that is truly amazing. +Doug 3

Episcopalians March For Our Lives

(Top) The faithful from Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, and St. John’s, Northampton marched with Bishop Fisher and our Missioner for Creation Care, the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas.

PHOTO: Bishop Fisher

(Above) Worcester faithful marching.

PHOTO: Canon Rich Simpson

(Right) Three deacons at the Springfield march: The Rev. Deacon Patricia O’Connell, The Episcopal Church of the Atonement; the Rev. Deacon Terence Hurlbut, All Saints’, South Hadley; the Rev. Deacon Eric Elley, St. Andrew’s, Longmeadow.

PHOTO: The Rev. Deacon Eric Elley

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(left) Ekran Sharif, a youth member of B-PEACE for Jorge Campaign, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and a member of St. Stephen’s, Boston, (below) Valentina Pedroza, B-PEACE for Jorge Campaign and St Stephen’s, Boston PHOTOS: Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

Youth lead speaking truth to power at gun factory On Wednesday, March 14, in collaboration with interfaith partners and grass-roots organizers in the Pioneer Valley, Episcopal Church youth and bishops rallied peacefully for one hour, 3:00 – 4:00 pm, outside the gates of Smith & Wesson, 2100 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield, MA. Speakers included Episcopal youth from the B_Peace for Jorge Campaign, the anti-violence ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, youth from the Pioneer Valley Project and interfaith leaders including: Bishop Alan Gates, Bishop Gayle Harris and Bishop Doug Fisher.

The gun used to kill 17 people in Parkland, Florida, was made by Smith and Wesson. Guns from this factory were used in two other mass shootings: Aurora, CO, and San Bernadino, CA. Inspired by the direct and compelling action of the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, this local action at Smith and Wesson arose from our youth and was supported by adults in the community of faith.

Among the three requests the youth made to corporate leadership was a face-to-face meeting within 30 days. At the time of publication, the youth were planning to return to the gun factory on April 27 as that request has not been answered.

Each bishop offered words of support to the young people gathered. Bishop Fisher said, “We have your back.”

PHOTO: Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

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The truth will set us free.

The Blessing of Journalists at Christ Church Cathedral

BY THE REV. VICKI IX

On February 20 the first “Blessing of Journalists” was held at Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield. The date was selected in conjunction with the Episcopal Church’s annual commemoration of Frederick Douglass (1811-1895) – abolitionist, orator, and editor of the pro-abolition journal North Star.

Douglass was a prophetic witness to the sinfulness of slavery and spoke this truth to a nation in need of repentance and reform. In a speech before the American Anti-Slavery Society, May 11, 1847, Douglass spoke of the need for unrelenting assault on the institution of slavery. “The conscience of the American public needs this irritation. And I would blister it all 6

over, from center to circumference, until it gives signs of a purer and a better life than it is now manifesting to the world.”

The role of the journalist is no less critical today. In his remarks to those assembled, Bishop Fisher highlighted the importance of our time. “You are a blessing because you tell the stories of the poor, the abused, the underrepresented, and the oppressed. These are the people that Jesus and the Prophets raised up. And you do too. Thank you for telling the stories of Dreamers.

Thank you for giving voice to those teenagers in Parkland Florida who are demanding changes to our grossly inadequate gun laws. I am grateful to you for ABU ND ANT TIMES

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

- Thomas Jefferson giving voice to the earth, which is so vulnerable to climate change. This is holy work. Thank you for speaking truth to power.”

The liturgy was filled with wisdom from Scripture and other ecumenical voices. There was a reading of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Mr. John Cheek, professional bass singer, and member of Grace in the Southern Berkshires, sang “There is a balm in Gilead,” accompanied by Scott Bailey, Director of Music at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement, Westfield.

Many who could not be present, were lifted up in the prayers. It was moving to watch two members of the press, who were sent to cover the event, put down their cameras and to take part in the blessing rite. Our prayers continue for these professionals who guard the firewall of our democracy, and who often assist us in telling our story as a people of faith.

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Street Stories reveals truth of poverty and homelessness The Rev. Chris Carlisle has launched “Street Stories” – an interactive video platform designed to introduce the voices of those who live in our streets.

The idea for “Street Stories” emerged when the Executive Producer of Visionaries, Inc., Bill Mosher, witnessed the Sunday outdoor service in Northampton known as “Cathedral in the Night.” Mosher asked how he might help this unconventional community. Mosher has been telling the extraordinary stories featuring the philanthropic community for more than twenty years. More than 220 stories have aired on hundreds of public television stations. Visionaries seeks to inspire audiences, promote philanthropy on a global level, and serve as a catalyst for positive social change, both locally and beyond.

The dream of opening a conversation between people experiencing homelessness and people in their surrounding communities is made real in the interactive interface. Visitors to “Street Stories” may select a face and click to hear their story. Each interview is broken down into smaller segments. Beyond education and promoting an increased awareness of the reality of poverty in the United States, “Street Stories” seeks to connect both people on the street and potential social justice advocates with existing organizations to the empowerment of them both. Each location on the site has a list of such organizations in the area. “Our ultimate hope,” Carlisle says, “is that we will build an archive of stories from streets around the world, told by rich and poor, young and old, Christian and otherwise -- that consider the tragedy of human poverty and the possibility of God in this contemporary context. Most of the footage is filmed using smart phones in order to maximize participation; and the current plan is to have all films uploaded to the internet and edited in Northampton.”

“Because our Diocese has at least five out-of-the-box communities from Pittsfield to Worcester,” Carlisle continued, “Street Stories” can build awareness in our congregations of the work on the streets currently being done, as well as to motivate congregations to innovate new communities that address poverty in the spirit of Jesus 2,000 years ago.”

ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE

The Rev. Chris Carlisle and The Rev. Meredyth Ward answer three questions about what they have learned about poverty and homelessness from those with whom they minister in our streets.

Chris is Executive Director of “Building Bridges,” founder of “Cathedral in the Light,” and “Street Stories.”

Meredyth is Urban Missioner and Executive Director of “Walking Together: A Ministry of Presence in Worcester.

South.”

http://www.visionaries.org/street-stories.html 8

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1. What have you learned about poverty that you didn’t know before you began this ministry?

2. What have you learned about the causes and scope of homelessness in America?

3. How have the people with whom you minister, ministered to you?

Question One: I have become acutely aware that Jesus’ gravitation to the poor and the margins of his world was no accident.

Poverty defined Jesus’ ministry, realigning the axis of life from an opposition between poverty and wealth, to a paradox of poverty and abundance. In this light, Jesus revealed how gratitude is not a function of how much one has, but of how much one gives – thereby opening our eyes to a new world, in which the wealthy and the poor can only find abundance together.

Question Two: I believe the causes of homelessness and poverty are first generated by the illusion that the more one possesses, the more one has. Having learned that need is ultimately the most precious human condition of all, I also believe that if we are to fully live into the economy of God, we have no choice but to engage the reality of poverty. So I have come to perceive that this economy is founded on three essential truths: that our own spiritual poverty inevitably comes by self-centered possession; that the material poverty of others is a detriment to rich and poor alike; and that the abundant life of God calls us all to give over our illusions of self-centered wealth to this way of divine abundance.

Question Three: The word “minister” comes from the Latin root, “minus,” or “less.” In the face of the paradoxical gratitude I encounter at Cathedral in the Light every Sunday – as well as the take-it-for-granted attitude that permeates my own middle-class life – I have been given inestimable gifts of gratitude I could get no other way. Typical of Jesus’s paradoxical teachings, “less” is ultimately more.

Chris+ Support “Building Bridges.”

Text “GIVE” to this number: (781) 990 - 0244 ABUNDANT TIMES

Question One: One of the most striking things I have learned is how expensive it is to be poor. If you have very limited funds, you are always forced to buy the item with the smallest price—which is often the most expensive in terms of unit pricing. In the neighborhood where I work, some of the local stores will sell single items rather than full packs. Diapers, which might cost $25-35 for a box of 180 at Costco or BJ’s, are sold for a dollar each. At the end of the month, when the paycheck or benefits are almost gone, that may be the only option for some folks. (And remember, diapers and other hygiene items cannot be bought with food stamps.)

Question Two: It is easy to fall into poverty and hard to climb out of it. Few of us have the recommended three to six month’s living expenses in a readily available account.

A medical emergency or job loss can send us from getting by fairly comfortably, to desperation in a matter of a few months.

People pay to sleep on someone’s couch or floor, which works until the landlord hears about it. Then it is off to stay with someone else, or a few nights in the emergency shelter. Many people would rather sleep outside than go to the shelters, which tend to be noisy and violent. Others keep moving all night, and come to places like Walking Together or Thursday Cafe and take a nap in a warm place before setting out for another day.

Question Three: I am blessed to share my life with people who know that they are radically dependent on God and each other. The most important gift I receive is a reminder to be grateful. Walking Together has a “gratitude wall”—a space where people put up sticky notes with reminders of the things that give them joy or hope.

Every time I read them, I am full of wonder at the gifts I receive each day.

Meredyth+ Support “Walking Together.”

Text “GIVE” to this number: (978) 338 - 5281 9

Interfaith leaders preach the truth about our planet

BY SHALOM KRISTANUGRAHA Over the past few months, I interviewed five people who, in one way or another, engage in environmental justice work from a faith-based perspective. Some are ordained clergy in their faith traditions; others work with nonprofit organizations. Some are American born and bred; others hail from and reside in different countries. All of them have shared unique stories and valuable insights about what inspires them, motivates them, and sustains them in the work that they respectively do.

At the age of 37, she converted to Judaism, where she found a spiritual home. Eventually, after obtaining an Master’s degree in Jewish Studies and teaching Hebrew school for some time, she attended rabbinical school, the Academy of Jewish Religion in New York. In 2005 she was ordained as a rabbi and obtained certification as a chaplain through Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains in 2010. She worked as a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital for ten years, before moving to hospice chaplaincy for a few more years.

Rabbi Katy Allen PHOTO: submitted

Rabbi Katy Allen leads Ma’yan Tikvah: A Wellspring of Hope, “an independent congregation literally without walls that provides a home for those seeking an alternative way of encountering Judaism through outdoor services and intimate learning opportunities.” She is also the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Jewish Climate Action Network, as well as the facilitator of One Earth Collaborative (a project of Open Spirit in Framingham, MA).

Rabbi Allen grew up in Wisconsin. At the age of seven, her family moved out of the city and on to an old farm, where she spent the majority of her childhood. Growing up on the farm amongst a family “rooted in the natural world,” Rabbi Allen says, has been impactful in shaping the trajectory of her life and career paths. Rabbi Allen’s kinship with nature started her off on her first career as a high school biology teacher, which later led to educational publishing. As an adult and a parent raising kids, as she tells it, Rabbi Allen became “more of a seeker.”

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Over the years, Rabbi Allen’s love of the earth and her experience as a chaplain merged together in a concept she has helped articulate: eco-chaplaincy. An ecochaplain, as she wrote in a 2015 article, is a “new kind of chaplain” who attends to persons and communities affected by the crisis of environmental destruction and climate change, as well as all those who are impacted by the ongoing chronic toxic stress of understanding the potential implications of climate change, for the future of the planet and its inhabitants.

Like traditional chaplains, who, as she writes, “listen to people’s stories, allowing space for telling and expressing, for tears and for release” and who “pray with people, naming the sacred in moments filled with pain and anguish, and bringing a measure of relief, renewed courage and strength to aching hearts,” an eco-chaplain seeks to do the same within the context of the “high-intensity” state that an awareness of the consequences of a warming climate induces in us. Unlike a traditional chaplain, however, the ecochaplain inevitably is implicated in the same situation.

As Rabbi Allen puts it: “[Eco-chaplaincy] is really about accompanying people on the really difficult journey of opening their eyes and seeing what’s happening with our planet and ABU ND ANT TIMES

what the prospects for the future are, much in the same way if someone just got a diagnosis of a terminal—or potentially terminal—cancer and accompanying the person on that journey. The difference being, of course, that I am accompanying that person on that journey and I am not on the same journey, whereas in terms of climate change and the potential terminal diagnosis that we have I am also walking the same journey. So that’s a challenge, because you have to deal with your own anxiety at the same time.”

Nowadays, Rabbi Allen considers everything that she does as “falling under that category of ecochaplaincy.”

This plays out in various ways within her own endeavors. In her involvement in JCAN, eco-chaplaincy manifests in the way JCAN provides an important space for Jewish climate activists (who often are active in secular organizations as well) to “cope with what’s happening… from their base in the Jewish community.”

be about resilience in the face of hard truths and about how to live well and fully even within dire circumstances.

“That’s accompanying people in the journey of having their eyes opened. It’s moving towards the sacred. In the medical chaplaincy world we talk about the difference between healing and cure.

There may be no cure for our situation but there can be individual healing, which is about being able to come to terms with what’s happening and growing as human beings and becoming more resilient as human beings, dealing with the ongoing toxic stresses and traumas in the world… That’s what chaplains do: they help bring about that kind of spiritual healing. We’re guides on that journey; we don’t make it happen but we help create the environment that can help it to happen.”

True to chaplaincy-as-accompaniment, the underlying motivation for JCAN, Rabbi Allen states, is “not only about whether or not we are going to save the planet. It’s about the journey and supporting people, being willing to say that this is a problem and that this is a problem that the Jewish community needs to address, and that this is a part of our meaning as Jews to be involved in this.”

In her leading of Ma’yan Tikvah and her facilitation of One Earth Collaborative, eco-chaplaincy plays out in a more therapeutic way. Ma’yan Tikvah, Rabbi Allen says, “is more about the sacred connection with the earth and the healing power of the earth.” This connection and healing comes about through envisioning climate action through a constructive and hopeful lens.

“Climate action,” Rabbi Allen continues, “could be either ‘we’re moving away from something’ or ‘we’re against something,’ or it could be ‘we’re moving towards something’ and ‘we’re for something.’ In my mind it’s about bringing kids, families, and people into sacred connection with the earth in ways they have never been before. A lot of it is about relationship with nature and with the earth and with the sky and everything.”

One of the key ways Ma’yan Tikvah accomplishes this is through holding outdoor Shabbat services, where people can experience the unification of spiritual practice and the natural world. Similarly, One Earth Collaborative as an interfaith effort facilitates outdoor events (involving music and yoga, for example) that fosters different ways of connecting with the earth.

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LeeAnn Beres PHOTO: submitted

LeeAnne Beres is the current Executive Director of Earth Ministry—a non-profit organization based in Seattle that seeks to “transform faith into action for the well-being of communities and the environment” via organizing “people of faith to advocate for strong environmental policies and provide strategic guidance to religious communities working toward environmental justice.”

Beres was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, but grew up all around the country—spending time in Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Oregon, before settling in Seattle, Washington .. Shortly after graduating with an undergraduate degree in Biology, Beres spent two and a half years braving the Alaskan waters, working as a fisheries biologist 11

on commercial fishing boats out of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Afterwards, Beres continued on to obtain a Master’s degree in Marine Fisheries Management before working for Greenpeace and other environmental non-profits (such as Save Our Wild Salmon) for fifteen years.

Raised non-religious and having dedicated a number of years to environmental work for secular organizations, Beres came to her faith tradition/denomination (the United Church of Christ, or UCC) as an adult, who was already aware and deeply engaged within the front lines the environmental advocacy movement. Beres’ faith journey comes as interesting reversal of the typical narrative one hears; her story is not so much one of someone being compelled to action through their faith, but rather as someone who came to faith having felt a desire and need for a larger sense of personal and communal grounding for effective action.

“It’s a very draining job to constantly be fighting for environmental protections. You’re fighting corporations or you’re trying to fight apathy, and it was personally draining to me,” Beres shared. “I felt that I needed a deeper well of connection than just trying to do it all on my own. I felt like I needed something bigger than myself and I felt like I was missing it my entire life.”

What drew Beres to the UCC in particular was the fact that the UCC had made it clear that they were dedicated to social justice issues—including, very strongly, environmental and climate issues. During our conversation, Beres recounted the history of the UCC as a pioneering denomination (as the first denomination to ordain a woman pastor, the first to ordain an African American pastor, the first to sanction same sex wedding ceremonies, and the first one make a strong statement on climate change) and notes that “having that sense of activism—faithful activism—in the world was very compelling to me.”

This sense of faithful activism, where individuals are inspired by their faith and supported by their faith communities to engage the world, is reflected in the wide-ranging work of Earth Ministry.

“Helping people frame their stories and ground them in values and then tell them in service of a public policy goal—that’s what we do at Earth Ministry, and that is incredibly life-giving. You get to that place by doing outreach and organizing people to take action.”

“We help people unlock their stories, we train them to speak up, we forge connections – we have this whole 12

Colleague Connections program, where we connect the lead activist in each congregation with others in their geographic area to work on collaborative projects together – so that kind of engagement and empowerment piece is a huge goal. Our vision is to have a future where every person, no matter what their faith tradition, understands and responds to their faith’s call to environmental stewardship. So that’s a faith community vision of success.”

“We also have environmental measures of success.

We are very focused on protecting and restoring our common home. So we work aggressively to pass proactive environmental bills in the state legislature, and we have a written record of success. We’ve passed 5 bills to ban toxic chemicals, we’ve passed multiple climate change bills, and we’re working on oil safety transportation issues, we’ve stopped six coal export terminals from being built in the Northwest and another 5 oil terminals… So it’s not all just feel-good “hey we’re empowered.” Again, it’s grounded in faith, but it’s also faith in action.”

But what is it that distinguishes faithful activism from, well, activism? According to Beres, it comes down to a matter of hope—what distinguishes faith-based activism from secular activism is the capacity to offer hope, be it individual or communal. The religious community offers unique spiritual resources and a basis for resiliency that secular activism cannot quite furnish. As Beres puts it: “Any secular organization can work on environmental issues – that’s hugely important and faith communities should do that too. But what we can do is offer that sense of community and that sense of hope that “We shall overcome,” in the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King – there’s a sense of resonance in that. We can say that there’s a space for you here, come rest, recoup, feel connected with the spirit, fill the well. Understand that we can hold you in grace, we can hold you in the light, we can hold you in the darkness – whether you’re overwhelmed, or in despair, or feeling like you’re ready to suit up and take on the world. You know the faith community is a place for you to feel at home, and feel held in the light while you work through the darkness.

And that’s the hope that we can offer to the world that secular groups cannot as effectively.”

One way we can ourselves, individually and together, better tap into this hope and avoid the extremes of what Beres frames as “sainthood or apathy,” is through “understanding that there are things we can do as individuals and that there are things we can do ABU ND ANT TIMES

together.” This means acknowledging what we can do, what we have done, and being at peace with what we cannot do.

“There are a million more things I could be doing, but I know I can do this,” Beres says in response to my question about overwhelm. She then quoted the Talmud: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

Beres encourages all of us to take this to heart. “Do what you can, you don’t have to solve all the world’s problems but at the same time you’re obligated to not ignore them. So that is what I would say to someone wanting to get involved in faithful activism – figure out what you can do and do it. You don’t have to do everything, but do your part, and you get to determine what that is. We’re all in this together, and we all have a part to play.”

expressing his desire to come and study in the United States. This effort proved successful, and within a few months he was enrolled in The Loomis School, a Connecticut boarding school. After completing his secondary education at The Loomis School, Kamal went on to pursue his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Northeastern University (in Economics and Education, respectively), and later on an EdD in Humanistic Studies from Boston University.

At the start of his undergraduate career, Kamal intended to study philosophy. After becoming involved in anti-Vietnam War activism and coming face to face with the question of why we go to war, however, Kamal switched to economics. Similarly, it is this question that started Kamal off on his path towards renewable energy. Kamal saw clearly the connection between war and resources, observing this taking place in his lifetime, as he listened to his friends tell of the increasing militarization of their homelands in the Middle East in the late 1960s. Renewable energy, particularly in terms of solar, drew Kamal’s attention as it seemed to offer a solution to one of the greatest drivers of the modern war machine—our reliance upon non-renewable energy sources. Solar offered a means to obtain energy without the need to occupy, colonialize, and extract with brute force; as Kamal says, “the sun shines upon everyone.”

Through years of independent study and collaboration, Kamal became an early advocate for renewable energy. He works to increase awareness about the possibility of a renewable energy future both through word and deed—in addition to teaching and speaking, Kamal travels to places all around the world to install solar panels as well as other renewable energy technologies.

Sajed Kamal PHOTO: Shah AMS Kibria, Bangladesh-U.S. Foundation, Inc.

Sajed Kamal—author, poet, artist, literary translator, preschool teacher-consultant, renewable energy educator, psychotherapist, and professor—was born in Bardhaman, West Bengal, India, and raised in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). Kamal came to the United States in 1963 as a high school student under peculiar circumstances: inspired by the asymmetry of movement between the USA and his home country when it comes to cultural and personal exchange, Kamal wrote to multiple schools all around the nation, ABUNDANT TIMES

Kamal does not ascribe to any particular religious tradition, but from his writings and through our conversation, it is clear that he is a spiritual man.

Over the course of our two hours together, we covered everything from the Bhagavad Gita to the Bible, from the Buddha and Enlightenment to the incarnations of Krishna and the “33 million gods” of Hinduism, from the Quran to Sufism, from atheism to agnosticism. To Kamal, there is a universal spirit that permeates and animates every one of us, and every single thing.

“That spirit is what moves us. We all are this body, with over 200 bones and flesh—something keeps us 13

moving. There will be a time that comes when it’s not there. Something was there, this spirit—some people call it ruah—and that’s what I see is in everything.

And that is what makes me one with the spirit that is universal, and that I am just one embodiment of that spirit. That is my spiritual identity or sense of who I am. One particular manifestation of that universal spirituality. That spirit moves through everything, all of us.”

“So, to me, there is no barrier in that. Air doesn’t have a barrier. Wind doesn’t have a barrier. Light doesn’t have a barrier. Heat doesn’t have a barrier. The sun shines upon all of us. And that’s the spiritual reality really. Within that people try to define it or explain it in different ways. When you talk about this connected to environmental work, the environment is universal.

And so is spirit. And within that we are each unique manifestations.”

This spiritual underpinning also lends insight as to the barriers that face us, as we try to move towards renewable energy—obstacles that largely center around separation and compartmentalization. Kamal notes that understanding persons, who are involved in maintaining non-renewable energy sources and infrastructure, as diametrically opposed and without human empathy is misguided.

“The vast majority of people care,” Kamal states, “And I think that we have to build that common ground.

And in these days that is as much a spiritual bond as it is a social bond. One of the problems I see in this is compartmentalization. When that happens and people are pushed to become defensive, and then they don’t want to open up because ‘you’re telling me that I am bad, but this was all I had. What I have also has some value. At the same, if it is not good for you, I probably know that too. Or if I don’t know that, tell me in a way that makes me more fully understand what I am doing and what I can do about it, because something has to change about this for the world to change also.’”

“Lacking dialogue is one of the major problems that I see. I think that we need to nurture that. What is true dialogue is where we are all participants, where we all have equal say—all have a special say—because of the perspectives we bring to it, and where we learn from and teach each other. And I think if we can do that, a lot can happen. I never assume that I can do everything by myself, but at the same time I know there’s something I can do, and I’ve been learning about it and I am happy to do my part, and I appreciate 14

what others can do. And sometimes I will receive that with gratitude, other times I hope the other person will be as comfortable to receive what I have.”

Kamal also recalled to me the story, as he also articulated in his book “The Renewable Revolution”, of a poor cobbler who elected to install solar panels on the roof of his “humble two-room mud-thatch hut” through some microfinancing help. The cobbler’s primary joy in his investment, as Kamal discovered upon visiting the cobbler a year later, derived from the fact that he was able to do something good for his children’s future given the environmental friendliness of his solar roof.

“The value that [the cobbler] saw was not just economic,” Kamal explains, “Because of the spiritual, social, and moral [sense] the economic part made sense. You compare that with people who live in their comfortable buildings who spend 70,000 dollars to renovate their kitchen, saying that [solar panels are] too expensive, too costly. So you see that these are moral, spiritual, ethical issues that are blocking. Not money.”

“Barriers are not always economic. It sometimes can be, but when it is combined with a moral, ethical, emotional, spiritual approach to that, then you can say that ‘I will find a way to handle the economic part because I have this coming with me, and I will overcome and address the economic part with this.’”

Kamal’s stories and approach highlight the need for, as well as the power of, holistic revolution. A moral and spiritual shift and an awareness of our connectedness, within ourselves and with others, facilitate action in ways that merely economic, scientific, or political knowledge cannot.

Shalom is an intern of the Lawrence House Service Corps supporting the work of Creation Care. Look for part 2 of this interview series in the September issue.

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Loving the Questions:

Seeking the truth that lies within

BY MARGOT SANGER (Left to right) Margot Sanger, Lex Phillips, Amanda Henes, Margaret Bissonnette, Karis Post, Helen Likins PHOTO: The Rev. Jennifer Gregg

Our Diocese offers several opportunities for lay education and inspiration. The six month series “Loving the Questions” is one of them. The most recent attendees arrived in October from parishes across the Diocese of Western Mass. We were a small, diverse group coming from a variety of faith and life journeys with the common goals of learning more about ourselves, and where we fit into the larger picture as Christians. We met monthly for a full day of workshops and study, reaching deeply within to explore new directions in our spiritual lives. The Rev. Jenny Gregg from the Cathedral of the Beloved in Pittsfield gently shepherded us through the entire process with kindness, wisdom and grace.

Several overarching aspects of this transformative journey come to mind, as I write this little synopsis and reflection.

The first is that through asking and “loving the questions” of faith, vocation and calling, we chose to set aside our need to be in complete control of the answers in favor of an opportunity for deeper spiritual growth. My academic training generally pushes me to leap through a question as an almost inconsequential first step to the actual point, which is unearthing the answer. The adventure and engagement for me has always been in answering the question, not asking it. The experience of “Loving the Questions” has taught me that the unexpected and delightful gift of learning that the questions, the curiosity, the unknowing, and the uncertainty of what comes next are meaningful and life giving. My questions ranged from the abstract, “How can I be of use to God and the community?” to the mundane, “How might this look in the real world where I live?” Over the course of six months, with the guidance of Rev. Jenny Gregg and her selection of invited guests and leaders, my questions were anticipated, valued, and nurtured. What began as an amorphous desire to learn about myself and my place in the church, ended with a clearer sense of purpose, some specific answers and a desire learn more.

The second greatest gift was permission to take the time to be still before the Lord and in fellowship with others. An experience during one of the early sessions has remained with me as an example of an unexpectedly transformative moment. One morning session began with silent time to walk the labyrinth kindly provided by the church that hosted our gatherings. This concluded with directions to claim a small rock from the collection on the labyrinth and take it back to a table generously covered with paints and brushes. Our task for the next two hours, (two hours!!!!) was to meditate/pray and then paint something meaningful on our rock. So many non-productive thoughts filled the silence in my brain! The transformation that occurred was that from this experience of taking excessive time to produce something of dubious aesthetic value, I received the gift of permission to move more slowly through life, or at least through one day each month. The imperative to be productive was replaced by the balm of time and the realization that the quiet, “non-productive” moments are kinetic opportunities for growth.

My rock is always with me as a physical reminder of the value of taking time to be still and available for the next question. The little team of fellow travelers on this journey will be present in prayer, for and with each other, as our futures unfold. I am very grateful that this experience of asking questions, walking in fellowship and learning about service in the Episcopal Church is part of our Diocesan educational outreach.

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Ten years of Grace in Haiti

BY PATRICIA APPELBAUM

When we think of Haiti here at Grace Church, we picture a green agricultural valley, bright lively children, and a thriving school and church.

This year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of our partnership with the community of St. Matthew of Bayonnais (Saint-Matthieu de Bayonnais, Sen Matye Bayonè). It’s been a privilege. We support the school, which has no other regular funding. Parents are caring and hard-working, but the Haitian economy just doesn’t generate much extra cash.

When we began, the school met in the church building – thirty-five children at six grade levels, most of them in one room. The next year, the school almost closed because the roof leaked. Today, there are over 160 kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, in a new building and a newly renovated one. In ten years, the school has served some 600 children. In addition, thirteen Grace Church parishioners have visited Bayonnais – some of them repeatedly – and eight college students have worked with us on summer programs.

What got us started were the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which General Convention urged all congregations to support. We focused on the goal of universal primary education. A partnership program connected us with St. Matthew’s, which had been unable to pay its teachers for six months.

So our congregation’s first commitment was to fund the teachers’ salaries for three years, at an annual cost of $3500.

On Sunday, April 22, Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, celebrated the 10-year anniversary with a festive Eucharist. Père Tancrel Diegue, an Episcopal priest in Gonaives, Haiti, traveled to Amherst for the celebration of mutual friendship. PHOTO: Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

The program has grown since then. Besides that leaky roof, we soon learned that the teachers were underpaid by Haitian standards, so we have tried to normalize salaries. We’ve also supported teacher training. Books and school supplies are another need – we’ve hand-carried them in suitcases on our trips to Bayonnais, since there is virtually no shipping available. The new building, of course, was a major project. Throughout, we’ve reassessed the program regularly with our vestry.

In 2011 we introduced a two-week arts camp. We wanted to provide enrichment for the children without interfering with the teachers’ work. As it turns out, the whole community has enjoyed it. A side benefit has been the chance to build relationships with the college students who serve as counselors – some from Grace, others from the schools around Amherst, many of them Haitian-American. Two of our counselors have gone on to professional work in Haiti. Since we don’t have the camp every year, we’ve sometimes sent a student interviewer or videographer to Bayonnais.

We try to be not just donors but partners, even if imperfectly. We look to our partners’ needs in setting priorities: for example, they told us that school uniforms were more important than new shoes. (Making uniforms also employs local tailors.) Partnership is also why we visit often, just to be present and to build connections.

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(above) Some of the children who attend l’Ecole St. Mathieu. (opposite) Learning origami, 2014 PHOTOS: submitted

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We’ve had extraordinary leadership. One of our co-chairs, a retired physician, has traveled to Bayonnais many times. He is notoriously unafraid to get his hands dirty, use local transportation, and argue with bureaucrats in French.

Another longtime member is a practiced and creative fundraiser. Our second co-chair keeps things steadily moving forward. Haitian leadership comes from a talented head teacher and an extremely busy priest – at present, the Rev. Joseph Tancrel Diegue, an experienced and most helpful partner.

And committee members contribute skills in everything from education to overnight camping.

We’ve also been grateful for new contacts. We’ve connected with several Caribbean students’ associations, and we’ve networked with experts in education and agriculture. Lately we have been blessed with a fruitful partnership with St. James’ Church in Indian Head, Maryland, who found us when their own Haiti program dissolved.

Our challenges? At home, we would like to find ways to involve younger adults and our youth group, and we need to be sure our program is sustainable. In Haiti, we’d like to see more children continue past sixth grade, and we’d like to improve teaching. And there are legitimate cultural differences around practices of accounting and record-keeping. We continue to work with our partners toward bridging this gap.

We’d welcome more connections within our diocese. First, we’d like to hear from college students and young adults who might like to share their skills in Haiti. Although we’re not planning a summer camp this year, we can be in touch. Second, we’re interested in finding church partners for special projects and fundraising. And third, we can advise congregations who want to start their own ministries. For more information, visit GraceinHaiti.org.

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Bishop appoints Episcopal chaplain for women’s correctional facility Just a few weeks ago, Governor Baker signed an omnibus criminal justice reform bill into law. This has begun a much-needed movement away from punishment toward rehabilitation, from humiliation and suffering toward restorative justice. This is very good news, but the work continues.

Congregations and individuals are signing to abolish the life sentence in the Commonwealth. The Social Justice Commission has drawn our focus to the issue of mass incarceration of young black men in America. A new commission was created to continue the work of becoming The Beloved Community envisioned by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prisons for profit, prison if you’re poor, prison if you’re black or brown – these realities are being challenged by people of faith here and throughout the Church.

As a sign of our commitment to the work of prison reform and to the dignity of all persons, Bishop Fisher has appointed Mary D’Alessandro, St. Paul’s, Holyoke, Episcopal Chaplain to the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee.

I spoke with Mary recently about her new role.

EDITOR: Let’s start with how this took shape.

I’ve evolved in my position at the jail. I started initially as a writing workshop facilitator for “Voices From Inside,” probably, over ten years ago. Then, I got involved in teaching – a mental health class, and a self-discovery class.

A dream of mine has been to be a prison chaplain in a women’s facility. I remember back many, many years ago at BU School of Theology, something took me to the state penitentiary in Framingham and I met a nun who was a prison chaplain, and I thought, that’s what I want to do.

Almost forty years later…

EDITOR: You must see and hear difficult and disturbing things.

Despite that, every time, there has never been a time I’ve left the jail thinking I wish I hadn’t come today. There’s never been a time. Sometimes I leave thinking, “What did I do?” “How did I help?” “Did I accomplish anything?”

But I always feel like I leave a better person somehow.

EDITOR: All the writing and the teaching, how did it evolve into chaplaincy? How did the job emerge?

Through my years of volunteering I felt that there was a huge part of me that I felt, in good conscience, I could not 18

share, and that was my spiritual religious self. To be able to sit with a women and say, “Can we pray about this together?” That was a huge piece that was missing.

And, as a volunteer in a secular way, that would would have been a boundary that was inappropriate to cross.

But by having the title of “chaplain,” people know what a chaplain is and I am now able to bring that entire component in and say, “Can we pray about this together?” Or say, “God loves you.”

EDITOR: So you’ve been engaged in this ministry for several months now. Tell me about it.

When I started a few months ago, I wanted to be clear, to help educate both the inmates and the staff about what a chaplain does. I believe they are to address the spiritual needs of everyone - people of different faiths and people of no faith, staff and inmates alike. I started off casting a wide net. Something I really did learn at Baystate is to be there for the spiritual needs of everybody, and that’s been exciting.

EDITOR: What has surprised you?

The thirst that the women have for anything spiritual – to say prayers, offer Rosary beads, a guided meditation – just the need and the desire and the gratitude.

I’ve done different kinds of volunteering in my life but I’ve never worked with a group of women who dig deeper, are more humble than a lot of these women not all of them but a lot of them. They are so willing to look at themselves and say, “What happened here?”

“How did I get here?” To really look the reality of their lives in their face and try to make something of it, that’s what’s amazing to me. I often hear the phrase, “Please don’t judge me on the worst day of my life.”

The vast majority have suffered childhood neglect and abuse. I hear that over and over again.

Maybe, someday, you’ll help educate us about what their lives are like, what our system is like, and how the Church might respond to the needs of the incarcerated. We’ll all keep your new ministry in our prayers, Mary.

Thank you.

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Ministry with vets in the news... (left and below) Bishop Fisher joined veterans and “Building Bridges” folks at the Greenfield Lodge of Elks 1296 to celebrate the first anniversary of the weekly luncheon.

“Building Bridges,” our veterans intiative, received a very generous donation from the Greenfield Lodge of Elks 1296.

PHOTOS: Building Bridges

The folks at St. Paul’s, Holyoke likewise celebrate the first anniversary of their lunch for veterans. (left) Gina Nelson, director of the Holyoke lunch, holding flowers, with members of St. Paul’s who volunteer to welcome and share a meal with local veterans.

Mayor Morse of Holyoke (far left)served lunch with State Representative Aaron Vega (second from right), and Canon Steve Abdow (far right).

PHOTOS: Gina Nelson

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Mothers Out Front:

Care for creation when you “Light Up the Map”

(left to right) Alissa Pearson, Karen Ribeiro and Edith Adams Allison. Members of Mothers Out Front, founders of “Light Up the Map.” PHOTO: provided

BY EDITH ADAMS ALLISON Picture the basement of an all-white Presbyterian church in Atlanta, GA in the 1960’s. Movies were still a novelty.

We fourth graders were shown a film...about pollution. I was crushed to see and learn about oil and “smog” hurting plants and animals and people. My underlying sense of concern and danger was mixed in with all the passionate moments of catching grasshoppers and toads, finding birds’ eggs and feathers, wading in creeks.

Thirty years ago my partner and I moved here to western Massachusetts so as to be able to support ourselves and also be able to raise our children in a rural environment. We wanted them (and ourselves) to be around lessons Nature teaches so well.....the sounds, scents, sights, and “life patterns” that show up in Nature’s cycles of birth and death. We also wanted to be part of a faith tradition; raised Presbyterian and Catholic, we found the Episcopal Church suited us both.

These days I find myself immersed in a group that combines my concern for our planet, and my joy and passion about it, a group begun by mothers in Boston, Mothers Out Front (any person is welcome). That unstoppable “mother energy” is the driving force behind this group. Some of the qualities of the organization made me feel right at home: people can bring their children to meetings. Every person is listened to, if they want to speak. There is an understanding that people do what they can, and they take care of “life” when it comes up and needs attention, such as ill family members. There is not guilt, but rather trust that each person is doing what they can. To me, this group exemplifies what I want for our planet: wise and sustainable practices that treat the Earth and all her inhabitants with wisdom, practicality, joy, gratitude for all she offers, and reverence. Reverence.....like poets remind us, even one small flower petal is itself a miracle. There are so many miracles; one can become desensitized to them. I don’t want our descendants to be deprived of such miracles, and I don’t want to “be asleep” and help speed up the destruction.

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I am excited to be working with Alisa Pearson and Karen Ribeiro with “Light Up the Map,” an easy online task that we believe, if enough people do this online over time, can have a significant impact on our legislators’ listening to constituents.

https://www.lightupthemap.com

For several generations and to this day many members of our large extended family regularly visits Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, not far from the Episcopal University of the South, Sewanee. Right nearby is also where the Highlander Folk School began, training nonviolent resistance first for coal miners, then for people resisting racist tactics and policies. After being evicted by the local (white) sheriff because blacks and whites were meeting together, The Highlander Research and Education Center is now providing powerful leadership in New Market, TN. For the past three years we have had weekends in the town where we gather, Beersheba Springs, to discuss race relations.

I see these legacies as integrally related: a child may grow and learn to connect with living beings of all different kinds. Then, as time goes by, that child may find out that there are gaps, missteps, destructive choices that adults are making toward other people and toward the natural world. Remember finding out that something sad or unfair is happening, and some adults notice and respond, and some do not?

What is it about us that keeps us, at times, from realizing someone else is suffering? What makes it possible for us to turn our eyes and ears away from information that someone is in pain? Or being treated unfairly? And this includes the natural world. How do we find and maintain that ability to observe, sense, and directly experience suffering, and still be able to respond, whatever that is for us?

There are many groups formed and organizing these days. I am benefitting from the sense of safety in Mothers Out Front and our “subgroup” Light Up the Map. Working with these folks helps me allow myself to feel grief and concern about how we treat each other, and how we treat animals, plants, the whole planet....and that helps me to feel part of a whole group of folks who are concerned, who try out ideas, stumble, succeed, laugh, get tired, get rejuvenated, and generally notice what’s important to us. This is part of my personal faith....how do we live our lives from the inside of ourselves to the outside world, and with other people? And how do we live from “the outside, in,” paying attention to who and what is around us? How do we live with a sense of all that is Divine and the miracle that is life? I don’t want to miss this miracle. And I don’t want future generations to miss it.

We have to believe in order to save the world

BY ALISSA PEARSON My husband says before a big wave changes direction, first it stands still. Then, imperceptibly at first, it begins to turn…

Maybe you have felt what I do–disbelief: How can it be that we have so grievously fouled our nest, that we could actually break Nature? And if it is so dire, why do anything at all?

I think that’s where Faith comes in: the great turning that we need, toward creation care and away from greed, will take all our love and ingenuity and we will not see the world saved–because the undoing will take longer than our lifetimes.

Yet it must be done. We have to believe in order to save the world.

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We can collectively stem the tide, reverse the damage, but we can’t have a superman hero catharsis. Alas. No Pow! Ta-dah! But there is a hero here, and that is Faith: because believing that what we do makes a difference, and deferring the reward, is what will save the world.

That is the motivation behind Light Up the Map, described here so well by Karen Ribeiro, and nurtured

by Edith Allison at Grace Church, Amherst. Five to nine volunteers, including the three of us here, made this online free tool that might help people to have well, a little ta-dah after all, some cheerleading along the way at the very least, because, everything is easier with friends, after all…

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From the Archives

Ascension Farm School, South Lee, MA

BY KAREN WARREN

There are no records in the Diocesan Archives related to the Ascension Farm School in South Lee, MA that existed in the early 1900s. I have gleaned the following information regarding this diocesan undertaking from our earlier magazine, Pastoral Staff, and our written diocesan history From the Blackstone to the Housatonic (Richard Nunley, 2002). According to these sources the Ascension Farm School was organized in 1912 under the leadership of Charles J. Sniffen, who served as Archdeacon of our diocese from 1906 until his untimely death in 1918.

In those early years of our diocese western Massachusetts was quite rural, with impoverished areas and many abandoned farms. The Ascension Farm School was established to provide agricultural training and character building to local boys between the ages of 12 and 16, who were lacking other opportunities. The school opened in July 1912 with nine boys, a full house at that time.

According to Nunley’s history, the Ascension School was sponsored jointly by Trinity Church, Lenox and St. Paul’s Church, Stockbridge. It was backed by the sponsorship of many prominent families from New York and Philadelphia, who summered in the Berkshires.

The school for boys began in an old farmhouse on a 250-acre farm that had a herd of Guernsey cattle. Elementary school subjects were taught, as 22

well as such agricultural matters as raising crops, caring for orchards, dairying, forestry, carpentry and blacksmithing. The boys performed regular farm duties as part of their daily routine.

In 1925 the main farm building of the school was destroyed by fire, leaving the boys homeless for a time. But by 1927 a new building was designed, built, and opened with much improved accommodations that included larger dormitories and additional safeguards against fire. This Tudor-style building (pictured) was placed ‘in a circle of wooded mountain slopes, facing the rolling meadows that border the Housatonic.’ In addition to the improved dormitories, the school included suites for the headmaster, assistant superintendent, and matron, as well as roomy living and dining rooms, kitchen, pantries, service rooms and an infirmary. A portion of the Main Hall entrance was paneled from the chancel of Trinity Church, Lenox. As of the 1927 Pastoral Staff article, the Ascension Farm School had graduated 50 boys. However, it is reported that financial support for the school waned during the 1930s Depression era.

Karen has served as diocesan archivist since 2010.

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From the Editor

Another layer...

BY THE REV. VICKI IX This issue of ABUNDANT Times presented a professional challenge. It is our custom to announce ordinations to the diaconate and to the priesthood in these pages. I debated a standard half-page, just-the-facts piece, and decided to use my column to express my gratitude for the gift of having been made priest in the Episcopal Church.

Not wanting to leave anyone out, I will begin with the fact that on Saturday, December 16, 2017, Bishop Fisher witnessed my vows and ordained me a priest in Christ’s one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church. The liturgy, celebrated with the people of Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, where I served as deacon, was among the most joyful I’ve ever experienced.

Members of my sponsoring parish, St. John’s, Northampton, friends, family and colleagues, adding their love and prayers to the bishop’s anointing.

My clergy colleagues all know that this day – as beautiful and sacred as it is – is the starting gate of a marathon of service and presence to God’s people.

Here’s the thing. Having already been at your service as Communications Director since 2014, I’ve been jogging along at a good pace already. My hope is that in adding this new layer of ministry to the mix, I will be living out something that was already a work in progress. My adult life has been, for the most part, a life in ministry. For more than twenty years the call to priesthood could not be discerned, let alone answered. My joy and astonishment is very Marian. The impossible has become possible by God’s grace and with the gracious assent of God’s people in Western Massachusetts.

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(left-right, top) The Rev. Deacon Eric Elley, Bishop Fisher, the Rev. Tom Synan. (leftright, bottom) The Rev. Catherine Munz, Vicki, Bill Phelps and Gosia Ix. PHOTO: submitted

So, still me. Still here engaged in the mission and telling your stories of God’s love in our corner of the Kingdom. But I am also sharing life with the people of St. John’s, Ashfield – an extended supply over several months. Now, my ministry is Word and Sacrament. In all my years of ministry, in all its incarnations, I have never known such peace and joy. I want to thank all of you for this great gift. The Episcopal Church welcomed me and I continue to bless God for that every day.

Vicki+

Vicki is the editor of ABUNDANT Times magazine - a most enjoyable part of her ministry as Communications Director | Missioner.

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October 20-21, 2018

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