Fall 2022 Archangel

ARCHANGEL

Table of Contents

The Main Thing 4

There are places where Christians live out a version of the Kingdom of God in a troubled world. The Rev. Samuel Gregory Jones explores those places and how they help us keep our center with Christ.

From Crucifer to Curate 8

A preacher’s kid, the Rev. David Nichols gives a glimpse into his exploration into his call and how he eventually followed in his father’s footsteps.

Change: God’s Constant 6

The Rev. Jamie Pahl examines how change, however uncomfortable it might be, originates from God. And that’s a good thing.

God’s Grace, Unbound

Gifts of Grace, our signature Outreach & Mission event, turns 20 this year. Parishioner Scotty Steele, one of the founders, takes a look back on the event and the personal journey that led her to help create it.

FEATURES

Who’s Who at St. Michael’s Church Phone: (919) 782-0731

The Rev. Samuel GReGoRy JoneS, RecToR ext. 117

The Rev. JameS l. Pahl, JR., vicaR ext. 105

The Godly Play curriculum helps children wonder about the stories of God in the world .

16 A Seed Takes Root

The Duff family has been deeply rooted at St. Michael’s from the beginning of our parish. Today, a new generation serves as leaders for the Annual Fund.

20 Our Tech Guru

11 15

Bob Spaziano is a computer whiz. Years ago he signed on to help the church come into the computer age. Now after close to 50 years, he’s giv ing up his mouse.

THE GOOD NEWS

God, At Play Your Money at Work

What have close to $600,000 in Gifts of Grace contributions brought our community? We sought to find out.

18 Finding a New Path

Matt Terribile felt a clear call to do more to join the conversation about racism in the world. What he found surprised him.

22

Robin Kennedy Joins Staff

Learn more about Robin, a longtime parishioner, who becomes Pastoral Care Coordinator for our parish.

On the Cover

Birder Hugh Stevens captures an Indigo Bunting singing to nourish his soul on a summer day at the Dix Park Sunflower Field in Raleigh.

The Rev. holly Gloff, aSSociaTe RecToR ext. 127

The Rev. David Nichols, Curate ext 129

VESTRY

claSS of 2022 Liz DriscoLL | Matt Marchione | Katherine PooLe Logan Price | MeLissa raLey

claSS of 2023

aManDa carson | cLaren engLebreth robert MarshaLL | saM tayLor rose Vaughn WiLLiaMs

claSS of 2024 hayden conSTance | leSlie de haven

Sally duff

Tommy malone | STeve RolandeR

STAFF

STella aTTaway, cooRdinaToR of nuRSeRy miniSTRy

• ext. 106

caTheRine fain, diRecToR of develoPmenT

• ext. 121 ann GaRey, PublicaTionS

• ext. 103

lee hayden, diRecToR of oPeRaTionS & newcomeR miniSTRy

• ext.108 Robin Kennedy, PaSToRal caRe cooRdinaToR

• exT 112

Kevin KeRSTeTTeR, diRecToR of muSic

• ext. 101

SuSan liTTle, financial adminiSTRaToR

• ext. 113

caRolyn l’iTalien, cooRdinaToR of childRen’S miniSTRy

• exT .130

SuSan RounTRee, diRecToR of communicaTionS

• ext.122

a bby van noPPen, diRecToR of family & youTh miniSTRieS

• ext. 115

FACILITIES STAFF

Jesús ePigMenio, grounDsKeePer

MarceLa De La cruz, houseKeePer

PARISH DAY SCHOOL

782-6430

mandy annunziaTa, diRecToR

• ext. 110

couRTney alfoRd, aSSiSTanT diRecToR

• ext.114

The Main Thing

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN IS THE SAME AS THE WORLD THE BIBLE DESCRIBES. ON THE ONE HAND, IT IS A PLACE WHERE SIN AND EVIL SEEM RAMPANT. ON THE OTHER, THERE ARE PLACES WHERE CHRISTIANS MAY INDEED LIVE OUT A VERSION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS BEST WE CAN. THESE PLACES, IN MY VIEW, ARE CHURCHES LIKE ST. MICHAEL’S.

The Bible

presents different genres of literature within it. The Israelites categorized scripture into three sections: The Law, The Prophets and The Writings. The Christians added two other genres: Gospels and Epistles. Of course within each of these broad categories one finds intertwined a variety of genres. In long passages of prose one finds bits of song interposed. In short passages of poetry, one finds nuggets of history. In sermons, letters and songs of the faithful, one finds the retelling of old motifs and symbols interspersed with the casting of new ones. On the hard wood of the cross we hear Jesus cry out, “My God, My God,” and we know he is not just saying that, but quoting the opening words of Psalm 22.

Yes, the Bible is not merely a book, but a library. Its words are in some places clearly meant to be taken literally, and in others clearly not. It is a complex collection of genres and stories and accounts and dreams and visions. Above all, it is not only a compendium of chronicles and laws, but a vocabulary of ideas, symbols and concepts from which the world of the faithful is described and put into context.

But for as vast and deep as its genius, I don’t mean to present the Bible as over-complicated. For in its most essential chapters — from the stories of Genesis to the teachings of Jesus — even a child can grasp what is being said. As the great Karl Barth once said, the entire mean ing of Scripture is this: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

And this is the Main Thing.

Yes, in the simple retelling of the entire story, the Bible tells us there is a God who made a world and called forth

a human race in love. That human race was made by God in joy and in the divine image, and as such we are free to love and honor and do what we will. The bad news is that evil exists by God’s permission, which is the desire to do other than Godly things, and humans are susceptible to evil. The entire history of the human race is the story of our susceptibility to evil despite our having been made for joy. The God who made us and who has sought us to be mended has tried again and again and has culminated His saving work in the life and work and death and res urrection of Jesus Christ. Those who have come to know Jesus and who follow him are part of God’s work to mend the fallen world. The way we mend it is through God-in spired love for God, neighbor and self.

The world we live in is the same as the world the Bible describes. On the one hand, it is a place where sin and evil seem rampant. On the other, there are places where Christians may indeed live out a version of the Kingdom of God as best we can in this place. These places, in my view, are churches like St. Michael’s. When we gather for prayer, fellowship and ministry, we become like the one world nested within the other, on our sacred ground, our holy space, where we gather for the Word, the Body and Blood of Christ, and the Music of God. Our church becomes like a branch of the tree of life extended across the flood waters, from the kingdom side of peace to the mortal side of struggle.

Our church is like an Embassy from the Kingdom of God to the People of this World. We live in two worlds, one falling, the other rising, but we are not dual citizens exactly. No, we are sealed in Baptism as citizens of the Kingdom, and we are called to be ambassadors for our King in the midst of this world which knows him not.

This is a comforting place. A place where we may take our rest from the world.

The church may be like a retreat center, or a soul’s day spa. It’s here that we renew our spiritual souls for the work of God, so from here we may reach out into the world. But we’re not called to hide out here. No, we have this Kingdom outpost, to discover and grow into who we are as Christ’s own. The world around this church should be blessed that we are here. That’s our mission. As ambassadors for Christ we are bear ers of grace and granters of welcome so folks might know the love of God.

In this issue of Archangel, we’ll explore various ways in which we renew our souls, define our call in God’s church and put it out in the world. The Rev. David Nichols explores his call to the priesthood almost from childhood; Catherine Fain, our director of development, introduces all who don’t know them to the legacy of the Duff family, the youngest generation of whom will be our Annual Fund chairs. We learn about a small group’s call to social justice work and to understand its complexity; and we take a look back at 20 years of Gifts of Grace, our signature Outreach & Mission event. All these stories prove that God exisits in this place.

Yet you and I live in troubling times. Our nation is more divided than ever, and it’s not just geographical or economic. A great many of our people are polar ized into binarily opposed ideological camps. Politi cal parties seem to me to be largely out of touch with the views of a majority of the people, as they cater to these warring bases which they think will keep them

in power. And as J.R.R. Tolkien once said, rings of power look after themselves.

As I see it, there is a large swath of us who find ourselves somewhere in between what is being offered relentlessly in the political sphere, by the pundits on cable TV, and the shill-bots of a faceless social media universe bent on tearing down the bonds of affinity in our land.

I am worried, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has recently said, for the fabric of our society and democracy itself. But, as he has said, we must find a non-partisan kind of way to do better. We must find our feet again on the ground the Bible describes as the people who not only talk about Jesus, but love him and do what he says. Which is to love one another, as he has loved us. Sacrificially. Graciously.

The “sensible-center,” as Bishop Curry describes it, must hold. But it only can in the name and way of Jesus. And I say that this must be our way here at St. Michael’s, to focus, always, on the Main Thing.

I thank God for you for all the joy you bring to this place. I pray that our Lord Jesus will direct us in the way and make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all. And may he so strengthen our hearts in holiness that we may be blameless before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Change: God’s Constant

Words: The Rev. James L. Pahl Jr., D. Min., Vicar IN THE BOUNDEDNESS OF LINEARITY, ALL OF CREATION (YOU, ME, TIME ITSELF, ETC.) IS SUBJECT TO ENDLESS CHANGE AND EVOLUTION. CHANGE ITSELF IS A CREATION WHICH WE MUST EM BRACE. WE HAVE NO CHOICE. AND YET, SOMEWHERE DEEP IN US, WE LONG FOR THAT WHICH WILL REMAIN FOREVER. IT, TOO, IS A PART OF THE DIVINE FINGERPRINT UPON OUR SOULS. BUT, FIRST WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT CHANGE IS A GOOD THING. AFTER ALL, IT IS OF GOD.

From an immensely broad perspec tive, we should allow ourselves to ponder more deeply the mind-blowing aspects of our universe and all creation, of which we are but mere specks. Looking at the incredible NASA photos, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope this year, is a clear reminder that change is ever-a-foot — and has been since the beginning! In fact, one of the photos (cer tainly the oldest photograph ever taken to this point) reveals innumerable galaxies, stars and planets that were created and moving in time and space almost 14 billions of years ago. We are just now seeing this light and image — perhaps a gift from the Almighty to see such history with our own eyes. It is happening even now, as change is constant!

Over 1,600 years ago St. Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the early desert fathers in the Church, wrote this about time and creation in the context of the in finite and finite, as his discernment seeks to define an active God. “And when Infinity is considered from two points of view, beginning and end (for that which is beyond these and not limited by them is Infinity), when the mind looks to the depth above, not having where to stand, and leans upon phenomena to form an idea of God, it calls the Infinite and Unapproachable which it finds there by the name of Unoriginate. And when it looks into the depths below, and at the future, it calls Him Undying and Imperishable. And when it draws a conclusion from the whole it calls Him Eternal (αἴωνιος). For Eternity (αἵων) is neither time nor part of time; for it cannot be measured. But what time, measured by the course of the sun, is to us, that Eternity is to the Everlasting, namely, a sort of time-like move ment and interval co-extensive with their existence.” (Oration 45:IV)

Gregory of Nyssa, another great desert father, said, “Every good thing and everything we name as good depends on the power and purpose which is with

out beginning. And it is brought to completion by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the on ly-begotten God, immediately and independent of time (Gregory 264).” Gregory implies that time was created in the very beginning and thus helps explain the order of our universe and humankind. Time was created by God for our survival. It does indeed limit humankind but it also defines order and meaning. Time becomes fascinating when Christ becomes incarnate. This is because the Godhead experiences humankind’s limitation and reveals to us an existence that truly transcends this limitation; a freedom that is inconceivable.

In other words, there are two types of time, Kairos and chronos; or, cyclicity and linearity. And what we know is that we are bound to the chronos—the linearity. Imagine, a line that is drawn on a chalk board and it exists in the space of that board. Of course, the board can be expanded infinitely. That space around the line is infinite, and it is the space of God. The line is finite, and you and I, and all creation, including time itself are bound to that line. And, at the same time, God is ever-present in that line of finiteness, because God created it. And we see places in our history where the Lord has broken into that linearity in clear ways. For instance, the creation of life and the Lord’s movement in the beginning of all that is; and the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

Nevertheless, in the boundedness of linearity, all of creation (you, me, time itself, etc.) is subject to endless change and evolution. Change itself is a creation which we must embrace. We have no choice. And yet, somewhere deep in us, we long for that which will re main forever. It,too, is a part of the divine fingerprint upon our souls. But, first we must acknowledge that change is a good thing. After all, it is of God.

There were many words of wisdom bestowed upon me in my formative years, but a simple one that has informed me to this day is what my father used to say: “Jamie, there is one thing in life that remains constant… and that is change”. I don’t know why that strikes me so; other than I suppose it is in our human nature to want things to remain the same forever. But, everyone knows this is not possible.

Oh, what we would give to remain young and youthful; to be athletic and pain-free; for our children to keep those baby faces, and remain tender and sweet; to hold that beautiful, soft puppy in our arms; to live those care-free days of youth; to have endless energy and optimism; to fall in love, and long for those mo ments to last forever; to work and serve in the same business our entire career; to live forever, never giving a thought to an end that seems so incomprehensible. And yet, we grow old, our children grow-up and mature, the cute puppy becomes a dog, our energy slumbers, the sparks of love for the other can fade a bit, we are called to a new job or career, and suddenly we know and recognize an end— that all finite things will change. These revelations over time can frighten us. However, there is truth found in this change, a challenging reality that I believe points to the hope we continue to live into every day.

And as we always should, let us frame this thought in the context of Scriptural wisdom. Most notably, Jesus speaks about the call. It is a “calling out” or “calling forth” that is ever-present — change in both small and big ways, and especially when the Holy Spirit is moving and directing. Here are just a few to mention:

In Luke 9:28-36 we are told that Jesus took Peter, John, and James up the mountain to pray, “And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one

for Elijah’ — not knowing what he said.” Peter and the others wanted to stay there in the moment… to revel in it! But they quickly learned that wasn’t going to happen in following Jesus. They had their moun tain-top experience and now the “life-changing” work of God was set before them — always a “drawing out” to the unknown.

In Luke 8:26-39, Jesus heals the man possessed by a legion of demons. Here is this man who is now free from bondage begging to stay with Jesus. He now had a “why” for his life and he wanted, more than anything else, to develop a relationship with the One who had transformed his life and had given him significance — a reason to live. But Jesus commands him to go his way, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” Jesus enters this man’s life changing everything. Jesus then tells him to return home, telling others and proclaiming exactly what God has done for him. This is so hard to do! We want to stay and revel in this presence forever – but, the truth is… we can’t.

What I find incredibly hopeful and inspiring in the NASA photos is the revelation of the immense and endless activity of God’s creation! Change is a constant state, and ultimately the revelation of God’s wider economy. And, we are worried about what? Yes, I know there are worries and endless struggles and suffering — this is our life bound to the finite; and the very heart of God is often found there. But, one is hard-pressed to look at these photos, and look in the sky and ponder the grandeur and not recognize the handiwork of the intelligent designer who is active, creating, and moving even now.

Change is not bad at all; in fact, just like death, we should embrace it all the more (in a healthy way of course). Because when we do, we recognize that the end is actually the beginning of something even better. And it is where God lives and moves — the place for where our hearts and souls long to be! Perhaps it is greener on the other side? I believe it!

From Crucifer to Curate

David Nichols spent his childhood growing up in his father’s Lutheran church, exploring landgranted grounds, the church itself and his father’s book-filled study. As a preacher’s kid, he grew up to serve the church in a number of ways. Here he explores the origins of his faith, and how those roots led him to the Episcopal priesthood.

The Rev. David Nichols’ faith journey in photos: from upper left, David’s baptism, with his parents, the Rev. & Mrs. Brent Nichols, in 1989 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Salisbury, N.C.; middle: mother, Lynn, & father, Brent, with David on the first day of his father’s call to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Pomaria, S.C.; left, David and his mom and dad at his Pentecost 2003 Confirmation. Opposite page: David’s wife, Maglin, daughter Anne, and David at his June 2022 ordination at Christ the King Cathedral in Nashville, Tenn.

I’ve been around churches my whole life.

I grew up in a parsonage, next door to the Lutheran church in South Carolina that my father served for three decades before his recent retirement. My mother was a preschool teacher at another Lutheran church a few miles away. Many of my early memories are of playing on the grounds of our church, which sat on an 18th-century land grant from King George III. My siblings and I had the run of most of this space, from our dad’s study stuffed with books, to the acres of hardwoods surrounding the original building site, and the church grounds themselves (“Just no playing in the cemetery — it’s disrespectful!”) I remember well the excitement of being around as the adults set up for Vacation Bible School in the summer or decorated the church for Christmas. A few other kids whose families brought them to church more or less every Sunday were often pressed into service as substitute acolytes or crucifers. The rhythm of my early life then, was more shaped by church than I realized.

It is perhaps not surprising, then, that a parochial church kid like me found his way to campus ministry quickly upon arriving at Clemson University, though I was there to study civil engineering. During these same four years

I met my wife, Maglin, there. She was studying bioengi neering as she looked ahead to medical school. I had no intention of going into ordained ministry, thinking that I was glad people like my dad did it, but that it didn’t seem like a very good job. Still, part of the mission of campus ministry is to encourage young people with gifts for professional ministry to discern whether they might be called to ordination. Over the course of my four years, the seeds were sown in me, and I began to wonder if I should consider going to seminary.

As I approached graduation, however, I had too many reservations. There were the practical concerns of money and the tumult in churches as they wrestled with diffi cult social and theological issues. I had begun to have an interest in Catholicism, with its deep rootedness in the ancient traditions of the Church and rich global nature. I wondered what denomination in which I should even be seeking ordination. Besides, I thought that a life with Maglin, working normal office hours and having a nice house on a piece of land somewhere sounded better than the life of pastor. The Church also desperately needs the baptized to fill roles, not only as priests and bishops, but as faithful and deeply-committed lay people. This, I thought, is where I was called.

Words: The Rev. David Nichols Photos: Nichols Family Archive

CURATE from Page 8

And so, upon graduation in 2011, I started a career as a civil engineer in land development. My first job was just down the road in Morrisville, off Aviation Parkway. A year later, Maglin graduated from Clemson and started medical school in Greenville, S.C. After an intra-compa ny transfer to Charlotte to be closer to her, I eventually found a new job in 2014, in Greenville. In 2016, we married and moved again, this time to Nashville, Tenn., for her emergency medicine residency at Vanderbilt. We had remained active in Lutheran churches wherever we lived, enjoying lives of regular worship and fellowship with other young adults.

A few times a year, I would wonder if I should have gone to seminary — I’d explore it for a few weeks before put ting the thoughts aside. I loved and still love the Lutheran Church, but I was also still unsure if I was a true enough Lutheran to be ordained.

In Nashville, we struggled to find a church. Finally, late that first summer, at Maglin’s suggestion, we walked into Christ Church Cathedral. If you’re familiar with the city, Christ Church is the beautiful Neo-Gothic church just across Broadway from the federal courthouse. We had not agreed on a lot about the churches we had tried out to that point, but once we visited Christ Church, we knew we had found where we needed to be.

I had known for years that the Episcopal Church was similar to the Lutheran Church in a lot of ways. However, at Christ Church I learned much more about the deeply interwoven Protestant and Catholic strands that make Anglicanism what it is. Here was a place with much that I loved about Protestantism, combined with a deep affec tion for the history of the Church and its saints, its rich theological tradition and ancient liturgies.

With my denominational questions now quieted, I began to think very seriously about seminary and ordination, and had many talks with my rector, the Rev. Timothy Kimbrough (formerly of Holy Family in Chapel Hill). Though I had some success in my engineering career, even as I climbed the ladder to a position that I thought I wanted, I remained dissatisfied. It was time.

Maglin and I decided to move to the Triangle, where she would have good options for working in academic

medicine, and while I attended Duke Divinity School. I entered the ordination process with the Diocese of Tennessee in the months before we moved to Durham. I was still deeply unsure about whether I was called to the priesthood, but I was confident that I needed to go to seminary to learn and discern. I had also decided that after living in my head for 10 years, it was time to have a formal conversation with others in the church about my long wrestling with discernment.

I found the process of discernment with my parish, bishop and diocese to be one of immense illumination and help. During my years in seminary and my work in the discernment process, I grew from someone who wanted to study theology but was deeply uncertain about ministry, to being excited about being ordained a priest and serving Christ’s church. I became eager to teach and communicate what I was learning about the faith in my classes. My field education placements at St. Matthew’s in Hillsborough and my chaplaincy at REX Hospital furthered my desire to serve as a priest in a parish.

My supervisor at St. Matthew’s was Robert Fruehwirth, formerly of St. Michael’s. When I told him that Maglin and I were interested in staying in the Triangle, he intro duced me to Greg, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Bishop of Tennessee graciously agreed to release me to work in North Carolina so Maglin could continue her career at UNC, and so I could take up a position at St. Michael’s.

I was ordained a transitional deacon at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville on June 4, a special treat since the Cathedral served as my sending parish. While Maglin and I miss the rich relationships we formed in Nashville, we are thrilled to remain in North Carolina where we feel able to live into our respective vocations and where we have many family roots (my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are all North Carolinians) even though our parents do not live locally now.

We are excited to be part of St. Michael’s and for our daughter, Anne, to spend her early church years in such a vibrant and faithful parish. We look forward to many blessings in the coming years and hope that we, too, will be a blessing to St. Michael’s.

God, At Play

Words: Leslie De Haven Photo: Susan Rountree

“Remember the day of your baptism,” I repeated as I lit the last of 40+ candles for all of us in the room during the First Communion Class last spring. Fortunately, my son, Evert, was seated next to me in our enormous Godly Play circle, helping me make sure my sleeve didn’t catch on fire as I placed the last candle in the “Desert Box.” The light from all of these candles was taken from the Christ candle, which was lit earlier in the story — showing the children (and the grown-ups) that even as we all have a little bit of the light of Jesus, his light does not get smaller — we can help spread the light that is Jesus.

The Baptism Godly Play story is one of my favorites to tell. The children get to “name” the baby we baptize, and I light a candle for everyone in the room to help them remem ber their own baptisms — or at least remember some of the baptisms they’ve seen. There is usually one child who will tell everyone about his or her own baptism, when he or she is really talking about that of a little brother or sister. And when the children have the opportunity to “work” with the stories, the baptism story is often one of the most popular stories.

My husband, Pete, and I first encountered Godly Play at our church in Atlanta many years ago. We had started teaching Sunday School when our older son, Hobie, was about 2 or 3. Many families of elementary school children at St. Michael’s have now encountered Godly

Play as well, either through Ms. Carolyn’s videos when we were worshipping from home or through Sunday School classes last year.

The Godly Play curriculum uses props and specific language to help tell the stories of the Bible. It requires some work on the part of the storyteller. Being a sStoryteller has helped me grow in my faith while helping the chil dren grow in theirs.

There are all sorts of stories in the Godly Play curriculum. The Old Testament stories take place in the desert box — a big box of sand on wheels. The stories surrounding seasons like Advent or Easter have large wooden plaques with images that help us learn about those seasons. And the par ables — the Parable of the Good Shepherd and the Parable of the Mustard Seed — are kept in gold parable boxes. Through many of the stories, we use felt as an underlay or to help convey the color of the season.

The storyteller recites stories from memory while the children and the storyteller sit in a circle on the floor. At the end of each story, the storyteller asks questions like, “I wonder what the most important part of this story is?” and “I wonder if there is something we can take out of the story and still have everything we need?” These questions allow children to be curious and to wonder — they can respond or not, and there’s no wrong answer.

The Godly Play Communion Story — All are welcome at God’s table.

Gifts of Grace through the years.Watch for the return of: St Mary’s Soup Mix, St. Margaret’s Cookie Mix, Lou Dohme’s Gorgonzola Dressing & St. Elizabeth’s Yeast Rolls. Representatives from longtime participating organizations, such as Wake Relief and Community Music School will be on hand to chat with you about their important work in our community.

Archangel

GOD’S GRACE, UNBOUND

AS GIFTS OF GRACE, TURNS 20, SCOTTY STEELE, ONE OF ITS CREATORS, LOOKS BACK ON WHAT OUR SIGNATURE OUTREACH EVENT HAS DONE FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND FOR HER FAITH.

Words & Photos: Susan Rountree

Parishioner Scotty Steele

knows a little something about doing without. As the mother of three young boys, she held them tight to her side while she and her husband watched their Coley Forest house burn almost to the ground.

It was the week after Easter 1979. Scotty’s disabled sister, Alice, had been buried on Good Friday — the week before. “I was standing in the yard, crying,” Scotty recalls, “and a friend asked me if I was crying about the house. But I was crying for my sister.”

Scotty and her family lost a lot of material things that day. “But we were all OK.” The family lived at the Velvet Cloak Inn for three weeks and bought a spec house in the Blenheim neighborhood — where she lives today — and started over.

Watching her parents care for those in their community — her parents helped lobby for the first public schools for disabled children in Virginia — she knew how important it was to do Christ’s work in the world.

Years later, Scotty found herself in the Wall Conference Room at a meeting of the Outreach Committee, hearing news that the committee’s budget, which had been $25,000 two years before, had been cut first to $15,000 and then to $1,000. “We were without a permanent rector at the time,” she says, and the church was divided over feelings about the election of Gene Robinson as the denomiation’s first openly gay bishop.

Sunday, November 20

8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

In the Parish Hall

Her husband, she says, felt responsible, because of the ’52 MG he’d kept in the basement garage. Fumes from a leaking gas tank on the trunk of the car caught fire. “He suffered the most,” she said. While Scotty dealt with insurance, he kept it all inside. Their marriage later broke up. But Scotty kept on going.

Raised by Baptist parents who were committed to helping others, Scotty had joined St. Michael’s a few years earlier because her cousin, a St. Michael’s charter member, told her: “You will not go to Christ Church!”

The budget news was a shock. Before 2002, the Outreach Committee’s budget had been used for grants. Much like today’s Missions Grants Com mittee, Outreach at the time fielded grant requests from community organizations, making decisions based on connections within St. Michael’s. The new budget was indicative of the time when the church was divided, she says.

Former parishioner Chuck Fyfe, then chair of the com mittee, broke the news.

“He said ‘this may be the best thing that could ever hap pen to us,’ ” Scotty recalls. “All of us felt we were a ship without a sail. We had to come up with another way to help these organizations.”

GIFTS continued from Page 13

And much like she did after the fire destroyed her home, Scotty got to work. “I went home that night and thought ‘I think there is another way we can do this,’ she recalls. “At the time, I was working in marketing for the North Carolina Symphony. So my mind was in marketing mode. I spent a good bit of the night thinking about what we could do to attract our congregation to contribute to charitable organizations that needed our help. Before, the parish as a whole wasn’t involved with where the money went.”

That night she pictured an in-parish “gift market,” the Parish Hall filled with people on a Sunday morning, tables scattered around with representatives from various community agencies talking to parishion ers about the work they do.

“I had it all mapped out,” she said, and the next day called then-Associate Rector Patsy Smith, whose former church in Greensboro had created an inparish gift market on a small scale. Patsy loved the idea.

A few months later, on a Sunday in November, Scotty saw her idea reach fruition, as the first Gifts of Grace Alternative Gift Market. And she saw something she didn’t expect.

“I remember being really happy that things were going so well that day,” she recalls. “People were having coffee, being conversational with each other — there was a real sense of community that day,” something that had been missing for some time.

The day raised more than $16,000 for area agencies, but perhaps the most important takeaway was the fellowship parishioners felt with each other at a time when division had been more common.

The Rev. Randy Greene, the interim rector at the time, wrote Scotty a note that said as much. “Just as important is the fellowship and focus it provided for our congre gation at an extremely crucial time,” he wrote. “What a relief to see our people actually having a good time to gether without an edge in the air. It is good to know that something is making a difference in dark times.”

Through the years, Gifts of Grace has expanded, but its mission has always been the same. And in its 20 years of

existence, Gifts of Grace has raised close to $600,000 for area agencies.

“One of St. Michael’s really important missions in our community,” Scotty says, “is to help our neighbors with whatever they need —shelter, education, employment, health care. We are so fortunate to have so many great facilities in Raleigh. We invite them into the church and our parisioners have one-on-one conversations with them. A few sign up as volunteers.”

What was born of necessity did turn out to be the best thing to happen to Outreach & Mission at St. Michael’s. longer does a small group sit around a room and decide where the money goes. “Gifts of Grace has expanded our idea of what outreach and mission means,” she adds. “Our parishioners are better informed about what is in the community and how we help. It’s really fulfilling Christ’s second command ment. We can accomplish this and do it well.”

Letter from the Rev. Randy Green, inter im rector in 2003

The Gifts of Grace Com mitee is always looking for new faces to join them. “We invite anyone in the parish to join,” Scotty says. “Some of us have been on the committee for many years.”

On Sunday, Nov. 20, the parish will celebrate 20 years of Gifts of Grace. Though the past two years have been virtual, our parish continued to respond to the communi ty, contributing close to $110,000 combined in 2020 and 2021 alone.

This year, three years after our last in-person Gifts of Grace, we will once again gather in the Parish Hall for a few hours of heartfelt giving and fellowship. There will be coffee. And music. And food — perhaps even the return of the famous gorgonzola dressing we are all so fond of. One thing is indisputable, though: Scotty Steele will be celebrating, marveling at how God’s grace in the darkest hours can shape the future for us all.

Your Money At Work

YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS MAKE A DEFINITE IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY. HERE’S A LOOK

AT HOW MUCH GIFTS OF GRACE HAS RAISED FOR VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND WHAT SOME OF THE SERVICES YOUR GENEROSITY HAS HAVE SUPPORTED.

Compiled by Nancy Board, Gifts of Grace Committee

Community Music School - $38,630

• Provides 75 quality instruments to 75 students for one year ($500)

• Provides 22 students with professional music instruction for one year ($1,700)

• Sponsors 7 professional faculty musicians for one year ($5,000)

• Sponsors 3 CMS ensembles for a year (Jazz, Percussion or Musical Theater) ($10,000)

Interact - $31,412

• $163 provides one crisis counseling session for one family

• $532 provides one week of court advocacy/assistance with protective orders

• $1,058 provides one eight-week sup port group for ten children

• $1,587 provides one week of shelter for a family of four

• $2,549 provides one week of crisis counseling on InterAct’s 24/7 hotlines OR:

• Provide 12 weeks of crisis counseling on InterAct’s 24/7 hotline OR:

FIGS - $26,447

•$50 provides a 5-day supply of antibiotics

•$100 provides a 10-day supply of antibiotics

•$250 provides a 6-month supply of cholesterol-lower ing drugs

•$500 provides for the purchase of 5 C-pap machines

•$1,000 provides 3-month supply of blood pressure medication

“Gifts of Grace has expanded our idea of what outreach and mission means. Our parishioners are better informed about what is in the community and how we help. It’s really fulfilling Christ’s second commandment. We can accomplish this and do it well.”

— Scotty Steele, Gifts of Grace founder

OR:

•Provides 530 people a 5-day supply of antibiotics

•Provides 105 people with a six-month supply of cholesteral-lowering drugs OR:

•Buys 265 C Pap machines OR:

•Provides 26 people with a 3-month sup ple of blood pressure medication

Heifer Project - $36,823 (no longer a participant)

•$250 – Sends a girl to school

•$750 – Water for life

•$2150 – Provides a living income for a family of four in Bangladesh for a year

•$3,000 – provides a living income for a family of four in Tanzania for a year

• Provide 20 families of four a week of shelter: OR:

• Provide 300 children one eight-week support group:

• Provide 60 weeks of court advocacy/assistance with protective orders OR:

• Provide 190 crisis counseling sessions for one family

Meals on Wheels - $29,173

• $140 provides meals for one person for one month

• $840 provides meals for six months

• $1,680 provides meals for a year

•OR: provides 17 people with meals for a year

•OR: provides 34 people with meals for 6 months

•OR: provides 208 people with meals for one month

$36,823:

•Sends 105 girls to school OR:

•Provides 50 people with water for life: OR

•Provides 17 families of four a living income for a year in Bangladesh OR:

•Provides 12 families of four a living income for a year in Tanzania

Wake Relief - $27,000

•A BLUE order providing a week’s worth of groceries to a family of four, costs $55. Gifts of Grace has provided approximately 500 weeks of groceries to needy families of four over the years.

•Wake Relief will be delivering 25 BLUE Orders per week to the Green Chair Project in the future, at $55 per order. Funding from Gifts of Grace over the years covers five months of food deliveries from Wake Relief to the Green Chair Project.

A Seed

WITH ST. MICHAEL’S ROOTS THAT GROW BACK FAMILY CONTINUES TO GROW ITS LEGACY.

It began with a single seed.

And that seed was someone St. Michael’s has held dear for quite some time: Bill Duff III.

When I took over the role of Director of Development from the beloved Charlotte Griffin this past April, much of our time was spent discussing the history and the future of the Annual Fund and the Holy Michael Foundation. We talked about how the past few years have impacted all of us as a community and furthermore as a church. Soon that discussion turned to the future and to the sense of hope and promise we hold for the coming months and years.

As Charlotte Griffin, Greg and I mulled over the theme for this year and who we might call to lead the Annual Fund for 2023, we zoned in on a message of revival and renewal, where we came from and where we want to go now. As we considered who would be a good steward of that mission and message, we spoke about people who have had a last

Bill III & Sally as young parents

Bill IV & Erin as acolytes

Claire as Mary in the Christmas pageant

Archangel

Above, siblings Bill Duff IV, Erin Koontz and Claire Duff Capps. At left, Sally (top left, top row), Bill’s wife Claire, Claire’s husband Alex Capps and Claire Duff Dodd, sister of Bill III. Claire Dodd and Bill’s parents were founding members. (S.Rountree photos.) At right, a young Bill III acolytes in All Angels Chapel. Today seven Duff great-grandchildren are growing up in the parish.

Takes Root

BACK TO THE PARISH’S BEGINNINGS, THE DUFF

ing impact on the church. That, of course, included Bill Duff III. I re-read a moving remembrance of Bill in a 2016 Chronicles of Canterbury, in preparation for this piece, and in it Bill’s wife, Sally, referenced John 12:24 while reflecting on her husband’s life:

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Bill’s life led many people to the church, including — not the least of all — his own children. It was very clear that those Duffs: Erin Duff Koontz, Bill IV and Claire Duff Capps, would be the perfect leaders for this year’s Annual Fund campaign. Who better to be the beacons of the re-awakening of the church after these years of distance and despair? What is more hopeful than the next generation of believers carrying forward the legacy of their parents in their family’s place of worship? The single seed

planted by Bill Duff III has multiplied and now has even greater purpose!

The Duff family represents the living legacy of truly belong ing to a church and finding a church home that continues to connect across generations. The Duff grandparents were founding members. (Bill Duff Jr., helped nail the original cross to the roof of the Little Red Church. Grandmother Betty was a Beckwith Chapel storyteller into her 70s. Parents, Bill and Sally, instilled the value of church life into their family from its inception.)

And when asked about the role St. Michael’s has played in their lives since childhood, they are all on the same page.

“It’s where I learned about being a Christian,” Bill says, “but it’s also where I spent most of my time. Sunday church — even if I spent the night out. Sunday Night youth group, Wednesday was choir, every summer there was a mission trip starting in 6th grade, pancake suppers.”

Sister Claire Capps remembers it similarly: “It was so in grained in all aspects of our lives, and it shaped so much of who we became. At the time it was quite annoying, that our

Finding a Path on Sacred Ground

Words: Matt Terrible

File photo: Susan Rountree

Walking a

labyrinth is one of the spiritual practices recommended for participants in Sacred Ground, a faith-based study series on race sponsored by the Episcopal Church. Like the labyrinth, Sacred Ground is a journey with many twists and turns. It is not always easy to see the end of the path. Having fellow travelers smooths the bumps in the journey.

My Sacred Ground journey began a few years ago during a getaway to the beach. While I was relaxing my mind and body, God called me to listen to an online seminar from the national Episcopal Church introducing Sacred Ground. “Surely,” I thought, “any thing dealing with race should be led by people of color.”

The first revelation of my Sacred Ground journey was presented by the clergy woman leading the call: Sacred Ground is not a program designed for people of color or to be led by people of color. White folks like me need to do some of the heavy lifting, she said. That rattled around my thoughts as I walked along the beach.

I previewed the material but put it aside. Then God sent a messenger, Joan, one of my coworkers. “Matt,” she said, “I just finished Sacred Ground at my church. They are starting another course. You would be interested in it.” I checked into it and signed up.

Sacred Ground is a small group dialogue on race, grounded in faith. The 11-part series, using readings and videos, invites each small group to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family stories,

economic class, and political and regional identity.

Sacred Ground is a step in Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. When I listen to Bishop Curry preach, I hear the word “love” the most. Learning to love our fellow humans, whether our friends, adversaries, or strangers is what Becoming Beloved Com munity is about. Sacred Ground starts us on the twisty, labyrinth-like journey to understand when we have not lived up to the commandment of love whether as an individual, a group, a Church or a nation. As we progress through Sacred Ground, we wrestle with the question of what Jesus’ Good News is calling us to do differently.

Sacred Ground presented me many surprises. It filled in some history that we weren’t taught in school. Slavery took other forms after the Civil War. GI Bill benefits that my parents and in-laws (all white) used to purchase homes and go to college weren’t accessible to black veterans. Those benefits have made my life easier. I came to appreciate that people of color have to (yes, still must) sur mount barriers that I never did.

I was shaken to find the pleasant New York State village that I grew up in is on a list of “Sundown Towns.” Sundown towns were not safe for people of color after dark.

Much as I do in my North Raleigh neighborhood, I always walked freely at all hours of the day and night, knowing that if I needed help I would be aided by the police.

I took some time to reflect after completing Sacred Ground. Then God spoke to me again. “You can’t keep this to yourself. You need to lead this program at St. Michael’s.” The words “Here I am Lord” were not my first thoughts, but I set out to fulfill my Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people” as a facilitator. The surprises didn’t stop the second time around. I related Jesus’ cautioning his disciples to be prepared for discomfort to my discomfort when I learned unsavory parts of our history. I was heartened by the Episcopal Church’s work, not yet complete, to reckon with its past as a supporter of slavery. I am now in spired to be more patriotic, but with a different definition of patriotism.

Eleven of us, including eight members from St. Michael’s, have now completed the formal portion of the Sacred Ground journey. We are a diverse group, some working, some retired. We are people who grew up in different places with different perspectives. Some have experienced discrimination, while some haven’t. I haven’t. We spent a lot of time at our last few sessions reflecting on how we as individuals and a congregation are being called to respond. Our callings vary, but we are all being called. Our labyrinth-like journey continues.

If you want to learn more about how each of us can help create Beloved Community, consider Sacred Ground. As we learn how history and policies have affected our brothers and sisters in different ways, we learn how each of us can contribute in faith to make this world better for all.

What participants are saying:

“ When I signed up for Sacred Ground, I had no idea the many ways this course would affect me. First of all, I learned much information about the development of race, racism, class and economics in our country was simply left out of my history books.  Most disheartening was realizing that so many of these injustices were committed under the guise of spreading Christianity. This leaves me with the question of what can I do, as a Chris tian, to right these wrongs and effect change.   Fortunately, this course provides us with some tools and suggestions to help us get started.“

— Marty Munt

“ The Sacred Ground cur riculum does an excellent job providing facts and dispelling myths about race and the systemic oppression brought upon non-Europeans (aka ‘others’) from the founding of the United States thru present day legacies we are struggling with. A profound revelation for me was the “Doctrine of Discovery,” and the Episcopal Church’s role in extraction, exploitation of individuals and communities. However, I am encouraged by the Episcopal Church’s acknowledging its sins, and by the energy and resources dedicated to educating Episcopalians of the truth and the opportunities for healing.

“ I feel deeply connected to those in my small group.   As far as my Christian faith journey goes, Sacred Ground has nurtured in me the most profound and basic of the spiritual building blocks:  at my deepest root is the pro found knowledge that I am not alone and I do not need to be perfect and neither does anyone else.  Through the power of God, we create Beloved Community.  Through the power of Jesus, we are redeemed and we know hope.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are sustained on our journey together.  We walk together in this world in love.”

— Stacey Hodges

The design of the curriculum as a circle, present ed in a safe space with fellow parishioner facilita tors and participants, enhanced my experience. I believe the Sacred Ground curriculum would benefit any Christian/Episcopalian ready to be come an ambassador for dismantling oppression, racism, and historical injustices, and living into our baptismal covenant.”

— -Ruth Thurmond Scott

“Sacred Ground

has given me a deeper understanding of marginalized people and some tools to bring others into the discussion. I don’t claim to have become an expert, but the theological and historical record is now a lot clearer to me. I embrace the need to continue this work at St. Michael’s and in the community beyond, and I truly believe that it will be something that I prioritize for the rest of my life. In that respect, it has been truly life-changing.”

— John Adams

Matt Terribile, a Raleigh res ident for 30 years, has been a member of St. Michael’s for 10 years and is active as a leader of many ministries.

Our Computer Guru

LAY MINISTER EXTRAORDINARE BOB SPAZIANO RETIRES AFTER CLOSE TO ? YEARS AS OUR COMPUTER GURU. HE LEAVES BEHIND A LITERAL NETWORK LINKING THE STAFF AND THE PARISH WITH THE WORLD AROUND US.

It’s hard to imagine what our parish would be like without the likes of Bob Spaziano. A parishioner for close to 50 years, Bob and his wife, Judy, couldn’t have envisioned the role he would play in creating our computer network when on their first visit, they deposited their 2-year-old son, Bob, in the 2s Sunday School class with Pattie Moore and her mother, Betty.

Back then, everything in the church was accomplished with pen and paper and mimeograph, and the most hi-tech equipment in the office was the phone.

Bob and Judy came to Raleigh with IBM, and Bob is a computer expert. In the 1990s, he gathered a team of great tech gurus to support the staff as we entered the computer age. “Mark Price, [whose parents and brother are parishioners] founded a web hosting and data center company and got us off to a good start,” he says. “My good friend, (the late) Paul Elliott, a software developer, managed the rollout of the very first personal computers and office software for the staff. Paul was a developer and wrote a database program that we still use to manage documents in the church’s archives.”

In the early days, he says, the PCs ran on a text-based operating system called MS DOS. “This is before there was a product called Microsoft Windows. A mouse was something that you did not want to see running around in the office! The computers were wired together on a coax cable, like the old Christmas tree wiring — a scheme that was difficult to manage and grow. A better solution was to move to a structured wiring scheme where all the computers were cabled back to a switch in the Tech Room.”

Former parishioner Louise Parker, who worked at the N&O, installed the first network server, he says. “We still use the server rack that she donated back in 1997. And (former parishioner) Karl Towle, a fine systems engineer, got the church connected to the Internet.”

The church’s first Internet connection used a dial up modem with “the remarkable speed of 2400 bits per second

on a single telephone line,” he says. “It is amazing that it worked. But it was sufficient for email and casual web browsing at that time.”

Chris McHenry, son of parishioners Meg and John McHenry, was in high school when he started helping with tech support. “Chris gave the church donated Cisco and Meraki network equipment which saved us a lot of money.”

When Bob retired from IBM in 2000, he had more time to devote to the church network, compared to the other folks who had full time jobs and young families. “Over time, I became a committee of one.

“My objective was to build the best, most reliable net work, for the money available. I had just retired as the St. Michael’s Junior Warden, and I was well aware of our budgeting process and our money limitation. I wanted to make sure that every dollar spent on hardware and software was a wise investment.

“We got our software through a non-profit organization at very attractive prices. Much of the hardware was refurbished, and some was donated by members of the church.

“

Over the years, the network became bigger and better, he says. “We migrated our telephone system from a very old (nearly obsolete) T1 trunk circuit to a fast and affordable VoIP network — like going from analog to digital for voice.”

The Internet connection was upgraded to a Fiber net work for much improved speed and reliability, and it has great capacity for growth in the future, he says. Through out all these changes, Bob stayed abreast with the newest technology available to make our staff’s workflow more efficient.

“Can you remember before anyone used email? We installed the first church email system on a personal com puter connected to the network around 1995. Staff could access their email only when they were in the office. We

Words: Bob Spaziano with Susan Rountree Photo: Susan Rountree

knew this was a serious limitation, so we moved the email server to the Google network. Today, when you send email to staff@holymichael.org, that message goes to the Google server in the cloud and out to our church staff whereever they are located.”

“The original network was designed for fixed desktop computers,” he says. “But in the 2000s, folks started using laptops and cell phones. We recognized that we needed wireless connectivity. We added 11 Wi-Fi stations to the Network around the campus network. The Wi-Fi signal enabled the staff to access internal printers and files. Vis itors can use the guest network Wi-Fi signal to get to the Internet.”

During the pandemic, Bob converted one of the Wi-Fi Access devices installed near the altar, in front the organ pipes, so it could carry the broadcast signal on Sunday morning service out to Facebook.

The church grew, as did our need for better campus securi ty. Bob oversaw the installation of a series of video security cameras at exterior doors and around the grounds of the church. “Brad Silvernail – founder of Carolina Video Security — provided great support in those efforts,” Bob says.

“My main challenge was keeping up with the ever-chang ing technology capabilities and figuring what people needed,” he says. “Looking back at some of the things I have described, there is no way we could have imagined all that, when we first started working on this.

Bob has always adapted to the swift changes in the church’s needs. Laptops. Wireless connectivity. Smart Phones. A pandemic. Live-streaming. He saw the need and figured it out for us.

Technology acumen is not Bob’s only gift. If you’ve ever at tended a St. Michael’s social function, you know of his tal ent at the piano. He sang in the choir for many years and served on the Vestry. Since the 2000s, he’s been a fixture on campus, spending a couple of days per week installing cable, and computer hardware and software around the

Robin Kennedy Joins Staff as Pastoral Care Coordiator

We’re excited to welcome Robin Kennedy to our staff as our Pastoral Care Coordinator. Robin, who has been a member of St. Michael’s for 18 years, comes to us after a career at IBM, raising her family and working for WALTER magazine and as project manager for a Raleigh interior design firm. She replaces Parish Secretary Jean Olson, who retired in August.

“We are very excited to have Robin Kennedy join our staff as Parish Care Coordinator,” says the Rev. Greg Jones. “Following upon the work of Jean Olson whose role as Parish Secretary evolved over the decades, the new title reflects the kind of things Jean has long done, and aims to do more in the same vein. Robin brings the perfect blend of compassion, kindness and diligence, and the clear sense of a calling to this ministry.”

Robin will be the first point of contact and support for parishioners in cooperation with clergy and other staff. She will cultivate a culture and practice of care and compassion, while managing confidential information on a regular basis. Like every St. Michael’s staff position, the parish care coordinator is a ministry, and Robin will work in tandem with clergy when parishioners call the church for help with funerals, weddings, baptisms and other important life events.

Robin knows first-hand the importance of having a strong connection with the parish in times of great need. Her husband, Richard, passed away earlier this year after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

“I am in a stage of transition in my life,” she says. “When Greg called to talk to me about the possibility of serving as Pastoral Care Coordinator, I knew within five minutes that I was going to accept the position I didn’t hesitate. I just felt it was right for me. Divine intervention called me to this role. I am most excited to serve our parish and know that I will receive more gifts in this role from our parish than I have to offer back.”

Robin Kennedy brings a wealth of parish experience to her new staff position at St. Michael’s

After Richard died, Robin and her children — Carlyle, a college sophomore at UNC-Wilmington, and Richard III, a Sanderson High School freshman — felt the outpouring of love and support from her parish family was incredible. “Each member of my family was showered with love. God’s love. I hope to have each member of our parish feel the same love from God, and I plan to foster that sense of community in my role as Pastoral Care Coordinator.”

Robin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in English. Since joining our parish she has served as ECW President, Annual Fund co-chair and Vestry Clerk.

“In my volunteer roles as a member of St. Michael’s,” she says, “I have had the pleasure of working closely with several members of our staff. They are a group of kind, spiritual, followers of Jesus. I love their passion for our church and their commitment to our church ministry. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that magic? My role on staff will strengthen my relationship with God and with my extended St. Michael’s family.”

A lifelong North Carolinian, Robin enjoys spending time with her family, especially at Wrightsville Beach.

Robin begins her job Sept. 12. Give her a call and welcome her in her new role.

Susan Rountree

On May 20, 2020, Bob’s expertise proved invaluable to the safety of our records. “When the church was in quarantine and very few people were on site, I had reports that the staff were seeing a lot of strange activity on their computers.

“When I connected remotely,” he says, “I discovered that the computer’s language preference had been changed from English to Russian. That was not a good sign.

“Someone had broken into our network,” he says. “We powered down all computer and network equipment while we tried to figure what was going on. Greg contacted David Sousa and our legal team, who linked us with a cybersecu rity team. Over the next few weeks, that team worked with us to do forensic work on our computers and servers. They verified that no sensitive church data was compromised. We had designed the network so that all church data files were stored offsite in the Google Cloud. While the infiltrator could see what was on the local computer drives, they could not access the information stored in the cloud. But they did encrypt all computer and server drives around the church, basically making all the equipment unusable.”

Bob spent the next two months sanitizing the desktop and server drives, so that he could begin to reinstall the operating systems and office applications. Then it was easy to reconnect to our data in the Google Cloud.

Now, Bob has retired for a second time, this time from his life as the St. Michael’s Tech Guru. We will sorely miss his dedication to our parish’s computer life!

Why did he give so much of himself? “Everyone has a talent that can help the church. Our network would not be what it is today, without all the contributions made by so many people over the years. Personally, I found that the more I worked on the church network, the more I personally grew and benefited from that experience.

“The church has always depended on volunteers,” he says. “ St. Michael’s is fortunate to have so many wonderful talented people willing to give their time and talent back to the church. I am just glad that I personally had something I could offer. I found that the more that I gave, the more I received back.

“Now that I am ‘retiring,’ the church has hired a local tech support company. They support other churches and busi nesses in the area. So, I will be confident that the church will be well supported in the future.”

parents would literally NEVER let us off the hook for missing a Ssunday at church…and one might think this could turn you off of Christianity, but it just didn’t. St. Michael’s is such a special place in that way, and it set in motion how I wanted to raise my own family.”

This is one of the core tenets of what we saw as a driver for this year’s campaign — not just giving money to the church but giving of yourself. Com mitting your time or recommitting your family’s time to be back in the church. We want the spirit of revival to breathe through every part of St. Mi chael’s this year; we want people to ask themselves how they can reconnect to the things that make being in a church special.

As Erin sees it, “We were all fortunate to be born into this church. [St. Michael’s] has been a source of faith, happiness and stability throughout my life, and I want to give my children the same op portunity to experience that and have that founda tion as they grow up.”

The Duffs see it as an opportunity to be leaders of the Annual Fund and refocus on something their father always preached: “Keep the main thing the main thing.” Their father, Bill, liked to use that phrase to call people’s attention to staying focused on the true mission.

“It is so easy to get distracted as a person and as a church member from what we are coming to the church to do,” Erin says. “To be able to keep the main thing the main thing though, we need for everyone to re-focus on the worship, on Jesus.”

When you think about it, the church is renewed each generation; its spirit is revived and its mis sion is reframed. In this season of change and reawakening, what a blessing it is that we have new generations of parishioners ready and eager to take up the mantle and revive the spirit of the church. No doubt, these new seeds will inspire the next and the next and the next.

Catherine Fain is director of devel opment at St. Michael’s

1520 Canterbury Rd. Raleigh NC 27608-1106 919.782.0731 holymichael.org

EDITOR: SUSAN B. ROUNTREE STORY IDEAS? ROUNTREE@HOLYMICHAEL.ORG

Godly Play from Page 11

Creating a sense of wonder about the stories of the Bible. How cool is that? Many of the stories concern the great mysteries of our faith. For instance, the Circle of the Church Year examines the great Mys teries of Christmas and Easter and how we take time to prepare for those mysteries through the seasons of Advent and Lent, respectively. Christmas and Easter are mysteries: How did we know that this child would change everything? How did Jesus rise again?

As adults of faith, we know and trust these things hap pen, we hope, with a childlike sense of wonder. But how often are we “allowed” to acknowledge we don’t know or understand something? Godly Play teaches children how to ask questions about our faith and acknowledge that things don’t always make sense, but that doesn’t make us any less faithful and doesn’t make what we know about Jesus and God and the stories of the Bible any less true.

As Sunday School teachers, it does take some commit ment to learn these stories and help creating this sense

of wonder. We spend time on Saturday nights memo rizing the stories so we can tell them to the children, similar to being around a campfire.

To use the Godly Play curriculum effectively takes the support of all of the other teachers and the clergy and staff. But we have seen that Godly Play engages the children, prompting them to wonder, and we learn so much about our faith as adults, too.

This year we are excited to expand Godly Play and to train more Sunday School teachers in the curricu lum. First through 3rd graders will hear a Godly Play story each week in addition to their time in Beckwith Chapel. We hope you will join us as Godly Play teach ers or come and observe a Godly Play story.

Leslie De Haven is the mother of two boys. She sings in the choir and serves on the Vestry.