The Record - Fall 2019

The Accidental Deacon P.10 Small Town Social Justice p.14

Plus!

An interview with The Rev. Halim Shukair p.06

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1

The Record is an official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. Our mission is to celebrate, educate, and create community within our diocese.

EDITOR: Anna Stania PUBLISHER: The Rt. Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr. The Record is published quarterly by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, 4800 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201.

Address changes may be emailed to TheRecord@edomi.org.

Image permissions and copyright: Cover and inside cover: AhoyHello Photography, p. 1: Christ Church, Dearborn, AhoyHello Photography, Fuzzbones, p. 2: Cienpies Design, Anna Stania, p. 3: Aleksandr Glushchenko, p. 4-13: AhoyHello Photography, p. 14: Sorax, Yelo34

CONTENTS Fall 2019

02 Letter From The Editor 04 Invitation From The Bishop Anna Stania, Director of Communications

The Rt. Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr.

06 Coming to America The Accidental Deacon 10 14 Small Town Social Justice An Interview with Rev. Halim Shukair

Anna Stania, Director of Communications

Janet Cook, St. James, Dexter

Fall ‘19 | 01

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Reader, Thank you so much for picking up this issue of The Record.

This issue celebrates and explores the divinity and the challenges of giving your life in service of God and our neighbors.

In writing and editing these articles, I was struck with the diverse ways we are called to serve as well as the diverse ways that our gifts can be used to follow the Way of Love.

I hope these remarkable stories inspire you and feed your soul, as they have done for me. Again, thank you for reading The Record. Please feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones.

Sincerely,

Anna Stania Director of Communications Episcopal Diocese of Michigan

The Record | 02

Anna Stania

Annual Veterans’ Day Service Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 4pm The Cathedral Church of St. Paul 4800 Woodward Avenue, Detroit Please join us as we honor all veterans in this our 56th annual Veterans’ Day Service. At this moving service of thanksgiving, we have the opportunity of showing our apprecia on for the service and sacrifice given by so many.

Our speaker to help honor all our veterans will be our Bishop-elect, the Rev. Dr. Bonnie A. Perry. On June 1, she was elected at a Special Conven on of the Diocese of Michigan to become the 11th Bishop of the Diocese. The daughter of a Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, Bishop-elect Perry comes to the Diocese from Chicago, where she has served All Saints’, Chicago for 26 years. This is one of her first official events in the Diocese.

Our celebra on will include music from our choir with tradi onal trumpet and bagpipe selec ons. A recep on with light refreshments will follow the service. Free, lighted parking is available behind the Cathedral, accessible from East Warren Avenue via Cathedral Lane. www.detroitcathedral.org

Spring Sp ring ing ‘19 | 003 3

Coming to America

Rev. Halim Shukair and our emerging Arabic ministries The Rev. Halim Shukair is one of our newest priests in the Diocese of Michigan. A native of Lebanon, Rev. Shukair is fluent in Arabic and has embarked on some incredible work — both with Christ Church, Dearborn and with an Arabic-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation called Mother of the Savior. This interview was conducted in writing with Anna Stania, the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan’s director of communications.

Tell me a bit about your background and what you were doing before you came to the United States I was born in Lebanon a multicultural country with 18 recognized religious sects. Living in this medium had leads me to appreciate diversity, to be shaped by the richness that each group has. This religious “pluralism” is in the context of my understanding of my identity as Episcopalian. Moreover, my understanding to my mission that derives from this identity. Originally. I was baptized in a Baptist church. During my college studies, I came to know of the Anglican/Episcopal Church and quickly I become involved in the church life.

I was attracted to the church doctrine because it encouraged a more ecumenical and open-minded approach. I also connected with the liturgy and style of worship. I took the membership course and was confirmed in 2005 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Beirut. My involvement in the ministry of the church developed gradually. At first I started as lector, and little by little I worked with the youth, the Sunday school, and so on. This was a natural process. There was no single point in which I decided to be involved in the church’s ministry. I hold a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from the Lebanese American University in Beirut, and my last job prior to attend the seminary was financial officer at the American University in Beirut.

How did you end up coming here?

In August 2015, I moved to the U.S. to start my theological studies at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. I graduated with my master’s in divinity in May 2018.

In 2017, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani asked Bishop Gibbs whether the Diocese of Michigan might have a place for me as a priest in the Diocese. Bishop Gibbs was immediately interested in whether I might be able to help develop a new mission community among Arab-American people in Southeast Michigan and help develop a worshipping community in Dearborn or in another Arab-American community in the diocese. On behalf of Archbishop Dawani, Bishop Gibbs ordained me to the transitional diaconate in December 2017 and to the priesthood in June 2018. I started my ministry the next day as Curate at Christ Episcopal Church in Dearborn.

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THE ACCIDENTAL DEACON

By Anna Stania, Director of Communications

The Choosing of the Seven “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.”

Acts 6:1-6 NIV

THE ACCIDENT In 1980, Ken Rasnick was 20 years old, a Marine on his first days off in months. After a night of celebrating, Ken and his friends decided to sleep in their car, rather than drive home drunk. One friend, intoxicated and anxious to return home to his partner, decided to drive the car full of his sleeping friends back to their apartment.

Ken awoke as his friend crashed the car into a gas station. Despite his two broken collarbones, broken ribs, and burns, Ken managed to kick out a car window and slide out through the shattered glass, slicing his ear off in the process. A nurse who happened to see the accident ran to help him. She grabbed his severed ear and forced him to run before the fire ignited the gas station.

Moments later, the station exploded. Ken was severely injured, but he was also the only survivor.

(Continued on page 12)

“That was my first experience with God,” he said. “I had a lot of survivor’s remorse. Why did I live? Why did my friends die? I didn’t get it.” During his six months recovering in the hospital, the nuns tried to reassure him that his survival was no accident. “The nuns told me that God had plans for me.”

“Did I believe it? Absolutely not,” he replied, laughing.

At the time, Ken remembers scoffing and saying, “Yeah, right.”

After his recovery, Ken was chosen by the Marine Corps to serve as part of Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Guard. Part of his duty was to teach handicapped kids in Washington, DC’s inner city how to swim.

“I thought, ‘I’ve found it. This is what God has planned for me.’ But I found myself not going to church at all, but doing outreach, I guess you could say. But I felt that God was leading me somewhere.”

Twenty years later, he became a deacon.

horrific accidents, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), divorce, familial rejection, and much more.

“I had to go through all that bad stuff to become who I am today. God’s done this throughout the centuries.

He’s put people through some bad times so that they would become the person He wanted them to be.”

Ken also knows what it’s like to be in the minority.

Born and raised in southwest Detroit, the majority of his neighbors and schoolmates were Mexican, Hispanic, Arab, and Black. “I was raised by my family to take care of our neighborhood. If somebody’s car broke down, we helped fix it. If someone‘s grass needed cutting, I’d cut it,” he said. “If somebody needs help, you help.”

THE INTENTIONAL DEACON

“I knew Ken was meant to be a deacon right away,” said The Rev. Keith Mackenzie, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Michigan. “But when I have that feeling about someone, I “The nuns told usually don’t say anything. I like me that God had them to feel the calling themselves.”

This year, almost 30 years after plans for me.” his first encounter with God, Ken Though people sometimes see Rasnick received the Association deacons as the first stop along the “Did I believe it? of Episcopal Deacons award, road to priesthood, this is far from honoring his exceptional ministry true. “The first thing you need is a Absolutely not,” to veterans and the homeless. servant’s heart.” Keith said.

The award is an incredible honor, only offered once every three years. Only four other “A deacon’s responsibility is outside the church. If you look at a priest, their stole goes over their shoulders deacons from the Diocese of Michigan have received and points straight to the ground at their feet. I like the award since it began in 1995. to say that’s because they’re planted in the church and MEETING GOD THROUGH PEOPLE they’re teaching in the church,” Keith explains.

One of Ken’s greatest gifts is how easy he is to talk to. He’s open and calming, and it’s easy to fall into comfortable conversation with him. Connecting with people through conversation happens to be a huge part of his ministry. Each week, Ken spends hours with people in hospitals, hospice centers, and retirement homes. For many of these people, Ken is the only person who visits them at all.

Part of the reason Ken can connect so comfortably with so many people is the depth of his personal experience. He’s lived through military service,

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“A deacon’s stole goes over one shoulder and comes down to one hip. This signifies that they have one foot in the church and one foot out in the community.

Our work is to bring the needs of the community to the church and bring the church to the community.”

A common question posed to many deacons is “So, when are you becoming a priest?” If you ask this of Keith or Ken, the answer you’ll likely hear is never.

“It’s a completely separate calling,” Keith said. “I’ve

been a deacon for 16 years. Serving the community is my calling.”

However, Keith is quick to note that deacons are not called to minister to the needs of the community alone. “We’re out there to identify needs and to take care of them. An important part of the diaconal ministry is not necessarily finding and meeting these needs all by yourself. It’s important to identify the gifts of others who can join you in this ministry.”

REFILLING THE CUP These days, you can often find Ken ministering to veterans. In particular, he volunteers with the Veterans Court, an alternative judicial system that serves veterans dealing with nonviolent legal offenses resulting from mental health and substance abuse issues. This court helps veterans avoid the regular criminal justice system and provides sobriety, recovery, and stability support.

Ken serves as a chaplain and mentor to the veterans currently going through the Veterans Court, providing emotional, spiritual, and moral support for anyone who requests it.

worked closely with served four tours as a medical specialist in Afghanistan, caring for the soldiers wounded in combat. However, PTSD is not the only difficulty this veteran is wrestling with.

“This court is not a break for these vets,” Ken said.

“The judge is very tough. I stand beside them for every court appearance and I help to advocate for them.”

“When she went into the service, she was a man,” Ken explained. “She’s a war hero. PTSD, gender transitioning — each of those is hard enough to handle in life. She is dealing with both at one time.”

Retired Navy Chief and current Veterans Court coordinator Kevin Van Boxell has worked with Ken at the Veterans Court for the past three years. He’s seen firsthand the difference that Ken has made with the veterans.

Ken often finds that open communication and service to those in need can help these struggling veterans process their experiences and begin the healing process. Through his weekly lunches with the transitioning veteran, Ken found out that her neighbor had their child removed from the home due to a broken water heater. Ken and the veteran got a water heater and helped to install it in the home.

“As a mentor, he’s a perfect fit,” Kevin said. “With the work he’s done, I’ve seen a turnaround in the veterans. It’s been a winning situation ever since.”

Ken has also leveraged partnerships with some home improvement stores and local governments, which have donated tools and equipment to allow the veterans to perform meaningful community service, including lawnmowing and volunteering for other aging and disabled veterans.

The number and depth of the problems facing these veterans is often dizzying. One veteran that Ken has

“She’s real proud of that,” Ken said. “Helping other people, even when you yourself are hurting, is really special. That’s what helps to get you back on the right path.”

When asked where he gets the strength and the energy to continue such a tough ministry, Ken almost appears surprised. “I get a lot out of it,” he said. “They help me as much as I help them. There’s nothing in this world that makes me feel better than when I’m helping people who need it.”

Fall ‘19 | 13

S m a l l To w n Janet Cook, St. James, Dexter

“

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has!

- Margaret Mead

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”

Social Justice

On the Sunday after the Women’s March in January 2017, our pastor, The Rev. Carol Mader, asked from the pulpit: “Did any of you march yesterday?” One by one, hands were raised and city names were called out.

“I marched in Ann Arbor!” “I marched in Lansing!” “I marched in Ypsilanti!” and “I marched in Washington DC!” were heard. Our sanctuary experienced an energy shift; a crevice was opened and the Holy Spirit agitated the air just enough that a handful of people said “Yes!” to an inner call that may have been brewing for a moment or a long while.

After the recessional, I recall zeroing in on my fellow marchers and tapping them on the shoulder with this question: “Do you want to do something with this?” I was referring to the passion and excitement that we were feeling. They all said yes. Not maybe, not “I need to pray about it,” and not “I’ll look at my calendar.” The responses were immediate and a clear “yes” with an attached commitment. We were good to go.

Some ask, “How did an Episcopalian church in a small city like Dexter start holding controversial community gatherings with topics like human trafficking;

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“My name is Erica and I marched in Ann Arbor,” “My name is Ruth and I marched in Lansing,” and so on.

It’s like igniting some bare, dry kindling — it only takes a spark!

Dr. Grewal told us her story. She is an immigrant from India and a single mother who often reminds her sons when they complain that their backpack is torn, that it is a first-world problem. And we listened. Yes, you can feel the listening. There is an active tilt to the upper bodies of the women that attended that day and a lack of movement so we could hear her every word.

Dr. Grewal is one of the fortunate women from her community who obtained an education and has formed an organization to give back to young women in India who can thrive when education is attainable.

Her presentation included facts to back up concerns, and attendees gave generously to her organization.

And thus the template was tweaked. The combination of information and a human story is what opens our hearts and likely will have us retell this story the next day or the day after that.

We met several times after church and shared ideas, quotes, and books and steadily discerned where this would take us. It took months before we recognized that social justice was the web that held all of our topics. The original long list of ideas that we brought to the first meeting and peeled off our hearts were things that prevent our neighbors from feeling God’s love. As Carol states during the welcome at each of our events, we do this because our baptismal covenant calls us to love our neighbor.

Elements we have included at each event to show hospitality are offering a variety of beverages and snacks, since some folks may be coming right from work or driving a distance. We have fresh flowers as an element of beauty that may linger and show up at coffee hour after Sunday service or may be gifted to the speaker. A resource table offers pamphlets and books from the Dexter Library that are pertinent to the topic of discussion. A group member is stationed outside to welcome and guide people into the building.

Our meetings are held on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m. People come from the Dexter community and beyond; some have traveled from Farmington, South Lyon, Plymouth, and Brighton. As poet David Whyte says, “One good word is food for many.”

At our first event held in March 2017 with a wonderful speaker, Dr. Imandeep Grewal, professor of urban education at Eastern Michigan University. We described to the participants how we came to organize these events and hands again shot up in the air and pronouncements were made:

Currently, we are planning our September event on the topic of prison reform with speakers Lois Pullano, founder of the Michigan Department of Corrections’ Family Advisory Board and the Family Participation Program under Citizens For Prison Reform, along with Aaron Kinzel, a University of Michigan–Dearborn

understanding gender, race, ethnicity, and inclusion; kids and guns; Muslims in Michigan; and PFAS in our waterways?” Well, now you know.

16 | The Record

criminal justice professor. Aaron uses his life story and personal experience of incarceration to teach his students about the criminal justice system. This is led by our Coffee and Conversation member Janice Weber, who volunteers at Huron Valley Correctional Facility.

We have always tried to stay nimble with our programming. When a particularly compelling topic arises or a speaker is available, we can plan an event within 60 days. This has proven to be very successful in growing our attendance which varies from 40 to 75 people. Approximately 30 percent are from our church and the rest are our friends, neighbors, and from the surrounding community.

Gerrymandering Immigration in Michigan Muslims in Michigan (Institute of Social Policy and Understanding) Native Spirituality Kids ‘N Guns PFAS Race, Ethnicity and Inclusion International Women’s Day Pipelines in Michigan Gendertending Women’s Health Our Border With Mexico/Separations, Sufferings, and Samaritans

When several people expressed “... we do this concern and feelings of because our overwhelming dismay at our recent Coffee & Conversation event on the baptismal Mexico border and immigration, we were that this too is the covenant calls us story reminded of loaves and fishes. Your offering is not too small! to love our neighbor.”

Every prayer, every donation, every letter to

We are very fortunate to have access to engaging experts on many topics from the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Huron Valley Watershed Council, Spring Arbor University, and Lansing Community College. Most recently we invited Gail Frank from Phoenix, Arizona, to speak to us about her work with Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans at the U.S.-Mexican border.

The talk was well attended, and we are always delighted to welcome first-time attendees.

Currently, we have 11–14 very active members, including two graphic artists who create our flyers that are posted throughout the city of Dexter and area libraries, coffee shops, and hardware stores. Social media is also helping us spread the word along with St. James’ website and the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan’s weekly publication.

In May 2018, Rev. Carol Mader and I gave a presentation at the Ministry Fair to share the model that has worked for us in hopes of inspiring other churches to explore offering a similar event.

the editor, every kind word is magnified when the intent comes from the heart. All of us in the Coffee and Conversation group at St. James are continually fortified when we receive the sincere thanks and witness the generous giving to groups like the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans. May the Holy Spirit continue to find the crevice in our day, in our way, and in our hearts to inspire and love boldly.

Learn more about this event series at stjamesdexter.org

Listed below are all of the programs we have offered to date: Human Trafficking Considering Gender

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The Rev. Sarah Condon May 19, 2020, 4-6pm, and 7-9pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brighton The Rev. Sarah Condon is the Campus Missioner for Rice University. Sarah is a writer and speaker for Mockingbird Ministries and cohosts the Mockingcast, a ministry that connects the Christian faith with realities of ever yday life in fresh ways. She is the author of Churchy: The Real-Life Adventures of a Wife, Mom & Priest.

Save The Date!

The Rev.Dr Dr.David David Lose The Rev. Lose March 2020- 4-6pm, - 4-6pm, and 7-9pm March 3,3,2020 and 7-9pm Cathedral Church Church of of St. St.Paul, Paul,Detroit Detroit

The Rev. Dr. David J. Lose serves as senior pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. He is the author of Preaching at the Crossroads: How the World - and Our Preaching - Is Changing and many more. He speaks widely in the US and abroad on preaching, Christian faith in a postmodern world, and biblical interpretation.

Pilgrimage to Ireland with The Bishop April 23 - May 2, 2019

Rev.toSarah Condon The Diocese of Michigan is planning aThe pilgrimage Ireland in 2019 with Bishop Gibbs The Rev. Sarah Condon May 19, 2020, 4-6pm, and 7-9pm and The Rev. Dr. Susan Carter. Price: $3498.00 person, basedand on double occupancy May 19,per 2020, 4-6pm, 7-9pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brighton round trip from Detroit. Limited number of singleEpiscopal rooms available at supplement St. Paul’s Church, Brightonof $400.

Single room must be paid for at time of deposit. Price includes round trip air, hotels, The Rev. Sarah is the Campus Missioner transfers, sightseeing in private air conditioned coach,Condon porterage of one suitcase in and for Riceentrance University. is asites writer andmeals speaker out of hotels, sightseeing as per itinerary, fees Sarah to those listed, as for Mockingbird Ministries and cohosts the Mockingcast, a mentioned in itinerary, VAT taxes and service charges. ministry that connects the Christian faith with realities of ever yday life in fresh ways.

She is the author of For more information, contact: sucarter@msu.edu or 517-599-0380 Churchy: The Real-Life Adventures of a Wife, Mom & Priest.

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