the
Church
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March / April 2015 The newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
The Presiding Bishop, retired and visiting bishops, and ecumenical guests joined Bishops Lillibridge and Reed on stage for the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist and Installation of Reed as Bishop Coadjutor on February 28 in San Marcos.
Inside this issue
4 The 111th Diocesan Council was held February 26-28 in San Marcos. Read the summary of reports and events. See pages 7-11.
A Mutual Transformational Relationship
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ChurchSchool Relationships Throughout the Diocese
Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori on Abundant Life
Installation of the Bishop Coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. David Reed
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News and Features 2 On the Bishop’s Mind: You Should Go 4 A Mutual Transformational Relationship 6 Church-School Relationships Throughout
the Diocese 7 News of the 111th Diocesan Council 12 From Mission to Parish: Holy Spirit, San Antonio 13 St. Clare’s Needlepoint Guild 13 The Sara Belle Clark Chapter of the Daughters of the King at 80 Years
In Every
Issue
3 From the Editor 14 Around the Circuit 16 Calendar Cover photo by John Gaskins.
the Church News is published four times a year by the Dept. of Communication, Diocese of West Texas of the Protestant Episcopal Church P. O. Box 6885 San Antonio, Texas 78209 Editor: Laura Shaver Laura.Shaver@dwtx.org Deadline for news and advertising is the 15th of the month preceding publication. Periodicals Postage paid at San Antonio, TX and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Church News P.O. Box 6885 San Antonio, TX 78209
Volume 72 Number 2 March/April 2015 USPS 661-790 The Diocese of West TX is a family of 26,000+ members in 88 congregations across 60 counties and 69,000 square miles in South Central Texas. Bishop of West Texas: The Rt. Rev. Gary R. Lillibridge Bishop Coadjutor: The Rt. Rev. David M. Reed The Bishop Jones Center 111 Torcido Dr. San Antonio, Texas 78209 Telephone: 210/888-8245387. FAX: 210-824-2164 general.mail@dwtx.org www.dwtx.org
Communication Department Staff: Marjorie George: editor, Reflections Magazine and ReflectionsOnline Laura Shaver: communications officer
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www.dwtx.org
On the Bishop’s Mind The Rt. Rev. David Reed Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese
You Should Go
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bide in Me VII, featuring the Rev. Becca Stevens, is coming up Saturday, May 30, at TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas. You should go. Really. If you’ve been before, you don’t need me to tell you that. If you’ve heard Becca before, you’re probably already telling others they need to go. She will light up the room. The origins of Abide in Me are shrouded in the mists of time. Not the words, but the annual diocesan event. The words come from our 2009 diocesan theme, “Abide in Me.” That theme came from the Last Supper (specifically John 15:4), when Jesus, on the night before he died for us, talked to and prayed for his disciples, then and now. The event arose out of that theme, likely in a Council planning meeting. Diocesan staff members noted that attendees to Council were missing the workshops that once were offered as part of Council, missing the opportunity to gather around tables, not for Council business, but for mission and ministry. Somebody had the idea that maybe a separate, but related, day of presentations and workshops would work, and so that June the first Abide in Me was held, with more than 400 people attending. If you get that many Episcopalians together at the same time, you probably want to do it again, and so we did. But we decided it would be confusing to change the name every year, and the words “Abide in Me” seem to stand the test of time. (Just ask Jesus.) Jesus’ prayer for his disciples at the Last Supper included many things. One was that they would know true and eternal life by abiding in him. Another was that, in him, they would remain united. And a third was that, apart from him, separated from him, their work would bear no fruit. They are to be like branches on a vine. Abiding in Christ clearly was not about just hanging out with him and feeling groovy. When Jesus was done praying, they followed him out into the night. In John’s Gospel, we can be sure that darkness never refers only to the time of day, and so we see them following Jesus out into all the sin and brokenness of the world. To abide in Jesus means that for us, too. We gather, and we are sent. But we remain in Christ, not separated, but bound and empowered by his Spirit. When we are together in Christ, good things happen, holy things. The Spirit moves. We begin to see more like Jesus sees. It may be overstating it to say that this annual event would never have happened if members of the diocesan staff hadn’t gathered in some room away from all the usual busy-ness. But maybe not. Abide in Me gives us a chance to know again what those disciples in the upper room knew. When we gather on May 30 for workshops and to hear Becca remind us that love heals, and that there are hundreds of ways to manifest that love of Christ to others, we are doing no less than what our Lord prayed for: gathering with him, abiding in him, and choosing to follow him out into the darkness, bringing light. You should go.
From the editor Laura Shaver
Abide in Me VII
May 30 at TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas 20955 West Tejas Trail in San Antonio 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Registration opens April 15 at www.dwtx.org/abideinme The seventh annual Abide in Me Conference will be held on Saturday, May 30, at TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas. This day-long event will welcome the Rev. Becca Stevens, chaplain at Vanderbilt University, founder of Thistle Farms and Magdalene, and the 2014 Council keynote speaker. Stevens will offer thoughts during two morning plenary sessions: “Service as a Place of Honor” and “How a Simple Faith Can Lead Us Deeper.” Stevens says she has learned that our job as practitioners of faith is to find beauty in the fields, to celebrate the harvest, and to care for the troubled fields of this world. Though we are not always inspired to do the work, the work always inspires us, helping us to overcome obstacles and become powerful evangelists, humble farmers, and faithful Christians. A set of workshops will also be offered. Churches are encouraged to gather a group of lay leaders and volunteers to attend. Afternoon Workshops • Doing Your Homework - St. Peter’s, Kerrville, wants to bring the Magdalene program to their city. But first they must assess the need, meet city regulations, file the proper paperwork. What have they learned so far? • Gathering Resources - The Open Table gathers volunteers to use their own vocational and life experiences and personal networks to help bring people out of poverty. St. David’s, San Antonio, has two groups meeting, and more are forming around the diocese. • Focusing on a Specific Goal - Women who live with their children at Magdalena House in San Antonio (not connected to Magdalene - Thistle Farms) are victims of domestic abuse and sex trafficking. While in the home, their focus is on getting an education so they can support themselves. Several San Antonio Episcopal churches are considering partnering with them. • Adapting to Your Neighborhood - One church started it last summer when they realized neighborhood kids would never get to experience Camp Capers. So they brought camp to the children. More “Traveling Day Camps” are planned for this summer. More workshops are being planned. Contact Marjorie George for more information at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.
There It Is
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alled to Serve. I think we may be on to something here. The annual diocesan theme resonated deeply throughout the days of Diocesan Council held in February, but it also seems to be the personal mindset of the diocesan family. In his sermon at the Council Eucharist, Bishop Kee Sloan from the Diocese of Alabama, said we are all called to serve and that the Church is changing. “The days of duty of going to church are over,” he said. “Now, as the Church, we invite people to come and serve others so we will know that God loves us, to feel it, and believe it.” It seems while our churches are inviting newcomers, they are also leaving their buildings and serving. They are engaging in their respective communities and are answering the call to serve with presence, love, and compassion.
At a recent groundbreaking ceremony for St. Peter’s, Rockport, the Rev. Jim Friedel, rector, reflecting on St. Peter’s 144 years of ministry, said, “In 1871 we were given land to form a community of faith, and we have cherished our relationship with Rockport for all these years. We are blessed to be part of this together.” Being part of a community is transforming, a place where one gives and receives. It is often you hear that the giver receives more than the recipient, and churches in the Diocese of West Texas are continuing to prove this true as they form more local ministries. At Diocesan Council, I was honored to meet Kathy Bogie and Deborah Rommel of St. Peter’s, Kerrville, who hosted the booth the Church News
for the developing Magdalene House in Kerrville. Inspired by the Rev. Becca Stevens, founder of the Magdalene program and the social enterprise Thistle Farms in Nashville, who spoke at Diocesan Council in 2014, Kathy and Deborah plus a team of others started the research and work to create a similar program in Kerrville to house women survivors of prostitution, sex trafficking, addiction, and life on the streets. While visiting with both of these ladies, their eyes sparkled as they shared the news that their Magdalene House had just received its 501c3. Kathy said, with her hands in excited fists, “Oh, I just can’t wait for our ladies to arrive.” And I thought, “There it is.” There is the call, the answer, the service, full of humility and formed in the way of the cross. Across our geographical boundaries so many are answering the call in amazing ways, not to mention all our diocesan work outside of our country’s border. We are each called into the Lord’s love and service, reaching out our hands in so many various ways, answering the call. Regardless of what we consider our faults, regardless of our mistakes, we our sheep of his fold, lambs of his flock, as Bishop Reed prayed during his installation. From the pulpit Bishop Sloan said, “God who knows us and sees us, knows who we are, and yet, he calls us to ministry, and calls us to serve.”
March / April 2015
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Featured News
A Mutual Transformational Relationship
| By Mike Patterson
Mike Patterson is a San Antonio-based freelance writer and member of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Blanco.
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hortly after the Rev. Patrick Gahan arrived as the new rector of Christ Church, San Antonio, he visited the principal of James Madison Elementary School in the heart of a low-income neighborhood in San Antonio. Since most of its students qualified for subsidized lunch programs, he was confident that the school needed the help of his church. “What can we do for you?” he asked Barbara Black, James Madison’s top administrator. Black is a lifelong member of Christ Church and didn’t hesitate to correct her new priest. “That’s the wrong question to ask,” she informed him. “We don’t want handouts. We want a relationship.” Gahan’s face turned red, he gulped, then managed to expel two words: “Yes ma’am.”
“The biggest impact of our partnership has been the relationships that have formed between church members and students.”
Photos by Karen Von Der Bruegge.
- Barbara Black
From that conversation, Christ Church embarked on an “utterly transformative” journey with Madison’s pupils, teachers and parents. Together they have built long-term relationships that “bring light and healing to various areas of the students’ lives,” Gahan said. “We do not want to be a ‘flash in the pan’ people, but a community that bears Christ’s transformative love for the long haul.” Parishioners tutor. Students sing in church choirs. Volunteers assemble food bags so Madison children won’t go hungry. And 4
Volunteers from Christ Church, San Antonio, have lunch with some of the students at James Madison Elementary.
the church gives every Madison child with perfect attendance a free bicycle. But “the biggest impact has been the relationships that have formed between church members and students,” said Black, the school’s principal. “That commitment is something that money can’t buy. The positive relationships that have formed have changed the lives of the students and the adults.” Gahan’s visit to Madison was prompted when SAMMinistries, a local interfaith organization with a mission to help the homeless, convened representatives from local churches and synagogues to share ideas and thoughts on what they were doing for their neighborhoods. This coincided with Gahan’s concern that Christ Church had turned too inward upon itself, said the Rev. Scott Kitayama, assistant rector and chief of the pastoral staff. “If we’re really solid about our faith, it needs to be outwardly focused, not inwardly,” he said.
Learning that the “outreach committee” was looking at adopting a neighborhood school, Black invited her new rector for a visit. “I explained that what we needed most were caring adults,” she said. Caring adults responded to her call by providing one-on-one tutoring at Christ Church every Wednesday for Madison children who need help with their school work. The tutoring benefits the children, but “the happiest people in the room are the Christ Church tutors who feel so wonderfully needed,” Gahan said. Black doesn’t have hard data “on whether these things improve attendance or academics, but I do know that they make a difference by what students and parents share,” she said. Case in point: Bonnie Valentine has tutored the same group of boys every week at Christ Church for several years. One started misbehaving at school, a rules violation which would prevent him from continuing
the program. “When the school told him he couldn’t see Mrs. Valentine, he straightened up,” Kitayama said. While the tutors fed their minds, Christ Church found their growing bodies needed feeding, too. Many Madison children are served breakfast, lunch and even light dinners at school. But on weekends limited family resources often mean that meals are few, skimpy, and far between. “We have kids just down the street from the church that are in food-insecure homes,” said Karen Von Der Bruegge, a Christ Church volunteer. “How do we expect them to concentrate and have good behavior when they are hungry come Monday morning after having nothing to eat all weekend?” Taking an idea that originated in Amarillo, Texas, Christ Church implemented Snack Pak 4 Kids, a program designed to provide snacks for children in homes where food is scarce. Church women assemble about 200 Snack Paks at a time, enough to feed 50 students per weekend for an entire month.
me a great feeling of truly impacting their lives,” she said. “What a blessing to be able to help in this small way—just a couple of hours a month—to make a huge difference in the lives of children.” As the relationships and activities blossomed with Madison, Ruth Berg, youth choir director, and Josh Benninger, director of music, got the idea of involving the school children in the children’s choir. So on Wednesdays, about a dozen or so Madison children visit Christ Church for choir practice, while another dozen are tutored. “We have begun to see our music ministry as something more and far more reaching than just inspiring and elevating our Sunday worship,” Gahan said. “Through Berg’s vision and obedience to God, our music has itself become measurable outreach.” Take the occasion when the San Antonio Symphony accompanied a combined children and adult choir for the church’s annual Lessons and Carols celebration. Afterward, as the congregation filed out of the nave, a parent of a Madison singer exclaimed, “This
was an opportunity of a lifetime for my son!” And it was an opportunity as well for the congregation to mingle with those from diverse backgrounds. “From the congregation’s vantage point, how different and wonderful it is that half our singers are from Alamo Heights and other privileged neighborhoods, who are singing alongside children from less fortunate areas,” Gahan said. To encourage children to attend class, Christ Church also gives bicycles to Madison students who have perfect attendance for the year. Last year, it gave away about 80 new bicycles, helmets, and even locks to secure them. “All year long I have students remind me that they haven’t missed a day because they want a new bike,” Black said. “You see the pride and happiness with both students and parents as they receive their new bike at our end of the year ceremony. For some it is their first new bike.” The relationship with James Madison has “revitalized our church,” Kitayama said.
“It breaks my heart thinking of children going to bed hungry,” said volunteer Catherine Markette, “and I am glad I can help in a very tiny way to help take that away for a little bit.”
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“Schools are being asked to do more and more with fewer resources. It is essential that churches and other groups assist in helping schools meet the challenge.” - Barbara Black
“Before I started volunteering with this program, I had no idea that we had children in this city who literally went hungry on nonschool days,” Von Der Bruegge said. “Call me naïve, ignorant, or blind. I thought with programs like food stamps our children had adequate food every day.”
As part of the relationship between Christ Church, San Antonio, and James Madison Elementary, the church gives each student with perfect attendance a new bicycle at the end of the school year.
“Knowing now that without these small bags of food these children would be hungry gives the Church News
March / April 2015
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Featured News
Church-School Relationships Throughout the Diocese | Compiled by Mike Patterson
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piscopal churches throughout the Diocese of West Texas are involved in a variety of ways with their local schools:
The Church of Reconciliation, San Antonio, has a relationship with Serna Elementary School. Church members meet regularly after school to tutor children. Teachers and administrators credit the tutoring program for contributing to Serna’s six-point jump in the percentage of students passing the STAAR test last year (standardized academic test). Reconciliation also hosts the Serna Summer Enrichment Program, which serves 30-50 students a day from Pre-K to 5th graders. Five teachers from Serna and 20-plus volunteers from Reconciliation lead classes in math and reading skills. Reconciliation partners with the San Antonio Food Bank to serve breakfast and lunch for free to students and anyone in the neighborhood in need under the age of 18. College interns also run an outdoor recess “after hours,” doing crafts and playing games. St. Peter’s, Kerrville, has adopted B.T. Wilson Sixth Grade School. Every year, the entire school attends the H-E-B Foundation Camp (Laity Lodge) for an outdoor education weekend. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Women pay for every child whose family is unable to afford the weekend. Church members also mentor Wilson students. And on most fourth Sundays, the loose offering goes into the B.T. Wilson Fund, which is supporting a community garden and pays for other extras at school, such as pizza parties for students who have worked hard academically. St. John’s, New Braunfels, is involved in a Community Arts Program. This program pays for violin lessons for students who are selected by the music teacher and counselor at Carl Schurz Elementary School and are economically and academically challenged. The church plans to expand the program to guitar and piano and eventually make the program available at all elementary schools in the community. 6
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St. George, San Antonio, has a relationship with Larkspur Elementary School. In the fall, eight churches partner to put on the Jubilee Free Sale to benefit the families at Larkspur and other schools in the area. Church members donate used clothing, toys, baby and children’s items, furniture and appliances. The items are set out in a church gym and on a Saturday morning families are invited to take the items for free. St. George also collects backpacks and school supplies. These are blessed and donated to Larkspur for those children who need them. At Christmas, the Small Group Ministry adopts families from Larkspur and purchases needed items and toys for the children. In Lockhart, Emmanuel Episcopal Church works with two programs at Plum Creek Elementary School: Reading is Fundamental and Reading Mentor in which a volunteer from the church reads with an individual student for 30 minutes once a week. St. Boniface, Comfort, partners with other churches to provide backpacks filled with school supplies for children in the local district. St. Boniface’s congregation alone
contributed more than $800 to this ministry. This year, the church also plans to provide backpacks with non-perishable food items for children whose families are in need. Along the Gulf Coast, St. Andrew’s, Port Isabel, collects Wal-Mart gift cards. These are provided to school counselors who distribute the cards to families needing assistance with the purchase of uniforms. San Antonio’s Grace Church teams with Monroe May Elementary School. The church has a school supply drive in August, an Angel Tree Project in December, assists with the school’s Teacher Appreciation, helps with its Spring Carnival, and assists at other times when requested by the school. The diocesan Department of Christian Faith in Action presented a panel of clergy and lay leaders whose churches have working partnerships with public schools at the CFA Luncheon at the 111th Diocesan Council on Thursday, February 26. You can read the report on the luncheon on the Council website, under the “Live” tab: http://council-dwtx.org. Pd. Adv.
Reports from the 111th annual Diocesan Council February 26-28, 2015 San Marcos, Texas
View full coverage and pictures online at http://council-dwtx.org/election-live
Report on the Bishop’s Address
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n his address to the 111th annual Diocesan Council, the Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge delivered news on the work of the diocesan Development Committee and the Habitat Builders of West Texas. Lillibridge devoted time to speaking about same-gender blessings within The Episcopal Church and within our diocese. He also shared details of upcoming diocesan-wide events, and closed by focusing on the annual theme of “Called to Serve.” Lillibridge marked the significance of 2014 in the life of the diocese by remarking on the election of Bishop David Reed as Bishop Coadjutor on October 25. “David and I have been close friends for many years, and we will continue to work closely as the diocese begins to make the transition from my episcopacy to his,” said Lillibridge. Lillibridge will step down from his position of Diocesan Bishop sometime in 2017. He has asked the diocesan Standing Committee to begin to discern plans for the election of a Bishop Suffragan, but this process will take time as the committee will first evaluate the processes of previous bishop elections. The Diocesan Development Committee, which is currently chaired by Gregg Robertson, member of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Corpus Christi, has been meeting every other month for 18 years. The purpose of the Development Committee is two-fold: to identify needs of the diocesan family in most effectively exercising our various ministries; and to help raise the resources which are necessary to meet those needs. Since 1997, the committee has been responsible for raising $22,000,000 for those needs. “We want to keep at the forefront of our thinking about the needs of others, and particularly the needs of those who often find themselves at the margins,” said Lillibridge. The Camp Good Sam program of Good Samaritan Community Services is an
excellent example of serving people found at the margins. The goal of Camp Good Sam is to engage disadvantaged youth during the summer in a safe place to learn and have fun. The diocese offered Camp Good Sam in six communities last summer: Pharr, Corpus Christi, Alice, Wimberley, Sonora, and San Antonio; and the program is in demand. “The Development Committee is currently exploring ideas to facilitate more startups by partnering with interested congregations and communities in a shared financial commitment for the program,” said Lillibridge. In 2012, Lillibridge asked the diocese to join a six-year initiative to build three Habitat for Humanity homes. Under the leadership of the Habitat Builders for West Texas, the first home was completed in 2013 in Lockhart. The second home is underway in Seguin, where ground was broken for the new home on January 18, and volunteer construction has begun. “The build will take about 16 weeks, and I encourage your participation in this fine work,” said Lillibridge. Currently the diocese has raised $62,000 of the six-year $160,000 goal. “We are a little behind,” said Lillibridge, “but for those of you who have contributed and continue to support this great work, I say ‘Thank you.’”
“It is easier to serve when your life is grounded in the discipline of gratitude.” Lillibridge then informed Diocesan Council of the current Lenten study produced by the diocese, Practicing Lent 2015, a sevenweek program of spiritual practices that can be accessed online at Christianformationdwtx.org. As he has done each year in his episcopacy, Lillibridge invited the diocese to
study a specific book in the Bible, and this year, he appointed the Gospel of Mark. The bishop shared details of upcoming diocesan-wide events, including this year’s Sharing Faith dinners that will take place on May 14. The seventh annual Abide in Me Conference is scheduled for May 30 at TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas. The Rev. Becca Stevens will be the keynote speaker, and afternoon workshops will focus on identifying specific outreach needs in local communities. More information on both of these events can be found at www.dwtx.org. Transitioning to the topic of same gender blessings, Lillibridge said, “Few topics continue to dominate the news in both the Church and in the culture as much as the topic of homosexuality.” For more than a decade, Lillibridge has called the diocesan family to prayerful, theological, pastoral, and spiritually healthy ways to engage this subject, seeking to respect the dignity of every human being. “There are many moving parts in this conversation in both our culture and in the Church as we speak,” said Lillibridge. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of same sex marriage in June; and at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, which meets this summer, the Task Force on the Study of Marriage will recommend that General Convention authorize clergy to officiate at same sex marriages. “Closer to home, this past fall I received formal requests from three of our 88 congregations in the Diocese of West Texas to allow them to proceed with same-gender blessings in their congregations,” said Lillibridge. Note these requests are not for same gender marriages, since that is not permitted in Texas at this time. The Executive Board and the Standing Committee of the diocese met with Lillibridge in November 2014 to discuss
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March / April 2015
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the requests, and in January of this year, Lillibridge appointed a Council of Advice of about 30 persons that met twice and had lengthy discussions on this topic. The group included the clergy and wardens of the three congregations making the requests, as well as clergy and laity in support of such blessings and clergy and laity who are not in favor of these blessings. “These conversations, like those that have been underway for many years, were not always easy, but they were marked by mutual respect and love,” said Lillibridge. “One thing is clear: our unity and friendships in Christ have been and remain primary values of the life and mission of this diocese.” Lillibridge said, “I am prayerfully and deliberately weighing a response to the three requests in my office in light of all the factors currently at play, including the Supreme Court consideration and possible outcomes of the upcoming General Convention in Salt Lake City in June.”
Mike Owens, dean of students, reported on the TRACK program in San Antonio, part of the Wounded Warrior Project. During the 12-month program, the cohorts retreat to Camp Capers or Mustang Island Conference Center a few times. Owens, a wounded vet, received a standing ovation.
The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presented the Rev. Tony Regist with the official charter for the Artemesia Bowden chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians in the Diocese of West Texas on Thursday, February 26.
Kathy Bogie and Deborah Rommel of St. Peter’s, Kerrville, introduced the diocese to the forthcoming Magdalene House in Kerrville. The non-profit received its 501c3 in late February. The home will be a two-year residential community that serves women survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution, addiction, and abuse.
The Department of College Missions set up a photo booth at Council for entertainment and to draw visitors. College Missions prayer cards provided individual information on the participants in the various campus programs, including good times to pray for each college student throughout the year.
Turning to the annual theme of “Called to Serve,” Lillibridge quoted various passages from Scripture that can be cited when the theme is “serving,” including Jesus’ words as recorded in Mark’s Gospel telling his followers that he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “This theme, serving others, has many implications for following Jesus,” said Lillibridge. “I want us to be intentional, consistent, and creative in moving beyond our church walls and serving those in our communities. Life is complicated, and I believe we have something to offer; namely, the love of Jesus in hundreds of ways, large and small.”
Photos by Haley Bankey.
“Together, may we be known as a people of Christ’s own, who are zealous for good deeds. This begins with a life rich in the discipline of gratitude; a life resplendent with praise and glory to God; and a life deeply grounded in joy of adoration.” Lillibridge closed by quoting the words of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians (4:5): “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Read, listen, and view the Bishop’s Address at http://council-dwtx.org/election-live 8
www.dwtx.org
Council in Action requested baby items for Mommy Kits, to be sent to a birthing center in Siguatepeque, Honduras. At the start of Council, the Department of World Mission had received 44 kits and $400 in donations. At the close of Council, 350 kits had been complied and $3,000 was received.
Report on the Bishop Coadjutor’s Address
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n Friday, Feb. 27, during Diocesan Council, the Rt. Rev. David Reed delivered his first address as Bishop Coadjutor. Reed was chosen Bishop Coadjutor during the electing Special Council last October. Reed will continue to serve alongside Bishop Gary Lillibridge until Lillibridge’s retirement sometime in 2017. At that time, Reed will become the Diocesan Bishop. In his opening remarks, Reed was full of gratefulness for his service as Bishop Suffragan over the past eight and a half years. He said, “We are, together, in a time of transition – and the beginning of a transition. It’s unusual for a suffragan bishop to become a coadjutor, unusual for a diocese to experience a change like this that is both significant and subtle.” As Bishop Suffragan, Reed travels around the diocese on a weekly basis, which allows him to see the good work that happens in each corner and around every bend. “If you could see what I see,” Reed said, “it’d leave you breathless and with a tear of gratitude in your eye.” He talked about this time of transition in the life of the diocese, saying it feels like Advent (though we are in the season of Lent), “a season of watching, waiting, and preparing; an in-between time of now and not yet.” During his time as a parish priest and also as a suffragan bishop, Reed has become aware of what churches are doing that works, and what they keep doing that isn’t working. “I’ve seen how much Kingdom work can happen when you over there start talking to you over there about what the Lord is doing in your church,” said Reed. At the Special Council last October, Lillibridge announced the three areas of his episcopacy he intended to turn over to the new bishop coadjutor: vocational discernment, clergy deployment, and congregational development. In his remarks on clergy deployment, Reed announced a new initiative called the Diocesan Curacy Program. “The Curacy Program will provide opportunities for the placement of newly ordained clergy as assistants to the rector in congregations that otherwise would have
great difficulty affording a second parish priest,” said Reed. (“Curate” is another word for “Assistant to the Rector.”) In the past and because of the expense, most newly ordained clergy have been placed in large parishes, making it difficult for these clergy to imagine living and thriving in a smaller town and smaller church, said Reed. The Curacy Program will work as a partnership between the diocese and a parish, helping to form new priests and giving congregations and rectors an additional clergy staff member to help improve ministries or start up desired ministries. This program has already been launched, Reed announced, “with the placement of senior seminarian, the Rev. Casey Berkhouse, as curate for St. Philip’s, Uvalde, beginning this summer.”
Hear reports from: • • • • • • • •
Turning to congregational development, which Reed said is like stewardship, he asked all those that lived in the Eagle Ford Shale region of the state to raise their hands, and all those that have been affected by the oil and gas play in the South-Central area of the state to raise their hands. “Every one of you should raise your hand,” he said.
• • • •
“With all the economic and social changes come also the challenges, the hardships, the social problems. There also come new opportunities to answer the Lord’s call to come and serve,” said Reed. The diocesan Development Committee is hard at work with this opportunity and is interested in both the short-term and the long-term. “Our churches and our people who have been there all along, and who are living faithfully in the midst of this seismic change are our best and primary resource for understanding how we, as a diocese, can expand the work of the Gospel there.”
• •
Reed said he takes great delight in traveling the diocese to visit with each of the congregations on Sundays. However, he plans to schedule longer visits during his first year as Bishop Coadjutor, beginning this spring with a visit to the six congregations that make up the Eastern Partners in Ministry.
• •
Bishop Lillibridge Bishop Reed Bishop Francisco Moreno Bishop Benito Juarez-Martinez Episcopal Schools Commission Department of World Mission Frontera Unida Department of Camps and Conferences Wounded Warrior Project Sabbatical Committee TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas Good Samaritan Community Services Department of College Missions Episcopal Church Foundation in West Texas Committee on Bishop’s Address Council Eucharist sermon by Bishop John McKee Sloan
See the videos: • Bishop Lililbridge’s Address • Bishop Reed’s Address • Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori’s luncheon presentation • Bishop Sloan’s Eucharist sermon • “Called to Serve” by the Elisha Leadership Initiative • Ministry Moment: Border Crisis • Ministry Moment: The Open Table • Ministry Moment: Letters for Wounded Warriors • 2016 Council Invitation All online at: http://council-dwtx.org/election-live
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The Presiding Bishop on Abundant Life
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n her Bishops’ Luncheon presentation at Diocesan Council, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, spoke on answering the invitation to abundant life and being called to serve wherever Jesus may lead. “Holy living is an adventure,” Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori said. “When we accepted our invitation to Christianity, we agreed to live in ways to reflect the love of God, to put a far more equal focus on our neighbors than ourselves, and to be intentionally grateful.” She spoke to human beings’ focus on self and desire for self preservation, and when that becomes the sole entirety of one’s focus, it is a sin. “The gift of self preservation is meant to be in balance with others’ self preservation. We need to foster abundant life for all,” she said. The Presiding Bishop spoke to Jesus’ ministry and how he lived into it in very concrete ways: teaching people about God, encouraging people to see God in everyday life, feeding people, releasing people from bondage, healing and reviving life, building new kinds of families, and challenging the powers around him that wanted to limit the access to God. “This challenge was what got him crucified,” she said. “Jesus’ ministry reminds us that the Kingdom of God is nearer than we know, and we see it when the widow gets justice,
when foreigners are welcome and made to feel at home, when children are fed… that is what service is all about.” She said no one is expendable in God’s economy. If there was room for the robber on the cross next to Jesus, there is room for us all. “If we continue to build connections and heal relationships with immigrants and our Jewish and Muslim neighbors here, that will ultimately help to build bridges everywhere.”
Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori received a standing ovation for her presentation on “Abundant Life” at the Bishops’ Luncheon during Diocesan Council.
The Presiding Bishop said we can’t be strangers anymore, because we are neighbors in Christ. We are called to serve the vision of a healed world in neighborhoods both familiar and strange. “Who’s crying out for healing? That’s where you’ll find Jesus’ abundant grace. Will you go?” she asked. “We have abundant life when we are willing to take the risk and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. Abundant life comes to those who give thanks and share what they’ve received, grace and hope,” she said. At the conclusion of her presentation, Bishop Gary Lillibridge asked Presiding
Bishop Jefferts Schori to draw a card from the 2015 Sharing Faith card deck, with questions relating to the annual diocesan theme of Called to Serve. The question read: How does Jesus’ model of being a servant influence your role of leadership? Chuckling, the Presiding Bishop said she had just spoken to that. For her answer, she said what influences her is going into the world expecting to find Jesus in everyone she meets. She said she does not do this perfectly, but that we should go out expecting “radical perfectedness.” “We can encounter people with a sense of hope and possibility,” she said. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori’s presentation can be viewed on the Council website at: http://council-dwtx.org/election-live
Report on the Coadjutor’s Address Continued from page 9.
Photo by John Gaskins.
He plans to come with more focus during these longer visits. And he’ll be asking the churches the same questions he asked of the Senior High Mid-Winter campers at Camp Capers in January (as they helped him form parts of the liturgy for the Diocesan Council Eucharist installing him as Bishop Coadjutor). The questions are: 1. How can I support you, and your church, in your life in Christ? 2. What kind of bishop do you need me to be so that your congregation can flourish? 3. What can you do to help me be a better bishop? Reed said, “I am thankful for this calling you and our Lord have placed upon me. The challenges are great, but our Lord is greater, and Jesus 10
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is always calling us to follow him beyond our abilities. I ask for, and count on, your prayers.” He closed with a quotation by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, that came from a plaque he received before he was consecrated as bishop suffragan: “For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian; one is an office; the other is a gift, received. One is danger; the other is safety. If I am happier to be redeemed with you than to be placed over you, then I shall, as the Lord commanded be more fully your servant.” Read, listen, and view the Bishop Coadjutor’s Address at http://council-dwtx.org/election-live
“God Calls You” The Installation Service of the Rt. Rev. David Reed
There is no specific liturgy in the Episcopal Church for a previously ordained bishop to be installed as Bishop Coadjutor. Hence, Reed compiled the liturgy for the installation after he visited high-school-age students at Camp Capers, a diocesan camping and retreat center, in January of this year. During his visit, he asked the teenagers three questions: • How can I support you in your life in Christ? • What kind of bishop do you and your church need me to be? • How can you help me be a better bishop? Reed molded their answers into the Collect for the Day, prayers for the installation and into the Prayers of the People. As he knelt before Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, Reed prayed, “O Lord my God, I am a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming; yet you have called me to serve as bishop and shepherd.” Guest preacher, the Rt. Rev. John McKee “Kee” Sloan, bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, opened his sermon with the quote above from Reed’s prayer.
Bishop Kee Sloan from the Diocese of Alabama served as the guest preacher for the Diocesan Council Eucharist service on February 28.
Entertaining the 1,000-plus-member congregation with stories of his youth, Sloan said God knows Reed better than anyone else, and he has called him because of who he is. “David Reed is such a genuinely humble, nice, gentle, sincere, authentic man,” Sloan said, and this comment received applause from the entire congregation. Sloan continued in his sermon saying the Good News is that God calls each and every one of us to be who we are, to preach the Gospel, to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being. “God knows us and sees us, knows our faults and our shortcomings, and yet he calls us to ministry, he calls us to serve,” said Sloan. The host church for Diocesan Council was St. John’s, New Braunfels, and the church put together a 100-member choir that included choir singers from around the diocese. Their voices filled the large auditorium with exquisite sound, accompanied by young boys of the Chapel Boychoir from San Antonio. A diocesan youth band was also formed, and the musicians and 20-plus youth singers led the congregation in three contemporary songs during the Eucharist. Reed invited the youth musicians to serve in this capacity to ensure their lively joy and energy would be part of Council and the installation service. Of the service, Reed said, “Today marks a transition – and the beginning of a transition – in the life of our diocese, in which continuity and change are interwoven, a familiar territory for Christians. Continuity and change, remembrance and hope, dying and rising, gathering together and being sent out, leaving home and finding Home – this is how we travel together on the Way of Christ.”
Bishop Reed recites a prayer, kneeling before Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, during his installation as Bishop Coadjutor.
Bishop Reed was elected in October 2014, and he is the first Bishop Suffragan of the diocese elected Bishop Coadjutor. Reed will continue to serve alongside Diocesan Bishop Gary Lillibridge until Lillibridge’s eventual retirement in 2017. Sloan’s sermon can be viewed on the Council website on the “Live” page at: http://council-dwtx.org/election-live The liturgy of the service can be viewed on the Council website on the “Go Green” page at: http://council-dwtx.org/activities/agenda/ go-green-2/
The 100-member choir, featuring singers from St. John’s, New Braunfels, and churches around the diocese, filled the auditorim with exquisite sound, accompanied by the Chapel Boychoir from San Antonio and the diocesan youth band.
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Photos by John Gaskins.
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uring the Eucharist service for the 111th annual Council of the Diocese of West Texas, the Rt. Rev. David M. Reed was installed as Bishop Coadjutor. The Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presided over the service and the installation.
Featured News
From Mission to Parish: Holy Spirit, San Antonio By Marjorie George
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s Council unanimously approved the petition of Church of the Holy Spirit, San Antonio, to move from mission to parish status, the attendees stood to welcome a long line of parishioners who flowed through the Council doors, all in red shirts and sporting signs that said, “Thank You.” Lynne VandeWalle, senior warden of the new parish, said the congregation was, “honored and blessed to be here as we move to parish status.” VandeWalle thanked the diocese for 35 years of support, noting especially “the blessing of a great diocesan leadership.” “It’s been a long and challenging road to bring us to this point,” said VandeWalle. “Parish status will provide us with more opportunities for growth plus a structure for our members to have a bigger impact on the community around us.” The Rev. Jason Roberts, rector of the parish, thanked Council for giving its consent to parish status and especially for the diocesan Restart Program that offered them the opportunity to focus on ministries and growth intentionally with some accountability and financial support. “Without the restart program, we would not as easily be where we are today,” said Roberts. The Church of Holy Spirit was conceived in 1975 to be located on a piece of property across from the rear of the new University of Texas at San Antonio. The Rev. Cliff Waller was first vicar of Holy Spirit, and the
first service was held in a private home in March 1980. Ten people attended. Two years later, the fledgling group moved into five portable buildings on the property. For the next 15 years, the Rev. Christopher Ashmore led the congregation, and it became a parish at the 92nd Council in 1996. Unfortunately, for the next four years, the congregation suffered reversals and returned to mission status a few years later.
Approximately 100 parishioners gathered in San Marcos on Friday, February 27, to represent Holy Spirit, San Antonio, as the church moved from mission to parish status.
In 2008, the property near UTSA was sold, and the congregation began to worship at Pedrotti’s North Wind Resort in northwest San Antonio. Roberts was called to serve the congregation throughout its transition to new quarters, and two years later the church purchased property on Bandera Road in northwest San Antonio, in the heart of a growing area. The church planned and built a new sacred space into which they moved in 2013. “The design of the new space, every detail, was very intentional,” said Roberts. “It is an expression of who we are as a community.”
Photos by Haley Bankey.
During the transition time, Holy Spirit and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio joined together to be one congregation. Today the average Sunday attendance at the church is 183. “I truly believe our joining with St. Michael’s in common mission is when our real growth began,” said Roberts. “It marked a change 12
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in how Holy Spirit welcomes people, and we became a living example of how the body of Christ is made whole through unity.” The congregation returned to Pedrotti’s North Wind Resort last November for a Celebration of Blessings Dinner and to vote in favor of moving to parish status. “It was a time to remember where we came from,” said Roberts. “You have to do that to know where you’re going.”
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oly Spirit, San Antonio, moved into its new sacred space in September of 2013. This church is a lovely statement to our church family about the joy of faith, and the joy of growth. “Our altar is round with a 14-foot Jerusalem cross located between the altar and the great windows that bring nature and natural light into the sanctuary,” said Barbara Steele, parishioner. Early on, the church realized that the knees of the congregation needed to be cared for around the altar, and the St. Clare’s Needlepoint Guild was formed in early 2014. St. Clare is the patron saint of needlework. St. Clare’s Guilds are found nationwide in Episcopal churches and worldwide in Anglican churches. The Rev. Jason Roberts, rector, approached Steele and suggested the theme for the altar kneelers be the Fruit of the Spirit.
Sara Belle Clark Chapter of the Daughters of the King Celebrates 80 Years of Service
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he Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi, Sara Belle Clark Chapter of the Daughters of the King celebrated their 80th anniversary on February 15. The Daughters of the King is a 130-year-old order for women who are communicants of the Episcopal Church, churches in communion with it, or churches in the historic episcopate but not in communion with it. Members take a vow (pledge) to live by the “Rule of Prayer and Service.” Any project undertaken is funded by offerings from the members. Traditionally, a chapter exists to serve the parish rector or priest. The Church of the Good Shepherd chapter began under the Rectorship of the Rev. William Capers Munds, D.D. (1934-1942). Soon after his arrival, he requested that Miss Clark form a chapter of the Daughters of the King out of her Sunday school class for young women. The Charter was issued on February 11, 1935 as the Sara Bell Clark
After a great deal of work, the Guild found the right liturgical designer and began the process of planning for the altar rail kneelers. It was determined 16 kneelers would be needed in Phase I, so eight will have words and symbols and alternate with eight Jerusalem cross designs. The eight words will be: Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. This work will be lovingly hand-stitched in needlepoint by the members of our Guild. Phase II will be a large center kneeler with the word Love, as the greatest of these gifts is Love. Stitching will begin in early May, and the guild anticipates being able to dedicate the kneelers in 2016. The guild consists of nine experienced stitchers and an additional group who are learning. They have a relationship with the stitchers at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, both the Saintly Stitchers and the St. Clare’s. “It is a sisterhood of shared talent and enthusiasm for each of our sacred spaces,” said Steele.
Chapter, in honor of its founder. Among the charter members were Mrs. Kathleen Arnim, Mrs. Mattie Hamlett, Mrs. Mary Hannaford and Mrs. Evelyn Weller. During the first year, a complete set of altar linens and a large chest of drawers were presented to the church as a memorial. In addition, the Daughters served to visit the sick and bereaved, to take the altar flowers to those in the hospital or shut-in, and to carry on any work directed by the Rev. Munds. In those early days, the Daughters also provided milk money, socks, and school supplies for the needy children in the community. Through the years they have given silver communion vessels to mission churches and ordination gifts to the newly ordained clergy of Good Shepherd; worked with Lutheran World Service to sell Hmong stitchery pieces to help Laotian refugees, sending $3,000 from the Episcopal churches in Corpus Christi; provided food for Cliff Maus Village Apartments Food Pantry; gave poinsettias to shut-ins at Christmas, and recently cut out shoe parts from old blue jeans for 38 shoes to send to Sole Hope. org, a non-profit organization in Africa. Accompanying each shoe was a day’s wage.
Front left to right: Cheryl North, Rose Damon, Pat McCarroll, Barbara Steele, Liz Nicholson, Nancy Roberts; Back: Mike Foster, Kiki Foster, Michelle Little, Cheri Leffler, Jo Ann Kelly
The St. Clare’s Guild of Holy Spirit plan to stick around and continue to see how they may add to the sacred space. “We believe the joy of our giving will be a legacy enjoyed by our church family for decades to come,” said Steele. Submitted by Barbara Steele.
Seated (left to right): Frances Aboud, Linda Pate, Karen Henry, and Cheryl Tegarden. Standing: Allison Webster, Sally Muncy, Kimberly Tompkins, Barbara Ward, Kim Loessa Najera (DOK Diocesan VicePresident), the Rev. Milton Black (Rector), Claire Levingston (DOK Diocesan President), Lorraine Dawson, and Loyal Howe. Member in attendance but not shown is Mary Helen Dunnam.
The 15 ladies serve the parish as Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, lay readers, coffee hour hostesses, office angels, egg ladies, and members of the Vestry, choir, and guilds. Mrs. Cheryl Tegarden is President of the Chapter, Mrs. Lorraine Dawson is VicePresident, Mrs. Allison Webster is Secretary, and Mrs. Frances Aboud is Treasurer. The Rev. Philip May is Chaplain of the Chapter which serves the Rev. Milton Black. Submitted by Lorraine Dawson.
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St. Clare’s Guild photo submitted by Barbara Steele; Daughters of the King photo submitted by Frances Aboud.
St. Clare’s Needlepoint Guild at Holy Spirit
Around the circuit
Charity Golf Tournament
Habitat Build in Seguin
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rinity by the Sea, Port Aransas, will host the annual Charity Golf Tournament to benefit Trinity by the Sea Day School on Friday, May 1, at the Palmilla Beach Golf Course in Port Aransas. Join Bishop and Catherine Lillibridge on the green by the sea. Registration for the tournament is open, and sponsors and teams are needed. Visit trinitybythesea.org or call Nana Ward at 361-749-6448. Check-in will begin at 11:30 a.m. on May 1, and a shotgun start is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Prizes, drawings, a buffet dinner, and entertainment will be provided. The Trinity Day School serves children ages 15 months to five years and is the only preschool in the coastal town. It also provides adult parenting classes. Funds from the golf tournament help keep tuition low, pay teachers’ salaries, and provide scholarships, as well as help fund needed playground equipment.
he turn of a shovel on January 18 initiated construction on the second home in the Diocese of West Texas Habitat Challenge. St. Andrew’s, Seguin, is the host church for this build.
Join the Habitat Builders for West Texas in the construction: • • • • • • • •
Volunteer construction began February 21 with the building and raising of the walls. The build will take about 16 weeks to complete. Sign up at http://guadalupevalleyhabitat.org/ Construction will be on Saturdays only. This is the ideal way for your congregation to do mission work without a passport. Bring a team of folks if you can. It is really fun and rewarding work. No skills are needed to work on the site. The good people of St. Andrew’s, Seguin, and the Guadalupe County Habitat Affiliate are providing outstanding hospitality with lunch and drinks.
Work begins at 8:30 a.m. each Saturday, and the address is 321 Mesquite Street, Seguin, TX. Learn more and see pictures at www.dwtx.org/blog/habitat
Relationship Continued from page 5. “There’s so much energy now. When you focus so much on your inside, you become stale and lethargic. When you step out of it, this brings new life. When you bring a bit of the Kingdom of Heaven into people’s lives, it is transformative.” “The things that are happening with Madison teachers and students are an answered prayer,” Black said. “Schools are being asked to do more and more with less resources. It is essential that churches and neighborhood groups assist in helping schools with the challenges that we face.”
Golfers celebrate at the Trinity by the Sea Charity Golf Tournament last year. Photo by Tim Burdick.
This year’s Sharing Faith dinners across the diocese will be held on Thursday, May 14. “Called to Serve” is the diocesan theme for 2015.
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“Evangelism comes in different forms,” Von Der Bruegge said. “I see this as a form of evangelism, besides the Biblical teaching to care for the poor. The children know that we all belong to the church; that their principal, Barbara Black, attends; and I think that being involved in this program plants a small seed of the knowledge that they are cared for by Christ.”
“I think God has put each one of us on this earth to be caregivers, and I feel so blessed
Sharing Faith Dinners: “Called to Serve”
Each church received the 2015 Sharing Faith cards at Diocesan Council. The number of decks given was based on the number of dinners each church held in 2014. Dinner Coordinators may request additional decks, as well as cards with questions specifically for youth groups. Email Leslie at leslie.mixson@dwtx.org.
to be a part of this ministry,” said volunteer JoAnn Nussbaum. “It is so rewarding to know you might have made a difference in these children’s lives.”
We will, once again, gather to share a meal and stories of our faith in parishioners’ homes, while the Dioceses of Texas and Fort Worth do the same.
Online registration is open for Dinner Coordinators and Moderators - Dinner Coordinators need to register by March 20, and Moderators by April 10. Register online at www.dwtx.org/sharing-faith. You can also find training and promotional materials, including an 8.5x14 poster and three bulletin inserts for Sundays after Easter online at www.dwtx.org/sharing-faith. You can access the adult and the youth questions on the Sharing Faith app. Search for “DWTX Faith” in your phone’s app store.
Around the circuit
78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church June 25-July 3, 2015 Salt Lake City, Utah News from the bishops and the Diocese of West Texas deputation during the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church will be posted online during the days that General Convention is in session, Thursday, June 25, to Friday, July 3, at: www.dwtx.org/general-convention General Convention is held every three years, and this year, one main item of business is the election of a new Presiding Bishop. Diocese of West Texas Deputation: The Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge The Rt. Rev. David Reed Deputies: The Rev. Scott Brown Mrs. Carrie Guerra Mrs. Alice Ann Fischer The Rev. Ripp Hardaway Mrs. Kelley Kimble The Rev. Lisa Mason The Rev. David Read Mr. Rob Schneider
Summary of apportionments through February 28, 2015.
Alternates: The Rev. Jennifer Brooke-Davidson The Rev. Paul Frey Mr. Roger Graham The Rev. Ben Nelson Mrs. Sharon Neukam The Rev. Canon Joann Saylors Mr. John Warren Mrs. Jennifer Wickham
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Episcopal Diocese of West Texas P. O. Box 6885 San Antonio, TX 78209 www.dwtx.org Send address changes to The Church News, P.O. Box 6885, San Antonio, TX 78209
the
Church News
calendar of events
Diocesan events April
Sunday Night Live Sunday Night Live (SNL) will be held on Sunday evening, April 12, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Mission Room at the Bishop Jones Center (111 Torcido, 78209) in San Antonio. SNL is a gathering for high schoolage youth in the San Antonio area and is led by students that participate in the diocesan College Missions programs on various college campuses. The evening includes worship, a talk, small groups, fellowship, and dinner. For more information contact the Director of College Missions, Greg Richards, at greg.richards@dwtx.org.
Spring Women’s Gathering The annual Spring Women’s Gathering will be held at Camp Capers Friday-Sunday, April 17-19. Sponsored by the Commission for Women’s Ministries, the retreat is open to women across the diocese. The theme is “Our Stories - Full of Grace,” and participants will gather to share stories in a safe place and learn to listen to the stories of others. An optional Community Connections opportunity on Friday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. will welcome Amelia Acerra, executive director of San Antonio Open Table. Read all the gathering details on the brochure and register online at www.dwtx.org/events. Meditative Yoga Retreat The Meditative Yoga Retreat will be held Friday-Sunday, April 17-19, at Mustang Island Conference Center and will focus on meditative practices of yoga, the connection between Christian theology and yoga practices, and the benefit of yoga to your overall health. Yoga instruction will be led by Agatha Wade and Janie Portele with spiritual and meditative guidance led by the
Rev. Mary Earle, a retired Episcopal priest from San Antonio. Come spend a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend on the beach participating in a mix of peaceful solitude and community fellowship. See the flyer and register online at www.dwtx.org/events. Nails and Prayers Men’s Retreat The annual Nails and Prayers Men’s Retreat will be held at Camp Capers Friday-Sunday, April 24-26. Men ages 18 and over are welcome for a weekend of work to serve Camp Capers and of fellowship and spiritual formation. Tasks may include garden planting, land clearing, sprucing up buildings with a fresh coat of paint, or other duties. The weekend begins with registration at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 on Friday and ends with lunch on Sunday. Led by the Rev. Jay George. Register online at www.dwtx.org/events.
May
Spiritual Retreat in Recovery #105 The 105th Spiritual Retreat in Recovery will be held at Camp Capers Friday-Sunday, May 1-3. Retreat leaders are the Revs. Stockton Williams and Shana Neff, as well as Ben Powers. The retreat is sponsored by the diocesan Recovery Ministries, and registration will open soon. The mission of Recovery Ministries is to provide a safe place to deepen one’s spiritual journey. Recovery Ministries accepts donations to support the Spiritual Retreats in Recovery and those persons on their personal journeys to recovery. Register at www.dwtx.org/events. Cursillo #268 Spanish Cursillo #268, which is a Spanish Cursillo, will be held Thursday-Sunday, May 7-10, at Mustang Island Conference Center. The Rector for the weekend is Karen Morris from St. Stephen’s, Wimberley. Spiritual Directors are the Revs. Paul Frey (Christ Church, Laredo) and Matthew Frey (St. Matthew’s, Edinburg).
Cursillo is a spiritual renewal weekend for adults. More information can be found here. Online registration at www.dwtx.org/events. Sharing Faith Dinners Diocesan-wide Sharing Faith dinners will be held on Thursday, May 14. See page 14 for more information or visit www.dwtx.org/ sharing-faith. Abide in Me Conference The seventh annual Abide in Me Conference will be held on May 30 at TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas. See page 3 for more information or www.dwtx.org/abideinme. Diocesan events: www.dwtx.org/events Church events: www.dwtx.org/church-events
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Read ministry stories from our churches in between issues of The Church News. The blog also features current news, national news, and diocesan ministry updates.
ReflectionsOnline
The diocesan spiritual formation blog, ReflectionsOnline offers weekly reflections and resources for your spiritual journey. www.reflections-dwtx.org “Episcopal Diocese of West Texas Bishop Jones Center” @DioceseWestTX