Texas Episcopalian June 2010

Volume 113, No. 6

Houston, Texas

June 2010

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One Year Later the Bishop is con necting

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle looks back one year after taking over leadership as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.

Carol E. Barnwell, Editor: You had a good idea of what the role of bishop might entail because you had served previously as Bishop Don Wimberly’s executive assistant, but what has been most surprising since you were seated as Bishop of Texas a year ago?

C. Andrew Doyle: It sounds like an odd thing to say, but the reality is that I LOVE the ministry. It challenges me; it makes me work hard, it involves and engages my creative side; it allows for teaching and makes for a healthy prayer life. I had no idea that I would so enjoy being with people, hearing their stories, sharing their life journeys, being a part of their congregation’s worship and ministry. These are wonderful things and I look forward to new experiences every Sunday.

CEB: During this year you have traveled to England with the Compass Rose Society and met Archbishop Rowan Williams and you have confirmed people in our smallest congregations.

What have you learned about our heritage/connectedness as Anglicans?

CAD: On the one hand, I have learned about the Episcopal Church’s long history of building and networking the See One Year Later, page 10

INSIDE Bishops’ Calendars......................... 15 Bishop’s Column.............................. 2 Calendar of events............................ 6 Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

National News..................... 12-13 Parish News............................ 3-4 Sam Todd’s Column..................14 1

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June

2010

Our place on the Map William Smith was born in Oxfordshire, England in the early 19th century, and from an early age he was interested in stones. In his diary he wrote that the small round rocks used for marbles looked like something that once lived.

Dairy maids in Oxfordshire used Chadworth Stones (this is where the word stones came into usage as a weight of measurement) to weigh their butter; moreover, the most popular stones looked vaguely like living creatures as well.

Manufactured weights were not available at the time and unknown to Smith, the “marbles” and the “weights” were fossils.

Smith grew “curiouser” and “curiouser” pondering the patterns he noticed in rocky formations while he worked as a surveyor of coal mines and canals. Concurrently, the industrial revolution was driving questions about harnessing energy for manufacturing and human energy for labor. The origins of species was being questioned.

It was Smith, though, who pulled the many thoughts and questions together and eventually drew the first geological map, accurately depicting the layers of earth’s strata. This map is the physical birth of geology and quite literally, changed the world. Geology and the manner of study inaugurated in large measure by Smith literally provided a wealth of raw resources that

The Texas Episcopalian (since 1897) is an official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.

Mission: In the name of Jesus Christ, the Texas Episcopalian seeks to inform the people in the diocese of events and philosophies which affect the mission and life of the Church.

industry needed to industrialize the world and a method to do so. I learned this by reading a wonderful book by Simon Winchester, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology.

We live in a world that clearly stands upon the answered questions of Smith’s day, but we live in no less a chaotic time.

Advances in technology, science, global culture and society challenge many of our preconceived ideas about the world and its origins. The speed of this change is momentous. In The Great Emergence, Phyllis Tickle writes that there are three questions being asked today: Where is authority? What is a human being? And what does it mean to be a religious person in a world of global religious complexity?

The top most sought-after jobs in this year 2010 did not exist in 2004. We are quite literally training children to answer questions and work in jobs that do not yet exist. China will soon be the largest English-speaking country in the world. The United States is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. There are five times as many words in the English language today than there were when Shakespeare wrote. One out of eight couples married last year met online.

Billions of searches are done on Google by people seeking answers.

You can watch more of these facts on a YouTube video entitled: Did You Know? at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lUMf7FWGdCw. Where do we go when Google can’t come up with the answer? Who do we talk to when we only get computerized voices on the phone?

It would be nice to find a solid place to stand in this scenario.

While I cannot be certain, I do believe that this is the very same kind of question that the disciples asked themselves as Jesus explained to them that he was leaving. If I were a disciple, I would have asked it as a follow up to Philip’s question on the road to Philippi. I would have asked it at the Last Supper.

I would have asked it in the Garden of Gethsemane. I would have asked it in the Upper Room and on the shore of the Galilean lake. I would have asked it every time Jesus said he was going away … and in John’s Gospel they pretty much did!

Jesus’ answer is the same throughout the Gospel, and it reminds us of God’s faithful friendship with the patriarchs and matriarchs of our deuteronomistic family: “I will be with you.”

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June

2010

Search Process Begins

ll diocesan youth and young adult activities currently planned will take place while the diocese conducts a full search process for a Canon of Christian Formation. This is part of a broader reorganization of diocesan ministries resulting from last year’s vision process.

The Rev. Carissa Baldwin, assistant rector at St. Stephen’s, Houston, will chair a new formation commission and will work closely with the Rev. Beth Magill, associate priest at St. David’s, Austin, chair of the diocesan commission for youth and young adults. Eric Moen, director of youth and young adult ministries at St. Martin’s, Houston, and the Rev. Patrick Miller, rector of St. Mark’s, Houston, will assist Magill during a transition period to make sure all programs and ministries to youth and young adults continue uninterrupted.

“Formation is a Pentecost-oriented undertaking where the

The Texas Episcopalian (ISSN# 1074-441X) is published monthly except July and August for $15 a year by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, 1225 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002-3504. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. Deadline is the 10th of the month preceding publication. Articles, editorials and photos should be submitted to the editor at the above e-mail address. Photos will not be returned. Address changes can be made at www.epicenter.org/infochange.

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The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle IX Bishop of Texas

Youth Events Continue Uninterrupted

Publisher: The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle Editor: Carol E. Barnwell, cbarnwell@epicenter.org Layout: LaShane K. Eaglin, leaglin@epicenter.org

Texas Episcopalian

Jesus desires an apostolic community where his disciples are forever unified to God - to the community of God - through the Holy Spirit. Jesus dreams that they will follow him, continue to love as he has loved, and continue his ministry of proclaiming the good news. All of this work intimately reflects the divine community of God (Father, Son, Bishop Andy Doyle and Holy Spirit), reflects the divine unity, the divine love and the divine outpouring of itself into the world.

We are the Episcopal Church. We are that apostolic community in the world. We are the community united in all of our diversity in and through the power of God’s revealing Spirit. We glorify God and we make him known as creator, as unique revelation (Jesus Christ), as empowering Spirit.

Yes, the Holy Spirit, the wind, the pneuma, God’s breath, the Paraclete, the wisdom, spirit and perfect love of the divine Godhead moves inside the very being of our church and our congregations, our orders and our mission.

The Episcopal Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

And it is in our apostolic family of God that we find our place on the map and where we will find our solid rock. It is from this vantage point that you and I together forge the reign of God - a reign of peace and justice, a reign where people find their dignity, a reign where others are treated as neighbor.

Outside the church we are God’s hands at work; we are God’s revelation.

Our church may not always get it right. We may not have all the answers for how to live life in this chaotic and changing world. But we do know who we are, where we are and in whom our hearts rest.

Come Holy Spirit come, comfort your people and send us out transforming our congregations, our community and the world around us. Come Holy Spirit come!

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gospel of Jesus Christ becomes accessible regardless of age or ethnicity. It is at the heart of our ministry. I want to reorganize the offices for youth and young adults and Christian formation to focus on this broad and comprehensive ministry of life-long and multi-ethnic formation for all ages as well as to engage more people in our local churches,” Bishop Doyle said. “I’m delighted that we have so many talented people willing to step up during the transition period,” he added.

Bishop Doyle announced that the Rev. Susan Kennard, rector of St. Mark’s, Bay City, will head the search committee, slated to begin its work by the fall.

Questions about youth and/or young adult ministry may be directed to Erin McClure at emcclure@epicenter.org or by calling McClure at 713.520.6444

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Local Boy Makes Missionary Sh i e l d s Se l ected for Young Adult Ser vice Corps

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ach year, a number of the nation’s best and brightest are chosen to act as missionaries for the Episcopal Young Adult Service Corps. Travis Shields, a member of Grace, Georgetown and Trinity, The Woodlands, was among the ten persons selected to serve the Episcopal Church, USA for the next year.

Shields, currently a senior studying physics at Southwestern University in Georgetown, said he was at a point in his life where he couldn’t “go straight” any more.

After receiving an e-mail about the program from a friend, he found himself sending in a completed application at 4 a.m. one morning over Christmas break. His first thought: “What did I just apply to?”

“It was so quick, it was like God taking away my chance to say I can’t do this,” Shields said.

Several weeks later Shields was invited to interview in Jacksonville, Florida, in early February with other applicants from around the country. “The interview lasted four days, and was pretty intense, but a little like summer camp,” said Shields.

Applicants were watched closely by priests and psychologists throughout the four-day interview. “We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with these priests and psychologists. They took notes while we played icebreakers.

It was a lot of fun, even though it was really scary. We all got really close,” Shields said.

Shields was elated to find out that he had been chosen, but at the same time was faced with quite a challenge – to raise $10,000 to fund his trip and any other needs he will have while participating.

“I’ve been talking with different churches like Grace and Trinity, and the Diocese of Texas is helping me out

as well. I actually went to my dad’s Bible study group and talked with them. It’s not the financial stuff, but for people to donate things like a laptop, digital camera, shoes and clothes,” Shields said.

In general, he’s just looking for support. “God doesn’t need your money, and I don’t need your money, but it can be a call to obedience. Paul says that not everyone can go, but to support those who can, through prayer or money or just by reading my blog.”

Shields will serve in Grahamstown, South Africa at the Anglican Church of Grahamstown.

“My mom had a sigh of relief that it wasn’t Kenya or Tanzania, while my dad is chilled about the whole thing.”

Shields is still not sure exactly what he’ll be doing, but he’s been following the blog of Robert Hooper from Connecticut, the youth missioner presently in Grahamstown, to give him some sort of idea.

“I know I’ll be doing an actual job to help out in the area and be involved in the church while there. I’ll probably be leading Bible studies and leading actively for the church,” Shields added.

Shields’ next step will be going to Toronto, Canada for a two-and-a-half week training session in June before leaving for Grahamstown in July or August.

“It’ll be a time to reflect and do a lot of good for a lot of people,” Shields said.

Shields is a member of the Southwestern University Canterbury and has served as a leader of the Grace Georgetown EYC for two years. During his high school years, he was the drummer for the praise band at Trinity, The Woodlands.

You can contact Shields at Shieldst88@gmail.com.

Travis Shields and Bishop Dena Harrison

Spiritual Directors’ School Commissions 90th Student

By Kathleen Phillips

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hen the FIND class of 2010 steps before the altar at Camp Allen June 19 to be commissioned, the diocese will have trained more than 90 spiritual

directors.

Listening with compassion to the soul of another person is not only what these directors do best, it’s often what people most need in order to grow spiritually.

That was what the diocese set out to accomplish in the mid-1990s after people at The Gathering, a dialoging event in Houston, began asking for more opportunities to develop spiritually, according to Fleetwood Range of Huntsville.

Range, who later became the first director of FIND (Formation in Direction), said the original group who helped bring the school for spiritual directors into existence wasn’t thinking about where the school would be in 10 years.

“We were thinking, ‘Can we possibly get this off the ground?” Range recalled. “We were looking only 10 months ahead not 10 years.”

The first class began in the fall of 1997 and graduated in 2000. With the exception of 2001, the school has graduated

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a class every year since. The commissioned spiritual directors include people from all walks of life, lay and clergy, male and female, various ethnic backgrounds and races, Episcopalian and a host of other Christian faiths. All come with a desire to listen to the stories of another person’s spiritual journey, perhaps offering prayer suggestions and ideas to help their progress, but not serving as one to “fix” or counsel the directee.

With more than 90 directors in the diocese, several churches have found that having a FIND graduate in their congregation brings an enormous gift of listening to their community.

“Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians of growing into Christ, ‘to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ,’” said the Rev. David Ottsen, rector of St. Peter’s, Brenham, where at least three FIND graduates are members.

“Having graduates of FIND is a wonderful leavening agent in the whole congregation. Their presence encourages and challenges others to be intentional in their own growth in Christ and in the congregational expectation for deepening faith.” Ottsen added. “We are blessed by these graduates

FIND Class of 2011 are (l-r), instructor Clint Capers of Waco (also a FIND graduate), Karen Courville of Tyler, Barbara Walter of Huntsville, Thom Holt of College Station, Keever Wallace of Houston, and Pat Harris-Watkins of Lola.

See School Commissions, page 11

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PARISH NEWS

Trinity, The Woodlands The Cause of the Quarter – Wall of Compassion

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uring the first quarter of 2010 and the season of Lent, parishioners from Trinity in The Woodlands took home an empty box to fill with non-perishable food items and return to the church. The boxes of food were then stacked in the parish hall and became building blocks for a Wall of Compassion.

The youth of the church sorted and repackaged all of the food and took it to the newly opened Interfaith Food Pantry in The Woodlands. Over 3500 pounds of food were collected and filled the shelves in the new pantry.

St. James’, Austin

St. Cyprian’s, Lufkin Honors Betty Hill

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n early May more than 125 parishioners of St. Cyprian’s, Lufkin and family members, honored Betty Hill for her 40 years of ministry as their church secretary. Hill began her employment in 1969 as a part-time teacher at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School but was soon hired by the Rev. John Caskey, then rector of St. Cyprian’s. She has worked under the direction of Steve Bancroft, Charles Cooper, Johnny Cook, Hugh Bell, Doug Tucker and most recently, Art Callaham.

Hill’s dedication to St. Cyprian’s has been extraordinary, and everyone wishes her much happiness as she begins a new chapter in her life.

Christ the King, Atascocita

Celebrates Matriarch

A Gift of Light

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Standing with Bertha Means is St. James’ recently installed rector, the Rev. Reggie Payne-Wiens. Photo: Naomi J. Richard

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ounders’ Hall was the fitting site to celebrate Bertha Sadler Means’ 90th birthday. Means helped to found St. James’ and has been a member since December 7, 1941 ‘when a small group of African-American faculty and students of Tillotson College, now Huston-Tillotson University, celebrated the first Eucharist service. The Rev. John D. Epps, dean of the Colored Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, presided. Thanks to the vision and tenacity of Means and others who wished for a church where they were welcome, St. James’ is today an inclusive, multicultural community of faith that continues to grow in both spirit and membership.

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od and Light are entwined throughout the Old and New Testaments, not to mention the Nicene Creed. In church architecture, light became an important contribution to worship during the amazing cathedral building spree of the Middle Ages, with the “rose window” above the altar as a focal point.

In modern times, stained glass in a round window above the altar is still a traditional feature of large churches. Smaller churches may also have the round window, but often the glass is the clear, ordinary kind. Such was the case at Christ the King, Atascocita, until recently. The glass was not only clear; it was cracked. Light streamed through it, as intended, but often produced a glare that blinded communicants kneeling at the altar rail and readers at the lectern.

Proposals for some modest solutions had been posted in the church in January when a beloved parishioner, a choir member, died suddenly. Among the many who attended his memorial service were Rev. Frank Varro of Westchase United Methodist Church and his wife, Margo, who once served as organist at Christ the King. Their own church recently relocated and while some of the stained glass was reused, some was lovingly stored in the Varro’s garage. They offered to give it to Christ the King, to the glory of God and in memory of Richard Silloway.

Installation of the stained glass was completed two days after Easter. Members of Christ the King deeply appreciate this extraordinary gift of light. Out of the darkness of a garage, this beautiful glass is once again proclaiming God’s glory.

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St. Francis School, Houston Offshore Learning Unit Arrives

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inner of St. Francis Episcopal Day School’s Sarah W. Woolrich Fund for Faculty Award, fifth-grade science teacher Harriet Mitchell used her prize money to bring a $1.2 million traveling exhibit to St. Francis in April.

The exhibit, known as the Mobile Offshore Learning Unit (MOLU), consists of six self-contained components that use curriculum-based, hands-on activities to teach students about energy and the sciences and technologies that fuel the oil and natural gas industry.

Developed by the Offshore Energy Center, the exhibit is sponsored in part by Devon Energy Corporation, Dominion Exploration & Production, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Marathon Oil Company and Schlumberger. Because of the MOLU, St. Francis’ fifth, seventh and eighth graders will become more aware of the role oil and gas play in Texas and the nation, learn practical uses of science in industry and benefit as the school’s current science education in this area comes alive.

Christ the King, Atascocita Socks, Beans and Golf !

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arishioners and friends assembled on the lawns of Christ the King, waiting for the shot gun start of the Seventh Annual Bean Bag Golf Tourney as 48 players lined up in 12 teams to play the 14-hole course. Players 5 years of age through 75 circled the church and wound through the trees, hefting their bean bags--new athletic socks with a cup of beans knotted into the toe. Teams named RipTide, Holy Holers and The Wild Bunch could be heard challenging one another, through narrow fairways and around sharp log legs. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly took away first place, followed closely by The Good Timers and The Wild Bunch. Call Christ the King at 281.582.1990 if you are interested in holding a tournament on your church grounds.

The Brotherhood of St Andrew conducts the tournaments and their members will be happy to guide you with the organizational details.

Scotland Fulton presents a book from Good Shepherd School to the Rev. William T. Richter, Jr. at his induction as rector of Good Shepherd, Kingwood. Looking on are the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle and Robert Blalock, acolyte.

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PARISH NEWS

Calvary, Bastrop Honors Acolytes

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alvary recently held its first Acolyte Appreciation Luncheon honoring all past and present acolytes. Tables decorated with framed photos of the acolytes and stained glass windows of the historical church decorated the tables, and many whimsical “acolyte experiences” of past acolytes were shared. Luncheon planners also drew up an acolyte quiz for the dedicated group who continue to serve and share in the ministry at Calvary.

St. John’s, Sealy, Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Good Shepherd, Tomball Operation Military Embrace

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ood Shepherd, Tomball, is collecting items for the military men and women at SAMMC (Brooke Army Hospital) in San Antonio, who have been injured during their service. These items are needed for the families who have had to move to care for their loved ones. Many of these families left behind homes and employment and have made the move without any leads for work in San Antonio. They are requesting baby diapers and wipes, clothing, toys, umbrellas, children’s books, CD’s, DVD’s, snacks, Gatorade drinks and other non-perishable foods. For more information on this ministry, contact 281.351.1609 to offer help.

Praying the Rosary

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n Good Friday, Good Shepherd celebrated its first Rosary service using the Episcopal/Anglican Rosary or prayer beads. The prayer was developed by verger, Joe Sturdevant especially for the service, based on the Seven last words of Christ. Most of the rosaries used were created for this service by Joan Etter, a member of St. Andrew’s, Bryan, who worked on them during a camping trip in order to meet the Good Friday deadline. The contemplative form of prayer was well received by the congregation and is planned for future services.

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stablished in 1885, St. John’s, Sealy, celebrated its 125th Anniversary with a commemorative service on April 24, 2010 with the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew

Doyle, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Prior to the service, Bishop Doyle blessed and dedicated the church’s new Memorial Garden.

St. John’s was originally built on land George Sealy sold to the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, the first elected Bishop of Texas, in 1880, for one dollar. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, as it was called at the time, was established in 1885, cost $1,500 and seated 100 people. It was located on Meyer between 1st and 2nd Streets.

In 1899, the same year that the Santa Fe Division of the railroad moved its roundhouse to Bellville, the Brazos River overflowed. Many families who had moved to Sealy with the railroad left and the church was so damaged by the floods that the original building fell into disrepair. A year later the Great Galveston Hurricane blew the old church down. One of St. John’s founding members, Mrs. R. H. Bostick, went through the rubble and salvaged the original bell and Bible.

These items were reinstalled in the “new” church when it was rebuilt in its present location at 431 Meyer in 1910. It is the oldest church building in Sealy.

St. John’s is distinctive for its 22 stained glass windows installed in the mid-1970s. The designs depict events in the life of Christ and are made from antique Blenko handblown glass.

The Gulfton area in Southwest Houston has been plagued with increasing crime for the last few years. San Mateo has decided to take a stand for their community. The Rev. Alejandro Montes, along with PACT (Police and Clergy Team), and the congregation of San Mateo held a prayer walk on Mother’s Day, May 8, actively and visibly praying for the community.

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Calendar

Calendar

Integrity Houston Eucharist (followed by dinner)

Third Friday of the month at 7:00 p.m.

June

Golding Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral

5 Rich Stearns, president of World Vision, at St. John the Divine, Houston, 10 a.m.

Contact Ann Cochran for more information at acochran@sjd.org or call 713.354.2236.

Stearns’ book, The Hole in Our Gospel, was recently named 2010 Christian Book of the Year.

17 Safeguarding (Children and People) Adminstrator’s Training, 9:30-12:00 noon, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. Training for those in churches and schools who are responsible for maintaining files required for all persons trained in Safeguarding God’s Children and Safeguarding God’s People. Contact the Rev. Cecilia Smith at 512.478.0580 or csmith@epicenter.org, for more information 18-19 Godly Play training at St. Martin’s, Houston. Contact Erin McClure for more information at emcclure@epicenter.org or call her at 713.520.6444. Download a registration form at www.epicenter.org/christianformation.

19 Ordination of deacons and transitional deacons at Christ Church Cathedral, 10 a.m.

19 Graduation and commissioning of new spiritual directors from FIND (Formation in Direction), at 2 p.m. at Camp Allen. FIND is accepting applications for the class of 2013. The three-year school meets once a month on a Saturday at St. Andrew’s, Bryan for lay and clergy. For more information see www.f-in-d.org or contact Kathleen Phillips, finddirectr@yahoo.com, 979.324.4302.

21-25 Engaging Scripture, Heart and Mind, teaching Scripture in the parish, taught by the Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge at Seminary of the Southwest. Register online at: www. regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=811827 21-26 The Division of Youth’s Christian Leadership Conference at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin for senior high students (grades 9-12) will focus on the practical application of faith and includes various workshops along with its social activities. It is a youth-led event that exists to connect youth through worship, ministry, discipleship, fellowship and evangelism. CLC offers teachings, worship opportunities, workshops to enhance students’ Christian formation and a concert, dance and talent show. Contact Erin McClure for more information at emcclure@epicenter.org or cll 713.520.6444.

1117 Texas Avenue, Houston F re e P a r k ing in the Cathedral Garage at Texas and San Jacinto

September 10

Episcopal Night at the Astros game, Minutemaid Ball Park, downtown Houston, Astros vs Dodgers. Christ Church Cathedral will host a pre-game BBQ and invites others from around the diocese to join the fun before attending the game. Parking is available at no charge in the parking lot at San Jacinto and Texas, next to the Diocesan Center and the Cathedral, within walking distance of the ball park. Tickets can be purchased at www. astros.com/episcopal (use code episcopal 1). Bishop Rayford High will throw out the first ball.

Gospel by the Sea Concert is Texas Proud The 9th Annual Gospel by the Sea Concert, benefitting St. Vincent’s House on Galveston Island, highlights some of the best Gospel Music in Texas. NuFocus of Dallas will headline the show on June 12 in this annual “family friendly” event held at Moody Gardens Convention Center.

The event will feature a tribute to the late Mama Randolph, by Carolyn Softly and David Mitchell. Randolph, known as the world’s oldest Gospel singer, made one of her final performances at this event last year. This concert showcases Texas and local groups with performances by St. Vincent’s House’s ‘The Seeds of Tomorrow Children’s Choir’ among many others. Tickets are $10 to $15 and may be purchased online at www.stvhope.org or by phone at 409.763.8521.

21 Order of St. Luke’s, at St. Martin’s, Houston, each Wednesday, 5-6 p.m. In depth study of the healing miracles of the gospel. Contact Vicki Wright at 713.783.2850 or fvwrightt@sbcglobal.net, for questions.

23-27 Dallas Benedictine Experience Retreat at the Catholic Conference Center, presented by the Friends of St. Benedict, Washington, D. C. Participants will live in a temporary monastic community to experience the balanced way of life of the Rule of St. Benedict as it divides each day into private and group prayer, study, work and leisure. Please e-mail dallasbenedictine@yahoo.com or call 214.339.8483 for more information.

July 12-18 Sewanee Church Music Conference featuring Robert Delcamp, professor of music, university organist and choirmaster, University of the South and many others. Registration is $250. For further information, see www. sewaneeconf.com, call or e-mail the registrar, Janet Perkins at 770.498.1678, janet@wingnwing.com.

16-18 Education for Ministry Mentor Training, at Camp Allen from 2 p.m. on Friday Register online at: www.texas-efm.org/id4.html.

18-24 Diocesan Choir Camp, Brenham, sponsored by the Diocesan Music Commission. For children and youth in rising grades 4-8. Guest conductor Courtney Daniell-Knapp of Palmer Memorial Church will lead rehearsals preparing for a Friday Night Revue and a Saturday morning Family Eucharist. No audition or previous choral experience required.

A week of singing, swimming, games and fellowship at Blinn College and St. Peter’s, Brenham. Tuition of $ 450 covers residence in the Blinn College dorm, musical training, all meals and activities. For an application form, go to www.epicenter/musiccommission or contact Linda Patterson (choircamp@sbcglobal.net) at 979.836.7248 ext. 13.

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DIOCESAN NEWS

People The Rev. Judy Filer, rector of St. John’s, Marlin, is now non-parochial.

The Rev. David W. Hoster, Jr., retired, is the interim rector of St. Mary’s, Bellville.

Janice Anne Jeys and Carol Ann Nyberg-Caraviotis have earned the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (M.A.P.S.-C.G.S.) from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. Initiated by Aquinas Institute in 2005, the M.A.P.S.-C.G.S. program is the first degree program of its kind in the world designed to help support the training of catechists of the international Montessori-based religious formation program for children aged 3 to 12 years, known as the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

The Rev. Genevieve Razim, former assistant at Palmer Memorial, is the new assisting priest at Trinity, the Woodlands.

The Rev. Kevin Schubert, former associate rector of St. Matthew’s, Austin, is the new acting rector of St. George’s, Austin.

The Rev. Stacy Stringer, former assistant rector of Trinity, Houston, has accepted a call as rector of Holy Trinity, Dickinson.

The Rev. Roland Timberlake, former rector of St. Luke’s on the Lake, Austin (ret), is interim rector of St. Richard’s, Round Rock.

Gordon Williams received third place (drama) in the 2010 Christians in Theatre Arts (CITA) sketch writing contest for “Uncle John and the General.” Williams is a member of St. John the Divine, Houston.

Deaths Kitty Baxter, widow of the Rev. Samuel Baxter, died on May 3 in Austin. The funeral was held at Good Shepherd, Austin. Please keep Kitty’s daughters, Lucy and Dallas and the Baxter family in your prayers.

Save the Date for the ECW Annual Retreat ECW Annual Retreat Southeast Texas Style Mark your calendars now for the Episcopal Church Women’s 109th Annual Retreat on October 15-16, 2010. This year’s twoday retreat, hosted by the women of St. Mark’s, will be held at their campus in downtown Beaumont. Accommodations are at the nearby Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites offered at a special group rate.

The theme, Rhythms of Grace, will be the back drop for a fulfilling retreat focused on the tempo of our lives and how God – through music, worship and relaxation – helps us keep the beat. Plans are under way for educational, spiritual and energizing workshops ranging from ECW 101 to Zumba.

Save the date cards will be mailed to all churches in the diocese later this month and registration packets will follow in August.

ECW Board Accepting Nominations for Honored Women Each year the ECW board accepts nominations for the Honored Women’s Program, nominated for outstanding service to their parish or to honor a birthday or special occasion. The nomination form is available online at www.epicenter.org, or from your ECW Convocational Coordinator (listed on the diocesan website). Any parish, even those without an organized ECW, can nominate women for this honor. The recommended contribution to the ECW Endowment fund is $100 per honoree.

Each Honored Woman will receive a calligraphed certificate to be presented to her by the parish and will be announced at the ECW Annual Retreat in October.

For more information, please contact your convocational coordinator or ECW Endowment Fund Chair, Sue Peace.

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All contributions and nomination forms should be sent directly to Sue Peace, 2211 Avenue L, Santa Fe, Texas 77510.

Call Peace at 409.925.5161 with questions.

ECW 2011 Calendars – photos needed Each summer the Diocese of Texas ECW communication chair assembles images and information for next year’s ECW calendar. Please submit any photos from the ECW Annual Retreat, Spiritual Growth Retreat or any parish or convocational ECW events that you would like to have considered for inclusion in the ECW 2011 Calendar.

Submissions and questions should be sent to LisaDiane Etheredge at lisadiane.etheredge@gmail.com.

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DIOCESAN NEWS

r e t a L r a e Y One

Bishop Andy Doyle delivers his charge to new deacons, June, 2009.

Bishop Doyle ordains 2009 class of transitional and permanent deacons at Christ Church Cathedral, June, 2009.

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Bishop Doyle confirms a young adult at San Mateo, Houston.

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Clockwise from top left:

Bishop Doyle celebrates Eucharist at McGonigle’s Mucky Duck on Boxing Day, December 26, 2009; visits the concession stand with Good Shepherd, Friendswood at the Astro’s game, June, 2009; talks with Evan Smith on PBS’s Texas Monthly Talks, May, 2010; St. Martin’s, Houston, immediately Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

following Bishop Doyle’s consecration as the ninth Bishop of Texas, November, 2008; cuts the “dental floss” ribbon to open Ubi Caritas’ new dental clinic, November, 2009;

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Texas Episcopalian

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DIOCESAN NEWS

One Year Later, continued from page 1 relationships we now enjoy as a global communion. We have been a part of its very beginnings and we have been one of the loudest voices for greater communion ties. I have enjoyed and relished the opportunities to meet bishops from around the globe. I find that our stories are intertwined and I am touched by their ministries and the remarkable stories of their work and labors. I am amazed to learn from a bishop who left his diocese only to return to find that the people had torn down a community center and a church. I heard about a woman who did not want a water well but a church near by her home and so gave sacrificially for its building. I learned about schools and hospitals and outreach that were built or took place because of collaborative efforts.

I’ve seen with you, a diocese sheltering 25+ thousand people.

We are a part of this work and this ministry and I am eager to affirm my brother and sister bishops and their ministries in and throughout the wider communion.

The Diocese of Texas is a great diocese and we have the opportunity not only to be a healthy participant in the life of our own provincial church, but also to be a healthy presence in the wider communion.

What I know about this relationship is that it is rooted in our very beginnings when Bishop Gregg traveled overseas and up and down the East Coast to seek support to seek support for the “mission” in Texas. We have an opportunity to give back. We have, in Texas, been forever changed by the generosity of others. Our own stewardship of God’s manifested blessings is given to us that our giving might change the world in Jesus Christ’s name.

CEB: The consecration of a gay bishop in Los Angeles has once again brought up the division that exists in the Anglican Communion and within the Episcopal Church and in our own diocese. Where do we stand today in the Diocese of Texas?

CAD: As many already know, I did not vote for Bishop Mary Glaspool’s consent based upon the greater communion relationships at stake and the division so keenly felt in our own diocese. I continue to believe that the Diocese of Texas maintains a traditional stance on marriage, while congregations all over the diocese pastorally care for individuals who are gay and straight, traditional and progressive.

One of the difficulties in this appointment was that Canon Glaspool and I had worked together and I know her to be a very fine person. So, it was difficult for me personally because I was happy for a friend, but remained deeply concerned for the Diocese of Texas and the wider Communion.

I believe that it will take some time for us to figure out the full meaning of these events in the life of the Church.

I have redoubled my efforts to work within the House of Bishops and with a task force in our own diocese to lead through the events that surround us. I am sure that God intends the Diocese of Texas to be a great force in mission and service to the world around us. It is tempting, as C. S. Lewis points out in the Screwtape Letters, to let our divisions within the Church jeopardize God’s mission outside of the Church. Division in the followers of Christ is as old as the disciples who fought over where they would sit in the kingdom, but engaging in God’s mission has not ever been up for discussion. We must renew our common Texas Episcopalian

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commitment to Jesus Christ, and to his Gospel. We must, as a diocese, be bold enough to stay together when it would be easy to walk apart, and we must show the world that there are very important things that deserve our attention– the mission of Good News to a hurting and fragmented world.

CEB: You gave the Blandy Lectures at Seminary of the Southwest last fall. You said: “We will never be able to do missionary discipleship in our world if we a) do not personally know the people in our communities, and b) stop expecting them to come to us.” How have you seen this played out in our diocese?

CAD: Big question to ask after a year! First of all, let me say that one of the things I am most proud of in the diocese is the tremendous outreach and service work that we do.

However, there is more yet to be done. I believe we must rise to the challenge to change the world. We are called

by God to make the world a better place tomorrow than today. Texas must be a better place tomorrow because there are Episcopalians living and working within its borders!

Nothing less than changing the world (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting those in prison and in the prison of their own homes) is on the mind of the Holy Spirit. Our communities must know us because of our good work and our love for one another. Only then will people be attracted to us as followers of Christ and seek the transformation we have found.

That being said, we have a lot to do to prepare for when they do come in the doors. Imagine what shape our church would have if we kept 3/4, no 1/2, no 1/8 of the visitors who walked into our doors. I once sat in a room and Bishop Claude Payne asked: “How did you come to be here?” The person said, “It was the last place we looked.” Why this is great news I thought to myself! Then Bishop Payne said, “We want the church to be the first and last place you look.” There is the challenge. We want people to think we are a viable option for discovering life with God, so viable that they try us first, and then they are so welcomed that they stay. We must engage with renewed effort evangelism inside and outside our congregations, which disciples people in our unique and particular way of being Christians, and that is as Episcopalians who are part of a global Anglican Communion.

CEB:

You also said you wanted to be a non-anxious presence. What does that look like today?

CAD: The idea was that perhaps I could be a bishop who was a shepherd and helped lead Christ’s flock through tough situations, who is calm in the face of fear, who is at peace in the midst of conflict. I have not always achieved this and, given the stresses and strains of the office, have certainly deepened my dependence on God. All this provides me a very rich, daily prayer life.

CEB: What have you done to ensure a more youthful

church that you spoke of in interviews before and since your election?

CAD: A key piece of being a bishop is being present, as one of my mentors said: “Where the bishop is, there is the church.” I have been intentional this past year to attend youth events. In the afternoons, if I am in a congregation 10

Miles driven 20,577 Churches visited 44 Confirmed 531 Tweets 760 Twitter followers 2,592 FaceBook Friends 1,635 Visitors to Blog 7,307 Join the bishop’s blog at: texasbishop.blogspot.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/c. andrew.doyle Twitter: @Texasbishop and the youth are meeting, I have made sure to stop in and visit and introduce myself. I have also been intentional in recognizing and speaking with the youth on Sunday morning, especially if I am serving with them. The bishop must be bishop for all people, not just the leaders or older parishioners but everyone.

This being said, I have focused a great deal of attention on the area of formation which includes a heavy emphasis on children, youth and young adults. In listening throughout the discernment process and doing 14 town hall meetings, I heard a number of things that must have an effect on our ministry in the diocesan office if we are to be successful in reaching younger generations: communications, relationships and networking people, money and resources.

This must be done electronically and in real time face to face. I have just ordered the book M Factor, which is a must read if you or your congregation are interested in ministry to young adults.

CEB: You worked through a long process of visioning with staff, clergy and lay leaders and conducted town hall meetings to listen people around the diocese. What did that work illuminate and what have you done this first year to respond to what you learned?

CAD: The work has profoundly influenced my thoughts

about what I know and about what I did not know about the diocese. The meetings have impacted staff development goals and structure of the diocese. As the Executive Board, staff and I continue to dialogue with the commissions of the diocese, I believe we will see even greater impact.

Already groups throughout the diocese are beginning to review the goals that came out of the meetings. It is a very exciting time as we set our eyes on a diocese engaged in formation for all ages, no matter their race or ethnicity; as we focus on both proven and new missionary expressions of congregational starts; as we dream of a ministry of service which not only channels financial resources throughout the diocese but also seeks to change the cities in which we live - making them a better place for people to live. We will not be able to do this without strong stewardship that is unafraid to review and look at the sources and uses of funds across diocesan ministry.

See One Year Later, page 15 Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

DIOCESAN NEWS

Edot Gallery Features Sartwelle’s Mixed-media through July 9

Charlie Jean Sartwelle (r) hangs work for third show at the Edot Gallery, located at the Diocesan Center in downtown Houston.

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dot Gallery opened a new show of work by Charlie Jean Sartwelle at the Diocesan Center, 1225 Texas Ave., Houston, on May 17. The exhibit will be available for viewing 9-5, M-F, through July 9, 2010 and features “Aviary Areas: Bird Songs,” an exhibit of collage, mixed-media and acrylic.

Sartwelle was born in Cameron, Texas. Her work has evolved from her travels in China, Spain, TrinidadTobago and Mexico. She has been the director of Mother

Dog Studios, a 22,000 square foot space for studios and exhibitions in Houston’s downtown warehouse district, run exclusively by artists.

Sartwelle has been active in arts organizations serving the Lawndale Art and Performance Center, the Downtown Warehouse Art Crawl and the Buffalo Bayou ARTPARK, where she established an outdoor venue for Houston artists to exhibit temporary artwork in city parks.

in the whole area of formation, taking part as they do in a variety of ministries (children, youth and adult formation, pastoral care). We are in a conversation phase of expanding upon their expertise which could not occur without their background from FIND.” Range said the school was created in a unique way based on conversations with Episcopalians in the diocese who had completed spiritual direction training from other schools.

“While no one has a firm number on how many spiritual directors other than FIND graduates are in the diocese, Range said,” expertise for the concept and original faculty came from graduates of the monastery in Pecos, N.M., the Cenacle in Houston, Shalem in Bethesda, Md., and others.

“We talked about the schools we had attended, what was important to study and what was not,” Range said. “We considered that some schools required people to go away for a long time and others required them to return weekly for classes. Bishop Claude Payne told us we had to make it accessible for everyone in the diocese. That’s when we came up with the idea of one Saturday a month for a full day.”

That concept enabled busy clergy and lay people from across the diocese – and from other parts of Texas – to attend the three-year school which meets centrally in the diocese at St. Andrew’s, Bryan.

FIND experienced the growing pains of developing the school quickly in response to the need in the late 1990s to a more mature school with complete course descriptions and required readings taught by 20 instructors, all of whom are trained spiritual directors. The school includes four areas of study – prayer, the psychology of spirituality, the history of Christian spirituality and a practicum. A fifth focus area pertains to the student’s personal spiritual transformation.

As a result of the varied course content, graduates often realize new interests and are capable of teaching, leading quiet days, offering retreats and a variety of other opportunities to assist others in their quest for spiritual formation.

Bill Moore, who graduated from Shalem, and FIND graduate Pat Bodley provide about three hours of spiritual

formation events monthly on Saturdays at St. Martin’s, Houston, where they are parishioners.

Moore said the team often invites other spiritual directors to speak to a group. A recent session on neardeath experiences by the Rev. John Price, for instance, drew about 40 people. Other topics have included dreams and journaling in spiritual formation, in addition to individual spiritual direction opportunities.

The Rev. John Williams said spiritual direction is a “stealth” ministry at St. Francis, College Station, where at least five FIND graduates and one current student are members.

“The persons drawn to FIND live out their faith in the context of this place and in so doing nurture and enrich our spiritual vitality – not so much a quantitative influence as a qualitative one,” Williams said. “Most specifically, persons trained in FIND seem to be highly effective at incarnating our commitment to being a community which practices radical welcoming.”

St. Francis parishioner Beverly Bammel, a Class of 2010 graduate, agrees.

“I have found my training in FIND to have enriched my spiritual life in ways I had never imagined. We are offered an opportunity to read and study many things that we may never have been exposed to, and we have developed a faith community amongst our class that will continue to support us in the future,” Bammel said. “Most importantly, we learned how to share another’s faith journey; how to hold precious the joys, fears, doubts and hunger for a deeper connection to God that one carries in their Christian life.

My three years in FIND passed so quickly, but they have left a lasting effect on my life.”

FIND is accepting applications for the Class of 2013 until June 30. A mandatory discernment retreat will be July 9-10 at Camp Allen. For more information and an application visit www.campallen.org.

School Commissions 90th Student, continued from page 3

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Phillips graduated in the first class of FIND and has been director of FIND since July 2004.

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Southwest’s Graduates are Ready to Serve the Church and the World

Seminary of the Southwest held its 59th Commencement graduating the 27–member class of 2010 on May 11 at St. Matthew’s, Austin. The Honorable John C. Danforth, Senator from the State of Missouri, 1976 – 95, preached the commencement sermon and received an honorary doctoral degree. The Rt. Rev. James Scott Mayer, Class of 1992 and Bishop of the Diocese of Northwest Texas, also was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, wrote Faith and Politics out of his conviction that Christianity is a religion of peace which has too often been used to divide people struggling with difficult issues. Dedicated to reconciliation and peacemaking, Danforth was a special envoy for peace in Sudan and ultimately facilitated a peace agreement that eventually ended the twenty-year civil war.

A graduate of Southwest, Bishop Mayer served the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene for 14 years before being elected bishop. The Diocese of NW Texas includes nearly 1/3 of the 254 counties in the state and encompasses the panhandle of Texas plus a swath of north and west Texas.

Seventeen graduates earned the MDiv or Anglican Studies diploma for ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. They came to the seminary from dioceses throughout the country and from Pakistan. Ten people earned master’s degrees in counseling, in religion and in chaplaincy and pastoral care. Dean and President, Doug Travis said, “We’re very pleased with the readiness of our graduates to lead and with the number who have assignments already in place.”

The text of Senator Danforth’s sermon and the honorary degree citations can be found at www.ssw.edu/ news.

The Honorable John Danforth, retired senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest, received an honorary doctorate from Seminary of the Southwest, May 11. Danforth is shown here with the Rev. Dr. Alan Gregory, academic dean of the seminary.

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

National Conference Calls for New Direction in Responding to Domestic Poverty

Photo by Charlie Spruell Homeless men and women gather for Lord of the Streets Sunday worship at Trinity, Houston.

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ore than 170 Episcopalians involved in social service ministries across the country met recently in Newark, New Jersey, in response to a mandate from General Convention on mission priority. It is hoped that by sharing insights and experiences, a new vision would emerge about how the Church can impact domestic poverty. Keynotes and workshops at the conference covered topics including advocacy, health and fund raising. “Healing the worst of the poverty in this nation is intrinsically connected to restoring human beings to right relationship with the rest of creation,” said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in her keynote address. “Can we live more simply so that others may simply live?” she asked. Her address touched on almost every factor – shelter, food, environment, health care, employment and economics – that plays a role in domestic poverty. “Shalom is more than peace and no war but a holy dream of abundance for more,” she said.

Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies (one of the two houses in the Church’s General Convention) made the case for a stronger bond between compassion and justice. Other speakers represented

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the Social Science Research Council and the Rural Policy Research Institute.

“The church is one of the few anchor institutions left,” said Charles Fluharty, president and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute. “If God’s church could unite rural and urban poverty people together to move God’s kingdom forward, domestic policy would look different in the United States,” he said.

Three people from the Diocese of Texas attended including the Rev. Helen Appelberg, founder of the Community of Hope lay chaplain program, who led a workshop; Michael Jackson, executive director of St. Vincent’s House, Galveston, serving the working poor of the area; and the Rev. Gill Keyworth, deacon and diocesan Jubilee officer. St. Vincent’s House is a Jubilee Ministry, a national recognition that it is a “ministry of joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people, wherever they are found, to meet basic human needs and to build a just society.”

“A documentary shown, dealing with the 12-year relationship that transformed an affluent Dallas parish and a high-crime neighborhood, epitomized the new way we need to help those in need,” Keyworth said.

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“Jubilee Park transformed through the collaboration as parishioners used their skills, connections and political knowledge to help an area that was dilapidated, crime ridden and impoverished,” she added. The area is rejuvenated with some new housing,

a community center, lots of green space for the children to play and a new spirit. It is this spirit that the three hope to share with the diocese in the future, a new way to engage and transform communities.

Domestic Mission as Important as International Mission, Lucas Tells New Wineskin Conference

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mobilizers wo representatives from the April diocese10-11, 2010 and included speakers from presented workshops on domestic around the Anglican Communion. Lucas Campsaid Allen she learned a great deal from previous mission at the recent Global Mission conference, held triennially in Asheville, NC. conferences that helped in her ministry with Sherry Lucas, a member of St. Catherine the Lakota Indians in South Dakota. She of Sienna, Missouri City, and Roz Rowan, started training and leading mission teams, a member of Ascension, Houston, led which included members of her congregation workshops on preparing a mission team for as well as people from other denominations a trip to an Indian Reservation. They spoke and from several different states, to the about the differences in culture, widespread Rosebud Reservation in 2001. In 2004 Lucas poverty and health needs on Native American founded a non-profit organization, North reservations. Michael Plenty Horse, a Lakota American Indian Ministries, (NAIM, Inc.).

“Mission trips to foreign countries are from the Rosebud Reservation where Lucas has led 18 mission trips, also attended to necessary,” Lucas said, “and often much more intriguing than domestic mission trips,” but engage participants and answer questions.

The conference set out to “inspire and she reminds her teams, “There is a great need equip clergy and lay leaders” to be mission within our own borders.”

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

NetsforLife® World Malaria Day Kicks Off the Largest Net-Hanging Campaign in History

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n April 25, 2010, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to fighting malaria by commemorating World Malaria Day. NetsforLife® marked the occasion in Accra, Ghana, by participating in a World Malaria Day event and the Health Summit led by Ghana’s Ministry of Health. The following day, NetsforLife® celebrated the largest-ever net-hanging and education campaign, continuing to work towards the goal of distributing up to 7 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLITNs) in 17 sub-Saharan African countries by 2013.

Through this particular initiative, one million nets will be distributed in northern and eastern Ghana, where malariacontrol agents will go door to door, hanging up nets with community members. This distribution, which is just one element of NetsforLife®’s multi-pronged approach to combat malaria, is made possible in partnership with the Anglican

Diocesan Development and Relief Office (ADDRO), the Ghana Health Service and the National Malaria Control Program.

“This campaign will be revolutionary in Ghana, where malaria is the number one cause of illness and responsible for the one-third of deaths in children under the age of five,” said Stephen Dzisi, technical director for NetsforLife®. “The campaign also reflects the unique nature of the NetsforLife® partnership model, because the funding for this largest-ever net hang-up comes from a wide variety of sources.”

The President’s Malaria Initiative/USAID, MalariaNoMore UK and Comic Relief are all supporting the monumental effort. Distribution is in partnership with the Ghana Health Service, which targets communities in Ghana that are the most difficult to reach.

“This campaign is history in the making,” said Rob

Indaba African Bible Study Now on the Web

Changing One Liter into Many

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ne plastic liter water bottle can hold a lot of spare change and a lot of hope for a country that needs clean water. St. Francis, College Station, found this out during Lent, when the congregation filled empty water bottles with coins and raised $1,197.95. The funds were sent to Warm Heart International for clean water wells in the Diocese of Southern Malawi.

Parishioners collected their change throughout Lent and a few bottles remained in the church’s narthex where people could deposit change as they came to church.

Beverly Bammel remembered a stash of coins she inherited when a relative died and determined this was the purpose for which those coins were meant. “It was a nobrainer,” Bammel said. She and her husband Roger Session filled several bottles to the brim. Others emptied their pockets each night, watching the level grow and remembering our partner diocese in prayer through this discipline.

“I’m really impressed with the concept of Lenten ‘mite’ bottles and the generosity of St. Francis,” said Tom Gebhard, director of Warm Heart International, the nonprofit that focuses its efforts on bringing fresh water wells to Malawi.

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Radtke, president of Episcopal Relief & Development. “To deliver a million nets and inspire collective action in these communities is an amazing accomplishment. Episcopal Relief & Development is proud to provide leadership as NetsforLife® and its partners continue this important work to fight malaria.”

In 2009, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church specifically committed to raising $5 million in the triennium through Episcopal Relief & Development’s NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund campaign.

To learn more or to support the NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund, please visit www.er-d.org or call 800.334.7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief & Development, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

Please write “NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund” in the memo line of all checks.

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“Fresh, readily available water not only represents better health and sanitation, but also a huge time and labor savings for those (usually women and girls) who spend hours daily trekking to the nearest water sources for their families,” said Catherine Barr, a member of St. Francis’s Outreach Council.

“Relieving this burden will allow them time to pursue education and productive work to improve the villages’ economic viability.”

When informed of the parish’s gift, Bishop of Southern Malawi, James Tengatenga, wrote to them, “I was deeply moved. …Tom [Gebhard] and company will make sure that the work gets done with the money!”

St. Francis shows how “a small parish can contribute in a ‘big way’ to an outreach program,” says Nancy Ricketts, who coordinates the diocesan efforts to partner with Southern Malawi. “We are excited about the parish’s interest in our Malawi Partnership Agreement and the ways initiatives like this make the diocese’s commitment live.”

For more information on Warm Heart International and freshwater for Malawi, see the website at www. warmheartinternational.org.

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he Continuing Indaba project sponsored by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has launched its presence on the Internet at www. anglicancommunion.org/ministry/continuingindaba.

As part of the Anglican Communion web site, the process becomes more accessible for a series of pilot conversations between dioceses from different parts of the Communion taking place during 2010 and 2011.

“Continuing Indaba seeks to draw upon biblical models of engaging in conversation across differences and upon a diversity of cultural insights to energize local and global mission. It aims to restore trust so we can listen to one another and the insights we bring so that Christ can be made known.

Our new web presence is an invaluable tool because it gives to this project a virtual meeting place [with resources], 24 hours a day anywhere in the world,” said the Rev. Canon Phil Groves, Continuing Indaba Project director.

Visitors to the new site will find an outline of the project explaining the origins of Indaba. It is derived from an African conversational method for resolving real or potential conflict through mutual listening and debate. The process was used by bishops from throughout the Anglican Communion during the 2008 Lambeth Conference and is now being expanded to build stronger relationshiops in the global communion.

Included on the pages are an initial series of gatherings around the world that developed resources to guide model conversations. A growing library of resource papers is also available. Continuing Indaba groups can also report on their gatherings, ensuring further resources to inspire those who choose to embark on their own journeys of conversation across the Communion, and who may in turn be able to contribute their own resources and stories to the site.

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GUEST COLUMNIST

Appearances males always trying to scrape acquaintance with her, I did not presume to initiate a conversation. But I kept stealing glances. Our eyes met.

“Do I look all right?”she asked. “What?” “D’ye think I look all right?” she repeated. “Smashing,” I said. “D’ye really think so?” “Absolutely,” I assured her. She turned out to be a small town girl on her way to Gatwick to interview

despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows acquainted with grief; as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not” (Isa. 52:14; 53:2f RSV).

Actually we have no idea what Christ looked like. Was he tall or short? Thick or thin? Handsome or ugly? Light or dark complected? The Bible does not bother to tell us. Of St. Paul people said, “His letters are weighty and strong, but

“You only get one chance to make a good first impression” The Rev. Sam Todd

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You only get one chance to make a good first impression,” my father said by way of urging me to dress better. True, but here is the problem with making a great first impression: people’s opinion of you, upon better acquaintance, has nowhere to go but down. I have learned to mistrust first impressions.

There were riots in Harlem in July 1964 (“Burn, baby burn”). As part of my Clinical Pastoral Education I spent afternoons calling in Knickerbocker Hospital, which was in the middle of Harlem. Walking the several blocks from the 125th Street subway station to the hospital, I looked over my shoulder a lot and felt very conspicuous in my white skin.

One of the patients I approached in the men’s surgical ward was a huge man who looked like Sonny Liston, the rather surly, recent heavy-weight boxing champion. I figured this guy was a champion rioter and would be very hostile to me.

I could not have been more wrong. He was a gentle man who had been stabbed by a gang of youths whose “territory” he had to walk through every day on his way home from work.

“If those damn kids like to fight so much, they should send them to Vietnam,” he said. He was disgusted with the riots and did not consider the rioters to be representative of him. First impressions are often unreliable.

Thirty years later, I had not learned my lesson. After spending some time in Oxford, England, I took an early train to Gatwick airport. At one of the many stops along the way, a stunningly beautiful young woman, dressed to the nines and exquisitely made up, got on the train and sat almost opposite me. We were the only people in that section of the car. She was obviously a model of some sort. Knowing that she must find it very tiresome to have Texas Episcopalian

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for a job as a ticket clerk.

Dr. Marc Agronin recounted the following incident.

“The old woman had drawn down the shade in her room – hoping, I imagined, to stop the midday Miami sun from penetrating her grief … She sat silently in a wheelchair, her 93–year-old silhouette stooped in the bathing light. I entered, held her hand for a moment and introduced myself.

‘Sit down, doctor,’ she said politely. I asked her why she had come to the nursing home, and she described the recent passing of her husband after 73 years of marriage. I was overwhelmed by the thought of her loss, and wanted to offer some words of comfort. I leaned in close and spoke. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I told her. ‘What has it been like for you losing your husband after so many years of marriage?’ She paused for a moment and then replied, ‘Heaven.’ Seeing my confusion she went on to describe how she had endured decades in an unhappy marriage with a gruff, verbally abusive man” (New York Times, 3/2/10, p. D5).

Many Victorians thought they could read character in a person’s physiognomy. Here is Doctor Watson’s description of Colonel Moran: “It was a tremendously virile yet sinister face which was turned toward us. With the brow of a philosopher above and the jaw of a sensualist below, the man must have started with great capacities for good or evil. But one could not look upon his cruel blue eyes, with their drooping, cynical lids, or upon the fierce, aggressive nose and the threatening, deep-lined brow, without reading Nature’s plainest danger- signals” (A. C. Doyle, “The Adventure of the Empty House,” The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Vol. II p. 342). But appearances can be deceiving.

In seeking to make sense of a crucified Messiah, the Church noticed this prophecy of Isaiah: “many were astonished at him – his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men … He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was

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his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account” (II Cor. 10:10 RSV). The New Testament is interested in substance not appearance. A major theme of the Gospel of Mark is the misunderstanding of those who looked most often on Jesus, that is, his family and disciples. The ninth chapter of John is an extended contrast between a blind man who gets it and sighted folk who do not. Christ said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind” (Jn. 9:39). We must look beneath the surface of things.

Email Todd at: stodd2423@att.net

Jolynn Free was the honoree as Camp Allen, the bishops and folks from around the diocese gathered in Austin for Starry Nights, Campfire Lights fundraiser. The casual event at Saengerunnde Hall raised $46,000 thanks, in part to the auctioneering expertise of the Rev. Patrick Miller. Chairs of the event included Kimberly and Kelly Koonce and Ashley and Miles Brandon. A portion of the proceeds go directly to the scholarship fund from which more than 300 campers will receive camp registration assistance this summer.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

Harrison

Doyle

Bishops’ June Calendars 2 12:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

4 6:00 p.m.

6 10:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

8 6:30 p.m.

9 4:00 p.m.

10 10:00 a.m.

13 11:00 a.m.

15-16 17 9:00 a.m.

18 10:00 a.m.

19 10:00 a.m.

20 10:30 a.m.

23 10:00 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

6:00 p.m.

24 25 27 11:00 a.m.

5:00 p.m.

West Houston Clericus, St. Christopher’s, Houston Episcopal High School Board of Trustees, Houston Southwest Clericus, St. Thomas’, Wharton St. James’, Houston CF Interfaith Prayer Service, Catholic Charismatic Center, Houston Adult VBS, Christ Church Cathedral St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities Board, Houston Bishop Quin Foundation, Diocesan Center IONA School Graduation and Luncheon, Camp Allen Executive Board, Camp Allen St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities Breakfast, Houston Ordinand Orientation, Diocesan Center, Houston Deacon Ordination and Reception, Christ Church Cathedral St. Christopher’s, League City CF Church Corporation, Diocesan Center, Houston St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities Leadership, Houston Christian Leadership Conference, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin Christian Leadership Conference, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin Reconstruction Team Dinner, Galveston Dedication of Sanctuary, St. John’s, Tyler St. Philip’s, Palestine CF

1 3:00 p.m.

2 6:00 p.m.

4-5 10:00 a.m.

6 9:30 a.m.

11-12 2:00 p.m.

15-16 5:00 p.m.

17 10:00 a.m.

19 10:00 a.m.

20 10:30 a.m.

24 12:00 p.m.

25 7:30 a.m.

7:00 p.m.

27 10:30 a.m.

29 6:00 p.m.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Meeting, Houston St. George’s, Texas City, CF El Buen Samaritano Board Retreat, Austin Grace Church, Galveston, CF Episcopal Relief and Development Board, Berkeley Executive Board, Camp Allen Bi-Vocational Priest Committee, Houston Deacon Ordination, Houston St. Christopher’s, Houston, CF St. Luke’s Finance and Audit Committee, Houston El Buen Samaritano Executive Committee Austin Christian Leadership Conference Eucharist, Austin St. Peter’s, Brenham, CF All Saints, Stafford, Celebration of New Ministry

Call for Art

Call for Artists/Exhibition opportunities for 2010 at the EDOT Gallery at the Diocesan Center, 1225 Texas Ave. Houston, TX, 77002. Original works not done under supervision in all media. Send 10-12 numbered high resolution images in jpg format on a CD with biography/ resumé and a brief description of work to be considered.

Please include a hard copy of the numbered images, title, media, dimensions and date.

Incomplete submissions will not be reviewed. All work chosen for exhibit must be hand-delivered. Ten percent of sales to be donated to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.

Send submissions to Marilyn Biles, Curator, 29 Wynden Oaks Drive, Houston, Texas 77056; 713.840.1098; www. marilynbiles.com. Write marilynbiles@sbcglobal.net for further details.

In the Diocese of Texas One Church of more than 85,000 members in 158 congregations in the eastern quadrant of Texas, established in 1849 Bishop The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle dotbp@epicenter.org 1225 Texas Ave. Houston, TX 77002-3504 1.800.318.4452 1.713.520.6444 FAX 1.713.520.5723 Austin: 1.512.478.0580, 1.800.947.0580 Tyler: 1.903.579.6012 www.epicenter.org editor: cbarnwell@epicenter.org

Bishop High is on Sabbatical until July 25, 2010

One Year Later, continued from page 10

ecological footprint of our office.

This is a ministry of proclamation that takes our message of Jesus Christ out into the world. It is a ministry that helps us to engage in conversations out in the world of which we would not ordinarily be a part. I love the fact that people pray with me in the evenings on Twitter and Facebook. I love the fact that I had a conversation about conversion with a Hindu, living in India. I enjoy the reality that my Facebook page is a place where people (Christians, people of different religious backgrounds, no religious backgrounds, different ages and from around the diocese representing different congregations) have theological, prayerful conversations with one another.

The new communication technology is a human created but God given tool for mission. It is a very real way in which we can relate, converse and be a part of the transformation of the world.

CEB: How does this affect people in our congregations? Will they see a change?

CAD: There are not many things we must do as a diocese. We could technically strip down everything.

The only reason to pool our resources is to gain the ability to accomplish what God intends in our work and mission. So, at the end of the day, your diocesan office, reaching across the diocese, must connect people and help them share the resources and creative energy they have locally for greater good and greater mission. I am hopeful that people in the pews will have an understanding and knowledge of their diocesan staff out in the field, in their congregations, working hand in hand to do the work we have been given. Moreover, this partnership will be one of collaboration and respect. We must be the apostolic community that God created us to be, living into the uniqueness of being Episcopalian with a hierarchical structure while at the same time, not forgetting the unique mission given to each and every congregation that is under our care.

CEB: We know you twitter and have a Facebook account. How has this impacted your ministry as bishop? What have you gained from this technology?

CAD: We are revisiting our communications strategy to reach more people, helping them find the information they are seeking, and using emerging media to provide solutions that will help us decrease the Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

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Texas Episcopalian

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DIOCESAN NEWS

SAVE THE DATE Bishops’ Conference on

Outreach October 8 - 9, 2010, Camp Allen

Ruby Payne to be featured presenter at Bishops’ Outreach Conference.

Photo by Charlie Spruell

Outreach Conference Looks at How Classes View Poverty

T

he Bishops’ Outreach Conference, October 8-9, 2010, will feature Ruby Payne, one of the country’s leading experts on poverty and the mindsets of different economic classes. Payne’s work has profoundly influenced many organizations working with people who are entrenched in poverty. Her presentation will provide a new lens through which you can view yourself and the people you are trying to help and help you with specific strategies for overcoming poverty’s obstacles.

“More times than I like to recall, class differences alone have been cause for unintentional discord, misunderstanding and conflict between volunteers and the people they’re trying to help,” said Tracey Barnett, executive director of Cathedral Health and Outreach Ministries. Barnett said Payne’s materials have provided insight into how the basic socioeconomic classes (poverty / middle / wealth) view the world.

“In our ministry every new staff member, board member and volunteer is asked to read Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty,” said Clark Moore, executive director, Ubi Caritas Health Ministries, Beaumont.

“The insights from her book enable us to understand and

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meet the needs of those people we serve with compassion, caring and understanding. This understanding is such a key in preventing ministry burnout among frontline workers,” Moore added.

“Every Church has a Gift,“ the theme of this year’s conference, features Payne in a half day workshop on her newest book, Bridges Out of Poverty. Special panels and discussions on transformational ministry that is currently taking place in the Diocese of Texas will also be offered. Experts include: James Flodine, scoutmaster at the Yellowstone Academy, Houston; Ada Norman, a member of Christ the King, Alief, who will speak about “Summer Outreach for Children = Summer Fun;” Carolyn Smith, from All Saints’, Austin, will speak about the church’s ministry, Loaves and Fishes, and Kathy Kasparek, from Trinity, Marble Falls, will outline changes Trinity made to weigh their projects against the social justice framework introduced by Robert Lupton at the 2009 conference.

Cost for the conference is $75 for double occupancy, $150 for single. Day registrations may be made for $40 per day. Make reservations at www.campallen.org.

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Thanks for taking a few minutes to fill out the communication survey and sharing your needs and ideas with us. www.epicenter.org/commsurvey Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org