Texas Episcopalian March 2010

Volume 113, No. 3

Houston, Texas

Bishops Andy Doyle and James Tengatenga sign a partnership agreement between the Dioceses of Texas and Southern Malawi after approval by the 161st Council, February 13, 2010, in Killeen. See stories and photos, pp 10-13

Austin’s SXSW Music Festival Taps Merrill Wade for ‘Nomad’ Gig

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errill Wade hopes his “Spirituality for Nomads” workshop will picqued the interest of musicians and music industry professionals at Austin’s South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival March 12-21. The rector of St. Matthew’s, Austin, proposed the topic to event organizers, which received much support in public voting said Andy Flynn, panel coordinator for the conference.

“This is a new approach to a topic we try to include each year, which is how musicians can cope with the pressures of a stressful lifestyle,” Flynn said. “We present

a wide range of panels, from speeches by celebrities … to nuts-and-bolts workshops on how to further a music business career. This is the first time … we’ve had a priest present a panel at SXSW Music,” he said.

Carol E. Barnwell, editor of the Texas Episcopalian, interviewed Wade to find out why this topic, why this venue: CEB: Where did your interest in music come from?

MW:

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classical, rhythm and blues, jazz, even some Texas country music in the early 80’s. I am now 56 years old. At age 28, when I was baptized and became an Episcopalian, I learned to love the music of the liturgy. I loved the hymns, the great classical anthems, the whole nine yards.

When I really got involved in the church I found less time to keep up with music.

I tuned into a show from the 2008 South

by Southwest Music Festival to hear a band a friend had recommended but I was staggered by the group who played just before My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, from Hoboken, New Jersey.

Shortly after that I began to exchange alternative rock music with a good friend from Mississippi and another music source was my son, Patrick. When Patrick and I went to hear Wilco in May 2008, we ran into Erin Hogan, host of a popular sports radio talk show that I call into regularly.

Erin asked me to be his correspondent to SXSW when I told him my son and I were planning to attend. I called in Thursday morning after the Wednesday night shows and Friday morning after the Thursday night show. There was a lot of energy in those phone conversations. It was really fun for me and I think Erin appreciated the diversion from “all sports, all the time.”

That led to a regular series of Friday (my day off) music features as “Duke the Music Scout.” Now, I call in and make live music suggestions on air. Through the summer, most recommendations were previewing Austin City Limits bands, then live shows in Austin. Just in case you are interested, we have promoted bands/artists such as Mute Math, Seth Walker, Kat Edmonson, Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper, Kings of Leon, Ben Harper, Brett Dennen, Nelo, Perpetual Groove, Wendy

I’ve always loved a wide variety of music--

See SXSW, page 3

INSIDE Bishops’ Calendars......................... 16 Bishop’s Column.............................. 2 Calendar of events............................ 7 Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

Diocesan News...................... 8-11 Parish News............................ 3-7 Sam Todd’s Column..................14 1

Texas Episcopalian

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Join me in prayer this Lent

We are called to a holy Lent which is the result of a number of disciplines-the first is prayer and another is meditating on God’s holy Word - Jesus Christ as revealed in the scriptures (BCP 264ff). I believe it is through the discipline of prayer and meditation that we are transformed and may better serve and bear witness to God’s mercy in our lives.

I have a long and winding prayer journey with God and with Jesus. I first learned to pray the Lord’s Prayer as a child. I remember that most of my prayer life as a child was as a petitioner and was most likely egocentric; but those are the beautiful prayers of children. I can imagine that God smiles at these.

Adolescence brought prayers of sadness, joy and gratitude as I lived a somewhat difficult teenage life. These would lead to prayers of discernment about ministry. I learned to pray the Daily Office while in college and was introduced to daily mass. I studied prayer for a semester under an American Orthodox seminarian. He taught me meditation and contemplation. We read and sat together quietly. His name escapes me now but his ministry and mentorship provided a life-long lesson of sitting still with God. I was also introduced to private confession during this same time, which I have continued.

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.

Publisher: The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle Editor: Carol E. Barnwell, cbarnwell@epicenter.org Parish News Editor: Nancy Sallaberry, nsallaberry@epicenter.org Graphic Designer: LaShane K. Eaglin, leaglin@epicenter.org 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.

Postmaster: Address changes: THE TEXAS EPISCOPALIAN, 1225 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002-3504 Texas Episcopalian

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I experienced the discipline of daily chapel and Morning Prayer in a deeper sense while I was chaplain at St. Stephen’s School, Austin. This was later reinforced at Virginia Seminary and today the Daily Office is my daily companion. When I left seminary I toyed with the Franciscan tertiary order but eventually landed on the Society of St. John the Evangelist as a support for the prayer life on which I had come to rely. I began to develop a rule of life, which I continue to this day.

Today, this takes the form of sitting quietly before I read Morning Prayer. I follow the ordo (liturgical) calendar of the Society of St. John, so I am praying within community each day. I pray for the clergy of the diocese by name throughout the week. I pray for my staff, along with a list of concerns given to me. I pray a prayer based upon the ordination service for a bishop and read (along with the scripture appointed for the day) a portion of the Archbishop’s reflections on the ministry of bishop.

My prayer life has been healthy and sometimes it has not. There is an ebb and flow as I look over the years; however, as I get older my dependence on this daily routine continues to become more deeply rooted. I am out of sorts when I do not follow my daily feast of quiet, intercession, thanksgiving and meditation on God. As I think back, I think the most difficult work of prayer begins after the conversation has gone quiet--meaning when I have forgotten to pray. After long periods of silence from my end of the connection, or in those times of deep questioning, I find it so difficult to know just what to say. I also remember how difficult it was to begin prayer. I remember it was hard as a child. I remember it was hard as a young adult. Perhaps we place too many expectations on prayer. I guess it is a human thing, but I can get so focused on praying “right” that I forget the sustenance of prayer, which is most often in the deep well of silence or in the questions themselves. I wonder if you find this true as well.

It seems so many people, ordinary people like myself, have a hard time knowing how to begin to pray. Richard J. Foster in his book entitled Prayer, offers a useful reminder for us all. “We will never have pure enough motives, or be good enough, or know enough in order to pray rightly. We simply must set all these things aside and begin praying. In fact, it is in the very act of praying itself--the intimate, ongoing interaction with God-- that these matters are cared for in

due time. What I am trying to say is that God receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are”(R. J. Foster, Prayer, p. 8).

Find a comfortable, quiet place where you might pray daily. Write down a list of those for whom you would like to pray. Will you use written prayers in the Book of Common Prayer Bishop Andy Doyle or other sources? Place them near by. Will you use a rosary? An icon? Set up your place and make it your deliberate place to be with God. Then go there each day. Go and be with God and open your heart to his companionship in your life. Sit quietly. Use words of prayer. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Pray a portion of scripture.

I encourage you to sit and be with God. Begin, perhaps for the first time, a conversation with God. If you have a rule of life, dust it off and recharge it with committed time to follow its precepts.

Pray, pray, pray. For it is in praying that we are truly transformed to be a witness of Jesus Christ. It is in prayer that we are humbled by the abundance of God’s grace.

One of the prayers that I pray every day is the General Thanksgiving prayer at the end of Morning Prayer II, (BCP, 101). Along with thousands and thousands of Christians around the world each morning I pray, “give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service…”

I hope you might join me in daily prayer and service this Lent and, with me, rediscover our conversation with God.

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle IX Bishop of Texas Pictured above is the bishop’s prayer journal.

Bishop High Plans Study/Baseball B ishop Rayford High will take a sabbatical from April 26July 23, 2010. “While rector of St. Paul’s, Waco, I was fortunate to have had a sabbatical leave during the first two months of 1998. For me it was a renewing, refreshing and educational experience which I continue to treasure. I look forward to these few months ahead for the same renewal,” Bishop High said.

Several things Bishop High will do while on sabbatical include the Bishop-in-Residence program at the School of Theology, Sewanee, TN, attending seminary and university

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graduations there and visiting churches in the Diocese of East Tennessee. He will also participate in the second meeting of the Anglican Health Network in Geneva, Switzerland, do a spiritual retreat, attend the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska and do “a lot of reading.”

“I’m grateful to Bishop Andy Doyle for this opportunity to have a change of pace, to focus on areas I’m interested in and to relax and rest,” he said. Martha Harvey, Bishop High’s assistant, will continue to be available in the Diocesan Office in Tyler.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

PARISH NEWS

SXSW, continued from page 1

Colonna, Citizen Cope, Drivin in Cryin, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Phoenix and a bunch of others. One of the pleasures of this is that I have developed relationships with some of these artists. (no, I don’t know the lead singer of Mute Math or any of the Kings of Leon!)

CEB: How did the interest in the Austin music scene bring you to the renown South by Southwest Music Festival?

MW: As I came to know many of the musicians, I came to respect their passion, their creativity, their spirit, their heart, their sincerity and their work ethic. Each of them is, of course, a mixed bag of virtue and vice like the rest of us.

I especially admire those who travel, and even though they are struggling to make a living, they strive to maintain their poise, skill levels, motivation and creativity for each audience, however large or small.

CEB: Do you find common places to relate as a priest?

MW: At one level, I identify with their vocation because there is a degree of vulnerability in being a public speaker/preacher and yearning for people to connect with you and your life and passion. So, as I hear stories from these artists about their triumphs and tragedies, I have become acutely aware of their vulnerability and how easy it is for them to rely on fan support, compliments and kind words from critics. Music is a tough business.

The band “awkward i” from Amsterdam performed at St. David’s during the 2009 SXSW.

St. David’s Offers Unique Venue for SXSW Fans

CEB: Where did your presentation idea come from?

MW: I applied to do a spiritual presentation for South

by Southwest in what I believe was a prompting from the Holy Spirit in July 2009. I just felt called to support these musicians and I was encouraged by Tom Gimbel, a friend who’s been in the music business for years. There will be thousands of musicians and others in the music industry gathered to attend this annual music conference, so it seems reasonable that some of them may find their way into my presentation.

Presenters had to drum up their own support and event planners picked presentations based on the amount of response to the proposals. Bishop Andy Doyle took notice and put it out on FaceBook, people from St. Matthew’s voted for it as did friends around the diocese and across the country.

When I received confirmation, I asked Carolyn Schwarz, who works with the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, to be part of the panel and so she will join me and Tom. CEB: What do you say to people who are not, at first blush, perceived to be “spiritual.”

MW: Fair question. I begin by trying to shed preconceptions about anyone based on how they look, or their age, or whatever. I come at my conversations with artists from the assumption that they are spiritual whether or not they go to church, have any form of traditional faith or are even interested in the kinds of things I do day by day, or our church does, day to day. I feel I have as much to learn from the people that I meet in the music business as I have to teach them. If and when a rapport is built and I have the opportunity to share my Christian faith in a way that is desired by the listener, I happily and readily do that.

See SXSW, page 7 Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

Photo: Jonathan LaChance.

By Jeanie Sablatura

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ach March, more than 20,000 people from all over the world descend upon Austin, to hear new bands, old bands and favorite bands. Thousands of those music lovers, booking agents, marketers and musicians will walk through the doors of St. David’s eager to catch the next act. For the third year, St. David’s, located in the heart of downtown, will be a music venue for the South

By Southwest (SXSW) Conference. Over a period of four days, five to six bands will perform each night in the church’s Historic Sanctuary.

“Their first comment is usually ‘Cool, this is a church?’ says St. David’s Director of Special Events, Lisa Kay Pfannenstiel, who is on hand for every performance.

The lighting, acoustics and ample seating makes St. David’s a prime spot for SXSW organizers who book the acts.

Not to mention St. David’s location. Just one block north of Austin’s famed Sixth St., St. David’s is walking distance for the thousands of people hoping to see as many performances as possible during the conference.

“Being a good neighbor and embracing our location is one of the best evangelism tools we have,” Pfannenstiel said. “Why would we close our doors on the busiest night in downtown?”

SXSW pays St. David’s for the venue, but after paying sextons and staff to help with the event, St. David’s makes little profit in the way of money.

“It’s all about making the church accessible to people who would not otherwise consider walking into a church,” explains St. David’s Parish Administrator Terry Nathan who initiated venue discussions with SXSW organizers in 2006.

“The fact that the performance venues are also our

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worship spaces is huge. We can’t coax someone into becoming a church-goer, but when they are ready, we want to have already paved the way so that they can feel comfortable in our world.”

It’s a different kind of evangelism technique than those used 10 years ago. Pfannenstiel says when concert-goers first enter the church they are exposed to the building. They then start asking questions about worship times (which are readily available on business cards at the front desk). They also want to know more about the St. David’s Coffee Shop, which sells breakfast tacos and coffee each morning- another evangelism tool.

“Evangelism is the telling of our story with an invitation to be part of it,” says the Rev. Mary Vano, associate rector.

“Without saying a word, our building introduces people to the story of our faith, and opens them to the possibility of the Gospel we proclaim.”

SXSW has planted the seed for St. David’s to host other concerts year-round. Downtown organizations and groups like the Rotary regularly meet at St. David’s, and the church will host a happy hour on its Labyrinth for the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association once again this year.

Additionally, St. David’s provides a Thursday “public lunch” that has become popular with downtown workers who can get a home-cooked meal at a reasonable price.

“We are constantly thinking outside the box,” Pfannenstiel said. “It keeps us busy, but we like it that way,” she says with a smile.

Sablatura is the director of communications at St. David’s, Austin.

Texas Episcopalian

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SCHOOL NEWS

St. Andrew’s, Sewanee Offers Scholarships to Student Leaders with Desire, Aptitude

St. Stephen’s Celebrates 60 Danielle Strasburger, Jennifer Sturley, Jeremy Hall (Bishop John E. Hines), Ryan Borses (the Rev. William Brewster), Garrett Jester, Brooke Becker, and Meredith McCarty reenact the groundbreaking event that took place at St. Stephen's on December 26, 1949.

By Alison Green n Wednesday, January 13, 2010, St. Stephen’s held a special chapel presentation to commemorate the original groundbreaking of the school on December 26, 1949, nearly 60 years ago. Bishop Coadjutor John E. Hines and the Rev. William Brewster broke ground and the doors opened on September 18, 1950, to 54 students. St. Stephen’s Episcopal School was dedicated on All Saints Day, November 1, 1950. Attending the commemoration were Hildegarde Brewster Bird (daughter of the Rev. William Brewster), Elizabeth Bird ‘10 (Brewster’s great-granddaughter), Nancy Hines Smith (daughter of Bishop John E. Hines), and Caleb Davishines ‘89 (Hines’ grandson), along with students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni.

Seven St. Stephen’s theatre students reenacted the

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groundbreaking with text taken from speeches given by Bishop Hines and Brewster and other archived documents from the groundbreaking and the school’s opening.

On July 11, 1949, the school purchased 400 acres of land adjoining Lake Austin eight miles west of Austin, part of the original Rob Roy Ranch, which was selling for $50.00 an acre. There were approximately 150 acres of open fields for athletics and cultivation and 300 feet of lake frontage.

The campus is situated atop Chautauqua Hill on land which, in the 1890s, belonged to the Colorado Lake Chautauqua Association. The site contained the ruins of the foundation of a Chautauqua hotel which was begun 50 years prior but never completed. The site was considered to be one of the most beautiful in Texas. Visit Mateo at www.policeandclergy. com.

What has Students Texting Now? E

A Combined Good Friday Pilgrimage & Service

piscopal High School’s Students of Service program, students and faculty used the latest technology to help the victims of Haiti’s earthquake. After looking at various responses, school officials decided on a financial one and invited a school-wide texting effort to donate to the American Red Cross.

During chapel services on January 28, prayers were offered and students were allowed to bring their cell phones in order to text a $10 donation to the Red Cross. Parents, alumni, friends and other schools were encouraged to join the effort. Funds, which are added to phone bills, are forwarded to the Red Cross by the cellular companies.

Because individuals and families may contribute in other ways, students were assured that they were not obligated to make a donation.

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On Friday, April 2, beginning at 7:30 a.m., the Episcopal congregations and schools in Bryan-College Station will gather for a combined Good Friday walk, reading the Stations of the Cross at each location, and ending at St. Andrew’s with a 12:15 Good Friday service and light soup lunch. Participants are invited to walk the entire route (approximately 9 miles) or in segments from: St. Francis, St. Thomas, St. Michael’s Academy, and ending at St. Andrew’s, 217 W. 26th St. in downtown Bryan. Transportation will be available at each location. For details and directions, visit www. standrewsbcs.org, 979.822.5176.

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t. Andrew’s-Sewanee School (SAS), a boarding and day college preparatory school located in Sewanee, Tenn., offers a number of merit scholarships to new boarding students entering ninth or tenth grade. Qualified students retain their scholarships until graduation. To be selected as a Claiborne Scholar a student must have a strong academic record and exhibit leadership qualities that reflect a sense of honor and a commitment to serving the community. This merit-based program is open to all families, including those who would not qualify for need-based aid. For information, go to www.sasweb.org or contact the Admissions Office at 931.598.5651 or admissions@sasweb.org.

In Celtic Times at Toyota Center

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t. Thomas’ Episcopal School’s five-time juvenile world champion pipe and drum band will headline a music and dance program at Houston’s Toyota Center on March 11, 2010. In Celtic Times blends traditional Scottish favorites and contemporary pieces and will include more than 300 bagpipers, drummers and dancers.

St. Thomas’ pipe and drum band is one of the most highly-respected pipe bands around the globe. St. Thomas’ also produces some of the best Scottish highland dancers in the country. They have won the United States Highland Dancing Championships more than twenty times.

For the past 45 years, this event has enlightened and entertained audiences in Houston, keeping alive the music and dance of the rich Scottish culture and heritage. It has become a Houston tradition and a community-treasured show.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Toyota Center, 1510 Polk Street, Houston. Tickets may be purchased online at www.toyotatix.com or through St. Thomas’, 713.666.3111.

Reserved seats are $25 and general admission tickets are $15.

Visit www.scottishfestival.net, www.stespb.org or www. houstontoyotacenter.com for more information.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

PARISH NEWS

St. Cyprians, Lufkin

St. Mark’s, Houston

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Holy Week - 800 Hours of Service t. Cyprians, Lufkin, will launch its inaugural Maundy Project this year. Seeking to follow Christ’s “New Commandment” to love one another through service, the members of St. Cyprians will log more than 800 hours of community service between Maundy Thursday and Easter Vigil, April 1-3, 2010. Several group projects and many individual efforts are already being planned. Some include restoring and repurposing a playground at the local Salvation Army facility; planting a vegetable garden for an area feeding ministry (so that they can include fresh, local produce in their offerings) and preparing and freezing meals for the Mosaic Center (to serve to the women who participate in their jobs program). For more information contact the Rev. Art Callaham (rector@stcyprianschurch.org) or call 936.639.1253.

St. Andrew’s, Pearland

The Church Has Left the Building

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he Rev. Jim Libertore challenged parishioners to spend 2010 focusing on people outside the church and their own families. This is the Year of Service, subtitled “It’s Not About Me.” One hundred members are preparing by using the small group resource by World Vision, A Hole in Our Gospel (the hole being care for the poor). See www. thegospelquest.com/pages/ for more info. This work will lead up to September 12, 2010 (a tentative date), where members will “do” church outside the walls on Sunday. Church services will be provided by an associate for those who prefer Sunday morning worship and visitors. Most parishioners will be out in the community helping others and will conclude with a potluck supper and Holy Eucharist in the evening. See more on Libertore’s blog at: jimliberatore.blogspot.com or call the church at 281.485.3843.

A real-time scenerio was reported by Debbie Allensworth. “Yesterday, I was standing in line at Wal-Mart (by far not my favorite pastime) and everything that could go wrong for the lady in front of me did. The card reader kept messing up so she had to input her pass code for her debit card one too many times and it locked her out. Then her Loan Star card, which she was trying to use to buy bread, milk and cheese, would not work. I knew she could not pay for the items otherwise. Just as the cashier was about to send the woman to the office to see what she could do, I quietly asked the clerk if I could just pay for the items. I told her that this woman just needed something to go right that day.

They were both a little amazed and very thankful.

Somehow though, I think that act made more of a difference to me than it did to the lady who needed the bread and milk. To see someone agonizing over how to pay for basic items really put into perspective all the gripes and concerns I had lived through that day. So, be on the lookout for those opportunities in your life. See who is hurting and could use an ear or go out of your way to help someone in need.”

St. Luke’s, Lindale Line dancing for Soup

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t. Luke’s, Lindale, donated $810.00 to a local soup kitchen from proceeds of their pancake supper on February 16.

Parishioners enjoyed a chocolate fountain, Mardi Gras beads, a parade, line dancing and a costume contest along with the pancakes.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

Faceing Gang Violence

Plant Sale Supports Hunger Projects f you are looking for new plants for your garden and if you want to help a hungry person, support the annual Palm Sunday Plant Sale at St. Mark’s, 3816 Bellaire Blvd., on March 28.

The plant sale is a key element in St. Mark’s commitment to outreach. In parts of Houston, hunger is an ever-present companion. Hungry children can’t learn, hungry adults can’t work and hungry seniors just can’t keep going. The $2,824 raised by last year’s Plant Sale provided support to the Houston Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and the Senior Feeding Program at Pinecrest Presbyterian Church.

The 35th annual St. Mark’s Plant Sale will open at 8:30 a.m. on March 28 and close at 12:30 p.m. It feature tables crowded with exotic African violets to native zinnias, from hardy ruellia to challenging night-blooming cereus, from a single rare specimen to flats of colorful bedding plants. A boutique table will offer non-growing items for shoppers who want to help but whose thumbs are not so green. Staff will gladly hold the purchases for those who wish to attend the 9 or 11 a.m. service. For more information, call the church office at 713.664.3466.

All Saints’, Austin

Hosts Recovery Gathering

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ll Saints’, Austin, will host a Day of Hope, a convocational gathering for anyone interested in a greater understanding of addiction and recovery, on Saturday, April 10. The informal gathering will include speakers, breakout sessions, a recovery service and dinner with entertainment by musical guests, The Panama Hats.

The event is sponsored by the Bridge Ministry of All Saints’, an awareness, prevention and support lay-ministry that seeks to bridge the gaps from misunderstanding to awareness, despair to hope, isolation to community, shame to forgiveness.

Registration materials may be requested by emailing Charlotte Frazier at athomefrazier@aol.com or contacting Betsi Robbins in the church office at 512.476.3589.

Members of San Mateo, Houston, braved cold temperatures to do a prayer walk in their Southwest Houston neighborhood in the face of rising gang violence. They partnered with Houston police officers to let gang members know there is a better way to live their lives. “We want to tell them that God loves them,” said the Rev. Alejandro Montes, rector of San Mateo. “We want to call on parents to be present for their kids. We have to take a stand for good,” he said. See story online at www.epicenter. org in the February edition of the Texas Episcopalian.

Calvary, Richmond Blood Drive Saves Lives

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alvary, Richmond, recently conducted a blood drive through the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, with its “Commit for Life” group program. In addition to saving lives, donors earn points through the program that can be redeemed for gifts. Calvary had 27 whole blood donors.

Calvary hosts blood drives four times a year, coordinated by church member Frank Plut who also coordinates blood drives at Imperial Sugar where he is employed.

Correction:

In the February issue of the Texas Episcopalian, a caption with a seafarers photo on page 12 said mariners were not allowed to disembark when in the Port of Houston.

Bill Crews sent the following clarification:

Mariners are allowed to disembark as long as the regulations stated in 33 CFR 105 are adhered to. That federal regulation is referred to commonly as the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. The Act covers the security of vessels and facilities that are under the Act. The areas of a port or terminal that are directly adjacent to the docks can be designated as a Restricted Area if it meets the criteria of 33 CFR 105. Passage through or in the Restricted Area is only allowed if the person holds a valid Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC).

This is a federal credential issued by the Transportation Security Administration. Unfortunately foreign mariners cannot qualify for these credentials (security background check required).

Many terminal owners/operators in the Port of Houston recognized this limitation and sought to put procedures in place that would facilitate foreign mariners being able to take shore leave. Before the TWIC regulations were put into effect in Houston, several

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terminals conducted outreach to the maritime community and especially to ship agents who handle vessel logistics when they are in port. Ship agents were advised to have personnel available to escort/transport mariners from their vessels to outside of the Restricted Area. Some local taxi companies had some of their drivers obtain a TWIC card and then attend TWIC escort training given by the Port Police to allow them to pick-up mariners at the vessel in some terminals.

Are there some terminals that are not following this practice of facilitating shore leave? Yes, I am sure there are some.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Seafarer’s Center, terminal operators and owners do have a working group to address concerns as the arise. Shore leave is a right for all international mariners.

Bill Crews, Friendswood, TX

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Calendar

Calendar

Facilitator’s Training for Mourner’s Path, April 22-24

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5 St. Martin’s Spring 2010 Concert Series presents the Texas A & M University Singing Walking the Mourner’s Path® is a Christ-centered bereavement training and grief Cadets Concert Friday at 7:00 p.m. at St. Martin’s, 717 Sage Road, Houston. Child care will support program whose purpose is to transform grief into joyful living by offering the be provided and there is a free will offering. A reception will follow. For more information, outstretched hand of Christ during bereavement. A training for facilitators will be held please call 713.621.3040 or visit www.stmartinsepiscopal.org. in the Houston area April 22-24.

5-6 Visitors Weekend at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin. Explore educational In parishes offering the Walking the Mourner’s Path ministry, sessions are led by at opportunities in lay and ordained ministry. Contact Beth Robertson at 512.439.0357 or least two persons who are certified facilitators. The Facilitator Training School is a threebrobertson@ssw.edu. See story page 13. day school taught by instructors whose goal is to train laity as well as clergy specifically in 5-7 Education for Ministry mentor training at Camp Allen. Register at www. the Christian ministry of grief and bereavement. Individuals who display spiritual depth, regonline.com/efm_mentor_training_diocese_of_texas or www.texas-efm.org. Registration have strong leadership skills and have a history of pastoral care are excellent candidates is $250. Contact Lucy Wagner for further information at lmwagner1219@sbcglobal.net or for this training.

713.253.4903.

The next facilitators training will be at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 15015 6 The Wardens and Vestry Conference will be held at St. Matthew’s, Austin. Registration Memorial Drive. To register please contact peggysands@mournerspath.com or for more is now open at epicenter.org/conference. Cost is $20 per person for both lay and clergy which information call the Rev. Gill Keyworth at 281.493.3161. includes two meals, beverages and resources. Call or email for further information: Julie Heath at 713.353.2125, jheath@epicenter.org or Mary MacGregor at 713.353.2136, mary@ epicenter.org.

6 Bridges Out of Poverty featuring Ruby Payne, PhD, Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – Noon at St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston. Payne is a leading expert on poverty April and the mindsets of different economic classes. There is no cost for the workshop, but advance 2 A combined Good Friday pilgrimage & service beginning at 7:30 a.m. at St. Francis’, registration is encouraged to ensure a seat. Contact Ann Cochran at acochran@sjd.org.

1101 Rock Prairie Road, College Station, concluding at St. Andrew’s at 12:15 with a Good Approved for 3 CEUs for clergy in the Diocese of Texas.

Friday service and light soup lunch. For details and directions, visit www.standrewsbcs.org, 9 You only Die Once author, Margie Jenkins, will speak at St. John the Divine, Houston, 979.822.5176. See information, page 4.

Tuesday, as part of a speakers series for Hand in Hand with Seniors. “Live Bodaciously and Plan 5-6 Interactive, multigenerational Lenten Retreat at St. Andrew’s, Bryan, 5:30-8:00 p.m. to Finish Well” Jenkins is a social worker of 30 years, psychotherapist, public speaker, lecturer on Friday and 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Friday, light supper; Saturday, pastries and and newspaper columnist, nationally recognized for her work with end-of-life planning issues coffee. Adventures in Prayer, Preparing for the Trip and Adventures in Prayer: The Trip Begins and noted for her sensitivity, humor and clinical practicality. For more information, please - visit several destinations within the church to experience different types of prayer. Led by contact Sally Rutherford at sbrutherford@epicenter.org.

Kathleen Phillips. Children’s activity and nursery for children under 4 will be available Friday 9-10 Christ Church Cathedral in Houston and Trinity, Longview, will host the Choir of night. Contact communications@standrewsbcs.org, 979.822.5176 to RSVP or for questions.

Men and Boys for St. Thomas Church in New York City Tuesday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. and 6-7 7 Habits of Highly Effective People at Camp Allen, taught by a Franklin Covey Wednesday, March 10, respectively. Founded in 1919, the choir is the leading ensemble in the certified facilitator and offered through Continuing and Professional Studies at Texas A&M Anglican choral tradition in the U.S. More information is at: www.SaintThomasChurch.org.

University. For more information or to register, visit www.campallen.org or contact Toni 9-10 7 Habits of Highly Effective People at Camp Allen, taught by a Franklin Covey Christopher at 936.825.7175. certified facilitator and offered through Continuing and Professional Studies at Texas A&M 10 Day of Hope, a convocational gathering for those interested in understanding University. For more information or to register, visit www.campallen.org or contact Toni addiction and recovery. All Saints’, Austin. The informal gathering will include speakers, Christopher at 936.825.7175. breakout sessions, a recovery service and dinner with entertainment. Registration materials 13 The Wardens and Vestry Conference will be held at Christ Church, Nacogdoches. from Charlotte Frazier at athomefrazier@aol.com or call Betsi Robbins, 512.476.3589 Registration is now open at: www.epicenter.org/conference. Cost is $20 per person for both extension 107. See story page 5. lay and clergy which includes two meals, beverages and resources. Call or email for further 10-11 Birds & Blooms at Camp Allen, a retreat for nature and bird lovers. Expert led information: Julie Heath at 713.353.2125, jheath@epicenter.org or Mary MacGregor at sessions, hike scenic trails with experienced guides, and much more. For more information or 713.353.2136, mary@epicenter.org. to register, visit www.campallen.org or contact Lauren Day at 936.825.7175. See story page 22 Seventh Annual Kilts and Clubs Charity Golf Tournament will benefit the St. 14.

Thomas’ Episcopal Scottish Arts Program and the Children’s Cancer Hospital at the University 16 Diane Meredith Belcher Organ Concert, 7:30 p.m. at St. Thomas, 4900 Jackwood of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Tournament will be at Wildcat Golf Club located at at Endicott, Houston (in Meyerland) 77096. www.stthomashouston.org for details.

12000 Almeda, Houston. Shotgun start scheduled for noon. A dusk performance by the fivetime world champion St. Thomas’ Episcopal Pipe Band and their internationally acclaimed Highland dancers. More details: Tom Cervone 713.201.7488.

28 St. Martin’s Spring 2010 Concert Series presents the Parish Choir. Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday at 2 p.m. “The Seven Last Words of Christ,” a dramatic oratorio by Theodore Dubois. Child care is available at no charge. There is a free will offering during this event. A reception follows. More information, 713.621.3040, visit stmartinsepiscopal.org.

To strengthen communication and enhance time spent together between daughters and their dads, the National Center for Fathering will present the second Houston Father-Daughter Summit on March 6 for daughters ages 11 and up and their fathers/father-figures.

Chairman Rick Wertz challenges dads to stand in the communication gap that often opens (followed by dinner) up between fathers and daughters and promises that good relationships will be strengthened and Third Friday of the month at 7:00 p.m. strained relationships will experience healing. olding hapel at hrist hurch athedral Registration is $99 per father/daughter pair and scholarships are available. The Summit will be held at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

1117 Texas Avenue, Houston Saturday, March 6, 2010. Pre-registration is available at www.fathers.com/summit.

Houston’s Father-Daughter Summit Strengthens Ties

Integrity Houston Eucharist

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Free P a r k i n g i n t h e C a t h e d r a l G a r a g e a t Te x a s a n d S a n J a c i n t o

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People

SXSW, continued from page 3

The Rev. D. Ray Bagby was ordained priest on December 22, 2009. He serves as vicar at All Saints’, Cameron.

The Rev. Douglas S. Cadwallader, assistant rector, St. Thomas’, Houston, has retired from active ministry.

The Rev. Arthur “Art” A. Callaham is the new rector of St. Cyprian’s, Lufkin.

The Rev. Howard G. Castleberry was ordained priest on January 9, 2010, He serves as assistant to the rector at Christ Church, Temple.

The Rev. Gena L. Davis was ordained priest on January 10, 2010. She serves as assistant to the rector at Trinity, Baytown.

The Rev. Christopher R. Duncan was ordained priest on January 20, 2010. He serves as assistant to the rector at Good Shepherd, Austin.

The Rev. Richard T. Houser, III was ordained priest on January 12, 2010. He serves as assistant to the rector at St. Aidan’s, Cypress.

The Rev. Leonard E. Hullar was ordained priest on January 9, 2010. He is rector at St. Barnabas’, Houston.

The Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge has been named Dean of Community Life at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin.

She has been on the faculty since 1999.

The Rev. J. Dean Lawrence was ordained priest on January 28, 2010. He is assistant to the rector at St. Christopher’s, League City.

The Rev. Douglas N. Lasiter, Jr. was ordained priest on January 5, 2010. He serves as assistant to the rector at Ascension, Houston.

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski was ordained priest on January 21, 2010. He continues to serve at St. Augustine of Hippo, Galveston.

The Rev. Elizabeth “Beth” A. Magill is the associate for youth at St. David’s, Austin.

The Rev. Chad T. Martin was ordained priest on January 8, 2010. He serves as assistant to the rector at St. Thomas’, Houston.

The Rev. Cynthia P. Tobola was ordained priest on December 21, 2009. She serves at St. John’s, Palacios.

The Rev. Suzanne F. Tubbs, rector of St. Francis’, Tyler, is retiring from active ministry.

Deaths The Rev. William L. “Bill” Russell died Monday, February 15, 2010, in Dallas. A memorial service was held for him at Grace, Galveston. Please keep the Williams’ family in your prayers.

The Rev. Alice C. Cowan, retired from the Diocese of Southern Ohio, died on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

The Rev. Merrill (“Duke” to his radio fans) Wade

CEB: What do you tell musicians about spirituality and how it pertains to them? Do you talk about spiritual giftedness?

MW: I really don’t tell musicians about spirituality. I ask them about spirituality. As you can imagine, their answers are all over the map. Generally, my conversations with them are gentle, encouraging and hopeful. We might talk about God, we might use the word “spirit,” but just as often, they are thinking about things like the joy they feel when they connect with people through their music. They feel this infusion of something greater than themselves, which they want to articulate and that is the point of intersection between my years as a Christian and a priest, and their lives.

So what I tell them at that point is that, like the rest of us, they need to know they are children of God, they are much loved and that the rest of us are really grateful for their gifts and efforts. I tell them that music and live shows are entertainment, to be sure, but they are often rich, poignant, exchanges of grace as well.

CEB: What do you hope your panel discussion will accomplish for those attending?

MW: Tom, Carolyn and I are still in process of preparing our presentation. We hope to give them some practical pointers that they can follow day by day, with a special concern for the times they travel. We don’t plan to create a revolutionary spiritual program for anyone. Instead, we are relying on a rich tradition of Christian contemplative spirituality and insights from other traditions.

Those who attend our panel will be encouraged to do something daily for their mental, spiritual and physical health. Simple stuff: one or two periods of twenty minutes of silence per day; some form of daily exercise or stretching; one healthy meal per day (with fresh fruit and vegetables).

We will remind them to breathe slowly, calmly and with intention to relax. We will encourage them to find a mentor that they can call on and lean on for advice, counsel and

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support (yes, I tell them that everyone needs a pastor).

Carolyn says that musicians are too hard on themselves and need to be fairer in their self-expectations, so we will encourage them not to judge themselves too rudely or quickly, to be patient with themselves. As I said, none of these daily practices are new, yet every one of us do well to make habits out of them.

The truth underlying our presentation is that it is difficult enough to be disciplined when one rarely travels.

Now, when one is on the road (nomad), in an ever changing environment, in a high energy, high stress and vulnerable state, discipline is difficult, to say the least. It is hard to find a home cooked meal with fresh fruit and vegetables.

If one works for a record company or is a side musician working for the owner or front person of the band, there is little control of his/her schedule. If one is a solo artist and is not managed, then he/she does everything themselves and that is exhausting and lonely in its own right. As I said, it is a tough business. At times and places, the cultural expectations are for bands to be heavy drinkers and even to do illegal drugs. I don’t believe that the artists I have come to know have practices with drugs and alcohol that are much different than anyone else in other businesses. Nevertheless, when you are playing in clubs and bars in different cities and states, even around the world, the temptations are pretty significant. I only make these points to express my sense of how difficult it is for a touring artist to maintain a spiritual life, as we church-based Christians would design it.

CEB: How can we all best make music in our lives?

Where do we start and how do we recharge that energy?

MW: I give thanks that I and we, in the Diocese of Texas, are able to lead our lives rooted in a church community to whom we are accountable. The routine admonitions and encouragements we receive to stay faithful to God, to say our prayers, to confess our sins and to have our lives renewed by regular Holy Communion, these are blessings bestowed in the life of the Church. So, I recognize that our Spirituality for Nomads presentation at South by Southwest in 2010 is more about encouraging people to take stock of their lives and to follow some simple suggestions that may help them find greater joy and creativity.

CEB: Is the message you have for musicians the same for all of us “listeners?”

MW: Yes, we want to encourage people to have a discipline, to practice good habits, whether or not they live a non-stop life on the road, or a more structured life at home. Everyone has a spiritual life. We need to value our own life, take time for silence, eat a good meal every once in a while, take a walk, learn to breath deeply—things that show we value the life God has given us. This notion of a personal discipline is not going to solve all of your problems but it will allow you to mature and grow into the full stature of Christ.

You can follow Wade at SXSW and beyond on Twitter @ spirit4nomads and his Friday morning music gigs on sports talk radio @DukeMusicScout. Stay tuned …

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Council Calls for Unity, Signs Partnership with Southern Malawi consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, a partnered gay man, and the blessing of same sex unions taking place in the Anglican Church of Canada and in some dioceses of the Episcopal Church).

There will be a time for discussion at the 162nd Council in 2011 and a mind of the council will provide guidance for the bishop and deputies to the Church’s next General Convention in 2012.

Further, Bishop Doyle said he will assign an additional task force to review issues that may arise from General Convention 2012. “How do we move forward together for the sake of Jesus Christ?” he asked, Delegates prepare to vote.

Photos: Carol E. Barnwell adding, “We have got to learn to live together, and how we discern the outward and visible

By Carol E. Barnwell signs of that life together, the daily living out of Church is ore than 1000 elected delegates, clergy, visitors our common work, not just the work of your bishop.” and exhibitors gathered in Killeen, February 12 and 13, 2010, for the 161st Council, the annual Resolutions meeting of the Diocese of Texas. Hosted by St. Christopher’s, Punctuating Bishop Doyle’s call for unity was the work of Killeen, and staffed with volunteers from the surrounding a diverse group of clergy and lay people from across the Episcopal churches, delegates to the two-day gathering diocese. The group wrote a substitute resolution (text at approved a $10 million plus budget, a partnership with right), which was approved.

The Rev. Miles Brandon, chair of the Resolution the Diocese of Southern Malawi (see article, page 10) and passed a resolution calling for unity amidst diversity. Don Committee, indicated the committee’s support for the Christian, chair of the planning committee, and his legion of substitute resolution authored by the Revs. Chris Bowhay, St. Thomas’, Houston; David Boyd, St. David’s, Austin; volunteers, received high praise for a job well done.

Russ Levenson, St. Martin’s, Houston; Joe Reynolds, Christ Bishop’s Address Church Cathedral, Houston; Larry Hall, St. John the Divine, Bishop Andy Doyle challenged those present to “build upon Houston; Lisa Hunt, St. Stephen’s, Houston; Stuart Bates, the sacramental unity of God’s reign.” The Church, he said St. Francis’, Houston; Dick Elwood, St. Martin’s, Houston; in his presentation to Council, is “a principle that runs and Laurie Eiserloh, St. David’s, Austin and Jim Cowan, throughout Scripture … our prayers and liturgy. Oneness Trinity, Houston. and unity are those qualities of sacramental life from which Bowhay said the group had gathered “to find a higher all acts of peace, justice, service and dignity course out into way regarding God’s will.” He called the conversation the world … Communion is a dominant theological building “respectful and compassionate.” “We succeeded in working block that describes the very essence of what it means to be together and want to do so in the days and years ahead, he Church.” said.”

Bishop Doyle called for a strategic plan to plant a new Eiserloh, an Austin attorney who shares two children church annually; pointing out that only eight had been with her partner of 20 years, spoke of her welcome to the planted successfully since the 1980s. He called for a year of prayer for the Covenant and will set up a task force to design a model of study and conversation for local congregations to discuss the Covenant. (The Covenant is the result of a five-year long process resulting from the Windsor Report, which addresses divisive issues facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion following the election and

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Episcopal Church 10 years ago. She had gone to St. David’s “to baptize our baby like grandmother wanted,” she said.

What she experienced was “profound hospitality” and “that is what this resolution speaks to,” she added. She called

A Resolution of Unity within our Diversity as the Episcopal Diocese of Texas Whereas, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas is a large and diverse diocese that expresses the Kingdom into which God invites all people; and, Whereas; God the Holy Spirit works in and through our creative diversity to nurture, expand, and transform us ever more deeply into the people we are called by God to be, be it; Resolved, that the 161st Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas claims unity in the midst of our diversity through the gifts of our shared Baptismal Covenant and our common conviction and proclamation that Jesus is Lord; and, be it further, Resolved, that all sorts and conditions of humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, nationality, or sexual orientation, and especially all of God’s children entrusted to our care, are loved beyond measure by God in Christ, are welcomed and valued in our institutions, mission, ministries and parishes, and are a blessing to our collective life as we engage together in mission and ministry; and, be it further, Resolved, that all people in our communities and their relationships receive the pastoral care, time, attention and honor they are due as God is revealed in and through them and as God works to change us all into a holy people.

Submitted by: The Rev. Chris Bowhay, St. Thomas, Houston; the Rev. David Boyd, St. David’s, Austin; the Rev Russ Levenson, St. Martin’s, Houston; the Very Rev. Joe Reynolds, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston; the Rev. Larry Hall, St. John the Divine, Houston; the Rev. Lisa Hunt, St. Stephen’s, Houston; the Rev. Stuart Bates, St. Francis’, Houston; the Rev. Dick Elwood, St. Martin’s, Houston; Laurie Eiserloh, St. David’s, Austin; Jim Cowan, Trinity, Houston

Read or listen to Bishop Andy Doyle’s Council Address and see full details from the 161st Council, along with photographs at www.epicenter.org.

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DIOCESAN NEWS

the resolution “Common ground for Valentine’s Day” and asked delegates to view it “as a love letter to the future of our Church.”

Reynolds, dean of the Cathedral, spoke to the substitute resolution as well, saying it wasn’t “terribly radical” but said, it was important to state and it was supported by people with a diversity of deeply held convictions. “It is a step in the conversation to find things that bind us together in the Diocese of Texas.”

An additional resolution approved an Executive Board study to extend Council.

Youth and Young Adults

Susanna Jones, a high school senior from St. Andrews, Bryan, and lay rector of the Christian Leadership Conference, told delegates that youth ministry in the diocese helped her find her voice as a leader. “I felt God give me a push … He changed the way I look at myself [and] later I was able to cheer others on,” she said in her address to Council.

New Church Plant

Reports on churches included a new church plant and several closings. St. Julian’s of Norwich, a new church plant in Austin, was recognized as an organized mission and the Rev. Miles Brandon, vicar, and Mason Terry were seated as delegates. Following extensive study with the congregation and an exploration of alternatives, St. Philip’s, Austin, was dissolved, having celebrated their final service in June, 2009.

St. Mark’s, Cleveland, was officially closed because efforts to revive the congregation had been unsuccessful. St. Peter’s, Lago Vista’s petition to remit to mission status was received.

Archdeacon Russ Oechsel prepares the table for Council’s opening Eucharist.

Constitution and Canons

A constitutional change to Article 2, Sec 2.1E recognizing pastoral leaders (lay vicars) as members of Council passed its second reading. Canon 24, aligning bylaws with actual school operations at St. Stephen’s School, Austin; and Canon 46, Sec. 46.3, eliminating a Cathedral Chapter (which had originally been established to facilitate a relationship with the Diocese of Texas) were approved.

Exhibits provided a market place for ideas and goods.

Bishop Andy Doyle and delegates toured Ft. Hood.

St. Julian’s vicar, the Rev. Miles Brandon, and delegate Mason Terry were seated at Council.

Bishop George Packard preached at the Eucharist.

See an interview with him at www.epicenter.org.

insurance costs. Assets of nearly $1.3 million and liabilities of slightly more than $1.69 million (a decrease in net assets from year end 2008 of about $350,000) was due primarily to the unpaid Assessments and Askings. The diocesan budget had revenues of just over $10 million. Of the $318,000 provision for uncollectible assessments, expenses exceeded revenues by about $68,000. The Missionary Budget had revenues of $2.8 million after provision of $344,000 for uncollectible Askings.

Expenses were $3.02 million and about $210,000 more than

revenues. Detailed copies of budgets and statements are available online at www.epicenter.org.

Read or listen to Bishop Andy Doyle’s address to Council at www.epicenter.org. Read a full summary of Council actions on the Council blog at: 161council.blogspot. com along with photos from Council. Read an indepth interview with Bishop George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Federal Ministries and chaplain for the Armed Forces at www.epicenter.org.

Elections:

Secretary: The Rev. John A. Logan, Jr. Treasurer: Bob Biehl Standing Committee: The Rev. Mike Besson, St. John’s, LaPorte Linnet Deily, Trinity, Houston Executive Board: The Rev. Nick Novak, Trinity, Baytown The Rev. Chuck Treadwell, St. Paul’s, Waco Dave Bollinger, Good Shepherd, Tomball Kerry Hancock, Christ Church, Temple Elizabeth Dowell, Hope, Houston Trustee of the Church Corporation: JoLynn Free, All Saints’, Austin Trustee of the University of the South: William Gage, Jr., St. John the Divine, Houston

Budgets

Delegates adopted both the Diocesan and Missionary Budgets. For the first time, the Diocesan Budget was separated into Parts A & B, to provide a clearer picture of Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Delegates Approve Partnership with S. Malawi

Bishop Andy Doyle and Bishop James Tengatenga sign the agreement of partnership between the Dioceses of Southern Malawi and Texas. The Rev. Susan Barnes, chair of the World Mission Board, and representatives from Malawi look on.

By Carol E. Barnwell

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ollowing a year of study by the World Mission Board, council delegates approved a partnership between the Diocese of Texas and the Diocese of Southern Malawi at the diocese’s annual meeting in Killeen, February 13.

Twenty five years ago, a young man--educated at Seminary of the Southwest as part of a previous relationship with the Diocese of Lake Malawi--returned to sign a new partnership agreement. James Tengatenga, now Bishop of Southern Malawi, joined Bishop Andy Doyle for the historic moment at the 161st Diocesan Council.

“God has chosen this time for us to begin to walk together in God’s mission,” Bishop Tengatenga said.

Bishop Doyle said he believed the partnership would bring mutual benefit to the people of both dioceses. “I’m sure there will be many ideas for meaningful exchange as we grow closer spiritually and in mission through this partnership,” Bishop Doyle said.

The Diocese of Southern Malawi has 22 parishes with more planned as a result of subdividing existing congregations. Diocesan schools are helping to raise literacy rates and there is a micro credit development program for the empowerment of women. Other diocesan programs seek to improve water and sanitation for villagers, maternal and child healthcare, provide nets to lower malaria cases and work with HIV/AIDS patients. The bishop hopes the partnership will help him equip leaders through an exchange of clergy.

The bishop wants visits to Southern Malawi to be more

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than “missionary” or “educational.” “[These] are journeys into God, hence my preferred term for them is ‘pilgrimage.’ One cannot overemphasize the Nathaniel effect in matters of the Gospel. Remember Nathaniel in the Gospel according to John, the guy who came and saw and was never the same again,” Bishop Tengatenga told delegates. He invited members of the diocese to join the people of his diocese on the Road to Emmaus, “in which the Lord Jesus promises a lot of déjà vu, epiphanies, eureka moments, memories of the future, prayer, proclamation and service.”

In an earlier interview, Bishop Tengatenga said he hoped any relationship would include every category of people. He said he wanted people to get to know what the Church looks like, how it is experienced in a different place. A priority is clergy development in order to keep up with his growing number of congregations.

Child and maternal health, sanitation and sustainable sources of water are other priorities. “We minister to people who are dying! I remember being an angry, young priest with parents and children who shouldn’t have died,” Bishop Tengatenga said, regarding the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He and his wife have three biological children and 10 others from family members who have died.

Eighty-five percent of Malawi’s population are subsistence farmers. “We need small agricultural projects, animal husbandry information to support food, to help

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people earn income and buy milk for their children,” he said.

Two-thirds of the country’s population is younger than 35.

More than half are women whose literacy rate is generously measured at 30 percent the bishop explained. This makes programs that empower women very important.

“AIDS is a woman’s face because she carries the burdens of it the most,” he said.

The diocese’s six primary schools teach the Malawi curriculum and are models for the government run schools, while they are “unashamedly faith-based and values-oriented.”

But they need classrooms for 60-70 children instead of 120, the bishop says, besides libraries, water sources for bathrooms and teacher housing. Schools also provide the perfect place to establish feeding programs for children.

“People in the Diocese of Texas have experience in each area of need,” the bishop said. “We can share the joys of celebrating God. We want to offer a place of pilgrimage where people can encounter transformation,” he added. “We can provide that moment to see the effects of life-changing work.”

The bishop’s expectations of the partnership are “rather big,” he says. “I would like to establish a relationship of mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual growth … being able to strengthen one another in our faith journey.

Those things we think we are strong in, we can share with you, and those things you are strong in, you can share with us,” he said.

He hopes to learn a more efficient way to deploy personnel from the organization of the Diocese of Texas. He also wants to learn how to set up an endowment, to look at schools here and share ideas between educational bodies. He envisions “student to student exchanges of letters and ideas … learning how school boards are formed, how to sustain the school’s program.”

In Malawi, when a priest retires, they have no home.

The bishop would like to gain from the experience of the Episcopal Church to develop a benefit plan for his clergy pensions because “most use all their pension money to build a wall and a roof and don’t have enough to finish their home.”

Currently, women are not ordained in the Diocese of Southern Malawi. He hopes the role model that women clergy provide will open the possibility in Malawi. “Presence doesn’t hurt … Actually seeing [a women priest] makes a great impression,” he said.

“Our hope is to have people visit and experience how we live our faith and realize an opportunity to do something for God that one never thought they might be able to do … teach, speak, pray … is a significant gift. Seeing others in a different context will help people reflect on their own life, their own context, their own struggle with God … It gives you the distance to reflect on yourself,” Bishop Tengatenga concluded.

Bishop Tengatenga will be Bishop-in-Residence at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin through May while he works on a historical record of the church in Malawi. He will be visiting churches here throughout the spring.

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DIOCESAN NEWS

Back to the Future

Images from Those Remarkable Village People, a book of postcards from Malawian artists.

Ways to engage in partnership with the Diocese of Southern Malawi Pen Pal Project

A pilot project for Episcopal schools in the Diocese of Texas to learn more about, and communicate with, the children of Malawi. Six schools will be selected in this diocese to learn about Malawi, while at the same time writing to corresponding schools in the Diocese of Southern Malawi. This project will be educational as well as relational.

Circle of Prayer

The partnership of the Diocese of Southern Malawi and the Diocese of Texas provides an opportunity for people to share their life of prayer.

Pilgrimages

Warm Heart International is sponsoring a third pilgrimage to Malawi, Africa, for up to sixteen people.

Join an experience that will change your understanding of the world, yourself, your community and God. For more information go to www.WarmHeartInternational. org

By Lucy Germany

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etween 1963 and 1978, a companionship between Texas and Malawi remained firm. They were years in which the word “mission” in Texas became synonymous with “Malawi.” The diocese sent groups of pilgrims to Malawi, charging them with the serious commitment—upon their return—to spread the word of their experience throughout churches in the diocese. Texas Episcopalians who had never heard of Malawi began serving Malawian food gleaned from a cookbook produced in Nkhotakota, wore java cloth wrap-around skirts and shirts and sang the Malawi national anthem and other African tunes. We were—you might say—“head over heels” in love with this small central African state, one of the poorest on the continent, its major attraction, Lake Malawi, the third largest lake in all of Africa. Under the guidance of the Rev. William Sterling, rector of Good Shepherd, Friendswood, (later elected suffragan bishop), as chair of World Mission, we published Sunday School curricula that included African games, legends, history and language. The material captivated churches large and small throughout the diocese. Malawian foods, dress and legends not only served to enlighten Texans about their far-away companion, they also helped to develop an extraordinary closeness to a land and people most Texans would never see.

The relationship continued to mature through numerous visits from clergy and laity of Malawi to Texas, groups of Texans visiting Malawi, the “adoption” of women’s arts and crafts groups, which made available interesting hand-made treasures still cherished in many Texas Episcopalians’ homes.

Texas sent a Master of Works and his artist wife—Bill and Margaret Eignus from Friendswood—to Malawi for two years during which time the lights went on in Nkhotakota— the largest village in Central Africa—for the first time in years, thanks to Bill’s genius with generators. Margaret offered art classes to young boys whose villages were often

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miles from Nkhotakota but who were willing to walk those miles barefoot and even on crutches to take part in her classes.

The Diocese of Texas persisted in its faithfulness to Malawi for years beyond the original companion relationship.

Texas money built a large lay training center in Nkhotakota, and funded numerous classes ranging from auto repairs to farming and fish raising. Texas funded a hospital just outside Malosa, not far from the capitol city of Blantyre and staffed it with a doctor and nurse—Arthur and Nan Johnson from Houston—a couple whose generosity is still talked of in that place. There were countless “adoptions” over the years of parishes and individuals in Malawi by Texas Episcopalians.

These primarily involved exchange of letters, music, books and prayers between the two peoples.

Malawi has been and still is an integral part of the history of the Diocese of Texas. The relationship has produced many “finest hours” for people in both dioceses and has substantially contributed to an extraordinary sense of partnership that goes in both directions. The two dioceses have long been united in ways that continue to feed both spiritually, and now we are embarking on another era in a relationship with a people who have long been in spiritual partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. As Malawians traditionally express their thanks by the words in the Chichewa language —“Zikomo Wanbeeri”— the seed that was first planted so long ago now will bear new fruit for new generations.

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Love’s Harvest

Love’s Harvest works to alleviate hunger in Southern Malawi and is in its second year of operation. The mission is to help Malawi’s rural poor grow the food they need through four key concepts: micro-grants, sustainability, education and communication. Love’s Harvest also provides startup capital for small businesses in permaculture, agriculture and animal husbandry.

Water for Malawi

The “Water for Malawi” project raises funds and awareness for clean and safe drinking water for the rural poor in Malawi. Since 2007, Warm Heart International has raised more than $60,000, installed a windpowered well in the village of Mindanti, and currently is installing two additional wells in Malawi parish and in Shire parish. Both support a church, rectory and active community. For more information and to donate go to www.WarmHeartInternational.org

NetsforLife®

Malaria is a major health problem in Malawi.

NetsforLife® distributes life-saving nets and trains people in Malawi on awareness and prevention. www. netsforlifeafrica.org/where-we-work/malawi

Simple Gifts for Orphan Care

Parents and grandparents are dying daily from the ravages of HIV/AIDS, leaving little family structure for the surviving children. “Simple Gifts for Orphan Care” raises funds and awareness for orphan care projects in Malawi. For more information or to donate go to www.

WarmHeartInternational.org

Texas Episcopalian

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March

2010

DIOCESAN NEWS

ECW Honors Members

Honored Women of St. Matthew’s, Austin, (l-r) are Jeri Muhich, Pat Boon, Louise Waddill and Kay Whitney.

D

iocesan Episcopal Church Women began a program last year to honor members who are steadfast workers and supporters in their congregations. The Honored Women program also supports the growth of the ECW Endowment Fund.

Contributions to the Endowment Fund help ensure that organized women’s ministries in the Diocese of Texas will continue well into the future. ECW supports many ministries including: outreach grants, scholarships for Episcopal women, United Thank Offering grants, education and spiritual enrichment for women through workshops and conferences.

A nomination form for the Honored Women program is available online at www.epicenter.org/ecw, or from your ECW convocational coordinator (listed on the website). Any parish, even those without an organized ECW, may nominate women for this honor. The recommended contribution to the ECW Endowment Fund is $100 per honoree.

Each Honored Women will receive a calligraphied certificate presented to her by the congregation, and will be announced at the ECW Annual Meeting and Retreat in October.

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

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

Peace may be reached at: 409.925.5161.

2008-2009 Honored Women:

ECW Important Dates

Spiritual Growth Retreat at Camp Allen, April 9-10, 2010 ECW Outreach Grant Applications Due April 29, 2010 Fair Share Assessments Due April 30, 2010

Altar Guild Retreat at Camp Allen, March 7-10, 2010 Vera Gang Scott Scholarship Applications Due March 31, 2010

Texas Episcopalian

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March

2010

St. Thomas the Apostle, Nassau Bay • Gloria Trlica • Greta Kaltenbach • Margaret Kern • Ellen Cook • Katharyn F. “Kitty” Carmine St. Stephen’s, Liberty • Nona Tippit • Bertha Boyce Good Shepherd, Friendswood • Nancy Browning • Candy Brugger • Robbie McDonald • Ruth McClelland Trinity, Galveston • Susan Duif St. Luke’s on the Lake, Austin • Alice Jean Timberlake St. Matthew’s, Austin • Pat Boon • Kay Whitney • Louise Waddell • Jeri Muhich St. Martin’s, Houston • Anya McInnis

Further information at: www.epicenter.org/ecw

12

New Blog Empowers Church Leaders Twenty five years ago, Loren Mead of the Alban Institute began to speak about the new “missionary church.” He proclaimed that the church was moving into a new era of missionary emphasis, much like the early church we know through Acts and Paul’s letters in scripture. Mead’s comments were prophetic. The Church in America is striving to find its way, awash in a dynamic and changing culture that devalues organized religion at every opportunity.

Today we are faced with the critical need for missionary leaders for the sake of the Gospel. We have been so tied to denominational identity and the extraordinary demands made on church leaders just for the sake of congregational maintenance that we have little energy left for reaching out to a world that doesn’t know Christ or His love.

We have entered an era where the need for missionary leadership is essential, both inside and outside congregations. This takes bold and faithful action on the part of church leaders. This takes a reclaiming of the church’s original mission to spread the Gospel that we know transforms lives. This takes incredible courage, not being afraid to claim the missionary call of Christ without being apologetic. “It is my hope to share resources that challenge and empower church leaders for this new era of missionary work,” said Mary MacGregor, director of leadership development for the Diocese of Texas. Read her new blog at: missionaryleader. blogspot.com.

If you’re not reading ....

Bishop Andy Doyle texasbishop.blogspot.com EDOT Missionary Leader missionaryleader.blogspot.com EDOT Communications edotcomm.blogspot.com We are Called edotministry.blogspot.com EDOT Relief and Development ikerelief.blogspot.com EDOT Young Adult Ministry edotyoungadults.blogspot.com EDOT Youth Ministry edotyouth.blogspot.com EDOT Council 161council.blogspot.com

You’re not getting all the news.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

SEMINARY OF THE SOUTHWEST NEWS

Seminary Offers Experience and Degrees for Laity

the MCPC. She has taken a leave of absence since her husband deployed to Iraq in mid-January, but hopes to return to evening classes in the fall. “I’m so grateful for those evening offerings. As a mother, it’s a gift,” she said.

For those who seek board certification—not required for admittance to the MCPC or for many chaplaincy opportunities—the MCPC at Southwest meets the academic requirement of the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC)

“Religion and peoples’ beliefs about God have so much to do with one’s well-being,” said Courtney Gross, who is in her second year at Southwest. Gross found the MAC degree at Southwest following graduation from Texas A&M. She wanted a theological component to her preparation for a counseling practice and looked at schools Eric Whitfield headed back to school to become a lay chaplain. in Colorado and Virginia when her aunt asked, “Do you

By Nancy Springer-Baldwin know about Seminary of the Southwest?”

The MAC degree is designed for persons seeking hristians, young and old, look increasingly to seminaries in response to God’s call on their lives, graduate-level instruction in counseling and a curriculum that provides opportunities to integrate counseling theories which may not necessarily include ordination.

Seminary of the Southwest in Austin anticipated and techniques with pastoral approaches and perspectives.

The curriculum provides the academic foundation, the growing interest several years ago when it established including the 300-hour practicum requirement, specified accredited master’s degrees for laity.

Many students attend evening and weekend classes by the State of Texas for the credential of Licensed while they continue their full-time careers. Some, who have Professional Counselor (LPC). While conforming to the lost jobs in the economic downturn, see this as a good time state requirements, courses in the MAC program are taught to return to school. Southwest experienced a 40 percent from a Christian faith perspective such that professional and increase in enrollment in 2009, which includes 27 new pastoral competence is emphasized. students who are not seeking ordination.

Southwest’s board of trustees made a commitment Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation (MSF) The MSF is the newest degree at Southwest and it to theological education for laity more than a decade ago.

The resulting Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation combines the study of Christian spirituality with the many (CCMV), established three years ago, is an umbrella for ways to practice and reflect on it.

The three-year, part-time program blends the study programs designed specifically for lay persons. Founded on the principal that God calls all Christians to service of of theology and spirituality and focuses on the meaning the Gospel, the Center’s mission is to support Christians in of holiness, biblical ideas of vocation, the theology of discerning what it means to respond faithfully to God’s call revelation, the place of experience, the life of the church and in their particular lives and circumstances. CCMV students the nature of mission. All courses in the MSF are taught by represent many denominations and seek to strengthen the seminary’s full-time faculty.

“The MSF is ideal for those seeking a personal renewal their knowledge of theology, scripture and ethics, as well as pursue more specific training in chaplaincy, pastoral care or of faith and practice or teaching in a church community, as well as persons wishing to guide people in prayer or leading counseling.

The seminary’s full-time faculty teach the core groups for Bible study or discipleship,” said the Rev. Alan (theological) courses, and a team of local experts are recruited Gregory, academic dean.

The Rev. Paul Moore, rector of St. Christopher’s, to teach the professional courses. Faculty bios can be found Killeen, knew that he wanted to go back to school before at www.ssw.edu/faculty. adding retreat work to his ministry. “I wanted to develop Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care (MCPC) my spiritual life further, which led me to evaluate different The MCPC coursework engages students in Bible, programs. The MSF is a Godsend, and I found it right in ethics, theology, pastoral theology and theory, as well as in a my backyard,” he said. “I’m not the only clergy person in the range of more specialized courses dealing with chaplaincy in program, but I am the only Episcopal priest. It’s enriching its various contexts – hospital, prison, workplace, school or to discuss issues that arise in class with lay people and clergy from other denominations.” faith community chaplaincy.

“I feel called to serve the community of veterans— The Seminary Community we are a military family—and my research led me to the “The mechanism to get in is so much easier than I seminary,” said Celeste McVeigh, who recently enrolled in

C

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

13

Kathryn Tanner to Lecture at Seminary of the Southwest Kathryn Tanner, theologian, writer and educator, will deliver the Harvey Lecture at Seminary of the Southwest on March 22.

Tanner will speak at 6:30 p.m. in Knapp Auditorium on the seminary campus at 501 E. 32nd Street. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the lecture is free and open to the public. The title of her lecture is “Gender and the Trinity.”

Tanner is the Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor of Theology in the Divinity School at The University of Chicago. In her teaching and writing she addresses contemporary challenges to Christian belief. She has written about God’s relation to the world, cultural studies’ relevance for rethinking theological method and systematic theology and the incarnation. Her latest book, Christ the Key, explores the centrality of Jesus Christ for Christian thought and life. Tanner was a featured speaker at the 2010 Trinity Institute on “Building an Ethical Economy” hosted by Trinity Church, Wall Street.

The Harvey Lecture, organized annually by seminarians, honors the late Hudnall Harvey, dean of Seminary of the Southwest from 1968 to his death in 1972. The lectureship serves as a living memorial to Harvey’s ministry at Southwest.

thought,” said Eric Whitfield, a student in the Chaplaincy program. “Everyone has been so great; it’s been a holy experience.”

Most of the 60 CCMV students are employed and find the evening and alternate weekend courses suit their busy schedules. The course schedules and minimum requirements for extracurricular activities on campus make it possible for commuters to enroll and complete the courses; however, CCMV students are encouraged to be involved more fully in the life of the seminary community if time permits.

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated on CCMV Saturdays and it attracts most students including those who come from denominations other than the Episcopal Church. Lunch follows in the seminary’s dining hall, and offers another opportunity for faculty and students to get to know one another, further strengthening the community.

Additional educational opportunities for laity include the Master of Arts in Religion (MAR), a diploma in Christian education and youth ministry, and The Online School for Spirituality and Mission. The MAR is a purely academic theological program with concentrations in general theology, Christian education and youth ministry, and Hispanic Church Studies. Students attend classes on weekdays with MDiv students.

Additional information can be found at www.ssw.edu or by contacting the Admissions Office (brobertson@ssw.edu).

Texas Episcopalian

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March

2010

CAMP ALLEN

Camp Allen recently announced that they have reached the $1.7 million mark in the Blazing Trails Campaign with a goal of $2.3 million. The campaign focuses on major property improvements and a maintenance endowment. The Mabee Foundation has offered Camp Allen a challenge grant for the remaining dollars raised up to $250,000 if they can

meet the goal. Camp Allen is asking for your consideration in “Stepping Stones to the Future” to honor a friend or loved one in a walkway to be constructed at Camp Allen. The cost of one engraved paver is $300 and will be directed to the capital campaign. You can honor four people for $1,000.

Deadline is March 31.

lenten reflection

Birds and Blooms

April 10-11, 2010 at Camp Allen From time to time an alum of Virginia Theological Seminary sends me a copy of their latest book. These are good moments. It is wonderful to see the impact of an education radiating out and making a difference to the wider Church.

The Rev. Russell Levenson’s offering, Provoking Thoughts: A Compilation of Scriptures, Meditations and Prayers is a delightful study of human life meeting Scripture, written with wit, insight and wisdom. Anyone searching for a book for Lent cannot do better than this volume. Copies may be obtained from giftshoppe@stmartinsepiscopal.org and all proceeds go the various ministries of St. Martin’s.

The Very Rev. Ian Markham, Dean and President, VTS

Texas Episcopalian

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March

2010

Calling all nature & bird lovers–this retreat is for you!

Attend expert led sessions, hike scenic trails with experienced guides and much more. The weekend includes a live owl and hawk demonstration, Audubon presentations, landscaping for attracting songbirds, Spring migration habits, birding identification, sunrise bird watching and nature hikes.

Cost of $110 double/$145 single occupancy per person include hotel accommodations, meals and program.

Horseback riding, canoeing, archery and massages are available for an additional fee. Retreat begins at 11 a.m.

Saturday and concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday. To register or for more information call 936.825.7175 or visit: www. campallen.org.

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Summer Camp Registration Now Open How many people does it take to get one camper on the blob (see photo above)?

The short answer is 395 according to Camp Allen President George Dehan. That is how many paid staff, volunteers and nurses are added to Camp Allen’s normal staff each summer to accommodate the 1600 campers expected. That includes 80 college students, 18 kitchen workers, 125 high school volunteers, 160 adult volunteers and 12 nurses.

Camp Allen’s camping program dates to 1921 when Rosa Lum Allen offered her summer home for church members’ kids to go camping. Today there is more senior staff than the total number of campers back then.

Numerous camp counselors have studied to become clergy and that tradition continues today—just another great example is our Diocesan Bishop Andy Doyle, Dehan points out.

“The clergy and youth ministers who serve as session directors have an enormous impact on the type of camp experience that has made Camp Allen one of the premier camps in the state of Texas and beyond,” Dehan said.

Last year campers came to Camp Allen from 10 states.

This year’s camp tuition for one week of camp remains the same at $498. There is a starter camp beginning on June 6 for $450 for the week. You can register online for camp at www.campallen.org. Camp Allen raises funds for scholarships and those scholarship forms can be requested online or through your clergy.

This is the right time to register for one of 24 sessions of camp from third graders through high school.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

GUEST COLUMNIST

Loving Our Neighbor Haiti

The Rev. Sam Todd

“

In an astonishing outpouring of generosity, nearly half of American households have donated money to help Haiti recover from the recent earthquake. The United States government and other governments around the world … have sent thousands of relief workers and have pledged $1 billion so far” (Collier and Warnholz, New York Times, 1/29/10 p. A19). President Barack Obama has mobilized the resources of development agencies and our armed forces to help. We have not always had so benign an attitude toward our neighbor.

The island Haiti occupies was the first place Columbus landed in 1492. Jamestown, the first permanent English colony, was not established in America until 1607. Our revolution was fought by British colonists who wanted independence from the mother country. Haiti’s revolution was fought against French colonists by slaves they had imported from Africa. “Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known, [was] the richest colony on earth, a vastly productive slave-powered factory producing tons upon tons of sugar cane, the 18th century great cash crop … Conditions in the cane fields were brutal; slaves died young and in droves …

So by the time the slaves launched their great revolt in 1791, most of those half million blacks had been born in Africa, spoke African languages and worshipped African gods” (Danner, NYT 1/22/10, A 23).

Far from recognizing the new country (the second after our own to gain independence in the New World), let alone helping her, the United States imposed a trade embargo; for Haiti was brought about by exactly what American plantations owners feared most: a successful slave revolt.

Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org

Abraham Lincoln finally extended recognition in 1862.

Since independence, “no country [has been] more unstable than Haiti. Of 22 rulers between 1843 and 1915, only one served out his term of office. During those years there were at least 102 civil wars, coups d’état, revolts and other political disorders. The period between 1908 and 1915 was particularly chaotic. Seven presidents were overthrown during those seven years. Most of the coups were orchestrated by the mulatto elite that ran the black republic.

A tiny, educated minority, practicing Catholicism and speaking French, regarded themselves as a race apart from, and superior to, the Creole speaking, voodoo-practicing, darker skinned Haitian masses … Civil unrest in Haiti led to 19 landings

by U. S. Marines to protect foreign residents between 1857 and 1913” (M. Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace, pp.

157, 159).

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson sent in Marines to take over the island to straighten things out and to forestall Germany doing the same thing. After U. S. supervised elections in 1917, we wanted their National Assembly to approve a new constitution (we wrote) and to remove the bar on property ownership by foreigners. But the new assembly balked; so we dissolved it and ran the country for the next nineteen years – to ambiguous effect. Resistance was so sparse that the Marine Corps suffered only 26 killed in action the entire time. “Peasants resented American revival of the corvee, a system whereby poor peasants could be forced to work on road gangs in lieu of paying taxes ... [But whereas in 1915], there had been only two paved streets in the entire country, by 1918 the corvee had constructed 470 miles of roads including the first highway linking Haiti’s principal cities, Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien” (Ibid pp 171f).

In 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt “signed a treaty ending the occupation, though a measure of U.S. financial control would remain until 1947 … The proud American administrators who left Haiti could tick off a list of achievements: 1,000 miles of roads constructed, 210 major bridges, nine major airfields, 1,250 miles of telephone lines, 82 miles of irrigation canals, 11 modern hospitals, 147 rural clinics, etc … [But] after the Marines left, the roads decayed, the telephones stopped functioning and thugs once again took control of the machinery of government” (Ibid p.

180). “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s dictatorship ran from 1957 to 1986. In 1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide won the country’s first free elections. When he was deposed less than eight months later, tens of thousands fled for Florida in small boats. President Bill Clinton sent in 20,000 U.S. troops in 1994 to restore the constitutional government.

He is now the UN Special Envoy for Haiti. In spite of the fact that an estimated 200,000 people have died in the earthquake, he is hopeful about Haiti’s long term prospects (v. Newsweek 1/25/10 p. 30f).

The United States government certainly can not take the country over and run it again. But we can throw open our markets to Haitian agricultural produce

We

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have not always had so benign an attitude toward our neighbor. and manufactured goods. We can try to “ensure that the vast amounts that will soon pour into the country for reconstruction go not to foreigners but to Haitians – and not only to Haitian contractors but to Haitian workers, at reasonable wages” (Danmer, NYT 1/22/10). And “there are 10,000 non-governmental organizations working in Haiti, the highest number per capita in the world except for India” (TIME 1/25/10 p. 37).

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, with 83,000 members in 169 congregations, is about the size of the Diocese of Texas, but it is served by just 37 clergy. More than a hundred of their churches have been damaged and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince destroyed. Haitian Bishop Jean-Zaché Duracin has a “vision and a plan for this relief and recovery effort. We know the situation on the ground, we are directing emergency relief to those who need it most, and we are already making plans and moving forward to help our people” (Texas Episcopalian, Feb 2010, p. 13). Eventually mission groups from our parishes may go to Haiti as they have to New Orleans and Galveston. In the meantime, we can donate at www.er-d.org.

How long the U. S. Government will decide it is in our national interest to remain invested in Haiti, I do not know.

But the Church will always be there. The government is not a charitable institution. The Church, however, is.

Email Todd at: stodd2423@att.net Texas Episcopalian

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March

2010

Harrison

High

Doyle

Bishops’ March Calendars 3 1:30 p.m.

4-5 6 9 a.m.

7 10:30 a.m.

3 p.m.

9-10 10 6 p.m.

11 4 p.m.

12 10 a.m.

13 9 a.m.

14 10:30 a.m.

17 2:30 p.m.

18-25 28 8:45 a.m.

4 p.m.

30 12 p.m.

31 10 a.m.

1 12 p.m.

2 12 p.m.

4-6 11:30 a.m.

7 10:30 a.m.

6 p.m.

9 3 p.m.

5 p.m.

10

11 4 p.m.

12 6 p.m.

13 8 a.m.

14 10 a.m.

18-24 21 10:30 a.m.

28 11:15 a.m.

4 p.m.

4 8 a.m.

7 11 a.m.

5:30 p.m.

8 3 p.m.

9-10 14 10:15 a.m.

4 p.m.

19-24 22 6 p.m.

25 12 p.m.

28 10 a.m.

Texas Episcopalian

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Episcopal Foundation of Texas, Diocesan Center, Houston St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Board Retreat, Camp Allen Wardens & Vestry Conference, St. Matthew’s, Austin St. Matthew’s, Austin, CF Immigration Coalition Service, Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston Executive Board, Camp Allen St. Augustine of Hippo, Galveston, CF St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities Board, Diocesan Center, Houston Bishop Quin Foundation, Diocesan Center, Houston Wardens & Vestry Conference, Christ Church, Nacogdoches St. Thomas the Apostle, Houston, CF St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities Leadership Committee, Houston House of Bishops, Camp Allen Christ Church, Tyler, CF St. John’s, Tyler, CF Deans of Convocations, Diocesan Center, Houston Church Corporation, Diocesan Center, Houston

Christ Church, Tyler, ECW Meeting St. Philip’s, Palestine, Lenten Service St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Strategic Planning Conference, Camp Allen Good Shepherd, Tomball, CF Holy Comforter, Spring, CF Meeting with Bishops Doyle and Harrison, Camp Allen Executive Board Meeting, Camp Allen Executive Board Meeting, Camp Allen St. Vincent’s House Board Retreat, Galveston Dinner with Wardens & Vestry Conference Staff, Nacogdoches Wardens & Vestry Conference, Christ Church, Nacogdoches St. Cyprian’s, Lufkin, CF House of Bishops Meeting, Camp Allen St. James’, Conroe, CF St. Andrew’s, Bryan, Palm Sunday Service, CF St. John’s, Tyler, Rededication Service

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Board Retreat, Houston Epiphany, Houston, CF St. Mary’s, Cypress, CF Installation of Bishop José Vasquez, St. William’s Catholic Church, Round Rock EDOT Executive Board, Camp Allen St. James’, Austin, CF St. Julian of Norwich, Austin, CF House of Bishops, Camp Allen El Buen Samaritano Board Meeting, Austin St.Luke’s Episcopal Health System Finance & Audit Committee, Houston St. Mary’s, Lampasas, CF

March

2010

16

Want Ad

St. Michael’s Episcopal School, Bryan, Tx, seeks new Head of School. The school offers a rigorous, classical curriculum for grades K-12 and a child development center for infants through age four. The successful candidate will have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. Masters degree preferred. Teaching and supervisory/ administrative experience preferred. Please send a cover letter, resume, statement of educational philosophy, and contact information for at least five references to: smes. search@gmail.com. Application deadline is March 15. www. st-michaels-academy.org.

In the Anglican Communion A global community of 77 million Anglicans in 500 dioceses in 164 countries Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Rev. Rowan Williams Lambeth Palace, London, England, SE1 7JU Anglican Communion Office 16 Tavistock Crescent Westbourne Park London W 11 1AP United Kingdom www.lambethpalace.org www.anglicancommunion.org In the United States A community of 2.5 million members in 120 dioceses in the Americas and abroad Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Episcopal Church Center 815 Second Ave., NY, NY 10017 1.800.321.2231 www.episcopalchurch.org 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 Find us on the web at www.epicenter.org