Seek, Nov. 2016, voices of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

Seek

November 2016

voices from the

Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

Let us build a house where love can dwell…

Gratitude and joy were palpable on the crisp autumn morning chosen for a service of blessing, then breaking, the ground for the new St. Francis’ Episcopal Church in Eureka.

Bell ringing, guitar, and hymn singing mixed with the song of birds during the service which had elements from old north European tradition.

“The people of God that are St. Francis,” said Bishop Wayne Smith in his homily on the day, “will have the great honor and responsibility of bringing this place to new life.”

Part of the ceremony involved the children and youth of the church laying down a large cross out of ribbon. Then the bishop, St. Francis’ Deacon Rebecca Barger, and the Mayor of Eureka, Kevin Coffey, stepped off and outlined the footprint of the new 10,000 square foot building with yellow ribbon, before turning a shovel or two of dirt where the altar will be located.

“It was such a lovely service,” said Barb Sacco, longtime St. Francis’ member and former mayor of Eureka. “This is such

a loving community.St. Francis means so much to us—we feel the Holy Spirit with us.” Finally getting a place of their own to worship and invite others means much to a group for whom hospitality is so important.

Barb brought her grandson, who is involved with the youth program at St. Francis.

The children’s wing is one-third of the footprint of the new building. They’ll start with offering a ‘parent’s-day-out’ daycare and have plans to build to a full daycare. The new address is located at the entrance to a 500 home subdivision being built, with an elementary school planned across the main street.

Barb said, “Members of the family that sold the land to St. Francis were at the groundbreaking service, and are so happy that this land, where they raised their family with love, will continue to do loving things for the community.”

“We’re just so grateful,” said Paul Becker, a St. Francis member for about a year. Paul first came across the church

continued page 3 ph: 314-231-1220 www.DioceseMo.org Episcopal Diocese of Missouri Offices of the Bishop 1210 Locust St. St. Louis, Missouri 63103

© The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, 1210 Locust St., St. Louis, Missouri 63103 ph: 314-231-1220 web: diocesemo.org

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INSIDE

us build a house where love 1 Let can dwell: groundbreaking at St. Francis' new site

4 5

Congregational Discernment: a new course from the Episcopal School for Ministry Celebrating racial justice work in the diocese by Dismantling Racism Commission

7 Calvary readies for mice our way to a call by 8 Discerning Jonathan Sanders All Directors of Christian 9 Calling Education by Ann Babington

Installing new playground equipment at Trinity Church in St. Charles Photos from the recent installation, where 30 volunteers mixed and poured cement under the direction of the playground company, Noah's Parks and Playgrounds of Miami, OK. They started at 7 AM and finished at 1:30 PM. A grant from Thrivent Financial (through a Trinity member) paid for the fifty 80-lb-bags of cement used.

The new playground equipment is a gift in memory of Bob and Jane Horning, who died in 2015. The older playground (the wood construction see in the foreground of the bottom picture) was also a memorial gift. The elevator addition of a few years ago required removal of part of the old set.

If you look deep into the background, you can see Trinity's huge community garden.

MAKING DISCIPLES

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD

10 Absalom Jones commemoration Advent Quiet Day at All Saints' Church

the departure of a rector 11 On

by Kenneth Winn Waters of Baptism

by Lisa Fox congregation dedicated to 12 Aprayer produces much fruit

by Martha Baker

to Dust 14 Dust

by Deborah Caby

16 Podcasting the Jesus movement Saints Church: the path 17 All forward. An interview with Bishop Wayne and Patricia Heeter

18 Newly called very being draws praise 20 God's from our lips by David Sinden

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A House Where Love Can Dwell when he brought Lulu, his little rescued Chihuahua, to last year’s pet blessing. He’d missed the first service, came back for the second, and couldn’t believe how the welcome he received.

Paul was raised Methodist, but had fallen away from church. He’d attend occasionally and read his Bible. “Now that I'm getting older, I’m sort of reconnecting with where I want to be in life, and church is a part of that.” A few Sundays after the pet blessing, he showed up for worship at 8 AM and again was surprised that everyone remembered him. “Every Sunday it feels right. I need it.”

Paul noticed the number of clergy and people from around the diocese who attended the ground breaking, and enjoyed talking with them.

“What a wonderful day,” said Jerry Smith, “marking out the corners of the building…I’d never been to one of these services before.” Everyone had practiced, the kids laying out the cross had to go in a certain order. And the singing of “Let us build a house where love can dwell” has become particularly meaningful to the people of St. Francis.

Jerry is one of St. Francis’ original members who has attended with her family since the 1990s, with a few years off when living out of the area. That’s old enough to remember the smell of one of the first locations at a hotel near Six Flags, a perfume not of incense but chlorine from the pool.

continued

Designing and building a new space can be stressful, but all praised the leadership and communication of Rector Sally Weaver and Deacon Rebecca.

The whole church is involved in small group committees: for worship space, for the daycare area, for the community room and hospitality, among others.

Every Sunday between services there are updates, and members are often discussing with each other the most current plans. Barb said, “Pastor Sally has guided us through the process and made us feel we are stakeholders every step of the way. When we come together in small groups, we know we’re working for the good of the whole congregation.”

“This is going to be a lovely building, I trust that,” said Bishop Wayne in his homily, and then recounted a seminary professor’s test of the value of a place of worship—was it more beautiful empty or filled with the people of God. “This place will be resplendent with the people of God,” the bishop added. “And that will be its true adornment.”

“You’re going to do amazing things in this place,” he continued. “You’re going to lift your voices in song. You’re going to give praise to God. You’re going to welcome the stranger. You’re going to baptize. You’re going to celebrate special occasions.

We’re so blessed to be here this day, and the blessings will be ours for years to come.”

Photos of the groundbreaking service taken by senior warden Donna Bernert. See many more photos and some videos from the day on the St. Francis Church Facebook page.

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Congregational Discernment: a new course from the Episcopal School for Ministry A changing Church

There was a day when the phrase “congregational development” conjured thoughts of congregational size and life cycle, attracting new members, and perhaps a building plan. The world has changed dramatically since those days just a few years ago. No one doubts that the Episcopal Church, along with most of mainline Protestantism, conservative Protestantism, and even the Roman Catholic Church, is declining in America. We are several decades behind Europe, where the decline began in earnest in the last half of the twentieth century. In every recent poll of religious affiliation in the USA, “none” has been the fastest growing category, and will soon be the majority. It is easy to see this trend in our pews on Sunday mornings. The charts all show a decrease of several percent a year over the last decade.

These trends produce a fair amount of anxiety in our congregations. What does the future hold? “Congregational Development” used to promise an answer: do these things, run these programs, and your church will grow. These days, it is as likely to produce shame—“we tried those things and didn’t grow. What are we doing wrong?”

Not only has the game changed, but the checkerboard has changed as well. There is no magic bullet to reverse the trend. In the past, we could assume that church attendance was almost socially expected. The reason so few people answered “none” on the surveys was the niggling sense of embarrassment that attached to the admission. Now, people feel a little weird admitting to church attendance.

Our culture has undergone a dramatic shift in just a few decades.

When we could expect people to attend church, we had to offer programs. People would “church shop,” looking for those

MAKING DISCIPLES

programs that matched their needs: Sunday school for the kids; good music; social activism; a singles’ club; a couples’ club; the list could go on. In many ways, this cultural shift has begun to drive the Church back to its foundations. We are witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and if that is not the absolute, central focus of what we are about, what’s the point? Other organizations can provide all those programs for a lot less investment than we ask of our members.

will ask questions like these, but in the meantime, we can begin to look around us, and ask what part of God’s mission of reconciliation we can be doing in our neighborhoods. Beginning in the Winter 2017 term, The Episcopal School for Ministry will re-start the Program for Congregational Vitality. The course will be called Congregational Discernment. If your congregation is beginning to ask the kinds of questions above, or is wondering what the future holds, or is in some kind of transition, this course is for your congregation. It is being So then, whether we live or die, we are offered collaboratively between ESM and the Offices of the Bishop (specifically, the Canon the Lord’s (Romans 14:8b) to the Ordinary).

The first part of that verse says, “For if The course is designed as a workshop— we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we what we mean by that is that the wisdom to die for the Lord.” The hope in this situation answer these questions is in the room. We is to remember that the Church is God’s, not have no magic bullet, no cure-all program. ours. God’s mission to the world, the sum of the Gospel, is to reconcile the world to the di- Instead, we hope to normalize the conversavine self through Jesus Christ. Right now, the tion about an uncertain future and look for all and any ways of being faithful to our calling Church is God’s chosen instrument for that to God’s reconciling mission. We will look at work, and as long as the Church serves that “best practices”—what have other congregapurpose, God will keep it around. tions done that energized them, and how can What does it mean for a congregation that be adapted to other circumstances. We to live to the Lord? It may not mean having will look at congregational context: what are a bustling Sunday school. It may not mean the needs in the neighborhood. We will look at having a singles’ club. But it may mean looking around our neighborhood and discovering congregational assets: what are we good at.

The Church of the future will look difwhere people are alienated from God and one another, and then working for reconciliation. ferent from the Church of the past. We are on an exciting cusp, but we can be sure of God’s What if the annual Parochial Report had a faithfulness. spot for recording how many non-members’ lives we touched, how many people came For information contact the Rev. Dan through the doors of our churches on weekHandschy, Dean, Episcopal School for Minisdays, or how many meals we served to our try at esmdean@diocesemo.org. neighbors? What could we fill in that blank?

Cost is $400 per congregation for the What if it asked how many recovered from first two members to attend and $100 each addictions through our ministries, or how additional person. many households were more joyful because of Scholarships available. Registration by our existence? congregation, not individual.

Maybe someday the Parochial Report

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD

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Celebrating racial justice work in the diocese Dismantling Racism Commission plans event for Dec. 3, a workshop for sharing progress and inspiration in our common work towards racial reconciliation.

Look Back, Look Ahead: A Celebration of Diocesan Racial Awareness

my continued involvement in this work will help me with On December 3, at St. Peter's Episcopal my journey as well as help Church in Ladue, the diocesan Commission others.

—Amy Conard, Minon Dismantling Racism will continue its istry of Racial Reconcilialong-standing tradition of celebrating the tion Team at St. Timothy's work that has been accomplished in disChurch in Creve Coeur mantling racism. This year’s event is organized around the theme: “Look Back, Look There's no doubt that it Ahead: A Celebration of Diocesan Racial was Ferguson, along with the Awareness.” equipping work of the diocesan CommisChurches are invited to share their sion that inspired us to see what work we progress in establishing an organized team could do, starting with ourselves. at their respective churches and also to —Martha Kelly, Dismantling Racism come to dialog about how this work can Team at Calvary Church in Columbia happen. If you are active in such a group; just starting out to establish such a group; From your experience, what are imor are interested in learning about this portant first steps for a church formwork—please join the Commission for a ing its own dismantling racism team? morning of presentations, interactive disIt's taken us a while to start getting a cussions, and good fellowship. sense of where we can be productive in our congregation and our community. Most Leading up to the workshop, the com- of our work so far involves meeting and mission asked the bishop and some talking and planning, reading books togethmembers of churches about this work er, educating ourselves. We're starting to reach out to other groups in the community.

What inspired you to join in this work? It's a slow but steady process.

—Martha Kelly I was inspired to join because I have been an advocate of social justice from We spent time initially speaking to our a very young age and this is a practical, rector about what we wanted to do and why, hands-on way to implement change. and listening to his thoughts, concerns, and —Agnes Bolwell, Ministry of Racial questions about the effort. That resulted in Reconciliation Team at St. Timothy's organizing a series of three "discernment" Church in Creve Coeur conversations in our parish community.

Seeing our city torn apart in 2014 —Kurt Greenbaum, St. Martin’s and learning how little I understood about Church in Ellisville racism and my own biases. I’m hoping that continued on next page

Look Back, Look Ahead: A Celebration of Diocesan Racial Awareness • • • • •

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 10 AM - Noon Lunch to follow No cost, RSVP required RSVP online, link through diocesemo.org/DR • Held at St. Peter's Church, Ladue The Commission on Dismantling Racism plans this celebration of the progress made by many, many people at the church level in this diocese, as a commemoration of the life and ministry of Absalom Jones, the first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church (1804).

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Celebrating racial justice work in the diocese continued As an active member of your commuFocus on nity’s work, what specific issues within exploration and discernment about the broad umbrella of racism are you where you can take this and your team facing?

As a member of a mostly white church, one issue we see regularly is lack of understanding of the impact that racism has on some members of our community, as well as on those in our city. We also see that our members have varied understanding and recognition of their own biases. So our focus has been on raising awareness through conversations, education, and involvement.

—Amy Conard

ministry.

—Kurt Greenbaum

The commission asked Bishop Wayne Smith to set the context of the sin of racism and why it matters to the churches and the diocese.

Bishop Smith: The context is both personal and structural.

In 2 Corinthians we are called to reFor someone who deeply desires chalpent of the evil done. Racism is one of those lenging racism in their church, do you evils. And the beneficiaries are people who look like me. have any advice?

It matters to the church because to Build networks and connect with work follow Jesus Christ we are called to break that is already being done. The diocesan down barriers. Look to the vision in RevelaCommission on Dismantling Racism is a great place to start. And don't be afraid to be tions. God through Christ is seeking to build a new society built of every family, language, humble and start small, where you are. people, and nation.

—Martha Kelly This type of ministry takes time for understanding and embracing within ourselves, our team, and our congregational families. We work to make to make this a healing and enlightening process and not a divisive one. Progress is slow. Self-education of team members and education of the congregational family is of paramount importance.

—Agnes Bolwell Bringing light to deeply held understandings and beliefs related to racism in your own community is crucial and difficult. Patience and courageous conversations are needed to reach members at various points on their journey.

—Amy Conard MAKING DISCIPLES

What advice would you give someone who deeply desires to challenge the sin in their church?

Bishop Smith: To the people of the dominant culture, increase your awareness of privilege. We have to figure this out for ourselves. We can’t expect people from the non-dominant culture to do this work for us.

For everyone, it is crucial to know our shared history in ever expanding circles.

We know the early wealth of Christ Church Cathedral came from a slaveholder, but we must dig deeper to know the history of St. Louis and the entire region.

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

Next Dismantling Racism training scheduled for January 2017 The Dismantling Racism Commission organizes the 14 hour (2 day) training for our diocese that is mandatory for clergy, persons seeking ordination, youth workers, employees, and wardens, and highly recommended for lay leadership or anyone with an interest in learning about institutional racism.

• The next training will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14 & 15, 2017 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Ellisville. 8:30 am - 4 PM each day • There is no cost for this training • Lunch, a continental breakfast, and snacks and beverages are provided throughout the day • The workshop takes place with a minimum of 15 participants and has space for up to 30 • Reserve your place online at diocesemo.org/dr • Deadline for registration is 5 pm Wed, Dec. 21, 2016

FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD

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Calvary readies for mice It seems to happen about this time each year, gray mice collect in the warm rooms of Calvary Church in Columbia.

But no traps are set for these cute rodents made of bits of felt and cloth.

On the first Saturday in December, people arrive from all over and queue up as the sun rises, for the chance to see and purchase from this year's selection.

Of course we're talking about the St. Nicholas bazaar at Calvary Church in Columbia and the small stars of the day, the church mice handmade for this fundraiser. On Dec. 3 the doors will open at 8 AM and close at noon. Before the doors open, and also as people enter, sequnetial numbers are given. So many are let into the 'mouse room' at a time. Each may select two for purchase, then leave for the next wave.

After everyone has been through once, seconds are allowed if mice remain. The mice are usually sold out by 9 or 9:30 AM. Now, you ask, what is it about these mice? They are character and church mice, and each year a number of them are outfitted in cassocks and cottas and robes as acolytes, thurifers, and members of the mouse choir. And there is a big choir and a little choir.

A number of the mice are adorned according to their creator's whimsy that year. Last year a mouse at a grand piano went for $150. In years past there have been Christmas pageant mice, birdwatcher mice with little mouse binoculars, Hawaiian mice, even a bishop mouse. A story is told of a slightly time-challenged Easter bunny mouse.

There's always excitement to see what will be created for this year.

Mice are between 2 and 33 inches tall. When this tradition began at Calvary, all the mice were vested in red

cassock and white surplice. Then black cassocks were added for lay mice readers.

And the line was expanded to include character mice.

There is a raffle with 4-5 mouse items, and always a mouse decorated wreath. Some years have had a gingerbread houses, even a tableau of mice playing hide and seek around Santa's feet.

Now that might be enough for a first-timer's visit, but there's more. Upon arriving you'll receive a map of what is in each room in the church building. There is a room just for children with Christmas crackers stuffed with candy and little hand made cars and jewelry, there are hand-rolled beeswax candles for home Advent wreaths, a room of fiction and nonfiction books, a room of gently used children's items. There is a handmade room, the knitters are said to have been busy this year. The bakery room should not be missed with a selection of candy, chocolate covered pretzels, pies, bread, and a large assortment cookies.

Most bazaar shoppers follow their noses, and wind up at the parish hall for a country breakfast of biscuits and gravy, country ham, fried apples, lots of hot coffee, and what is claimed to be the best cheese grits in mid-Missouri.

Frivolity aside, this bazaar raised around $15,000 last year. A small amount goes to seed the next year's bazaar, but all the rest is given to charities. After the money is tallied, the bazaar ourtreach committee selects where donations will go. Last year contributions were made to Room at the Inn, Family Health Center, Medzou, Services for Independent Living, Voluntary Action Center, and the Columbia Center for Urban Development.

Is this the year you will visit Calvary's St. Nicholas bazaar?

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8

Discerning our way to a call Transfiguration Church's Jonathan Sanders chronicles their path to calling Rector Lu-Anne Conner There is an unofficial litmus test for relocate to San Diego came as Episcopalians and that is being an ardent a shock to many parishioners, fan of the BBC series The Vicar of Dibley. many who had come to TransBritish comedian Dawn French plays the figuration because it was an title role of the Rev. Geraldine Granger, who opening and affirming conhas been called to be the new vicar of the gregation. fictional St. Barnabas in the Oxfordshire The vestry accepted the village of Dibley. challenge of transition and Not only is Granger a female vicar, knew that through faith and but she is replacing the venerable Rev. Mr. trust in God and the process Potts. In the opening episode the esteemed of transitional ministry we Mr. Potts dies in the pulpit at the age of 102! would emerge as an energized Perhaps the writers wanted to poke church and ready to embark fun at the Church of England by having on the next phase of our minthe departed vicar be 102 years old and istry in St. Charles County. barely ambulatory. All we know is the Rev. Mr. Potts had been there seemingly since We knew God was with us The Rev. Lu-Anne Conner on her first Sunday at Transfiguration Thomas Cranmer wrote the Book of ComAs a parish, we had endured Church in Lake St. Louis. Photo credit: Jon Sanders mon Prayer. a great sense of loss even before On this side of the pond, the reality is our rector announced his departure. The He quickly settled in and led us through the that the average length of call for a priest is passings of Dean Michael Allen and the Rev. transition process. Under his guidance, the eight years and many seminarians are not vestry and congregation began an introPriscilla Allen were heart-wrenching, akin wide-eyed twenty-somethings but proto losing the father and mother of our parspective study of what makes Transfigurafessionals who are pursuing ministry as a tion special. We explored our strengths and ish. They were incredible spiritual leaders second career. and mentors. As a parish, we had grown and examined areas we needed to work on.

Quite a few parishes in the diocese are were highly involved in outreach, but like Jewson spearheaded the creation of a transitioning to new ministries most mainline churches, we wor- dedicated team of lay eucharistic visitors. due to retirements and relocaried about an aging congregation It empowered the congregation to see that “God knows tions. Many of us are experiencand shared concerns about the ministry to our older members in care fawho your next ing the anxieties of transition. financial future. Still, we knew cilities and assisted living is more than just rector will be.

God was with us. the priest's duty.

It is just waiting The challenge of transition The wise words of one The ease and convenience of having to be revealed.” supply priest resonated with us: the liturgy printed in the bulletin had The Church of the Transfiguration in Lake St. Louis “God knows who your next rector worked for years, but Jewson taught us welcomed the Rev. Lu-Anne Conner in will be. It is just waiting to be revealed.” that we are a church “of the book,” and September after the Rev. Jason Samuel was new copies of the Book of Common Prayer called to be Priest-in-charge of St. David’s were ordered. For us cradle Episcopalians, What makes Transfiguration special Episcopal Church in San Diego in 2014.

In January 2015, we welcomed the Rev. juggling bulletin, hymnal, and prayer book Samuel came to Lake St. Louis in 1997 and Alfred Jewson as our interim rector. Father meant dusting off old habits. For others, it led Transfiguration to recognition as a is a new experience, but an important one Al brought his love of ritual and sense of full-fledged parish in 2008. His decision to we are embracing. humor at a time when we sorely needed it.

MAKING DISCIPLES

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD

9

Calling All Directors of Christian Education After not meeting together as a group for almost ten years, directors of Christian Education from across the diocese have recently formed a connection. Starting small, like a mustard seed, invitations were emailed to St. Louis area Episcopal churches, and a group met for the first time on October 12th for lunch and a discussion at St. Peter’s, Ladue. Attending were Melanie Slane from Emmanuel, Janis Greenbaum from Grace in Kirkwood, Jane Fisher from St. Michael and St. George, and Ann Babington from St. Peter’s, Ladue. There was a strong feeling of camaraderie, knowing

that through collaboration there will be a lot that we can accomplish and share. Our discussions were around curricular ideas, conference opportunities, Vacation Bible School plans, Christmas Pageants, Sunday School scheduling, and methods to boost Sunday School attendance. Everyone agreed what had been missing in our jobs was contact and networking with other Christian Education directors, and that led to the formation of this group.

We are looking forward to increasing the representation of other churches in the diocese in this new effort. Our next meeting

is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 12:30 pm, at St. Michael and St. George. We are hoping to include everyone, and to share ideas and resources, all of which would benefit the children in the diocese. As an example of sharing resources, St. Peter’s, Ladue has 20 gold trimmed paper angel wings if anyone would like them for their Christmas Pageant!

If you haven’t been contacted for this new group or would be interested in learning more please contact Ann Babington at annbabington@gmail.com.

Discerning our way to a call continued

By June of 2015, a search committee was in place led by the talented Tammy Schuster. Behind the scenes and in prayerful discernment, the search committee began the search process with the assistance of the Rev. Joseph Chambers, Canon to the Ordinary. They maintained updates with the vestry and the congregation, and by June of 2016 three candidates were presented to the vestry for consideration.

A new chapter

St. Louis.

Make no mistake, our transition is far from over. Lu-Anne and her partner, Kate, are adjusting to National League baseball and not having to install snow tires by November. All of us miss Jason, but we are happy for him. All of us miss Al, and we know that our lives are richer because of those two amazing priests.

Trust God

When asked by a Jefferson City publication why he removed his name from the sign, he replied “This is not my church. This is God’s church. I just preach the word and make sure the light bulbs get changed.”

For our friends throughout the diocese whose parishes are at various stages of transition, our heartfelt advice is simple: Trust God. We still have to take care of the light bulbs being changed, coffee hour supplies being purchased, and the utility bills being paid. We can do that on our own. Calling a rector is possible only with God’s love and guidance.

Many years ago, my father, Harv SandLu-Anne Conner comes to us from ers, removed his name from the sign at Gardiner, Maine, where she was Priest-inGrace Church Jefferson City. My dad was charge of Christ Church. As a vestry memrector of Grace Church for thirty-five years, God knows who your next rector will ber, I felt a connection with the Rev. Ms. and even he wondered if he would end up be. It will be revealed in due time.

Conner far greater than our mutual love of like the Rev. Mr. Potts in The Vicar of Dibley. the Boston Red Sox. Her calming spiritual He even joked that his ashes be interred in Jonathan Sanders is Junior Warden at presence and vision for continuing the work the back custodial hallway in the hopes that Transfiguration Episcopal Church in of Transfiguration while strengthening someone other than the rector might be Lake St. Louis. other areas led the vestry to call her to Lake inspired to take out the trash.

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10 The Episcopal Church The worldwide Anglican Episcopal church consists of an estimated 85 million Christians, members of 44 different Churches, led by the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

The Episcopal Church: 1.8 million follower of Jesus in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 17 nations, led by the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate.

The Diocese of Missouri: 11,000 members in 42 churches, and campus ministry and Deaconess Anne House (Episcopal Service Corps), led by the Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, 10th Bishop of Missouri.

SEEK, November 2016

“Seeking Christ In All Persons Through the Arts” is the theme of the 2017 Absalom Jones Celebration at Emmanuel Church in Webster Groves, on February 25, from 9 AM to 1 PM. The Diocesan Commission on Dismantling Racism and the Diocesan Youth Advisory Council will host this event to help congregations consider how their church’s art and music reflect the diversity of God’s people.

“When we look at the representations of God in our churches we have to ask if we are looking at a mirror or a kaleidoscope,” observed Christian Davis, a member of the Diocesan Commission on Dismantling Racism and Deaconess Anne House corps member this year. “If our artistic expression

only reflects the dominant culture, it undermines our ability to see Christ in all people.”

The event will include opportunities to experience and create diverse representation of the divine through multiple genres. Participants will also have an opportunity to reflect on the nature of artistic representation in their own congregations in multigenerational conversations co-facilitated by members the Diocesan Commission on Dismantling Racism and diocesan youth leaders.

There is no cost to attend the Absalom Jones event, and lunch will be provided. Registration through Eventbrite will be available in early January.

Advent Quiet Day at All Saints' Church

Episcopal Diocese of Missouri Offices of the Bishop 1210 Locust St. St. Louis, Missouri 63103 Seek is a quarterly publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Diocesan members may request a complimentary subscription by mail: send address to the Offices of the Bishop attn: Seek Subscription. Seek is also distributed to each congregation in the diocese. Archived editions of Seek are online at diocesemo.org/seek.

Editor: Ms. Beth Felice, Director of Communications Editorial Board: the Rev. Dr. Daniel Handschy, Dean of the Episcopal School for Ministry; the Rev. Edie Bird, rector Christ Church, Cape Girardeau; Mr. Kurt Greenbaum, St. Martin’s Church, Ellisville; Mr. Paul Jokerst, Transfiguration Church, Lake St. Louis; Dr. Carter Whitson, All Saints’ Church, St. Louis; the Rev. Joe Chambers, Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Missouri.

Submissions by post attn: Beth Felice, or online via diocesemo.org/submit.

Deadline: January 16, 2017 for the edition available February 2017.

MAKING DISCIPLES

Absalom Jones commemoration

Mark your calendar for a very special Quiet Day to open the season of Advent. One of the last events held at the All Saints' Church Terry Ave. facility, the day will be led by the Rev. Dr. Sandye A. Wilson.

Canon Sandye is currently rector of St. Andrew and Holy Communion Episcopal Church in South Orange, NJ. She is a distinguished leader in the Episcopal Church, including current membership on the Standing Committee for Liturgy and Music. She was the President of the Union of Black Episcopalians (1997-2004), and a mem• Sat., Dec. 3, 2016, 9:30 AM - 2 PM ber of the Executive Council of the church for • All Saints' Episcopal Church, 5010 Terry 18 years, among other national, diocesan, and (corner of Kingshighway) in St. Louis parochial roles.

Her sermon at the UBE vigil eucharist before • No cost, RSVP by Nov. 30 to All Saints the installation of Presiding Bishop Michael CurChurch Office, 314-367-2314 or ry can be viewed on YouTube. allsaintsadminasst@sbcglobal.net, or Ms. Quiet day registration begins at 9:30 AM folSallie Simmons, 314-382-3599 lowed by two hour-long sessions in the nave. Participants bring their own sandwiches and snacks, session will be held in the Mason & Clark room and All Saints' ECW will provide soup, dessert, at the church. and beverages. During lunch at noon participants Share this holy and quiet beginning to the will eat in silence while the leader reads to the season of waiting and anticipation with the group. While the leader eats, the participants will people of All Saints. read or meditate in silence. Lunch and the third

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11

On the departure of a rector Kenneth Winn's message of memory and celebration on the Rev. Shariya Molegoda's last Sunday as rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Jefferson City.

[October 30, 2106] Today we gather to memorialize and celebrate the Rev. Shariya Molegoda’s nine-year ministry at Grace Church. How deeply grateful we are to her for faithful and tireless service.

We ask a lot of ministers. In large measure a church rests on the shoulders of its shepherd—shoulders that we demand to be broad. A rector must have rectitude. Ministers must be ministerial all of the time: twenty-four hours a day, and, too often, seven days a week.

Perhaps parishioners have left a congregation because they did not care for other parishioners, but many more congregants have left churches over a divisive minister. She or he must be sensitive to every member as an individual—rich or poor, healthy or infirm, happy or sad. The rector also carries the complicated burden of explaining, defending, or easing a church member’s anxiety over any ecclesiastical policy the member may not like or fully understand. Shariya has carried off this ministry with extraordinary skill and tact.

But, then, there is also that beautiful and distinctive voice. Who can read parts of the Book of Common Prayer without “hearing” her clear and rotund pronunciation?

Her decisive enunciation of each word will be missed.

The church marks and commemorates the most essential elements of our spiritual journey: baptism, marriage, and death, and Shariya brought dignity to the fundamental ceremonies of our lives. From dust we came and to dust we shall return. Shariya made our rituals—ancient and modern—more than an empty form.

Perhaps Shariya’s greatest talent, especially for those of us who have needed it, is

her strength as a pastoral shepherd. How humane has been her private counsel?

How tolerant she is of the human weakness we all possess? Anyone who has not experienced her extraordinary kindness in this regard surely needs more problems in their life.

The departure of a rector is a death of a relationship. It is a sad occasion. Virtues, too often taken for granted both by the congregation, and the minister, are suddenly remembered—uncertainty creates a desire for security. For a congregation, its strength must rest on the church’s rites and rituals, the Book of Common Prayer, the parish’s communal bonds, and the grace of God. But churches are living institutions— priests, parishioners, vestry members, all come and go. Dust to dust. Time moves on.

Time stands still. As poet T. S. Eliot noted, “To make an end is to make a beginning.

The end is where we start from.”

God bless you, Shariya, and thank you. God bless Grace Church.

Kenneth H. Winn, member of Grace Church, is the former State Archivist of Missouri. He is the author or editor of many works on Missouri history, most recently Missouri Law and the American Conscience: Historic Rights and Wrongs (2016).

Shariya Molegoda has answered a call to become the rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Madison, CT, and Oct. 30th was her last Sunday at Grace Church, who now begin the process to find an interim priest and enter a period of discernment before they call the next rector.

Waters of Baptism

by Lisa Fox

Here is a back story about one of the gifts we gave Shariya on her last Sunday: the vial of water from the Missouri River.

When Joan Yetter came to be Grace Episcopal Church's interim rector about 11 years ago, I was on the vestry. The morning after our interview with her, I was driving to work and my route took me around the north side of the Capitol. I spotted Joan walking there alone, looking at the river. I stopped. We had a brief visit. I don’t even remember what we talked about. I just remember Joan looking at the river.

When Joan arrived, she brought with her a vial of water from home, far “upstream” from us. The water came from the source of the Missouri River in Montana: the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers. She showed it and talked about it in her first sermon. She used that vial of river water in the first baptism she performed at Grace: the baptism of Justin Rodemeyer at the Easter Vigil of 2007.

If you were there, I doubt you will ever forget it. It was the only full immersion baptism I have seen in an Episcopal Church.

Todd Rodemeyer and Michelle Rehagen Rodemeyer sat with the infant Justin in the front row, Gospel side. When it came time for the baptism, they unclothed him. By the miracle of grace, we had transformed a deck rail planter into a baptismal font. And Justin was immersed into the waters of baptism.

I was crucifer that night, standing at Joan’s left hand, and got to see it all up close. What a marvelous time. In the years since, it has been a joy to see Justin and his family grow up in our parish. How marvelous that we have been able to live out the promises we made at his baptism.

Now Shariya, a “child of the islands,” has left us. We have no seas or oceans near us in landlocked Missouri. But we do have the river.

Saturday evening, just before sunset, Jeanie Bryant took a vial down to the Noren continued on page 19

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A congregation dedicated to prayer produces much fruit Martha Baker writes about Trinity Church members reading Daily Office online and shares some technical tips along the way.

On a Sunday in September, the Rev. Jonathan Stratton, rector of Trinity Church in the Central West End, presented licenses to a handful of lay readers.

These were ordinary licenses but not ordinary lay readers: these seven readers lead a new endeavor by Trinity—to invite and include using technology.

Since August, Trinity has offered readings of the Daily Office—Morning and Evening Prayers and Compline—available online (through SoundCloud: https://www. soundcloud.com/trinitydailyprayer).

For a couple of weeks, the rector recorded the Daily Office by himself; now he's the poster of the recordings, the loader.

"As a rector, one of my primary responsibilities is the creation of spaces where people connect with God through Christ. I feel that this is just another way of performing the sacred task that I’m privileged to carry out."

Shortly after Jon became Trinity's rector (Jan. 2015), he began offering daily Morning Prayer at the church, Monday through Friday, where two or three gathered. "Outside of the Eucharist, the Daily Offices are the primary spiritual practice of Anglicans, and as such, they should be offered at Anglican churches," Stratton said.

"The virtual offices have provided another avenue (more convenient for many) to live into the peculiarly Anglican Christian tradition more fully."

He borrowed the idea of electronic Daily Office readings from a church in Nashville (which uses the less accessible iTunes), but the idea was already in the air at Trinity. Mary Taylor, who convenes ConMAKING DISCIPLES

templative Prayer gatherings on Wednesdays at 5:30 PM, had suggested a virtual connection "so people could phone in by conference call if they couldn’t make it to the chapel or happened to be in the hospital or out of town." The technology for that proved problematic, but when Jon suggested SoundCloud and the Daily Office, he had his first recruit in Mary.

Soon, he'd commissioned a reader per diem: Mary, Jym Andris, the Rev. Harry Leip (Trinity's deacon), Barbi Click (manager of Trinity's food ministry), Karin Brown Layher, Jeff Wunrow, Al Adams, and me. Six of us attend Trinity; Barbi attends St. Paul's Church in Carondelet. We define a community of individuals, with a variety of experience with technology or daily prayer.

Each of us had different reasons to volunteer. Harry liked the idea of "being able to form a virtual community of prayer."

Jeff wanted to help Jon in this "wonderful ministry"; Al wanted to enhance his prayer life. Barbi thought it would help her stick to a schedule. I figured it would be a piece of cake, since 1)I got an A in Oral Interpretation in college in 1966, and 2)I've been recording film reviews on KDHX and reading on assigned Sunday mornings at Trinity -- each for more than 20 years.

I was wrong.

First steps

I had two learning curves ahead of me.

Being a voice of the laos had not taught me how to put together a service, and having been produced on air had not taught me how to be my own producer. I, along with

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my combrogos, tripped doing the Dance of the Prayer Book. Originally, Jon sat with each of us to review how to read and lead the three orders. As Karin notes, "It was very confusing at first—and very intimidating."

Thankfully, Jon wrote out a "quick and dirty" cheat sheet for us: "Introduce" with this, "End" with that, "Say" this, not that, "Choose" one of the suffrages (pp.

98-100), "Replace 'you' with 'us.'"

Just hit 'record'

The second learning curve was thrown with the technology. Jon had nonchalantly said to me, "Just download Audacity and hit 'record.'" What he didn't explain was that the Audacity app works differently on his PC than on my Mac. So I shlepped my laptop to my producer at KDHX, and he patiently set up a system I follow religiously. Al called in the Geek Squad.

Al, Karin, and I use Audacity; Karin had used it in her day job. Barbi uses AVR on her iPhone; Mary uses GarageBand on her Mac. Jym and Harry were tech savvy to start, Jym from his work interviewing for the St. Louis LGBT History Project.

Harry explained his process: "I record on my iPad using the free Recorder app, then upload the recording to iCloud.

Then I access that file on my Windows desktop, load the file into iTunes, convert it to a .mp3 file and finally upload that converted file and a graphic to SoundCloud."

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Prayer Book choreography

Marrying Tech to Office meant finding service apps that work—although Barbi reads the Lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and her Bible because she "likes the sound of the pages turning."

I use the Forward Movement Daily Prayer Anytime, suggested by Mary at a meeting we held to support each other in this ministry, but I still read the Psalms from the BCP—again, turning those tissue pages adds ambiance.

And we've all figured out how to use "pause," especially when Karin's or Mary's cats purr. Some of us have learned to edit, but Mary does not erase her mistakes, "knowing," she explains, "I may be offering

old words. Jeff occasionally uses Robert Alter's translation of the Psalms, which he has "fallen in love with," but, he adds, "I don’t change things too much because I find it hard to follow along as a listener when the reader goes too far off 'script.'”

Some of us struggle with the omnipresent (and to us, oppressive) masculine language: Karin and I feminize many of the nouns and pronouns—from "he" to "she," from "king" to "queen"; Jym experiments with plural, non-gendered pronouns in place of singular masculine ones. I took a lesson from the Rev. Dr. Alla Bozarth, who suggested non-anthropomorphic references to the Trinity, thus, "the Mama Bear, the Butterfly Christ, and the Spirit of the Honeybee."

And, indeed, combining the Daily Office with technology has become easier: we have reduced what once took two-plus hours —researching readings, finding the canticles for our day, checking pronunciations, recording and re-recording—to about an hour's good work.

100 listeners each week

Jon collects data that confirm no day goes by without at least one listener. They log in mostly from St. Louis but also from outstate Missouri and even England, Ireland, and Nigeria. Trinity's Daily Office averages 100 listeners per week.

Even though other Episcopal resources Hermione Granger, Mary Taylor's cat, in her preferred record the Daily Office, Jon, ever the pastor, basket during the Monday reading of Morning Prayer. thinks that the exercise is still a good one for us: "Even if no one listened," he said, someone a giggle and a reminder that this "there are now seven Trinitarians fully isn’t really serious stuff. It’s important, but I like to think God just wants to spend time equipped (and officially licensed) to publicly with us and isn’t all that picky about perfec- officiate at the Daily Offices. They know the BCP more fully and pray with it regularly. tion."

That’s a win in and of itself."

Each of our day's prayers is different,

and each of our readings is individual, too.

The faithful 21 Barbi has a Texas accent. Al begins with his Jon hopes to recruit as many as 21 mother's favorite verse: "This is the day the Trinitarians to record the Daily Office. That Lord has made. We shall rejoice and be glad would mean, he figures, that almost 10 per in it." I often begin with the collect for the saint du jour. Mary reads Rite I for its good, cent of the congregation would know how

Technical Terms Glossary • Sound file: a digital recording in a file a computer can play. An .mp3 is a type of sound file.

• Soundcloud: a web-based program found with an internet browser.

Using your browser you can navigate to www.soundcloud.com/ trinitydailyprayer and listen to the readings of Daily Office.

• Audacity: a free software program which you can use to record sound through your computer, and then edit the sound files.

• iCloud: online storage used by Apple products mostly (iPhone, iPad).

• AVR: another recording software.

• GeekSquad: a team of computer consultants at Best Buy stores.

• GarageBand: software for Apple products that records and edits sound files, in addition to creating many percussion sounds. to lead worship and would spend time with the BCP weekly. "A congregation dedicated to prayer produces much fruit," he adds.

We seven newly licensed lay readers of the Daily Office comprise a community within a community, reaching out to a new community with old prayers in the new wine skin of technology. Mary Taylor describes us thus: "I think of us as a company of angels recording the Daily Office each day. When I’m alone and quiet, I feel their encouragement."

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Dust to Dust Deborah Caby writes on the Fifth Mark of Mission: To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

“In the beginning...”

Oh, how I love that creation story! We know it so well; mostly we skip right on through to the part where the evil serpent causes the downfall of man. (No responsibility there for us, correct?) But go back and read it carefully. God spoke and there was heaven and earth, darkness and light.

God spoke and there was land and water, and sky. God spoke and there were plants and other vegetation. God spoke and there were animals of all kind that roamed the earth. God looked around. There was no one to care for the plants and animals and so, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2: 7.

From the beginning God set us apart from every creature. He did not create us from the word, but formed us from the earth and breathed life into us until we came alive. How intimate and loving! No magical thinking involved. God took clay— earth and water— and formed us with God's very hands and breathed life into us. We are earth, water, and air; the very elements needed to sustain life.

God set man in the Garden of Eden and gave him his only job—to care for creation. God created woman as man's helper and companion. God told them what they could eat and what they could not.

Then “God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

And they lived happily ever after.... EXCEPT for a certain serpent and those pesky dietary laws.

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I get stuck on the image of God intimately forming us, breathing life into us, and giving us a purpose. I also hold the image of God walking with Adam and Eve in the early evening breeze. We were in relationship with God! How cool was that! Like a recalcitrant child asked to put away their toys, we got distracted and the job was never accomplished.

We had better things to do and took creation for granted.

Maybe, foolishly, we thought we had a better idea. After all, the sun still rose in the early morning, there was plenty to eat and drink and we were free to have dominion over all the animals, the land, trees and air and to oppress those who got in our way or helped us make more money for ourselves. And if you think you do not oppress others, think again. Oppression is not only overseas. We only have to listen to recent reports about the inhumane treatment of poultry workers here in the United States who are denied bathroom breaks to increase production time and bolster the bottom line. Why? Increased productivity yields more dividends for our portfolios while providing cheap meat for our evening meal.

A collision course with climate change

We are the only creatures that take more than we need in nature. Humans tend to have wrong relationships with food, other people; we decimate mountains for the granite in our countertops, or siphon oil for our machinery that pollutes the very air we breathe. We laugh and joke about how

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we keep the economy going with our out of control spending and consumption.

We are on a collision course with climate change and we feel overwhelmed by the long laundry list to clean up our environment. We get bogged down with all the details. Is it more important to regulate water, emissions or to recycle and reuse?

What policies need to be legislated to make this all go away? Do we take a doom and gloom approach or do we wait it out hoping science and technology will evolve quickly enough to save us? (Not unlike spending ourselves out of debt!)

Tiny steps and the choices we make

As a Sustainability student, I am pulled towards either focusing on ecology or global justice. It is the poor and the oppressed that suffer first in famines, loss of habitat or tainted water. We all eventually lose if we do

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15 not support the principals of sustainability.

Do I adhere to all the suggestions for sustainable living? Of course not, but I do keep trying. It is all the tiny steps we take every day and the choices we make that change the course of history.

This is where my imagery comes in again. Consider the drop of water hitting the earth on a mountaintop. Not much impact, but it is the drops of water that follow, that begin to dig into the dirt, that eventually become a stream, and, falling off a precipice become a waterfall. Ta da—energy!

One person may not change history, but many making that choice to follow create an energy that changes the course of our ecological history.

As we reflect on the creation story, we tend to focus on “The Fall.” This begins our final choice to become more like God, where we fail to remember why God made us. After each day of creation God looked upon what God created and claimed that it was “good.” It was after God created humans, God declared it was “very good.” God could finally rest—with a partner to care for the earth. God made humanity for good!

Humans are to be the stewards of Creation.

Be outside with nature every single day

Last semester, I asked a professor what was the single most important step one could take to support sustainability. Her answer surprised me. “Be outside with nature every single day. Observe it, delight in it, and connect with it.” Nature deficit disorder has become very much a label for our children who go from school to sports and music programs and hours of homework a day and never seem to have any unstructured time to connect with nature. Spending time in nature allows the stress of everyday life to fade and opens a sense of wonder about our world.

It is much like the spirit of the Sabbath, "where the seventh day is the day in which God, humans, and the rest of creation are in right relationship. In our broken world,

keeping the Sabbath is a way of remembering and anticipating that world for which God created us. Sabbath requires rest, that we might remember our rightful place as God’s creatures in relationship with every other creature of God." (Quote from the pastoral teaching on the environment, the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, Sept. 2011).

I urge everyone to take time in their day to get outside and reconnect with the earth God formed us from and begin practicing steps toward a more sustainable life.

This is where we ask—Who is our serpent and what is our fruit? Enjoy living and support what God made for us.

A few suggestions to begin to implement sustainable living practices

1. Put some green into your life—start a garden or raise some herbs in a pot on a sunny windowsill. It tastes good and we eliminate the energy it takes to process and haul food from long distances.

2. Buy locally grown food (the closer to home is the best) and only in season.

Fresh strawberries for Valentine’s Day are only in season in warmer climates 3. Meatless Mondays! Take advantage of all the recipes you find for meatless Monday and begin to reduce your meat consumption. If you feel you need meat for a meal, have a 4-6 oz. portion rather than an 8 oz. portion. Saves $$$ and calories.

4. Reduce your overall consumption.

Buy only what you need. Shopping is no longer a sport!

5. The only way a new car should make you feel as if you have arrived is for it to be energy-efficient.

6. Reduce the toxic chemicals in your life—pesticides on your food and chemicals in cleaning products. The Internet has many non-toxic alternatives for cleaning products.

7. Drink tap water. Bottled water does come from a tap and maybe is filtered more.

8. Recycle everything you can. Yes, cans are recyclable, but so are your newspapers and magazines, certain plastics, glass, metal and plastic containers. Many communities have recycling programs; take advantage of recycling at your doorstep. If your community does not, ask your city leaders to provide service.

9. By this time, I assume you have already changed your light bulbs and when buying new appliances or HVAC systems, you are looking at the overall energy efficiency ratings.

10. Most sustainability practices urge people to walk, bike, or use mass transit for transportation. It is difficult in St. Louis to move from place to place without a vehicle, but it can be done. Urge your civic leaders to implement plans for mass transit and more biking trails.

If you can bike or walk to work you will save on your gym membership and have a chance to be in nature.

11. When building or remodeling a home, look for materials that are more sustainable. Do your research! Will the material you use regenerate in your lifetime?

12. Begin to consider where and if the labor practices in each country you buy from follow practices of the humane treatment of workers. They are your brothers and sisters. They breathe the same air as you and are made from the same earth as you.

Deborah Caby is a parishioner at Grace Church in Kirkwood where she serves as a eucharistic visitor, Creation Care team member and on the boards of Women of Grace and Episcopal Church Women. She attended University College at Washington University seeking a degree in Sustainability. Deborah has a love of gardening, feeding the hungry through church gardens, a curiosity and passion for social justice where science and theology intersect in relationship to the sustainability of the planet.

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Podcasting the Jesus movement New diocesan project to focus on evangelism through sharing our faith stories via the spoken word A deacon, a verger, a priest, a layperson, and a Jubilee officer walk into a recording studio and...

It's not the opening of a joke with limited appeal, but a description of a new communications project in this coming year.

We're built for story, it's how we understand the world and our place in it, how we access our faith and transmit our faith journeys.

We're adept at writing and reading to convey and consume these stories, and if we're accomplished there is a tone of voice that shines out from the printed letters.

But much of our tradition, much of our personal life, centers around stories we tell one another with our voices. The inflection and pitch that color emotion, the breath that shades meaning, even the accent which hints at history and context.

The project is a weekly podcast of around 20 minutes an episode. With each week devoted to one church or organization in our diocese. The goal: to share a Jesus moment from every one of our churches. It might be a Holy Spirit moment everyone at the church knows about, or it might have been witnessed by only a few.

We have a team of hosts to divide up

the weeks, and make this project manageable. Each one brings unique charisms to the interview table. The team includes Shug Goodlow, verger and ECM Chaplain; Barbi Click, diocesan Jubilee Officer; Harry Leip, Deacon at Trinity Church CWE; Debbie Nelson Linck, the brains behind the Hands On Black History Museum; and Dan Handschy, rector of Advent Church and Dean of the Episcopal School for Ministry. Diocesan communications director Beth Felice will produce and distribute the episodes, and coordinate the interviews.

We'll transcribe each episode to text, and distribute episodes through traditional podcast sites. And, if you just want to listen without the worry about what a podcast is, we'll have an easy way to listen directly from the diocesan website.

Great stories are found in large parishes and small missions, in our worship life, our life as Christians in our neighborhoods, and around the table, Let's start sharing these stories of following Jesus with one another.

Think about that moment in the life of your community, the one that gives you goosebumps each time you share it. Let's collect a bouquet of these moments and

Join the conversation on social media Diocesan Facebook page Facebook.com/ EpiscopalDioceseOfMissouri Cycle of Prayers is on Twitter.com/DioceseMO News from bishop and parishes Twitter.com/DioMoNews MAKING DISCIPLES

raise them up church wide.

Watch for details in early December on how to sign up for an interview, and how to listen to each week's program at diocesemo. org. The series will begin distribution in January.

Follow this code with your smart phone to more links and images from these articles at: diocesemo.org/nov2016seek Re-gramming parish and diocesan selfies and photos of your church following Jesus Instagram.com/MissouriEpiscopal

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All Saints Church: the path forward Prologue

You are a congregation of firsts; oldest Black congregation in the Episcopal Church west of the Mississippi, site of the consecration of the first African-American bishop in the Episcopal Church, founded as a Sunday School by the first African-American to become a deacon and priest in Missouri.

From your beginning, your members have included prominent black citizens; business, industry, and government leaders. You are a church with generations of family membership.

You are a church that led the way with innovative ideas such as a credit union founded in 1945, when financial institutions in St. Louis would not lend money to African-Americans.

After a succession of locations, you moved to the building on Kingshighway Blvd. and Terry Ave. in 1957. And that move to Terry Ave. from the 'old church' on Garrison Ave., which was located in a downtown commercial district, was not without some anxiety.

You have had stellar priests, vibrant ministry, and a passion for racial and social justice that inspires and informs this diocese. Today, your breath-taking facility in need of repair sits in an impoverished city neighborhood. Few members live near the church where membership has declined over the past 50 years from 700 members to 125. Attendance averages 75 communicants each week.

There is not enough revenue to support both the building and the ministry of the church. Recent financial reports indicated there was money to keep the church open through the end of 2017.

This is the context that the people and leaders of All Saints' Episcopal Church in

St. Louis are confronting. There are similar contexts confronting most of the historic black churches across the Episcopal Church.

The congregations of All Saints' and the Church of the Ascension in Northwoods will worship together at Ascension's location beginning in December. All Saints' administrative offices are moving to Ascension in early November. The two churches currently share priest, deacon, and music director, and for the past months have been worshiping jointly at Ascension some Sundays each month. The parish (All Saints') and the mission (Ascension) continue to work out details on their coming life together.

going, a new boiler for the heater but not the replacement of the pipes. The church had funds and endowed funds which were seriously affected when the stock market crashed in 2008-09. Money got tighter.

At the same time Ascension was moving worship from place to place, occasionally homeless. They worshiped with Trinity Episcopal Church. They tried mightily to make renting the basement of a black Presbyterian church in north city work.

At around this time, All Saints offered for them to join, but it wasn't the right time for Ascension. Then Ascension moved into the long vacant St. Andrew's property. Bishop Wayne noted that location was not their first choice. Most of their members lived in In the week after Bishop Wayne Smith's the neighborhood around their old location.

October visitation to All Saints', he sat down Ascension had become a predominantly for an interview and conversation for Seek African-American congregation in the afwith Mrs. Patricia Heeter, a life-long member termath of white flight. Ascension's present (and church historian) of All Saints'. She is a location on Lucas and Hunt in the North former vestry member and current Diocesan County community of Northwoods is geoCouncil member. Pat gave an overview of graphically close to many of their members. the church's history, interspersed with some So this topic has a history. The two memories and some historical interpretation. churches have in recent years been celePat remembers the move from the 'old brating an annual picnic together. In the church' on Garrison and Locust. In her ear- past four years, more informal converly teens, she remembers her parents talking sations have continued, with intentional about the move. And some of the anxiety conversations begun by the preists of the others had around the move. But to her, "as two churches as the reality of All Saints' long as we were going to remain All Saints', finances became hard to ignore. The reality and worship together as a family" the move was All Saints' would likely close its doors at was not ominous. the end of 2017.

The congregation has been at their curThe two priests asked Bishop Wayne to rent Terry Ave. location for 59 years, "and write a letter to be distributed to members at first was doing good," said Pat, "keeping of each church, about beginning a converthings going even in hard times." From sation on a possible way forward together. her tenure on vestry, she knew that more That happened in May of 2015. Ascension's recently there were financial problems. bishop's committee and All Saints' vestry Repairs were often patches to keep things began discussions. Several scenarios were continued on next page

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18 proposed, including doing nothing and allowing All Saints' to close.

What the churches choose to do is not the bishop's decision, but he supports them in their decision. As the two congregations came to discern a path forward together, not everyone at All Saints' was happy about the direction. Some felt there should be renewed fundraising. Some were concerned over the extra miles to drive. Some members who are vocal in opposition will likely make the move, and some who are not opposed to the merger will not make the move.

Pat herself was initially on the fence about moving to joint worship with Ascension.

"I'm 74 years old, I've been in this church my whole life. But it's common sense, if you can't afford it, you've got to make tough decisions."

Is it a merger or a union? This conversation is ongoing. Pat said she personally preferred the term merger. There is a strong sense of not wanting to lose identity as All Saints'. Pat lives within seven minutes of Ascension. She says, "I pass that church all the time. And a couple of blocks away is St. Stephen's and a few more blocks away is St. Barnabas'. But I didn't want to leave All Saints', to lose our identity as All Saints', our history..." And maybe the merger felt like it was 'giving up'. "I straddled the fence for a long time, but I tried to point out that we are a community, we are a parish. And I think that idea has finally come around."

"I think that this merger, to use Pat's

Pat Heeter and Bishop Wayne in conversation

preferred term, accomplishes something important. That is to preserve the historic African-American presence in the Episcopal Church in this diocese," added the bishop.

"Yours is a voice that in St. Louis, in this diocese, is so vitally important," as we continue to confront our own racism.

Bishop Wayne is arranging for the auditors used by the diocese to do a thorough audit of All Saints' "so people will have a clear and trustworthy sense of the precise state of church finances." The diocese also arranged for counselors from Care and Counseling to work with the communities as they worked through this process.

To a final question of what are your

The Rev. Kathleen "Kathie" Adams-Shepherd, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, CT., has accepted the call to become the Provost of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis. Her first official day at the cathedral will be January 2, 2017.

MAKING DISCIPLES

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

hopes for a future together, the bishop replied, "that they will thrive. For them to do so it's going to require money and human resources from this office. One of the difficult things that doesn't get stated very often is the four clergy who have been engaged in the efforts to bring the two churches together are white. I have pledged loudly, to turn cartwheels if necessary, to source for this community the ministry of an African-American priest, especially at this juncture."

For Pat, the goal is clear, "...that we would have a larger, more cohesive membership—one that would work together for the good of the church."

The diocesan board of Episcopal Church Women has announced the appointment of Shug Goodlow to ECW Chaplain. ECW board president Cheryl Ward Gaynor is thrilled to have a complete board and looks forward to the mighty work of the women of this diocese in the coming year.

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Waters of Baptism

diocesemo.org/advent-resources

Evensong

continued

Access and collected water from the Missouri River. She presented it to Shariya during the festive brunch on Shariya's last Sunday. Jeanie had been surprised that the water was so clear, as was I. When she presented it to Shariya, we all laughed when Shariya held the vial up to the ceiling lights to check its clarity. With a laugh, Shariya said, “You know, I AM a biologist.”

In the next exchange, Shariya asked whether (and Jeanie confirmed) it was our wish that she mix that vial of water into the baptismal water when she performs her first baptism at her new parish on Long Island Sound in Madison, Connecticut.

The poet Kahlil Gibran wrote, “There must be something strangely sacred in salt. It is in our tears and in the sea.” The river water we gave Shariya was freshwater. But it was surrounded and infused by our tears that day, and now it will go with her to the salty waters of the Atlantic, where she will minister to a new group of pilgrims.

Lisa Fox is a member of Grace Church in Jefferson City.

continued

If the morning church service still bears the cultural residue of institutionalized/secular religion, a service of "duty" if you will, Evensong has long enjoyed freedom from this—a service of "delight."

At Evensong there is no Baptism or Communion. In most places there's no sermon either. The liturgy and the music are the order of the day. They stand alone, without "ulterior motive." They are their own sacrament, in a way.

This is an incredible place—physical, temporal, spiritual—in which to be. Evensong is a real gift to our harried age.

And so I hope that if you see us or your friendly neighborhood toddler mishandling a prayer book at Evensong you will remember that "Christ doth call / one and all", even the tiny and small.

And if you love Evensong maybe you'll be inspired to invite a young (or any-age) person to go with you (there are often snacks afterward). Or maybe you'll simply consider going yourself if you haven't already made a habit of it.

Obviously I don't know if my son will still find Evensong interesting next week, let alone next year. I sort of hope he does as

David Sinden, St. Peter's organist and music director, far left, and the Choir he grows older, but mostly I hope that he finds something like this that he genuinely loves and that feeds his spirit.

Here is what I do know

I know that I have really valued these times spent in worship with him in the late afternoon. For us, the primary reason is one of logistics: since I am a professional church

musician, we don't have the opportunity to share the same pew on Sunday mornings very often.

And I know that, yes, God's very being draws praise from our lips, but it certainly helps if someone will teach us some words.

Maybe some music, too.

Read more from David Sinden online at blog.sinden.org

The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

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20

God's very being draws praise from our lips A toddler and his father at Evensong. "I thought this was all just in good fun until this last time. But something changed for us. It became real."

I have been taking my toddler to Evensong. He's a good sport about it. Mostly.

He's thumbed through a few Books of Common Prayer in his time. (We may have inadvertently crinkled a few pages in a prayer book at your church. If so, please accept our apologies!) He's less interested in the hymnal. Usually he has a soft animal or something of the kind, too. Maybe an emergency vehicle.

The very first Evensong we attended together must have been at St. James' Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. It was a full house that day, and I had to carry him through the gallery in his infant carseat.

It was crowded. People made room. I was the weird dad who was bringing his baby to Evensong. He could only have been three months old, tops.

He had heard me sing before. Heck, I did it the day he was born. But that was the first time he heard me sing in a room full of other people singing.

His whole face lit up.

I could read the joyful relief on his face.

It was like, "Hey, Dad's not crazy! He's just doing this thing that other people do!" It was a pretty great first outing.

Other services were not so glamorous, or well-attended. And often on these occasions he was more unruly. He was noticeably unimpressed with my singing and would sometimes sabotage my efforts to manage a hymnal.

But that's okay with me, though. It's easy just to sit in the back, close to the door.

Sometimes we need to wander out into the narthex or portico during the Nunc dimittis. It's alright. The ushers understand, and MAKING DISCIPLES

sometimes they'll even grab the door for us.

(After a short break we have always been able to sneak back in.)

It's not like Sunday morning where someone is going to very helpfully let you know about the nursery (sometimes with transparent motives). It's Evensong and there's probably not any childcare because, I mean, come on, who brings a baby to Evensong?

different when he said "Evensong." He has more and more to say these days, and it was exciting to hear him say this word.

But there we were in the service, and we got to the prayers. And that's when it happened.

This little person next to me started singing the Lord's Prayer. All the words, and with his very best preschool elocution.

And a big Amen. And I think even an extra Amen. (Or two!)

Now, mind you, we say the Lord's That's when it happened Prayer at home. Or, more accurately, I say We've been doing this fairly regularly for a couple of years. So I was pretty excited it while he listens. But it's part of the bedwhen I asked him if he wanted to go to Even- time routine, just like brushing teeth, and you can't really be sure how much of that is song this past weekend, and he said the sinking in. But we say it at home; we don't word back to me in response: "Evensong!" sing it. And it never really occurred to me He likes the word. He was proud to say it. that this little person on the kneeler to my He knows what it's about. right would remember all these words so I don't know about you, but it's pretty easy to get to Evensong where we live. Here clearly in a Gothic cathedral downtown, in St. Louis if it's the first or third Sunday of recognize what was going on, and spontaneously join in on a monotone with the rest the month we can head over to the Church of St. Michael & St. George. If it's the fourth of the congregation.

There's a phrase I use a lot, and I am Sunday of the month we can go the Cathequite sure that I stole it from someone but I dral downtown. And this has the added can't remember who. And Google is no help excitement of seeing the Gateway Arch here at all. So maybe I made it up, but I don't through the front windshield now that his think so. And that phrase is this: carseat faces forward. ("Arch!" I hear from the back, the first time it slides into view.)

Other parishes in town have Evensong ser"God's very being draws praise from vices on occasion, like St. Timothy’s, Creve our lips" Coeur, and we try to take those in too. And, I really believe that. After all, what is heck, he can even come to St. Peter’s, Ladue it that causes people everywhere, from the (but his Mom has to sit with him) if it hapcountryside to the big city, to get up early in pens to be the second Sunday of the month. the morning, gather again in the afternoon, And I thought this was all just in good and even late in the evening in some places fun until this last time. But something to sing praise to God? changed for us. It became real. continued on page 19 I should have known something was

BUILDING CONGREGATIONS

FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD