The Feast 2024

THE FEAST

everyone has a place at the table

SETTING SAIL

AS A NEW PEOPLE

the sacramental alchemy of wind and water page 14

IN THIS ISSUE

10

16

A new ministry in northern Michigan comforts those grieving beloved pets

18

A

pg. 22

pg. 16

pg. 18

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Katie Forsyth, Canon for Evangelism & Networking

Friends, we find ourselves in a huge moment of discernment in the life of the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan.

Just recently, after the conclusion of yet another public input session related to our pending decision on juncture, I sat with several of my fellow Building Bridges members reflecting on our journey of the last many years of conversation and research, of prayer and reflection, of drafting and reporting. We remarked how closely our experience has aligned to the values instilled in us by these very dioceses we serve: the broad participation of all voices in our deliberation, even and especially when we don’t agree all the time; the commitment to following the leading of the Spirit, even and especially when it requires a step outside of our comfort zones; and the commitment to true co-creation with all orders of ministry, even and especially when our recent history of the episcopate has been fraught.

Several of us in this conversation either grew up in these dioceses or have served in them for many, many years. As we talked, we recognized that this work, this moment, is precisely what the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan had raised us to greet and formed us to seek. It is the direct manifestation of that innovative, collaborative, and

courageous discipleship taught to us by those who walked before us, inviting us all to this lens of ministry.

It is this very identity, these values, that are revealed in the incredible stories featured in this new issue of The Feast. With the Rev. Jay Johnson, we’ll sail the waters of Lake Michigan, considering how wind and water shape our being as followers of Christ and as Michiganders. With Matthew Neddo, we’ll explore the geologic history of our two Great Lakes and how they’re not actually two distinct lakes at all. We’ll head to Harrisville, and Lansing, and Sturgis, and Bay City, and Big Rapids, and Cadillac as we hear about new experimentation in ministry, new approaches to traditional modes of outreach, and new ways of thinking to break open patterns of “stuckness” in our congregations. And we’ll reflect on this strange land and our calling as Episcopalians in this place and time with our assisting bishop.

Whatever may happen in March around our decision on juncture, it’s clear to me in these stories and in my travels that we are teaching our wider church about what it means to take on big questions, trust one another in our wrestling, and to step out in faith, seeking God’s dream for the world and our church.

I’m so very glad to serve with you, courageous disciples. I hope you enjoy this tenth issue of The Feast.

THE EPISCOPAL ASSET MAP

The Episcopal Asset Map, a joint project of the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief and Development, is the primary source for “Find-a-Church” engines across many dioceses (including our own!) and the wider Episcopal Church.

People seeking a community or wanting to learn more about other congregations across the two dioceses can utilize the Asset Map to search by several categories, including worship opportunities, outreach and

advocacy efforts, volunteer opportunities, networks within and beyond The Episcopal Church, and language.

To update your community’s information, visit the Find a Community page of your diocesan website, locate your congregation or ministry’s profile, then click, “Suggest an Update.” The changes you submit will be forwarded to an administrator to approve and publish the updates to the diocesan sites and episcopalchurch.org!

REQUEST THE EPISCOCOLORING BOOK!

The EpiscoColoring Book is a bi-diocesan educational tool and resource for all ages, exploring basic church structures and theology. Accessible for the littlest among us, the activity book is great for in the pews and at home!

Email McKenzie Knill at mknill@eastmich.org or mknill@edwm.org with any questions or to request copies at no cost.

SINGING THE LORD’S SONG IN A STRANGE LAND

by the Rt. Rev. Skip Adams

I offer my gratitude to all of you who, in so many ways, have made my transition to come among you as assisting bishop so full of grace. I am blessed to be among you and for the privilege of journeying together for a time. I see in you once again ample evidence of a deep faithfulness to our Lord, a deep commitment to being the best the Episcopal Church has to offer, a creative spirit that wants to engage one another in mission, and an infectious energy infused with hope for the Spirit’s work unfolding among us.

As we face the work of ministry together, my desire is to continue to offer an invitation to be in conversation with one another. I trust that as those conversations among the faithful continue to evolve, we will discover along the way the wisdom that resides in us. It is the wisdom of the body of Christ.

I believe that one of my roles is to encourage ways to develop relationships and offer a clear center from which our work can have the greatest opportunity to be fruitful.

My desire is to seek to flatten hierarchy and to have what one might call a shared episcopate. The ministry of oversight is embodied in a particular person in our tradition, the bishop, but episcopacy is a ministry of the entire body. God trusts you with this work. I trust you with this work.

I want to pose a question to all of you. It is a question I will ask often, directly and indirectly, in the time God gives us. It is a question posed by Psalm 137 to the Hebrew people in exile: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”

Three immediate thoughts come to mind in response to the question. First, the landscape into which we are to be singing. It is indeed strange. Second, it is not Skip Adams’ song we are to be singing, or St. Swithen’s song, or that of any particular interest group. It is God’s song. And third, the question implies the need for a response on the part of God’s people.

The Strange Land

There are many strange lands beside our own, now and throughout history. We are not unique in this regard. Just as the exiled Hebrew people had to deal with their strange land, so did the Church through the centuries, and so will the Church yet to be born. A part of our unique strange land is discerning what we are to look like in diocesan structure in order to best serve God, one another, and the world around us with God’s grace and love.

I want to say too that even though decisions made— whatever they end up being—will have significant impact upon us, we must not allow the time of waiting or the pending results be our defining narrative. As a community of faith, we are more than that. We are God’s own people. Seeing that reality in the people of God in Eastern and Western Michigan is one of the

main reasons I said yes to what I believe was the Holy Spirit’s call to join you again for a time.

We live in the strange land of the early 21st century in Michigan, the USA and the world. We live amongst a generation of people who are greatly suspicious of institution and all the structure around it, including the Church. We know that the day of ringing the steeple bell and people showing up is long gone. Add to all of this the socio-economic realities with which people are confronted every day, everything from the challenges of AI to a world constantly at war.

The world is shifting faster than anyone can keep up, and it can be overwhelming. We want a break.

At the same time, we are aware that people are spiritually hungry. The sale of spiritual books remains off the charts. Not interested so much in cerebral theological arguments, we see that people want an encounter with the sacred, the holy, with God.

Folks want to be a part of something that matters.

Bishop Adams rejoined the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan last fall following the suspension and resignation of the Rt. Rev. Prince Singh, due to an ongoing Title IV situation.

In November, he signed his new Letter of Agreement in the presence of the Diocesan Councils and Standing Committees of the dioceses, gathered for a meeting with the Building Bridges team at St. John’s, Ionia.

We live in those other strange lands of technology, new medical possibilities, globalization and pluralism. I really knew I was in a strange land when I walked into a grocery store in clericals and a young customer looking for assistance came up to me and asked if I worked there. There’s our mission field folks.

It is our strange land of all the above and more into which we are being called to be faithful. Yet our tradition tells us that when we are singing the Lord’s song, there is always hope, because it rests not solely on us, but on the One who promised: “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

God’s Song

It is precisely the promise of God that led Abraham and Sarah into unknown territory. It was this promise that enabled Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery. It is this promise that enabled Jesus to go to the cross.

It is God’s promise of abiding presence and allencompassing love that leads any person of faith to

the possibility of new life even in the face of corruption and death.

We have just lived again the liturgical season that audaciously declared that the light has come and darkness shall not overcome it. We know this not because of mere optimism, but because of the event of Christ himself.

do is to ask questions. Remain curious. It keeps the dialogue going.

Questions to be asked often in a faith community, maybe even at every vestry meeting, might be: “Why do we exist?” “What are the values we hold at our core that makes us who we are as a community of Christ?” “What needs to shift, how are we to adapt, what must be re-imagined in order to more clearly sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” “How will we resource congregations and develop leadership to be missionally prepared for the rest of the 21st century?”

“It is the song of love that is always giving its life away that all may live. May we always sing that song boldly, robustly, in praise to God.’”

— The Rt. Rev. Skip Adams

God’s song is life out of death. There is no place God is not, and all are invited into the divine embrace of wholeness and strength and joy and hope and meaning. It is the song of love that is always giving its life away that all may live. May we always sing that song boldly, robustly, in praise to God.

If the song is truly the Lord’s, we must remember we are not called to be a success. That may sound odd. We are here to respond freely, gratefully, sacrificially, to the gift already given us in Jesus. We are called to build a future without attachment to results, and be a part of a walk in God not primarily concerned with bottom lines or upper limits.

Our response needs to be one of gratitude, to hold lightly what we have done and what we have failed to do. Then, knowing that God already holds our future, we entrust that future to God.

Our Response

One of the things I hope we continue to

We must be willing to dream big, take some risks, and even know that it is okay to fail. If we never fail, we are probably not dreaming big enough. This is where we live the cost of the cross of Jesus and find ourselves so deeply rooted in the love of God that we are free to imagine a renewed Church that God can even more fully use for the work of the transformation of all creation.

Each of our faith communities needs to be a missionary outpost of God’s song and embody Jesus’ call to be a missionary people. Trust that Christ is alive among us as we pray with rejoicing. Whatever our vision continues to be, live it with a renewed sense of wonder, joy and astonishment for the Good News of Jesus. In so doing, we want the table of God’s Church to be open to all as we reach to to give meaning and hope to one another and all God’s people.

I join you in prayer and your commitment to be God’s people in this amazing venture. So, good people of The Episcopal Church in Eastern and Western Michigan, “How will you sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” +

The Rt. Rev. Gladstone “Skip” Adams is assisting bishop serving the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. He was ordained to the episcopate in 2001 as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Central New York.

Bishop Skip offers a moment of prayer during our October joint diocesan convention.

Eastern and Western Michigan Episcopalians worship in English, Spanish, and Dinka, gathered in church buildings, on farms, along the hiking trail, on fishing boats, and anywhere two or three are gathered in Christ’s name.

Top: During the annual Blessing the Fields at Plainsong Farm, participants walk and pray over the garden beds in anticipation of the new growing season.

Bottom: Holy Hikes Great Lakes navigated five trails in 2023, including the Newaygo Welcome Center Loop in August.

SETTING SAIL AS A NEW PEOPLE

The Sacramental Alchemy of Wind

by the Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, Ph.D.

SAIL

PEOPLE

Wind and Water

“Working cheek to jowl on a traditionally rigged tall ship with a crew I would likely never have met otherwise... continues to change and form me as we become a ‘new people’ together on deck...”

“In the beginning…a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”

(Gen. 1:1)

That first verse from the first book of the Bible offers an apt image for my lifelong passion for sailing. I’m never quite as happy as when I’m near water—or even better, when I’m on it and in a boat handling sail lines. I’m not only happy there, but also at risk. I don’t mean from physical danger necessarily (though one can never safely predict when the flat water of a Great Lake will stand up in heaps, or a squall line will suddenly sweep over the horizon and yank the staysail sheet out of my hands while the ship is coming about or drag me across a sloping deck). The greater risk is finding my life surprisingly changed, even re-created by that ineffable alchemy of wind and water.

I have come to think in similar ways about the church, the community of God’s people, which constantly faces the sacred risk of being unmade to be reborn; that

has been the unexpected gift of crewing the tall ship, Friends Good Will, on Lake Michigan the last two summers.

Regardless of the weather, I always brighten whenever I board that ship for a day of introducing dozens of passengers to the joys of sailing on a 100-foot long replica of a nineteenth-century cargo sloop. And members of the crew do this dressed in period costume, which I can scarcely resist calling “vestments.”

As a priest, I cannot help but reflect on the liturgical arc from font to table and back again as I greet the captain and crew. One of the proper prefaces for celebrating the Eucharist, for example, the third option for “The Lord’s Day,” reminds us that by “water and the Holy Spirit” God has “made us a new people,” to show forth God’s glory in the world. Working cheek to jowl on a traditionally rigged tall ship with a crew I would likely never have met otherwise—hauling halyards, coiling lines, inching our way out on a jib-boom to furl a headsail—

The ship and crew of Friends Good Will in South Haven, MI. All photos courtesy of Jay Johnson.

continues to change and form me as we become a “new people” together on deck; the communal and formative character of that work happens whether we fully intend it or not.

Theological reflection remains an occupational hazard of priesthood in nearly every situation, but I wasn’t expecting so much rich spiritual material from what began as a plan for self-care.

I stumbled upon an ad in a magazine back in January of 2022 for free seamanship training at the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven. I called the advertised number and spoke with “Captain Bob,” who reeled me into the training with the expectation of volunteering on the crew of a tall ship during the summer months. Having moved to Saugatuck from California just eighteen months earlier to become the rector at All Saints, and eager for that “something-completely-different” to do on my day off each week, I jumped at this opportunity—and I had no idea what I was doing.

I grew up outside of Chicago and spent many summers at a family cabin in Glenn, just ten minutes south of Saugatuck, where I learned how to sail a 12-foot dinghy on the “big lake.” While I enjoyed intermittent sailing adventures throughout my adult life, the prospect of crewing a ship like Friends Good Will, with 62 working lines (none of them labeled, needless to say) and five sails (totaling more than 3,000 square feet of canvas), raised my anxiety beyond what I thought reasonable for a relaxing day away from the “office.”

The kind of work on board is so clearly different from parish ministry (not least in its demanding physical labor), which made it the perfect activity for a day off. But I quickly noted some startling resonances between “crew” and “congregation.”

On the very first day of on-water training—inbetween the oddly exhilarating moments of trying to follow unfamiliar commands shouted across a slanting deck of a heeling ship—I started distilling some lessons I never thought would come with seamanship.

Here’s a short list from that first day, which I return to often:

• Every task is easier when shared.

• Don’t be intimidated; be bold knowing that someone has your back.

• Pay attention to those who have more experience.

• Stay alert.

• Pause to notice.

• Don’t forget to have fun.

This list, I thought, belongs in every vestry manual, and it reminded me straight away of my first improvisational theater class, which I had taken many years earlier. I signed up for that class on a whim too, and quickly encountered what I later found on a tall ship: the beautiful and uncanny gift of ensemble effort.

The first lesson my theater teacher taught was simply this: your one and only job on stage is to make everyone else look good. Whether on stage or on deck, our shared aim is the good of all, not just the director or the captain. Experiencing how that goal forges bonds of trust and affection rings with a deep Gospel truth.

Imagine belonging to a community in which you could trust that everyone else in it always has

your back and consistently seeks your good. I dare say grace and healing would spill out from such a community with a transformative, holy love.

Nothing about such love just happens automatically, whether on stage, on deck, or gathered around a Eucharistic table. Intention and commitment do matter; training, mentoring, and seasoned leadership all lend unmeasurable but vital qualities to communal formation. And yet, there remain certain elements in a community’s dynamics that lie well beyond our control and curation, elements without which the magic or alchemy—let’s just call it “sacrament”—simply won’t happen. As I have learned in many different ways on Friends Good Will, these unpredictable and mission-critical elements are clearly wind and water, just as they are for the church.

The biblical writer of Genesis apparently loved one of the

puns we can make from ancient Hebrew—the word we often see translated as “Spirit” can also be translated as “wind” or “breath.”

The wind from God that blew over the watery chaos before time began was the very same breath the Creator blew into the nostrils of the first human, bringing that creature of the dust to life.

The same pun can be made from Greek, which the Johannine Gospel writer likewise relished: no one can predict where the wind will blow, Jesus tells Nicodemus toward the beginning of John’s gospel, and so it is with those born of the Spirit. And toward the end of his Gospel, John tells us that the risen Jesus stands close enough to his disciples to breathe on them and says, “receive holy Spirit.”

I stand often near the bow of Friends Good Will, staring out toward a sparkling horizon, stretching across impossibly mixed hues of teal and sapphire water. As I grip the braided lifeline

Friends Good Will is a replica of a top sail merchant sloop that plied the waters of the Great Lakes in the early 19th century. The original ship was seized by the British Royal Navy in 1813 and was later burned and sunk in battle. Learn more and buy tickets at michiganmaritimemuseum.org.

with freshly calloused hands, it’s perfectly clear that the Spirit does indeed blow where it wills, even when we float there in a dead calm, all of us secretly praying for a breeze.

The trust and affection I feel for that crew, born from our comradery on the water, never fail to move me. That Spirit knits us together in ways I had not anticipated and could not have predicted when I signed up for basic seamanship training; as members of that crew, we are in practice, if not explicitly in theory, living members of a single body, just as St. Paul imagined the church to be.

For more than a few good reasons, traditional church architecture resembles the inside of an overturned ship. The biggest section of the building is even called a “nave,” which comes from the Latin word navis, for ship. Just as we do on Friends Good Will, people who may not have ever met otherwise nonetheless gather in the “ship” called church where we find both safety and risk, often intermingled. We gather there in the midst of storms—whether in the form of a global pandemic or a global climate emergency— with the hope of weathering those storms

together while all in the “same boat.” But of course we gather there with the risk of being changed, too, of becoming a “new people” according to patterns and rhythms we cannot anticipate with any certainty.

On nearly every excursion on Friends Good Will, a passenger will ask as we’re leaving the dock, where exactly we’ll be going on the lake and how far. The answer is always the same: wherever the wind will take us.

We can say precisely the same thing about being church together, about life in the Spirit. We might consider adding that as a cautionary note to the Baptismal Covenant: get ready to sail over strange horizons.

The risk this poses to our sense of self and how we view our relationships is much greater than most Christians probably pause to consider on a Sunday morning. If we did, we might more often think of the Eucharistic table as our shared “netting,” the braided lifelines that keep crew and passenger alike safely on deck. +

The Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, Ph.D. is rector serving All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Saugatuck. He is on the faculty of the Academy for Vocational Leadership as the instructor for Theology and Ethics.

“On nearly every excursion on Friends Good Will, a passenger will ask as we’re leaving the dock, where exactly we’ll be going on the lake and how far. The answer is always the same: wherever the wind will take us...We might consider adding that as a cautionary note to the Baptismal Covenant: get ready to sail over strange horizons.”

SAINT FRANCIS KEEPS WATCH

by Michelle Ruiz

The Saint Francis Garden at St. Andrew’sby-the-Lake Episcopal Church in Harrisville offers a forever resting place for ashes of beloved pets in the community.

Named after the patron saint of animals and the environment, Saint Francis of Assisi, the garden is a place of remembrance for departed animals. The pet memorial garden is open to people of all faiths and is free of cost. St. Andrew’s offers a brief service and a remembrance card for the people who wish to partake.

Followed by the brief service, the ashes of the departed animal are laid to rest in one of the garden beds. The objective of the garden is to provide a peaceful memory and a comfort to the community.

“It’s a wonderful comfort to have something like this,“ says Sue Wander, a member of the ministry team of St. Andrew’s.

A statue of Saint Francis stands tall in the center of the garden. It is believed that St. Francis watches over the animals by virtue of his love for them, expressed in his Canticle of the Sun.

The idea for the memorial garden first came to Wander when she was faced with the loss of her beloved dog, Cody while out-of-state. In Florida, Wander worked with a local church to refurbish their garden and transform it into a St. Francis Pet

Named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment, a new memorial garden is a place of remembrance for departed animals.

Photo by Maddy Baker on Unsplash.

Memorial Garden where she later spread Cody’s ashes.

Wander was determined to bring a similar memorial garden back to Harrisville, offering a spiritual space and practice for those experiencing the deep grief of the loss of a beloved pet.

She sought out an alternative option to the spreading of the ashes, which she felt was unsatisfactory during her experience in Florida. Instead she proposed digging a temporary hole in the flower bed for the ashes.

With the vestry’s approval, the existing courtyard gained its new purpose last spring.

“We are hoping to be a service for the community,” says Wander.

The garden is designed to celebrate life and invite the community. St. Andrew’s reached out to local veterinarians in the area to let them know about the service, asking them to share the offering with their patients experiencing grief. They were able to post fliers

and brochures in many of the veterinarian offices.

“It takes a while for that information to get out. You just have to get the first couple and keep the ball rolling,” says Wander. In the future they will continue to reach out to other community organizations and businesses, such

as pet groomers, to continue to spread their invitation and space of comfort.

To inquire about the service, pet owners can contact the office at St. Andrew’s at 989-724-5160 or standrewsharrisville@gmail.com. +

Michelle Ruiz is the bi-diocesan assistant for communications.

“We are hoping to be a service for the community.”

- Sue Wander

The Revs. Elizabeth and Brian Chace pose with the statue of St. Francis at the dedication of the new memorial garden last summer.

The Revs. Joe Jenney, Brian Chace, and Elizabeth Chace with Jeanne Meskes, before a prayer service dedicating the new garden last summer.

Sue Wander and pet sit in the St. Francis garden located on the St. Andrew’s campus.

Photos provided by Sue Wander.

End Gun Violence Faith Leaders Stand Together

by Michelle Ruiz

Faith leaders from the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan have joined forces with other community groups to advocate against gun violence, demanding increased safety for all God’s people in the Mitten.

Gun violence has impacted many lives across the country. According to the Giffords Law Center Against Gun Violence, 43,000 Americans die from gun violence every year—an average of more than 116 per day.

Michigan has had first-hand experience with the threat of gun violence. In the past few years, the state has seen an increase in mass shootings. In November 2021, four students were fatally shot by an active shooter at Oxford High School in Oakland County. Less than two years later, Michigan State University mourned the loss of three students following a mass shooting in February 2023 on the East Lansing campus.

In 2022, 130 leaders from across the state united to launch a coalition dedicated to working on gun violence prevention in Michigan. The organization, End Gun Violence Michigan (EGVM), collaborates with faith leaders and community advocates to create a united strategy to pass common-sense gun laws.

Among the leaders were some of our own.

“After the Oxford shooting, we were frustrated that the current state legislature was not taking any action on gun violence prevention. [The Oxford shooting] was a pivotal event… and [we felt like it was not acknowledged] that way”, says All Saints, Saugatuck’s Vicki Schroeder, co-director of Interfaith Action of Southwest Michigan and co-convener of End Gun Violence Michigan.

According to Schroeder, a state-level coalition inclusive of faith leaders had never really happened around this issue in Michigan. “Bringing together the local faith leaders and the statewide advocates was amazing. As an Episcopalian, I feel like this was acting on our commitments to each other and the greater world.”

The Episcopal community is no stranger to this type of advocacy. The Episcopal Church’s advocacy for gun-safety

“As an Episcopalian, I feel like this was acting on our commitments to each other and the greater world.”

dates back to General Convention actions as early as 1976, according to Episcopal News Service.

Today, Bishops United Against Gun Violence is one of the churchwide networks leading efforts around gun safety advocacy. Members of the coalition include our assisting bishop, the Rt. Rev. Skip Adams, as well as our neighboring bishops in the Great Lakes State and important partners in End Gun Violence Michigan, the Rt. Rev. Bonnie Perry of the Diocese of Michigan and the Rt. Rev. Rayford Ray of Northern Michigan.

Over the last several years, End Gun Violence Michigan has organized lobbying days in Lansing, including the participation of Episcopalians from all four Michigan dioceses. Schroeder herself participated in multiple meetings with US Senator Gary Peters and State Representative Elissa Slotkin, discussing action for re-enacting assault weapon bans as well as funding for gun violence prevention in local communities.

She recalls that engaging local Episcopalians was not a big ask. “They were ready to go,” says Schroeder.

The coalition believes that together, all community leaders can be powerful advocates for gun violence legislation. Some of the gun safety policies the coalition stands behind include universal background checks, safe storage of firearms,

a ban on guns in government buildings, red flag laws for those in danger of self-harm or convicted of domestic violence, and ending open carry of rifles and long guns.

Initially, End Gun Violence Michigan intended to launch a ballot initiative in 2024. Plans changed when in 2022, the midterm election created a significant shift in Michigan’s political landscape, making it possible for action to be taken more expeditiously. For the first time in 40 years, the Michigan State Legislature opened in 2023 with Democratic leaders in control of the governorship, Michigan’s House of Representatives, and Senate.

“Overnight, Michigan had a trifecta in that many of those legislators ran on a platform of gun safety. All of a sudden we were able to switch from a ballot initiative and move into full advocacy,” says Schroeder.

On July 26, 2022, the coalition witnessed a major step in favor of gun safety legislation. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order intended to reduce crime and gun violence. The executive order instructs Michigan state departments and law enforcement agencies to use federal resources from the recently passed bipartisan Safer Communities Act for Gun Safety Prevention.

The coming year, additional progress was made as Governor Whitmer signed a package of

common-sense gun violence prevention bills establishing universal background checks for all firearm purchases, safe storage requirements, extreme risk protection orders, and restricting firearm access to those convicted of domestic violence, policies strongly supported by End Gun Violence Michigan.

On April 13, 2023, Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bills 79, 80, 81, and 82 and House Bills 4138, and 4142. The Senate bills require firearms to be stored in a locked box or container, update the state’s criminal code for safe storage, and lower the costs of firearm safety devices to ensure owners can safely store their guns. The House Bills close loopholes in Michigan existing laws and expand universal background checks to all firearms.

Subsequent bills were signed into law on May 22, 2023 and November 20, 2023 addressing extreme risk protection orders and restricting firearm access to people convicted of domestic violence. Senate Bill 83, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, allows specified individuals to request that a circuit court enter an extreme risk protection order for an individual. House Bills 4146, 4147, and 4148 further reinforce ‘red flag laws’ that keep guns out of the hands of those with a history of harming themselves or others.

The latest set of signed bills, House Bill 4945, Senate Bill 471 and 528, target sentencing guidelines to

“As people of faith, it’s really our role to help to create a safe community. That is exactly what these common-sense gun laws do.”

prohibit those convicted of domestic violence from buying or owning a gun or ammunition for eight years, and defines additional domestic violence offenses that result in disqualification.

Despite the new signed bills, the coalition still has work to do. End Gun Violence Michigan is now focused on aiding in the implementation and awareness of the new laws. They are hoping to engage schools, parents and law enforcement in this ongoing work.

“As people of faith, it’s really our role to help to create a safe community. That is exactly what these common-sense gun laws do. Implementing them is in the best interest of our churches, our schools, and our community at large. We are trying to keep people safe,” says Schroeder.

Schroeder is hopeful that End Gun Violence Michigan can focus on ways in which congregations and individual Episcopalians can be engaged as part of our call to love and care for our neighbors.

“Part of it is that Episcopalians are great facilitators; we know how to bring people together and we know how to have dialogue and I think we are well positioned,” says Schroeder.

In the meantime, Episcopalians across the state continue to support the coalition’s efforts by hosting EGVM gatherings of protest, prayer, and information as well as attending major lobbying events for gun safety legislation.

To learn more about End Gun Violence Michigan and how to get involved, please visit migunsafety.org. +

Michelle Ruiz is the bi-diocesan assistant for communications.

On April 13, 2023, Governor Whitmer signed new legislation, enacting common-sense gun violence prevention intended to improve safety for Michigan communities. Among other areas, these policies, supported by End Gun Violence Michigan, establish universal background checks for all firearm purchases and requirements for safe storage.

Photos provided by Vicki Schroeder.

A SERVING OF LOVE ON CHINA PLATES

by Michelle Ruiz

Every Friday is a “Free Friday Friendship Meal” at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sturgis.

St. John’s first began serving warm meals to the community in 2006. Almost two decades later, the outreach program has expanded to include warm meals, basic necessities, various donations, community resources, and friendship.

“We try to provide a place where people can be together in community and friendship while eating at the same time,” says the Rev. Jim Lively, St. John’s rector.

The free hot meals are served every Friday at noon in the Great Hall and they are open to anyone in the community in need of sustenance or a friendly conversation. The Great Hall has become a frequent gathering spot for many members of the community. Some of the attendees are regulars and have spent many years volunteering for the event.

“They are pretty much connected. It’s a family, a true family. Even for us, we’re a big family,” says Nancy Nusbaum, coordinator of this weekly ministry.

It takes a whole team of volunteers to run the show, usually about 15-20 per lunch. Every Friday, the team prepares to serve 60 to 80 warm meals, not including any food prepared for attendees to take home for later.

“The cooks are always different, but we have a core group. The nice thing is we’ve added in cooks from other churches as well,” says Lively.

Through this ministry, St. John’s has built strong partnerships with other congregations in the area that come and regularly trade off cooking meals for the event. Among some of their frequent supporters are the local Presbyterian church, a nondenominational church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The collaboration started about five years ago when members of the

vestry went to the ministerial association and they invited all local faith communities to learn about the outreach program.

In addition to other faith communities, several people from St. John’s and the Sturgis community regularly serve as dishwashers on the volunteer team, declining the perhaps simpler use of paper plates and utensils. With the exception of the pandemic, the weekly meals are served with intention to give their attendees a fine dining experience.

“We serve [the meals] on china plates with real silverware. We don’t want people to feel like they are getting a free meal in a soup kitchen; we try to make it nice for them,” says Lively.

With the support of local congregations and the community of Sturgis the outreach program has expanded beyond a warm meal. Every week on Fridays, volunteers set up the “Free Table” with donated items from parishioners and the surrounding community. The items on the table include anything from basic necessities to gently used items, brand new items, and to-go meals for any attendees to take with them.

“We give out haircut vouchers, laundry vouchers, meal cards, sleeping bags, and gas cards on occasions,” says Nusbaum.

Above all the outreach’s mission is to provide resources for people in need. On Fridays, St. John’s opens the two showers in the lower level of the church. Nusbaum says they get anywhere from two to eight people who use the showers routinely.

Along with the donations and meals, the program welcomes representatives from different agencies to provide services. One of the regular agencies is KeyStone Place, a non-profit emergency housing facility that provides support to the homeless and at-risk populations in St. Joseph County. KeyStone representatives frequent the Friday Friendship Meals and have helped

connect many attendees to additional resources. KeyStone’s support includes reosurces for housing, emergency shelter, case management, and financial assistance.

“Mostly we try to get them housing. We connect them with KeyStone and then they go off and on their own, but they always come back for lunch,” says Nusbaum. Other agencies that frequent the program include the county mental health agency and Covered Bridge Healthcare which provides routine health checkups and vaccination once a month. “We’ve helped quite a few from the agencies we have come in,” says Nusbaum.

Lively says they have sustained the program for 17 years by the grace of God. In the future they hope to continue to offer resources to the community and to grow their collaboration with other congregations. Quoting the program’s nowretired original founder, Jo Johnson, Lively says, “God has done all this work here at St. John’s and we are just his vehicles to make it happen.” +

Michelle Ruiz is the bi-diocesan assistant for communications.

“God has done all this work here at St. John’s and we are just his vehicles to make it happen.”

-

Rev. Jim Lively

The

Left: Attendees enjoy a hot meal at St. John’s, Sturgis.

Below: Volunteers smile for a photo while preparing dessert. Photos via Jim Lively.

Tools for Change:

The College for Congregational Development

by Ryan Talaski

“The idea of keeping everything the same no longer serves us in our own lives, and least of all in our parishes. But where do we start and how do we start?”

Change is hard and change is scary; however, we live in a world full of constant change—so why should we think that our churches are going to be the exception?

Long before I became Episcopalian, I have heard time and time again from church leaders and members, “we’ve always done it this way, why change it?”

The idea of keeping everything the same no longer serves us in our own lives, and least of all in our parishes. But where do we start and how do we start?

The College for Congregational Development was not something that really caught my eye at first; I truly did not plan on attending when it was announced that the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan were beginning a

program. I had a lot going on in my life at that time, and truly did not want to add something else to my overflowing plate—that is until my wonderful friend Stacey asked me if I wanted to attend with her and our priest, the Rev. Nancy Mayhew. Luckily, the timing worked out in my favor since it was planned after summer school ended and before I would really begin preparing for the upcoming school year.

I really had no expectation for what the College for Congregational Development would be like; I just knew that it would be a week long and that we had to attend two preparation Zoom meetings to get the lowdown of what the program entailed and how we could expect our time would be spent together. After meeting on Zoom, I was hooked and excited! Shaking things up is my jam (just ask my principal), and getting the tools to do so at church was extremely appealing to me.

From the moment that I stepped into the parish hall at St. John’s, Midland, I felt very comfortable with the strangers around me. It was an odd feeling because I am not someone who automatically feels comfortable with

new people; I tend to be a bit reserved and pretty quiet, which is not how I could be described by people in my personal life.

I could feel the optimism, skepticism, and hope that permeated the air and conversations all around us.

Each day would begin with an optional breakfast and then Morning Prayer.

Morning Prayer was held in the parish hall with the chairs set up so that one side of the room was facing the other side of the room. The calming service included psalms recited in an unfamiliar way, contemplative silence, and a hymn sung a capella. We would then move onto plenary (which we learned is a fancy word for meeting) for whole group instruction and discussion.

After plenary was our small group time – my favorite part of CCD.

Small group was not my favorite just because ours happened to be located in the gorgeous narthex lined with glass walls, but because of the relationships we

CCD participants pray morning prayer, reciting the psalms antiphonally.

“I walked away with trusted friends from across our two dioceses and a sense that we were in this together.”

- Ryan Talaski

built with our teammates from other parishes, the in-depth discussions about the challenges facing our congregations, and the hope and inspiration we cultivated to bring back to our home communities.

One of the last tasks that we had as a small group was to write compliments to each other, which was a heartwarming, and tear-inducing way to begin the closing of the week. I walked away with trusted friends from across our two dioceses and a sense that we were in this together.

There were so many aspects that we could take back to St. Alban’s, and so many tools we could implement in our professional lives as well.

I feel that the greatest gift we were given from CCD, however, was the reassurance that we are not the only Episcopal church with a relatively low number of parishioners. We are

not alone in our challenges, in our strengths, or in our dreams for our church.

The inspiration we obtained at CCD led our parish team to write a fourpage (hand written!) list of projects that we want to undertake.

The first project we committed to was for Stacey and me to take over as our social media volunteers—this has yielded about a 52% increase in views of our church Facebook Page and our content. This inspiration also led Stacey and me to spearhead the reorganization and revamping of our children’s ministry and the space where it is held at St. Alban’s.

Through CCD, we learned that although change is hard, it does not have to be scary, and it can be an exciting time for our parishes.

It can be difficult and painful to have conversations with yourself, fellow parishioners, and vestries about the ways your parish may need to change, but the tools learned through CCD can help make those difficult discussions more productive and less painful. Personally, I am beyond grateful for my week spent at the College for Congregational Development, and I eagerly await this coming summer for the second year of this wonderful program. +

Ryan Talaski is a member of St. Alban’s, Bay City and is serving his first year on the Diocesan Council of Eastern Michigan. A special education teacher, he lives in Bay City with his partner, Tyler, and their mini petting zoo.

Top Left: The St. Alban’s team of Stacey, Nancy, and Ryan smile for a photo in St. John’s, Midland courtyard during their week at CCD.

Right Page: St. Alban’s new children’s room; Stacey Albaugh and Katie Curtis help prep the new space; Ryan’s small group on a field trip to St. John’s, Saginaw: the Rev. Jim Mitchell (St. Mark’s, Newaygo), Ryan Talaski, Stacey; Albaugh, and the Rev. Nancy Mayhew (St. Alban’s, Bay City); Helen Reid (St. Mark’s, Newaygo), Maria Di Stefano-Post and Hannah Wescott (Grace, Traverse City); Sibyl Smith (St. Mark’s, Newaygo), and the Rev. Derek Quinn (St. Paul’s, Elk Rapids and Grace, Traverse City.)

JOIN THE COLLEGE FOR CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT!

Our 2024 College for Congregational Development of Eastern and Western Michigan will take place July 21-26, 2024 at St. John’s, Midland. Participants requiring overnight accommodations will stay nearby at Northwood University. Visit the CCD pages of our diocesan websites for more information and to register a team from your congregation.

Scarcity or Opportunity?

by the Rev. Canon Tracie Little, D. Min.

Photo

In my work with congregations in transition, there is a common theme emerging across the dioceses. Increasingly, many congregations are finding themselves unable to fund a paid full-time priest.

As the primary transitions officer for both Eastern and Western Michigan, I’m in contact with transitions officers across The Episcopal Church. Michigan is not unique.

Congregations across the church are faced with a challenge. For some, all they have ever known is the model of one full-time priest dedicated only to them. As the congregation has declined in numbers and increased in age, the ability to afford the expenses of a fulltime priest have dwindled. That’s reality; a reality that feels like scarcity.

Congregations feel like they have to “settle” for part-time priestly presence. Remembering the glory days of the past when pews were full and alms basins overflowing with income, they may begin to feel “less than.” Longing for the way things used to be, they begin viewing their ministry from this lens.

When I was “growing into” what it means to be church in my home diocese, the most common model for congregations facing declining numbers and income was to create a multi-point parish: one priest serving several congregations. It was always up to the priest to manage their time; time was almost never enough and time was almost always an issue.

Inevitably one congregation or another began to feel the other congregation was more important to the priest. Many times, congregations were expecting they would receive the same kind of attention that they enjoyed when they could afford full-time priestly presence. Often times, the number of expected hours when totaled together, added up to way more

than 100% of the cleric’s time. In some cases, church became a tug-of-war, each congregation pulling at their priest. More often than not, priests left the call feeling burned out and disillusioned. Congregations also became disillusioned and fell more and more deeply into seeing their experience through the lens of scarcity.

It was then that the “if only’s” began to sneak in. All they needed was the right priest that could grow the church. Does this sound familiar? Increased membership and pledges would mean a return to the way things used to be. One priest dedicated only to them.

What if there was another option? What if this new reality is really an opportunity? What if we can take the learnings of the past and envision a new, abundant, thriving future? What if we could conceive of multi-point parishes that work together instead of pulling on each end of a tug-of-war rope? What if the clergy and lay people all worked together to minister in that community?

I wonder, what does the Bible say about collaboration?

Moses had listened to God. He’d done everything that had been asked of him. Now he and the Israelites found themselves wandering around in the desert. As is natural with humans, especially without an end game in sight and in the midst of a massive transition, the people bellyached, and complained. A lot. Eventually it was too much for Moses to bear alone. He turned to God. “I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me (Numbers 11:14, NRSV translation).” God heard Moses.

“Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel,” scripture records. Moses was instructed to take these folks to the tent of meeting where God declares, “I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall

“It was then that the “if only’s” began to sneak in. All they needed was the right priest that could grow the church... Increased membership and pledges would mean a return to the way things used to be. One priest dedicated only to them.

What if there was another option? What if this new reality is really an opportunity? What if we can take the learnings of the past and envision a new, abundant, thriving future?”

-Tracie Little

bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself (Numbers 11:17, NRSV translation).”

God created what was perhaps the first collaboration. It wasn’t the last.

That theme carries through in the Gospels as Jesus summons his disciples and sends them out. Stories are recorded in Matthew 10, Mark 6 and Luke 9. The Gospel of Luke goes even further in the tenth chapter, sending out not just the original 12, but 70. The work of the Gospels was carried out not just by Jesus. It was announced and lived into in community.

It seems that a case can be made about collaboration! So how does this affect leadership especially in, although not limited to, congregations that are no longer able to afford fulltime clergy leadership?

What we’re seeing across the church is a growing trend toward congregations joining together to call a full-time priest. Of the ten congregations currently receiving names for new priests in our dioceses, four of them are joining forces. Two of those are in a formal covenanted relationship. The other two are not covenanted together. And there are multiple congregations beginning the conversation about sharing a priest.

So, you may ask, why would we want to covenant together? We have one covenant in Western Michigan that has already been living into this model and can teach us about how it’s worked.

The Central Michigan Episcopal Covenant was woven together by St. Mary’s, Cadillac and St. Andrew’s, Big Rapids. On August 1, 2020 they called the Rev. Radha Kaminski to walk with them over the next season of ministry and help them to most fully live into what it means to be in covenant with each other.

And it’s working.

These two congregations have committed to working together with Mother Radha so they don’t end up in that almost inevitable tug-of-war over her time. Mother Radha serves in one congregation each Sunday, celebrating Eucharist and preaching. When she is not present with the congregation, they have teams of people empowered and trained to lead Morning Prayer and to preach the word.

This model reveals so many opportunities! These congregations must call forth the gifts of all the members so that the work of God is accomplished and ministries continue. People are empowered to live into their giftedness as they say yes in new ways to their baptismal promises! Clergy and lay work together as a team. And, in these “covenant” relationships, each of the two congregations remains a unique and

blessed worshiping community where God powerfully shows up transforming lives and situations.

These two congregations in Big Rapids and Cadillac are discovering new ways to cooperate and collaborate – not just for Sunday services, but for other ministries as well. They support one another in formation events and in fellowship events, one church overwhelming the other with cookies when asked to bake. Or one church joining with the other to celebrate one’s big anniversary, a showing of support for their covenant partner.

Is it always easy? No, of course not. When two or three are gathered, there will be challenges that strain the relationship. But commitment to being in relationship, flexibility, and love for one another carry them through.

One member of the covenant shared her biggest “aha” moment and it made my soul sing. As they’ve lived into this model, there has been “a sincere lack of concern of how many hours the rector works in each parish.”

Thriving and Spirit-led, not past-seeking and scarcity.

We are living in changing times. In some ways, the church has always lived in changing times. These folks have found a way to turn scarcity upside down and are living proof that new opportunities are real! It might even be said that with commitment to relationship, collaboration leads to thriving congregations.

Praise be to God for calling us all into community! +

The Rev. Canon Tracie Little, D. Min. serves as Canon for the Southern Region and Adult Formation for the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. With the other regional canons, she assists congregations in transition.

“When two or three are gathered, there will be challenges that strain the relationship. But commitment to being in relationship, flexibility, and love for one another carry them through.”

St. Andrew’s, Big Rapids hosts a table at the Bulldog Bonanza at Ferris State University; Dinner Church Eucharist at St. Mary’s, Cadillac; the Central Michigan Episcopal Covenant gathers for one of their early covenant picnics in 2021.

Two Names, One Lake of Ever Changing Waters

by Matthew Neddo

When first I moved to Michigan from New York I grieved. I was leaving behind my parents, my childhood home, and the church I had known since I was four years old.

There is a special kind of anxiety that comes with any change to one’s faith community. We look to our faith for so much stability and peace. I felt this deeply in my heart when we moved, but I found something that was uniquely beautiful in the comfort that is the church.

While some things were different, it was much the same. I was greeted with a familiar set of books in the pews, both red and blue. The words and prayers were common, and thankfully the Midwest knew the importance of a good coffee hour!

Living in the thumb of this state felt different yet familiar to my Central New York home. The land was formed by the same glaciers, and of course, there was another Great Lake.

Lake Huron gave to me a deep comforting feeling in knowing the water I looked upon would pass my childhood home on its journey to the Atlantic Ocean-that the only thing that separated me from there was a common stretch of water.

This anxiety returned to me in 2020, when the world turned upside down and my faith community changed again—now living farther north and on a new Great Lake. I found that uncertain feeling return. But

what a relief there was in the familiar things of our churches! The place was new, yet the kindness, the fellowship, and thankfully, a lot of my friends in the greater church remained the same.

It was an adjustment to move from the east coast of the state to the west. But in many ways it felt familiar with the dioceses working in close collaboration, sharing staff and ministries. I didn’t feel the same effect as when we left New York. My friends were still here. Although seen in-person less frequently, our many meetings and big services and celebrations are opportunities to get together, share our experiences and faith, to hug, and to connect.

While we have a lot of the same challenges across our faith communities, we also have many of the same strengths. Across the church and in our particular dioceses, our community is experiencing change from what was, to what the church is today and will be into the future. This brings about those feelings of anxiety, of “what ifs” and unknowns. Yet I find it comforting to know none of us are alone. We are people of the Great Lakes. Living waters are ever moving, ever changing.

Many names have been recommended for our potential new diocese, if we join in juncture. A good number of them have to do with water and the familiar lakes that identify us as Michiganders.

The lakes that border the Mitten are unique in that they are, hydrologically speaking, one lake. The waters that flow through the three and a half-mile wide strait balance the levels and flow, not only in a march to the Atlantic, but also westward in an ebb and flow; ever changing and yet always there.

Comfort comes from the water, but it also can create great anxiety for those seeking to slow the effects of its ever-changing nature.

There is a life to the lakes that change from season to season, year to year. One of these is longshore drift—the movement of sandy coastal erosion down the length of the shore. We can try with all our might to stop the impact of the changing, churning waves. But the more we try, the more we create a different problem.

Anyone who has seen a breakwall jutting out into the water will know that you get a strange effect as the structure attempts to control the drift. The sand builds against the wall, but without the natural movement of the sand, the other side of the wall erodes, creating a cut-away at the beach we tried so hard to protect.

The water changes the land and we can’t change that. We can change how it moves, we can change how it looks, we can even change how we address its impact. But we can’t change the change.

We are in a season of great change. We are discerning whether we want to join or remain separate, but to me the choice feels less about joining two wholly separate bodies and more about a legal delineation of the community I’ve come to experience as one. For we are already all one. We are people of the Great Lakes.

No matter the decision in March, we are Episcopalians, and most of all we are followers of Christ. We are all one in his name—a community that spans through time, ever changing yet always there. +

Matthew Neddo is a lifelong Episcopalian, born and raised in the Diocese of Central New York, where he met his spouse, the Rev. Kay Houck. In 2015, they moved to Lexington, Michigan where Kay served Trinity Episcopal Church for five years. In 2020, they moved again for her call to serve Emmanuel, Petoskey. Matthew is a member of Western Michigan’s Diocesan Council and serves on the Building Bridges Steering Committee.

“The lakes that border the Mitten are unique in that they are, hydrologically speaking, one lake.

The waters that flow through the three and a half-mile wide strait balance the levels and flow--not only in a march to the Atlantic--but also westward in an ebb and flow, ever changing and yet always there.”

— Matthew Neddo

'

Photo by USGS on Unsplash.

HOW WE LEARN TO BE BRAVE: DECISIVE MOMENTS IN LIFE AND FAITH

A

Book Review

by J. Barrett Lee, OblOSB

How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith is the third and most recent book by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Mariann Edgar Budde, the ninth and current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

Published in early 2023, this book was inspired by the tear gassing of protesters to make room for a political photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020. This event, and the ecclesiastical response to it, propelled Bishop Budde and The Episcopal Church into the center of public attention for the first time since Presiding Bishop Michael Curry preached at the royal wedding of 2018.

The book begins with an account of the events of June 1 from Bishop Budde’s point-of-view. After the initial retelling, the author occasionally refers to the events of that day, but the main thrust of the book has significantly more breadth and depth. As the title indicates, this is not a book about political

grandstanding; it is a book about bravery.

Part memoir, part history, and part theological treatise, this book focuses on the virtue of courage as a choice that we make. Bishop Budde writes:

Decisive moments involve conscious choice, impressing their importance upon us as we experience them, for we know that we’re choosing a specific path of potential consequence. In a decisive moment, no matter how we got there, we no longer see ourselves as being acted upon by the slings and arrows of fortune or fate, but as ones with agency. We’re not on autopilot; we’re not half-engaged. We are, as they say, all in, shapers of our destiny, and co-creators with God. (xviii)

Across the chapters that follow, Bishop Budde explores the various kinds of decisions to which the virtue of courage may call us. There are chapters on Deciding to Go, Deciding to Stay, Deciding to Start, Accepting What You Do Not Choose, Stepping Up to the Plate,

The Inevitable Letdown, and The Hidden Virtue of Perseverance.

Each chapter includes an autobiographical vignette and an historical profile to illustrate the particular theme. While the book is intended for a larger audience, the author does not shy away from biblical, liturgical, and theological references particular to Christians. Most (though not all) of the historical profiles are of prominent Episcopalians whose names are easily recognizable, even though their Episcopal faith may not be as widely-known. Historical examples include Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, and the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. Contemporary Episcopal voices cited by the author include Dr. Brené Brown, the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, and Rachel Held Evans. The author makes a special point of highlighting examples from the lives of women and people of color.

When it comes to the autobiographical sections, the author does not shy away

from experiences of personal failure and disappointment. This spiritual reflection on the virtue of courage is not a self-congratulatory polemic. There are many times in life when courage calls us to take responsibility for our mistakes. Bishop Budde describes personal experiences of such moments with an abundance of honesty and humility.

My primary criticism of the book is a relatively small and forgivable one. There are times when the several examples of historic Episcopalians come across as advertisements for our denomination. As a reader, it seemed like the author was implying, “Look at all these cool Episcopalians! Don’t you want to be one too?”

A greater religious diversity among historical examples would have decreased my sense of evangelistic pressure and increased the book’s appeal to a wider audience. That being said, I think this fault is minor because the Episcopalians the author cites are indeed examples of the virtue she is expounding. Furthermore, since the author is an Episcopal bishop, I can’t really blame her for wanting to highlight the denomination she serves.

All in all, I think this book will appeal to parish book groups and individuals looking for personal development. Its language is accessible to readers without a theological education and its spiritual dimension is broad enough to include people who do not identify as religious. Finally, though I must admit some personal bias on this point, I think this book would be an excellent choice for Episcopalians in the process of discernment and formation for ordained ministry.

Courage, like love, is more choice than feeling. We blaze the trail of God’s call by putting one foot in front of the other, falling down, getting up, changing direction, and starting again. How We Learn to Be Brave gives ample inspiration, encouragement, and guidance for that process. +

J. Barrett Lee, OblOSB is a Benedictine oblate of St. Gregory’s Abbey and a candidate for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. He works as a hospice chaplain and lives in Kalamazoo with his spouse and two kids.

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Prior to her election in 2011, she served in the Diocese of Minnesota for eighteen years. She is passionate about helping people deepen their spiritual practices and is an advocate for social justice.

OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

October 2022- December 2023

CALLS & TRANSITIONS

The Rt. Rev. Gladstone “Skip” Adams accepted a call to return as bi-diocesan part-time assisting bishop in November.

The Rev. Valerie Ambrose retired in May 2023, concluding her ministry as Western Michigan’s canon missioner for the Central Region.

The Rev. Alissa Anderson accepted a call to serve as rector with St. John’s, Midland. Previously, she served St. Peter’s Church in Plant City, FL (Diocese of Southwest Florida).

The Rev. Guiherme de Azevedo accepted a call to serve as rector with St. Mark’s, Paw Paw and “55 and Better” minister with St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo. Previously, Gill served St. Paul’s, Patchogue (Diocese of Long Island).

The Rev. David Blank accepted a call as interim priest-in-charge serving St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids in June. Previously, he served as interim priest with St. David’s, Lansing.

The Rev. Christian Brocato resigned as rector serving St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids in June.

The Rev. Cynthia Caruso retired in November 2022, concluding her ministry as rector with St. Augustine’s, Benton Harbor.

The Rev. Barb Cavin retired from ministry in November 2022. Most recently, she had been an active supply priest.

The Rev. Canon Sunil Chandy accepted a call to serve as bidiocesan canon for the Central Collaborative and digital communities in August. Previously, he served Christ Church in Westerly, RI (Diocese of Rhode Island).

The Rev. Brian Coleman accepted a call to serve as priest-in-charge with Holy Trinity, Manistee. He also serves as the seasonal priest coordinator for St. John’s-bythe-Lake Chapel in Onekama. He previously served with St. Thomas, Battle Creek.

The Rev. Tom Downs retired in December 2022, concluding his ministry as priest-in-charge with St. Paul’s, Gladwin.

This year, our dioceses celebrated the ordinations of three leaders. The Rev. Joe Kennedy was ordained to the priesthood in June. The Revs. Linda Scheerer and Beckett Leclaire were ordained to the diaconate in June and July.

The Rev. Jim Enelow retired in November 2022, concluding his ministry as deacon with St. Augustine’s, Benton Harbor.

The Rev. Anne Hallmark retired in May 2023, concluding her ministry as Western Michigan’s canon missioner for the Northern Region. The Rev. Jim Harrison concluded his ministry as priest-in-charge with St. John’s, Midland in August. He has since accepted a call serving as interim rector with Trinity Church in Iowa City, IA (Diocese of Iowa).

The Rev. BJ Heyboer accepted a call to serve as bi-diocesan coordinator of the College for Congregational Development. She continues as rector serving St. Mark’s, Newaygo.

The Rev. Kim Hoop retired in September, concluding her ministry as deacon with Two Churches, Kentwood.

The Rev. Alan James concluded his ministry as interim canon missioner for Western Michigan’s Southern Region in January 2023, accepting a call to serve as interim priest with St. Edmund’s, Chicago.

CALLS & TRANSITIONS, CONT.

The Rev. Joe Kennedy accepted a call to serve as priestin-charge with St. David’s, Lansing in July.

Devin King accepted a call to serve as financial assistant on the Eastern Michigan diocesan staff in October 2022.

The Rev. Beckett Leclaire accepted a call to serve as ministry developer of the AuSable Inclusion Center in Mio. He continues as deacon with St. John’s, Dryden and administrative youth missioner for the dioceses.

The Rev. Canon Tracie Little, D. Min., transitioned from her role as Eastern Michigan’s canon to the ordinary to the bi-diocesan canon for the Southern Region and adult formation in May.

The Rev. Tom Manney accepted a call to serve as priest-in-charge with St. Paul’s, Flint in April, concluding his ministry as priest-in-charge serving St. Paul’s, Bad Axe and St. John’s, Dryden.

Tammy Mazure resigned as chief financial officer and benefits administrator for the Diocese of Western Michigan in December 2022.

The Rev. J. Nixon MacMillan accepted a call to serve as interim priest-in-charge with Trinity, Grand Ledge in October.

The Rev. Russ Merrill retired in December, concluding his ministry with St. Paul’s, Corunna.

The Rev. Cynthia Nawrocki retired in May, concluding her ministry as deacon with St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids.

The Rev. Curt Norman concluded his ministry as rector serving St. John’s, Saginaw in June, accepting a call to serve St. Paul’s in Brady, TX (Diocese of West Texas).

The Rev. Tom O’Dell retired in January 2023, concluding his ministry as rector with Christ Church, Charlevoix.

Sara Philo accepted a call to serve as bi-diocesan chief financial officer and benefits administrator in January 2023. She previously served in the same role for the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.

Julia Quillan accepted a call to serve as bookkeeper on the Western Michigan diocesan staff in October 2022.

The Rev. Linda Scheerer is deacon serving St. Gregory’s, Muskegon.

The Rev. Harold Schneider accepted a call as priest-incharge with St. John’s, Dryden in November, concluding his ministry as priest with St. John’s, Otter Lake.

Mary Simpson resigned as resource and data coordinator for dismantling racism on the Western Michigan diocesan staff in December.

The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh resigned as bi-diocesan provisional bishop in September.

The Rev. Linnea Stifler retired from active ministry in August 2022, concluding her ministry as rector with Emmanuel, Hastings.

The Rev. Susan Anslow Williams accepted a call to serve as priest-in-charge with St. Jude’s, Fenton in August. She previously served several congregations in the Diocese of Michigan.

In May, our clergy gathered for our third joint clergy retreat. During the closing Eucharist, the community offered a moment of prayer and gratitude for the retiring canons missioner on Western Michigan’s diocesan staff, the Revs. Val Ambrose and Anne Hallmark, whose ministry and relationships extended to both dioceses.

Through our bi-diocesan Office of Children, Youth, and Young Adult Formation and the camping and retreat ministries of the dioceses, our young people have access to opportunities for peer fellowship, shared learning, and community beyond their local parish.

Top: 2022’s Advent Youth Retreat hosted at St. Andrew’s, Big Rapids focused on our call as Christians to dismantle systems of oppression and to combat racism in our communities.

Below: (Middle) In 2023, Plainsong Farm began offering programming for little ones and families throughout the summer. (Bottom Left) Camp Chickagami offers programming from Spring to Fall, including spiritual retreats for adults, like the annual Fiber Arts Retreat. (Bottom Right) Episcopal Youth Camp offers one week of overnight camp for youth from elementary to high school.

In April, our dioceses hosted two stops on the tour of the award-winning Concert for the Human Family, an experience blending jazz, bluegrass, and hip-hop. World-class musicians Kory Caudill, Keith Caudill, and Wordsmith wowed at St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids (top) and rehearsal at St. Paul’s, Flint (bottom).

CELEBRATIONS & MILESTONES

The Rev. David Blank (St. Mark’s, Grand Rapids) was received as a priest in The Episcopal Church during our 2023 diocesan convention. He was previously ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

The Rev. Zachariah Char (Sudanese Grace, Grand Rapids and St. Philip’s, Grand Rapids) graduated from Cornerstone University in May with a master’s degree in Biblical Studies with a concentration in Parish Leadership.

The Rev. Alicia Hager was ordained to the priesthood during our 2022 diocesan convention. She serves as assistant rector with Grace, Holland and as the community and communications curator for the Gathering of Leaders, a churchwide organization.

The Rev. Joe Kennedy (St. David’s, Lansing) was ordained to the diaconate during our 2022 diocesan convention and to the priesthood in June. In July, he graduated with his M.Div. from Sewanee School of Theology. In September, he and his spouse, Stephanie, welcomed their second child, Alice.

The Rev. Beckett Leclaire was ordained to the diaconate in July. He serves as ministry developer of the AuSable Inclusion Center, the admin. youth missioner on the bidiocesan staff, and as deacon with St. John’s, Dryden.

The Rev. Shadrack Owour (Grace, Port Huron) was received as a priest in The Episcopal Church during our 2022 diocesan convention. He was previously ordained in the Anglican Church of Kenya.

The Rev. Linda Scheerer (St. Gregory’s, Muskegon) was ordained to the diaconate in June.

The Rev. Joanna Unangst was ordained to the priesthood in November 2022 in the Diocese of Texas on behalf of the Diocese of Western Michigan. She now serves as curate with Trinity Church in The Woodlands, TX (Diocese of Texas).

The Rev. Kurt Unangst was ordained to the priesthood in November 2022 in the Diocese of Texas on behalf of the Diocese of Western Michigan. He now serves as rector with St. Mary’s Church in Cypress, TX (Diocese of Texas).

The Rev. Derek Quinn (St. Paul’s, Elk Rapids; Grace, Traverse City) was ordained to the priesthood during our 2022 diocesan convention.

Since our last issue, our dioceses have gathered several times for regional services of confirmation, reception, and reaffirmation; a welcoming of our church’s newest Episcopalians and an opportunity to celebrate their journeys of faith and commitment to Christ.

REST IN PEACE

The Rev. Franklin Bennett died on March 20, 2023. In Eastern Michigan, he had served St. Paul’s, St. Clair; Grace, Port Huron; and St. John’s, Dryden.

The Rev. Nancy Breznau died on December 8, 2023. In Eastern Michigan, she had served St. John’s, Sand Point.

The Rev. Paul Brisbane died on December 8, 2023. In Western Michigan, in long-term and supply capacities, he had served St. James, Albion; Resurrection, Battle Creek; St. Mark’s, Coldwater; St. Paul’s, Dowagiac; Trinity, Marshall; Trinity, Niles; St. Mark’s, Paw Paw; St. Barnabas, Portage; and St. John’s, Sturgis.

The Rev. Richard Clark died on August 16, 2023. In Western Michigan, he had served Trinity, Three Rivers and St. Gregory’s Benedictine Monastery as priest associate.

The Rev. Charles P. McCabe died on November 2, 2022. In Western Michigan, he had served Emmanuel, Hastings and the Eastern Deanery of the diocese.

The Rev. Shirley Seely died on May 16, 2023. In Eastern Michigan, she had served St. Paul’s, Port Huron and Grace, Port Huron and many others as a supply priest.

Elizabeth Tompkins died on December 5, 2023. She had previously served as the diocesan Christian formation minister on the Western Michigan staff.

The Rev. Mike Wilson died on November 23, 2023. In Eastern Michigan, he had served St. John’s, Midland.

The Rev. Curtis Zimmerman died on October 11, 2023. In Eastern Michigan, he had served as a supply priest, primarily with St. John’s, Midland.

Left: Bishop Doug Sparks (Northern Indiana) confirms a member of Emmanuel, Petoskey during a service at Trinity, Alpena last September.

Right: Confirmands and sponsors gather to process before the service at St. Gregory’s, Muskegon last June.

THANK YOU!

Since our last issue, our dioceses have gathered twice more in joint conventions. The third joint convention (left) took place October 2022 in Lansing, and the fourth (top) met October 2023 in Saginaw. A joint special convention is planned for March 2024 to determine our action on juncture.

Thank you to all that have supported the publication of this magazine, especially to those that have donated since our last issue. You are helping fund our ongoing storytelling of life and ministry in our community.

Jane M. Bingham

In thanksgiving for the Rev. Tom Manney

Douglas and Joan Goolsby

Gail M. Graham

In memory of the Rev. H. James Graham

The Rev. Michael A. Houle

Ira P. Leidel

Patricia M. Merritt

The Rev. Sharon Naughton

Sandra L. Reed

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LOOKING AHEAD

< Big Provincial Gathering 2024

The BPG is an opportunity to meet new people and connect with others who share your ministry passions. Structured like a “ministry fair,” individuals and groups will host workshops and conversations to share program and resource ideas across the fourteen dioceses that compose Province V of The Episcopal Church.

This year’s BPG includes the (optional for most) Province V Synod Meeting and several pre-event intensive trainings on a wide range of topics including formation, advocacy, anti-racism, and more. It takes place April 26-27, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana.

Visit provincev.org/bpg24 to learn more about the event, including the list of workshops, pre-event trainings, lodging options, registration, and more. Early-bird pricing begins at $50/person.

< Service Trip Camp to General Convention

Rising high schoolers are invited on a journey of pilgrimage and discovery, June 21-28, 2024. Traveling from Michigan to Kentucky, participants will learn together, serve in various outreach ministries, and visit the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Louisville. Learn more and register on our websites.

< Camp and Retreats for All Ages

Our dioceses are blessed with three excellent programs for camps and retreats, with offerings taking place from spring through fall. Please visit the organizations’ websites for information and registration for 2024 programming: Camp Chickagami at campchickagami.org , Episcopal Youth Camp at episcopalyouthcamp.org , and Plainsong Farm at plainsongfarm.org.

< The Academy for Vocational Leadership

The AFVL is our bi-diocesan three-year program of formation for ordained ministry affiliated with the Seminary of the Southwest. The 2023-24 school year begins in August for students and those seeking certain lay licenses. Visit your diocesan website for more details, including dates and requirements.

PRETTY LAKE,

Oil on Canvas

by Julie Bender

remembering my mother on

ash wednesday

by Laurie Atwater

I certainly did not feel like dust.

I felt warm and plump and full of life not dust

Birdsong and the smell of wet leaves is not dust.

But when we poured my mothers ashes into the small hole, lovingly dug deep in the moist soil, tipping out the last of the rubble from the Mason jar, there was a puff of dust

so fine it made a small mushroom cloud of the last of life and the fruit of remembrance.

Then I knew that I, too, was dust.

chrysalis

by Sarah Swart, AOSH

Wrapped in chrysalis

I pause and look

For God.

Is it God

Who is waiting

For me to be ready?

Crack of light

Shining in I pause.

Each tiny shadowy step of living God walks at my pace

Pausing for me.

blue doves

by Theresa Williams

I look out my window and am surprised... There she stands, calm and self-possessed, Assured of her blessing to the world.

Her wings are folded in, hiding her majestic beauty

I watch as she stands, waiting...

Waiting for movement in the water.

Slowly, I approach, wanting the gift of being in her presence.

Slowly, I come, closer, but not too close, lest I frighten her away.

There are some things, after all, that we can not hold in our hands, Some things that will never be tame.

From a distance I am blessed, with wonder and awe, aware of her glory and majesty.

Her choice to be here opens a window and illumines the greatness and goodness of God’s creation.

“Make space for us” she seems to say, “Space for the wild creatures, Space for us to live, and move, and be –Space for us to dance, wings upon the water.”

I take a step closer, wanting, hoping for communion with her.

As I do, I sense that I am trying to possess that which I can not own.

She seems to sense it too, and so, takes flight.

Broad blue wings unfurl, and she makes her way across the sky.

“But wait!” I whisper “There’s more I want to learn!”

Wait! . . .Wait . . . wait . . .

Can heron be a Dove?

ordination

by Mary Katharine Parks Workinger

Every spring, just after thaw, my mother held her breath until, like a flock of Pentecost doves, trillium alighted in our woods and preened their wings. Every spring, just after thaw.

Trillium was all I saw on Susan’s ordination stole, the one that her own mother made in intricate applique. There must have been a cross or flame— I don’t recall.

Trillium was all I saw.

to bow and to kneel

by David James

God knows we barely learn a thing after years and decades of breathing. The clouds above us know exactly what to do;

that crow on the roof, our little wren who sings his tiny heart out, they don’t question why or how. They don’t worry about being on the right path or having purpose; they don’t imagine what’s beyond the darkness. To them, it’s just spring and time to make a nest.

When I stare up at the stars, I shrink into a grain of sand, or less, really, and wonder how anyone goes on without praying to God and begging.

Laurie Atwater

garden sestina

by Anita C. Hunt

Winter always yields to spring, Her robes hang solemn with rain, Petitioning the resting earth

To cede the advent of her garden,

Graced by the psaltery of oriole’s song, In yearning, joy, and prayer.

I have spent a life in prayer: The re-creation every spring

To me is holiest gospel song, And baptized by the rain, I come a supplicant in my garden, And give my tithe of seeds to earth.

My nails betray me: embedded earth

Shows clearly at communion prayer

When custom takes me from the garden; My Sunday worship in the budding spring Is lost to cycling frost and sun and rain, And psalms give way to thunder’s song

I think, some days, it is a song,

Chanted slowly by the earth, With harmony offered by the rain, That bids me kneel here, as a prayer, While steadfast as their priestess, Spring, The wildflowers rise to hail the garden.

My back is forfeit to the garden

In grateful service to her song; My hands grow rougher every spring, Their righteousness borne out by earth

That measures virtue not by prayer, But sweat that drops to soil like rain.

I’ll praise God for drenching rain,

For Eve’s first breath within the garden, For cabbage leaves that fold in prayer, For choirs of bird and insect song, And each green sprout that breaks from Earth; A covenant with faithful Spring.

A greener spirit springs to seize the rain

But earth absolves me when I garden And sings a tribute to my prayer.

Julie Bender is a member of Mediator, Harbert and artist working in paint and

Mediator’s gallery. Her website is dunewoodarts.com

Anita C. Hunt is a writer,

David James is

Sara Swart,

Theresa Williams is a

Mary Katharine Parks Workinger

is an active member of St. Martin of Tours, Kalamazoo. She has been junior warden, volunteer coordinator, delegate to diocesan convention, deputy to general convention, and most importantly, she knows how to use the coffee maker.

photography. Her pieces are regularly featured in area art shows and

fiber artist, gardener, and member of St. Mary’s, Cadillac. ”Garden Sestina,” was a first place winner at ArtFest 55.

a member of St. Jude’s in Fenton. His seventh book, Alive in Your Skin While You Still Own It was published in 2022.

AOSH is a vowed monastic solitary and associate of the Order of St. Helena. She is a student in our bi-diocesan lay preaching program and member of St. Luke’s, Kalamazoo.

forester, farmer, and member of St. Mary’s, Cadillac. A postulant for holy orders, Theresa is currently serving her field placement with St. Paul’s, Elk Rapids and Grace, Traverse City.

, member of St. John’s, Grand Haven, is an editor and arts journalist whose research focus is Michigan history, art, and culture. She publishes her nonfiction essays at michiganographer.substack.com.

Stay Connected with THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESES OF EASTERN & WESTERN MICHIGAN

Stay connected with friends and neighbors in the dioceses throughout the year. Our diocesan communications channels keep the people of Eastern and Western Michigan informed on the latest news and resources from across and beyond our dioceses.

THE FEAST ONLINE is our award-winning bi-diocesan online newsletter, the sister publication to our award-winning annual magazine, and your source for all news, events, resources, and more throughout the year. It hits inboxes every other week. Subscribe or pitch a story by visiting the “News” tab of your diocesan website.

Your DIOCESAN WEBSITE is your resource and event information hub for all things. Our websites are your first stop for any questions around worship, networking, finances, governance, and more. Visit eastmich.org or edwm.org to access this important resource.

Follow the dioceses on social media for the most up-to-date information, resources, and more. Follow and “like” our FACEBOOK pages for photos, news, and upcoming events around the dioceses. You can also follow either diocese on YOUTUBE and INSTAGRAM. Just search for our name on your favorite platform.

Author David James is a member of St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Fenton. David has published eleven books of poetry since 1984. He teaches writing at Oakland Community College.

Photo: A footbridge in Grand Ledge, MI. Courtesy of Bill Fleener, Jr., Chancellor for the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan and member of St. David’s, Lansing.

Photos: The September 17th issue of The Feast Online, the Western Michigan diocesan website, the Eastern Michigan diocesan Facebook Page.

Faith Ooman-Trute of St. Gregory’s, Muskegon processes the Gospel during the diaconal ordination of the Rev. Linda Scheerer last June. Photo by Michelle Ruiz.

RETURN

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