Spirit February 2015

Spirit

PARISHES’ PROGRESS | MY FIRST LENT | HAITI MISSION TRIP, 2014

Diocese of West Missouri FEBRUARY 2015 | VOLUME 7, NO. 1

HAITI MISSION TRIP

Contents

PUBLISHER The Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field

EDITOR Gary Allman

Spirit is published by the Diocese of West Missouri 420 West 14th St. Kansas City, MO 64105

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Gary Allman, Communications Director Angela Crawford, Communications Assistant The Rev. Dr. Steven Rottgers, Canon to the Ordinary

SUBMISSIONS/LETTERS We welcome submissions of news articles, photographs and letters to the editor on topics of interest to the diocese.

Submissions should include the writer’s name, e-mail and postal addresses and phone number and are subject to editing.

PHONE (816) 471-6161 ext. 17

E-MAIL

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Editor’s Letter

Haiti Mission Trip, 2014

The new-look look of the Spirit, resources for Lent and a run through this edition’s articles.

Gary Allman

4 Keeping Watch

WEB SITE www.diowestmo.org

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/diowestmo

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How Great a Cloud of Tweets

First Sunday in Botswana

The Right Rev. Martin S. Field

Social media is having an unprecedented impact on how we perceive each other and world events.

6 Parishes’ Progress

Read about the history and imminent merging of St. Peter’s and All Saints churches in Kansas City.

9 My First Lent

You might have heard about it, but do you know what it is?

Now’s your chance to find out.

Vern Barnet

Photograph: Elaine Martin 2

SPIRIT | February 2015

12 Changing 125 Lives

By Ted Bell

ON THE COVER Members of Springfield’s Christ Episcopal Church Haiti Mission Team look on while their vehicle prepares to negotiate a washed out track.

Dr. Charles Dunn

How did you prepare for Lent, and how are you using Lent to prepare for Easter?

The Rev. Megan Castellan

communications@ediowestmo.org

A seven member mission team from Christ Episcopal Church, Springfield went to Haiti in November 2014.

10 Leadership at The Top

It’s that time of year - Bishop’s Days with Vestries, Wardens, and Clergy are coming. Find out why you should attend.

The Rev. Dr. Steve Rottgers

Encouragement and ideas on meeting the 125 Lives challenge.

The Right Rev. Martin S. Field

Fr. Sid, tells of his experiences on his first Sunday in Botswana.

The Rev. Sidney Breese

14 Youth Events 2015

It is going to be another very busy year for the youth. Read about what’s going to be in store for them.

Kim Snodgrass

14 Campus Ministry Winter Gathering

College-age students from around the diocese were invited to gather together for a day of outreach, discussion, and fellowship, at the 2nd annual Winter Gathering.

Beth Marshall

15 The Agenda

Events and activities around the diocese.

Gary Allman | Editor’s Letter

Change, Change, And More Change CONTACT  communications@ediowestmo.org  www.diowestmo.org Direct:  (417) 522-5151 LINKS Fr. Sid’s Blog:  www.diowestmo.org/our-work/botswana.html Lent Madness:  www.lentmadness.org/about Stop, Pray, Work, Play & Love:  www.ssje.org/ssje/time ERD Lenten Reflections:  www.episcopalrelief.org/lent

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e’ve changed the look of the Spirit. We found that the previous layout made getting the magazine ready for printing time-consuming and prone to errors.

So, for the new year we’re introducing a new look. We’re also consolidating our appearance in print and online. You’ll see the Spirit magazine, eSpirit newsletter, and our website sharing common elements in the coming months. If you are reading Spirit online or from a PDF file, then all the weblinks at the top of the pages will work. Like the new layout? Don’t like it? Email me with your comments and ideas.

We’ve heard that a few people are late getting their copies of the Spirit. To remedy this we’ve brought forward the deadline for contributions. The deadline is now the first Monday of January, March, May, July, September, and November. This will enable us to get the magazine to the printers two weeks earlier.

Reviewing this edition’s articles, I found they all spoke to me about change. Lent is a good time to think, and bring about change in ourselves. For me, Lent is a time for education, reflection, some introspection, and preparation. Bishop Marty writes about preparing for Lent on page 4.

My own Lenten contribution is to recommend three online Lenten resources. The first, ‘Lent Madness’ is both fun and educational. Based on ‘March Madness’, saints are pitted against each other in a popular vote. In order to vote you need to read the saints’ biographies. I guarantee you will be inspired and learn something by doing so. The second is: ‘It’s time to...stop, Pray, Work, Play & Love’ from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. This looks to be a more reflective experience and I’m hoping it also will be inspirational. Thirdly there’s a set of daily Lenten meditations from Episcopal Relief & Development.

In this edition of Spirit, we welcome Vern Barnet, who joins us as a Feature Columnist. Vern joined the Episcopal Church after a career spent in another tradition. On page 8, he tells us about his experiences during his first Episcopalian Lent.

Eleven years ago this month, arguably one of the most insidious influences on modern culture, Facebook, came into being.

On page 5, The Rev. Megan Castellan discusses the impact digital technology has on our lives. She looks particularly at its impact on empathy and human understanding. She shows how social media gives people the opportunity to share their reality in a way that the traditional communication media cannot.

Change is something that the members of St. Peter’s Church and All Saints Church in Kansas City have been coming to grips with for quite some time. The two churches are in the final, legalistic, stages of merging into one parish - St Peter and All Saints. You can read a brief history of the two churches on page 6.

Now is the time of year when church administration and leadership changes. New vestry members and treasurers are being elected and new wardens are being appointed. We hold annual workshops, or ‘Bishop’s Days’ to help clergy, church leaders, and people newly elected or appointed to leadership roles, succeed in their ministries. The two ‘Bishop’s Days’ are taking place in March, you can read all about them on Page 10.

Needing some information on Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield’s November 2014 mission trip to Haiti (See page 11), I contacted the article’s author Dr. Charles Dunn.

His reply included the news that he was just about to leave on another trip to Haiti. He is going to show the Obstetrics and Gynecology Nurse how to use a new ultrasound machine. In signing off, he said ‘how cool!!!’ it will be to show the pregnant mothers their unborn children. His enthusiasm burst from the email. It is a great example of how we are bringing about change to the lives of people in Haiti.

Changing 125 Lives is going to be a theme for this year as we celebrate our 125 years as a diocese. On page 12, Bishop Marty offers some encouragement and ideas on how we can meet the challenge.

Fr. Sid Breese is certainly embracing change right now. In early January he headed out to spend four months teaching theology at our Companion Diocese - the Anglican Diocese of Botswana. From there he’s been keeping us up-to-date on what he is doing via regular blog posts. I’ve taken one of his posts, about his first Sunday in Botswana, and reproduced it in full on page 13, and there’s a link to his blog at the top of this page.

If you’ve not heard of blogging, it’s just a journal that you read online. This is another example of the good that technology can bring. It allows Fr. Sid to keep us involved in his activities even though he is over 8,500 miles away. +

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KEEPING WATCH | The Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field

Preparing to Prepare Preparing for Lent, and Lent, the preparation for Easter

CONTACT  bishopmarty@ediowestmo.org  www.diowestmo.org  (816) 471-6161

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love the Church’s year - its liturgical calendar. Each year this calendar - along with the pattern of assigned scripture lessons that illuminate the themes of the calendar’s seasons (which we call a “lectionary”) - offers us a chance to re-observe and examine the life of Jesus the Christ. This “walk with Jesus” is, in turn, followed by a season of remembering the early years of the Church’s life, how it took on the task of being God’s militant, missional people in the world, and how the Gospel spread because of its industrious determination.

Partly, I have this love for our annual walk through the foundational, formative years of Christianity because I am a historian by interest and temperament. I cherish connections to the past. President John F. Kennedy has between quoted as saying, “We cannot know where we are going unless we know where we have been,” and I agree for it is undeniable that our future is built on the foundations of our past.

I think that’s why the Holy Scriptures hold such power; they connect us to the lives, experiences, and realities of those who have bequeathed us a legacy of relationship with the God who revealed himself - who still reveals himself to those whose eyes and minds are keenly open to see and know.

So we march on through our calendar, our yearly observance of the key moments in Jesus’ life and the key, interpretative themes that tell us what Jesus’ life meant. We have just come through Advent, the first season of the Church’s calendar.

We joyfully celebrated Christmas - and I hope it was most joyful for you. We are, as I write this, in the Season after the Epiphany, the season when we remember how Jesus’ was revealed to the world as the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ.

But Lent comes next and then Easter. Ash Wednesday was February 18th this year. Lent is a season of introspection and preparation, and Ash Wednesday is the season’s inaugural day.

The question I would pose to you is this: What did you do to prepare for Ash Wednesday?

Preparation is, I think, the key to Lent. If, when Lent began on Ash Wednesday, you rushed into the season without thought or planning you will have lost some of the precious days of Lent trying to catch up. It probably was the second Sunday of Lent before you even decided the Lenten discipline you were going to follow.

The Book of Common Prayer (p. 264) calls us to observe Lent with these words, spoken by the Celebrant or Minister (I have abridged the quote): 4

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“Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting…I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word…”

So, how will you spend Lent, the season of preparation? By observing the ancient, traditional, and time-tested disciplines of Lent: prayer, fasting, self-denial? By deeper immersion in God’s Word? By self-examination, repentance and amendment of life?

Or will you choose a more personal, individual way to observe Lent and prepare for Easter? Many now try, during Lent, to incorporate a new spiritual practice or exercise into their daily life. Others make it a point to dedicate more time to serving others during Lent. Still others go on a retreat, focus their reading and contemplative moments on spiritual subjects, or attend the liturgies of the Church with greater regularity.

One of the most ancient practices that is too often skipped over by Episcopalians is to visit with your priest for spiritual direction, for an honest sharing of the challenges of living a Christian life, and to receive absolution through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka Confession).

I commend any and all of these ideas to you, and fully expect you have many, many more (and possibly more worthy) ideas than mine. The point is this: don’t let Lent pass you by unawares. Prepare how you will prepare for Easter.

Oh! And Easter follows Lent, as it always does, so have a very blessed Easter. May the resurrection of Jesus, that gives hope to the living and the dead, fill your heart with great joy this Eastertide. May the Risen Lord rise in your hearts and revive your Spirits. May you know that the Resurrection of Jesus is the door to your eternal life and be glad.

I’ll be back again in the April issue, which should arrive in your homes within days of the blessed feast. Until then, be blessed! +

The Rev. Megan Castellan | Guest Column

How Great a Cloud of Tweets Technology has given us tools to gain unprecedented human insight.

CONTACT  stpauls@stpaulskcmo.org  www.stpaulskcmo.org  (816) 931-2850

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Photograph: Donna Field

ccording to sociologist and all-around brilliant person Meredith Gould, every time there is a shift in the technology of communication, it provokes a correlating shift in the theology of the Church. For example, as humans developed written language, and began to write stories, rather than tell them, we also started to codify these stories into scriptures.

In this day and age, as technology provides us with the new platforms of social media and other online forms of communication, how will the Church respond? What theological possibilities do these forms hold for us as Christians?

Megan Castellan speaking about Twitter at the 2014 Annual Convention

First, we must recognize that social media, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or just comments on a blog post, create and sustain communities. What we are used to terming ‘virtual’ community is community—it just doesn’t look like a form of community we are used to seeing, yet it acts in a similar way. Have you ever posted a sad status on Facebook and had someone call to make sure you’re all right? These places can be an enormous help when doing pastoral care, because they let you know instantaneously who in your congregation is having a good day, a bad day, whose dog has died, etc.

It may be virtual but it is a real community. Provided the real you shows up. Social media rewards authenticity; the more truthful and authentic you are to your own unique experience, the better.

Platforms like Twitter provide an amazing service in that they further democratize access to mass communication.

In other words, social media holds up everyone’s voice equally. No longer is there a cost component, or a need to ‘know

the right people’ to get your particular message out there. And for us as Christians, that has some really profound implications.

For example, we’re supposed to seek and serve Christ in ALL persons. This requires us to listen to all stories: not just the loudest or the richest ones.

This is not so easy, when you turn on the news, and the only stories you hear about are from the ones who can afford a megaphone.

But on Twitter, you don’t need a megaphone. There’s no cost component. Access is free.

Looking at the data from Pew Research, one of the things the rise of social media has done has been to erase the access gap in technology. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc. can be accessed on a cell phone, and can be accessed cheaply. For the first time since the invention of the computer and the internet, access spreads evenly across divisions of class and education.

This is fantastic for us as Christians, because what better way to hear voices and stories from people with whom we don’t otherwise have a chance to connect?

Online is where you could follow some of the activists who were protesting in Ferguson as they worked for justice in that situation. Online is where you can listen to people tweeting from Gaza during the Israeli bombing raids. Online is where you can live-tweet the World Series with random folks across the world.

Once you do that, it becomes much harder to generalize and make assumptions about people in news stories because you’ve been reading their first-hand accounts of what’s happening to them as it happens.

When I read a Palestinian woman’s blow-by-blow account of what she’s telling her school kids about why they’re hiding in the bathtub for another night of bombing, then it doesn’t seem so far away.

When you’re reading moment-by-moment accounts and seeing video of singing and arrests being made for ‘failure to walk continuously’, then Ferguson comes much closer to home.

These are stories we won’t hear on the news, but these are stories we are called to hear. We’re supposed to seek and serve Christ in these people too, not just see them as statistics or problems halfway around the world.

Engaging in social media in a wholehearted way helps us do that. + Megan Castellan is Associate Rector and Chaplain at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Kansas City.

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Parishes’ Progress May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God of Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15: 5-6 Ted Bell

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hen we set alone out on a journey, whether as faithful pilgrims or as weekend adventurers, we have a route planned and a destination in mind. All too often we find ourselves on a slightly different path in the company of another or others headed towards a less certain landing.

When Mother Evelyn Hornaday arrived at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in southeast Kansas City in early 2013, she thought this would be another “typical interim” appointment, that she and the parishioners “would be dealing with the life and ministry of a parish that had been blessed with a long term rector who had retired.”

However, the path quickly twisted and turned on her and the parishes of both St. Peter’s and All Saints.

“It soon became clear that the future for the Episcopal Church in south Kansas City would require joining together the parishes of St. Peter’s and All Saints… both filled with followers of Christ who also had a history of being strong and viable in the wider community,” Mother.

Evelyn recalls. “Age had taken its toll on both parishes in several ways, and so each approached this possibility with trepidation, certainly with sadness. What had always been would be no longer, and being hopeful and delighted with becoming something new was an anathema at first.”

All Saints and St. Peter’s started out at almost the same time, separated by only 5 years and less than three miles in the same socio-economic neighborhood.

Each thrived beyond expectations. They shared almost parallel paths inside their beautiful stone walls and outside in the changing times of this country and the general church. What had always been began to change so distinctly that the 6

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CONTACT StPetersEpiscopal@planetkc.com   www.stpeter-allsaints.diowestmo.org  (816) 942-1066

parallel paths almost naturally would join together.

Look at those paths:

1950s: Founding and Roots Thomas M. Ware was a man of faith.

He was also a stubborn man. In 1951 he let the new bishop of the Diocese of West Missouri, Edward R. Welles, know on a few occasions that he thought the establishment of a mission “out south” might be a great idea. Bishop Welles agreed and on March 11, 1951 the bishop called for a meeting at Boone School. There, over 90 people expressed interest in starting a new congregation.

The first services were held in the basement of the Santa Fe Hills home of Charles and Madeline Sanders. Naturally enough, the Episcopalians quickly dubbed themselves “All Saints-In-TheCellar.”

The Rev. Conley J. Scott led the new church from mission to parish in 1954.

By that time All Saints had already been comfortably at home in a newlybuilt church at 9201 Wornall Road. It had been dedicated on December 2, 1951 with 259 persons attending. In 1957 ground was broken to expand the wooden and steepled church with more office and education space.

Just to the south another mission was forming.

In 1956 the members of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City voted unanimously to purchase a seven-plus acre site in the J.C. Nichols Red Bridge development at the intersection of Red Bridge and Wornall roads and to sponsor the first pastorate Chapel in the diocese.

They named the chapel after St. Peter because Andrew became Christ’s first missionary when he brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus.

The Rev. Earl B. Jewell, rector of St. Andrew’s groundbreaking for St. Peter’s Chapel, June 16, 1957

Groundbreaking for the new Chapel, led by Vicar Llewellyn Fairchild, was held on June 16, 1957. The building grew to be one of the most beautiful churches in Kansas City. It was built with native stone to an English Gothic design, resembling an English rural parish church. All 228 seats were filled for its first service on March 23, 1958.

The 1950s were years of growth and an abiding faith in the future in south Kansas City and the country. Be it in business, science or the arts, the emphasis was on what lay ahead and nothing was more important than the children and the faith that had got them through so much over the previous twenty years.

Photograph: Donna Field

Bishop's Visitation to St. Peter’s in 2013 - 1st Joint Worship Service

1960s and ‘70s: Growth and Commitments These were halcyon days for the country, the Episcopal Church and the two south Kansas City parishes.

In 1960, one out of every 86 Americans was a member of the Episcopal Church. There was a surge of growth to join the church and a corresponding surge to grow individual parishes’ activities, relevance and horizons.

There was a heavy push to attract and maintain the south Kansas City community’s children and young adults.

And as all was going well, changes began to happen. A church dominated by men, in both pulpits and pews, began to stir with the awareness that women had more to offer than the Altar Guild.

Tensions began to surface between a church calling members to active responsibility for the poor and the outcast and a church trying to assure conservative members who were troubled by social and theological activism. All the while there were pressures to raise church funds to improve and to expand .

At All Saints, Fr. Eugene Malcom was the rector between 1955 and 1963.

A major rebuilding at 9201 Wornell saw

the wooden sides of the church widened and replaced with stone. The signature steeple was removed and stained glass windows were installed on both sides.

Sunday school classes, youth group meetings and Bible and social gatherings for adults were full.

A “Well Baby” clinic was operated for eight years. The parish staffed a thrift shop in Waldo.

In 1978 All Saints was named as one of the two congregations in the entire country best representing outstanding Renewal activity for small churches.

Allen R. Hingston (1963-69) and Harry Warren Firth (1970-93) were the parish rectors during this fascinating period.

Over at St. Peter’s, the parish was recognized for financial independence in 1963 and in 1968 Vicar Lewis T. Johnston became the first rector as parish status was conferred. Like their All Saints brethren, the people at St. Peter’s enthusiastically came to services, classes and social/mission groupings. Membership peaked in 1978 with 630 members in good standing. And 240 people crammed into church school.

In 1966 St. Peter’s opened its preschool, a mission that continues to this

day. Social awareness was a governing principle in a parish known well into the 21st century for its traditional liturgy.

The vestry had long discussions about establishing an elderly housing program on site.

However, the parish had to contend with the same rumblings happening throughout the church. Lay members began reading the Prayers of the People; Eucharist was celebrated every Sunday; the 1928 Prayer Book was replaced in 1979, causing the parish’s long-serving deacon and a number of parishioners to leave the church.

1980s, ‘90s and The New Century: Good and Not-so Fr. Harry Firth continued to lead All Saints all the way into 1993. In 1986 there was yet another major expansion of the church building. A common room, a chapel, a nursery and some more activity rooms were built. Performing arts were a theme at All Saints with theatrical productions such as ‘Our Town’, ‘Becket’, ‘For Heaven’s Sake’ and ‘A Man For All Seasons’.

On the general church scene, membership began to decline. A drop in the American birthrate and the 8

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All Saint’s Church, Kansas City

“theological reorientations” that alienated existing members were among the reasons. “Liberalization” at the general church level in liturgy and in the acceptance of diversities upset large numbers in the church and in south Kansas City.

An influential member of All Saints left the parish to form a conservative evangelical church elsewhere, and he took a large chunk of the membership with him.

While numbers at All Saints began to decline in the late 1980s, they remained somewhat more stable at St. Peter’s, perhaps a reflection of its more conservative parish personality.

The subsequent years at both parishes saw marked similarities: the reaction by older members to the changing church society and the loss of two men who had been the foundation-stones of their flocks during the best years. At All Saints, Fr. Firth retired in 1993 after 23 years of leadership. St. Peter’s Fr. Lewis T. Johnston resigned in 1989 due to his health after 25 years in the pulpit. In the ensuing years, no fewer than 11 men and women served as rectors and interims in the south Kansas City parishes.

Well into the new century, St. Peter’s was down in numbers but actually increased non-liturgical activities.

Parishioners were active in a host of outreach efforts; dinner theaters with productions written and composed by members and community garage sales raised funds and interest from the neighborhood.

St. Peter’s actually grew in the 1990s despite having three clerics coming and going over a six-year period. In 1997 when Russell W. Johnson Jr. became rector, the average Sunday attendance at both services was 195 and a third service was being considered. But a series of liturgical and signage changes generated conflict. In 2003 two vestry members 8

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resigned over the general church’s position on homosexuality. A new Episcopal parish in Loch Lloyd took other members. By 2012 average Sunday attendance had dropped to 84.

Johnson’s retirement in 2013 brought Mother Evelyn to St. Peter’s.

St. Peter’s membership was curious about this new voice that was so honest and straight-forward about what she was going to do in everything from the liturgy to what she expected from each one of them. There never was a doubt that St. Peter’s would be there, but people began talking about what it would look like.

There had always been rumblings about the need to merge with another church family in order to continue the mission and outreach ministries of St. Peter’s.

Above all, they were a family that wasn’t going to be split up, no matter the form.

The people at All Saints knew that the retirement of Fr. Johnson at St. Peter’s and that of their own Mother Barbara Beam was an opportunity to keep their church family together by joining with another church even if it meant leaving their beloved building that was becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive to maintain.

At first our coming together was ceremonial. We began to worship with each other. We cautiously met during the coffee hours. Then group activities like choir, altar guild and outreach projects put people together in common efforts.

The person helping to wash the dishes after a parish event or those other muscles helping you to lift a heavy load were just that: a fellow worker. Names became faces, faces became people with interests, talents, attractions. Slowly, an outsider could recognize there were fewer referrals to people as either “All Sainters” or “St. Peterers”.

Since the first worship service, we have worked together to stage the parish picnic (and dunk the bishop in a water trough), the annual car show and hours of BackSnack program packing. But it was the many days of collecting, pricing and arranging for the grand garage sale that lent itself to hours of gossip, laughter and appreciation of the other person’s talent and personality that formed the real “we.”

When you pray with someone, you feel a bond like no other and that’s why we have become the one parish of St. Peter and All Saints.

“As we began worshipping together, getting to know one another, doing ministry together, it became clear that God was taking us into His dream for us, to help us show the world that two 50-year-old parishes with grand histories and identities could bless their pasts and honor their new future—together as one new parish,” says Mother Evelyn.

The legalities of juncture and the sale of the All Saints property were surprisingly complicated and time-consuming.

But they are about done. There is more symbolism to come: the All Saints columbarium will be moved with great dignity and reverence to the new church’s south transept. The St. Peter’s columbarium is in the north transept. The nave, the sign of our unity, joins the two.

One of All Saints most beautiful possessions is a striking, large crucifix with a bronze Christ. It was sculpted by Tom Ware, Jr., son of the perceptive and stubborn man who convinced an Episcopal bishop to establish a mission in south Kansas City. It will have a place of honor in the new church where the churches’ parallel paths are now one path.

And the destination? Who knows?

We’ll hang on and trust in The Lord. + Ted Bell has been a member of St. Peter’s since 2005. He is a retired newspaper reporter.

Rectors at All Saints

The Rev. Conley J. Scott The Rev. Eugene Malcolm The Rev. Allen R. Hingston The Rev. Harry W. Firth The Rev. Tory K. Baucom The Rev. James Clarke The Rev. Mary Jacobs The Rev. Barbara Beam

Rectors at St. Peter’s

1951-1955 1955-1963 1963-1969 1970-1994 1995-1998 1999-2000 2003-2006 2007-2014

Llewellyn Fairchild 1958-1963 William Mitchell 1963 The Rev. Lewis T. Johnston (vicar then rector) 1964-1989 The Rev. Stephen L. McKee 1990-1994 The Rev. Russell W. Johnson Jr. 1997-2013 The Rev. Evelyn Hornaday 2013 (Interim)

My First Lent A new Episcopalian reflects on his first Lent.

Vern Barnet, New Feature Columnist

1. What is faith?

That first Lent for me began not by giving up chocolate or my favorite micro brew, and not even any decision to be especially quiet. But Ash Wednesday’s liturgy encourages self-examination. Early in Lent, one day at home upstairs, I suddenly felt my body turn and head downstairs where I have a collection of sacred objects from religions of the world. Some are gifts, some I purchased abroad. I love them because they remind me of the many inflections of the holy.

There is a statue of the Hindu god Shiva, a Hanukkah menorah, an Inca huaca, a Chinese jue, an Egyptian Qur’an, a Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheel—scores of tokens and mementos.

I found myself looking for a plain steel cross, one and a half inches long.

I have no tattoos and no piercings. I eschew jewelry for myself. I don’t even like tee-shirts with messages on them.

But now I felt that the cross belonged not on a shelf to be seen by others but near my heart. No longer was I considering

Photograph: Vern Barnet

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fter a full career in another tradition I have become a very happy member of the Episcopalian laity.

I had never been baptized, so I remember my first Lent vividly, in 2011, as I prepared for the water sacrament of union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and birth into the Church. Again this year Lent is a time to watch as the cold and dark yields to lengthening days, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the glory of Easter.

That first Lent I thought especially about three questions, and I continue to ponder them. My reflections then and now grow out of my own experiences, just as, no doubt, yours do. We can share thoughts without worrying that we are imposing heresies on one another because we know we all see the mysteries of faith “through a glass darkly.”

becoming a Christian. I became a Christian, ready for baptism.

Faith became for me not an intellectual judgment but a bodily finding. Faith is not so much a heap of facts as it is an incarnation of values, the character of our choices. Faith is told not so much in propositions of verity as in the unfolding of a story.

2. How do I believe?

Religions may be best understood not so much as theological propositions but as sacred stories that reveal the ultimate values by which we live. For Christians, that story is outlined in our historic creeds.

I had some quibbles with the creeds so long as I approached them as statements about physics, mathematics, and such. One day after I knew the words, I closed my eyes and listened to the voices in church around me. That bodily sensation was like hearing the testimony of believers down through the ages and from around the world. And I was thrilled as I heard my own voice joining in this poetic intimation of eternity. I believed.

The word “belief ” is related to the Latin word libido, desire, and the German liebe, beloved. In English

“belief ” originally meant trust, commitment, engagement, what you love and prize. It did not mean assent to abstract philosophical formulations in obscure, ancient categories of thought. It’s more “I love my spouse” than “My spouse exists.”

The creeds describe the divine persons in that narrative and outline the story we be-love. The story works to pattern our lives because it points us to the paradoxical heart of reality.

Life is full of glory and grace as well as injustice, horror, and suffering.

Though John reminds us Christ was real in the beginning, the Gospel story begins with the Incarnation, whereby divine perfection becomes fully human. Jesus taught and loved and did good — and was abused and crucified. Thus lifted up in shame, he rises in the power of love, thus saving us, healing our brokenness.

The story resolves the paradox by showing us a path to live in faith.

3. How do I live faithfully?

Placing myself in the light of the story, that first Lent I was often on the verge of tears, usually the waters of awe.

I am sure this happened because the liturgy brings us into the story as we tell and sometimes enact it. How shocked I was to find myself in the pews with others shouting, “Crucify Him!” as the Passion story unfolded.

But that deepened sensibility reaches from the beauty of formal worship into every hour if I let it. I am a sinner, and I need the worship of the Church and the story told in the liturgical year to aid in my formation.

The Eucharist itself is a model for sharing, a pattern for the redemption of the world. The awe it awakens in us leads us to gratitude, matured into service to the world as in our own ways we seek to embody Christ living in us. + Vern Barnet, founder of the Kansas City Interfaith Council, wrote the weekly “Faiths and Beliefs” column for The Kansas City Star for eighteen years.

SPIRIT | February 2015

9

Leadership Starts At The Top CONTACT  Canonord@ediowestmo.org  (816) 471-6161 ext. #12 REGISTRATION March 7 (Springfield):  www.diowestmo.org/digital_faith/events/3163277 March 21 (Kansas City):  www.diowestmo.org/digital_faith/events/3163279

Bishop’s Day with Vestry, Wardens, Administrators, Treasurers and Clergy.

Saturdays March 7th and 21st.

The Rev. Dr. Steven R. Rottgers

W

hether you’re a long-term vestry member, a first-time vestry member, warden, administrator, treasurer, or clergy leading a congregation or parish, the Bishop’s Day is sure to have something to help you. First off, don’t panic. Breathe and know that there are people and resources out there to train and support you in your leadership role.

An early mentor of mine was Dr. W. Edwards Deming of the Quality Movement that challenged businesses from the 1970s to the present. One of his mantras that play out true every time is, “Quality Starts at the Top!” The make or break success of organizations and groups rests squarely on the shoulders of the groups’ leadership. You just may find yourself in that position today. It is the intentional commitment of the diocesan leadership and support staff to make ourselves available and engaged in training, mentoring and supporting you as clergy and lay leaders.

This year the Bishop’s Day events will be held in Springfield at St. James Episcopal Church on Saturday, March, 7th and at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, MO on Saturday, March 21st. Both days will begin with registration/check-in at 9:00 a.m. with the first Session beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Each event will consist of an opening plenary with Bishop Marty and then transition into workshops designed to meet the needs of Clergy, Vestry Members, Wardens, Administrators, and Treasurers. Sessions will end by 3:00 p.m.

Realizing that the requirement of vestry members change as they work through their terms of service, we have built three tiers of education and assistance:

10 SPIRIT | February 2015

Vestry 101

An Introductory Session for “newbies” led by Bishop Marty.

Vestry 201

Discussion about the Canons, Endowments, Legacies and your questions – led by the diocese’s Chancellor, Richard Wagstaff.

Vestry 202

Financial Practices, Assessment Review, Audits and your questions- co-led by Ron Weil, Finance Administrator and the diocese’s Treasurer, Caleb Cordonnier.

Vestry 203

Highlights Human Resource issues, Safeguarding/Background Checks, Insurance and Health Care. Facilitated by the diocese’s Human Resources Administrator, Elaine Gilligan.

Vestry 204

Leadership Discernment, Vocation Care, BKSM, and Regional Reorganization led by Ministry Developer for the Northeast Episcopal Regional Ministry and the Bishop’s liaison to the Commission on Ministry, Fr. Bill Fasel.

Vestry 301

Explores the Care and Nurture of Clergy, Compensation, Transition and Leadership Training led by the Canon to the Ordinary, Fr. Steve Rottgers.

Vestry 302

Communication, Websites, PR/Marketing, eSpirit/Spirit Magazine, Social Media and your questions led by the Director of Communications, Gary Allman.

Vestry 303

Who should respond to various diocesan requests for information - forms, lists, and reports, as well as what happens to information received about conferences, events, and convention. How to register, co-led by the Bishop’s Executive Assistant, Emily Davenport, and the diocese’s Events Coordination Communication Assistant, Angela Crawford.

Vestry 304

Introduces the Diocesan Youth Network and College Ministry opportunities co-led by Youth Ministry Coordinator, Kim Snodgrass and Campus Ministry Coordinator, Beth Marshall.

To ensure that we provide a quality leadership to the congregations of the Diocese of West Missouri, we must start with those leaders at the top of the ‘Leadership Pyramid’ regardless of how steep and complex it is, or how broad and collaborative it is. It still is all about investing in the influential people who impact the entire congregational system.

You are invited to come and explore your

part and role in establishing that sense of success and confidence in your local church. Join us for a fun and insightful day of fellowship and learning.

Details for registration, lunch fees, and payment are available on the Diocesan Website or your local parish office. + The Rev. Dr. Steven R. Rottgers is Canon to the Ordinary at the Diocese of West Missouri.

Haiti Mission Trip, 2014 In November 2014 a team of seven people went on Christ Episcopal Church’s annual mission trip to Haiti.

Dr. Charles Dunn

CONTACT  info@christepiscopalchurch.com  www.christepiscopalchurch.com  (417) 866-5133

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our members of Christ Episcopal Church, Springfield and three friends from Springfield, Missouri Dallas, Texas and Washington, DC traveled to visit our Haitian friends, Father Fritz Valdema and Carmel Valdema in November last year. We spent 6 days in Croix-des-Bouquets, a suburb of Port-auPrince. The Mission Team were involved in performing surgery, seeing patients in a mobile medical clinic, planning and working on a large garden, and distributing over 200 homemade dresses and shorts for the local children.

Christ Church has been working with the Valdemas since 1997 making annual mission trips. Father Valdema is rector of four Episcopal churches in Haiti. Each church has its own school.

Carmel, his wife, is a nurse, and she operates a medical and nutrition clinic in Croix-des-Bouquets. The clinic serves over 1,500 patients each month. Christ Church, in partnership with Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama has been raising funds to complete a medical and nutrition clinic, Lespwa Timoun (Hope for Children in Creole) since 2008. The clinic was finally completed in March of 2014 and it is beautiful. It sits on 4 acres of land surrounded by a tall protective wall and has a large garden. While we were there we worked in the garden and made plans to build a cistern fed drip irrigation system.

Two members of our Mission Team, Elaine Martin and Jan King, sewed over 200 individual brightly colored dresses and pairs of shorts which were enthusiastically worn by the children.

Boyda Hood, another member of Christ Church, and the Christ Church sewing guild made over 100 dresses and tote bags for the mothers. We were able to

distribute over 200 personal hygiene kits to the mothers in these bags. Boyda has been faithfully making bags for our trips for many years. We see them each time we return.

Christ Church will be making another Haiti mission trip in the fall of 2015. Watch out for news as we need medical people, gardeners, and construction workers for our next trip. We welcome any of our Diocesan brothers and sisters to join us. If there is enough interest we can make two trips.

Christ Church has made a financial commitment to help fund the operations of the Clinic every month. The

clinic employs 15 people and two fulltime physicians. It has a medical lab and ultrasound capabilities for obstetrics and gynecology patients. The patients pay a small fee to see the doctor and for lab tests. All their medicines are free.

If you want to make a contribution, please send your check to Christ Episcopal Church, 601 East Walnut St. Springfield, Mo 65806. Please write Haiti Miracle Fund in the memo line.

Please keep the Valdemas and the people of Haiti in your prayers. + Dr. Charles Dunn is a general and vascular surgeon and is a member of Christ Episcopal church in Springfield. Charles has been involved with mission work in Haiti since 1997.

SPIRIT | February 2015 11

Changing 125 Lives The Diocese of West Missouri’s 125th Anniversary Challenge.

The Right Rev. Martin S. Field

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n the last issue of Spirit, I promised to write more about our Quasquicenntenial Challenge (if you’ve not heard us mention this before, ‘quasquicentennial’ means ‘125th Anniversary’). Presented as a resolution to and passed by our diocese’s Convention last November, the Challenge calls upon all parishes, congregations, and constituencies of the diocese to work, in the next year, to Change 125 Lives for the better.

So I repeat the question from my last article, “How can we make that real?”

In other words, what can parishes or congregations do to bring real, positive change or transformation to the lives of 125 persons?

To begin this consideration, let me refer you to an instructive quote from the Book of Common Prayer; it’s from An Outline of the Faith (p. 855): “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

The mission of the Church, then, is bi-directional. It has an up-down (or Godly) aspect, specifically reconciliation between the human and the divine.

And it also has a side-to-side (or human) aspect: reconciliation of persons with all other persons.

The Challenge is fully in step with the mission God has entrusted to the Church. When we work toward both the vertical and horizontal aspects of restoration, we help people toward transformed lives. Keep this connection between the Challenge and mission in mind, please, when selecting how your parish or congregation will “Change 125 Lives”.

Now, I whole-heartedly believe that the most positive thing a Christian or group of Christians can do is to help others know and follow Jesus and thereby also become Jesus’ friends and partners.

Here, then, are some ideas to spur your 12 SPIRIT | February 2015

thinking about service of the Godly aspect of our restorative mission: Find ways and opportunities to gather with those inside and/or outside the circle of your fellowship to dialogue about the importance of faith. You can do this in non-traditional places such a “Beer & Bible” gathering at a pub (for the over-40 group, it could be “Scotch & Scripture”).

Begin working with a local prison or jail ministry.

Invite your community’s motorcycle enthusiasts to a Bike Blessing, boat owners to a Boat Blessing (aligned with the summer boating season), pet owners to a Pet Blessing, farmers to a Blessing of the Seed (and tractors) before the spring planting (a very old tradition), etc. Also, make sure to invite attendees to specific follow-on events for a second, meaningful contact.

Join with the ‘Big Brother Big Sister’ organization to be Brothers or Sisters, to provide a place for their groups to gather.

Help those who need a friend with school work, offer tutoring, play games, etc. And don’t forget about the many high school-aged teens who are homeless or semi-homeless and need adult mentors and places to study and be safe.

Help a local foster family or orphanage by babysitting, playing with the kids, reading books, or helping with homework, etc.

Through your local funeral homes be on call to assist with funerals involving families with no faith community or pastor or with those who are indigent.

ETC. Be creative.

When pursuing the side-to-side or human aspect of God’s restorative mission, your group might: Work toward the eradication of Human Trafficking in our society.

Take on a new hunger or homelessness relief ministry (I know many of congregations and parishes already do

LINKS www.bigmentoring.org Mothers of Preschoolers: www.mops.org this; now take it up a notch): pack “backsnacks”, aid a food bank, donate food, clothing, bedding, furniture, etc. to a shelter.

Adopt a neighborhood and help with neighborhood clean-ups or improvements: form a “Flash Trash Mob” to clean up a single location, build a playground, reclaim unusable land, or any other creative enterprise.

Open your doors to 12-step programs like AA, Alanon, NA, Alateen, and others.

Become the home of a local Mothers of Preschoolers group (a.k.a. MOPS).

Hold parenting classes for the community. Sponsor Boy Scout or Girl Scout troops, Camp Fire Girls, or the like — or build an ecumenical youth fellowship similar to scouting. Offer a “Mother’s Day Out” program. Work with single mothers and/or fathers to help them with their specific challenges.

Make and/or donate blankets, clothing, toys, stuffed animals, etc. for youth in foster care, shelters, or transitional housing.

Collect DVDs, stuffed animals, or books to donate to local hospitals, shelters, or emergency responders. Build a book and movie library for children’s hospital or pediatric departments.

Make cards or write letters - for kids in hospitals, troops and veterans, or senior citizens in local nursing homes.

Prepare your family for disasters and help your neighbors be ready too.

Volunteer at local schools.

Above all, invite people to be part of your worshipping community, and help them get there if they need such help.

This list is not exhaustive, but is offered to spur your creative thinking.

Let your imagination run loose.

Change 125 Lives! On your marks, get set, GO! + The Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field is the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of West Missouri.

First Sunday in Botswana Fr. Sid, tells of his experiences on his first Sunday in Botswana.

The Rev. Sidney Breese

BLOG www.diowestmo.org/our-work/botswana.html

Church School Children at St. Michael and all Angels, Gaborone, Botswana

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t’s Sunday (January 11, 2015) and I’m at St. Michael and all Angels, Gaborone, Botswana, for my first Sunday service of this visit.

Fr. James Amanze, director of the Theological School is also rector of St. Michael and All Angels Church.

He invited me to participate in the liturgy on my first Sunday in Botswana.

Broadhurst is an area of Gaborone in a kind of rough part of town. In Botswana, parking lots are often an afterthought.

Most (except shopping areas) are just dirt and sand. So it is at this church. There are not any marked spaces, so people park wherever.

The sacristy (Vestry) was crowded with all of the participants getting vested. Two ladies had fancy hats on.

Fr. Amanze opened the door slightly to signal the opening hymn. There is not an organ, but people seem to bring their own instruments; drums, tambourine, bells and one lady had a whistle! The singing began and it was incredible; all acapella and with harmony. The service was in Setswana, the language of Botswana. English is the official language, but Setswana is what most speak to each other.

Fr. Amanze told me that around 10% of the congregation did not speak

English very well, so my remarks at the service were translated for these people.

We processed into the church. It appeared chaotic to this Westerner, but after a while I realized there was a lot of order and control over what was happening and I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the people. There wasn’t a bulletin, but hymns had been written on a board.

After a couple of announcements the whole congregation exchanged greetings.

It took about five minutes. At one point I heard singing outside. This was the church school which joined the congregation at the peace. During the opening greeting we sang a hymn and it was at this point I realized that one lady had a whistle. And did she blow it! But in rhythm with the hymn and drum.

The service continued and one of the new Deacons, one of my students, gave the sermon. I was told it was good, but I did not understand a word. I am starting to get a feel for the language and hope to have a limited vocabulary soon.

After the creed and prayers we had the peace. The children had arrived by this time, and took part in the peace. The whole congregation moved in a circle around the church making sure that everyone greeted everyone. It was very noisy and full of life.

Fr. Sid talking to the congregation

Exchanging the Peace

Below: The Parking Lot

Two ladies set the table. I think they must have been part of the altar guild, but I will see what happens in a different church on another Sunday. The Great Thanksgiving included intoning the preface and singing the Sanctus. Again the bells, drum and whistle! Following communion there was another hymn and children and others came up for a blessing. Anglicans in Africa are still using Confirmation as an entrance into receiving communion, so there were a lot of blessings. The service was attended by around 185 people. + The Rev. Sidney Breese is retired and serves on Bishop Field’s staff as Ministry Developer for Sacred Hills Regional Ministry.

SPIRIT | February 2015 13

Youth Events 2015 If you’re looking for a place to make a difference in the world, to connect with God, other people and yourself…you will find it in the upcoming WEMO Youth Ministry events!

Kim Snodgrass

MISSIONPALOOZA In a very tangible way, Missionpalooza lets us be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. For five days youth come together in community, mission, fellowship and worship-both inside and outside the walls of the Church.

Students spend the night at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and spend their days in the urban mission field heeding Christ’s call to feed the hungry, visit the sick, and comfort those in need. We serve the community and grow in faith through volunteer service. Missionpalooza is open to High School youth (rising 8th graders through graduating seniors) and to adults who work with youth.

HAPPENING Why come to Happening? Simply put, Happening is a spiritual

awakening/renewal weekend for high school youth led by high school youth. Adult facilitators, lay and clergy, support the weekend and the preparations of the team leading the event. IMAGINE...youth give up their cell phones for a weekend to have real conversations with people about God - what could be better! Join us, talk to youth/adults, see it in action and get inspired! Happening is open to 9th – 12th grade youth and adults who work with youth.

JUNIOR HIGH RETREAT We’re more than a body! “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.” The Junior High Retreat lets youth 5th - 8th grade retreat from busy and awaken to the spiritual journey we’re all on! Talking about the important issues in our lives is part of the process!

Asking questions and finding our own answers helps us lead a more authentic life. And, since relationships continually change there’s no limit to the number of weekends a 5th-8th grader can attend! Short talks are given on relevant topics and that makes for good discussion!

CAMP WEMO What could be better than campfires, swimming, activities, games.... and a week with friends, old and new! At Camp WEMO youth enjoy a wide-range of activities including archery, rappelling, zip lines, rock climbing, swimming, campfires, crafting, canoeing, hiking and more; a spiritually inspiring, educational and empowering experience! Here’s what one camper had to say, “Awesome outdoors with acres of woods as our backyard, Everyday I gained more confidence and got inspired by new adventures!” Camp WEMO is open to Middle and High School youth (rising 5th graders through graduating seniors) and to adults who work with youth.

GENERAL CONVENTION If you’ve ever been curious about how the Episcopal

Church works attending General Convention is an opportunity to learn firsthand! This coming summer, we will be taking a delegation of youth as guests to the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a special, once-in-every-three-years opportunity for youth to see the “who, what, when, where, and why” behind the Episcopal Churches self-governing process. General Convention is open to High School youth (rising 8th graders through graduating seniors) and adults who work with youth.

Youth Ministry events are here to inspire, educate and empower the lives of youth and adults as we grow into what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ in the 21st century. + Kim Snodgrass is the Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of West Missouri.

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CONTACT diowemoyouth@gmail.com  www.wemoyouth.com

Upcoming events around the diocese | AGENDA

Campus Ministry Winter Gathering CONTACT campusministry.ediowemo@gmail.com  www.dcm.diowestmo.org

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ollege-age students from around the diocese were invited to gather together for a day of outreach, discussion, and fellowship, at the 2nd annual Winter Gathering event on January 3rd at St. Mary’s in Kansas City.

Youth Events Happening Staff Overnighter

February 20 - 21.

Venue: Christ Church, Springfield.

30 Hour Famine

7:00 p.m. February 27 - 7:00 p.m. February 28.

Venues: St. Mary Magdalene, Loch Lloyd & Christ Church, Springfield.

Happening #71

March 6 - 8.

Venue: Christ Church, Springfield.

Junior High Retreat

April 10 - 12.

Venue: St. Andrews, Kansas City.

Youth Specialities Training

6:00 p.m. April 24 - 25.

Venue: St. Anne’s, Lee’s Summit.

Camp WEMO Volunteer Retreat April 25.

Venue: St. Anne’s, Lee’s Summit.

Other Events Leadership Boot Camp The students were given the opportunity to serve with the Downtown Outreach program and meet and talk with one of our seminary students, Ezgi Saribay. Ezgi, who is a senior attending Nashotah House in Wisconsin, discussed the challenges of being a Christian college student. Fr. Patrick Perkins treated the students to a tour and history of St. Mary’s, including tales of its haunting.

The tour was followed by hors d’oeuvres and a sit-down dinner prepared by Chef Barry Nipp, and served

by Fr. Chas Marks and Kevin White.

When Mother Nature swooped in with an icy blast of rain and snow, fellowship and an open discussion with Fr. Patrick, replaced the planned ice skating at Crown Center. The evening closed with an interactive chanted version of Compline led by Fr. Patrick and Ezgi Saribay.

Many thanks to all the attending students as well as Liz Trader, Kathy Kapp, and Fr. Galen Snodgrass for giving their time, talent, transportation, and food. + Beth Marshall is the Campus Ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of West Missouri.

Send Us Your News & Articles We welcome your news articles, photographs and letters to the editor on topics of interest to the diocese. Submissions should include the writer’s name, e-mail and postal addresses and phone number.

Whenever possible we will share your submissions with the members of the diocese in the Spirit Magazine. The earlier you can get your news to us the better. To ensure inclusion please send in your news to arrive no later than the first Monday in each of January, March, May, July, September and November.

If you have an idea for an article please tell us.

You can contact us at: communications@ediowestmo.org Please note: because of space and time constraints we cannot guarantee to be able to always use your news material or pictures. Any supplied text and images may be edited.

The Spirit & eSpirit online: www.diowestmo.org/spirit/spirit-magazine.html

10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. February 20.

10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. February 21.

Venue: St. Anne’s, Lee’s Summit.

Southern Deanery Clericus

10:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. February 23.

Venue: St. John’s, Springfield.

Diocesan Clericus

March 24 - 25.

Venue: Savior Pastoral Center, Kansas City, Kansas.

Leadership Boot Camp

10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. March 27.

10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. March 28.

Venue: St. Anne’s, Lee’s Summit.

www.diowestmo.org/espirit/espirit-newsletter.html

Stewardship Conference

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. April 18.

Venue: Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City.

Daughters of The King Spring Retreat April 25.

Venue: St. George, Camdenton.

Online Diocesan Calendar For the latest information on diocesan events don’t forget you can also check the diocesan calendar online at: www.diowestmo.org/our-work/our-work.html

SPIRIT | February 2015 15

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