The Harvest, May-June 2011

Inside The Harvest From the bishop

Bishop Wolfe reports that the Crossroads fundraising campaign has raised the most ever in diocesan history, but work still remains in order to meet the $6 million goal. Page 2

Diocesan Convention

The 152nd annual meeting of the diocese takes place Sept. 23-24 in Topeka, with a speaker who will focus on congregational vitality. Page 3

Formation conference

The Kansas School for Ministry hosted a conference on how dioceses can form people seeking to be ordained. Representatives of 10 dioceses attended. Page 4

MegaCamp

The first-ever, everybody-inone-week summer camp experience was a huge hit, with more than 200 campers and a record number of staff gathering at Camp Wood. Page 5

Around the diocese

Read about what’s going on in parishes across the diocese, including how St. James’, Wichita, transformed its parish hall into a garden to raise funds for local charities. Page 8

Four new deacons

Four people were ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Wolfe on June 11. Learn more about who they are and where they will exercise their ministry. Page 9

100 years young

Bertha Milbank of St. James’, Wichita, celebrated her 100th birthday with a special reception in her parish on July 3. She has a long history of service to the Episcopal Church at the local, diocesan and national level. Page 9

Priests named to posts

Two priests have been named to represent the diocese in ministry positions that have an impact across the Episcopal Church, dealing with ecumenical relations and Jubilee ministries. Page 9

New Zealand hit again

Massive aftershocks that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, have destroyed the rose window in the Anglican cathedral there, and other area churches also were damaged or destroyed. Page 10

South Sudan celebrates South Sudan Episcopalians celebrated the birth of their new nation July 10 while acknowledging the difficult future of the world’s newest country. Page 11

Crossroads campaign enters third phase The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas

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he Crossroads campaign has passed the halfway mark on its way to a goal of $6 million, and the Council of Trustees on June 21 approved moving into a third phase to raise the remainder.

So far the effort has produced pledges of $3.18 million, coming from leadership and major donor gifts in Phase 1 and pledges from church members in Phase 2, according to campaign chair Larry Bingham, a member of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission.

Bingham said that while the first phase brought in pledges of $2.54 million, an additional $2 million may be possible from potential donors who haven’t yet finalized a gift. Pledges in this phase also came from clergy and diocesan lay leaders.

Phase 2 has resulted in $640,000 in pledges from a parish-based canvass of parishioners during Lent. So far commitments have come from people in 31 of the diocese’s 46 congregations.

Bingham said he hopes the total of these pledges may double when all churches are involved and when people who haven’t pledged yet make their commitment. He said that the average 3-year pledge made during Phase 2 is $1,217.

Bingham said those involved with running the campaign are enthusiastic about reaching the $6 million goal but also realistic about the amount of work that lies ahead. The 15 churches that haven’t yet invited their people to make a pledge will be contacted individually, with assistance provided where needed. He said efforts to secure more large gifts take a lot of time but have the potential to generate significant pledges. There also may be some church-related or foundation grants that could support innovative leadership development, so those also will be explored.

Campaign vision has broad support

The Crossroads campaign seeks to enhance leadership development for parishes of all sizes in the diocese by endowing the Kansas School for Ministry and constructing a Leadership Center in Topeka.

The center will provide space for diocesan offices and expanded classes to educate deacons and priests to serve large and small churches, and to prepare lay people for a variety of ministries.

It also will provide space for meetings of diocesan groups.

(Please see Crossroads, page 3)

the joplin tornado Joplin-area Episcopalians pick up, reach out Story and photos by Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest

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amona Shields picked through what remained of her tornado-ravaged house in Joplin, Mo., trying to find something intact from her 25 years there.

There were a few things — some dishes and glassware, soggy books and newspaper clippings, a few pictures and a family heirloom mirror hanging on living room walls left shaky and roofless.

Eight days after the monster EF-5 tornado ripped through her southwest Missouri hometown on May 22, Shields was stoic in the face of devastation that spread as far as one could see. Wearing a T-shirt with the name of her church, St. Philip’s Episcopal, and a cap with the Episcopal shield, she said she was determined to get things cleaned up so she and her husband, Hugh, could start to rebuild.

But this time, she said, they’d have a storm shelter.

Like almost all of the houses in Joplin, where the water table is high and the soil is rocky, hers didn’t have a basement. So the couple huddled in a corner of their recently remodeled bathroom with Maggie, their dog, and their four cats, covered themselves with towels, and listened while the house came down around them.

“It was awful,” she said. “It was breaking apart. You could tell.”

After the tornado had passed, they emerged to find the back wall of the kitchen blown away. They now could see St. John’s Medical Center, blocks away, since the houses and trees that stood between them simply were gone.

“It was just carnage,” she said, describing her first glimpse of her neighborhood. “I turned around” — where she saw the now-open front of her house — “and it was more carnage.”

(Please see Joplin, page 6)

Photo by Melodie Woerman

Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe (left) speaks during a May 30 interfaith service in Joplin, Mo., organized by St. Philip’s Episcopal Church there, while the rector, the Rev. Frank Sierra, listens.

Diocese of Kansas offers help and support

By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest

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ithin hours of the May 22 tornado that tore through Joplin, Mo., people across the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas were providing help in the form of needed supplies and financial support.

The day after the twister hit, Bishop Dean Wolfe sent a special message to diocesan leaders asking that every parish take a special collection the following Sunday for the victims in Joplin and in Reading, Kan., a small town south of Emporia that had (Please see Support, page 6)

2 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

From the Bishop

The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe

Crossroads moves toward its goal Publisher: The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Bishop Editor: Melodie Woerman A member of Episcopal News Service and Episcopal Communicators, The Harvest is published six times a year by the Office of Communications of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas: February, April, June, August, October and December.

Stories, letters and photos are welcome. They will be used on a space-available basis and are subject to editing. Send all material (preferably in electronic format or by e-mail) to: Melodie Woerman, editor The Harvest 835 SW Polk St. Topeka, KS 66612-1688 phone: (800) 473-3563 fax: (785) 235-2449 mwoerman@episcopal-ks.org Send address changes to: Receptionist 835 SW Polk St., Topeka, KS 66612-1688 receptionist@episcopal-ks.org Upcoming deadlines: July/August issue: Aug. 1 September/October issue: Sept. 15 Subscription rate: $1.50 annually Third class mailing Permit No. 601, Topeka, Kansas POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Episcopal Diocese of Kansas 835 SW Polk St. Topeka, KS 66612-1688

The Anglican Communion

A global community of 70 million Anglicans in 38 member churches/provinces in more than 160 countries.

Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend and Right Honorable Rowan Williams Lambeth Palace, London WE1 7JU, United Kingdom www.anglicancommunion.org Episcopal seat: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England

The Episcopal Church

A community of more than 2.1 million members in 110 dioceses in 16 countries in the Americas and abroad.

Presiding Bishop The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (800) 334-7626 www.episcopalchurch.org Episcopal seat: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas

A community of 12,000 members in 46 congregations, two diocesan institutions and one school in eastern Kansas.

Bishop The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe 835 SW Polk Street, Topeka, KS 66612-1688 (785) 235-9255 (800) 473-3563 www.episcopal-ks.org Episcopal seat: Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka

Editor’s note: This letter was sent to all members of the diocese in late June.

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ear Friends, It is an exciting time to be an Episcopalian in Kansas!

Our innovative MegaCamp enjoyed record numbers of campers; our new church plant, St. Clare’s in Spring Hill, grows in membership and enthusiasm; and parishes throughout the diocese are providing assistance to victims of tornadoes in Reading, Kansas, and Joplin, Missouri.

Our campus ministry programs continue to thrive, and the Kansas to Kenya project has reached new heights by building houses, providing medical aid and making genuine partnership within the Anglican Communion a reality.

Yet, in our opinion, the most important thing we’ve done to secure the long-term health of the Episcopal Church in Kansas is the Crossroads Campaign: the capital campaign we initiated to raise resources for a diocesan leadership center to train lay leaders, deacons and priests for service to the Church.

$3.2 million raised to date

Photo by Stephen Butler

come too far to turn back now. In this phase, At last year’s Diocesan Convention we an We are going to continue to approach indinounced we had raised more than $2 million in viduals and ask them to prayerfully consider gifts. Now, with the parish canvass phase of the making significant gifts to this effort over a campaign still under way, we are pleased to anperiod of three to five years. nounce that we have raised $3.2 million for this We are going to continue to help parish crucial enterprise. leaders complete the congregational phase of The consultants who helped us plan this camthis campaign so that every Episcopalian in paign told us at the start most likely we would Kansas has an opportunity to participate in raise between $3 million and $4 million. Then this historic effort. the bottom dropped out of the stock market, and We are going to pray that God will conwe postponed our campaign and used that time to tinue to bless this unprecedented effort that become even clearer we have undertaken in about our vision.

Christ’s name and for his We re-started the sake. campaign, but this time The experts tell us orIn the Episcopal Diocese of with an uncommon levganizations are reaching el of consensus about their capital campaign Kansas, we have never been the need for this leadergoals, even in challengafraid of sustained hard work ship center. We fought ing economic times, but (and recently won) a it simply is taking them over long periods of time. difficult zoning battle a little longer to reach with a few people from those goals.

Everything we have ever the neighborhood who In the Episcopal accomplished has come did not want to see Diocese of Kansas, we any changes on our have never been afraid of about through the grace Bethany Place campus sustained hard work over in Topeka. of God … along with our hard long periods of time.

After a good deal Everything we have ever work given in gratitude for of thought and prayer, accomplished has come we concluded we had about through the grace God’s great generosity. $6 million in needs and of God … along with we would, to the very our hard work given in best of our abilities, set gratitude for God’s great out for that goal. We believed that unless we estab- generosity. lished the goal at the uppermost limit, we would As we enter this important part of our journey, never know what God could enable us to do. we ask that you consider taking the following acWe also are pleased to report to you that this tions: effort to build and expand our School for Ministry If you don’t know much about this effort yet, has been noticed by our neighboring Episcopal please speak to your priest or parish camdioceses of Western Kansas and West Missouri. paign representative and have them tell you We have begun substantive conversations among why this school is so important. the bishops and other leaders in these dioceses to If you haven’t yet made a generous commitdiscuss how we might combine our educational ment to the Crossroads campaign, prayerefforts to establish the school as a new and excitfully consider doing so. ing regional venture.

If you would like to volunteer to help us The prospect of a cooperative, locally operated reach this audacious goal, please contact educational center transcending diocesan boundMrs. Char DeWitt, the diocese’s director of ary lines will be unique in The Episcopal Church development and stewardship, at cdewitt@ in realizing the benefits of pooling the talents and episcopal-ks.org or call (785) 250-0060. resources of our three dioceses.

Faithfully, Continuing toward the $6 million goal The Right Reverend Dean Wolfe, So today, we are beginning the third and final Ninth Bishop of Kansas phase of the Crossroads Campaign. This is the Mr. Larry Bingham, most faith-filled part of the journey, and we have Crossroads Campaign Chairman v

May/June 2011 • The Harvest • 3

September convention to explore church vitality downtown Topeka.

Before undertaking his current role of helping bring vitality to congregations across the church, Honeychurch was a parish priest for 24 years in the Dioceses of Montana, Idaho and California. He also has been a seminary professor and currently teaches at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont in California.

His office is based in Los Angeles.

By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest

S

trengthening congregations will be the main focus when Diocesan Convention meets Sept. 23-24 in Topeka, thanks to the presence of the event’s keynote speaker.

The Rev. Bob Honeychurch, missioner for congregational vitality for the Episcopal Church, will speak twice — once to those attending a preconvention workshop on Thursday and again in a Saturday morning speech to delegates and visitors.

Honeychurch’s participation underscores the convention’s theme, “Making all things new,” based on a passage from Revelation 21:5.

Honeychurch said his keynote address at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 will explore “new life, new hope, new vision” as he helps delegates look to the future.

“It’s a great and exciting experience to be a Christian, and to be an Episcopalian, today,” he said in an email to The Harvest.

“But what does it mean to be the People of God in the 21st century? And how is God calling the church to engage the world today? What does the future hold for us as Christians, as Episcopalians, as faithful members of congregations?”

Seating will be provided so visitors can attend Honeychurch’s remarks.

He also will present a 90-minute seminar from 4:30-6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 that will focus on congregational vitality in small congregations. Honeychurch noted that half of the Episcopal Church’s more than 7,000 congregations have an average Sunday attendance of fewer than 70

Other convention business

The Rev. Bob Honeychurch

people, the cut-off point that defines them as “small” churches.

In the Diocese of Kansas, 32 of the diocese’s 46 congregations — or 69 percent — have fewer than 70 people in church, on average.

Noting that “the small church remains the backbone of the Episcopal Church today,” Honeychurch nevertheless said there is “no single model of what a small church looks like.” He said during his seminar he hopes to explore “what makes the small church ‘tick’ and how we can use this unique expression of Christian community to change the world around us.”

Honeychurch also will be the preacher at the convention Eucharist, which will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23.

All members of the diocese are invited to attend the service at Grace Cathedral near

KSM announces classes for upcoming academic year

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Learn more about Diocesan Convention

nrollment now is open for Kansas School for Ministry classes during the upcoming academic year. KSM offers one or two classes each month, based at the Bethany Place Conference Center adjacent to the diocesan offices near downtown Topeka.

According to the Rev. Andrew Grosso, KSM’s coordinator and the diocesan missioner for theological formation, students this year will fall into four categories: Those studying for ordination as a deacon; Those studying for ordination as a priest; Those working toward a lay ministry certificate (congregational leadership, worship leader, lay preacher, sacramental minister or prayer minister); and Those taking courses for their personal continuing education and enjoyment.

The tuition is $150 per course for those in the ordination and lay ministry certificate tracks, and $100 per course for those studying for personal enrichment.

Students must pre-register by contacting Grosso at (913) 367-3171 or rector@trinityks.org, 2011-2012 courses, with instructors, are: Aug. 12-13: Anglican identity (the Rev. Andrew Grosso); New Testament survey (Dr. Jim Lewis) Sept. 9-10: church history survey (the Rev. Craig Loya) Oct. 14-15: Christian spirituality (the Rev. Tom Wilson); British Christianity (the Rev. Bill Wolff) Nov. 11-12: Old Testament survey (the Rev. Bill Breedlove); homiletics (the Rev. George Pejakovich) Dec. 9-10: pastoral theology (the Rev. Lisa Senuta); doctrine of the incarnation (the Rev. Andrew Grosso) Jan. 13-14: Old Testament II, the Pentateuch (Dr. Melissa Tubbs Loya); New Testament II, the Gospels (Dr. Jim Lewis) Feb. 10-11: church dogmatics survey (the Rev. Andrew Grosso); history of the Episcopal Church (the Rev. Bill Wolff) March 9-10: Christian ethics survey (the Rev. Andrew O’Connor); church canons (Mr. Larry Bingham) April 13-14: congregational development (Dr. David Thompson); contemporary ethics (Dr. Don Compier) May 11-12: Old Testament III, the Prophets (Dr. Melissa Tubbs Loya); New Testament III, Paul (the Rev. Richard McCandless) v

Bishop Dean Wolfe will make his annual address to the 152nd annual convention of the diocese at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, and visitors are welcome to attend.

Convention also will undertake the usual business of electing people to diocesan offices, considering a debatable resolution and adopting a proposed financial mission plan, or budget, for 2012.

Two at-large members of the Council of Trustees — one lay and one clergy — will be elected, along with four people to fill unexpired terms on a new Disciplinary Board, which replaces the old Ecclesiastical Trial Court. Three lay people and one clergy person will be elected.

Each of the four convocations will select clergy representatives to the Council of Trustees at their August meetings, and convention will vote to confirm those people.

Full information about items to be considered by the convention will be presented in the next issue of The Harvest.

A Thursday evening fundraiser, a fun, casual event that has become an annual convention tradition, again will take place, with proceeds benefiting youth scholarships and campus ministries in the diocese. v

Who: Elected lay delegates from each of the diocese’s 45 incorporated parishes, along with clergy who are canonically resident in the diocese What: The 152nd annual meeting of the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas When: Friday, Sept. 23 and Saturday, Sept. 24 Where: Meetings will be at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Maner Conference Center in Topeka; the convention Eucharist will take place at Grace Cathedral Theme: “Making all things new,” based on Revelation 21:5 Keynote speaker: The Rev. Bob Honeychurch, missioner for congregational vitality for the Episcopal Church

Crossroads: Amount raised sets a diocesan record (Continued from page 1) Only 19 of the diocese’s 46 congregations are able to pay full-time priests, meaning the need is great for clergy who don’t have to depend on an expensive seminary education in order to be ordained.

Larger parishes, too, will benefit, since they rely on supplemental clergy and lay leaders to staff their services and programs.

Outreach ministries at home and abroad also will garner 10 percent of the Crossroads total raised.

Bingham said that the amount pledged so far, the most in diocesan history, shows that people agree with the vision the campaign represents.

“The diocese is at a crossroads, and this kind of training is essential,” he said. “The diocese agrees with us, and this is something we’re going to do.”

He added, “There is a lot of excitement around this vision.”

Bishop Dean Wolfe echoed Bingham’s sentiments in remarks to the Council of Trustees at the June 21 meeting. “We have reached an unprecedented level of consensus about this vision,” he said.

He noted that while not everyone will provide financial support for the project, “I haven’t encountered anyone who thinks this is the wrong way to go. Everyone understands the power of this vision and the need to train lay people, deacons and priests locally.”

‘We’re used to things being hard’

The initial planning for the campaign began in the spring of 2008, when a feasibility study predicted the diocese could raise $3-4 million.

But Bingham said the needs identified by diocesan leaders added up to $6 million, so the goal was

expanded, based on the belief that there were more potential contributors than first identified.

Bishop Wolfe noted that the economic downturn in the fall of 2008 prompted some to propose abandoning the project.

Instead, campaign leaders took a brief hiatus, honed the proposal and started talking to potential large donors in late 2009.

As the economy has started to rebound, Bishop Wolfe said many other organizations have resumed their fundraising efforts with success, but they are finding it often takes longer to reach their final goal.

But that won’t bother Kansans, he said. “In this diocese we’re used to things being hard,” he said.

“We expect we’ll have to work hard to achieve all we think God wants us to achieve.”

He noted that a needed zoning change has been approved by city officials, along with the project’s master design plan indicating placement and approximate size of a new building, along with parking lots and landscaping.

Accomplishing that permits the diocese to “use our property in the way we need to use it,” he said, without the threat of legal action like a lawsuit that has tied up a proposed parking lot on a corner of diocesan property for four years.

Bishop Wolfe said talks are in the early stages with representative of the Dioceses of Western Kansas and West Missouri to see if Kansas’ new vision for leadership education might help them, too, and provide the School for Ministry a more regional focus.

All that adds up to a renewed push to get the Crossroads campaign to its goal, the bishop said.

“We have consensus, legitimacy, legal hurdles cleared and now a broader vision with two other dioceses,” Bishop Wolfe said. “I’m very enthusiastic.” v

4 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

KC conference draws people from 10 dioceses

By Melodie Woerman Editor, The Harvest

A

conference sponsored by the Kansas School for Ministry drew 30 people from 10 dioceses across the Midwest to explore issues of local formation of people seeking to be ordained in the Episcopal Church.

Entitled “Local Formation and the Missional Church,” the event took place June 14-16 at the Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kan. According to the Rev. Andrew Grosso, KSM’s coordinator, participants came from Provinces 5, 6 and 7 of the Episcopal Church. Those provinces include 35 dioceses across the middle of the United States, stretching from Montana to Ohio and from the Canadian to the Mexican borders.

Grosso said the conference was designed to help those charged with overseeing local formation programs in their dioceses to talk about challenges they currently face. He said that as the Diocese of Kansas wrestled with how to increase local ministry formation as part of the Crossroads capital campaign, he began to think that other dioceses might welcome the chance to explore those ideas together.

Photo by the Rev. Betty Glover

Among those at the “Local Formation and the Missional Church” conference sponsored by the Kansas School for Ministry were (from left) Diocese of West Missouri Archdeacon the Rev. John McCann, Kansas Canon to the Ordinary the Rev. Craig Loya, Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe, conference organizer and KSM coordinator the Rev. Andrew Grosso, Western Kansas Bishop Michael Milliken and West Missouri Bishop Martin Field.

Grosso said most of the participants were heads of diocesan ministry schools, faculty members or deployment officers, although three bishops also attended — Kansas’ Dean Wolfe, Western Kansas’ Michael Milliken and West Missouri’s Martin Field.

Kansas Canon to the Ordinary the Rev. Craig Loya said he found it exciting that so many dioceses in the region were having the same kinds of discussions as Kansas on how to develop transformational

lay and ordained leaders for the 21st century. He added, “Having spent a few days having that conversation together and sharing concrete resources opens the possibility for ongoing collaboration that will greatly enhance our efforts here in Kansas.”

Bishop Milliken of Western Kansas said he was “impressed by the wealth of talent and knowledge available in the several dioceses at the meeting” and found the sharing of information be-

tween dioceses to be a “wonderful experience.

Bishop Field of West Missouri agreed, adding that the collaboration between the three bishops in how to share formation resources was “practical and useful.”

Some preliminary discussions have begun between Kansas, Western Kansas and West Missouri to see if local formation resources could be better shared between these neighboring dioceses.

The Very Rev. Michael Perko, dean of the School for Ministry in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, headquartered in Albuquerque N.M., agreed that informal sharing between participants was “far and away the most helpful element,” although he also praised the official presentations the conference offered. He said he also went away with new, practical ideas on how to provide enhanced pastoral formation for those in the ordination process in his diocese.

Perko said having three bishops there was a bonus, since they were able to “help us situate our conversations within the context of the ecology of the wider church and give us a sense of how the House of Bishops views local formation.”

Grosso said that sharing information and resources, and taking home new ideas, were the reasons he’d organized the conference in the first place. But beyond that, he has a stronger commitment to the work the Kansas School for Ministry is doing. He said, “It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that the future of the church depends entirely and immediately on how we address the challenge of raising up and forming people for ministry in the years ahead.” v

Coming events Trip to New York City offered by diocesan Development and Stewardship Committee

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embers of the diocese are invited by the Development and Stewardship Committee to take a trip to New York City Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, with departures from either Kansas City or Wichita.

Travelers can stay either two nights or four, with accommodations at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton in Times Square.

While in New York, participants can attend (at an extra cost) a “Symposium on the Spirituality of Philanthropy” hosted by the Episcopal Church Office of Mission Funding, taking place Sept. 29-30. You don’t have to attend the symposium to participate in the trip.

Participants will have their choice of area churches for Sunday morning worship, including Trinity on Wall Street (where Alexander Hamilton is buried), St. Paul’s (across the street from the site of the 9-11 tragedy and the city’s only surviving pre-Revolutionary church) and St. Bartholomew’s (where you might spot a celebrity or join members for their Sunday brunch in the garden).

The cost to attend is based on double occupancy hotel and flights from either Kansas City or Wichita (but is subject to change until ticketed): From Kansas City: $1,145 for four nights or $795 for two nights From Wichita: $1,238 for four nights or $890 for two nights.

For more information, contact Jerry Malone at jmalone17@cox.net or (316) 688-1590, or Bobbi Hansen of Sunflower Travel at bhansen@ sunflowertravel.com or (800) 445-0563 or (316) 634-1700.

Two-part Congregational Development workshop planned for October, February

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he diocesan Congregational Development Committee is sponsoring a two-part workshop on “Conversational Evangelism” for lay and clergy leaders of the diocese.

The first gathering will be Saturday, Oct. 22, with the second on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. Both will take place at St. Andrew’s, Church 828 Commercial in Emporia, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Participants will learn the fundamentals of engaging non-churched people in environments such as social gatherings or the workplace. The speaker will be Margaret Lawrence, a member of the faculty of Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence and the former director of worship arts for Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, Calif.

Costs and registration forms will be available soon, but mark your calendars now for these two dates. v

Above: Emergency personnel enjoy a hot meal May 18 at St. Paul’s, Manhattan, during the parish’s third annual Emergency Personnel Appreciation Day. Left: Manhattan firefighters park their ladder truck in front of St. Paul’s as they arrive to enjoy a meal.

Photos by the Rev. Tom Miles

Manhattan church honors local emergency responders

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he people of St. Paul’s, Manhattan, said a special “thank you” to those who help keep citizens safe by hosting its third annual Emergency Personnel Appreciation Day May 18.

The church was open all day and served breakfast, lunch and dinner in its basement parish hall.

The appreciation day came

in the middle of National Emergency Medical Services Week, an annual observance designed to bring together local communities and emergency personnel to publicize safety and honor the dedication of those who provide day-to-day lifesaving services.

Among those invited to St. Paul’s observance were the Manhattan fire department,

Riley County police and fire departments, Kansas State University police, and First Responder and Emergency Services.

Eleanor Blaker organized the event for St. Paul’s, with about 40 volunteers assisting.

She said the day was designed simply as a way to thank and honor those who risk their lives on behalf of others. v

May/June 2011 • The Harvest • 5

Mega Camp Photo by Karen Schlabach

soars in its first year

Jack Ross swings from a tower during free time activities at MegaCamp. He was part of the junior high section of camp and is a member of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission.

Story by Melodie Woerman

T

ake 215 campers in grades 3 through 12, add 47 adult volunteers, place them all for one week in the rolling landscape of the Flint Hills, and you get the first-ever MegaCamp.

Having all campers in one place for a single week was a bit daunting, diocesan Youth Missioner Chad Senuta noted, but any concerns about combining three weeks of camp into one quickly were dispelled.

“We had about 20 percent growth from last year,” he said, “so it seems obvious

that the MegaCamp idea was attractive to campers and families.”

Senuta said that having Camp Wood, a YMCA camp southwest of Emporia, filled with Episcopalians turned out to be wonderful. “It was a blast to see Episcopal campers of all ages using every nook and cranny of the camp facilities.”

Each of the groups — elementary, junior high and senior high — had their own section of camp and engaged in their own ageappropriate programs centered on “the two greats” — the greatest commandment of Matthew 22:36-40 and the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20.

Adult volunteers provided support to the programming, and Senuta said this year’s was the largest group

of volunteers ever.

Highlights of the week included an all-camp instructed Eucharist with Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe preaching and Western Kansas Bishop Michael Milliken presiding, and a MegaEucharist at the beloved High Y hill at sunset, again for all participants, followed by a campfire with s’mores. High school seniors Emily Cook, St. Luke’s, Shawnee, and Rachel Haley, St. Margaret’s, Lawrence, preached the sermon.

Senuta said the switch to a single week of camp was made easier by a logistics committee that had been working since October to ensure lodging, facilities and schedules were well organized before any campers arrived.

The second annual MegaCamp is planned for June 3-9, 2012. v

Riley Demo, St. Thomas, Overland Park, offers the chalice to a fellow elementary camper during the all-camp Eucharist.

Photo by the Rev. Gar Demo

Photo by Karen Schlabach

Senior high students (from left) Dexter Walsh, St. Luke’s, Wamego; Lauren Daab, St. Aidan’s, Olathe; and Michael Ash, St. Thomas, Overland Park, enjoy a rousing song.

Photo by Karen Schlabach

Campers and adult staff, numbering some 262 people, gather for a photo after an all-camp Eucharist in the outdoor amphitheater near the iconic High Y hill.

6 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

Support: Help for tornado victims comes from many (Continuned from page 1) been hit by a tornado on May 21.

The call brought in more than $21,000 for the Tornado Relief Fund at Episcopal Relief and Development, which already has provided an emergency grant of $10,000 to the Diocese of West Missouri to help in Joplin.

Bishop Wolfe and his wife, Ellen, traveled to Joplin, a town of 50,000 in southwest Missouri, on May 30 for an interfaith service organized by St. Philip’s Episcopal Church there. The bishop spoke briefly and assured those attending the service at the local baseball diamond that those outside the city would not forget them and that neighbors were ready to help them carry their burdens.

Several clergy and lay leaders from nearby towns in Kansas also attended to show solidarity with those suffering from the massive EF-5 tornado that killed more than 150 people.

A number of churches also collected supplies for Joplin residents. People at St. Thomas in Overland Park sprang into action the day after the storm, spurred on by parishioner and Joplin native Georgeanna Layton, who through contacts in her hometown was able to assemble a list of critically needed items. The Rev. Gar Demo, the church’s rector, put out a call for supplies at 4 p.m. on May 24, and by 6 p.m. the next day the congregation had filled a U-Haul truck. Layton and Demo then set out for Joplin, where a local Disciples of Christ church was their drop-off point.

“It’s amazing what you can do in 48 hours when you need to,” Demo said. “For our church it was really important that we do something, even if it was just a band-aid. It meant a lot to them.”

Other congregations in the greater Kansas City area that collected supplies were St. Aidan’s, Olathe, and St. Paul’s, Leavenworth.

Quick response from neighbors

Many of the congregations in the Southeast Convocation, some just a few miles across the state line from Joplin, also responded to the need for emergency supplies. St. Mary’s, Galena, a mere seven miles away, worked through the Joplin Salvation Army to distribute what members there had donated. It also provided supplies to the Galena Assembly of God Church, who had staff working in the hard-hit areas of Joplin.

St. Paul’s, Coffeyville, served as a collection point for a number of area churches, including Epiphany, Independence, and Trinity, El Dorado, and was able to deliver a 30-foot flatbed truck loaded four feet high with materials to help victims. St. John’s, Parsons, also collected supplies, while St. Timothy’s, Iola, was able to supplement its special collection with an additional $1,000 outreach grant to someone whose home was destroyed, and $100 went to help a Joplin college student who needed aid.

Dr. Linda Brown, a chaplain with St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City and a member of the Council of Trustees, helped the hospital in the hours right after the storm hit identify injured patients flown in from Joplin who arrived without any documents. She also spent two weekends in Joplin providing critical incident stress management help to area first responders as well as grief and loss counseling to victims of the tornado.

Brown, a member of St. Paul’s, Leavenworth, said the need for help will continue for many weeks to come, as people try to rebuild their lives after the early chaotic emergency days. “The more they get their needs met,” she said, “the more the grief and loss comes out.” v

Joplin: ‘God was in the (Continuned from page 1) The two then set out to check on neighbors and the status of the six rental properties they had nearby. That’s when they found the body of a young man lying in the street, someone Shields said they often saw jogging on his way to work.

They checked on the women who rented the house across the street from them, where Shields’ parents had lived for 69 years before their deaths in the past two years. One of them was badly injured, with three cracked vertebrae and a punctured spleen. “She’s in the hospital in Springfield,” she said. “But she will be OK.” A woman down the street also died.

Across Joplin, the 200 mile-per-hour storm had torn a swath three-quarter of a mile wide and 13 miles long, affecting a third of the city. More than 150 people have died and more than 1,000 are injured.

God was in the aftermath

As Shields combed through her belongings, about a dozen high school students worked in her yard, hauling splintered lumber to the curb and separating chunks of wallboard from felled trees.

They all were strangers to her.

Members of the youth group from the Full Gospel Church of nearby Southwest City had pulled up in their van and asked if they could help. They got out, pulled on work gloves and did what they could. After about an hour they were gone, their van driving through the blocks and blocks of decimated houses, looking for others needing them.

Trucks and cars also made their way through the neighborhood, slowing for the driver to call out, “Anybody need some water? Gatorade?”

Shields thanked them but said she was fine, she had a cooler handy.

When asked how she was so resilient in the face of such devastation, Shields was matter-of-fact. “Our faith,” she said.

A lifelong member of Joplin’s only Episcopal church, she said she knew that nature, not God, had caused the storm, but that “God was in the aftermath.”

Her rector, the Rev. Frank Sierra, said it’s evident that Shields’ strong faith helps to sustain her. “She does believe that God is watching over us, and that God loves us,” he said.

“God works through the people who are helping us. She really sees that.”

Sierra added, “We are God’s hands and God’s feet. God is present and hasn’t abandoned us.”

Gesturing to the high schoolers cleaning up her yard, Shields said, “God came to us in so many shapes and forms, like these wonderful children helping.” She said many members of St. Philip’s helped, too, providing the couple with a place to stay The Joplin home of Ramona and Hugh Shields was ripped apart by the M until their insurance company can find them a home to rent. tornado, leaving only the living room walls standing.

The Shieldses are one of nine parish families left homeless by the tornado, and Sierra said at least half his congregation is registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, of St. John’s Medical Center, which set up a makeshift site putting them in line for a variety of federal aid. The church after the hospital took a direct hit. They also helped feed an expanded staff at two area animal shelters, which dealt with itself escaped damage, as did Sierra’s home. many stray, rescued and injured aniA number of Joplin residents also mals. Wilson said he guesses 150 of are members of Grace Church in Carpeople helped out in some capacity. thage, a smaller town about 15 miles When asked how she was his Sierra said his congregation helped away. As the mother church of the 10 families salvage what they could county, it has about double the memso resilient in the face of from their homes, and members also bership of St. Philip’s, according to such devastation, Ramona helped move one church family into the Rev. Steven Wilson, its rector. That house. parish also has nine homeless families, Shields was matter-of-fact. a rental Wilson said that several of his and another two have major damage. members struggled to cope with No members of either congrega“Our faith,” she said. having found dead bodies, reporting tion were killed, but the grandson of A lifelong member of nightmares and trouble sleeping. He some Grace Church members ended also saw trauma in survivors, both up in critical condition in a hospital in Joplin’s only Episcopal physical and emotional. “People are Kansas City. The 14-year-old was in a pick-up truck in the parking lot of the church, she said she knew having to put Mom’s entire life into three or four cardboard boxes,” he Home Depot when the storm hit; the that nature, not God, had said. twister tossed the truck into the store.

Both priests say everyone in their The young man suffered significant caused the storm, but that parish was affected, whether their brain trauma and a broken neck but, Wilson said, “He’s surviving.”

“God was in the aftermath.” home was damaged or not. “Everyone knows someone who was killed or left homeless,” Wilson said.

Helping, and coping Both churches have turned their Members from both churches aided in rescue and relief efforts. Some were informal — helping attention to residents of a large subsidized housing complex, a neighbor dig out — while others registered as volunteers since many of those residents were uninsured. Wilson said they can get some help through FEMA, but it won’t be enough to through AmeriCorps, the coordinating agency.

Grace Church members provided sack lunches to the staff replace what they’ve lost.

May/June 2011 • The Harvest • 7

e aftermath’

May 22

With her neighborhood left in ruins after the May 22 tornado struck Joplin, Mo., Episcopalian Ramona Shields is stoic about the destruction and stands ready to rebuild in the same area — but she will be sure her new home has a storm shelter.

Hugh Shields (right) talks with Bishop Martin Field of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri outside Shields’ home, with the shell of St. John’s Hospital in the background.

Shields is a member of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Joplin.

Reaching them also may be a challenge, he said. “They are part of the social ladder largely unseen in disasters, and churches don’t normally reach them.”

Sierra said St. Philip’s helped local United Methodist churches put together move-in kits for these residents, to help out when they find new housing. The kits include tableware for four people, kitchen gadgets, cleaning supplies and some food staples.

Providing a church home

Wilson said he thinks 25 churches were destroyed in the tornado, and one of them was the Reformed Episcopal Church of Our Savior. That denomination split from the Episcopal Church in the 19th century over the use of liturgical rituals.

West Missouri Bishop Martin Field said when he called their bishop in Texas and

offered them the use of Joplin’s Episcopal church, “he was almost in tears.”

Their first service at St. Philip’s was the Sunday after the storm, with about 30 people present. “We even rounded up some 1928 Prayer Books out of storage that they could use,” Bishop Field said.

Sierra said Our Savior’s congregation will worship on Sunday afternoon, with a weeknight youth group meeting. They’ll have their offices at St. Philip’s, too.

Field offered the use of St. Philip’s to Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, after Peace Lutheran Church was reduced to rubble.

While grateful for the offer, Sierra said that congregation will use a Presbyterian church that’s closer.

Field said he knows how stressful this will be for his area clergy, which besides Sierra and Wilson includes the Rev. Ted

Estes, who serves the Nevada church an hour north but lives in Carthage and whose family lost seven homes in Joplin, as well as Deacons Galen Snodgrass and Jeff Bell.

He appointed two diocesan clergy to serve as chaplains, to provide assistance and respite care, since helping their people cope with the tornado will be “a draining ministry on top of regular parish ministry.”

Sierra said that on the Saturday after the tornado, after a long day of helping parishioners, his wife urged him to rest.

Instead, he mowed the lawn because it was something that “felt normal,” he said.

The church also organized an interfaith service at a local baseball diamond on Memorial Day evening, which gave people of faith from across the city a chance to come together in prayer.

Christians and Jews were there, and the imam of the local mosque sent his regrets

The scene on the street outside the Shields’ home is nothing but devastation as far as the eye can see.

since he was hosting a team of volunteers from the mosque in Dallas. The Joplin mosque also was housing nine families left homeless, including the imam’s.

What’s next?

Bishop Field said the Diocese of West Missouri has received an emergency grant of $10,000 from Episcopal Relief and Development, and he knows more is available when they need it.

He has some experience with tornado relief, since he was rector of a church in Jackson, Tenn., when one struck that town.

He learned it was helpful to hold some money back, so when insurance money had been spent and homeowners came up short, he still was able to help.

“I think I bought a hundred refrigerators,” he said.

Wilson said bulldozers have clearing away much of the debris, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be lots to do. He guesses it will take five years for Joplin to fully recover.

“There are no living trees for six to eight square miles,” he said. “There’s a hospital to rebuild, and a high school.” He said, “Volunteers will be needed, but give us a month.”

Bishop Dean Wolfe of the Diocese of Kansas attended the interfaith service and told Joplin residents that they would not be left to go it alone as they worked to rebuild.

“Tornados blow away state lines,” he said.

Sierra said his church didn’t have a disaster response plan in place before the tornado, something that would have been a big help.

“I encourage all clergy, vestries, bishop’s committees, before you need it, have a disaster plan,” he said. It should include not only names and contact information for members but also local helping agencies like the Red Cross.

He said, “Do it now, when things are calm and peaceful, because you never know when you are going to need it.” v

8 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

Around the diocese St. John’s, Abilene awarded a $1,000 scholarship to member David Leach, who will be a pre-med student this fall at Kansas State University. Leach is a longtime member of the parish, where he has been an acolyte and whose Eagle Scout project renovated the church’s meditation garden.

Trinity, Arkansas City in March started a youth group, under the direction of Karen Edwards. Youngsters met after church during the spring and ended the school year with a picnic.

Trinity, Atchison explored how the church is changing and how members can be faithful in the midst of transformation by watching a three-part video series featuring noted scholar Dr. Walter Brueggemann.

St. Mark’s, Blue Rapids and St. Paul’s, Marysville helped their vicar, the Rev. Art Rathbun, celebrate his 75th birthday with a party and cake after services on April 10.

Grace, Chanute explored “Why Christianity Makes Sense” in a 10-part video series by Church of England Bishop N.T. Wright.

St. Paul’s, Clay Center member Austin Sturdy qualified for the state high school track meet by finishing first in the 3200 meter run at a regional meet, but a stress fracture kept him from competing.

St. Paul’s, Coffeyville offered everyone a delightful Father’s Day brunch June 19 after a combined 9 a.m. service. The meal was provided by the women of the parish.

St. Andrew’s, Derby is seeking artwork produced by members to help brighten the bulletin boards in the Guild Hall. Original, two-dimensional art is needed from young and old alike.

St. Martin’s, Edwardsville once again had a special breakfast on the Sunday after Easter, thanks to the generosity and culinary talents of member Debbie Shaw.

Money donated was designated for the parish building fund.

Trinity, El Dorado member Troy Gurney offered a senior piano recital May 15 at a local Lutheran church. Refreshments

St. Andrew’s, Emporia will memorialize former rector the Rev. Jack Bunday with new glasspaneled doors leading from the narthex into the nave. Bunday, who served as rector from 1972 to 1984, died recently.

St. David’s, Topeka members in the Shawnee County/Topeka Relay for Life took first place in team fundraising, raising $10,437.

The Crusaders were the only teams to raise more than $10,000.

The group included 14 members, nine of them new to the effort this year, and five people raised more than $1,000 each. Several participants are new parish members.

St. Thomas’, Holton supply priest the Rev. Ray Hartjen provides a service of Holy Eucharist to the residents of the Atchison Senior Village. The flock now has grown to 17 people who regularly attend.

Epiphany, Independence hosted a parishwide breakfast May 21, featuring biscuits and gravy, egg casserole, cinnamon rolls, sausage, hash browns and fruit. Parish youth held a bake sale afterward, leaving no excuse for anyone who left hungry.

St. Luke’s, Wamego has a busy evening on Wednesdays this summer, with a potluck supper followed by children tending their vegetable garden and adults working on the parish’s meditation garden.

Covenant, Junction City hosted a special retirement party for sexton Frank Drew on May 22 in honor of his 41 years of service to the parish. They presented him a flat-screen TV as a gift.

St. Paul’s, Kansas City is able to offer communion to those at home or in the hospital, thanks to the ministry of Eucharistic Visitors who take the sacrament to those unable to attend services.

St. Margaret’s, Lawrence youth spent most of a week hiking Colorado’s Moon Bells Wilderness in July. With elevations above 9,000 feet, all participants had to undergo pre-trip conditioning. The trip was led by the Rev. Matt Zimmerman and Dan Kuhlman.

Trinity, Lawrence said goodbye to long-time organist Elizabeth Stephens with a memorial service on June 11. Stephens died just a few weeks after retiring after 40 years of service.

St. Paul’s, Leavenworth asked members to make a “FIST” — Friends in Service to St. Paul’s — with a morning of maintenance around the church May 15. Breakfast and conversation also were provided.

St. Paul’s, Manhattan ECW hosted two summer luncheons for women of the parish, June 29 and

Columbarium info sought

D

Grace Cathedral, Topeka hosted the world-famous Simon Carrington Singers for a concert June 11. Founded by the longtime member of the renowned King’s Singers, the ensemble performs just two concerts a year. The concert was part of the cathedral’s “Great Spaces” music and art series.

were offered afterwards for all attending.

oes your church have an outdoor columbarium, a place for the burial of ashes? If so, the Rev. Sharon Billman, vicar of St. John’s, Parsons, would like to learn more.

The southeast Kansas congregation is exploring the possibility of installing such a site at their church, and congregation members want to gather as much information about their options as they can before proceeding.

If your church can assist St. John’s in its search, please contact Billman by phone at (620) 421-4540 or by email at tweetybird@ wavewls.com. v

St. Jude’s, Wellington provided the sweet rolls for the annual ministerial alliance’s community sunrise Easter service and breakfast at Slate Creek Lodge.

Photo courtesy of St. James’

Tea time in Wichita

Daria Hagan prepares the table for the 82nd annual Old English Tea May 7 at St. James’ in Wichita. More than 500 people attended the event, which raised more than $14,000 for local charities.

The Guild Hall was transformed into a lavish, garden-themed setting, complete with a tea table filled with sweets and sandwiches. The event also featured a fashion show, auction and geranium sale.

Chairing the tea committee this year was Renee Osborn. v

July 27. A potluck meal of sandwiches and salads were on tap, with hostesses providing desserts.

St. Michael’s, Mission men got away for a weekend in the southern Ozarks of Missouri June 3-5. Participants enjoyed golf in Springfield, fishing and floating on the North Fork of the White River. Overnight camping and some gourmet meals were part of the weekend.

St. Matthew’s, Newton offers ways to get to know parishioners through its “All About Me” bulletin board. Members are featured on the board with information about themselves.

St. Aidan’s, Olathe enjoyed the annual “Burgers and Bluegrass” night June 11, with a cookout and music provided by the Groove Pilots. About 500 people in the neighborhood were invited with doorknob hangers.

Grace, Ottawa honored mothers on Mother’s Day with carnations and gave all parishioners a May Day basket filled with candy and flowers.

St. Thomas, Overland Park offered its annual “Thom’s Green

Thumbs” plant sale April 29-May 1, and money raised from the sale of a variety of plants will help provide upkeep for the church’s Apostle’s Garden and outdoor columbarium, both located near the entrance to the building.

St. John’s, Parsons cleaned out a section of the church basement to provide a playroom for children to use while parents are in the building for meetings. Fifteen hard-working people made the transition possible.

St. Peter’s, Pittsburg is looking at some needed upkeep to its building, including making the undercroft sound proof, adjusting the sound system to aid audio quality during church services and enhancing the garden.

Epiphany, Sedan youth traveled to Wichita May 21 to beat the heat with an ice skating trip.

Five young people attended, and all reportedly completed the event safely.

St. Luke’s, Shawnee member Larry Still used a 175-mile motorcycle ride on June 21 to raise funds for the families of wounded or slain soldiers of the 129th Battalion.

Good Shepherd, Wichita hosted its annual garage sale June 24-25, with proceeds to benefit parish outreach efforts as well as Our Little Roses orphanage in Honduras. Besides items to sell, the event needed lots of volunteers.

St. Bartholomew’s, Wichita aided the effort to provide “pedals for Plainview,” a drive to supply bicycles, tricycles and helmets for children and adults in the Plainview area of the city.

St. James’, Wichita enjoyed nature for eight weeks this summer when it conducted its 9 a.m.

Sunday service in the parish garden. The brief service of readings, teachings and communion will be provided in simplicity and quiet.

St. John’s, Wichita member Max Johnston received the 2011 Positive Aging Award from the Kansas Association of Homes and Services to the Aged. He was nominated by the Kansas Masonic Home.

St. Stephen’s, Wichita offered a Harry Potter movie night for youth June 15. Participants were encouraged to come in costume, and the evening included supper and snacks, along with Harry Potter-themed games and the latest movie in the J.K. Rowling series.

Grace, Winfield is moving to a keyless entry system for the church. Entrance for regular parish activities won’t change, but those coming in and out during non-office hours will substitute a code for their keys. v

May/June 2011 • The Harvest • 9

People

Diana Grosso of Trinity, Atchison, stands with her painting that took first place in the juried art competition sponsored this spring by St. Michael and All Angels in Mission.

Atchison artist paints winning entry

D Photo by Melodie Woerman

Four new deacons stand with Bishop Dean Wolfe after their ordination on June 11 at Topeka’s Grace Cathedral. From left are the Rev. Patrick Funston, Deacon Oliver Bunker, Bishop Wolfe, Deacon Elizabeth Drumm and the Rev. Peter Doddema.

Four people are ordained as deacons in June 11 service

B

ishop Dean Wolfe ordained four deacons in a service June 11 at Topeka’s Grace Cathedral.

Deacon Oliver Bunker and Deacon Elizabeth Drumm are recent graduates of the Kansas School for Ministry and will exercise the ministry of deacons as their lifelong vocation.

Bunker, who has been a member of Grace, Chanute, will complete a post-ordination intern year serving among the congregations of the Southeast Convocation.

Drumm, from St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, is spending her internship at St. Luke’s, Shawnee.

The Rev. Peter Doddema and the Rev. Patrick

Funston are spring graduates of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va. They will serve as deacons until they are ordained as priests, which is scheduled for January 2012.

Doddema has accepted a call to be deacon-incharge at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Harrodsburg, Ky., in the Diocese of Lexington.

Before leaving for seminary he was a member of Trinity, Lawrence, Funston, also from St. Michael and All Angels, has been named by Bishop Wolfe as chaplain at Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence, an Episcopal parochial school serving grades 7-12. He also will teach religion classes there. v

Bishop Wolfe names two priests to diocesan ministry posts

B

ishop Dean Wolfe has named two priests to represent the diocese in ministry positions that have an impact across the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Kelly Demo has been named missioner for ecumenical relations, a post previously known as diocesan ecumenical officer. She is a non-parochial priest who lives in Overland Park.

The Rev. Dixie Junk now serves as diocesan Jubilee officer. She is the priest in charge at St. Paul’s, Kansas City.

Demo said that in her role she will seek to serve the bishop and the diocese “by promoting dialogue between Kansans of other faiths and denominations,” with an emphasis on finding areas of common interest, especially around issues of social justice.

“There is much misunderstanding and mistrust between people in general and people of faith in particular,” she said. “The more talking and listening we can do, the better off we will be.”

Part of the work of diocesan ecu-

iana Grosso’s painting depicting a variety of New Testament passages took first place in the juried art exhibition sponsored this spring by St. Michael and All Angels in Mission. The theme of the event was “Abundance,” and Grosso’s work focused on stories that exhibit the abundance of God’s grace.

Grosso, a member of Trinity, Atchison, where her husband is the rector, produced the 3-foot by 4-foot painting in oils. It includes images of Jesus feeding the 5,000, a widow giving two mites, fishermen with their unexpectedly large catch of fish and the return of the prodigal son. v

The Rev. Kelly Demo

The Rev. Dixie Junk

menical and interreligious officers is to encourage ecumenical activity in dioceses and parishes and then share those efforts with other Episcopalians.

As Jubilee officer Junk will work as a liaison to the Episcopal Church’s Jubilee Commission and will help promote Jubilee ministry across the diocese.

Jubilee ministries were established

by General Convention of 1982 to serve poor and oppressed people wherever they are located, to meet basic human needs and to help build a just society.

The diocese currently has 10 Jubilee ministries that have been recognized officially.

Junk said she wants to help congregations “to more effectively identify and frame the ministry and outreach efforts of their local communities with the wider mission of the church, and the vision and theology of Jubilee ministries.”

She said she hopes to work with parishes to take active roles in meeting the needs of the poor and suffering in their communities.

— Melodie Woerman v

Photo by Kelly Harper

Happy 100th, Bertha!

Bertha Milbank (right) celebrated her 100th birthday on July 3 at St. James’, Wichita, with a special reception. Helping blow out the candles on her “100” cakes is her daughter, Elizabeth.

Milbank has a long history of involvement in her parish and the diocese, including terms as president of the diocesan Episcopal Church Women and many years’ service as parliamentarian at Diocesan Convention, as well as president of the Southwest Convocation. She also was national president and board member of the Daughters of the King.

At St. James’ she was involved in virtually every activity and was the first woman to attend what had been an all-male “ale and oyster” dinner.

In recognition of her service she received one of the first three Bishop’s Vision Awards from Bishop William Smalley in 1994.

Milbank was born on July 10, 1911, in Tucumcari, N.M., and moved to Carollton, Mo., for high school, where she received a Missouri state letter for her basketball talents. She graduated during the Depression from Missouri Valley College and in 1938 married Dr. George Milbank and moved to Wichita. He died in 1976. The couple had two daughters, Elizabeth and Sally. v

Clergy news The Rev. C. Earl Mahan has been named priest-in-charge at St. John’s, Wichita, beginning July 15. He has been the rector at St. Matthew’s, Edinburg, Texas, since 2006. He and his wife, Shannon, have two children: Trevor, 12, and Mikayla, 9.

The Rev. Christine Gilson has been called as the rector of Trinity, El Dorado, beginning Aug. 1. Most recently she has been vicar at Trinity in Lebanon, Mo., in the Diocese of West Missouri, where she has been a member of Diocesan Council and a deputy and alternate to General Convention. She was ordained in the Diocese of Western Kansas in 2003. v

10 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

National and international news Anglican news briefs Episcopal News Service  Chicago priest to become dean of St. George’s College, Jerusalem. The Rev. Graham Smith, rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Glenview, Ill., for the past 19 years, has been appointed as the next dean of St. George’s College in Jerusalem.

He will begin his new ministry in September 2011 and succeeds the Rev. Stephen Need, who served as dean for nearly six years.

St. George’s College is a center for adult continuing education for members of the Anglican Communion and other denominations and offers study pilgrimages throughout the year.  Diocese of Haiti sets date for bishop suffragan election. The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti will elect its first bishop suffragan on Aug. 5. The new bishop will assist Diocesan Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin, as he serves the numerically largest diocese in the Episcopal Church. The new suffragan will be headquartered in the Greater North Region of Haiti. The diocese continues to recover from the devastating earthquake that struck on Jan. 12, 2010, that destroyed 71 percent of the diocese’s churches, 50 percent of its primary schools and 80 percent of its secondary schools.  Diocese, El Paso congregation resolve property dispute.

The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, the Episcopal Church and the congregation currently occupying St. Francis on the Hill Church in El Paso, Texas, have resolved their dispute over the ownership of church property. An agreement calls for the breakaway congregation currently occupying the church to vacate the property on July 31, and the Episcopal congregation that has been meeting at Mount Sinai Temple will move back into the church the following week. The rector and a majority of members of St. Francis voted to leave the Episcopal Church in October 2008 and then filed a lawsuit against the diocese and the Episcopal Church in an attempt to retain church property. Subsequent court rulings have found that the property must be held in trust for the mission of the diocese and the Episcopal Church.  Disciplinary Board for Bishops formed for new Title IV canons. An 18-member Disciplinary Board for Bishops has been established as required by the revised version of the Episcopal Church’s canons on clergy discipline, which went into effect July 1. The board consists of 10 bishops, four clergy and four lay members. Eight of the bishops were elected by the House of Bishops at the group’s March meeting; two were later appointed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori when vacancies occurred. The clergy and lay members were appointed by President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson to serve until the House of Deputies can elect regular members at the General Convention in 2012. The board will have “original jurisdiction over matters of discipline of bishops” and will “hear bishops’ appeals from imposition of restrictions on ministry or placement on administrative leave,” according to the canons.  National Cathedral dean to return to Trinity Church, Copley Square. The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III is resigning after six-and-a-half years as dean of Washington National Cathedral to return to Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston as priest-incharge. Diocese of Washington Bishop John Bryson Chane will serve as interim dean after Lloyd’s departure on Sept. 18. Trinity said that Lloyd will hold the responsibilities and duties of a rector as well as the special charge to lead a parishwide consideration of the mission, identity and goals of the parish. He and the parish then will determine mutually whether he should become rector, with that process likely taking place in his third year of service, according to Trinity. Lloyd had been rector of the Boston parish for 12 years before being installed as cathedral dean in April 2005.  Staff member to serve jointly with the Episcopal Church and ELCA. Sarah Kristin Dreier on July 5 began her new role as the legislative representative for international issues for both the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Dreier will serve jointly on the staffs of the Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations and the ELCA Washington Office, and will be responsible for legislative and policy advocacy of both churches on U.S. foreign policy and international issues, representing the shared positions of the churches to Congress and the administration; conducting legislative research and analysis; producing legislative correspondence and communications; and building and leading advocacy coalitions. v

Christchurch Anglicans pick up the pieces following tremors Anglican Taonga

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hristChurch Cathedral has lost three-quarters of its west wall, including the ornate rose window, in the latest aftershocks that struck on June 14. The city of Christchurch previously was hit by earthquakes in February and in September of last year.

The destruction of the rose window — which Diocese of Christchurch Bishop Victoria Matthews describes as “the icon of the icon” — will inevitably influence thinking about whether the cathedral can or should be restored.

Cathedral Dean Peter Beck said on June 15 that workers would try to remove precious items, such as the memorial plaques and the organ.

Meanwhile, an exterior wall at St. Mary's, Merivale, has collapsed, while Holy Trinity, Lyttelton, has been further damaged.

Two workers salvaging windows from St. John's, Latimer Square, received cuts and bruises and were treated at a 24-hour clinic.

St. John Ambulance staff member Alistair Drye said the two men were okay but shaken. “The walls fell down around them,” he said.

The church had been severely damaged in February's earthquake and was set to be demolished.

Walls around the church had

Photo by TV One News via Anglican Taonga

ChristChurch Cathedral, in Christchurch, New Zealand, stands with its iconic rose window gone, the victim of June aftershocks that left the window strewn across the cathedral’s interior.

“fallen and crumbled” during the aftershocks, while the roof had collapsed onto the organ and the front of the church, he said.

In an e-mail on June 14, Bishop Matthews urged clergy and wardens to ensure that churches and halls were safe before allowing people to re-enter them. “The operative word is safety,” she said.

“So please do not take chances.”

She also urged clergy to wear their collars so that they would be visible in the community.

“Every Anglican of sound mind, heart and limb needs to look in on neighbors and ask after their well-being,” Matthews said.

“Overall people have been brave and caring once again and I thank you for being resilient in the face

of frightening and dangerous events.”

Two major shocks hit Christchurch during the afternoon of June 14. The epicenter of the larger, magnitude 6.3 earthquake was 10 kilometers southeast of Christchurch, in the middle of the Port Hills above Sumner. It struck at 2:20 p.m. at a depth of 9 kilometers.

Both jolts were a combination of up-and-down ground movement — “reverse faulting” — and side-to-side movement known as “strike slip.” The same movement featured in the Sept. 4, 2010, and Feb. 22, 2011, earthquakes.

This article first appeared on the website of Anglican Taonga, www.anglicantaonga.org.nz. v

First woman priest ordained in Cyprus and the Gulf diocese Episcopal News Service

T

he Rev. Catherine Dawkins made history in early June when she became the first woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East during a service at St. Christopher’s Cathedral in Manama, Bahrain.

Dawkins, 34, will serve in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, which in February this year was granted permission, by the vote of a provincial synod, to ordain and appoint women priests.

The decision does not affect the other three dioceses in the province: Egypt, Iran and Jerusalem.

Dawkins, a British citizen, has now moved to Dubai with her husband, the Rev. Nigel Dawkins, who will begin a new role on July 1 as senior port chaplain with Mission to Seafarers in Dubai.

Dawkins said she has not experienced any opposition to her ordination.

“In fact the response has been overwhelmingly supportive,” she said, adding that the congregation at Holy Trinity in Dubai has warmly welcomed her into the church.

About 100 people attended the June 5 ordination service, including 14 clergy from 10 countries and the Rev. Sarah Buxton-Smith, an Episcopal priest from the Diocese of Western New York and a member of the Compass Rose Society.

Bishop Michael Lewis of Cyprus and the Gulf led the service and preached.

Dawkins was ordained a deacon in January 2010 and has since been based in Yemen, where she has served as assistant chaplain at Christ Church in Aden.

Her husband was already serving in Aden when they married in October 2009.

A qualified chartered accountant, Dawkins was responsible for the finances and fundraising at a medical clinic, the main ministry at Christ Church.

“Nigel and I are passionate about empowering the local population and as such I have spent the past year training a local graduate as a bookkeeper,” she said. “It has been very rewarding to be able to use my different skills for the various projects at Christ Church, and I have fond memories of our time in Aden. It is sad that we have been forced to leave earlier than expected due to the current uncertainties in the country. Our experience of the Yemeni people was of welcome and warm hospitality.”

While Dawkins becomes the first woman to be ordained in the Middle East province, female priests who are canonically resident elsewhere in the Anglican Communion have from time to time served in the region.

The Very Rev. Christopher Butt, dean of St. Christopher’s Cathedral in Bahrain, said, according to a Gulf Daily News article, that Dawkins’ ordination is “a sign of recognition in the wider church that women have a final role in the ministry of the church and not a secondary one. It is also recognition of the gifts and special insights that women bring into the ministry in a powerful way.” v

May/June 2011 • The Harvest • 11

Episcopalians in South Sudan celebrate the birth of their new African nation

By Jesse Zink Episcopal News Service

I

n an exuberant and joyous three-and-a-half hour service in Juba on July 10, South Sudanese Episcopalians celebrated the birth of their new nation, even as they looked toward the difficult future of their country.

All Saints Cathedral in Juba — the capital of the new Republic of South Sudan — was full more than half an hour before the service began, and an overflow crowd watched on television screens set up in the church yard.

Church leaders were realistic about the size of the challenges facing South Sudan, officially recognized as the world’s newest nation on July 9. South Sudan has a history of inter-tribal violence that continued in the run-up to independence.

In his sermon, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan noted how South Sudan President Salva Kiir had reiterated his amnesty offer in his July 9 inaugural address.

“The message of God is peace and unity among all peoples,” said Deng. “Corruption and tribalism has become a crisis in our nation.”

In a message to Kiir, Deng said, “We are ready to work with you so there is no need for our people to suffer again. The Episcopal Church of Sudan is ready at any time to work for reconciliation.

We have to bring everybody in.”

South Sudan is at the bottom of the world’s development tables,

Photo by Jesse Zink for ENS

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, using incense donated by a Muslim friend, censes the congregation at All Saints Cathedral in Juba at a July 10 service there, the day after the nation was declared independent.

with pervasive poverty and disease. A young girl has a greater chance of dying in childbirth

than graduating from secondary school. Many southerners rely on international food aid.

Deng noted the scale of the challenge. “Our people have been taught to receive food from their time in the refugee camps. We have a culture of dependency.”

Pointing to the church’s extensive agricultural education programs, Deng said, “To build a new nation, let us learn to produce our own food. Our country is rich in resources but we need to work to realize the potential.”

Suffragan Bishop Graham Kings of the Church of England’s Diocese of Salisbury sent text message updates from the July 9 independence ceremonies that were read at the church’s General Synod meeting in York. During the July 10 cathedral service, Kings read a letter from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that noted the ongoing violence in Abyei, South Kordofan, and other border regions of Sudan and pledged that the Church of England “will continue to pray for a peaceful future and for the church’s work towards a just and secure future for South Sudan.”

Kings was visibly moved by the celebratory atmosphere and proclaimed that the independence celebration was “one of the best days of my whole life.”

The Rev. Canon Petero Sabune, Africa partnerships officer for the Episcopal Church, represented Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during the weekend’s celebrations. Sabune noted how Jefferts Schori called for a season of prayer for Sudan and pledged the U.S.-based Episcopal

Church’s continued prayer and support for the new nation and its church.

“For us, the first line of defense is prayer,” he said. “We will continue to be with you in this coming period.”

The service also featured speeches from some of the government ministers, members of parliament, tribal elders and revolution leaders in attendance, many of whom are members of the cathedral congregation on a regular basis. All reiterated their desire for a stable future for South Sudan rooted in a biblical vision of peace and justice.

Despite the cautious words about the future, the celebratory atmosphere of the service was unmistakable, especially during the singings of South Sudan’s new national anthem. Using incense donated by a Muslim friend, Deng censed the congregation — both those inside and those outside the cathedral — to symbolize the birth of the new nation, while many women ululated in joy.

After two decades-long civil wars that made millions of refugees, Deng rejoiced in what this moment represented. “We have come home. We have come home to stay. We are not going anywhere.”

Jesse Zink is a student at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

His reporting from South Sudan is sponsored in part by the Seminary Consultation on Mission and the Evangelical Education Society of the Episcopal Church. v

Two national posts filled in New York, Cincinnati Lexington bishop named church’s COO

Gunn will head Forward Movement

Episcopal News Service

Episcopal News Service

P

residing Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has named Diocese of Lexington Bishop Stacy F. Sauls as chief operating officer for the Episcopal Church, beginning Sept. 1, replacing Linda Watt.

As chief operating officer, he will oversee the staff of the Episcopal Church Center in New York, as well as offices located in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Seattle; Puerto Rico and elsewhere, according to a May 31 press release from the church’s Office of Public Affairs.

Sauls will coordinate the work of the church’s Bishop Stacy F. Sauls mission program, communication, finance and administration duties while assisting the presiding bishop in her role as the president and chief executive officer of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the church’s corporate legal entity. He also will be an ex-officio member of the Executive Council and an active member of the board of Episcopal Relief and Development.

The presiding bishop said of the appointment, “Bishop Sauls brings a unique set of gifts to the next chapter of this ministry, particularly his distinguished service as a diocesan bishop. I am deeply grateful that he will join us in facilitating this work.”

Sauls was elected as the sixth bishop of Lexington in 2000. The diocese in eastern Kentucky includes 14 of the 100 poorest counties in the United States. He is a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, S.C., and the University of Virginia School of Law. He worked as a corporate lawyer and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the District of Columbia Bar and the Ecclesiastical Law Society (United Kingdom).

Sauls later graduated from General Theological Seminary in New York and was ordained a priest in 1989. He served parishes in the dioceses of Atlanta and Georgia before being elected bishop.

He earned a masters degree in canon law from Cardiff University in 2009. General Seminary granted him an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 2001, as did the University of the South, where he serves as a trustee, in 2002. v

T

he Rev. Scott Gunn has been chosen to lead Cincinnati-based Forward Movement Publications in its mission to “reinvigorate the life of the church,” beginning July 19.

Gunn, a priest of the Diocese of Rhode Island, was named by the board of directors and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the organization’s executive director.

“Our church is at a critical and thrilling point The Rev. Scott Gunn as we seek to find our way forward in the 21st century,” said Gunn in a news release. “Forward Movement is positioned well to be a leader in proclaiming the gospel that is at our core.”

Forward Movement, the publisher of Forward Day by Day meditations as well as books and pamphlets about spirituality and the Episcopal Church, celebrated its 75th anniversary last year.

With a worldwide circulation of more than 300,000 subscribers, Forward Day by Day will continue to play a central role at Forward Movement, according to the release, while Gunn leads the agency in the exploration of new content and new methods of delivery, both to support current readers and to attract new audiences.

Gunn served two congregations in Rhode Island, was on the Diocesan Council and was a deputy to the 2009 General Convention. He is a member of the Episcopal News Service Advisory Board and an active blogger.

Prior to his ordination, he worked for several technology and communication companies, including the Atlantic and the MIT Media Lab. He also holds degrees from Brown University and Yale Divinity School.

What is now Forward Movement Publications grew out of a decision made by the General Convention that convened in Atlantic City, N.J., in October 1934. That meeting of convention created a Forward Movement Commission and gave it the charge to “reinvigorate the life of the church and to rehabilitate its general, diocesan, and parochial work.” v

12 • The Harvest • May/June 2011

Reflections on faith and life

Sharing the Good News

Guesses of Jesus’ return aren’t new By the Rev. Christine Whittaker

“H

e will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” Each Sunday at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, when we say the Nicene Creed, the statement of faith formulated in the 4th century, we reaffirm our belief in the second coming of Christ.

Most parishioners, I suspect, like many Episcopalians and Christians in other mainline churches, do not think very much about this bold assertion of Christ’s return to earth.

Yet there is a long pattern in American history of specific predictions about when Christ will appear in judgment. Harold Camping’s recent prediction that Christ would return on May 21 is merely the latest example.

Millerites predicted 1843

No biblical literal date

Apocalyptic was a tradition of Jewish religious thought, seen in such parts of the Hebrew scriptures as the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. It was not uncommon in Jesus’ day, and there are various passages in the gospels in this style.

The book of Revelation is also full of apocalyptic language. It was used as a form of encouragement to people suffering persecution and an assurance that the ultimate victory would be God’s.

But it was not intended to be

taken as a literal prediction of the way particular events would happen.

At various times, however, some Christians have been convinced that certain events would usher in Christ’s return.

At the end of the year 1000, the pope held a great mass in Rome, and it was expected that before the midnight mass ended and the year changed to 1001, Christ would return. There were similar predictions as we entered the year 2000. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, websites trading in apocalyptic material became very popular.

One site featured a “Rapture index” that described itself as a “Dow Jones Industrial Average of end-time activity.” By assigning numerical values in 45 prophetic categories, it claimed to measure the speed of movement toward the Rapture, when Christians supposedly will vanish before a seven-year apocalypse led by the anti-Christ. Any score over 145, according to the index, suggests that you should “fasten your seatbelt.”

Given the long history of failed predictions of Christ’s return in judgment, I am puzzled why people still pay attention to them.

I have long thought that the great English preacher and evangelist, John Wesley, stated the best attitude. He was once asked what he would do if he knew that the world was to end the next day and replied, “Exactly what I’m doing now.”

Christine Whittaker is the priest at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Holliston, Mass. This article first appeared in the June 11 edition of the Holliston TAB. Reprinted by permission. v

August 2011

September 2011

7 Bishop Wolfe’s visitation to St. Paul’s, Clay Center

11 Bishop Wolfe’s visitation to St. Stephen’s, Wichita

13 Southeast Convocation meeting, St. John’s, Parsons (10 a.m.)

Southwest Convocation meeting, Trinity, El Dorado (2 p.m.)

12 Bishop Wolfe at House of Bishops’ Meeting, Quito, Ecuador (through Sept.

21)

14 Bishop Wolfe’s visitation to St. Jude’s, Wellington 20 Northeast Convocation meeting, St. Margaret’s, Lawrence (9 a.m.)

Safeguarding God’s Children training, St. John’s, Parsons (10 a.m.)

Northwest Convocation meeting, Grace Cathedral, Topeka (1 p.m.)

Safeguarding God’s People training, St. John’s, Parsons (1 p.m.)

13 Fresh Start, Bethany Place Conference Center, Topeka 22 Commission on Ministry meeting, Capitol Plaza Hotel, Topeka 23 Diocesan Convention, Capitol Plaza Hotel and Maner Conference Center (through Sept. 24)

28 Bishop Wolfe’s visitation to St. Martin’s, Edwardsville

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In the 1830s, thousands of Americans, alarmed by recent events in the world, listened with growing conviction to William Miller, whose study of the Bible had convinced him that Christ was due to reappear during 1843. By the early 1840s, approximately 50,000 people had become followers of what became known as the Adventist movement, because it looked for the advent, or coming, of Christ.

In 1843, when the event was to take place, people throughout the country began making personal preparations to meet the Lord. An elderly Connecticut woman was reported to have obtained a new set of teeth and a green silk umbrella for the event.

When the second coming did

not occur in 1843, Miller told his followers not to be concerned.

He said that he had calculated by the Jewish calendar and the year did not end until March 21, 1844.

After this day came and went, Miller said that he had erred slightly in his calculations and a new date, October 22, 1844, was established for the beginning of the millennium of Christ’s reign on Earth.

On this day, Millerites met in homes and churches to pray and await the Lord. When the day ended without the promised second coming, the disillusionment was for many as great as the disappointment.

The Millerites were only one group of many who have believed not only that the second coming of Christ was imminent but also that they could use biblical texts to ascertain when and how it would occur. Literal interpretations of the Bible can lead to some strange results, particularly when they are based on apocalyptic passages, which are written in highly metaphorical language.

Diocesan Calendar

The mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas is to gather, equip and send disciples of Jesus Christ to witness to God’s reconciling love.