Sharing your own faith: Inviting someone to church as part of the Body of Christ offer God’s love? How do we share our story and faith? When was the last time you invited someone to your church? How about taking a step in that direction this advent? You can tell someone about your church. Tell them what it means to you. Okay; actually inviting someone to your church is pretty hard for some of us, even
The church year begins with Advent, the four Sundays before the feast of Christmas. Here are some resources for your congregation this Advent, as well as for your personal use: Advent Music: The United Methodist church offers a set of Advent hymns with new words set to familiar tunes. Go to www.gbod.org/worship on the web, then click on the music button on the left hand column. Search for ‘four new advent hymns’ There is a set for year A, B, and C. (Thanks to Arlene Gordanier for this resource, she recommends this site for familiar tunes with new words; great for those congregations who use Synthia or something similar)
what you look like, what kind of car you drive, who you voted for, or who you love. So many around us hunger for this kind of community, this kind of journey with others of like mind and spirit. How do we
If you’re wondering about the scriptures for a Sunday or saint’s day, you can check out this link at the Episcopal Church website: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary-calendar It is a clickable calendar that includes both the scriptures and collect for the day. St. Nicholas St. Nick is an Advent saint! Here is a website that explores St. Nicholas traditions around the world http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/home/ (created by an Continued on page 2B...
Inside this issue... Page 2B How Shall we live, Advent links Page 3C Meetings and Events, Connecting with others Transitions Page 4D Women’s Winter Respite, Winter Camp
Vol. 2, No. 12 December 2012
when we think our congregation is the best thing since sliced bread. How about helping your congregation to get the word out in other ways? Dave and Lynn Sand of Holy Trinity, Iron Mountain sent out postcards to past and present members of the congregation (and others too) about their Christmas services last year. Not only did some people show up who hadn’t been seen for a while, but others sent notes or called to say they appreciated the thought, though they would be out of town. Check to see if your website is up-todate. If you want to help keep your congregation’s website up-to-date, contact Rise Thew Forrester at risetf@gmail.com. It’s very simple to do, just like an online form. What will you and your congregation do to welcome people into your part of the Body of Christ?
Sermon and worship preparation: The website textweek.com is a treasuretrove of resources, for each Sunday as well as the season as a whole. It includes resources for prayers, sermons, movies, music, and education for a wide age range.
Episcopal Journal
One of the ways that we live into ‘teach, baptize and nurture new members’ is by inviting and welcoming people into our congregations The past few years we have embraced a motto that we plastered all over some billboards around the UP: “God loves you. No exceptions.” It began to seep into everything we do, reminding us that we are a church that welcomes all, regardless of
One of the ways we are formed in the Christan faith is through our week-to-week Sunday worship, as we follow the season and the lectionary scripture readings. So when we think about how we invite people to join our communities, and help one another to grow in our spiritual lives, we rightly give great attention to how we worship together: what do we say, what do we sing, how do we offer hospitality and kindness to the guest and one another?
Northern Michigan edition of
To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
The Church in Hiawathaland
This month:
Nurturing the community in the season of Advent
News for and about the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan
Marks of Mission
Page 2B
Church In Hiawathaland
Finding support for waiting in Advent Anglican) Personal Advent Links and Devotions The web is full of supports for your Advent (and nothing to do with shopping!) Here’s just a few: Pinterest: for those of you who love the social media site Pinterest, for ‘pinning’ images that you like, the Society of Saint John the Evangelist and the Episcopal Church Office of Communication are jointly offering an online Advent Pinterest Calendar at http://pinterest.com/iamepiscopalian/advent-calendar/. (You do not need a Pinterest account to view it.)
any time by visiting www.ssje.org/word or via Twitter (@SSJEWord). The online Advent Calendar from Trinity Church Wall street from 2011 is found at http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/ features/2011-advent-calendar It offers an inspiring profile of a young person who is making a difference in the world for each day of the Advent season.
The word and meditations come from SSJE’s short daily devotional Brother, Give Us A Word. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to subscribe by email to the daily word at Brother, Give Us A Word, you can do so at
Five Marks of Mission Series October: To seek to transform unjust structures of society November: To respond to human need by loving service December: To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom February: To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. March: To teach, baptize and nurture new believers How are you and your congregation living out the mission described in the Five Marks of Mission? The Church in Hiawathaland is focusing on one Mark per issue, telling stories of mission and ministry in the Upper Peninsula. Tell us your story! Contact Rise Thew Forrester at risetf@gmail.com
December 2012
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer December
[ELCA Lutheran ongregations in brackets] 2 St. John’s Church, Iron River [First & Trinity] 9 St. John’s Church, Negaunee [Bethany & Immanuel] 16 St. Stephen’s Church, Escanaba [Bethany, Christ the King & Immanuel] 23 St. John’s Church, Munising [Eden] 30 Holy Innocents’ Congregation, Little Lake/Gwinn [Grace] For a printable 2012 Cycle of Prayer, go to www.upepiscopal.org and click on Resources on the yellow bar.
Welcome to the “Nones”?
How shall we live in these times? Diana Butler Bass In October, the Pew Research Center released a new survey on American religious life, “Nones” On the Rise (You can find it at http://www.pewforum.org/ Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx. According to Pew’s findings, one in five Americans now identifies him- or herself as religiously “unaffiliated,” the largest number of us to ever report belonging to no religion. The unaffiliated comprises atheists, agnostics, but the largest group of the unaffiliated are nothing-in-particular, most referring to themselves as “spiritual.” The Pew data also reveals that most unaffiliated Americans report being comfortable with their choice. Almost 90% of them say they are not looking for a faith or any kind of traditional theological certainty… Reading the new Pew report, however, is an eye-popping a collection of data that any church leader could ever try to read, mark, and inwardly digest. The four major religious groups in the United States are now: Roman Catholics (22%), Unaffiliated (20%), Evangelical Protestants (19%), and Mainline Protestants (15%; point of information—Pew classifies Episcopalians in this category). Taken together (along with Black Protestants and other minority Protestants), America’s once dominant Protestant majority has now slipped to 48% of the population, meaning that no single religious tradition (granted the words “single” and “Protestant” never fit together terribly well anyway) is 50% + 1. In other words, sometime in the last year, the United States became—for the first time in history—a genuinely pluralistic nation. When encountering such data, the response of many good church leaders is “How are we going to get them back?” But
I wonder if this is really the question we should ask. Instead, I would like to suggest that the most important question facing the church is not how to increase our market share; rather, the question facing the church should be “How should we live in a meaningful way as faith community given these shifts?” Despite the changes, much of mainline church life is still patterned on being in the majority and depends for moral formation, character development, and even Christian education on the support of a surrounding Christian culture in politics, media, schools, and arts. Indeed even the name, “mainline,” recalls glory days of being big churches with big influence on the culture. Our churches functioned best when the world around the church supported the church’s general vision, mission, and ethics. For several decades, of course, mainline churches have not been the majority. But, when all Protestants churches were considered together, we were still the largest religious group. We could still take emotional comfort that our churches were still part of American’s mighty historic Protestant (used in the sociological sense) center and participate in the benefits of cultural leadership. But now there is no center. None. Every group exists as a minority in a community of minorities, including everyone from Mormons to Muslims to atheists and evangelicals. We are a country of many faiths, many truths, and indeed, many Gods. In the new setting, we need to know who we are with great clarity and personal commitment and, at the same time, be able to love our neighbors and work beyond faith Conitnued on page 3C...
December 2012
Church In Hiawathaland
Meetings and Events All times Eastern DECEMBER 8 Diocesan Council 10:00 am 15 Commission on Ministry 10:00 am 27-29 Youth Winter Camp JANUARY 2013 5 EMST 10am-3pm 11-12 Diocesan Planning meeting 18 Lake: Preaching Wkshp 19 Commission on Ministry 19 Hiawatha: District meeting 10am 19 Liturgy Workshop: Palm Sunday 11:30am 25-27 Women’s Winter Respite Retreat 30 Ministry Developers Collaborative FEBRUARY 2-5 Living Stones 13 Ash Wednesday 23 Liturgy Workshop: Holy Week
Diocesan Office, Marquette Diocesan Office, Marquette St. Paul’s, Marquette Diocesan Office, Marquette TBA Diocesan Office, Marquette St. Stephen’s, Escanaba Marygrove Center, Garden Las Vegas, NV (to Feb. 1) Las Vegas, NV St. Stephen’s, Escanaba
FARTHER AHEAD: March 24-31 Holy Week and Easter April 13 Liturgy Workshop: Easter St. Paul’s, Marquette April 17-21 Mutual Ministry Exploration (formerly Visitor’s Weekend) June 16-22 Youth Summer Camp Clear Lake Education Center October 4-6 Diocesan Convention St. Stephen’s, Escanaba To have meetings included, call 1-800-236-0087 or email jane@upepiscopal.org
How shall we live, cont. boundaries to create a new shared sense of common good. This will call for a different sort of church than the one we knew in the centuries that came before. The Episcopal Church is being called to new life. We must recreate our identity using the wisdom of the past and by embracing the questions of an emerging future—all of this played out in sure confidence that both the church and the world are arenas of God’s reign. There is nothing wrong with being a minority; nothing wrong with living in a pluralistic society. Christians have often done so. And, judging from history, we are often more faithful, more creative, and more biblical when we
are not in charge. The Pew report shows clearly that there is no going back to what once was. In the midst of these changes, the question is not “What is the church going to do?” but the question is “What can God’s church become?” We live in times that are not a problem to be fixed, but times that are an opportunity to be embraced. This article is reprinted from Seabury Next, an online newsletter of Seabury Western Seminary. Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture.
Page 3C
Connecting from the heart This is a reprint of an article by Alice Connor, campus minister at the University of Cincinnati. The topic is connecting with college students…but I think it can inspire our connections with others, as well.--Editor We call them ‘the lost generation’ the children of our churches who graduate and disappear from religious life. We mourn their absence. We wrestle with ways to bring them back and to evangelize their friends who never went to church. We beat ourselves up for not having done enough to instill faith in them. And we don’t really know how to bring them back to the faith we so dearly love. From the outside, it would seem like everyone between 18 and 25 is wandering a desert of atheism, alcohol, premarital sex, and [insert other unsavory activity here]. Many of them are experiencing their own Exodus, some knowing God’s presence with them, some not. Some are truly lost in that desert with no pillar of fire to guide them—so lost that they give up on life itself, so lost that they don’t see the Promised Land on the horizon. But man others do see it—they see a vast, beautiful world which has more to it than they can comprehend and they are actively exploring it. The point is, everyone between 18 and 25 is not ‘lost’—Jesus tells us in his parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin that nothing and no one is ever truly lost. Consider: for some, college could be a kind of fallow-season when they’re free from the script their family wrote for them. Ideas and experiences rest in the fertile ground of their minds, becoming richer over time. For others, college could include everything from making poor life choices to connecting spiritually. Or they can begin every new endeavor with ‘what if…?” Or they can investigate the things that resonate with them— eating together, trying to work out how all that theology that they may or may not like actually fits together, or committing to a community (which may be a community of two— me and my roommate). This is all to say, there is much more going on beneath the surface than ‘they’re not going to church.” So, how do we connect with college students? Step one, like many situation, is to show up. There is no way they’re going to come to your church, no matter how cool it is, on a whim. If they do, they’re church nerds like me, and, God bless ‘em, they’re a very small minority who’ll show up no matter what. No, you’ve got to go to them, and to you’ve got to be there consistently. Step two is to feed them and to listen. It’s not just the free pizza or African peanut soup or tasty communion bread that will win them over, but a little bribery never hurt. It’s the willingness to listen and not judge that will turn them your way. Or, rather, God’s way. And step three is to share part of your own story with them, briefly, passionately, in a way that connects with their stories. Who are you? Why do you care about them really? What do you love about church and God’s creation? And what do they think about what you’ve said? Of course, there’s no fail-safe, step-by-step way to connect with college students or anyone for that matter. Evangelism, church growth, discipleship—they’re all about relationship. And that takes work and presence. There’s a hunger out there, folks, and it won’t be filled with contemporary worship services or Twitter. It will be filled by you, by your willingness to take risks, and by Jesus working next to you. --reprinted from Interchange, the Diocese of Southern Ohio
Transitions Deaths
Lottie Voce St. Paul’s, Marquette
Reaffirmation of Baptism Faith Cole Katie Edwards Michael Edwards Kathy Halverson St. Paul’s, Marquette
This fall we will once again be placing billboards around the Upper Peninsula, to raise awareness of the welcome that we offer to all people. You can help with this project, by sending a donation to continue our billboard campaign. Each billboard costs about $140 to make, and about $275 a month to rent the
billboard space. Will you help with this project, to share the great gift that is the Episcopal Church in the Upper Peninsula? Thank you for your support. You can send your donation to The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, 131 East Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855 Please note on your check that it is for advertising support.
Page 4D
Church In Hiawathaland
December 2012
It’s time for Winter Camp! December 27-29, 2012 St. Paul’s Church, Marquette A little snow, a little water, a little prayer Some good food and good friends What more could you ask from a Christmas break? Grades 5-12 +++ $10 donation Registrations coming in the mail ~or~ register online at www.upepiscopal.org
Learning as a lifelong journey One of the gifts of mutual ministry is that it puts continuing education and formation at the core of our life together. Congregations around the diocese learn together in many different ways: LifeCycles was developed by Northern Michigan in partnership with other dioceses and indivuduals around the Episcopal Church and beyond. LifeCycles is based upon the understanding that all Christians are called to, and commissioned by, baptism for participation in Christ’s ministry in the world and in the church. In most cases, LifeCycles is used as the formation process for our mutual ministry teams which will provide the primary pastoral leadership in congregations. LifeCycles supports members in doing ministry in the church and in daily life, introduces people to creative liturgy, invites them into
a deeper spiritual life, engages them in studying the Scriptures and theology, offers them knowledge and skills for Christian living and gives them practical help in leading congregations. Around the diocese, some groups are studying books together, such as John Shelby Spong’s new book Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World, or John McQuiston’s Always We Begin Again, an exploration of the Benedictine Rule for everyday Christians. Youth and children in our diocese have opportunities to learn and share in their congregations, and especially in coming together at summer and winter camps.
Thank you for your support! Each year we write to ask for your donations in support of The Church in Hiawathaland. It is through your generousity that we have been ablee to bring you this newspaper in partnership with Episcopal Journal.
If you would like to contribute, please send your donation to the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, Hiawathaland Appeal, 131 East Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855
Women’s Winter Respite: the pause after the holidays Coralie Hambleton The Women’s Ministries Council invites all women to the fourth annual Women’s Winter Respite Retreat, January 25-27, 2013 at Marygrove Retreat center in Garden, Michigan. This is a weekend to refresh your body, your mind and your spirit. A time to pull away from the busyness of our lives, of being the caretakes of our families and communities with so many responsibilities we forget to allow ourselves time to rejuvenate, and restore our energies. Jesus went to a quiet place to pray, and withdrew where the crowds couldn’t find him. He knew the importance of solitude with God, to restore himself. He told us to love one another as yourself. Sisters, we get the ‘love one another’ very well; but the taking ‘loving ourselves’ part not so well. The Women’s Winter Respite is designed to allow you to withdraw for a short 42 hours, to love yourself, do the quiet things you haven’t had time to do, to worship and enjoy fellowship with other women.
You are encouraged to bring to the retreat items which you’ve been meaning to get to, something which allows you to relax: reading material, knitting, beading, quilting or whatever restores you. For some this will be walking in the woods, or cross country skiing, sitting in the chapel and meditating, or just watching movies together. Time will be built in for worship, including Taize music. We have shared opportunities to try handwork such as beading, quilting, coloring mandalas, and knitting prayer shawls. There are no requirement. The retreat is yours to design to meet your own needs. Sleep, eat, nap, eat, walk, eat, laugh, play, worship: comfort and self care. The staff at Marygrove feeds us well, too! The Marygrove retreat center is located in the village of Gardenb, on M-183, 9 miles south of the US-2 intersection, 17 miles west of Manistique. Saturday and Sunday meals are included. The retreat begins Friday evening with gathering at 7:00pm (eastern). You may arrive anytime after 4:30pm. Bring a friend, all denominations are welcome.
At this retreat there is no agenda, no guilt!
For more information, contact Judy Anderson at 906-474-9801 or Coralie Hambleton at 906-869-2046.
Cost is $115. Mail $20 by January 15, 2013 to Judy Andersen, 8605 Schaawe Lane, Rapid River, MUI 49879. Please make your check out to Marygrove Center. Name__________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________ Phone__________________________ email______________________________ Special needs, including dietary _______________________________________