October 2014 - Episcopal Journal

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Episcopalians seek to
erase stigma of suicide,
inspire church advocacy
8
Church has
role in
racial justice
By Pat McCaughan
Episcopal News Service
F
12
Photographs
show presence
of God
14
October 2014
Photo/ENS
The Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas prepares for the Out of the
Darkness walk in Philadelphia for suicide prevention.
Wine is
“Bear’s”
passion
or the Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas, walking Philadelphia streets
until the evening darkness dissolved into dawn meant raising
nearly $6,000 to aid in suicide prevention and “bringing the whole subject of
mental illness and depression into the
light where people aren’t afraid of it anymore.”
“Fear is one of the biggest barriers”
to helping those affected by suicide, said
Thomas, a curate at St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pa. She participated in the 16-mile American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
“Out of Darkness” walk last summer in
memory of her son, Seth Alan Peterson,
who was 24 when he ended his life five
years ago.
During September, Suicide Prevention Month, and Episcopalians across
the country worked to get faith communities involved in raising awareness.
Suicide affects people across social,
economic and racial categories; in 2011
a person died by suicide nearly every 13
minutes in the United States, according
to AFSP statistics. For Native Ameri-
cans, generally speaking, the numbers
are even higher.
The high-profile Aug. 11 death of actor and comedian Robin Williams, an
Episcopalian, epitomizes the misunderstandings and stigmas about suicide and
the mental illness that frequently fuels it,
said Thomas.
According to AFSP statistics, about
60 percent of those who die by suicide
suffer from major depression; if alcoholism is factored into the equation, the
number rises to 75 percent.
One misconception, said Thomas, is
that suicide is a choice. “Williams was
very open about his struggle with addiction and depression, which go hand in
hand,” she said. “But even he reached a
point where there was no way forward
for him, and it was not him making the
choice. I want people to understand that
people don’t choose to do this. It’s not
a rational act. It’s the illness making the
choice for the person who is suffering.”
Similarly, her son Seth was an aspiring
actor, a witty, vibrant, engaging person,
full of life, but who had a severe bout of
depression his first year away at college,
she said. He extended his college career
but “struggled for the next five years to
continued on page 6
get some traction
Liberia’s Cuttington University,
diocese at epicenter of Ebola crisis
By Episcopal News Service
L
iberia’s Cuttington University, located
near one of the epicenters of West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, is reaching out to
its surrounding communities while worrying about the epidemic’s impact on the nowclosed school’s future and mourning the loss of
graduates and friends.
Meanwhile, throughout Liberia and Sierra Leone, Episcopal Relief & Development is in regular contact with local church partners who “are
leveraging their widespread presence and trusted
reputation to alleviate suffering and contain the
Ebola outbreak” that has killed at least 1,427 people in West Africa since March 2014, according
to an Aug. 27 press release.
Partners in both countries are mobilizing local volunteers to promote accurate information
about Ebola and distribute hygiene and sanitation
supplies, while the Episcopal Church of Liberia is
supplying food parcels for households in quarantined communities and providing basic protective
equipment for health workers at local hospitals,
Episcopal Relief & Development reported.
The shipment of facemasks, gloves, gowns and
other protective supplies from Episcopal Relief &
Development’s Africa Regional Office in Ghana
arrived in Liberia and were given to three area
hospitals – Phebe Hospital, Redemption Hospital
and C.H. Rennie Hospital – in a commissioning
ceremony by Archbishop Jonathan B.B. Hart.
Abiy Seifu, senior program officer for Episcopal Relief & Development, described the situation as “extremely dire,” due both to the severity
of the disease and the difficulty in containing it.
“People want to care for sick family members at
continued on page 7
home, they are afraid to go
A staff member in Episcopal Relief & Development’s
Africa Regional Office in Ghana models the
protective supplies shipped to Liberia.
Photo/Courtesy of Episcopal Relief & Development
2
Episcopal Journal October 2014
ANGLICAN DIGEST
Anglican Digest is a column of news and features
from churches in the Anglican Communion.
Church supports stateless
To give visibility to the voices of stateless people in society as well as to strategize about supporting protection of their
rights, church organizations held a consultation in Den Dolder, Netherlands,
in preparation for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) First
Global Forum on Statelessness planned
for Sept. 15-17 in The Hague.
The consultation, organized by the
World Council of Churches and Kerk in
Actie (Church in Action), was held from
Sept. 12-14. It developed recommendations to be shared at the forum in The
Hague. The document highlights how
“stateless people are among the most
vulnerable in the world and are exposed
to degradation and inhumanity, in the
form of human trafficking, exploitation,
forced migration, arbitrary detention
and deportation, as well as being compelled to live on the margins of society.”
Photo/ACNS/WCC
Stateless persons attended a fellowship lunch
at Binnenwaai Church in Amsterdam.
Journal
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ISSN: 2159-6824
It encourages churches to continue to
“reach out to and protect stateless people, providing them care and support,
challenging the discrimination they face
and thereby increasing the ability of the
churches to respond to their needs.”
Some 30 representatives from churches, ecumenical organizations, academia,
human rights and civil society groups,
and UNHCR, including stateless people,
were present at the consultation.
The need for an effective birth-registration system as a means of preventing childhood statelessness was stressed
at the event. The participants brought
into focus the heightened risk of stateless
people becoming victims of exploitative
practices such as trafficking.
Alcohol ban could affect
Eucharist in South India
Churches in India’s southern Kerala
state have given a mixed response to government proposals for a total prohibition
of alcohol within 10 years.
While Christian leaders have welcomed the ban, which will be gradually
phased in over the next decade, some are
concerned at calls for Communion wine
to be included.
Bishop of the Church of South India’s
South Kerala Diocese Dharmaraj Rasalam
told the Financial Times, “There are so
many drunkards in our society — it is a
grave concern among the people. It is very
good to abolish alcohol from this land.
They cannot stop it in a day, a week or a
month, but the church is supporting the
government to get rid of all these things.”
However, there have been calls from
some quarters for the church to come
under the ban and replace all its Communion wine with non-alcoholic substitutes.
V.M. Sudheeran, the president of the
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee,
said the call to ban wine in churches was
not appropriate considering it had been
part of centuries-old ritual and tradition.
Keralans consume the highest amount
of alcohol of any state in India, and temperance groups have been pressing for
a total ban to address a alcohol abuse
problem across the state. Some have criticized the move, however, saying that it
will be a very bad decision for the tourist
industry in a state that welcomes around
800,000 visitors a year.
Floods hit three countries
N
ine northern
districts
in
Bangladesh
have been affected by severe flooding
that has seen 17 rivers rise
above the danger level.
Around one million people
there have lost their homes,
land and livelihoods.
The situation has started
to improve in some places.
But severe river erosion in
the flood-hit districts has
Photo/ACNS/Daily Sabah
destroyed yet more proper- Bangladesh was hit by flooding in early September.
ties, land and local assets.
Erosion and flooding so far partially or mission for Development in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, thousands of people are
totally damaged 17,074 houses, 308 kilometers of kutcha roads, 45 kilometers stranded across the Indian part of Kashof embankments and 11 bridges. Stand- mir and parts of northern and eastern
ing crops on 3,429 hectares of land have Pakistan. Flash floods and landslides
been submerged under floodwater in have caused more than 300 deaths after six days of heavy rain. As of Sept. 9,
four upazilas.
The Church of Bangladesh is moni- nearly 9,000 people had been evacuated
toring the situation and is in contact with and communities were preparing for
the ACT Alliance and Christian Com- worsening conditions. n
Kearon elected bishop
The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon,
secretary general of the Anglican Communion, has been elected a bishop in the
Church of Ireland.
Kearon, who was appointed to his
current role in 2004, will become the
next bishop of the Diocese of Limerick
and Killaloe. He succeeds Bishop Trevor
Williams, who retired at the end of July.
Primate re-elected
Congo Anglicans re-elected the Most
Rev. Henri Isingoma as primate of the
Province de L’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo, giving him the mandate to lead the
church there for another five years.
Isingoma said the re-election gave
him an opportunity to continue with
the various activities, projects and policies meant to develop the church.
“For instance, we need to revisit our
church’s constitution and adapt it to the
realities on the ground,” he said. “We
also need to work on restoring and promoting good relationships with other
churches in the Anglican Communion
and other denominations.”
In a closely contested election held
in Kinshasa by the House of Bishops,
Isingoma got five votes while the other
candidate, Bishop of Kindu Diocese
Zacharia Masimango, got four votes.
Environmental bishop named
Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam
has accepted the invitation of the
archbishops of Canterbury and York to
succeed the bishop of London as the
Church of England’s lead bishop for
environmental affairs.
Holtam will work with the Mission
and Public Affairs department of the
Archbishops’ Council and also with
the Cathedral and Church Buildings
Division on the Church of England’s
Shrinking the Footprint campaign. He
will also chair the new Working Group
on the Environment established by
General Synod in February 2014. n
Sources: ACNS, Anglican Alliance,
Church of England, WCC.
From The editor’s desk
R
eading the two stories on page
one this month, I’m reminded of the old 1960s slogan:
“The personal is political.”
The subject of suicide continues in
our coverage from last month, when we
remembered Robin Williams’ “10 reasons to be Episcopalian.” Any individual
struggle with depression is a deeply personal story, but striking a light in that
darkness means taking the stories public.
Those walking last summer in support of the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention included the Rev.
Elaine Ellis Thomas of St. Edward’s
Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pa.,
whose son ended his life.
Thomas says that society and church
communities need to talk about mental
illness and suicide to dispel fear, misunderstanding and stigma. That’s the
“political” part.
When my Episcopal congregation
lost a member to suicide, one of our
clergy told the congregation, at the
first service after she died, that “our
sister took her own life.” There was almost a collective intake of breath, but
it was the right thing to do. Now her
church family could pray and honestly
talk about what had happened and see
where the church might be helpful in
the future.
Our second story on page one in-
volves attempts to cope with a deadly
outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa.
The Episcopal Church-founded Cuttington University in Liberia is on the
front lines, and so is the U.S.-based
Episcopal Relief & Development.
Physical illness is as personal as
emotional distress, but the “political”
aspect involves the wider church and
the world. Here, too, the church has a
spiritual and practical role. Besides providing a ministry of presence with those
stricken by the virus, our partners in
Africa are promoting accurate information and distributing food and sanitation supplies. When the church works
at healing, we all pull together. n
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
3
News
Massachusetts Bishop Gayle Harris
makes history in Welsh cathedral
women bishops around the Anglican
Communion, and their ministry is as
natural and appropriate as our fundamental membership in the church, male
and female,” he told ENS. “In fact, the
women bishops I have known have been
of exceptional ability and talent. It is
op in the Episcopal Church, her arrival
in the U.K. didn’t go as smoothly as expected. The U.K. Border Force detained
s the Church in Wales prepares
Harris for more than five hours and
to enable women to become
told her she would have to return to the
bishops, Suffragan Bishop
United States even though she had the
Gayle Harris of the Diocese
required paperwork and permissions, inof Massachusetts became the
cluding from the Church in
first female Anglican bishop
Wales and the archbishop of
to preside and preach in a
York.
Welsh cathedral.
Despite the ordeal, Harris
“The church is not just ensaid that the border officers
riched by women’s ordination,
“were very polite, civil and
it’s more enabled and empowcourteous” and that, once
ered by women’s presence,”
they’d discovered that her
she said during a telephone
visit was legitimate, the deinterview from the United
portation order was rescindKingdom as she prepared for
ed. “I know that the people
her historic participation in
at the airport were just trythe Eucharist on Aug. 31 at
ing to do their job,” she said,
St. Asaph Cathedral in Denadding that the head officer
bighshire, North Wales. “I see
of the U.K. Border Force
women bringing to the fore
apologized for the detention
the desire that all people sit at
being so long.
the table of leadership, that all
Harris already had plans
share in the benefits of the life
in place to visit the U.K. —
of God. Nobody should be igto officiate at her goddaughnored or left out.”
ter’s wedding — when she
Although the Church in
was invited to send a greeting
Wales voted on Sept. 12,
to Crossing the Threshold, a
2013, to allow women as bishconference celebrating the
ops, it decided that church law
law change to enable women
would not be changed for one
to become bishops.
year to allow the Welsh bishShe was scheduled to atops time to prepare a Code of
tend the Sept. 4 conference
Photo/Nathaniel Ramanaden
Practice. The Church of Engin Cardiff, and retired BishBishop Gregory Cameron invited Massachusetts Suffragan Bishop
land also made history when Gayle Harris to preach and preside at St. Asaph’s Cathedral.
op Geralyn Wolf of Rhode
its General Synod, meeting
Island was to participate as a
last July, approved legislation to enable precisely because women bishops are keynote speaker.
not new to the communion that I’m dewomen to serve as bishops.
The Episcopal Church became the
Harris’s visit came at the invitation lighted to have had the chance to invite first Anglican Communion province
of Diocese of St. Asaph Bishop Gregory Bishop Gayle Harris to join us, as we to open the episcopate to women by
Cameron, who said he’d been surprised approach the date when women may be an act of General Convention in 1976,
at how long it had taken the Church in elected to the episcopate in Wales.”
although it would be another 13 years
But for Harris, the second African- until Barbara Harris — Gayle Harris’s
Wales to ordain women as bishops.
“I’ve had significant experience of American woman to be ordained a bish- predecessor in Massachusetts — was
By Matthew Davies
Episcopal News Service
A
ordained as its first female bishop in
1989. Last July, the Episcopal Church
celebrated 40 years since the first women
were ordained as priests. The majority of
Anglican Communion provinces do not
ordain women as bishops.
Bishop Gayle Harris was ordained to
the priesthood in 1982 and elected as suffragan bishop of Massachusetts in 2002.
During her sermon at St. Asaph’s, Harris
spoke about being a follower of Christ
and explained that discipleship wasn’t
easy and involved personal cost.
As the first black woman to celebrate
mass in an upstate New York church in
the early 1990s, Harris received various
reactions, both positive and negative.
“No one in that parish had ever seen a
woman in that sanctuary, but they took
the risk to call me as rector” of St. Luke
and St. Simon Cyrene Church in Rochester, N.Y., she said.
“During the first Sunday I chose not
to celebrate but to sit among them to
get to know them,” she added. Some parishioners said that they were not going
to come back, Harris said. Fortunately,
most did, including some dissenting parishioners who later admitted “it was not
as bad as they had expected.”
“What’s important is the presence of
God,” Harris said. “I am first and foremost created in the image of God. No
one can deny that is my identity. But all
of my experience of negative response
is not over. I have been held as incompetent because of who I am as a black
woman. That continues. I still think that
this world has to deal with the difference
of skin color.”
Harris said she was grateful to Cameron for his invitation to St. Asaph’s. “It
says a lot about him and how gracious he
is. But I see this as another opportunity to
engage and encounter the other,” she said.
“I believe God is in this moment.” n
Archbishop of Canterbury visits Anglicans in Brazil and Chile
T
he archbishop of Canterbury on Sept. 8 concluded
a four-day visit to Anglicans
in Brazil and Chile, part of
his series of visits to Anglican primates
worldwide, according to a Lambeth Palace news release.
Archbishop Justin Welby and his
wife, Caroline, spent two days visiting
the primate of the Anglican Episcopal
Church of Brazil, Bishop Francisco de
Assis da Silva, before flying to Chile to
visit the presiding bishop of the Southern Cone, Bishop Tito Zavala.
Welby is visiting all his fellow primates around the Anglican Communion
during his first 18 months in office.
In the Brazilian capital of São Paulo,
the archbishop met and prayed with
local bishops, clergy and laity. He also
preached at Most Holy Trinity Parish,
reflecting on the theme of his visit — “I
am the vine … if you remain in me you
will bear much fruit” (John 15.5).
While in Brazil, Welby also addressed local ecumenical leaders about
the importance of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue for the Anglican
Communion.
In the Chilean capital, Santiago, he
attended a special service in which the
province officially changed its name to
the Anglican Church of South America.
The service was one of thanksgiving for
Allen Gardiner, the man who founded
the South American Mission Society
and sacrificed his life as one of the continent’s first missionaries.
Welby also attended a special event
with Chilean religious, social and political leaders, where he spoke on the role
of faith in the development of society,
and preached at a parish Sunday morning service in Santiago. n
Photo/Lambeth Palace
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, front row, third from left, meets with Anglican
bishops in São Paulo, Brazil, part of a series of visits to Anglican primates.
4
Episcopal Journal October 2014
EPISCOPAL LIVES
Conference to address economic equality
A
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
A view from a Washington Army National Guard helicopter shows trees that were at
the very top of the hill when the mudslide occurred now lie across the slide’s width.
Mudslide relief continues
F
ive months after a major mudslide occurred near Oso, a rural
area 60 miles northeast of Seattle, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Olympia expressed gratitude to
all who had donated to the ongoing relief efforts, while focusing on the future.
“Through our combined efforts, the
Episcopal Church has dispersed approximately $35,000 to date,” including donations from people and congregations, said the Rev. Janet Loyd, vicar
of Church of the Transfiguration in
Darrington, just east of Oso.
The March 22 mudslide dammed
the Stillaguamish River and buried
more than one square mile of
the landscape, killing 43 people.
Darrington was isolated when the slide
Richard Reid,
former VTS dean
covered a portion of Highway 530.
Recovery has taken place in phases
and will continue long-term. Initially,
the biggest gift was prayer. Donated
books, cards, prayer shawls and squares,
quilts, fleece blankets and comfort rocks
were distributed. Monetary donations
were largely used for gas cards, hotel accommodations and community funeral
dinners.
Later, those affected received help
developing long-term plans for recovery. Donations provided scholarships
for affected children to participate in
summer camp and other programs and
paid for storage containers, replacement vehicles, and various expenses,
from medical bills to mortgages and
construction costs. n
Obit ua r ies
The Very Rev. Richard Reid, Th.D.,
dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., from
1983-1994, died on Sept. 6.
Born in 1928 and a native of Providence, R.I., Reid earned degrees from
Harvard University; the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Mass.; and
Union Theological Seminary in New
York. He was ordained a deacon in 1955
and a priest in 1956.
Reid first came to VTS in 1958 as a
member of the New Testament department. In 1969, he became associate dean
for academic affairs.
Sister Lucy, first Tennessee
woman ordained
On Aug. 29, the Rev. Lucy Lee Shetters of the Community of St. Mary,
Southern Province, died in her 80th year
of life, the 58th year of her religious profession and the 34th year of her priestly
ordination. She was the first woman to
be ordained in the Diocese of Tennessee.
A Tennessee native, she entered the
Community of St. Mary in 1954. She
served seven years as a missionary in
the Philippines, followed by time in
the community’s two schools, as assis-
tant superior and novice mistress at the
“mother house” in Peekskill, N.Y., and
as sister-in-charge of St. Mary’s Convent
in Sewanee, Tenn., where she helped develop the retreat center that later became
known as St. Mary’s Sewanee.
Sister Lucy was ordained a priest in
1980. She served in the convent’s chapel and other locations in the diocese as
well as, off and on, as sister-in-charge of
the Community of St. Mary’s Southern
Province for 36 years.
Frederick Wissemann,
Massachusetts bishop
diverse group of scholars, faith
leaders and economists will offer strategies for developing a
more just economy and instill
the confidence to take action for social
change at Trinity Institute’s 44th National Theological Conference, “Creating
Common Good: A Practical Conference
on Economic
Equality,” at
Trinity Wall
Street in New
York
from
Jan. 22-25.
Dr. Cornel West, author of “The Rich
and the Rest of Us,” will give the opening keynote address. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will consider when
inequality becomes sinful and talk about
the common good. Barbara Ehrenreich,
author of “Nickel and Dimed,” will discuss the class divide in American society,
delving into issues such as immigration,
poverty, gender and mobility. Former
Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will discuss his 2013 documentary, “Inequality
for All.”
Registration is open
for
on-site
participants.
Video-linked
partner sites are located throughout the
United States and abroad. For more information, visit http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/trinity-institute/2015/. n
T r a n siti o n s
Mass. bishop offers update
on illness
Bishop Thomas Shaw, SSJE, of
the Diocese of
Massachusetts,
sent a message
to his diocese
on Aug. 25 announcing that
Shaw
the brain cancer
he has been battling since May 2013 is
incurable and expressing gratitude for
ongoing prayers and support.
“At the recommendation of my
medical team, I’ve decided now to
pursue a course of treatment that will
provide a good quality of life, though
for how long, we can’t be sure,” Shaw
wrote. “My prayer feels different from
day to day. Some days there is an expansiveness to it, and on other days,
it isn’t so easy, though there aren’t too
many of those days. But throughout,
good days and more difficult days, I
feel supported by you, the people of
this diocese and beyond, and by your
prayers, and I’ve felt my faith life grow
in significant ways. I am looking forward to what God will bring in this
new time.”
Shaw, who has served the diocese as
its bishop since 1995, retired in September when the Rev. Alan M. Gates
was ordained and consecrated as the
16th bishop.
Wibrew has more than 15 years’
experience in building donor, client
and professional adviser relationships
at such organizations as The National
World War II Museum, University of
Houston, the Tennyson Center for
Children in Denver and the University
of Denver.
GTS names ‘Wisdom’ staff
The Rev. Danielle Thompson,
chaplain for pastoral care, and the Rev.
Stephanie Spellers, adjunct professor
of church and society, have taken on
expanded roles at General Theological
Seminary in New York to help implement the seminary’s new initiative,
The Way of Wisdom.
As coordinator of integrative programs, Thompson will coordinate field
education, clinical pastoral education
and planning and implementation
of the Wisdom Year, when third-year
seminarians work at parishes and other
ministry settings. As director of mission and reconciliation, Spellers will
teach and lead programs related to
mission, evangelism and reconciliation
in the field of ministry and will begin
expanding seminary offerings to the
outside community.
Servant leader honored
Irit Umani, executive director of
Trinity Center in Austin, Texas, has
received the 2014 Cook Award in Servant Leadership from the Seminary of
the Southwest in
Austin. Trinity
Center cares for
people living on
Austin’s streets or
in shelters near
the downtown
St. David’s Episcopal Church,
which launched
Umani
the
ministry
years ago. The award is named after
retired seminary professor of pastoral
theology, the Rev. Charlie Cook. n
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Frederick Wis‘Major gifts’ officers named
semann, the sixth bishop of the Diocese
Victoria Manley of New York and
of Western Massachusetts, died Aug. 20.
Karen
A. Wibrew of Colorado have
Ordained a deacon and priest in
been
named
Episcopal Church major
1953, Wissemann, 86, was consecrated
gifts
officers.
Members of the Episcobishop in 1984 and served until 1992.
pal
Church
Development
Office, they
When elected, he had been rector of St.
are
responsible
for
identifying,
cultiStephen’s in Pittsfield for 16 years and
vating,
soliciting
and
stewarding
proalso extended pastoral care to St. Marspective
major
donors.
tin’s in Pittsfield and St. Luke’s, LanesManley has extensive experience in
boro, according to the current bishop,
fundraising
in New York nonprofits
Douglas Fisher.
including
the
Manhattan School of
Wissemann also served in the dioMusic,
the
ASPCA
and CARE USA,
cese’s finance and administration deand
nonprofits
in
Atlanta.
partment. He was rector of St. James,
Greenfield, from 1960-1968 following
seven years with churches in the Diocese Sources: Diocese of Olympia, Trinity Wall Street, Episcopal Church Public Affairs Office,
GTS, VTS, ENS, Seminary of the Southwest.
of Connecticut. n
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
5
NEWS
T
Task force suggests changes in church structure
ERAL C
GEN
ON
E
H
OPAL CHURC
SC
H
PI
he Taskforce for Reimagin- about our collective mission to serve
ing the Episcopal Church Christ. We have appreciated your feed(TREC), charged with exam- back, your encouragement and your
ining changes to the Episcopal criticism of our work so far. We look to
Church’s structure and governance, issued continue our dialogue with you in the
a letter to the church in September.
months to come and encourage you to
The letter recommends that
respond to this letter, to particiION OF THE
T
General Convention legN
E pate in our virtual town hall
VE
islative committees be
meeting that we will wereduced and that the
bcast from Washington
length of the convenNational Cathedral on
tion be limited, that
Oct. 2 [see details beExecutive Council be
low] and to engage in
reduced to 21 memdialogue with us as we
bers from the current
join provincial meet40 and that churchings and other forums.
wide staff in certain areas
We thank you for your
“transition … to a primarinput
to date and for your
• A
. D . 1 7 8 5 • prayers for our work together.
ily contractor-only model.”
This is an excerpt. The full text
The Episcopal Church’s strucmay be read at www.episcopalchurch.org tures and governance processes reflect
by typing “TREC” in the search box at assumptions from previous eras that do
the top of the home page.
not always fit with today’s contexts. They
have not adapted to the rapidly changTREC Letter to the Church:
ing cultural, political and social environJesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, ments in which we live. The churchwide
come out!” The dead man came out, his structures and governance processes are
hands and feet bound with bandages, and too disconnected from local needs and
his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said too often play a “gating” or regulatory
to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” role to local innovation. They are often
(John 11:43–44)
too slow and confusing to deal decisively
As the Taskforce for Reimagining with tough and urgent tradeoffs or to
the Episcopal Church (TREC) has pro- pursue bold directions that must be set
gressed in our work, we have come to see at the churchwide level.
the raising and unbinding of Lazarus as
Our study and observations would
a helpful way of understanding this mo- suggest, for example, that:
ment in the life of the Episcopal Church.
• General Convention has historically
We believe Jesus is calling our church to been most effective in deliberatively disnew life and vitality, but the church is cerning and evolving the church’s posiheld back by its bindings —old ways of tion on large-scale issues. This should
working that no longer serve us well.
continue to be the primary role of GenWe write this as we begin the final eral Convention.
months of our work, to give you an
• General Convention is not orgaupdate about our thinking and emerg- nized to drive clear prioritization of reing recommendations for your prayer- sourcing; address technical issues; set a
ful consideration and feedback. We will clear agenda for churchwide staff; launch
publish our final report and specific leg- bold programs of innovation or reform;
islative proposals in December 2014.
or ensure accountability for effective and
In the 18 months since we first met as efficient execution by the churchwide
a task force, we have been in conversa- staff.
tion with many of you — in person and
• Neither the Executive Council nor
virtually — about your hopes, dreams, the presiding bishop’s office are fully efideas and concerns for the church and fective in complementing the General
Convention. Churchwide staff functions
have evolved their roles and mindsets to
be increasingly responsive and supportive
of local mission, but their purpose and
scope are not clear and broadly understood across the church. Highly skilled
people and well-developed programs are
underutilized because local groups do not
know they exist. In other situations, dioceses report frustration that churchwide
programs are not responsive or adequate
to meet their local needs. There are not
sufficient systems of transparency around
how churchwide resources are used or
held accountable for their effectiveness
and resource stewardship.
In our final report, we will illustrate
how these recommended changes would
help the Episcopal Church to more
effectively and efficiently address critical
and urgent agenda items, with the
flexibility to innovate and experiment
more rapidly and to adopt bold courses
of action where necessary.
The churchwide meeting on Oct. 2
will begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The meeting will be webcast live from
Washington National Cathedral. n
Panelists named for church’s Civil
Discourse in America forum
P
olitical, interfaith and education leaders are scheduled to
participate in the Civil Discourse in America: Finding
Common Ground for the Greater
Good forum in Philadelphia at 2 p.m.
Eastern time on Oct. 22.
Produced by the Episcopal Church
in partnership with the Diocese of
Pennsylvania, the 90-minute live webcast will originate from historic Christ
Church.
The forum will be moderated by
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, executive religion editor for the Huffington
Post. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will present the keynote
address.
Two panel discussions will focus on
the themes of civil discourse and faith,
and civil discourse in politics and policy. Panelists include David Boardman,
dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University in
Philadelphia; John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; Rabbi Steve Gutow, president and CEO of the Jewish Council
on Public Affairs, Washington D.C.;
Hugh Forrest, director of the South by
Southwest Interactive Festival; Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, executive director
of the National Institute on Civil Discourse and Bishop Prince Singh of the
Diocese of Rochester (N.Y.)
There is no fee to view the live
webcast at www.episcopalchurch.
org. Questions can be e-mailed
before and during the live webcast to
publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org.
Resources such as bibliography,
on-demand video, materials for
community and individual review,
discussion questions and lesson plans
will be available. For more information
contact Neva Rae Fox, Episcopal
Church public affairs officer, at
publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org. n
MOVING?
T
Standing Commission seeks input on
‘Holy Women, Holy Men’
A
fter reviewing responses to
“Holy Women, Holy Men,” a
book listing saints’ feast days,
the Standing Commission on
Liturgy and Music (SCLM) is proposing
that a calendar and liturgical material for
optional commemorations be included
in a volume titled “A Great Cloud of
Witnesses.” The full proposal is on the
commission’s blog, liturgyandmusic.
wordpress.com.
As noted on the website: “‘A Great
Cloud of Witnesses’ represents the desire
of General Convention for a revision of
the calendar of the church that reflects
the lively experience of sainthood, especially on the level of the local community.
In this way, ‘A Great Cloud of Witnesses’
is a tool for learning about the history
of the church and identifying those who
have inspired us and challenged us from
the time of the New Testament down to
the present moment.”
“The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music welcomes suggestions
and comments as we prepare for General
Convention 2015,” said the Rev. Ruth
Meyers, commission chair. “We hope
that this new approach responds to the
feedback we’ve received on ‘Holy Women, Holy Men.’”
Comments may be submitted via email (sclm@episcopalchurch.org) or on
the SCLM blog. n
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6
Episcopal Journal October 2014
News
‘
y son thought nobody
M
cared about him. At his
funeral, it was standing
room only.
the stuff I was going through and
munity, St. Luke’s Church in Bathe pain.”
ton Rouge, La.
over his depressive episodes,” she said.
The response was overwhelmThe parish health-ministries di“We would think he was OK; that he ing. “People came out of the woodrector and pastoral-care facilitator
was taking his meds, going to therapy, work,” Johnson recalled. “They
organized a parish suicide-prevenand then later we’d find out he hadn’t were telling me things like, ‘Yes,
tion awareness workshop several
been sleeping at night and wasn’t going I’ve experienced something like
years ago, but she still cries when
to classes.”
that, with my brother, my father,
describing how she groped for
He died Feb. 9, 2009, shortly after and we never talked about it.’”
words to explain her brother-in— The Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas
a phone call with Thomas. “My son
She participated in educational
law Brian’s suicide to her children,
thought nobody cared about him,” she efforts developed by the mentalthen fourth- and eighth-graders.
said. “At his funeral, it was standing health commission of the Diocese
“Yesterday was the 20-year anniroom only, with friends and loved ones of Virginia.
versary of Brian’s death,” she said.
grieving and mourning and saying, ‘I
Paul Ackerman, a psychologist
“I remember asking my son John,
wish I had known.’”
and health commission co-chair,
‘Do you understand what Uncle
Often, those contemplating ending told ENS, “We were working
Brian did?’ I told him, ‘I want you
their lives — and their survivors — to include people with mentalto know that … if you’re hurting
suffer in painful silence because of the health issues in congregations. We
you can talk to us, to the priest, to
shame and stigma associated with both found that one of the big probyour sister, your teachers, and if we
mental illness and suicide, Thomas said. lems at the time was suicide and
don’t have the information to help
“While I have never tried to hide that it was something nobody
you, we will help you find it.’
the fact that Seth’s death was a suicide, talked about … We realized the
“He put down his Legos and
I know the feeling of having even close church had more responsibility to
said, ‘Well, Mama, maybe Uncle
friends avoid me, of well-meaning people help prevent this.”
Brian just didn’t know who to
at a loss for words or saying something
They offered a workshop, and
call.’”
really inappropriate, of support-group “almost no clergy showed up for it.
Suicide takes an incredible toll
participants who lost children to some It was mostly lay people with expeon families, Williams said. “We
other disease looking at me askance as if rience of suicide in their families,”
flew to Dallas and were bringing
Seth did not also suffer from a disease,” Ackerman recalled. “We realized
Brian’s ashes back, and my husshe wrote in a blog entry.
that even though everybody there
band had a heart attack in the airAt its 73rd General Convention in had been in churches that had had
port.”
2000, the Episcopal Church approved between one and seven suicides in
Four years ago her father-in-law,
Resolution D008, pledging prayer, sup- the last few years, nobody knew
a retired physician suffering with
port and advocacy for suicide-prevention what to do and it was a very painsevere chronic pain, ended his life.
awareness.
ful thing to talk about. We videoWilliams bristles when recalling a
But even faith communities “have taped all of the presentations and
note sent to her by someone sugavoided the difficult subject of suicide made it into four teaching units
gesting that those who end their
or even actively taught that those who that could be shown in adult-edulives by suicide are really playing
die by suicide are condemned to hell,” cation classes in churches.”
God. As survivors, “we don’t need
Thomas said. “In truth,” she added,
Albeit grim, “an attempted suito see that,” said Williams, 62.
some “have already served their time in cide is an opportunity for clergy
Looking back, “what helped us
hell while walking on this earth.”
to start educating people in the
was that ministry of presence and
congregation about what suicide
people not judging,” she said. “I
Photo/ENS
Playing the happy face
is and also to help them with their
didn’t ever expect to be going down
Seth Alan Peterson, the Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas’s son,
Katharina Johnson, 35 and expect- response to it,” he said.
this path once, much less twice.”
in whose memory she walked.
ing her second child, told ENS “things
Johnson agreed that simple
In Wyoming, Bishop John Smyare going great right now” but acknowl- things, such as moving from sin-laden career, but that didn’t change his feelings.” lie called upon the entire diocesan comedged that six years ago “I experienced language like “committed” suicide to the
“One pastor at New York University munity to incorporate awareness of Suimy two suicide attempts during what more neutral “ending a life,” and even when I was hospitalized there came, and cide Prevention Month through prayer,
other people would say should be the rendering suicide a verb, help to reduce he said, ‘I have no idea how you feel. worship and liturgy. In a Sept. 2 letter,
most happy time of your life.”
But, I’m so sorry you are where you are.’ he called the suicide rate in Wyoming a
the stigma.
She was a newlywed, and her husband
After Williams ended his life, online That was the most helpful thing I’ve ever public-health epidemic.
Matt was newly ordained to the Episco- comments revealed “how little we know heard,” Johnson said.
“We not only lead the nation in inpal priesthood. Yet, she recalled, “I was about mental illness,” Johnson said.
She battles her own fears, Johnson stances of suicide, but our rate of suicide
deeply depressed. But, like so many oth“There was utter disbelief at how a per- acknowledged. “We still live in this fear is among the highest in the world,” the
ers, I played the happy face even though son like that, a successful person, could of that hell coming back,” she said. “I letter said. Smylie created a committee
I was horribly in the pits.”
end up taking his own life,” she recalled. don’t think it will ever go away. It’s like to consider ways “our diocese can make
Therapy didn’t help, and, ultimately, “Another one was, ‘If he’d only known if you’re a diabetic and you’re on a great a difference in offering hope where there
“I overdosed twice,” she said. “It’s not ra- how much he was loved.’ He probably medicine regimen and everything works, is none.”
tional. I had a huge amount of stressors, knew somewhere on some level that he you always have in the back of your
The Rev. Bernadine Craft, a commitand there are always outside components was loved, that he had a hugely successful mind, you are a diabetic.”
tee chair, said the diocese had signed a
as well. In the end it was
“But that’s where the memorandum of understanding with
the disease that was just
church can play a role,” she state officials to facilitate a joint suicidenot bearable anymore.”
said. “I had great experiences prevention program.
Finally, medication alin the church and awful exWyoming has the highest suicide rate
leviated her depression.
periences in the church. We among states, at 23.2 suicide deaths per
She also realized, faircan help by acknowledg- 100,000 residents, according to 2010
ly early on, that staying
ing that life is messy and as statistics. Alaska ranked second, at 23.1.
silent about the disease
Christians our job is not to
Craft, a state senator, psychotherapist
was deadly, not only for
clean it up, because we can’t. and priest at the Church of the Holy
her, but potentially also
As Christians our job is to Communion in Rock Springs, said there
for others. She turned
walk with people in that was a lot of conjecture about the causes
to her faith community.
messiness. That’s what Jesus of Wyoming’s dubious distinction, in“I realized that it was
did.”
cluding alcohol and other substance
not going to help me or
Becky Williams turned abuse, easy access to firearms and its geoanybody to bottle up my
her own experience with graphic isolation.
experiences, so I slowly
suicide into a teachable moThose attending the Oct. 4 diocesan
started in a small group,
convention will receive packets of rePhoto/American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ment for her children and a
acknowledging some of The Philadelphia Out of the Darkness walk convenes at the art museum.
workshop for her faith com- sources, and training materials. n
Suicide continued from page 1
’
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
7
NEWS
Ebola continued from page 1
to the clinics because so many are dying,
and there is a great deal of misinformation about how Ebola is spread. Fear
about the disease is making the outbreak
worse, and we are aiming to combat this
fear with accurate information and support for basic needs.”
Development staff members of the
Episcopal Church of Liberia are working
with government health leaders in Bong
County to distribute food items such
as rice, cooking oil and canned meat in
four quarantined rural communities, the
agency reported.
Cuttington University’s main campus
in the interior of the central region of Liberia is about six miles from Gbarnga,
the capital of Bong County. Cuttington,
founded in 1889 in Liberia by the U.S.based Episcopal Church, has two other
campuses, one in the country’s capital,
Monrovia, and another nearly 45 miles
south of Monrovia.
The university is home to the largest nursing school in the country and,
because it offers the country’s only
bachelor’s degree in nursing, many of
its graduates work in critical-care situations. Many aspiring doctors take the
university’s bachelor’s in biology as a
prerequisite for the country’s only medical school, where Cuttington grads make
up the largest portion of students.
“This link between Cuttington and the
medical community is real and is causing
us great anguish,” Cuttington President
Henrique Tokpa wrote. “We know the
people involved in this epidemic, and we
sympathize with their families.”
The first medical worker in Liberia
to die from Ebola was a 2012 graduate
of Cuttington’s nursing school, Tokpa
wrote in the letter to the Rev. Ranjit Matthews, the Episcopal Church’s network
officer for global relations and networking. The nurse, whom Tokpa referred to
as Mr. Daah, was working in the hospital
in Foyah in northern Liberia.
A practicing medical doctor at the
Phebe Hospital – a Lutheran hospital
located near Cuttington’s main campus
and the nation’s largest public-health
institution – who also teaches part-time
in the College of Allied Health Sciences
at Cuttington unknowingly contracted
the Ebola virus and at the same time interacted with Cuttington’s nursing students, the president said.
The president gave five examples of
students, alumni and staff who have died,
including “Kwee,” a former employee
who died along with his wife and son.
Henry Callendee, dean of the School
of Education, has lost at least 12 members of his family, who live in a nowquarantined town in Lofa County, according to Tokpa.
At first, not much attention was paid
to the outbreak when it was in neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone “because
we did not anticipate the violent nature
of the Ebola virus,” Tokpa wrote in the
letter.
But by mid-July, with the university’s
“vacation school” still operating, Tokpa
said, “we immediately began to sense that
the situation was spiraling out of control.
So we took some immediate measures,”
including placing around
demic in the region,
campus buckets of chlorilike malaria, typhoid
nated water with spouts to
fever and Lassa fever.
encourage hand washing.
Factors contributThe staff invited doctors
ing to the high numand the head of a Bong
ber of deaths also
County Ebola task force to
include shortages of
campus gatherings to edupersonal protective
cate students, faculty, staff
equipment or its imand community members
proper use, far too
about the virus and how
few medical staff for
to protect themselves. Ofsuch a large outbreak
ficials “began to strategize
and “the compassion
about school closure” and
that causes medical
worked out ways to send
staff to work in isostudents home with ways
lation wards far befor them to finish the work
yond the number of
of the term, Tokpa said.
hours recommended
J. Kota Kesselly, dean of
as safe,” the organizathe School of Allied Health
tion said.
Sciences, has joined the
WHO reported on
Bong County task force,
Aug. 27 that Ebola
which meets daily.
had broken out in the
And the university has
Democratic Republic
donated more than 150
of Congo. The outgallons of gas to help run
break in Equateur
vehicles for people ashas been
Photo/Courtesy of Episcopal Diocese of Liberia Province
signed to bury the dead Task force members leading the Ebola response unload supplies in Liberia.
traced to a pregnant
and respond to calls for
woman from Ikanaaid from “live victims,” Tokpa wrote. care workers who have died. More than mongo Village who butchered a bush
Vegetables from the school’s garden have 240 health-care workers have developed animal that had been killed and given to
been donated as well as buckets for use the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria her by her husband. Eating bush meat is
as hand-washing stations in communi- and Sierra Leone, and more than 120 seen as a major way the virus moves from
ties that cannot afford to buy their own. have died, the WHO said on Aug. 25.
animals to humans.
“Ebola has taken the lives of promiAs school officials were planning how
In Sierra Leone, the Anglican Dioto shut down the vacation term, the Li- nent doctors in Sierra Leone and Libe- cese of Bo is participating in the governberian government ordered all schools ria, depriving these countries not only of ment District Health and Development
to close as part of an effort to stem the experienced and dedicated medical care Team’s planning and implementation
spread of Ebola. Cuttington had hoped but also of inspiring national heroes,” process for Ebola control, specifically on
to reopen in September or October, Tok- the WHO statement said.
detection and case management, EpiscoThe organization said many of the pal Relief & Development reported.
pa said.
The university is dependent on the deaths occurred among workers who iniThe agency reported that it is in contuition charged to students to pay its tially did not know that the person they versation with the Episcopal Church of
employees. Those employees have not were treating was infected with Ebola, in Liberia and the Anglican Diocese of Bo
been paid for June, July and August, and part because many health workers, es- in Sierra Leone about expanding activiface the prospect of not being paid in the pecially in urban areas, have never seen ties to reach remote communities and
near future, the president said in another the disease, and its early symptoms are longer-term engagement to address the
similar to other infectious diseases en- growing food crisis. n
document he sent to Mathews.
Plus the university will have to disinfect all of its buildings, according to
Tokpa. With 3,000 students expected
eventually to return, the university must
remain on alert when the epidemic subsides and schools can re-open, he said.
Cuttington’s partners at Rutgers
University in New Jersey are supplying
some basic support to the university and
Phebe Hospital in Bong County, he said.
“We have to remember that these
communities in West Africa now struggling with Ebola have only emerged in
recent years from more than a decade
of civil strife,” the Rev. Canon James G.
Callaway, general secretary of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican
Communion and treasurer of the American Friends of Cuttington, told ENS.
As of Aug. 22 the United Nations’
World Health Organization said there
had been 2,615 suspect and confirmed
Ebola cases, including 1,528 laboratoryconfirmed cases, and 1,427 deaths in
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. WHO said that the magnitude of
the Ebola outbreak may have been underestimated, due in part to families hiding infected loved ones in their homes.
The Ebola outbreak is unprecedented
in many ways, according to the organization, including the number of health-
8
Episcopal Journal October 2014
Feature
Church sees role in racial justice, reconciliation
By Pat McCaughan
Episcopal News Service
W
hile the fatal police
shooting of an unarmed
African-American teenager continued to spark
protests in Ferguson, Mo., Episcopalians
throughout the Unites States grappled
with the reality that such an incident
could have happened just about anywhere and with the question: What
should the church be doing about it?
Despite the Aug. 9 shooting death
of Michael Brown and its violent aftermath, the hope “is that it will finally be
the wakeup call we need in this country
to address this issue,” Bishop Stacy Sauls,
Episcopal Church chief operating officer, told ENS. “Because, in my opinion,
race relations in the United States have
been getting worse, not better.”
Festering tensions between the predominantly white Ferguson police department and the African-American
community erupted in violence after officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-yearold Brown. Conflicting eyewitness reports followed, and an independent
autopsy revealed Brown had been shot
six times. Ferguson police subsequently
identified Brown as a robbery suspect.
Local clergy and residents decried the
level of police violence directed against
the predominantly African-American
community.
Christian churches sparked the civil
rights movement, Sauls said, “and I think
we’re seeing a very strong call for us to be
involved again. One thing we can do is
bring people together to talk, not only
on a local level or a regional level, but for
a national conversation.”
Similarly, in an Aug. 20 statement
young adult members of the Union of
Black Episcopalians (UBE) cited, among
other things, “the subculture of prejudice
against black people resulting in headline after headline of another American
lying dead in neighborhood streets.”
The statement called upon UBE chapters across the country to help carry the
message “so that the prophetic voice of
the Episcopal Church resounds in speaking against the legacy of institutionalized oppression in the United States and
across our world.”
Hard realities
Chester Hines began serving as a
trainer at anti-racism workshops in the
Diocese of Missouri by choice, and because of circumstance.
“I grew up in segregated St. Louis.
It doesn’t matter what institution you
identify in St. Louis, they have always –
in my experience – been segregated, even
after the federal Civil Rights legislation
of 1964,” said Hines, 67. An auditor and
former teacher, he serves in a field-placement assignment at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur as part of
the diocesan ordination process.
Hines said that, not only was he not
surprised that racial tensions erupted in
nearby Ferguson after Brown’s shooting,
but also “I was surprised it hadn’t hap- changing environments, agreed.
diocesan antiracism commission to the
pened sooner and in more places.”
“The first step has to be listening to “Beloved Community Commission for
He passed on his own life lessons to the historically powerless folks. The big Dismantling Racism” shifted particitwin sons, Christian and Christopher, question to ask is: Do you want to con- pants to an understanding that “we need
as they came of age, in the interest of tinue to have these sporadic explosions to dismantle racism as a part of our spiripreservation, he said. “I educated my or do you really want to find a way to tual formation and not just so we can
children to understand and know about engage people so you have real relation- check off the box to be on the vestry and
segregation, race and racism, that it ex- ships?” said Law, who helped to coordi- be a priest,” said Catherine Meeks, 68, a
isted in St. Louis. I also told them how it nate reconciliation efforts after the 1992 retired college professor and commission
manifested itself.
Los Angeles riots.
member.
“I taught them as they became 10 years
“The bottom line is: Do we have real
“We’ve gone from a lot of open hostilof age, that they would be encountered by friendships across racial lines in this ity toward our training to having people
the police, by security when they went to country, and can our church facilitate invite us now to come to their individual
the mall with their
parishes,” said Meeks, a
friends, and they
member of St. Augustine
had white friends.
of Canterbury Episcopal
I taught them the
Church in Morrow, near
lessons that I knew
Atlanta.
they were going
The daughter of an
to have to learn in
Arkansas sharecropper
order to be out in
father and schoolteacher
the community bemother, Meeks said she
cause these were
grew up “really poor.
the lessons I had to
“We were victims, in
learn, and it hadn’t
many ways, of racism.
changed,” he said.
I saw my father very
“I told them,
wounded by that, and it’s
‘Here is your rewhy I’ve been trying so
sponse: You engage
adamantly to change it.
the policeman with
I tried really hard not to
Photo/Wikimedia Commons/Jamelle Bouie
respect and regard, Residents of Ferguson, Mo. protest the shooting in August of Michael Brown.
pass on a lot of the fear
yes sir, no sir. You
and rage that my father
give your name. You follow his direc- that — and not in a superficial way, but had to my two sons,” she said. “And I’ve
tions, even if you have to be arrested.
in a way that we can really attempt to really had to work hard to overcome
“’Because, here’s what’s at risk: If you understand each other?”
some of the fear.
aggravate or in some way convey to that
After a Florida jury found neigh“I tried very hard to raise my children
policeman that you’re challenging him, borhood watch captain George Zim- to feel they had a place in the world and
he’s going to harm you in some physical merman not guilty in July 2013 in the could be independent people, but with
way or bust your head, and once your shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Sauls the realization they’re black in America.
head is busted or you’re shot up, it can’t said, the Episcopal Church began work- The systems here are not designed for the
be fixed.
ing toward creating a new position: a benefit of people of color.”
“’However, it can be fixed if you’re missioner for racial reconciliation. In
It means, she said, living a dualistic
taken to the jailhouse, because I can June 2014, Heidi Kim was appointed to existence. “You believe you’re a child of
come and get you from there. But a that position and Charles Wynder was God and that God cares for you and you
physical confrontation, I can’t do any- named missioner for social justice and have a place in the world and you will
thing about.’”
advocacy.
get the blessings that are yours to have.
Now that both sons are 31 and attorKim is responsible for facilitating the But you live in a land where there are a
neys, he says, “Every day I wake up and establishment and growth of networks in lot of systems designed to keep that from
say ‘Amen.’”
the church to confront the structural is- happening, and you have to live in the
sues of racism in the church and society. reality of that.”
Listening is key
Wynder’s job is engaging Episcopalians in
The Very Rev. Mike Kinman, dean building, resourcing and empowering ad- Continuing action
of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Lou- vocacy movements and networks for soThe church is planning followups to
is, was “trying to listen to folks on the cial justice at a local and community level. events such as last November’s “Fifty
ground” in Ferguson and counseling
Years Later: the State of Race in Amerothers to do likewise.
Anti-racism training
ica” in Jackson, Miss,, and an October
He also invited cathedral parishioners
For Hines and others who lead anti- 2008 service of repentance at the historic
to spend time together, with no judgment, racism trainings across the church, ma- African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
no comments, no arguing -- just listening terials include the history of the Epis- in Philadelphia, Sauls said.
to each other. “There were tears, anger, copal Church; the House of Bishops’
The church’s Office of Justice and Adconfusion, a wide variety of feelings were 1994 pastoral letter on the sin of racism; vocacy Ministries is compiling resources
represented, but there was just this holy General Convention resolutions on the for communities of faith “to begin conspace, and I realized it was grace,” he said. subject; and some basic definitions.
versations,” he said. “We’re beginning to
“There are people who’ve said, ‘I don’t
“We talk about the history of the Epis- start to bring leaders across the church
have any place to say this. We are afraid copal Church, and it’s mixed,” Hines said. together to continue the conversation
of talking about race; afraid we will say “We had priests and leadership in the and to build on the work we did last Nothe wrong thing. We need a place where Episcopal Church that were slave owners vember [in Jackson].”
we can stumble.
and members of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Kinman said that he had received of“This is something we can do as a
Henry Shaw, for example, was a fers from colleagues across the country
church; provide that safe space, to talk wealthy local landowner and philanthro- to come to Ferguson to join protests.
about race, because race is so hard to talk pist “who only in the recent past did we
“I’m telling people that, wherever you
about,” he said.
recognize was one of the largest slave own- are in this country, if you really want to
The Rev. Eric H. F. Law, founder of the ers in St. Louis,” Hines says. “Much of the help, then use this moment of opportuLos Angeles-based Kaleidoscope Institute, wealth he left to the Episcopal Church nity and gather your congregation, your
which offers leadership development and came as a result of the slaves he owned.”
people, and ask the question: Why do
diversity training in multicultural and
In Atlanta, a name change from the you think this is happening?” he said. n
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
9
commentary
After Ferguson, churches must confess the sin of abandonment
By Carl W. Kenney
Religion News Service
T
he ride to the church seemed
too short to give me time to
unleash all those tears. I had to
preach. What would I say?
How do you
preach what you
feel when you’re
one of only a few
black people in
the church?
What do you
say to a mostly
white congregation after the shooting death of 18-yearold Michael Brown? What do you say
after prayers and litanies are offered to
remind us that we are called to promote
justice and peace?
I cried because I feared saying what I
felt to members of Bethel Baptist Church
in Columbia, Mo. I cried because I wondered if they would understand. In that
moment, the deep burden of division
landed in my stomach and forced me to
scream.
Yes, the ache was about the death of another black man. But I cried because I felt
my blackness come to me in a way that exposed historical pain. I wondered if it ever
goes away. I thought about what it takes
to move beyond the trappings of history.
Have we evoked a language of peace
devoid of a clear understanding of how it
feels to be harassed by the police?
Is it possible to preach to those who
haven’t lived that experience? Isn’t it
much easier to drive away?
I wanted to leave the pain of the parking lot and find a congregation filled
with black people. I wanted to find a
home — the affirmation, love and support of the black church.
But as easy as it is to drive away,
change happens when we stay.
People keep asking what the church
can do to move us past the pain of Ferguson. Maybe the answer is found in staying.
Staying is painful. The desire to leave
is rooted in that deep sense of loneliness.
The desire to depart is cultivated by the
fear of not being affirmed and understood.
Ferguson is a story about abandonment. It began when white residents left
due to the rise in black population. Some
blacks left in search of the American
dream defined by the percentage of white
residents. Churches followed by abandoning their mission around the corner.
What service can churches offer
among those they have abandoned?
‘
eople keep asking
P
what the church can
do to move us past
the pain of Ferguson.
Maybe the answer is
found in staying.
’
“It’s not about what we can do, it’s
about what they want us to do,” said
Muriel Johnson, regional associate minister of the American Baptist Churches
of the Great Rivers Region. “We can offer to stand in solidarity with them in
our giftedness to do what they tell us
they need.”
Johnson is correct to suggest we listen. What else can churches offer?
Churches, black and white, can confess
the sin of abandonment. They can confess
the limits of their theological claims.
We can confess that our congregations are dying and becoming less relevant due to our unwillingness to listen.
We can apologize for not being present
with those who hurt. We can ask forgive-
ness for formulating views about people
and their communities that negate their
dignity. We should beg forgiveness for
walking away.
We can admit how hard it is to be
present. Congregations should talk
about the fear of poverty and the consequences of walking in that space. Pastors
should admit how they are lured into
embracing congregations with wealthy
members. We should confess packing
sermons with language that satisfies the
masses and maintains distance from
those we fear.
Yes, we should confess not moving
beyond the talk about race and racism.
Yes, we must admit how difficult it is to
stay in the parking lot, move into the
church and preach to those who don’t
understand what we have to share.
But we have to stay there until they
get the message.
So, we’re sorry, Ferguson. We abandoned you. Be patient with us as we
prove to you that we will not walk away
again. n
Carl W. Kenney II is an adjunct
instructor in the journalism department
at the University of Missouri. He holds a
divinity degree from Duke University and
has pastored several churches.
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10
Episcopal Journal October 2014
News
St. Mary’s Church in Napa cleans up after quake
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Episcopal News Service
W
hile the outside of St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church
in Napa, Calif., looked
perfect after an Aug. 24
magnitude-6 earthquake, the inside of
the church was a different matter.
Organ pipes littered the chancel floor
while others hung precariously from the
organ loft, some bent like drinking straws.
Right after the quake at about 4 a.m., when
the Rev. Stephen Carpenter, St. Mary’s rector, and his daughter came to the church
with flashlights to check for damage, all of
the pipes were still in the loft.
However, Carpenter told ENS, “gravity or aftershocks or both took over,” and
some of the pipes later spilled out. The
27-rank Casavant organ was installed in
the 1990s, he said.
A 60-year-old mosaic of the Holy Spirit fell
and broke apart on the baptismal font.
The most serious concerns, and the
reason the building is red-tagged, said
the rector, are the visible cracks and apparently missing parts of brick and mortar in a gothic stone arch 40 feet above
the pulpit and lectern. It is not clear if
the damage is cosmetic or structural, and
that will not be determined
centers of Northern Caliuntil a structural engineer can
fornia’s wine country.
inspect the arch.
The quake was felt
Meanwhile, the congregawidely throughout the
tion worshiped in the parish
region, from more than
hall. Many of the members
200 miles south of Napa
are used to that, since they
and as far east as the Nespent five months worshipvada border, the Associing there in 1999 while the
ated Press reported. There
church was undergoing a seiswere numerous aftermic retrofit. Carpenter noted
shocks in the hours after
that just less than a year afwhat is being called the
ter that retrofit was finished
South Napa Quake.
in October 1999, a magniSt. Mary’s parish, built
tude-5.2 temblor hit on Sept.
on the corner of Third
3, 2000, and the church came
and Patchett streets in
through unscathed.
1931, originally was
The recent quake caused
known as Christ Church.
a lot of damage inside the
It dates back to 1858 and
church. “I don’t even have a
once was located a few
book shelf to put my books
blocks to the east near
back into,” Carpenter said of
First United Methodhis office, which was littered
ist and First Presbytewith pieces of fallen bookcases.
rian churches. Those two
Parish members have shovchurches were more heaveled up the pieces of every
ily damaged in the quake.
single dish in the kitchen after
The quake was the largthe quake spilled them out of
est to shake the San Franthe cupboards.
cisco Bay Area since the
Back in the church, a momagnitude-6.9 Loma Priesaic of the Holy Spirit that had
ta quake struck in 1989,
hung over the baptismal font
collapsing part of the Bay
since 1954 came off the wall.
Bridge roadway and killing
Photos/St. Mary’s Episcopal Church via Facebook
One large piece was found Organ pipes are scattered on the chancel floor at St. Mary’s Church in
more than 60 people, most
covering the font, and the Napa, Calif., after a magnitude-6 earthquake hit on Aug. 24.
of them when an Oakland
rest was in pieces on the floor
freeway fell.
of the nave. A Madonna statue on the “memories of my family.”
“Our chandeliers were all swinging
As they cleaned up the house, he said, in unison” during Loma Prieta, whose
church’s Mary Altar also broke when the
“we kept saying, ‘It’s only stuff,’ but it’s epicenter was on the Pacific Coast about
shaking sent it tumbling to the ground.
Carpenter, who has been St. Mary’s still sad.”
115 miles south of Napa, Carpenter said.
The only St. Mary’s parishioner apparrector for 31 years, said the house that he
No one was killed in the South Napa
and his wife, Fran, live in was a mess, too. ently injured during the quake was an el- Quake. The City of Napa said that 208
He filled a large garbage can with piec- derly woman who had gotten out of bed people were treated at a local medical
es of pottery, china, crystal and antique just before the temblor struck. She fell to center, with 17 admitted.
clocks. A grandfather clock that belonged the floor, breaking her hip. She now is reThe city said on the morning of
covering from surgery, Carpenter said.
to his grandfather is in two pieces.
Aug. 27 that 113 buildings had been
The quake struck at 3:20 a.m. PDT red-tagged, indicating that they were
A Napa native, Carpenter lost many
family members in an airplane crash about five miles southwest of the city of unusable or uninhabitable due to damin the 1970s, and, he said, many of Napa, which boasts a large number of age from the quake, and approximately
the things destroyed in his home were Victorian-era buildings and is one of the 500 had yellow tags, meaning that caution was required in those buildings.
The “initial gross estimate” of damage to
privately owned homes and commercial
structure in the city is $300 million, not
social justice into organizing for the
including inventory and other economic
100,000 Homes Campaign with such
losses. The estimate, the city said, also
heart,” said Becky Kanis, who directed
does not include public buildings or inthe Campaign. “She carried the opporfrastructure.
tunity to improve the lives of homeless
Many people have been helping busiAmericans like the precious gift that
nesses in the heart of the Northern CaliAs National Field Organizer, Kaufman it was, and people really responded to
fornia vineyards get cleaned up before
oversaw community enrollment and that. I still meet people from all over
dealing with their own homes, Carpentraining for the Campaign and logged the country who say things like, ‘Do
ter said. He recalled seeing people helpover 140,000 miles of travel.
you know Linda Kaufman? She really
ing out the owners of an olive oil and
The 100,000 Homes Campaign is inspired us to make the changes we had
balsamic vinegar store in downtown
a national movement coordinated by needed to make for a long time.’”
Napa where so many bottles had broken
New York-based non-profit, CommuKaufman graduated from Virginia
that oil was running out the front door,
nity Solutions, which launched the ef- Theological Seminary in 1986 and
across the sidewalk and into the gutter.
fort in July of 2010. Kaufman served was ordained a priest a year later. Since
The quake struck just as “crush,” the
as the Campaign’s chief public speaker, 1997, she has been affiliated clergy at
wine harvest, was beginning. Crush is a
addressing community groups and con- St. Stephen and the Incarnation Epismajor tourist event as well as the normalferences around the country about how copal Church in Washington, DC. She
ly exciting finish to the growing season
they could play a role. Kaufman credits began her journey working with people
with the anticipation of what this year’s
her training as a preacher with prepar- experiencing homelessness in 1985 as a
vintage will be like. But now “there’s just
ing her for this work.
volunteer at Mt. Carmel House, a DC
like a cloud over everybody,” Carpenter
“Linda channeled her passion for program run by Catholic Charities. n
said. “But we’re moving forward.” n
Priest aids housing effort
By Episcopal News Service
A
n Episcopal priest has helped
to spearhead a successful national campaign to find permanent housing for 100,000
homeless Americans in fewer than four
years. The Rev. Linda M. Kaufman,
canonically resident in the Episcopal
Diocese of Washington, directed national field organizing for the 100,000
Homes Campaign,
which announced
last month that it
had helped 186
communities find
Kaufman
permanent housing for 105,580 chronically homeless
Americans, including more than 31,000
veterans since launching in July 2010.
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
11
News
Bishops explore ministry challenges in Asia
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Episcopal News Service
M
embers of the House of
Bishops, meeting from
Sept. 17 to 23 in Taipei,
Taiwan, learned about the
theological context and mission challenges faced by Episcopal and Anglican
churches in Asia.
Their exploration had already begun
with a deep experience of what Diocese of
Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe described as
“such hospitality, such graciousness, such
joy in the spirit” on the part of Taiwanese
Episcopalians hosting the meeting.
“I will take that back to my Diocese
of Kansas and remind my people of the
connection we have with the Diocese of
Taiwan,” said Wolfe, who is vice president of the house and served as emcee
for the Sept. 19 sessions.
Wolfe noted that some members of the
Episcopal Church questioned why the
bishops would go to the expense of meeting in Taiwan. “We never think about not
going to our farthest parish because it is
too far away” or too small, he said.
Thus, because the bishops accepted
Taiwan Bishop David Jung-Hsin Lai’s
invitation to meet here, Wolfe said, they
found that “the Diocese of Taiwan is a
much a part of this family as any diocese
in the Episcopal Church.”
After fanning out on Sept. 18 to visit
three congregations, along with the Diocese of Taiwan’s St. John’s University, the
bishops came back together on the 19th
to learn more about the Taiwanese Episcopal Church as well as Anglican work
in Hong Kong and Pakistan.
Taiwanese Episcopalians “started from
zero” and now have 20 churches, includ-
ing seven parishes, Lai said. His diocese’s
ministry is run differently from most other
dioceses in the Episcopal Church because
of the cultural context of Taiwan, he said.
Taiwanese often practice a combination
of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
Most of the island’s traditional places of
worship combine all three traditions.
Episcopal churches in Taiwan must
work within that context, he said. For
instance, they use a Mandarin Book of
Common Prayer (which took 15 years to
translate) and also have a book of supplemental liturgies that frame traditional
practices, such as ancestor worship, in a
Christian context.
And the diocese actively encourages
Christian formation and faith-sharing
with others. The diocese also helps members discern their ministries and then
actively supports those ministries, often
monetarily, the bishop said.
Families often ostracize members who
convert to Christianity, seeing the conversion as a betrayal, Lai said. Yet the bishop
said he urged his members to make their
Christian faith evident in their daily lives
to counter a common notion in Taiwan
that all religions are the same and only
“teach us to be a good person.”
Diocesan members are encouraged
not to just believe in and trust in God,
he said, but also to “do something by
your faith” in a way that others, including family members, will see the converted person as others will see “how different, how wonderful, how joyful that
you are; you are a Christian, you are a
person with a totally new life.”
The Diocese of Taiwan is celebrating
its 60th anniversary this year.
The Rev. Peter Koon, provincial secretary of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
Photo/Mary Frances Schjonberg/ENS
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori leads a prayer at the House of Bishops meeting in Taipei. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, center, addressed the reception. Bishop
David Jung-Hsin Lai, right, and the Diocese of Taiwan hosted the meeting.
(Anglican Church in Hong Kong), said
the province faced the possibility of unrest, perhaps as early as October, by way
of the anticipated Occupy Central with
Love and Peace, which will campaign for
universal suffrage.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 from British control.
The laws governing that move say the territory is getting to a system of universal
suffrage for picking the chief executive in
the 2017 election. Some in Hong Kong
worry that the national legislature and the
city government will insist on a plan for
nominating the chief executive that bars
candidates unacceptable to Beijing.
The challenge, Koon said, is how
the Anglican churches in Hong Kong
can find ways to respond pastorally and
theologically to congregations that are
divided on the issue.
“Do pray for the cathedral, because
we are in the hot spot,” Koon said.
Meanwhile, Gareth Jones, principal
of the Ming Hua Theological College,
outlined the seminary’s effort to change
theological education.
Many seminaries in the Anglican
Communion, he said, have “a tendency
toward generic theological education
with a little bit of Anglicanism bolted
onto the end.” Rather than foster what
he called the “theological confusion”
such a model either evidences or causes,
Ming Hua has moved to a model more
rooted in Anglican identity from the
outset that emphasizes the idea of companionship with God, Jones said. n
South Carolina bishop reinstates priest through reconciliation process
Yet in the eyes of the Episcopal Church,
he remained under vonRosenberg’s authorishop Charles G. vonRosen- ity. Over a five-month period in 2013, the
berg of South Carolina has wel- bishop made efforts to contact each breakcomed a returning member of away clergy member. In most cases there
the clergy back into
was no reply. In August 2013,
good standing as a priest,
with the advice and consent
hailing the reinstatement of
of the Standing Committee,
the Rev. H. Dagnall Free Jr.
the bishop formally removed
as an important day for the
Free and more than 100 other
Episcopal Church and an enpriests and deacons from the
couraging step toward reconordained ministry.
ciliation in South Carolina.
“After clergy left the
On Sept. 16, in a brief litEpiscopal Church, I had
urgy led by vonRosenberg,
the obligation to discipline
vonRosenberg
Free reaffirmed the vows
them according to church
he took at his ordination in 2010 and canons,” vonRosenberg said. But the
signed a formal declaration promising to canons gave him a choice about which
conform to the doctrine, discipline and disciplinary procedure to follow. One
worship of the Episcopal Church.
option would be to “depose” clergy who
Free was a priest serving at St. John’s did not recognize the church’s authority.
Episcopal Church on John’s Island in VonRosenberg chose instead to “release
2012 when a breakaway group under and remove” the clergy, which left open
then-Bishop Mark Lawrence announced a possibility for reconciliation and
it was leaving the Episcopal Church. After eventual reinstatement.
the schism, a number of clergy remained
“I chose the less-severe option in
with the Episcopal Church. However, hopes that occasions like this one today
Free stayed at St. John’s, which followed might be facilitated,” the bishop said.
the breakaway group under Lawrence.
“We rejoice when that goal becomes
By Holly Behre
B
realized — even one person at a time.”
The first step in that journey came
in April 2013, when Free came to see
vonRosenberg to ask if there was a path
open for him to return. The bishop’s immediate answer was: Yes.
But the very first step was a difficult
one: He had to acknowledge that he had
been removed as a priest in the Episcopal
Church. He became “Mr. Free,” stopped
wearing his clerical collar and ceased to
perform the duties of an ordained minister. “He was under that discipline, and
he was faithful to that,” the bishop said.
Canonically, the only requirement for
reinstatement was the bishop’s approval.
But vonRosenberg said it was important
to ensure that reinstatement was the
right move – not only for one priest and
one diocese, but for the church. “He’s
a priest of the whole church, not just
South Carolina,” he said.
A major hurdle involved Free’s personnel files, which are in the possession
of the breakaway group that still controls
the pre-2013 diocesan records. Officials
there have refused to cooperate with
any of the Episcopal Church clergy who
have sought access to their professional
records for their ongoing employment.
Working in consultation with the
standing committee, Chancellor Tom
Tisdale and Commission on Ministry
member Amy Webb, the bishop set forth
a reinstatement procedure that required:
• Consulting with the bishop on a
regular, ongoing basis;
• Working with a development coach
for evaluations and discussions about his
spiritual journey;
• Cooperating with the administrative staff in rebuilding his professional
file, including background checks, training certificates, references and other documentation. “Doing that was necessary
for the protection of the whole church,”
the bishop said.
• Meeting with the standing committee to discuss his desire for reinstatement.
On Sept. 11, having completed the
initial steps, Free met with the standing
committee. After a brief discussion, the
committee unanimously approved a motion advising the bishop in favor of reinstatement. n
Holly Behre is director of communications
for the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
12
Episcopal Journal October 2014
Faith and the Arts
Contemplative
photography
Encountering the sacred
through the lens
hen the Rev. Catherine D. Kerr wrote a
research paper for the spiritual-direction
program at General Theological Seminary in New York two years ago, she
decided to choose a subject close to her heart: photography as a contemplative practice.
“It was an opportunity to fit an interest of mine into
the framework of the course,” she said. “It started when
I was a kid; my dad took a million pictures. From a
Brownie camera I was given when I was 7, photography
has been a constant part of my life.”
It continued throughout Kerr’s career as a newspaper journalist because, now and again, there was
photography involved, she recalled. “My proudest moment was when I got a photograph on the front page
of Newsday [a daily newspaper based in Melville, N.Y.,
east of New York].
“My own practice of photography evolved from family snapshots and photojournalism to something more
spiritual before I even realized what was happening.”
Photographs, she said, can provide a rich space for
becoming aware of the presence of God, for seeking to
understand how God is at work in an individual’s life
and for discerning where that might be leading.
“I believe the discipline of contemplative photography becomes an attitude as much as a process, one that
carries through from the first moments of cultivating an
intentional awareness of the visual environment to that
time later when one sits and ponders the saved images.
“Even after I began to recognize that, I was a purist
about image manipulation, and I tended to appreciate
my images simply as images, without attempting to add
words or interpretations. But through reading and talking with other practitioners, I have come to realize the
potential these images have to be something more.”
One of the photographers Kerr interviewed during her research was Diane Walker, a photographer
and artist who
lives on Bainbridge Island,
Wash. Walker
has published
books about her
work and posts
photographs
and
meditations daily on
her blog.
“For me, the
act of contemplation happens
at several points
in the overall
practice,” Walker explained. “I
meditate in the morning before I go out with my camera. Going out with the camera, I remain open to my
surroundings and listen with my eyes for what’s calling
to me.
“I also meditate before blogging. And I go to my image file … then I spend time with [an] image, listening
for what it has to teach me. It’s at that point that I then
write down what it is that I’m sensing from what I see,
which may be an echo of something I’ve read or some
new thought that’s come to me or a poem — I don’t
ever quite know until it happens.”
When she looks at the photos later, Walker said, she
often is astonished to discover how much more is there
than she thought she was seeing at the time. “It’s a really lovely reminder of the magnitude of wonder in the
world and how much bigger God is than we are; how
much more God wants us to see than we are necessarily
capable of seeing on our own.”
In a recent interview with Patricia Turner for her
blog, A Photographic Sage, Walker summed up her
experience: “I think it’s a constant reminder that the
Bask in the color of joy
What treasures
Silence as a dwelling place
Those moments when your oars are out of the water
and you’re just drifting wherever the current takes you –
look down and watch the patterns that you’ve made;
look across, and see who’s with you on this journey,
and then look up, and bask in the color of joy.
What treasures the sand holds
for those who take the time to look.
What treasures each moment holds
for those who make the time to notice.
What treasures each life holds
for those who sink their toes
into every single moment
and live.
Silence is a dwelling place that is at once horizontal, allowing
connection with the thisness, the singularity of everything, but
also, at the same time, vertical. It allows us to find through
those things doorways to the eternal. Silence takes away
the noise we project onto everything and allows individual
things to stand in, stand for, and even stand apart so that
we can see the light and life that they reveal ...The one is the
window by which we can see the many. — Richard Rohr
By Jerry Hames
W
Come, sit
Photos, meditations by Diane Walker, except where noted.
Come, sit — you don’t have to do or say anything.
Just empty your mind, open your heart
and let light dance in slow sweet circles overhead,
sprinkling stardust into all your thoughts.
world is much bigger than me; that I have more to learn
than to teach. Plus it’s a way to practice surrendering
control, to, as they say, ‘Let go and let God’ — or whatever you would like to name that divine source — take
over.”
It is precisely through deeper exploration that photography becomes more than a personal centering practice or an experience of God through the beauty of nature, said Kerr, who has led contemplative photography
quiet days and carries a camera with her most of the
time. “Photography has potential for spiritual direction
when an individual continues to reflect on an image
and discern what his or her reaction to it suggests, what
deeper desires it touches and resonates with, and what
God might be saying in this.”
continued on page 13
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
13
Faith and the Arts
“I looked behind me
at the beach and
saw this incredible
sunset peeking
through the deck.
A final note of thanks
and splendor
for the day.”
— Bud Holland at
Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Photos by Bud Holland
photography continued from page 12
The Rev. Melford “Bud” Holland of
Pennsylvania, who in his own retirement
is a chaplain to recently retired priests
in a preparatory course offered by the
Church Pension Group, attracted Kerr’s
attention through his Facebook page,
which featured photos that resonated
with his friends.
“It was Bud who made a suggestion
that later seemed obvious to me,” Kerr
said, “the idea that within an individual
or group spiritual direction context, the
most promising, productive questions to
be raised are: Which of your pictures do
you find most compelling? What originally drew you to them? And what are
they saying to you now?”
How difficult is it to take “meaningful pictures,” and what equipment is required? Contemplative photography isn’t
dependent on the type of camera, Walker
said. “It’s about the response, about your
openness, your willingness to listen.”
“Yes, you need to understand the
workings of the camera, but I don’t believe you need a terrific camera with lots
of bells and whistles to do this. I shoot
almost entirely in manual mode, so I can
control the exposure.”
But, she said, although she may use
a point-and-shoot camera, it’s rarely a
point-and-shoot process. “I spend time
moving around the space, looking for the
angle, perspective and the crop that will
work best. That means that sometimes,
since light plays such a huge role in all
of this, I lose the shot because the light
changes.” Work quickly is her advice.
Like Walker, Holland carries his camera, a Canon SX160 that he described
as “a modest camera,” wherever he goes.
Both depend on simple point-and-shoot
cameras with zoom capability, and they
encourage others to use the same. “I can
carry it in my pocket, and it allows me
whenever I want to take photographs
that would approximate the naked eye,”
said Holland.
He credits the Rev. Ben Helmer, a
fellow priest and former colleague when
both worked at the Episcopal Church
Center in New York, for setting him on
his current path. “Ben told me that if I
carried a camera with me, I would look
at life differently,” Holland said. “I have
found that’s very true, and it’s been a real
gift.”
“After I look again at the photos I have
taken, they seem to speak to me even in
greater depth…there is a conversation
and dialogue I have that goes on within
me,” he said, describing this process as “a
gift,” rather than his photographic skill.
The word “gift” is heard frequently
throughout conversations with these
photographers. “Contemplative photographic seeing is … an attitude of openness, of eager receptiveness to the beauty
of the world around,” Kerr said.
“While popular photographic jargon
speaks of ‘taking’ a picture, and professionals may talk of ‘making’ an image,
some practitioners of contemplative
photography emphasize instead the idea
of receiving it as a gift,” she said, placing
her emphasis on “receiving.”
Humility is the best approach to contemplative photography, Walker advised.
“I don’t go out there thinking I’m going
to take a great photograph, because some
of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had
doing this have not necessarily been great
Contemplative practices as spiritual direction
Contemplative practices are practical, radical and transformative, developing
capacities for deep concentration and quieting the mind in the midst of the
action and distraction that fills everyday life. This state of calm centeredness
is an aid to exploring meaning, purpose and values. Contemplative practices
can help develop greater empathy and communication skills, improve focus and
attention, reduce stress and enhance creativity, supporting a loving and compassionate approach to life. The practices include various forms of meditation,
focused thought, time in nature, writing, the contemplative arts and contemplative movement.
— From The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
From top, the moon
during early morning
sunrise on a West
Virginia mountain;
a half-moon showing its
craters, photographed
from Pennsylvania and
an osprey feeds its young
at Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
or beautiful photographs.
“It’s more about the
interaction between me,
the camera and the subject; more about my ability to set my own desires
or need for control aside
and let the world around
me speak for itself. I guess
I see myself as a vehicle
He found
in words
the Marketplace.
through
whichitthe
and images flow.”
Reach so
For more:
many
for
Go
to Catherine
Kerr’s blog at lightso
little
with
fromlight.catherinedkerr.com
a Marketplace
ad.
See
Diane Walker’s
work at
contemplativephotography.com
and
thomas-gospel.blogspot.com. Walker’s
episcopaljournalads
@gmail.com
Visit
video, Contemplative Photography as an
Act of Faith, can be viewed at YouTube.
com/watch?v=H2kKKGCLJgw
For Bud Holland photos, go to
online
facebook.com/bud.holland
For Patricia Turner’s blog, go to http://
aphotographicsage.blogspot.com/ n
www.
episcopaljournal.org
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14
Episcopal Journal October 2014
Feature
A ‘bear’ grip on faith and wine
By Kevin Thompson
T
alking with Charles “Bear”
Dalton is like diving into an
encyclopedia of wine and Texas culture. Equal parts connoisseur and Louis L’Amour character,
Dalton exhibits a calm and genuine demeanor, belying his nickname.
“The truth of the matter is, I like
wine,” Dalton said, sitting at his favorite table in a Houston restaurant where
he hosts frequent wine tastings. As the
lead wine buyer for the 150 stores of the
Spec’s Liquor chain, Dalton has come by
his taste for wine over four decades.
With his signature cowboy hat and
boots, Dalton does not immediately look
like the expert on France’s Bordeaux and
Burgundy wine regions that he is. Bear,
a nickname he received at 19, “just kind
of stuck,” he said. A neatly trimmed, full
white beard and a perpetual smile punctuate his Southern charm.
“My wine friends think that, in addition to being a wine geek and foodie,
I am quite the cowboy, but most of my
real cowboy friends probably think I am
quite the wine guy,” Dalton wrote in one
of his many articles on wine. Although
his looks may be deceiving, any doubt
about his passion for good wine is put
to rest when Dalton starts talking about
his profession, covering topics from the
science behind a certain vintage to the
history of wine in biblical times.
Ask Dalton for wine tips, and you’ll
likely be greeted with a laundry list of
questions to help narrow down your palate. All it took was my affinity for bourbon
before he recommended a Vina Robles
Red 4, with its oak barrel-aged qualities.
A leading wine educator, Dalton has
Dalton holds a holistic view of faith. through nature,” after which he most
taught classes at Rice University, the “If you’re a Christian, your Christianity often enjoys a glass of rosé or Riesling.
University of Houston and Alliance has to inform your daily life,” he said. A “Rosé is refreshing in the summer, espeFrançaise de Houston. He has written fan of C.S Lewis, Dalton subscribes to cially after you’ve been out riding.”
extensively in Spec’s newsletter as well as the view of latent Christianity, or a faith
For almost 20 years, Dalton volunon his own website, BearOnWine.com. that permeates every part of your life teered with the Houston Livestock Show
“The only way to know what you like is and shines through in everything that and Rodeo, where he helped found its
to try a lot of things,” Dalton
Wine Competition and Auction
said when asked for wine tips.
Committee. “The wine business
He tastes upwards of 9,000
allowed me to integrate everywines per year to choose Spec’s
thing I learned from my profesinventory.
sion [with everything I enjoyed
“If the wine has fruit and baldoing],” Dalton said. “The more
ance, everything else it may have
integrated your life, the more
is a bonus. If it lacks fruit or is
complete you feel.”
out of balance, nothing else it has
Dalton volunteers his time
matters,” Dalton said. “I want the
and expertise to help raise monwines I drink to taste like they are
ey for charity at Epiphany and
from a specific somewhere and
started a women’s wine industry
made by a specific someone.”
social and networking group
When it comes to wine and
called WOW (Women of Wine)
faith, Dalton sees the two in
that helps support the Houston
tandem. “Wine is an element
Area Women’s Center.
of Communion,” he said. “The
Dalton holds the Certified
Photo/courtesy Charles Dalton
church and wine are very tied
Specialist of Wine certification
Wine expert Charles “Bear” Dalton in a vineyard.
together.”
from the Society of Wine EduA member of the Episcopal Church of you do. “For me, the Episcopal Church cators, is certified by the Conseil Interthe Epiphany, Houston, Dalton stum- gives me the grip I need to hold on to my professionnel du Vin de Bordeaux as
bled into the Episcopal faith because he Christianity.”
an nternational Bordeaux educator and
was late to church. In the late 1980s,
After his brother, Kevin, was diag- was honored with the Legend Award at
Dalton attended a service at Palmer Me- nosed with AIDS, Dalton struggled to the 2008 My Table Houston Culinary
morial, Houston, simply because the find the right words with which to pray. Awards.
nearby Methodist church’s service al- “A fellow lay reader introduced me to
However, it’s not the awards that keep
ready had begun. The experience proved the prayers for the sick in the Book of “Bear” going, it’s his “do unto others” atprovidential. “The service at Palmer was Common Prayer,” Dalton said. “It gave titude and holistic view of his faith, life,
familiar but unfamiliar,” Dalton said. me exactly [what] I needed … I learned work and wine. Just don’t ask him what
“There was a joy that you could feel.”
that the [BCP] had a lot of prayers that his favorite wine is, or, as he puts it, “the
Dalton became a lay reader at Palmer could give voice to my thoughts when impossible question.” n
in order to be involved in morning and my words would not come.”
This story originally was published in
evening prayer services. That led to beMost Sunday afternoons, Dalton
coming a lay eucharistic minister, serv- heads north of Houston to ride his Diolog, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas’ maging the chalice during Communion.
quarter horses for “a connection to God azine, and is reproduced with permission.
Journal
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S
8
|
3
12
of children
unprecedented numbers
the border
ssialng
croscop
detained Epi
churches look to help
Church responds to
humanitarian crisis
By Mary Frances Schjon
berg
Episcopal News Service
on page 6
communities after deadly
storms
assessing residents’ needs,
the bishop said.
shelters as Ginger Bailey and
The Rev. Teri Daily of St.
her team inform
Peter’s Church us of the
in Conway, Ark., located
needs of each location.”
piscopal Church diocese
just west of hard-hit
s and con- Vilonia and north
Alabama Bishop Kee Sloan
Church of
of Mayflower, was workin
gregations are helping their
and Assistant
g
Bishop
neighwith
Santosh Marray on
England
a
shelter
for storm
bors cope in the aftermath
of deadly up at Antioch Baptist survivors that was set that “devastating tornado April 28 noted
synod allows
spring storms that lashed
es and thunderChurch. The church is
a wide sec- between Mayflo
female bishops
By Lynette Wilson
tion of the midwestern and
wer, which also was severely storms are sweeping across our state this evee
southern united damaged,
ning. They have already
Episcopal News Servic
States and killed at least
and Vilonia. People at that
caused destruction,
34 people, 15 of ter said
shel- injury and loss of
they were assessing immed
gathered in
them in Arkansas.
life.
iate needs,
ixteen boys aged 14 to 17
“Your bishops want you
Benfield reported.
of the Ameriepiscopal Diocese of Arkans
to know that we
early July around a map
as Bishop
are praying for your safety
St. Peter’s hosted prayer
name on a larry Benfield said in
and for the safety
services for the of your
late April that the victims
cas, each writing his first
to
loved
next
of
ones,”
first
diocese
the
it
storm,
they wrote on the dio’s Disaster Relief Team was
sticky note and placing
in action. the church’s Facebo according to a post on cese’s home page, also
posting a prayer and
the majority landing Ginger Bailey Bankston of Christ
ok page.
his home country, with
Church
Psalm
,
46.
“We
are
ras.
little
already
Rock, is a member of that
Hondu
hearing that the best way
team and is to help immed
on guatemala, followed by
The storms began in
asked the coordin
iately is likely to be financi
Then, the Rev. susan Copley to the next with ating the diocese’s response in concert support so that
al kansas and moved east oklahoma and Arnotes
other groups.
relief workers can buy in
through Mississippi,
bulk Alabama and Tennes
teenagers to move the sticky said they would
any relief kits that
Benfield said Bankston told
see.
him that “the urging diocesa are needed,” Benfield said, reported that a tornado The Associated Press
place they were going. some
others
areas
York;
n
most
New
membe
in Arkansas killed at
in
affected have been sealed
rs who wished to least
be staying with relatives
off to help with relief
15 people. one
a, georgia, Ken- keep unnecessary people out
Youth gathering
of the way who Bishop’s Discret work to donate online to his ma and one in Iowa. person died in oklahowere headed to texas, Alabam California. might
explore
ionary
and
s
hamper
nd
Fund. “My office
delegate
relief efforts.” officials were
Photo/Trish
will Motheral The storm struck
tucky, tennessee, Maryla
then distribute it to the
and volunteers
Vilonia nearly three years
g
Marks of Mission
local church
carryinto
Oneesis and
one month earlier, Copley the unaccomthe day after the
in McAllen, Texas.
at the local refugee center
continued on page 7
Central America arrive
from her church began visiting
s in the United States.
House, a regional Immigrants from
panied minors at Abbott services agency information about the locations of relative
be
can
who
,
and Canada
community-based human N.Y., a small,
rs of nors from Mexico
on,
by inviting different membe - returned home immediately under a 2008
headquartered in Irvingt
tar- about them,”
of
commu
minors
south
d
Marcos
just
mpanie
san
town
ation law, unacco
Hudson River Valley
the Christ Church and
balance some of u.s. immigr into u.s. custody and given a
the rector of Christ
rytown, where Copley is
nity, it also helps to counter
their stories, must be taken
Mission.
can take years. An
negativity that accompanies
Church and san Marcos
deportation hearing, which
to play games the
minor is defined as a person
Besides making weekly visits
Eu- said Copley.
of un- unaccompanied
ated
rs
abbrevi
numbe
an
t
record
the
conduc
is separated from both
since early June,
with the boys and
est- younger than 18 who the care of a guardian
pray for
rs
southw
the
g
membe
crossin
church
,
and is not under
charist in spanish
accompanied minors
ly from guatemala, parents
to support them. In
the children and mobilize
ern u.s. border — primari and the associat- or other adult.
- and spanish-speakof migrant chilr—
one afternoon, its English
Honduras and El salvado
to accommodate the influx up makeshift
$1,000 to buy shoes
crisis have been in the news,
ent has set
ing congregations raised
at Ab- ed humanitarianshifting blame and protestors dren, the governm
arrived
whom
exhibit
of
h
and has contracted
some
Interfait
for the children,
with politicians
shelters at military bases
r.
continued on page 6
footwea
any
t
es.
heads to
headlin
onal homes,
bott House withou
ng the children making the exception of unaccompanied mi- with transiti
washington
Not only is it about providi
With
to people who care
and New York
with “positive exposure
arts
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Women demand
Nigerian leaders
act to save girls
JuNe 2014
outh Sudan’s political rivals
struck
a new peace deal to end
the fivemonth conflict that has left
thousands dead and forced some
1.5
million people to flee their
homes.
Archbishop Daniel Deng
episcopal Church of Sudan Bul of the
Sudan departed early from and South
a london
meeting of the Anglica
n Communion
Standing Committee when
he
moned to Addis Ababa, ethiop was sumia, to take
part in the May 9 negotia
tions between
South Sudan President Salva
Kiir and his
sacked former deputy-turned
-rebel-leader Riek Machar.
Chaplains served
It was the first face-to-face
in the “Great War”
meeting
between the two rivals since
a century ago
erupted in December after the conflict
Kiir accused
Machar of plotting a coup
d’etat. Deng
led the two leaders in prayer
before
they
signed the peace deal.
Despite the deal, fighting
throughout the upper Nile continued
states, with each side accusin and unity Episcopal Archbish
op Daniel Deng Bul, flanked
g
the
other
Photo/Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
by South Sudan’s Presiden
of violating the truce.
rebel leader Riek
8 | August 2014
4 No
Machar
Vol
t Salva Kiir, left, and South
, pray
together before signing a
Sudan’s
Deng was appointed chair
peace agreement in Addis
Ababa on May 9.
of a national reconciliation
by Kiir in April 2013, a
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to heal the mental wound
in South Sudan following
constitution and holding
s new elections.
decades of civil war with
the Islamic north.
During the recent conflict
Presiding Bishop Katharine
, South Sudan has faced
Jefferts
lenge since becoming the
its greatest chal- copal
Church to prayer and action Schori, who has called the episworld’s newest nation in
Potter integrates
July 2011, when it a break
seceded from the north after
for South Sudan, told eNS
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ittee meeting that she saw during
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8
s
e
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ommit to social justice’
Black Episcopalians ‘recrican
worship, workand Caribbean diaspora for
By Lynette Wilson
e
Episcopal News Servic
hip.
shops, addresses and fellows belong to histori“some of our constituents
lticul-
October 2014 Episcopal Journal
15
book reviews
Home again, in Mitford
Skinner, who despises change; and an
assortment of other merchants, doctors,
children and adults.
Mitford landmarks are also in place:
the Lord’s Chapel, Sweet Stuff Bakery,
the Collar Button shop, Cut Above
Hair Salon, the Irish Woolen Shop and
Happy Endings Bookstore, which plays
a larger part in this plot than ever before.
But Mitford, with all its charm, is
definitely not the town that time forgot,
or readers would have little inclination
to make their way through 511 pages.
As in Karon’s other Mitford books,
“Somewhere Safe With Somebody
is gathering around the Lord’s Chapel, and a mysterious stranger is being
an Karon’s new book is titled,
chauffeured around town in a dark limo.
“Somewhere Safe With Somebody
In relaying these challenges, the bestGood,” but for devoted fans of her
selling author does her best work: showbeloved series, a suitable subtitle
ing how Mitford villagers learn to love
might have been “Back Home in
one another, despite disappointment
Mitford —Thanks be to God! ”
and heartache, handle simple setbacks
It’s been nine years since Karon led
and crises, and faithfully remember to
readers away from the fictional little vilthank God in life’s harvests as well as
lage of Mitford, N.C., and took them on
hardscrabble times.
a long trek, first to Father Timothy Ka“We are all fixing what is broken,”
vanagh’s Mississippi birthplace and then
Karon writes, quoting physician and auto his family’s ancestral home in Ireland.
thor Abraham Verghese. “It is the task of
Now, readers happily are brought back
a lifetime.”
to the high, green hills of MitKaron has said that she beford.
gins each of her books with
This is Karon’s 10th novel in
prayer. “I’m scared when I
the series, which focuses on the
begin to write,” she told her
town’s crazy quilt of comic and
audience of Georgia admirers
all-too-human characters. The
in September. “I’m walking
books feature engaging storyaround, fidgeting, making
lines revealed through the eyes
the pictures straight.”
of Father Tim, a beloved EpisAnd she is humbled by
copal priest who sees beauty in
her success. “I continue to be
the ordinary and helps others
floored,” she said. “I thought
to find courage and faith, not
I might have a small audience
only in times of tragedy but
and a little following, and
also in the everyday. They are
then once in awhile I’d get
universal themes that resonate
invited to a book club. But
with readers, whether they live
The New York Times? That’s
in a town with a Main Street or
right up there with James
a city with an interstate.
Patterson!
Karon took Father Tim away
“I’m humbled,” she added.
from Mitford, she said, “so he
“And I thank you for it.”
could grow in other ways.” But
Karon also credits God
readers clamored for another
for her phenomenal success
Mitford novel. Karon said she
in connecting with her aufinally realized that she, too,
dience. “Two young couples
Photo/Alice Murray
wanted to go back to “the town
have told me that my books
Author Jan Karon, left, at an appearance at Holy Trinity Parish
that takes care of its own.”
saved their marriage. I don’t
in Decatur, Ga., with Emily Tallant, right, spouse of the rector,
“It feels like going home,” the Rev. Greg Tallant.
know how to do this stuff,”
said Chris Fugate, a fan who
she said. “But [God] does.”
attended Karon’s recent signing at Holy Good” includes stories of birth and
She said she came to know Jesus
Trinity Parish in Decatur, Ga. “We know death, love and hate, traditions and Christ as her savior when she was 42,
these characters now, and we care about change, sin and repentance.
and then, slowly, he began to direct her
All is not well, for example, with life, Karon said. “I realized that God was
them.”
Those familiar characters all are here: young bookstore owner Hope Win- a really good God, and that’s what he
Father Tim, his wife Cynthia and ad- chester Murphy. The Chelsea Tea Shop wanted me to share.”
opted son Dooley; Barnabas, the dog as has been sold, and the new owner is
Karon has not said when readers
big as a Buick; Esther Bolick, of orange tricked out in cowboy boots. Dr. Hoppy might return to Mitford again — to vimarmalade cake fame; gum-snapping, Harper is retiring, Lace Harper is wear- cariously enjoy the Napoleons at Sweet
unisex hair-dresser Fancy Skinner; Mule ing a very special ring, a menacing storm Stuff, chuckle at bloopers in the “MitBy Peggy J. Shaw
J
Imagining a new church
a number of perspectives.
The 15 essays include historical reflecs the Taskforce for Re-Imag- tions, arguments for significant change,
ining the Episcopal Church perspectives from the seminary world,
(TREC) releases its recom- opinions on how change can be accommendations on changing the plished within the current church strucchurch’s structure [see related article, tures and reflections on how technology
page 5], “What We Shall Become,” edit- is and will affect the church.
Among the forces challenging today’s
ed by the Rev. Winnie Varghese, presents
Episcopal Church, writes Varghese in the preface, are “ease
What We Shall Become: in global communication and
The future and structure distribution of goods; new
of the Episcopal Church waves of migrations within
and across national borders;
Edited by the Rev. Winnie Varghese.
expansion of human rights
162 pp. Church Publishing, New York. to women, ethnic and sexual
minorities; awareness of cliwww.churchpublishing.org
mate change; the falling away
By Episcopal Journal
A
of a normative, public Christianity; and
increasing racial, ethnic and language diversity within our parishes.”
The Episcopal Church, once defined
as “democracy organized in Christ,” now
finds itself with representative systems
that are “expensive, unwieldy and skewed
to the participation of retired people and
church professionals,” Varghese says.
Among the contributors are Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop
Ian Douglas of Connecticut, Bishop
Andy Doyle of Texas, Bishop Carol J.
Gallagher of North Dakota and the
Bishop’ Native Collaborative, House of
Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark
Jennings and Episcopal Divinity School
President the Rev. Katherine Hancock
Ragsdale. n
Somewhere
Safe With
Somebody
Good
By Jan Karon
G.P. Putnam’s
Sons, 2014
ford Muse” or watch the lighting of a
single Christmas tree on Main Street
become a celebration. She’s made it
clear, however, that Father Tim will not
transition to heaven in any of her books
—“not on my watch!”
And she’s hinted at the plot for a sequel;
a clue is hidden in last few lines of “Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good.”
But, for now, Karon is content to take
millions of readers back to their homeaway-from home in the Blue Ridge. “It’s
something you all have wanted for a long
time,” she told her Georgia fans. “And I
want you all to be happy.” n
Peggy J. Shaw is the director of public
relations for Atlanta’s Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. She is a former senior editor
for Dalmatian Books/Intervisual Books//
Piggy Toes Press and the author of several
books.
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Seminary)
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16
Episcopal Journal October 2014
News
P
In Scotland, student is eyewitness to history
eter Myer, a 2014 graduate more about leaning toward ‘No.’
of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal
“There isn’t any upset yet, but we’ll
School in Atlanta, had a front- see what happens tonight. Everyone says
row seat for Scotland’s historic that since it is going to be such a close
Sept. 18 vote on independence. Myer is a vote, that if ‘Yes’ loses, then they will
first-year, international-relations student continue to push independence since
at Scotland’s University of St.
they say the country is so diAndrews, in a joint-degree
vided.”
program with the College of
Myer said he had his own
William & Mary in Williamsopinion on the issue (“No”),
burg, Va.
which aligned with the views
According to a story on
of most students he’d talked
Holy Innocents’ website,
to. Another St. Andrews stuMyer sent this report to the
dent, however, shed some
school about what he expelight on what might be berienced in St. Andrews, Fife,
hind many votes in the affirMyer
just before the vote:
mative. “One good Scottish
“People are holding up signs and wav- friend of mine (who voted ‘No’) said,
ing Scottish flags, and you can’t walk ‘Having lived in Scotland my entire life,
down a street without being handed pam- I know that a good portion of those votphlets and seeing either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ but- ing ‘Yes’ are simply proud Scots — it’s a
tons on peoples’ shirts, indicating what pride thing for so many of them.’”
they voted for. I particularly see ‘Yes’ flyStudents discussed the pros and cons
ers — in this city – but the students talk of the referendum at dinners, in classes
and at social events, Myer said.
“And last week the St. Andrews
Debating Society, the oldestknown debating society in the
English-speaking world, had to
turn students away (including
myself ) because of over-capacity
in the lecture building.
“What’s incredible for me, as
an American student in a Scottish university, is that I can see
both sides from a neutral perspective and watch as history
Photo/Peter Myer
occurs literally before my eyes. In his dorm room, Myer read the news of the vote.
Tonight will be a very interestsaid the morning after the vote that, at
ing night.”
Scotland voted to remain part of the St. Andrews, “the majority of the student
United Kingdom — along with Eng- body is exhaling in relief.”
He added, “I feel privileged to have
land, Wales and Northern Ireland — in
the vote for independence. By a 55 per- been a part of history this morning. This
cent to 45 percent majority, voters re- truly has been an incredible experience to
jected the possibility of Scotland break- observe. I’m sure more news will arise as
ing away from a centuries-old union and I hear about the reactions in various cities
becoming an independent nation. Myer such as Glasgow and Edinburgh.” n
Christians face persecution in global hotspots
By Diana Swift
I
SIS/ISIL in Iraq and Syria; Boko
Haram in Nigeria; Kim Jong-un in
North Korea; the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt — all are players in
a worsening world pattern of persecution targeting Christians as well as other
religious and ethnic groups, reports the
Toronto-based Anglican Journal.
The plight of the uprooted faithful
in the Middle East may currently be the
most media-documented example of animosity against Christians, but practically anywhere on the planet, the followers
of Jesus are the likeliest to be persecuted
for their religion, according to the Washington-based Pew Center for Research.
Christians face religious oppression in
151 countries.
In findings from the Netherlandsbased Open Doors, an evangelical Christian group that monitors the oppression
of Christians worldwide and facilitates
the practice of their faith, number one in
the top 10 of today’s persecuting nations
is North Korea — for the 12th consecutive year.
“An estimated 70,000 of North Korea’s several hundred thousand Christians
are currently consigned to labor camps
for their faith,” said Paul Estabrooks, a
spokesman for Open Doors Canada.
In Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Iran and Yemen, persecution of Christians is driven
largely by Islamic extremism. Television
reports have shown thousands of Christian, Yazidi, Shia and Turkmen families
fleeing ISIS jihadists seeking to establish a Sunni Muslim caliphate in northern Iraq and Syria. According to U.N.
estimates, at least 400,000 people have
been forced out of their homes since
ISIS forces swept across the Syrian border into Iraq in June. Churches, sacred
monuments, tombs and documents have
been destroyed.
Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty International crisis-response adviser, said the
militants had turned northern Iraq into
“blood-soaked killing fields.” According to Nina Shea, director of the Center
for Religious Freedom at Washington
D.C.’s Hudson Institute, “Christians are
being systematically eradicated from the
region.”
In July, France offered asylum to
Christians expelled from the city of Mosul, Iraq, home to one of the Middle
bury Justin Welby backed their demand
a few days later.
Before the U.S.-led invasion that left
the north vulnerable to radical jihadis,
Iraq was home to about 1.5 million
Christians (5 percent of the population),
who had lived there for almost 2,000
years. Since then, the Christian population has hemorrhaged out of Iraq, as it
has elsewhere in the regional cradle of
Christianity.
“In a sense, the current situation is
only the latest in a long series of bloody
n Extreme Persecution n Severe Persecution n Moderate Persecution n Sparse Persecution
Source: http://www.worldwatchlist.us
East’s oldest Christian communities.
In early August, several U.K. Anglican
bishops argued that, given its participation in the destabilizing 2003 Iraq war
that opened the door to Islamist extremists, Britain had a responsibility to grant
prompt sanctuary to Mosul Christians
after militants threatened them with
speedy execution, ruinous taxation or
forced conversion. To ignore their needs
would be “a betrayal of Britain’s moral
and historical obligations,” the bishops
said in their letter to Prime Minister
David Cameron. Archbishop of Canter-
attacks on Assyrian Christians, except
this time it appears that in many places
they have been permanently wiped off the
map,” said Archdeacon Bruce Myers, the
Anglican Church of Canada’s coordinator
for ecumenical and interfaith relations.
In July, in solidarity with Iraq’s Christians, Welby replaced his homepage photo with the Arabic letter for N, standing
for Nazarene, which was being branded
on the doors of Christian homes for expropriation.
In August, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada,
joined other faith leaders in condemning
the brutal violence in Iraq against religious minorities, Christians particularly.
And the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund also announced an initial grant of $10,000 through the Action
by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance to
help assist those displaced by the conflict.
Speaking on the CBC, Andrew Bennett, Canada’s ambassador for religious
freedom, called on the region’s influential
Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia,
Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to condemn the violation of human
dignity, “which has all the characteristics
of a genocide.”
With thousands of Christians so obviously suffering, why, some ask, did it
take the expulsion of the Yazidis to spur
U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration to forceful action by air strikes?
The previous administration had sidestepped Christians’ persecution as a “sectarian issue.”
Dr. Paul Cere, an assistant professor
of religion, ethics and public policy at
Montreal’s McGill University, offered
this explanation: “One of the challenges is that when enforcer nations such
as Britain and the U.S. that are already
viewed with suspicion in the Middle
East come to the defense of religious
minorities, does it complicate issues for
these minorities since they’re perceived
as being in alliance with the West?”
Estabrooks of Open Doors remarked,
“The first thing persecuted Christians
everywhere ask us almost universally is
to pray for them. The second thing is to
assure them they are not forgotten. People are aware of what’s happening in Iraq
and Syria but may not be aware of how
serious the persecution is elsewhere.” n
This story first was published on www.
anglicanjournal.com and is used with
permission.