Page 1k Episcopal News January 2008

January 2008 Vol. 19, Issue 1 Embracing Christ, Engaging the World A diocesan edition of episcopallife

Episcopal News

Seminarians Prepare for Lives of Service

Matt Bradley Anne Vouga

Preparing for lives of service

Also in This Issue

Youth News 3kAcolyte Festival 3kTrinity Institute 4k Calendars 4k

Next Month Diocesan Convention

Edition

Agenda, Nominees Profiles, St. Peterʼs--The Convention Host

Interim ministry prepared her to seek, embrace canonʼs job

Advent

Calls Rector

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By Mary Jane CherryEpiscopal News Editor

The Rev. Joan Smith, the dioceseʼs new canon to the ordinary, has lived and worked in so many different towns over the past 25 years that she says she has stopped trying to learn street names. That doesnʼt mean, however, that the priest doesnʼt know her way around those communities or the Diocese of Kentucky.

Since her graduation from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1982, Smith has resided in Huntington (W. Va.), Cincinnati and five Kentucky communities (Newport, Lexington, Danville, Louisville and Henderson). In our diocese, she has been interim rector at St. Paulʼs Church (2002-2003), Church of the Advent (2003-2004), both in Louisville, and St. Paulʼs Church, Henderson (2006-2007).

Although Smith has done “tenured ministry” a couple of times, including more than four years at Church of the Redeemer in Cincinnati, she has primarily

served congregations as a supply priest and interim rector.

Among the second wave of Episcopal women ordained to the priesthood, she said she had found interim ministry “to be the most open track for a woman who believes that she is called to be a head of a parish” because there are still a lot of congregations that will tolerate a woman priest in an assisting position but not as its

Bishop, priest signstatement responding to letter from Muslims

Words in common

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Our bishop and one of our priests, a Navy chaplain working with a global reconciliation initiative, recently had a hand—literally—in the making of religious history.

Bishop Ted Gulick is among Christian leaders from around the world who have signed and published a statement responding to the most prominent leaders in the Muslim world. Originally 138 Muslim leaders and scholars published an open letter declaring the common ground between Christianity and Islam. The Muslims ̓ letter, “A Common Word between Us and You,” was released on Oct. 13 and has been described offering an “historic opportunity” for dialogue with breakthrough possibilities in Christian-Muslim relations.

In response, four leading religious scholars at the Yale Divinity School prepared a statement, “Loving God and Neighbor Together, A Christian Response to ʻA Common Word between Us and You,ʼ” which was published as a full-page ad in The New York Times Weekly Review on Nov. 18 along with the signature of 200 prominent leaders representing the broad spectrum of Christianity. Presently more than 300 Christian scholars and leaders have signed this groundbreaking response to the Muslim world. The document has also been translated into Arabic and published widely in Muslim newspapers.

Bishop Gulick became involved thanks to the work of Chaplain Brad Ableson, a Yale graduate working with the Religious Reconciliation Program at Yaleʼs Center for Faith and Culture. Ableson, the senior Episcopal chaplain in the Navy, is posted with the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha. Neb. and is canonically resident in our diocese.

Ableson learned about the initiative from one of his Yale colleagues, the Rev. Joseph L. Cumming, director of the Reconciliation Program and co-author of the response. The significance of the “A Common Word” and the Christian response is made clear in Cummingʼs correspondence with Ableson, which Ableson shared with Episcopal News.

“A Common Word,” said Cumming, is viewed by many as “the most important interfaith document in nearly half a century.” It invites Christians into “a new relationship focused on the commands to love God with all our heart, mind and

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A l t h o u g h M a t t Bradley still has one more semester to complete, as soon as he is ordained he will begin his service as a deacon a t S t . A n d r e w ʼ s C h u r c h i n

College Park, Md.At the same time,

while finishing his academic work and doing his diaconal service, Bradley also will be preparing himself for a period of service in a rural church in Klerksdorp, South Africa. A grant from the seminary is allowing him to see and serve the people of the township an hour and a half away from Johannesburg. In a sense, Bradley feels

Before turning her full attention to the pursuit of theology, Anne Vouga taught French in the lower school at St. Francis, Goshen, and raised her own children, Etienne, now a graduate student at Columbia University; Maren, a junior at Bates College who recently studied international

development in Senegal; and Alex, a junior at St. Francis High School.

While teaching and being a mother are full-time ministries in themselves, Vouga has felt a long-standing call to ordination. She began her study of theology as a student at the Protestant seminary in Montpellier, France. Family life and

By Janet IrwinEpiscopal News Staff Writer

For Matthew Bradley and Anne Vouga, currently students at the Virginia Theological Seminary, ordination to the diaconate on Dec. 21 is the next step on a path carrying them further into the life service each has chosen. Each was interviewed prior to their ordinations. Go to http://www.episcopalky.org to view photos from the service, which occurred after the newspaper went to press.

Matthew Bradley Anne Vouga

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Priest ReceivesGood Samaritan Award page 4k

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Photo by Lynn Smith, St. Paul s̓, Henderson

Page 2k Episcopal News January 2008

Trinity InstituteNational Theological Conference

Jan. 21-23 2008

Webcast at Diocesan House

Christian, Jewish, Muslim theologians explore the union of religion and violence.

Register at www.episcopalky.org. Cost: $20. For details, call diocesan office at 502-584-7148 (800-222-3462).

primary person.While being an interim rector is

challenging because it means engaging and disengaging with congregations every 12 to 18 months, she said, it has also enabled her to meet people she never would have met and caused her to develop skill sets for the different congregational ministries she has undertaken. As a result she brings a breadth of church experience to diocesan ministry.

The call to become the new canon could not have been better timed. Her position as interim rector of St. Paulʼs Church in Henderson had recently end after 19 months when then Canon to the Ordinary Jay Magness accepted a call to serve as interim rector of a prish in Virginia. She said that when she learned about that Magness was leaving, she knew she could “do that job in a New York minute” and sent her resume and a note to the bishop. Though he never saw it because was out of town at the time, he apparently had the same idea, for when she next saw him at St. Paulʼs he told her the wanted to talk with her about the canon to the ordinary position, she said and added laughing, “It was really a harmonic convergence.”

After only one week on the job, Smith said that she has only been surprised by “how natural it feels so quickly.” Not only did she already know the diocesan staff, but she feels she has been preparing for the position for since her ordination if not before when independent intellectual, professional and spiritual streams in her life converged with her decision to become a priest.

Not a cradle Episcopalian, she became fascinated with the denomination while visiting an Episcopal Church in Beckley, W. Va., and watching its rector, the Rev. Worth May, “who was radiantly in love with what he was doing at the altar. It became clear that was holy time. I was fascinated by that because at my home church the pastor did a lot of shouting and getting red in the face.” Her options to do church work were few since she wasnʼt an Episcopalian and the priesthood wasnʼt an option then anyway.

As a first-year student at Randolph Macon College in Lynchburg, Va., however, she became particularly intrigued by the “vocational clarity” of another undergraduate woman, Carter Hayward, who was a couple of years older and later was one of the Philadelphia Eleven who

were “irregularly ordained” priests in the mid-1970s before the Episcopal Church allowed womenʼs ordination.

After graduating with a bachelorʼs degree in political science, Smith became a psychiatric social worker in an outpatient mental health center during a “fascinating time” when state mental health hospitals were releasing people who had been institutionalized for years, she said. She also was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and together with her rector established an ecumenical crisis hotline and intervention center, of which she eventually became executive director. She decided to become a priest, after her rector helped her eliminate the reasons she gave for not considering the priesthood.

Over the course of her career, she has served more than 40 congregations, which have ranged from an urban cathedral to a church with five members and a piano she repaired with dental floss. Not only does she have long experience in staff management, ministering to organizations and congregational development, but she is also accustomed to working with organizations across a broad geographic spectrum. Before she went to the seminary, she was on a career path with the Girl Scouts, supervising a professional staff and the council overseeing 17 to18 counties in West Virginia and Ohio.

This experience will be useful because the canon not only manages the diocesan staff and the dioceseʼs daily operations under the authority of the bishop but is also responsible for the dioceseʼs congregational development.

Since the Rev. Mark Linder, retired rector of Christ Church, Bowling Green, has taken over the former canonʼs clergy deployment responsibilities, the new canon will now be free “to do routine pastoral care and development” with all of the dioceseʼs 37 congregations, including those that are healthy and not in transition. This will enable the canon to help nurture “really healthy” congregations “so we can make them stronger,” said Smith. “I envision less crisis management and more routine congregational development.”

With that end in mind, she has already introduced one practice at weekly staff meetings: Each will begin with prayers for the dioceseʼs congregations, organizations and clergy identified in the weekly diocesan cycle of prayer. “I want to make sure that we on the staff are a community of prayer for the diocese.”

strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, as Jesus taught.” Its list of signatories is “a veritable ʻWhoʼs Who ̓of the top Muslim leaders of the world,” and, he added, they do not represent “just politically correct, liberal Muslims…. Rather the list of signatories includes the top tier of the mainstream, orthodox leaders who sway the masses of Muslims around the world.”

Cumming continued: “It is unprecedented in history for such a broad coalition of Muslim leaders from all nations and all

sects to come together to agree on anything, much less on such a constructive outreach to the Christian community. The fact that they want our relationship to focus on the commands of Jesus to love God and our neighbor is stunning. Clearly this warrants our sober and prayerful engagement.” The impact of the Christian response, he noted, “would be enhanced to the extent notable Christian leaders were signatories.”

After viewing the Christian response, Ableson signed the statement immediately as the senior Episcopal Navy chaplain and contacted Bishop Gulick and two other bishops with whom he has worked closely,

the Rt. Rev. George E. Packard, bishop suffragan for chaplaincies, and the Rt. Rev. Joe Burnett, bishop of the Diocese of Nebraska.

Having spent considerable time over the last 20 years in the Arabian Gulf region, Ableson said he was delighted to sign the statement because he believes it is “a powerful step” in the process of reconciling Christians and Muslims. “The political and military issues of the past two decades have resulted in considerable interface between Christians and Muslims with, not surprisingly, an unfortunate level of misunderstanding and tension,”

he wrote. He also noted that he “was tremendously impressed by the response draft by the Yale team … Their response was the most positive gesture I have seen from the Christian perspective, and I quickly signed the letter. Bishop Gulick, in particular, seized the opportunity to support this initiative. It makes me very proud to see my bishopʼs name on this letter.” [To read a copy of “A Common Word,” go to http://www.acommonword.com and to download a copy of the Yale document go to http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm]

as if he already knows Klerksdorp and its people. A persuasive professor at VTS has made many trips there, and his influence has led Bradley to see Africa himself.

Even though he has been reading as much about Africa as possible as well as talking with others who know the country, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bradley says he knows that when he steps on African soil and finds himself surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of Africa, he will realize how much he still has to learn about the place. He will be there as a modern missionary, not to teach the people of Klerksdorp but to worship with them and learn from them.

As a cradle Episcopalian (he has attended St. Paulʼs Church, Louisville, since he was three), Bradley feels that the Church is his extended family. Although that family is based in St. Paulʼs, over the years it has widened to include the people he has learned to love through his experiences at All Saints ̓and through the wider church.

Bradley has no definite plans for life beyond his weeks in Africa. He would like to come back to the Diocese of Kentucky, his family and his double bass, but he is “staying open to Godʼs direction.” So far that is a plan that has served him well.

Matthew BradleyAnne VougaPreparing for lives of service Continued from page 1k

Bishop, priest sign statement responding to letter from MuslimsContinued from page 1k

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Interim ministry prepared her

While teaching and being a mother are full-time ministries in themselves, Vouga has felt a long-standing call to ordination. She began her study of theology as a student at the Protestant seminary in Montpellier, France. Family life and career interrupted her studies, however, and she was only recently able to return to theology.

For the last two years, Vouga has studied at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is currently completing her “Anglican” semester at Virginia Seminary.

Studies and work as an intern at St. Markʼs, Louisville, have kept her busy as she progresses toward ordination. In January, she hopes to return as a deacon to St. Markʼs, a parish she has come to love.

Vouga looks forward to bringing her deep interest in faith formation and the interpretation of scripture to congregations in the Diocese of Kentucky. Even though she was a bit embarrassed when she heard herself say it out loud, Vougaʼs goal for the immediate future is simply “to be a good priest.”

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Diana Butler Bass lectures Jan. 18-19

The Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky and the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky are bringing American religion expert Dr. Diana Butler Bass for a series of lectures Jan. 18-19. The lectures will be based on her books The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church and Christianity for the Rest of Us.

The Friday evening lecture (Jan. 18) is open only to clergy. It will begin at 7 p.m. (EST) at Christ Church Cathedral, 421 S. Second St., Louisville. She will share insights from her book, The Practicing Congregation. Saturdayʼs lectures (Jan. 19), open to everyone, will focus on the book Christianity for the Rest of Us. The program will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Louisville Seminary, 1044 Alta Vista Road.

Pre-registration is required. For details about registration, which may be done online, visit http://www.episcopalky.org/events/366. Or contact Betty Williams at 502-584-7148 or bettyw@episcopalky.org

January 2008 Episcopal News Page 3k

January 18-20 – Winter Youth Gathering at All Saints’

Who: Adult Sponsors & Youth- grades 6-12

Cost: $80Deadline: January 14

February 2 – Diocesan Acolyte Festival at Calvary Episcopal Church, Louisville

Who: All children, youth and adults involved with their Acolyte program

Deadline: Jan. 22

February 22 & 23 – Diocesan Convention at St. Peter’s Episcopal

Church, Louisville Who: All youth, grades 6-12, who want to be part of the Youth Delegation

March 14 & 15 – Spring Work Retreat at All Saint’s

Who: Adult Sponsors & Youth grades 6-12

Cost: $40Deadline: March 10

April 25-27 – Happening #1 at All Saint’s

Who: Youth – grades 10-12Cost: $50Deadline: April 18

2008 Spring Youth EventsThe Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky

Convention isnʼt just for delegates and pages anymore. The 180th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky will be held Feb. 22-23 at St. Peterʼs Episcopal Church in Louisville. Typically, the hosting parish supplies youth to help as pages, and congregations bring one youth each to be a part of the youth-elected delegation. Well, this year there is more to the experience.

Besides serving as delegates, youth are encouraged to be a part of the convention experience as acolytes, vote counters, youth ambassadors, workshop leaders and pages. The idea is to involve the youth at every level of participation at the convention.

The youth delegation will have their own table on the convention fl oor, and one youth per church will have seat and voice. The youth who were sent by their congregation then elect fi ve representatives to vote. Youth in grades 6-12 are encouraged to volunteer for this convention.

In addition to helping with the convention, youth will participate in a

diocesan youth lock-in, hosted by St. Matthewʼs Episcopal Church. Weʼll have food, movies, board games, basketball and pool with youth from all over the diocese participating in the event. There is no cost for the lock-in and dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday, but participants are encouraged to bring $20 to cover the cost of an outside activity, like bowling, which will be planned for Friday night. Transportation will be provided from St. Matthewʼs to St. Peterʼs.

This convention is the perfect opportunity for the youth of the diocese to see how our church organization works. Future plans include placing youth representatives on all diocesan convention committees.

For more information, please contact Ben Linder, Diocesan Youth Coordinator, at benl@episcopalky.org or by phone at 502-410-8001. Registration forms for this event as well as more specifi c information will be sent to the youth representatives at each congregation in January.

New opportunities for youthat Diocesan Convention

EMX supports youth missionDoes your youth group do a yearly

mission trip? Is it hard to fi nd the right motivation for your youth and adults? Do you struggle to fi nd a mission area that is safe, well coordinated, and offers appropriate opportunities for your group?

Well, if you struggle to affi rmatively answer any or all of these questions, or even if you plan and coordinate great trips, check out the Episcopal Mission Exchange, a response to the 2003 General Conventionʼs resolution to place a priority on youth. Take note, however: EMX doesnʼt offer a mission trip; it offers a wonderful mission experience and an exchange of love, faith and friendship.

The EMX program helps youth groups discern what type of work they should do, where they should go and what resources they will need. Most importantly, it provides spiritual guidance for the group before, during and after the trip.

To date, EMX offers 11 exchange opportunities throughout the United States categorized by three levels of experience: “E” – easy, “M” – medium, and “X” – extra-challenging. From helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast, to leading Vacation Bible School in the Rio Grande Valley, to staying close to home and helping with literacy and housing rehab projects in Appalachia,

EMX can help you fi nd the right fi t for your group.

You donʼt pay EMX any money; they are here to help you discern where the group should go, and then their representatives put leaders in contact with site management personnel. While not on site with each group, EMX does offer step-by-step assistance with location discernment, transportation, food and lodging, and Bible and faith exercises for the group as they prepare for their exchange. EMX will also provide background into the region and work that each group will be doing.

For more information, visit their website at www.episcopalmissionexchange.org, or contact Bentley Manning, assistant director, at 877-EMX-SEND (369-7363). Manning, who can help any leader walk through the process of planning a mission exchange, will be a guest of the diocese at the Christian Formation Leadership Conference April 18-19 at All Saintʼs Center in Leitchfi eld.

2008 All Saintʼs Summer Camp Schedule June 8-13 Staff Training June 15-20 Senior High Camp (grades 9-12)

June 22-27 2nd-4th Grade Camp* June 29-July 3 Adventure Camp (grades 8-12) July 6-11 5th & 6th Grade Camp July 13-18 7th & 8th Grade Camp

July 20-25 Summer Staff Mission Exchange*2nd-4th Grade Camp is now a full-week session

Cost, session themes, and other important information will be available January, 2008.Registration forms will be available January, 2008.Counselor-In-Training & Jr. Counselor applications will be available January, 2008.

SAVE THOSE DATES FOR 2008!!!

By Martha HollandChristian Formation Department

On Saturday, Feb. 2, Calvary Church will ring with the joyous sounds of acolytes learning their trade – and having a blast while theyʼre there.

The day will begin with registration at 9:30 a.m. (EST) in the parish hall entrance. Once all are registered, a processional line of acolytes will form for a grand parade into the sanctuary, where they will be welcomed by Calvaryʼs rector, the Rev. Ned Morris, and Bishop Ted Gulick.

The worship service will feature preaching by seminarian Matt Bradley, who began hearing his call to the priesthood as an acolyte. Afterward, the group will process to the parish hall for lunch. Workshops will begin after lunch and games will follow.

Three groups of workshops are planned. Acolytes in elementary school will have one session on liturgical dance and one session on movement in the service – what to do, when to do it and why it is done that way. Middle and high school acolytes will have sessions on the spiritual background of the work they do during liturgy and on the “whatʼs” and “whyʼs” of worship. They will share the different ways their churches “do” liturgy. As a break between workshops, Pʼtricia Egbert and Matt Bradley will arrange skits demonstrating important acolyte skills.

The adults will have a choice between sessions with the bishop and a presentation on the care of acolytes and the development of program led by Julie Yeager and the team from the excellent acolyte program at

Grace Episcopal in Paducah. There will be time to share successes and ask questions.

After all that instruction, it will be time to let the games begin. What kind of games can acolytes play? Come and see! There will be games of speed, knowledge and just plain fun. Afterwards, acolytes of all ages will disperse to their homes, taking new knowledge back to their parishes.

Registration deadline is Jan. 22. Lunch can only be provided for those who have registered on time. Registration forms are available from your parish acolyte master or from the diocesan web site at www.episcopalky.org. For more information you can contact the Rev. Jerry Cappel at Resurrection Episcopal Church, 502-368-1146, or revcappel@bellsouth.net.

Acolyte Fest: Have a blast learning

Last October, the women at St. George s̓ Church in Louisville brought in a special speak-er for their one-day retreat. She was the Rev. Angela Shepherd, who was described by one St. George s̓ member, Alyce Calloway, as “like a daughter to us.” Shepherd, ordained by Bishop Ted Gulick in 1996, is the rector of St. Philips̓ Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Md.

In her opening remarks at the retreat, devoted to the theme “Reaching the Mountaintop,” Shep-herd reminded those gathered of the important achievements women are making in politics and the corporate world as well as the backlash they

Cycle of Prayer Calendar

JanuaryJan. 6—The Epiphany: God, who revealed your only Son to the Gentiles by the leading of a star, mercifully grant theat we, who know you now by faith, may after this life enjoy the splendour of your gracious Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Pray for Christ Church, Elizabethtown, the Rev. Alice Nichols, rector.Jan. 13—Pray for the Anglican Church of Australia and for the new ministry of the Rev. Alice Nichols.Jan. 20—Pray for the Anglican Church of Kenya and for St. Paulʼs, Henderson, the Rev. Beth Macke, rectorJan.27—Pray for the Church of Bangladesh and for Holy Trinity, Brandenburg, the Rev. Steve Winsett.FebruaryFeb. 3—Pray for the Episcopal Church of Brasil and for the All Saints ̓Episcopal Center Board.Feb. 10—Pray for the Anglican Church of Burundi and for the Dioceseʼs Audit Committee.Feb. 17—Pray for the Anglican Church of Canada and for the Bishop Dudley Trustees.Feb. 24—Pray for the Church of the Province of Central Africa and for the Commission on Ministry.

Events Calendar

JanuaryJan. 5—Trustee and Council dinner at the Gulickʼs. Contact Mike Hutchins (502) 584-7148Jan. 11-12—School of Ministry: All Saints ̓Center, Leitchfi eld.Jan. 13—Celebration of New Ministry for the Rev. Alice Nichols, Christ Church, Elizabethtown; Contact Michael Hutchins (502) 584-7148.Jan. 15—Trustees & Council Executive Committee, Diocesan Offi ces, Louisville. Noon. Contact: Mike Hutchins (502) 584-7148.Jan. 18-19—Brennan Lecture with Diana Butler Bass: Lecture on “The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church” for the clergy on Jan. 18 at Christ Church Cathedral, 7-9:30 p.m. (EST); two lectures on her book “Christianity for the Rest of Us” for clergy and lay people on Jan. 19 at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, 8:30 a.m- 3 p.m. To register online, visit www.episcopalky.org/events/366. Contact Betty Williams at 502-584-7148.Jan 20: Bishopʼs Visitation; St. Paulʼs, Henderson; Contact Mike Hutchins (502) 584-7148.Jan 21-23—Trinity Institute (“Religion and Violence: Untangling the Roots of Confl ict. An Interfaith Dialogue”):

Bishopʼs Hall, Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville. Details will be provided when available. Contact: Mike Hutchins at 502-584-7148 or 800-222-3462.Jan 26—Commission on Ministry: Place to be announced. Begins at 5 p.m. EST. For additional details, contact the Rev. Ben Maas, 502-452-9581.Jan 27—Bishopʼs Visitation; Holy Trinity, Brandenburg; Contact Mike Hutchins (502) 584-7148.Jan. 29—Trustees & Council Meeting, Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville. Contact Mike Hutchins (502) 584-7148.FebruaryFeb. 2-3—Acolyte Festival at Calvary, Louisville.Feb. 6—Ash Wednesday.Feb. 9—All Saints Board Meeting; All Saints ̓Center.Feb. 10-11—Aspirant Overnight with the Bishop: All Saints ̓Center, Leitchfi eld.Feb. 18—Presidentʼs Day (Diocesan Offi ce is Closed).Feb 22-23—180th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, St. Peters, Louisville.A more complete, updated events calendar may be found on the diocesan Web site at www.episcopalky.org.

January 2007 Episcopal News Page 4k

That We All May Be One —In the Diocese and Beyond

Weekly Cycle of Prayer & Events Calendar

The Rev. Whit Soards, an Episcopal priest and chaplain at Norton Health Care, and a group of nurses, aids and other employees received Norton s̓ Good Samaritan award on Dec. 3 for performing “extraordinary acts of service for patients, guests and members of the community and represents the pinnacle of recognition for

service excellence at Norton Healthcare.” The team assisted a patient after she shockingly discovered on the television early morning news that her husband had been murdered the night before. They award cited them for ”ministering to her needs spiritually and physically, providing her with care, comfort, special foods, a

hair-do, clothing for the funeral, transportation, and most of all, tender loving care.” The award recipients are pictured above with Norton offi cials (left to right): Kevin Wardell (Norton Hospital president), Chaplain Whit Soards, Gail Burchett, Lavonne White, Taylor Saksefski, identity

unavailable at press time, Erica Romine and Steve Williams, chair of the Norton Board of Directors. Not picture is another recipient of the award, Johnetta Malone. Photo by Donald Vish

The Faces of Good Samaritans

By Janet IrwinEpiscopal News Staff Writer

Early in 2008, the Rev. Dr. Tim Mitchell, a Louisville native, will offi cially become the rector of the Church of the Advent in the Highlands neighborhood of Louisville.

Mitchell, who is coming back to Louisville after years of work and study in the United States and abroad, has a varied and unusual educational history. A graduate of St. Xavier High School, he received a bachelor of arts degree from Notre Dame University in 1981 and earned a doctorate of ministry from the Pacifi c School of Religion in 2005. His education and his career experience centered on what many would consider the unlikely combination of faith and fi nance, the concentration areas of his doctoral studies.

In a many faceted career, Mitchell began his ministry in the Catholic Church as associate pastor at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. He was received as an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of California in 2002, following 11 years of worship in the Episcopal Church. His service in California included part-time positions in three urban parishes in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkely while working full-time as an investment advisor and

regional director for Christian Brothers Investment Services.

Having come to treasure parish ministry, Mitchell decided to set his career objective toward becoming rector of an urban parish. He felt he could offer the right parish, spirited worship, enhanced stewardship, thoughtful program development and new member growth. He said that he and his mother, siblings and cousins that reside in Louisville feel particularly blessed that he has found a perfect place to develop his ministry in his hometown.

Although the Church of the Advent has a small congregation, it is located in an exciting Louisville neighborhood and has great potential for growth and service under the urban ministry that Mitchellʼs education and experience promises.

Advent begins new year with new rector

are encountering. She noted, for example, that a woman, Hilary Clinton, is a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for president and Oprah Winfrey is reportedly the most powerful woman in the world. However, referring to radio broadcaster Don Imus̓ s disparaging comments about the Rutgers women s̓ soccer team, she also noted that misogyny “is alive and well” in our

culture. “As women, we are living in an interest-ing time,” and “in our journey as women, we are learning that life is a blessing,” she said. Stressing the event was a retreat, not a seminar, she guided the participants in centered prayer as well as other exercises helping them to envision God s̓ pres-ence in their faith journeys.

Former member leads St. Georgeʼs retreat