the harvest, march-april 2010

FFFFFrom the bishoprom the bishoprom the bishoprom the bishoprom the bishopBishop Wolfe explains why the “Cross-roads” fundraising campaign is critical tocreating the kind of lay and clergyleadership the diocese needs, now and forthe future. Page 2

MDG grantsMDG grantsMDG grantsMDG grantsMDG grantsFunds from the diocesan budget havebeen awarded to groups doing work inHaiti and Kenya. Page 4

Heading to KHeading to KHeading to KHeading to KHeading to KenenenenenyyyyyaaaaaGroups of Kansas Episcopa-lians are heading this summerto Kenya, to offer education,nutrition and medical help,and dialogue with the Anglican

Church of Kenya. Page 4

Holy WHoly WHoly WHoly WHoly WeekeekeekeekeekHoly Week is a busy timefor laity and clergy, andBishop Wolfe is no excep-tion. Take a look at somephotos that show hisparticipation in services atGrace Cathedral. Page 5

OutreacOutreacOutreacOutreacOutreachhhhhSeveral parishes in the diocese haveundertaken new outreach initiatives inrecent months, ranging from sandwichesto English classes. Page 6

HabitHabitHabitHabitHabitat houseat houseat houseat houseat houseConstruction finally isunderway on the Habitatfor Humanity housebeing built by the diocesein Coffeyville. Page 6

A WA WA WA WA Walk through Jerusalemalk through Jerusalemalk through Jerusalemalk through Jerusalemalk through JerusalemGrace Cathedral is hosting a uniqueexhibit that lets visitors experience someof life in ancient Israel, and they arepartnering with Jewish and Muslimsneighbors to make it happen. Page 7

TTTTTocococococher Lectureher Lectureher Lectureher Lectureher LectureNoted theologian and authorStanley Hauerwas will deliverthe 2010 Tocher Lecture onMay 20 at St. Michael and AllAngels in Mission. Page 9

Glasspool gets OKsGlasspool gets OKsGlasspool gets OKsGlasspool gets OKsGlasspool gets OKsThe word that enough consents had beenreceived to the election of the secondpartnered gay priest as a bishop in theEpiscopal Church brought expressions ofjoy and sadness. 0

UUUUUpdate on Haitipdate on Haitipdate on Haitipdate on Haitipdate on HaitiMichelle Obama and JillBiden visited a Haitianrefugee camp run by theEpiscopal Diocese of Haiti,and plans are announced tobegin rebuilding Holy Trnity

Cathedral in Port-au-Prince. Page 11

Inside The Harvest LeaderLeaderLeaderLeaderLeadership is fship is fship is fship is fship is focus of fund campaignocus of fund campaignocus of fund campaignocus of fund campaignocus of fund campaignEpiscopal Diocese of Kansas

Bishop Dean Wolfe has announced the launch of a major,diocesanwide fundraising campaign designed to providelay and clergy leadership for parishes across the Epis-

copal Diocese of Kansas.The effort has been named “Crossroads: Securing the Path to

Tomorrow,” and it seeks to raise morethan $4 million in coming months.

The focus of the effort is the KansasSchool for Ministry, which currently edu-cates people for ordination as priests anddeacons. Plans call for the school to ex-pand its offering to include extensive layministry education and training.

Money raised will create an endow-ment of about $1.5 million for KSM andwill build a Leadership Center to provideadditional classrooms and refurbisheddiocesan offices. Existing diocesanbuildings would be renovated to provideovernight accommodations for up to 30 people.

Diocesan outreach and mission efforts will get a boost, too,as 10 percent of all money raised will go to efforts to help otherslocally, nationally and internationally.

EfEfEfEfEffffffororororort can be a game-ct can be a game-ct can be a game-ct can be a game-ct can be a game-changer fhanger fhanger fhanger fhanger for dioceseor dioceseor dioceseor dioceseor diocese“This is a bold and exciting initiative that can be a real game-

changer for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas,” Bishop Wolfesaid. “This effort can help ensure that parishes large and smallhave the lay and clergy leadership they need for the 21stcentury.”

Bishop Wolfe has named Larry Bingham, a member of St.Michael’s in Mission, as chair of thefundraising effort. Support will be providedby diocesan Director of Development andStewardship Char DeWitt, and by RSI, acampaign consulting firm retained by thediocese.

The effort also has the full backing ofmembers of the Council of Trustees, thediocesan governing body between conven-tions.

Bingham said members of the diocesewill have an opportunity to learn moreabout the Crossroads campaign, and toconsider a contribution, when additional

information is provided through parishes in the next few months.

St. Clare’s finds new homein growing Spring Hill

Please see Leadership, page 3

Photo by Melodie Woerman

Spring Hill is the new home for St. Clare’s, the congregation being started by thediocese in Johnson County. The Rev. Philip Hubbard (pictured) and members willbegin worshipping in rented space in historic downtown Spring Hill in mid-May.

By Melodie WoermanEditor, The Harvest

The newest congregation in theEpiscopal Diocese of Kansassoon will have a more permanent

place to call home. St. Clare’s, which hasbeen started by the diocese in JohnsonCounty, will begin worshipping in abuilding in Spring Hill in mid-May.

That will get its nine members out ofthe living room of the priest starting thechurch, the Rev. Philip Hubbard, and intothe community. And that, he said, willhelp the new church grow.

Hubbard is being paid by the dioceseto start this new congregation, with thetitle missioner for new church develop-ment. He said the decision to locate in

Spring Hill, a town of about 6,500 thatstraddles the Johnson/Miami county line,was made after more than a year ofdeliberation.

This is an area that has seen signifi-cant growth in the past 10 years, henoted. Spring Hill itself has grown bymore than 40 percent since 2000, andit’s just 10 minutes away from Gardner(population of 19,000), Louisburg(about 4,000) and Paola (about 6,000).

It’s also an area, Hubbard said, thatisn’t home to any other Episcopalchurches. “We can draw from the entiresouthern Johnson County and northernMiami County region,” he said.

The congregation will worship in a

Please see St. Clare’s, page 5

Diocesanpaper winstop awardEpiscopal Diocese of Kansas

T he Harvest, the newspaper of theEpiscopal Diocese of Kansas,took the top prize in its circula-

tion category at the annual Polly Bondawards given by Episcopal Communica-tors at its conference March 19 in Salem,Mass.

It received the first-place Award ofExcellence in the General Excellence cat-egory for newspapers with a circulationunder 12,000. The Harvest has a circula-tion of 5,200 and had taken second in thiscategory the past two years.

The winner in the large circulation cat-egory was Episcopal Life, the now-closednational newspaper of the EpiscopalChurch.

The judge described The Harvest as“crisp, clean, enticing to pick up, packedfull of news, lots to read, many topics, lotsof contributors, good sense of what’s go-ing on in the diocese, big-picture, not justa community bulletin board, a real voiceand vision.”

The paper’s writing was described as“clear, bright, interesting” and its layoutwas called “well-organized, clean andcrisp-looking.”

This is the third time that The Harvesthas received the best newspaper prize dur-ing the 16-year editorship of MelodieWoerman. Previous wins were in 1996 and1997.

The newspaper also received an Awardof Excellence for feature writing forWoerman’s story of Amanda Jennings’sbaptism at summer camp last year.

Please see Harvest, page 2

2 • The Harvest • March/April 2010

power and color that it could eas-ily transfer to another person’s ex-perience.”

A second-place Award of Merit

Publisher: The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, BishopEditor: Melodie Woerman

A member of Episcopal News Service and Episcopal Commu-nicators, The Harvest is published six times a year by the Officeof Communications of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas: Feb-ruary, April, June, August, October and December.

Stories, letters and photos are welcome. They will be used on aspace-available basis and are subject to editing. Send all mate-rial (preferably in electronic format or by e-mail) to:

Melodie Woerman, editorThe Harvest

835 SW Polk St.Topeka, KS 66612-1688phone: (800) 473-3563

fax: (785) [email protected]

Send address changes to:Receptionist

835 SW Polk St., Topeka, KS [email protected]

Upcoming deadlines:May/June issue: May 15

July/August issue: July 15

Subscription rate:$1.50 annually

Third class mailingPermit No. 601, Topeka, Kansas

POSTMASTER:Send address changes to

Episcopal Diocese of Kansas835 SW Polk St.

Topeka, KS 66612-1688

The Anglican CommunionA global community of 70 million Anglicansin 38 member churches/provinces in more than160 countries.

Archbishop of CanterburyThe Most Reverend and Right Honorable Rowan Williams

Lambeth Palace, London WE1 7JU, United Kingdomwww.anglicancommunion.org

Episcopal seat: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England

The Episcopal ChurchA community of more than 2.1 million mem-bers in 110 dioceses in 16 countries in theAmericas and abroad.

Presiding BishopThe Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori

815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017(800) 334-7626

www.episcopalchurch.orgEpiscopal seat: Washington National Cathedral,

Washington, D.C.

The Episcopal Diocese of KansasA community of 12,000 members in45 parishes, two diocesan institutions andone school in eastern Kansas.

BishopThe Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe

835 SW Polk Street, Topeka, KS 66612-1688(785) 235-9255(800) 473-3563

www.episcopal-ks.orgEpiscopal seat: Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka

From the BishopThe Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe

D ear Friends,I love the Episcopal Church. I believewe make a substantial contribution to

the Christian enterprise, and I am proud of whatwe represent.

But I also know the Episcopal Church inKansas faces exceptional challenges, and I know,as you know, that we cannot continue to do thesame old things in the same old ways and expectto remain a vibrant force for Christ in the world.

In this issue of The Harvest, you’ll read aboutan exciting, new initiative that I believe willpositively impact every member of the EpiscopalDiocese of Kansas.

This initiative has been named “Crossroads:Securing the Path to Tomorrow” because I, alongwith the leadership of the diocese, believe we areat an important crossroads regarding the missionstrategy of our diocese.

Early cEarly cEarly cEarly cEarly challenge: fhallenge: fhallenge: fhallenge: fhallenge: find clergyind clergyind clergyind clergyind clergyIn the early days of the Episcopal Diocese of

Kansas, Bishops Thomas Vail and Elisha Thomasfaced a critical problem — how to get enoughclergy to come to Kansas and stay long enough tobe effective ministers.

They soon realized the best way to accomplishthis goal was to offer high quality, affordable,local education right here in Kansas.

In fact, it is a quote from Bishop Thomas in1892 that inspired our campaign theme: “I havecome to the conclusion that there is but one pathleft open to me. I must educate my own missionar-ies.”

This is exactly what we will do with anexpanded Kansas School for Ministry.

We plan to secure our future by raising anendowment for faculty and programs for theKansas School for Ministry and by building anadequate space for the school to offer classes forthe training of lay leaders, deacons and priests.

This facility also will provide a place wherevestries, youth groups and other organizationsfrom around the diocese can gather to spend thenight while they plan and learn and dream.

Skilled leaderSkilled leaderSkilled leaderSkilled leaderSkilled leaders neededs neededs neededs neededs neededThe Council of Trustees and I understand first-

hand the challenges faced by our churches. Nearlyhalf our congregations are led by part-time ornon-stipendiary clergy, and most of our congrega-tions use non-stipendiary clergy to assist them intheir mission.

The cost of a residential seminary education,both in dollars and time spent away from families,is beyond the reach of many who would makeexcellent candidates for ordained ministry.

Additionally, every congregation in our dioceseis in need of well-trained lay leaders — skilledyouth ministers, effective educators for childrenand adults, passionate stewardship chairs, inspired

liturgical leaders, compassionate pastoral careproviders.

In order to achieve this objective, we will needto raise more than $4 million to ensure ourparishes have the leadership needed to do the workwe have been given to do.

WWWWWe act te act te act te act te act togeogeogeogeogetherthertherthertherThese needs can’t be met by any one congrega-

tion acting alone. But we don’t have to act alone.As Episcopalians, we act together.

We all are called to be missionaries to a worldthat doesn’t always understand the Good News ofJesus. It’s a world that often favors power overhumility, greed over giving and vengeance overforgiveness. It’s a world desperate to know thereconciling love of God.

An expanded KSM will provide every memberof the diocese the tools to be the kind of mission-aries our society needs.

More information on this opportunity will beavailable in the coming months, and you’ll beoffered the chance to make a contribution to thiscrucial effort over and above what you alreadygive to the church.

I realize this is an ambitious goal, but Kansanshave never shied away from meeting challengeshead-on. I believe it would be better to try and failin this effort than never to have tried to do whatwe believe God is calling us to do.

I invite you to consider prayerfully how youcan help make this dream a reality, as together weseek to know Christ and to make Christ known.

Faithfully,+Dean

‘Cr‘Cr‘Cr‘Cr‘Crossrossrossrossrossroads’ ofoads’ ofoads’ ofoads’ ofoads’ offffffererererers us thes us thes us thes us thes us theopporopporopporopporopportunity ttunity ttunity ttunity ttunity to do a neo do a neo do a neo do a neo do a new thingw thingw thingw thingw thing

Photo by Deacon Bob Hirst

The piece was judged againstall other feature stories enteredfrom across the Episcopal Church,regardless of the size ofthe publication.

The judge called thewriting “clear and careful,concise and colorful” andsaid it was “a small per-sonal story told with such

HarHarHarHarHarvvvvvestestestestest: : : : : Writing, layout awards also receivedalso recognized Woerman forfront-page newspaper design, inwhich the judge said, “It’s what a

newspaper should read/look like.”

This marks 43 PollyBond awards Woermanhas garnered since takingover as editor of the news-paper, then named Plen-teous Harvest, in March1994.

Continued from page 1

March/April 2010 • The Harvest • 3

PPPPParishes need clergyarishes need clergyarishes need clergyarishes need clergyarishes need clergyBishop Wolfe said parishes in

the diocese need help in develop-ing the kind of lay and ordainedleaders required for ministry to-day. “Right now, 20 of our 45 par-ishes are served by part-time ornon-paid clergy,” he said.

“A 3-year seminary educationcan run as much as $75,000, andmany parishes can’t afford to payclergy enough to offset thosecosts,” he said. “Some peoplecan’t pursue a call to ordainedministry because of the severe dis-ruption to their income, or to thelife of their family. We must de-velop a more efficient and cost-effective way to train the clergyleadership that is essential tohealthy parishes, or some of themmay not be able to survive.

“We have reached a crucialcrossroads in the Episcopal Dio-cese of Kansas,” he said. “Wehave a choice. We can either donothing, or we can do something.I believe this diocese will chooseto do something.”

Bingham said this need forclergy extends to growing, urbanparishes as well as smaller, morerural congregations. “There is ademand for additional clergy toserve the needs of our larger con-gregations, and there is an insuf-ficient supply of resources to ful-fill that demand,” he said.

High-quality, local educationfor clergy means more peoplecould serve as bivocationalpriests, working a secular job aswell as assisting in an urban orsuburban parish, he said, noting,“This will be very beneficial toour larger and mid-sized congre-gations.”

LaLaLaLaLay ministry ministry ministry ministry ministry ey ey ey ey expandsxpandsxpandsxpandsxpandsBingham said expanded lay

ministry training is a key elementof the Crossroads campaign. TheRev. Andrew Grosso, KSM’s co-ordinator, said in the next fewyears the school plans to offer pro-grams to certify people in one ofthe six licensed ministries autho-rized by church canons (pastoralleader, worship leader, preacher,Eucharistic minister, Eucharisticvisitor and catechist).

He said KSM also is consider-ing programs for other ministries,such as small group leaders andparish administrators, and hopesto open some of its existing ordi-nation-track classes to anyone in-terested in high-quality theologi-cal education,

Bingham said this kind of ex-panded training means churchescould begin to implement trueministry teams, where clergy andlay people share in meeting theministry needs of their congrega-tion in an intentional, coordinatedway.

“There are large, untapped re-sources of lay ministry in our con-gregations,” he said. “If we cancall them into well-managed min-istry teams, there will be no limitto our ability to fulfill the missionof the church — to reconcile allpersons to God and each other

through Jesus Christ.”

NeNeNeNeNew building is crucialw building is crucialw building is crucialw building is crucialw building is crucialIn order to make these minis-

try expansions happen, however,KSM needs a building that canmeet its growing needs.

Classes currently meet in theBethany Place Conference Center,a 140-year-old building that formuch of the 20th century was theresidence of Kansas bishops andbefore that was the barn for anEpiscopal girls school. It was con-verted to its present use in theearly 1980s.

The former living room pro-vides meeting space for about 12students, with upstairs sleepingspace for 13. The building cannotbe used by people with disabili-ties, since there are steep steps atall doors.

Electrical deficiencies meanteachers have very limited use ofmodern technology in conductingclasses.

The Crossroads campaign pro-poses to build a 13,000 square-

foot building on the eastern por-tion of the current Bethany Placeproperty near downtown Topeka.

The first floor will have class-room space for 80 people, alongwith a conference room and smallchapel. The second floor will in-clude offices for Bishop Wolfeand other members of the dioc-esan staff.

Bingham said the new build-ing will feature state-of-the-arttechnology, including distance-learning capabilities. It also willbe environmentally friendly andwill incorporate energy savingsand sustainable design features toreduce overall operating costs.

Bishop Wolfe said the newbuilding will be “a center of dioc-esan learning and leadership. Itnot only will house an innovativeapproach to educating clergy, itwill be the place where lay peoplefrom congregations of every sizecan come. Here they will learn,train, connect and prepare them-selves for the challenges of lead-ing parishes in today’s Episcopal

Diocese of Kansas.”The building also will provide

space for parish vestry retreats, aswell as a central place where di-ocesan committees and groupscan meet. The existing conferencecenter can’t accommodate somemeetings because of its small size.

The conference center, alongwith the building that currentlyhouses the diocesan offices, willbe remodeled into sleeping spacefor about 30 people.

Centuries-long efCenturies-long efCenturies-long efCenturies-long efCenturies-long effffffororororortttttLong before the Kansas School

for Ministry was created, Kansasbishops struggled with findingenough clergy. In the 19th century,the need was for priests who werewilling to tackle the rigors of prai-rie life to lead congregations in thenew diocese.

Both Bishop Thomas Vail andBishop Elisha Thomas found ithard to obtain the clergy neededfor growing congregations, sothey sought men to study locallyat the Kansas Theological Schoolthey’d created. That need forclergy prompted Bishop Thomasto write in 1892, “I have come tothe conclusion that there is but onepath left open to me. I must edu-cate my own missionaries.” Theschool closed in 1917.

The idea of educating localparish leaders was revived in 1997when KSM was created to provideclassroom and ministry educationfor those seeking ordination andto offer lay people an in-deptheducation experience.

It provided monthly residentialclasses until the spring of 2006,when funding difficulties forcedit to suspend operations. By thenthe school had graduated 50

LeaderLeaderLeaderLeaderLeadership: ship: ship: ship: ship: Clergy, lay will benefit from enhanced KSM

people in eight classes, about halfwhom went on to ordained minis-try, most as deacons.

Classes were resumed in thefall of 2008 under Grosso’s lead-ership. KSM currently has 14 stu-dents enrolled.

HistHistHistHistHistoric oppororic oppororic oppororic oppororic opportunitytunitytunitytunitytunityGrosso said the Crossroads

campaign is a unique opportunityfor the diocese to strengthen itsmission. “It will remind everymember that the church is calledto ministry,” he said. “It also willprovide the ability to offer thekind of formation that will helpevery member of every parish inthis diocese discover and pursuethe particular ministry to whichGod has called them.”

Bishop Wolfe said this initia-tive provides all Episcopalians inthe diocese the chance to do some-thing truly historic.

“At this moment, we have thechance to ensure that the needs ofour parishes can be met in newand innovative ways,” he said.“Our efforts here, right now, willdetermine how we shape theminds, motivate the faith and nur-ture the abilities of future leaders.That’s a tremendous challenge,but it’s one I’m confident thepeople of this diocese will meet.It will require sacrifice, but I knowGod will bless these efforts.”

Continued from page 1 The Rev. AndrewGrosso (right) teaches aKansas School forMinistry class in theBethany PlaceConference Center. Anexpansion of KSM,along with a newbuilding to houseclasses and diocesanoffices, are thekeystones of thediocesan fundraisingcampaign, “Crossroads:Securing the Path toTomorrow.”

Photos byMelodie Woerman

KSM classes sometimes have to use additional space, like this meetingroom at Grace Cathedral, because of cramped quarters at the existingBethany Place Conference Center.

I have come to theconclusion thatthere is but onepath left opento me. I must

educate my ownmissionaries.

Bishop Elisha Thomas,second bishop of the

Diocese of Kansas,in 1892



Three organizations committed toministry outside the United Stateshave received grants totaling

$12,000 from the diocesan Outreach andMinistry Committee.

The awards were made in March fromdiocesan funds earmarked for support ofthe Millennium Development Goals(MDGs). Grants were made to:

Haitian Episcopal Learning Partnership,$6,000;Community Initiatives for Rural Devel-opment in Kenya, $2,500; andKansas to Kenya, $3,500 split betweentwo programs.The money represents about 0.7 percent

of the diocesan budget, in accordance witha resolution adopted by Diocesan Conven-tion in 2007 to support the MDGs and pro-vide annual budgeted funding for support-ing projects.

Committee co-chairs Lisa Adams andBrenda Skaggs noted in their report on theawards that five valid applications request-ing nearly $22,000 were received by thecommittee’s Jan. 31 deadline. Grant guide-lines stipulate that no money be used fortravel expenses or administrative costs.

Grant deGrant deGrant deGrant deGrant detailstailstailstailstailsHaitian Episcopal Learning Partner-

ship, an organization that supports partner-ships between U.S. and Haitian Episcopalchurches in the Torbeck and Les Cayes areaof southwest Haiti. The $6,000 grant isaimed at providing emergency assistancein the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake.Even though the area is 120 miles fromPort-au-Prince, it still suffered physical andeconomic damage.

Kansas to Kenya teams readyfor summer trips

The grant money is to be divided, with$2,500 designated for food, $2,300 forschool expenses and scholarships, and$1,200 for housing help for the Rev.Colbert Estil, whose rectory in Les Cayeswas damaged in the earthquake.

Community Initiatives for Rural De-velopment in Kenya. The money will pro-vide care and support for people living withHIV/AIDS and will provide training andeducation to people on how to cut downthe spread of the disease. Work will be cen-tered in Kenya’s Tigania region.

Kansas to Kenya, a diocesan commit-tee developing mission opportunities inKenya. The money will be used on a tripthis summer to the Kenyan Diocese ofNakuru. $1,750 will go to a program to helpwomen understand their rights and to pro-mote gender equality, and to provide AIDSeducation and leadership development forprimary school students through soccer.

Another $1,750 will go to a nutritionprogram in Maai Mahiu to assess foodneeds of residents of an orphanage thereand provide ongoing financial resources topurchase adequate food for 15 orphans inthe coming year.

MDG grants supporMDG grants supporMDG grants supporMDG grants supporMDG grants supportttttprprprprprojects in Haiti, Kojects in Haiti, Kojects in Haiti, Kojects in Haiti, Kojects in Haiti, Kenenenenenyyyyyaaaaa

What are the MDGs?Efforts designed by the year 2015 to:

eradicate extreme poverty and hungerachieve universal primary educationpromote gender equality and empowerwomenreduce child mortalityimprove maternal healthcombat HIV/AIDS, malaria and otherdiseasesensure environmental sustainabilitywork for global partnerships for devel-opment

File photo

A medical mission, like this one in 2009, is one of three trips to Kenya this summer bymembers of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas.

More than two dozen people willbe headed to Kenya this summerto work on mission projects

sponsored by Kansas to Kenya (K2K), adiocesan effort that provides opportunitiesfor mission work in the east African nation.

Deacon Steve Segebrecht, an ear-nose-and-throat physician who serves at Trinity,Lawrence, has been on a number of mis-sion trips to Kenya and chairs the K2K ef-fort. He noted that all those participatingon Kenyan mission teams are responsiblefor raising the costs of their trip.

He also asked for prayers for all the teammembers and their work while they are en-gaged in ministry in Kenya.

HOPE THOPE THOPE THOPE THOPE TeameameameameamAlice Johnston from St. David’s, To-

peka, will be in Kenya May 30-June 25 witha group called HOPE, who will be work-ing primarily with mothers of disabled chil-dren. Previous Kenyan mission trips helpedthis group learn to sew canvas tote bags inorder to provide for their families.

Work with the “Malaika Mums” alsohelps provide educational and physicaltherapy opportunities for their children,who are ostracized by society because oftheir disabilities. Johnston also has beenraising money to purchase additional indus-trial-grade sewing machines for the project.

Her trip is sponsored by CTC Interna-tional.

Community TCommunity TCommunity TCommunity TCommunity TeameameameameamThe first large-scale K2K trip this sum-

mer, involving the Community Team,leaves the U.S. on June 10 and returns June22. Seven Episcopalians, including twopriests, will join four others working onprojects aimed at helping women and chil-dren, as well as increasing relationshipswith the Anglican Diocese of Nakuru.

Their work will be centered in MaaiMahiu, a town in a mountainous regionoutside the capital of Nairobi and the siteof previous K2K efforts.

Two grants (from the diocesan Millen-nium Development Goals budget line itemand from the Foundation at St. Michael andAll Angels in Mission) are helping fundwork at Good Shepherd Orphanage in MaaiMahiu. Volunteers will assess the nutri-tional needs of children living in the homeand will arrange for an ongoing nutritionalprogram, including providing needed food,for the children.

Other volunteers will be evaluating otherorphanages in the town and visiting withcommunity leaders to see how the Episco-

pal Diocese of Kansas can be further in-volved with orphans there.

Another program will use educationmaterials, including posters and meetings,to teach women more about HIV/AIDS andto make them more aware of their rights insociety.

Volunteers will use soccer matches as away to reach young people in a local pri-mary school, as they seek to educate themabout HIV/AIDS and provide them withleadership opportunities.

The Rev. Andrew O’Connor, rector ofGood Shepherd, Wichita, and the Rev.Robert Terrill, a retired priest, will spear-head efforts to increase dialog with theAnglican Church of Kenya, representingthe Diocese of Kansas at the request ofBishop Dean Wolfe.

They will work with the Kenyanchurch’s community development and out-reach organization to assess ongoing needs,and they also will reach out to Anglicansin Maai Mahiu. The two men also will leadevening devotions for those on the trip.

Terrill said he has been preaching aboutthe needs of Kenya in parishes in recentweeks and has received more than $4,000in donations, as well as the promise of anumber of soccer balls to replace the plas-tic bags filled with trash that Kenyan chil-dren sometimes have to use instead.

This trip is being coordinated by and isworking under the auspices of Mercy andTruth Medical Missions, a Kansas City-based Christian organization that supportsmedical missions in the U.S. and abroad.

Medical TMedical TMedical TMedical TMedical TeameameameameamNine Episcopalians will join a like num-

ber of other medical professionals in a 10-day trip to Maai Mahiu. Led by overseasmission veteran Karin Feltman of St.Margaret’s, Lawrence, the group includesphysicians, nurses, a pharmacist and a den-tist, as well as medical and dental students.

They will be joined by the Rev. KelleyLackey, rector of St. Andrew’s, Emporia,who will provide spiritual and pastoral care.His wife, Carolyn, is a nurse on the trip.

The group will staff clinics in MaaiMahiu and a rural hospital in Kijabe. Inaddition to basic medical and emergencycare, they will conduct HIV testing and willsee patients from previous years’ clinics forfollow-up care. Estimates are that duringtheir five days of clinics, they will see about1,000 patients.

This trip also is being coordinated byMercy and Truth Medical Missions.

— Melodie Woerman


building in Spring Hill’s historicdowntown district, a one-block-long strip of 19th century build-ings that is being revitalized.

St. Clare’s is leasing space onSundays in a recently renovatedbuilding designed to be rented outfor receptions, reunions and otherevents. Originally built as an OddFellows’ lodge, it can seat about150 people.

The rent will be paid bypledges of existing worshippers,Hubbard said.

MoMoMoMoMovvvvve will aid gre will aid gre will aid gre will aid gre will aid grooooowthwthwthwthwthSince the congregation was

started about 18 months ago, wor-shippers have met in the livingroom of the Overland Park homeHubbard shares with his wife andyoung son. While it has workedfor current members, he said itwasn’t the best arrangement toattract newcomers.

“I’ve found that most peoplewon’t come to your house forworship unless they know you,”he said.

He said the new rented build-ing will work well until they maxout the space at two services,meaning they’d be up to about 240members.

“This move to a temporaryspace is a significant step in thelife of this church,” the Rev. CraigLoya, diocesan canon to the ordi-nary, said. “Such a move signifi-cantly leverages their potential forgrowth.”

But beyond the practical, thismove has a theological compo-nent, Loya said.

“Because we are anincarnational people, having ahome that is a visible presence inthe community is an importantfeature in the life of the commu-nity of faith.”

Hubbard said once the decision

was made to settle in Spring Hill,he started knocking on doors totalk to residents. He’s askingpeople what they think the needsof the community are, since St.Clare’s seeks to be of service toits neighbors.

After he talks to about 100people, he figures he’ll haveenough input to recommend out-reach efforts to his parishioners.

He also makes sure to leave aninformational brochure with any-one who expresses an interest and

SSSSSt. Clare’s: t. Clare’s: t. Clare’s: t. Clare’s: t. Clare’s: New church has a new place to call home

A fomer Odd Fellows lodge in historic downtown Spring Hill soon willhouse worshippes of St. Clare’s, the newest congregation in theEpiscopal Diocese of Kansas. It had been meeting in a house since itwas started 18 months ago.

invite them to the first publicservice on Pentecost.

Planting seedsPlanting seedsPlanting seedsPlanting seedsPlanting seedsHubbard said he knows not

everyone will stop by to check outthe new Episcopal church, but hisefforts are all about plantingseeds.

“This might be the place forsomeone who isn’t going tochurch, or it might prepare themfor the next church, or maybe Ijust get them thinking,” he said.

To be more visible in the com-munity, Hubbard sets up a make-shift office at a café table in thelocal Price Chopper grocery store.Wearing his clergy collar, hemakes eye contact with shopperswhile working.

He’s also a member of theSpring Hill Rotary club and thecity’s Chamber of Commerce anddelivers the chamber’s welcomebooklet to new residents, makingsure to plug St. Clare’s in the pro-cess.

Ads in the local newspaperhave started inviting people to theMay 23 Pentecost service, too.

About a dozen people alsomeet each week at Price Chopperfor a Bible study of the gospel ofMark, and one or two shoppersusually stop by to ask questions,Hubbard said. The group is led byMargie Burton, a member at St.Michael and All Angels in Mis-sion.

RRRRRealistic eealistic eealistic eealistic eealistic expectationsxpectationsxpectationsxpectationsxpectationsHubbard said he’s excited

about the possibilities all theseencounters offer, but he’s keepinghis expectations realistic.

He said he’s certain that oncethe congregation has an identifi-able location, complete with an“Episcopal Church WelcomesYou” sign in the window, they’llget some visitors.

He expects most initially willcome from Spring Hill, with resi-dents of Gardner, Louisburg andPaola eventually attending.

St. Clare’s already has receivedgifts to make worship in their newhome easier.

Becky Johnston, a member ofSt. Paul’s, Leavenworth,handcrafted pottery communionvessels.

A set of vestments, includingchasubles and stoles, was made byLynne Stark and Grace Lewin ofSt. Michael’s, Mission.

Hubbard said he is looking for-ward to expanding the presence ofthe Episcopal Church into a newarea and appreciates the hardwork already done on St. Clare’sbehalf. But he’s also clear aboutwhere any effort ultimately origi-nates.

“God is going to do the work,”he said, “But he does ask us toparticipate.”

Continued from page 1

The city of SpringHill (circled nearthe bottom of map)is located on thesouthern border ofJohnson County,the state’s mostpopulous. It is partof the greaterKansas City area.

Wanted: modern missionaries

Last fall, Bishop Dean Wolfe issued a call for modern mis-sionaries, Episcopalians who can provide support and en-

couragement as St. Clare’s gets established.He asked that 10 Episcopal families already attending church

in Johnson County make a 3-year commitment to the life of St.Clare’s, to “help give birth to that nascent community of faith.”

He asked, “Who will be the 10 families who will be spiritualpioneers, the faithful frontiersmen and women of today?”

In recent comments, he noted that an additional 10 familieswould help provide not only the energy needed for programs tohelp St. Clare’s grow, but they also would assist newcomers inbetter learning the liturgies and traditions of the EpiscopalChurch.

Those interested in answering this call can contact the Rev.Philip Hubbard, St. Clare’s priest, at [email protected] (913) 967-9885.

HolyWeekwithBishopDeanWolfe

Chrism (oil foranointing the

newly baptized)is blessed by thebishop during the

annual ChrismMass on Tuesday

of Holy Week.

Bishop Wolfe lights the new fire at the Great Vigil of Easter. Assisting are(from left) verger Kent Wingerson, Deacon Don Chubb, the Rev. DonDavidson and the Rev. Ron Pogue.

Bishop Wolfe, Dean Steve Lipscomb andCanon to the Ordinary Craig Loya leadworshippers in the Stations of the Cross onGood Friday afternoon.

Here are scenes from liturgiesat Grace Cathedral, Topeka,during this year’s Holy Week

observances.

Photos by Melodie Woerman



Several parishes in the Episcopal Dio-cese of Kansas have begun new pro-grams in recent months to serve the

people of their community. Efforts rangefrom a variety of food ministries to Englishclasses for non-native speakers.

SandwicSandwicSandwicSandwicSandwich ministrh ministrh ministrh ministrh ministryyyyyGrace Cathedral, TGrace Cathedral, TGrace Cathedral, TGrace Cathedral, TGrace Cathedral, Topekopekopekopekopekaaaaa

Grace Cathedral began a sandwich min-istry in January that seeks to feed hungrypeople on Saturdays, the only day no foodprograms are available inthe downtown area. Itmirrors a similar programat an area Roman Catho-lic church that operates onweekdays.

Five teams of volun-teers, one for each weekof the month, gather in thechurch kitchen to preparea stack of peanut butterand jelly sandwiches.Two sandwiches go intoa brown paper sack, alongwith a bag of potato chipsand two cookies. Doorsopen about 9 a.m., andsacks are handed topeople as they come by.

So far, demand hasranged from a few peopleeach week to a high ofnearly 50. Organizers hope that as wordspreads, and the weather warms, morepeople who can use a Saturday meal willstop by for a sack lunch.

BacBacBacBacBackSnackSnackSnackSnackSnackkkkkSSSSSt. Mart. Mart. Mart. Mart. Mark’s, Blue Rapids andk’s, Blue Rapids andk’s, Blue Rapids andk’s, Blue Rapids andk’s, Blue Rapids andTTTTTrinityrinityrinityrinityrinity, La, La, La, La, Lawrencewrencewrencewrencewrence

The popular BackSnack program con-tinues to expand into more churches of thediocese. The two newest are St. Mark’s inBlue Rapids and Trinity, Lawrence, bothof whom started in March.

The program is operated by Harvesters,a major community food bank in KansasCity, and provides elementary school-agedchildren at risk of going hungry a backpackfull of nourishing, snack-sized food eachweekend.

Harvesters provides the backpacks andthe food, sealed into one large plastic bag

per child. Churches provide volunteers todeliver the packs to schools on Fridays,retrieve them on Mondays, clean the packsand repack them with food for the next Fri-day delivery.

St. Mark’s has begun serving 30 studentsat Blue Rapids Elementary School. Trinityis serving 100 students, 25 at each of fourarea elementary schools picked by Harvest-ers.

Organizers at the Lawrence church saythey hope to expand the program in the fallto serve 200 students in six schools, as wellas augment the Harvesters food pack withitems from the parish’s food pantry, as

needed.

English classesEnglish classesEnglish classesEnglish classesEnglish classesSSSSSt. John’s, Wict. John’s, Wict. John’s, Wict. John’s, Wict. John’s, Wichitahitahitahitahita

With a sizable numberof non-English speakersin Wichita, St. John’s lastfall began offering ESOL(English for speakers ofother languages) classes.Now in its third, 10-weekseries of classes, the par-ish has 16 people en-rolled. Most are Spanishspeakers, but they alsoserve people whosenative language is Viet-namese.

Three levels of classesare offered, from begin-ners through advanced,staffed by 13 volunteers

and one paid instructor. Childcare also isavailable.

Classes meet for two hours, three daysa week. When the current class cycle ends,the parish plans to offer another series ofclasses over the summer and will beginagain in the fall.

The Rev. Cathie Caimano, St. John’srector, said the church hopes to expand itsclasses to include preparation for the citi-zenship exam to be taken by those who wishto become naturalized U.S. citizens.

Caimano said she doesn’t know of anyother ESOL programs being offered byparishes in the diocese and said her con-gregation is pleased it can reach out to itsnon-English speaking neighbors in this way

FFFFFood pantrood pantrood pantrood pantrood pantry enhancementsy enhancementsy enhancementsy enhancementsy enhancementsSSSSSt. Pt. Pt. Pt. Pt. Paul’s, Kaul’s, Kaul’s, Kaul’s, Kaul’s, Kansas Cityansas Cityansas Cityansas Cityansas City

The food pantry at St. Paul’s, Kansas

OutreachParishes undertake new ministriesto meet needs in their communities

City already serves upwards of 100 peoplea week with a variety of donated and pur-chased food products. Partnering with Har-vesters, the same food bank that runsBackSnack, the pantry hopes to offer cli-ents and community residents additionalfood through a monthly distribution offood.

The first such distribution through Har-vesters’ Mobile Food Pantry took placeApril 24, when more than 11,000 poundsof fresh and canned food were distributed

A womanlistens

during anEnglish forspeakersof otherlanguagesclass at

St. John’s,Wichita.

MariaThompson ofTrinity,Lawrence,puts food intoa backpack aspart of theBackSnackprogram. Thefood will helpkeep an at-riskchild fromgoing hungryover aweekend.

Volunteers make peanut butterand jelly sandwiches for a newSaturday sack lunch ministry atGrace Cathedral, Topeka.

to almost 1,000 people in just three hours.It was available to anyone who wanted it,and volunteers handed out bags of food aspeople drove through the alley behind thechurch.

Rick Bush, a member of St. Thomas,Overland Park, who organized the effort,said it would become a monthly event ifenough volunteers are available to staff it.

The Rev. Ron Reed, St. Paul’s vicar, alsohas announced that the church plans to opena thrift shop in an unused portion of thebasement later this spring. That will allowthe church to better support people who livein nearby neighborhoods, Reed said.

He noted that the thrift shop, along withthe Saturday morning hot breakfast pro-gram that serves more than 100 people eachweek, offers the church a unique opportu-nity to “make a difference in the lives ofthose who need it the most, but cannot af-ford it.” He also said that the new programs,along with existing ones, offers Episcopa-lians from across the greater Kansas City,along with many others, the chance to vol-unteer their time to help others. “No oneelse in our area is so personally bindingsuch a diversity of people together for thecommon good,” he said.

Volunteersunpack andsort food fordistributionthrough thefood pantryat St. Paul’s,Kansas City,The pantrygave awaymore than11,000pounds offresh andcanned foodto nearly1,000 peopleon April 24.

Construction gets underway on Coffeyville Habitat houseThe long-awaiting start of construction has begun

on the Habitat for Humanity house being built inCoffeyville by the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas.

After an initial start day of April 17 was rained out, volun-teers gathered the weekend of April 24-25 to begin build-ing. During that time all the interior and exterior walls werebuilt and put into place. Next on tap are the front porchand the roof.

Nearly three dozen volunteers, many of them Episco-palians, worked on the house, and others provided lunchand snacks.

The family that is purchasing the house also worked,since Habitat requires “sweat equity” from its buyers.

Ground was broken for the house last August, but per-mitting requirements and severe winter weather slowed the

start of construction.Joe Miller, a member of St. Paul’s, Coffeyville, is serv-

ing as liaison to the local Habitat for Humanity commit-tee. He said that, weather permitting, construction will takeplace on the site every Saturday.

The diocese became interested in building a Habitathouse in Coffeyville after the southeast Kansas town washit with massive floods nearly three years ago that wiped

out about 600 homes and left the region short of afford-able housing.

Bishop Dean Wolfe linked this need with the diocesan150th anniversary year in 2009 and sought donations tocover the initial costs of construction.

Generous contributions from across the diocese broughtin $37,000, and another $25,000 came from Episcopal Re-lief and Development, the official aid agency of the Epis-copal Church. That total is enough not only to fund con-struction of this house but part of another, also.

Habitat requires recipients of its houses to purchasethem with a no-interest loan that helps repay the cost ofconstruction. That money then gets funneled back intoadditional houses.

— Melodie Woerman


Grace Cathedral, Topekawill host an interactive exhibitthat lets participants experience

life in ancient Israel.

A Walkthrougherusalem

Text by Melodie WoermanPhotos by Michael Massey

Grace Cathedral is hosting“A Walk through Jerusa-lem,” a unique exhibiton life in ancient Israel,

and it’s doing it in a unique way. Forthe first time in its 17-year history, theexhibit is being co-sponsored by Jew-ish, Muslim and Christian groups.

The exhibit will be on display invarious rooms of the cathedral fromMay 30 to June 20.

The walk-through exhibit is basedon seven structures featuring authenticlikenesses of the historic gates of theOld City of Jerusalem. The pieces werecreated by professional theatrical setdesigners in Boston.

Through each gate are interactivedisplays highlighting various themesrelating to Jerusalem, including history,art, literature, archaeology, geography,faith traditions, and ethnic origins and

A girl in nativedress makes amosaic tile, oneof three craftactivities visitorscan make to takehome as asouvenir.

customs. Special activities also are de-signed to appeal to children and youth,including a visit to a marketplace, thechance to try on native costumes and acraft activity they can take home.

Designed for Jewish educationDesigned for Jewish educationDesigned for Jewish educationDesigned for Jewish educationDesigned for Jewish educationThe exhibit was created by the Bu-

reau of Jewish Education of GreaterBoston and had been shown in 18 cit-ies around the country but never out-side Jewish circles until they were ap-proached by Grace Cathedral, accord-ing to Michael Massey, the cathedral’sministry coordinator.

“It had been designed as a tool forJewish education,” he said. “They hadnever been asked by a Christian churchto host it and were understandably con-cerned about how we might use it.” Thecathedral then approached RabbiDebbie Stiel of Topeka’s Temple BethShalom and Imam Omar Hazim of theIslamic Center of Topeka about cospon-soring the event, and they both agreed.

This offer to present the exhibit asan interfaith event, along with Massey’svisit to see the exhibit in Boston, con-vinced organizers to send the exhibitto Topeka as an experiment in interfaithunderstanding.

The exhibit is available to individu-als and groups at no cost, thanks tofunding from a variety of sources, in-cluding the Kansas Humanities Coun-cil, the Jewish Community Foundationof Grater Kansas City, the three spon-soring congregations and several localindividuals.

Other special eventsOther special eventsOther special eventsOther special eventsOther special eventsThe interfaith emphasis will carry

over in a June 2 public discussion ofthe book The Faith Club. It was writ-ten by three women — a Christian, aMuslim and a Jew — about their ef-forts to understand each others’ faiths.

It will feature women from each ofthe sponsoring congregations who havebeen meeting regularly to follow theauthors’ examples and learn from eachother.

The event will be moderated byErnest Jenkins, a history professor atthe University of Kansas. It will takeplace at 7 p.m. at the cathedral.

Even the cathedral’s cloister art gal-lery will be involved, with a display

during May and June of prints depict-ing life in 19th century Jerusalem.

Group tours welcomeGroup tours welcomeGroup tours welcomeGroup tours welcomeGroup tours welcomeMassey said they hope many groups

from parishes in the diocese will wantto participate in the exhibit, which alsowill explore the role Jerusalem playsas a holy site for Christianity and Is-lam as well as Judaism.

“Because of the interactive nature,this is particularly appropriate for chil-dren,” he said, but noted that it willappeal to all ages.

The exhibit can accommodate 40people at one time and will include ashort introductory film.

It is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondaythrough Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat-urday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The exhibitwill be closed on Fridays.

Group tours can be reserved by call-ing the cathedral office at (785) 235-3457 or e-mailing Massey [email protected].

Additional information is on awebsite created for this exhibit,www.cathedralyouth.org/Jerusalem.Organizers also have created aFacebook page, which can be found inthe “favorites” section of the diocesanFacebook page, www.facebook.com/EpiscopalDioceseofKansas.

The Damascus Gate is the grandest of all the Old City gates, with many small towersdecorating the top of the wall. Replicas of the seven gates highlight the exhibit andintroduce visitors to a variety of displays.

Religious symbols central to Judaism, Christianity and Islamwill be on display. Topeka congregations from all three faithtraditions are sponsoring the exhibit.

VVVVVisiting “isiting “isiting “isiting “isiting “A WA WA WA WA Walk through Jerusalem”alk through Jerusalem”alk through Jerusalem”alk through Jerusalem”alk through Jerusalem”Dates: May 30 to June 20Location: Grace Cathedral, 701 SW 8th Ave., Topeka (8th Ave. and Polk St.)Hours: Mondays-Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..Sundays, 1-5 p.m.Closed Fridays

Cost: FreeSize: The exhibit can accommodate 40 people at any given time.Contact: (785) 235-3457 or [email protected]

J


Around the dioceseSt. John’s, Abilene has named its

columbarium area All Souls’ Chapel andrecently received a new altar of repose forthat area.

Trinity, Arkansas City hosted its an-nual spaghetti supper to benefit itsMontessori pre-school March 8. This is themajor fundraiser for the school, which theparish said was the longest continuouslyrunning Montessori school in Kansas.

Trinity, Atchison is making plans for aparish prayer tree, which would allow mem-bers to request prayers that would be of-fered by other members of the community.

St. Mark’s, Blue Rapids had more than150 people attend its Shrove Tuesday pan-cake supper.

St. Paul’s, Clay Center custodianBrenda Easterberg offered extra service tothe parish by scrubbing areas of the churchbasement found to have non-toxic mold.She was aided by parish volunteers whohelped with the cleaning, and a dehumidi-fier has been installed to ward off futureepisodes.

St. Paul’s, Coffeyville is making blan-kets to give to newborn babies or to sickinfants and children in the local hospital.The goal is to produce 25 blankets eachmonth. The group meets one Fridayevening a month, except in the summer.

St. Andrew’s, Derby asked members tocomplete a questionnaire during Lent tohelp them reflect on what is most basic intheir faith journey. The answers will resultin a special four-week Christian educationclass.

St. Martin’s, Edwardsville has 33brand new Prayers Books to replace somethat had become worn. Names of peoplewhose memorial offerings funded theproject will be remembered with specialbookplates.

Trinity, El Dorado is doing someneeded exterior refurbishing, including re-placing the old copper guttering and down-spouts, which no longer could be repaired.

The existing copper was sold to a recyclerfor more than $3,500, which will help payfor the repairs.

St. Andrew’s, Emporia has three newsets of vestments, thanks to memorial con-tributions given in memory of Roger andHelen Samuelson and Nettie Resch. Cha-subles and stoles were purchased in white,green and red.

St. Thomas, Holton encouraged mem-bers to participate in the citywide garagesale April 16-17 to benefit the local foodpantry. Members also brought nonperish-able food items to help restock the pantryin early April.

Epiphany, Independence St. Martha’sGuild helped provide lunch April 15 for150 people on the crew setting up the Kan-sas Mission of Mercy free dental clinic intown. Hundreds of dental professionalsprovided free care to anyone in need.

St. Clare’s, Johnson County membersmeet weekly for Bible study at the localPrice Chopper grocery store. About a dozenpeople are studying the gospel of Mark, ledby Margie Burton, a member of St.Michael’s in Mission.

Covenant, Junction City youth andadults now meet on Wednesday evenings,with a new parish youth group and an adultChristian fellowship gathering.

St. Paul’s, Kansas City has begun of-fering a monthly dinner for parishioners,guests and church neighbors. A simple mealwill finish with entertainment, followed bya Eucharist and music.

St. Margaret’s, Lawrence is minister-ing to its youngest members with a nurseryafter the 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sundayservices. Sunday school for children age 3and older also is available at those times.

Trinity, Lawrence used the popular“Discovery” video series from the Dioceseof Texas to help people learn more aboutthe Episcopal Church. A weekend class in-cluded meals, worship, videos and discus-sion time.

St. Paul’s, Leavenworth organized acard shower for longtime members Delbertand Margaret Gwartney, who celebratedtheir 62nd wedding anniversary this year.

St. Paul’s, Manhattan heard about thecity’s new hospice house and the servicesit provides to patients and family membersduring a session of its Saturday morningfellowship time.

St. Michael’s, Mission has begun a 4-week trial use of a new Sunday school cur-riculum. Children are introduced to the ma-terial first at home with parents, with thelesson reinforced in Sunday school classes.

St. Matthew’s, Newton made plans toparticipate in a citywide garage sale in earlyMay. Money raised was earmarked forscholarships to help young people go tosummer camp.

St. Aidan’s, Olathe celebrated the Irishheritage of its patron saint with a festiveSt. Patrick’s Day celebration, complete withcorned beef and cabbage, and cakes deco-rated with shamrocks. An auction and en-tertainment completed the evening, whichraised more than $1,300 for the parishBuilding Fund.

Grace, Ottawa sends birthday greetingsto young people who are Facebook“friends” of the parish and is hoping to pro-vide a recreational event for them, almostall of whom are not members of the church.The parish has a very active presence onthe popular social networking site thanksto the ministry of Julia Davis.

St. Francis, Overland Park welcomedspring with a concert by the Southside Sing-ers of Olathe South High School. The pro-gram, featuring classical music and anoriginal student composition, was broad-cast live from St. Francis on Kansas City’slocal classical music radio station.

St. Thomas, Overland Park offeredtwo certification classes in cardiopulmo-nary resuscitation and use of the church’sexternal defibrillator. Nearly two dozenmembers now are certified to use the ma-chine that helps correct life threateningcardiac arrhythmias. Vestry members, ush-

ers and committee heads were encouragedto undergo the training.

St. John’s, Parsons raised $90 last yearby collecting labels from Best Choice prod-ucts. The money was donated to the parish’sDorothy L. Treiber Memorial Scholarshipfor high school students.

St. Peter’s, Pittsburg offered an in-structed Eucharist on March 7, which pro-vided an opportunity for visitors, newcom-ers and experienced Episcopalians to learnmore about the background and history ofwhat goes on during a Eucharistic service.

Epiphany, Sedan has begun offering amonthly service at St. Matthew’s in CedarVale. As numbers dwindled, the smallchurch became a chapel of Epiphany sev-eral years ago. The service will take placeon the second Saturday of each month.

Grace Cathedral, Topeka wishedmember Eldon Sloan a happy 101st birth-day on Mothering Sunday March 14. Sloanblew out candles on a special carrot cake.

St. David’s, Topeka has reopened itsServant Shop, which provides a variety ofgift items and greeting cards for religiousand secular celebrations.

St. Luke’s, Wamego youth are creatingtheir own space in a room in the churchbasement and are seeking used furnishingsto help make it homey.

Good Shepherd, Wichita has refur-bished its large baptismal font. The struc-ture sits in the church narthex and featuresa timer that turns on a fountain feature twicea day. It apparently had been operatingwithout stop since it was installed 20 yearsago.

St. Bartholomew’s, Wichita hosted abrunch for members following the EasterVigil and Easter Mass on April 4.

St. Christopher’s, Wichita collectedcanned food on Easter Day to help restockthe pantry at Episcopal Social Services.Children also continued the tradition of“flowering the cross” during morning wor-ship that day.

St. James’, Wichita is preparing for itsannual Old English Tea, which for 80 yearshas been a major fundraising event hostedby the women of the parish. There are manyactivities associated with the tea, includ-ing a fashion show and silent auction.

St. John’s, Wichita has moved into newoffices, along with a new library andrector’s study, in the church building. Thisfreed up space in the nearby office annexfor use by Episcopal Social Services, whichgot its start in the original Venture Housebuilding on St. John’s grounds more than25 years ago.

St. Stephen’s, Wichita hosted a benefitconcert by Chanson du Soir, a soprano andclassical guitar duet. Money raised fromticket sales went to Advocates to EndChronic Homelessness.

Grace, Winfield hosted its second an-nual “prom dress express,” which providesa variety of prom needs (dresses, shoes andmake-up) for girls who might not otherwisebe able to attend prom. Students could stopby every Saturday in March to make theirselections.

On April 11, the children of St. Andrew’s, Emporia helped collect dozens of pairs ofgently used shoes to be sent to Haiti through the “Soles 4 Souls” program. The shoesare intended to help protect the victims of the earthquake against injury and disease.

Photo by Patrick Kelley

Emporia shoes heading to Haiti

Photo by Kay Dagg

Eggs after EasterDebbie Shaw of St. Martin’s,Edwardsville, flips bacon during abreakfast she cooked for the parishon the Sunday after Easter. Sheprovided all the ingredients andcooked, eggs, bacon, sausage, andbiscuits and gravy as a thank-you toher parish.


PeopleNoNoNoNoNottttted theologian, authored theologian, authored theologian, authored theologian, authored theologian, authorttttto present To present To present To present To present Tocococococher Lectureher Lectureher Lectureher Lectureher Lecture

Clergy newsThe Rev. Frederick Miller is the new

interim at St. James’, Wichita, beginningMarch 7. He just finished an interimassignment in New Jersey, and before thatwas rector of All Saints’ in Hershey, Penn.,for 18 years.

The Rev. Mary Siegmund has beencalled as priest-in-charge at St. Matthew’s,Newton, beginning March 14. Shepreviously was canon to the ordinary forthe diocese.

The Rev. Paul McLain, curate atTrinity, Lawrence, has accepted a call tobecome an associate priest at TrinityCathedral in Little Rock, Ark., beginning

June 1. His last day at the Lawrence parishis May 9.

The Rev. Lee Sampson Block, rectoremeritus of St. Paul’s, Leavenworth, diedTuesday, March 9. He was 75. A memorialservice celebrating his life took placeMarch 27, with Bishop Dean Wolfeofficiating.

Betty Lou Lassiter, wife of the Rev.Arleigh Lassiter, died Sunday, March 7,two days shy of her 86th birthday. Amemorial service celebrating her life tookplace March 13 at St. Luke’s in Shawnee,where she had served as organist and FatherLassiter as rector.

Photo by Craig Patterson

A bevy of bishopsMembers of the kindergarten-through-3rd-grade Sunday school class at Trinity,

Lawrence, wear construction paper mitres they made for the visit to their parish byBishop Dean Wolfe April 24.

Earlier that morning the students had talked in class about who bishops are andwhat they do. They looked at a picture of Bishop Wolfe in his episcopal vestments,including ring, pectoral cross and mitre, and then they made their own mitres out ofconstruction paper, staples and glue.

During the service the class sat near the front of the church in order to better see theaction, and they had the chance to interact with Bishop Wolfe as he spoke to them.Noting their headwear he told them, “I haven’t been in the company of so many goodbishops since the Lambeth Conference.”


One of America’s most noted theo-logians will deliver this year’sTocher Lecture. Dr. Stanley

Hauerwas, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professorof Theological Ethics at the DivinitySchool of Duke Uni-versity, will speak at7 p.m. Thursday,May 20 at St.Michael and All An-gels, 6630 Nall Ave.,in Mission.

The title of his lec-ture will be “Practic-ing Pentecost: Learn-ing the Language ofPeace.” It is spon-sored by the KansasSchool for Ministry.

The lecture is freeand open to the pub-lic, and a receptionand book signing willfollow.

A special by-invitation session forclergy will take place at 3 p.m. that day,also at St. Michael’s.

An imporAn imporAn imporAn imporAn important vtant vtant vtant vtant voiceoiceoiceoiceoiceThe Rev. Andrew Grosso, rector of

Trinity, Atchison and the School forMinistry’s coordinator, said Hauerwas hasbecome one of the most important voicesin the field of theological ethics.

“He has galvanized many with his re-flections on the ineluctable demands ofthe Christian faith and practice in thechurch, in the academy and in society,”Grosso said, “and he has helped open theway towards the creative recovery of someof the fundamental beliefs and practicesthat have sustained the life of the churchthrough the centuries.”

This mirrors much of Hauerwas’sscholarly work, which Grosso said focuseson connecting virtue and the Christian life,which has led him “to emphasize both thenarrative shape of Christian faith andpractice as well as the importance of the

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas

church,” he said. He said Hauerwas’swork seeks to help the church reclaim itsemphasis on “the proclamation of the re-demptive work of God in and for theworld.”

Shaping a wide infShaping a wide infShaping a wide infShaping a wide infShaping a wide influenceluenceluenceluenceluenceHauerwas, while a noted scholar, has

made his influence known in more popu-lar circles. TIME magazine in 2001 namedhim “America’s Best Theologian,” and hisbook A Community of Character: Towarda Constructive Christian Social Ethic wasselected as one of the 100 most impor-

tant books on reli-gion of the 20th cen-tury by ChristianityToday magazine.

He has writtenmore than a dozenbooks, and one ofthem, ResidentAliens: Life in theChristian Colony,written in 1989,achieved wide ac-claim throughoutpopular Christiancircles.

Hauerwas’s workcuts across disci-plines, and he sharesa joint appointment

at the Duke Law School. He has identi-fied himself as a Christian pacifist and haswritten widely on the question of whenwar is just.

The Tocher Lectures is a series of an-nual presentations by distinguished schol-ars and theologians and are sponsored bythe Kansas School for Ministry.

It was started by Bishop Richard Greinin 1984 and featured such speakers asJohn Macquarrie, Arthur Vogel and Will-iam Countryman. Recent presenters haveincluded Lauren Winner, Gary Dorrien,Ben Witherington and Joseph Bracken.

The lectures are named for the Rev.George Tocher, a priest who had servedat St. James’, Wichita, prior to his retire-ment in 1971.

After his death, a memorial bequest es-tablished a diocesan endowment fund inhis name for the benefit of clergy con-tinuing education. The Tocher Lectureshave broadened that desire, and nowmembers of the general public attend fromacross northeast Kansas.

Event is set for May 20at 7 p.m. at St. Michaeland All Angels, Mission


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Episcopal News Service

Arizona bishop urges ‘no panic’ on immigration law —Bishop Kirk S. Smith told Arizona Episcopalians April 23 not topanic in response to a new state law that will make it illegal forundocumented immigrants to be in Arizona and that will requirepeople suspected of being illegal to show proof of legal status. “Iknow that the passage of this law is deeply troubling to many ofyou, especially those of undocumented status. I know that manyof you fear for your jobs, your families and your future in thisstate and in this country,” Smith wrote in a letter to Arizona Epis-copalians. “This law will make our communities and neighbor-hoods less safe, it will undermine our efforts to recover from thisrecession, further strain our broken state budget, and fill our courtswith more lawsuits and less justice,” he wrote.

Southern Ohio begins same-sex blessings — The Dioceseof Southern Ohio began blessing same-sex unions with two Aprilceremonies. Two men exchanged vows April 10 at St. Stephen’sChurch in Columbus, and the next day two women exchangedvows in Cincinnati. Bishop Thomas E. Breidenthal announced inNovember that he intended to lift a preexisting ban on the bless-ing of same-gender unions after Easter. Breidenthal also an-nounced formation of a task force of people with differing viewsabout same-gender unions. The task force’s role was to collabo-rate with him in development of a theological rationale, policy,trial liturgy and educational resources. Those materials wereposted on the diocesan website. Same-gender couples are not ableto marry legally in Ohio, and Breidenthal said the new policy isnot an attempt to circumvent the law.

Utah announces slate of nominees for bishop — The Epis-copal Diocese of Utah has chosen four priests to stand for elec-tion as its next bishop. The candidates are:

The Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, canon for congregationalministries, Episcopal Diocese of California;The Rev. Canon Juan Andrés Quevedo-Bosch, rector,Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal Diocese of Long Is-land;The Rev. Canon Scott B. Hayashi, canon to the ordinary,Episcopal Diocese of Chicago; andThe Rev. Canon Mary C.M. Sulerud, canon for deploy-ment and vocational ministries, Episcopal Diocese of Wash-ington, D.C.

Barlowe, an openly gay partnered priest, has also been a can-didate in episcopal elections in the dioceses of California andNewark. The election is set for May 22.

Zimbabwe Anglicans face ongoing police harassment —Anglicans in Zimbabwe continue to face intimidation from Presi-dent Robert Mugabe’s police force, which is routinely instructedto take whatever measures necessary to prevent them from wor-shiping freely in their own churches. The latest incident occurredon April 11 at St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Rhodesville, withviolent clashes between a faction belonging to excommunicatedHarare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and the one belonging to theofficial bishop of the diocese, Chad Gandiya. Kunonga, an avidMugabe supporter who was officially excommunicated by theChurch of the Province of Central Africa in May 2008, still claimsownership of the diocese’s Anglican churches despite court rul-ings ordering his faction to share the buildings with Gandiya andthe country’s loyal Anglicans. Kunonga has supported the intimi-dation of Anglicans in Zimbabwe for opposing his and Mugabe’sleadership.

General Seminary may sell property to pay bills — Theexecutive committee of General Theological Seminary’s boardof trustees said April 19 that the school may have to sell some ofits property to raise enough money in order to pay its bills aftermid-November. The Rev. Canon Denis O’Pray, chair of the trust-ees, said in a news release that the committee considered mergeror collaboration with other entities, as well as the likelihood of“immediate philanthropy,” before coming to the conclusion thatselling property was the “most reasonable source” of money. Hedid not say what property might be sold. O’Pray earlier told fac-ulty, students and administrative staff that the seminary neededbetween $2 million and $4 million, seminary spokesman BruceParker said.

OKs tOKs tOKs tOKs tOKs to Glasspool’s electiono Glasspool’s electiono Glasspool’s electiono Glasspool’s electiono Glasspool’s electionbring jobring jobring jobring jobring joy and sadnessy and sadnessy and sadnessy and sadnessy and sadnessEpiscopal News Service

The news that Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool had receivedthe required number of consents brought

mixed reactions throughout the Anglican Commun-ion. She is the second openly gay, partnered priestto be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church. Thefirst was Bishop Gene Robinsonof New Hampshire, who waselected in 2003.

Some Episcopalians across thechurch loudly celebrated theMarch 17 announcement by thepresiding bishop’s office thatstanding committees and bishopswith jurisdiction had given theirOK to Glasspool’s ordination andconsecration as bishop, as re-quired by church canons.

Still others lamented the deci-sion and predicted that the actionwould further strain relationshipswithin the Anglican Communion.

Glasspool issued a statementMarch 17, saying she was overjoyed and gratefulfor the news and attempting to reach out to thoseopposed to her ordination.

“I am also aware that not everyone rejoices inthis election and consent, and will work, pray andcontinue to extend my own hands and heart to bridgethose gaps, and strengthen the bonds of affectionamong all people, in the Name of Jesus Christ,” shesaid.

Glasspool, 56, most recently served as canon tothe bishops in the Baltimore-based Diocese of Mary-land for the past eight years. During her 28-yearordained ministry, she has served congregations inMaryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

After the consents were received, Los AngelesBishop Jon Bruno immediately issued a statementcongratulating the church for its courage and givingthanks for the standing committees and bishops whogave their consent.

The ordination service for Glasspool and theother suffragan bishop elected by the Diocese of LosAngeles, the Rev. Diane Bruce, is set for May 15.

Williams: AWilliams: AWilliams: AWilliams: AWilliams: Action is ‘regrection is ‘regrection is ‘regrection is ‘regrection is ‘regrettable’ttable’ttable’ttable’ttable’But a March 18 statement e-mailed to ENS from

Lambeth Palace, Archbishop of Canterbury RowanWilliams’ London residence, said, “It is regrettablethat the appeals from Anglican Communion bodies

Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool

for continuing gracious restraint have not beenheeded,” referring to calls in late 2009 from thecommunion’s Standing Committee and its Unity,Faith and Order commission that the EpiscopalChurch not elect any gay or lesbian bishops.

Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton heralded thenews as “a great day for the cause of justice and theministry of reconciliation in the Episcopal Church.”

Sutton said he prays that “thewhole church will be open to theSpirit’s guidance as we all moveforward together in light of thishistoric event. The time is now forus to remove old barriers of big-otry and exclusion, and recommitourselves to welcoming all of ourbrothers and sisters in Christ.”

But the Rev. Canon KendallHarmon, canon theologian in theconservative Diocese of SouthCarolina, said the news saddenedhim.

“I’m very sad but I’m not sur-prised. It represents not simply adecision or a single act but a habit

and therefore a pattern and therefore a chosen direc-tion, without question,” Harmon said.

GaGaGaGaGay rights gry rights gry rights gry rights gry rights groups applaud consentsoups applaud consentsoups applaud consentsoups applaud consentsoups applaud consentsSeveral messages of congratulations from gay

rights advocacy groups were received within mo-ments of the March 17 consent announcement.

“Integrity continues in its commitment to turn theresolutions of General Convention into realities onthe ground for Episcopalians in every diocese,” theRev. David Norgard, Integrity president, said in astatement.

The Very Rev. Brian Baker, dean of Trinity Ca-thedral in Sacramento and co-convener of the Chi-cago Consultation, said in a statement, “Mary’s quali-fications were never at issue. This has always been aquestion of whether our Church had the courage ofits convictions. We are delighted to find out that ithas.”

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention inJuly 2009 passed Resolution D025 saying that God’scall to ordained ministry is “a mystery which thechurch attempts to discern for all people through ourdiscernment processes acting in accordance with [its]Constitution and Canons ...”

Glasspool is the first openly gay priest to beelected bishop since the passage of ResolutionD025.

Baghdad bombs don’t stop Anglicanchurch’s Easter celebrationEpiscopal News Service

Acoordinated series of carbomb explosions in cen-tral Baghdad on April 4

may have shattered the windowsand caused some structural dam-age to St. George’s MemorialChurch, but that did not deter re-silient worshipers from proceed-ing with their Easter Day servicesand celebrating Jesus’ resurrec-tion from the dead.

“The buildings in our com-pound shuddered, the windowsshattered, the sirens beganscreeching and some [people]nearby ran to us in tears. Birdseven fell dead from the sky,” saidthe Rev. Canon Andrew White,vicar of St. George’s.

But despite their difficulties inreaching the church, the congre-gation “started to flock in,” saidWhite in an e-mail message. “Theservice continued joyfully [and]hundreds of children sang.”

The governor of Baghdad alsoattended the Easter Day service atSt. George’s, located in Baghdad’sRed Zone. It is the last remainingAnglican church in Iraq.

White said that the bomb ex-plosion that had impacted thechurch was targeting the nearbyIranian Embassy.

In the following days, furtherblasts in and around Baghdadhave claimed about 120 lives, theAssociated Press reports.

The Easter Day attacks are thelatest in a series of suicide bomb-

ings that have affected St.George’s Church in recent years.

Although St. George’s servesabout 2,000 worshipers, Whiteestimates that 90 percent of Iraq’sChristians, who once numberedmore than a million, have fled orbeen murdered by Islamic extrem-ists since the U.S.-led invasion ofIraq in 2003.

Despite serving as a pastor inone of the most dangerous regionsin the world, White’s faith remainsstrong. On Easter Day, he de-scribed the worship as “the mostamazing I had ever experiencedin Iraq. There was such joy as wesang of the Lord’s resurrectionand glory. We celebrated Easterlike I have never done before. TheLord was indeed with us.”


Fragments of its famous frescoes (this one depicting Jesus’ baptism) are all that remainof the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti’s Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral)after the Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked Port-au-Prince. Efforts now are underway toassist the diocese in rebuilding the cathedral.

The Rev. Lucas Rigal (left) talks with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama(far right) and Dr. Jill Biden (center), wife of the U.S. vice president,during a visit by the two women to Haiti on April 13. Rigal is rector ofCollege Ste. Pierre, an Episcopal high school in Port-au-Princedestroyed in the January earthquake. Second from right is U.S.Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth H. Merten.

FirFirFirFirFirst lady visits Diocese of Haiti refugee campst lady visits Diocese of Haiti refugee campst lady visits Diocese of Haiti refugee campst lady visits Diocese of Haiti refugee campst lady visits Diocese of Haiti refugee campEpiscopal News Service

First lady Michelle Obamaand Jill Biden, the wife ofthe U.S. vice president,

visited a Port-au-Prince earth-quake survivor settlement run bythe Episcopal Diocese of Haiti onApril 13.

The two women walked toCollege Ste. Pierre, a wreckeddiocesan high school, as part oftheir one-day surprise tour of theHaitian capital.

U.S. Embassy personnel toldthe Rev. Lauren Stanley, Episco-pal Church-appointed missionaryin Haiti and liaison to Bishop ofHaiti Jean Zaché Duracin in theU.S., that Obama and Biden vis-ited the site because they wantedto see an actual survivor campwhere Haitians were helping Hai-tians recover in the quake’s after-math.

Obama and Biden arrived atCollege Ste. Pierre about 12:30p.m. and were greeted by head ofschool the Rev. Lucas Rigal; Jo-seph Harry Anglade, College Ste.Pierre academic director; and the

Rev. Canon Oge Beauvoir, deanof the diocese’s nearby seminaryand executive director of its Bu-reau of Anglican Education of

Haiti. The men, whom Stanleysaid learned 90 minutes beforeObama and Biden arrived thatthey would be visiting, briefed the

two women on the situation at thecamp.

Obama and Biden talked withsome of the people living in thecamp and with some of the peoplebuilding the new classrooms.

Stanley said the two later spokeat the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and praised the efforts ofschools such as College Ste.Pierre to reopen.

As many as 200 students mayhave died at the school during theJan. 12 magnitude-7 earthquake,according to Stanley, who saidthat university students were tak-ing tests at the high school whenthe quake hit.

The College Ste. Pierre settle-ment began the night of the quakeand has held as many as 3,000survivors, including some dioc-esan personnel. It is one of manysuch camps the diocese is nowmanaging throughout Haiti.

Before arriving at College Ste.Pierre, Obama and Biden had firsttoured the devastated capital in aU.S. Army helicopter, accordingto press reports. Their helicopterthen landed on the lawn of the de-

stroyed presidential palace indowntown Port-au-Prince, wherethe two met with Haitian PresidentRené Préval and his wife,Elisabeth Delatour Preval.

The White House kept thewomen’s visit secret for securityreasons until they arrived in theHaitian capital at about 4:40 a.m.local time.

The visit was meant to “under-score to the Haitian people and theHaitian government the enduringU.S. commitment to help recoverand rebuild, especially as we en-ter the rainy and hurricane sea-sons,” the White House said.

Their visit came in conjunctionwith Obama’s three-day trip toMexico City where, in her firstsolo diplomatic venture, she wasto meet children, tour an anthro-pology museum and dine at LosPinos, the president’s residence.

Duracin was not present for thevisit because he had left earlier inthe day for a previously scheduledtrip to south Florida. His wife isrecuperating there from injuriesshe suffered when their home col-lapsed during the quake.

Photo by Eddy Alcindor, Diocese of Haiti

Effort to rebuild Port-au-Prince cathedral gets underway

Photo by Lauren Stanley

By Mary Frances SchjonbergEpiscopal News Service

Acoordinated plan to rebuild theEpiscopal Diocese of Haiti’sworld-famous Cathédrale Sainte

Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral) in Port-au-Prince is getting underway.

Haiti Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin hasasked Convocation of Episcopal Churchesin Europe Bishop Pierre Whalon to guidewhat is expected to be a multi-step, multi-year and multi-million-dollar effort.

It is hoped that the cathedral project canbe a model of the sort of cooperation thatHaiti has said it wants to promote amongits partners as the numerically largest dio-cese of the Episcopal Church develops andimplements its plan to rebuild following thedevastating Jan. 12 magnitude-7 earth-quake.

The first step for those who want to helpHaitian Episcopalians, Whalon said in atelephone interview from Paris, is to “adopta much more Christian-family point ofview. It’s their house that got torn down.They have to say how they want to rebuildit.”

The next step for what is being calledthe Partners with Haiti project is connect-ing with people who want to help, Whalonsaid. He has already appointed a smallsteering committee to expand upon a de-sire among members of the American Ca-thedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris and else-where to aid in the rebuilding, Whalon said.

The bishop, president of theFrancophone Network of the AnglicanCommunion, said that many other French-speaking Episcopalians and Anglicans havealready pledged their support.

Once the diocese has envisioned a newcathedral, the next step will be helping thediocese solicit an architect that can turn thatvision into an actual building, Whalon said.

He suggested that there would be some“non-negotiables” involved in the choiceof architects, including experience build-ing churches and earthquake-resistant struc-tures, and being willing to commit to hav-ing a long-term physical presence in Haiti,

to employing Haitian workers, and to teach-ing local architects about earthquake-resis-tant design and construction techniques.

ListListListListListening comes fening comes fening comes fening comes fening comes fiririririrstststststBut first comes the listening, Whalon

said.“We have to be the friend of the Hai-

tians rather than telling them how it’s go-ing to be,” he said. “There are a lot ofpeople there now saying ‘this is what we’regoing to do for you’ and aren’t really ask-ing ‘is this what you want us to do foryou?’”

“We simply cannot continue to think ofHaiti as people who are dependent on out-siders. That’s how they were considered tobe when they were slaves,” he said. “Theycouldn’t think for themselves, and if theyhad any inkling that they could, that wastaken care of pretty quickly.”

Part of that listening, Whalon said, hasto do with waiting for Haitian Episcopa-lians to develop a complete master plan for

rebuilding all of their diocese. Whalon pre-dicted that the diocese’s eventual plan willdovetail with the Haitian government’s re-building efforts.

While some people may wonder aboutthe progress being made more than threemonths after the quake struck, Whalon sug-gested that “people need to be very patientbecause you’re talking about rebuilding anentire nation from the ground up. There-fore, the things closest to the ground arethe things that need to be dealt with now,”such as sanitation, hurricane-resistant tem-porary housing, restoration of the educa-tional system and electrical power genera-tion.

Whalon said that the project’s pledge tolisten to and respond to Haitian Episcopa-lians’ desires for rebuilding “is crucial interms of this project being a model for thereconstruction of the country as well as thediocese.”

Holy Trinity was established in Port-au-Prince during Pentecost, May 25, 1863. Its

church has since been destroyed six times,often by fire. The cathedral destroyed inthe earthquake dated to the 1920s.

World-famous frescoes adorned thewalls of that cathedral building. The paint-ings, completed in 1950-51, portrayed bib-lical stories in Haitian motifs and werecrafted by some of the best-known Haitianpainters of the 20th century.

Portions of only a few of the frescoesare still standing among the ruins, includ-ing the baptism of Christ and, possibly, theLast Supper.

The cathedral is still operating on thesite, albeit without walls. Whalon preachedat Holy Trinity in April, standing in whatDuracin is calling the diocese’s “open-aircathedral.” It consists of some plastic sheet-ing stretched over a frame of two-by-foursthat shelters some pews rescued from thecathedral ruins.

Whalon told ENS that a fund for Haitireconstruction, called for at the Februarymeeting of the church’s Executive Coun-cil, could prove to be an excellent way tocoordinate efforts to aid the Diocese ofHaiti’s rebuilding in general and Holy Trin-ity in particular.

The Rev. Lauren Stanley, EpiscopalChurch-appointed missionary in Haiti andliaison to Bishop of Haiti Jean ZachéDuracin in the U.S., echoed Whalon’slarger hopes for the project. “Our hope isthat, as we begin to rebuild after we de-velop our master plan, our partnerships willimprove and will become more of a truepartnership that will last for decades,” shesaid. “What we want to do is to have eachplayer at the table be a full partner listen-ing to each other, caring for each other andworking together hand-in-hand.”

“We have a good partnership program;we want to improve it,” she added. “Weknow that many of our partners are frus-trated sometimes because of the linguisticchallenges and the communications chal-lenges, and we are hoping that in strength-ening the partnership program we willlessen frustrations on both sides and in-crease our ability to work together as broth-ers and sisters in Christ.”


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Diocesan Calendar

The mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansasis to gather, equip and send disciples of Jesus Christ

to witness to God’s reconciling love.

Sharing the Good NewsReflections on faith and life

May 2010 June 2010

1 Habitat for Humanityhouse construction day,Coffeyville (through May2)

Safeguarding God’sPeople training, Trinity,Lawrence

7 Kansas School forMinistry class, BethanyPlace ConferenceCenter, Topeka (throughMay 8)

8 Safeguarding God’sChildren training, St.Aidan’s, Olathe

9 Bishop Wolfe at St.Michael and All Angels,Mission

11 Fresh Start, BethanyPlace ConferenceCenter, Topeka

16 Bishop Wolfe at St.Paul’s, Coffeyville

18 Council of Trusteesmeeting, Grace Cathe-dral, Topeka

19 Safeguarding God’sPeople training, Trinity,Lawrence

20 Tocher Lecture, St.Michael and All Angels,Mission (clergy-onlygathering at 3 p.m.;public lecture at 7 p.m.)

22 Safeguarding God’sChildren training, St.Luke’s, Wamego

23 Bishop Wolfe at GraceCathedral, Topeka

5 Ordinations to thepriesthood and transi-tional diaconate, GraceCathedral, Topeka

6 Bishop Wolfe at St.Aidan’s, Olathe

Senior high summercamp (grades 9-12),Camp Wood, Elmdale(through June 12)

10 Kansas to Kenya com-munity team in Kenya(through June 22)

11 Liturgy, Arts and MusicCommittee meeting,Grace Cathedral, Topeka

11 Kansas School forMinistry class, BethanyPlace ConferenceCenter, Topeka (throughJune 12)

12 Bishop Wolfe at Calvary,Yates Center

13 Bishop Wolfe at St.Timothy’s, Iola

Junior high summercamp (grades 6-8),Camp Wood, Elmdale(through June 19)

15 Council of Trusteesmeeting, Grace Cathe-dral, Topeka

20 Intermediate summercamp (grades 3-5),Camp Wood, Elmdale(through June 26)

25 Kansas to Kenya medicalteam in Kenya (throughJuly 5)

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For the latest news of the diocese, full calendar listingsand more, visit the diocesan website:

www.episcopal-ks.org.

Follow the diocese on Facebook:www.facebook.com/EpiscopalDioceseofKansas

By Lauren StanleyEpiscopal News Service

Every time I speak aboutHaiti, I am asked: “Whatis it like there?”

The only word I know is“hard.”

The devastation from the Jan.12 earthquake has not suddenlygone away. It has not beencleaned up, and the people arenot yet better. There truly is noword in any language toadequately describe the scopeand horror of this tragedy.

Every time I am in Haiti, thislinguistic challenge hits me inthe gut again. It hits when Istand among the ruins and feelthe rubble beneath my feet;when I travel about the countryand see the buildings that stillcontain bodies; when I walk bythe tent cities where tens — no,hundreds — of thousands ofpeople still live without electric-ity or sanitation or water orsufficient food or protection;when I see children on the streetwho should be in school, andwho were in school, until theirschools came crashing down;when I am told of yet anotherfriend who was killed.

‘Sa‘Sa‘Sa‘Sa‘Savvvvved fed fed fed fed for a reason’or a reason’or a reason’or a reason’or a reason’Yet even in all this hardship,

over and over again I hear myHaitian friends and colleaguessay the same thing: “God savedus for a reason. God saved us totake care of our people andrebuild our country.”

What I hear is the determina-tion of the people not only topersevere, but also to thrive.

Everyone knows what needsto be done; everyone dreams ofwhat can be done.

These are the people towhom I listen the most, theHaitians who, when the earth-

Haiti: hard realities, strHaiti: hard realities, strHaiti: hard realities, strHaiti: hard realities, strHaiti: hard realities, strong faithong faithong faithong faithong faithquake tore apart their lives, didnot curse, but instead cried outto Jesus; who every night sincethe quake have joined withfriends and strangers to singpraises to God.

Haiti is their countrHaiti is their countrHaiti is their countrHaiti is their countrHaiti is their countryyyyyHaiti is their country, and

they are the ones who need toguide the rest of us in whatneeds to be done and how.

So even though it is hard forus (there’s that word again), wehave to listen, to wait, to bepatient, to be willing to letHaitians guide us instead of ustelling them what to do.

Another thing that is justplain hard: ignoring those whoclaim that, by their work alone,the Haitians have been savedand are being saved and will besaved.

Evangelists are using thistragedy to claim that they areones who, in one visit, con-verted tens or hundreds ofthousands (or even, as onepreacher put it, millions) ofHaitians to Christianity, disre-garding the fact that Haiti is aChristian nation.

Some aid workers andmissionaries are determined toproclaim that they have all theanswers as to what needs to bedone when, how and why.

Still others even now arediscussing how to remakeHaiti’s government, despite thefact that Haiti has its ownconstitution.

It is hard (hear that word yetagain?) to ignore those who aredetermined to remake Haiti intheir own image, who refuse torecognize that Haiti and Haitianshave their own image.

But no matter how much Itry, it’s still hard to ignore thosevoices. It seems I spend at leasthalf of each day combating

them, thanking people for theiroffers of help but telling them,“No, thank you,” when thoseoffers come with stringsattached that will serve only tobind up the people of Haitiinstead of setting them free.

My heart is in Haiti. From thetime I arrived, I was welcomedinto the Haitian family. I havefriends there, people aboutwhom I care deeply. I believethem when they say God savedthem for a reason.

ListListListListListen, then paren, then paren, then paren, then paren, then partnertnertnertnertnerAnd I believe that our role in

the rebuilding of the kingdom ofGod in Haiti, in what BishopJean Zaché Duracin calls our“new creation,” is to demon-strate our faith first by listening,then by partnering with theHaitians.

They will know us asChristians not by our words, butby our deeds; not by ourboasting, but by our willingnessto decrease so that the kingdomcan increase.

Building this new creationwill not be easy. This is amarathon, one that will takeyears. The best way we can runthis race is to stretch our heartsand minds by listening, waitingpatiently while the earth stillgroans and walking humbly withour brothers and sisters inChrist.

And that, like the devasta-tion, is, for lack of any betterword, hard.

The Rev. Lauren Stanley is anEpiscopalChurch-appointedmissionary inHaiti and isHaiti BishopJean ZachéDuracin’sliaison in the United States.

the harvest, march-april 2010

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