January/February 2009 Southern Cross

SouthernCross The

A Publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida

The Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida is a community of 34,000 Christians in 11 counties serving 77 congregations, 13 schools and the DaySpring Conference Center. Established in 1969.

Highlights IN this issue

3 4

Bishop The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith Mailing address: 7313 Merchant Court Sarasota, FL 34240 Phone: (941) 556-0315 Fax: (941) 556-0321

Remember Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Recession and the Church: Staying focused on God’s plan is key

In the United States, the Episcopal Church is a community of 2.3 million members in 110 dioceses in the Americas and abroad.

The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion, a global community of 70 million Anglicans in 38 member churches/provinces in more than 160 countries.

Reflections/Letters

6

Website: www.episcopalswfl.org

Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 (212) 867-8400

From the Bishop

9

Cathedral’s new dean:

Clergy discuss the challenges and opportunities for our church in tough economic times, beginniig on page 6.

10

In case of emergency:

Photo illustration by Jim DeLa

12

On the cover:

Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams Lambeth Palace London WE1 7JU UNITED KINGDOM

Celebration set Jan. 31 for The Rev. Stephen Morris

Diocesan disaster plan to focus on communication, local response

Conversation with the PB:

Presiding bishop speaks plainly during pastoral visit

The Southern Cross is a member of Episcopal News Service and Episcopal Communicators.

The Southern Cross is published six times a year: January, March, May, July, September and November. Copies are shipped free to all congregations for free distribution.

scrutiny: 17 UTO Executive Council plans

Articles, letters, calendar information and photos are welcome. They will be used on a space-available basis and are subject to editing. Send all material (preferably in electronic form by e-mail) to:

22 Books

three-year study

23 Events Calendar

Jim DeLa, editor E-mail: jdela@episcopalswfl.org The Southern Cross 7313 Merchant Court Sarasota, FL 34240 Phone: (941) 556-0315, ext. 268

2

Submission deadlines for upcoming issues: March/April: May/June: July/August:

February 1 April 1 June 1 The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Little-known prayer can help us face the future with confidence

P

erhaps most of us use the Book of I would recommend moving this prayer Common Prayer only when we asfrom the “Ministration to the Sick” section to semble in our congregation for corpo“Daily Devotions.” This prayer keenly speaks rate worship. That usage is, of course, the truth about daily existence. helpful in our lives of sanctification, but we None of us ever knows what any given will miss so much by not utilizing the Prayer day will bring forth. Each of us should claim Book for daily enrichment. for our thinking the humility that comes with There is one particular prayer that I find not knowing. We do not know if any day will moving, focusing bring upon us the smiles of and beneficial. It is a success or the fragility of prayer composed by health. the Rev. Dr. Theodore The Letter of Parker Ferris. Dr. FerJames puts it this way: ris was an instructor “Yet you do not even in homiletics at the know what tomorEpiscopal Theological row will bring. What Seminary in Camis your life? For you The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith bridge, Mass. and the are a mist that appears 14th rector of Trinity for a little while and Church, Boston from then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the 1942–1972. His prayer Lord wishes we will live and do this or that’ “ is in the section of the (James 4:14-15).

BCP “Ministration to the Sick” titled “In the This prayer states a theological corrective Morning.” to excessive confidence in one’s daily reality.

This is the prayer: Our confidence is to be in Our Lord. This is a new year. Each of us hopes and plans for a This is another day, O Lord. I know not good year. We yearn for all of our dreams and what it will bring forth, but make me ready, activities to unfold just the way we desire. But Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand life happens. I say this not to say frightening up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, words but spiritually realistic words. This is a help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help new year in which we can intentionally walk me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, with Jesus in both the things we know and in let me do it gallantly. Make these words more the dimensions of life we do not yet know. than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus.

I invite you own and use a Book of ComAmen. mon Prayer. I invite you to pray this prayer I love the solace and the challenge of these daily so as to build up your spiritual strength words. The solace is received in the recogniand confidence. I hope we all have healthy and tion that one is completely dependant on Our wonderful days. More importantly, though, I Lord in every situation in life. The challenge pray we all have the Spirit of Jesus in whatis, of course, discovered in that same recogniever days we do have. tion.

From Bishop

the

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

3

A day to raise awareness about plight of human trafficking is long overdue

I

n our Baptismal Covenant we pledge to “Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being.” Are you aware that not only does modern-day slavery exist, but the State of Florida has more victims of this crime than any other state in our country?

Each year, an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 men, women and children are trafficked into the United States and held captives in the underworld of sex slavery and forced labor. Internationally, estimates suggest that at any given moment, there are 12.3 million people on the planet in forced labor, bonded labor, —The Ven. Dennis McManis is the diocesan canon for mission and outreach.

Southern Cross’ liberal bias is showing

Why do we need national politics in our churches and dioceses? Aren’t our own denomination’s conservative and liberal politics enough?

We are all aware that greens, gay and lesbians, and labor unions represent a major voting block for the Democratic Party but do we need The Southern Cross as an advocate for those groups? (“Going green requires a change of attitude,” Nov./Dec. issue) Let’s remember there is no evidence, only opinion, regarding global warming. In fact, the truth about global cooling is going unreported for political reasons. Kiplinger’s magazine published a green issue this year and received the highest number of negative responses of any issue in their history.

When will our priests and bishops realize that their church members may still be half conservative and half liberal? However, if they remain on the present course they may only be liberal.

We have four children and only one has remained in the Episcopal Church.

Our most recent defection tried in vain

4

Reflections R

By the Ven. Dennis McManis

forced child labor and sexual servitude.

Our 2008 Diocesan Convention not only offered a workshop on this issue to educate us on this heinous crime against humanity, but passed a resolution to publicly state the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida stands against this injustice and is committed to helping the victims of this crime.

Last year, Congress passed a resolution creating this observance day as an important and symbolic acknowledgement of the plight of the men, women to find an Episcopal Church within driving distance which did not try to slip liberal politics to his family in some form, so they found a different denomination.

Our country has a two-party political system which I agree with.

However, when it comes to church denominations there are many choices.

How many of our members need to leave for other denominations and how many dioceses and churches must leave our national church before our leaders realize there is a problem?

—Ernie Ryder Christ Church, Bradenton

and children languishing in slavery both in the U.S. and around the world.

What is more encouraging, however, is that we are now more effectively utilizing our nation’s resources and expertise to end this misery once and for all, and restoring the fundamental human rights to those who were mercilessly robbed of them.

Jan. 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Please pray for the victims of human trafficking and those who are committed to eradicating this crime against humanity.

To learn more about this, please contact the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking (www.stophumantrafficking.org or (239) 390-3350) or the Ven. Canon Dennis McManis at the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida at dmcmanis@episcopalswfl.org or (941) 556-0315 ext. 249.

Letters

Letters to the editor and Reflections essays to The Southern Cross are appreciated and encouraged.

We ask that letters be as concise as possible — with a 300-word suggested limit — and stay on one topic. Authors should include their full name, parish affiliation or city of residence. Anonymous letters will not be published.

All submissions are subject to editing to improve clarity and to fit in the available space for each issue.

Please send correspondence to: Letters to the Editor The Southern Cross Diocese of Southwest Florida 7313 Merchant Court Sarasota, FL 34240 Or send letters by fax to (941) 556-0321; or by e-mail to jdela@episcopalswfl.org The Southern Cross January/February 2009

In Brief Howell named director of Forward in Faith

Photos by Jim DeLa

The Revs. Benjamin Santana, Cesar Olivero and Maggie Gat organize Christmas gifts at Diocesan House Dec. 16 that were distributed to needy children in the diocese.

Spreading Christmas joy Christmas was brighter for more than 100 needy children thanks to the generosity and effort of the diocese’s Hispanic Ministry and Calvary Episcopal Church in Indian Rocks Beach.

For the last several years, parishioners at Calvary have assembled various items and small toys that can fit into a shoe box. These “shoe box” gifts were then given to local charities for distribution.

But this past Christmas, the Hispanic Ministry took on the task of distributing the boxes and a plethora of teddy bears to needy families in Pine Island, LaBelle and Arcadia.

The Rev. Maggie Gat, an assisting priest at St. George’s in Bradenton, said the recession is hitting lower income families hard. “It’s worse,” she said, as the gifts were organized for distribution at Diocesan House. “Kids are really doing without this year.”

Members of the Hispanic Ministry team and several youth groups made sure the packages were delivered before Christmas.

Healing weekend set Jan. 9-10 in Dunedin

A pile of teddy bears waits to be sorted for distribution to needy kids in Pine Island, LaBelle and Arcadia.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Forward in Faith North America (FIFNA) has announced that Standing Committee member Michael Howell has been appointed its executive director.

The position of executive director is the organizing center for an organization comprised primarily of volunteers. FIFNA is a member of the Common Cause Partnership that recently announced plans to seek admittance as a second North American province of the Anglican Communion.

Howell, a former associate professor at the University of South Florida, currently serves on the boards of FIFNA, the American Anglican Council and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry.

“I have never been more excited about the role that FIFNA will play in the new emerging Anglican church in North America,” Howell said. “Now more than ever, we need to ensure that Anglicanism’s catholic heritage and order will continue to grow and thrive.”

Howell succeeds the Rev. Canon Ed den Blaauwen, who was recently appointed vicar general of the Anglican Diocese of Quincy following the resignation of the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy. Bishop Ackerman will remain as president of FIFNA.

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Dunedin will host a “Hope and Renewal” healing weekend Jan. 9-10 sponsored by the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, an ecumenical organization dedicated to the Christian healing ministry.

Leaders will be the Rev. Don M. Crary, M.Div., and his wife, Jill.

A former police officer, Crary is vice president of the North Ameri(Continued on page 9)

5

Tough Times:

Doing church in a recession is doable – if you keep perspective

I

By Jim DeLa, editor, The Southern Cross

t’s official. The nation has been in a recession for more than a year and things are likely to get worse before they get better.

Churches in Southwest Florida are bracing for hard times, too, by preparing leaner budgets and cutting costs. But there remains an optimism, too, that by focusing on God and mission, the 77 congregations will not only survive, but thrive.

The Rev. Kathy Schillreff, rector of St. Monica’s Episcopal Church

6

in Naples, says she’s optimistic but keeping her eyes open.

She described the early response to the church’s yearly stewardship drive as “fair.”

“We’re always careful here,” she said, adding they will keep a close eye on expenses in 2009.

“We’re really watching how we spend money.”

She is also not giving in to anxiety. “I’m a person of faith. I think that God wants St. Monica’s to grow and a way will be found. As long as we continue to do the work we’re called to do, it’s all going to fall into place.”

St. Monica’s is in a unique position. The younger, growing church is in the middle of a $2.8 million expan-

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

sion project, recently receiving approval from Diocesan Council to secure a $900,000 bank loan to begin construction on a new building to house their primary worship space, choir room, nursery and multi-purpose space.

Parishioners’ anxiety about the economy is having an effect, she said. “I think some people are just afraid to pledge. And of course I want them to pledge something, even if they have to change it.”

The Rev. Ed Henley, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Tampa, agrees.

“This [a pledge] is an estimate of giving, We hope to make commitments and honor them but it’s also an estimate based on real life. And we often have to adjust those things,” he said.

Schillreff said some of her parishioners are planning to defer paying pledges for the capital campaign until later this year. Since the capital campaign won’t end until mid-2010, it shouldn’t be a big issue. “They’re fully planning to complete their pledge, just not on their original timetable.”

Securing the bank loan will also be more challenging. “They’re [banks] being much more strict about who they

Schillreff.

Henley says most of St. Mark’s outreach programs aren’t included in its budget. “We tend to make special efforts for outreach,” such as the parish’s mission trips to the Dominican Republic. “We budget some, but for the most part, he says, individual programs have their own fundraising ef“As people of faith, we forts. Generally we’ve done very can’t wallow in the well with outreach funds.” doldrums. We have That could be important as too much to do.” most expect an increase in the number of people on Southwest —The Rev. Kathy Schillreff Florida needing help in 2009. Pat Knox, a parishioner at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Englewood, has For now, St. Monica’s is planning been doing street ministry and comon having less money to work with in munity outreach projects for decades, 2009. “We’re just assuming that we in Miami and now Southwest Florida. are,” Schillreff said. They are not planSt. David’s, along with several other ning to give raises to staff in 2009. The churches in the area, fed more than 200 church’s earlier decision not to replachomeless people Thanksgiving Day and ing their associate rector, who recently expected a similar turnout at Christmas. resigned, should also help the bottom As the economy has worsened, she says line. the homeless population in growing -- and changing. “It used to be the adOutreach still a priority Despite the uncertainty, the fates of dicts and alcoholics. Now we’re seeing middle-class families and single moms outreach programs seem to be secure. needing our help.”

“We do a lot of outreach and I can’t imagine it will affect us a lot,” said (Continued on page 8) give money to. Everything’s more complicated now.”

On the other hand, it’s a good time to build, if you can. “Contractors are anxious for work,” she said, noting that their construction manager is seeing construction prices falling of late.

Diocese eases apportionment rate for 2009

A

nticipating that economic hard times will persist in 2009, Diocesan Council voted unanimously Nov. 22 to give congregations its own version of a one-year economic stimulus package by lowering apportionment payments by 20 percent.

In a plan to be in effect only for 2009, all 77 congregations will give only 8 percent of their yearly incomes to the diocese, instead of the normal 10 percent, making it one of the lowest apportionment rates in the Episcopal Church.

These apportionment payments provide the bulk of the diocesan budget.

According to figures provided by Chief Financial Officer George McLaughlin, the cuts will leave a $588,656 gap.

McLaughlin and Finance Committee Chair Al Getz have begun the task of

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

rebalancing the budget. Diocesan staff raises for 2009 have been reduced; other adjustments will be made throughout the coming year in order to make up for the lost revenue.

“The bishop felt this was something that needed to be done,” McLaughlin told Council. Bishop Smith was absent, attending the consecration of Bishop Andrew Doyle in the Diocese of Texas.

The diocese calculates the amount due from each church every year by using parochial report data from two years prior. Getz said he talked to many delegates at diocesan convention in October concerned about their parish’s ability to pay apportionments in 2009 based on much rosier 2007 data. The Finance Committee, which also unanimously approved the apportionment rate cut before presenting it to Council, was committed to “do something to help

these parishes,” Getz said.

McLaughlin and Getz assured Council the diocese was not going to be put in dire financial trouble because there are sufficient funds available to keep the diocese going. “We won’t have to go for a loan,” Getz said.

Their assurances came amid some other startling news. McLaughlin said the diocese’s investment portfolio, managed by the Episcopal Church Foundation, had taken a big hit in October, losing nearly half a million dollars as Wall Street took a nosedive. “The stock market always comes back,” McLaughlin told Council. “It’s not good, but it’s not a panic thing. Yes, we had a bad thing happen but it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “We’ll bounce back.”

—Jim DeLa

7

Tough Times:

(Continued from page 7)

Religious giving during recessions

Conquering fears

l Recessions have little effect on religious giving. l Even in times of recession, religious congregations remain the number

Many clergy say parishioners have expressed fears about the economy.

Schillreff simply tells them to show up.

“Their presence is more important that their pledge … Mainly, I encourage people to keep coming and to do what they can,” she said. “That’s my bottom line anyway. We’re all asked to do what we can.”

Henley says parishioners in Tampa are feeling the pinch. “I know a number of our people have either lost jobs or had business cutbacks or are just feeling very unsure about their own economic future.” And that, he says creates other problems. “Sometimes, if they’ve lost a job they’re actually embarrassed to be in the worshipping community,” observed Henley, “and that’s the most tragic. We do well to support each other in hard times.”

One thing a church can do is to provide an oasis in a world of uncertainty. “We’re an anxious culture right now and I don’t know that that’s really healthy or helpful,” Schillreff said. “As people of faith, we can’t wallow in the doldrums. We have too much to do.”

And studies show that church attendance tends to increase in troubled times so our congregations have to be ready. “I think we’re needed now more than we have been in a while,” Schillreff said. People will be looking for support, “Maybe coming back to church.

We have to be prepared to welcome people,” she said. ministry for decades, in Miami and now Southwest Florida. As the economy has worsened, the homeless population in growing and the clients are changing.

“It used to be the addicts and alcoholics.

Now we’re seeing middle-class families needing our help.”

l l l l l

one recipient of all household dollars given to charity. More than 50 percent of all household charitable giving goes to religion, mainly congregations.

In times of recession the decline in giving to religion when adjusted for inflation has been –0.1 percent compared to an average growth in nonrecession years of 2.8 percent.

Giving to religion fell in six of the 12 recession years and did not fall in any year that was not a recession year.

In the four recessions that lasted eight months or more giving to religion fell by 1.4 percent when adjusted for inflation.

The Center on Philanthropy Panel Study has found that donors with incomes under $50,000 may stop giving when their personal economic circumstances worsen.

A 2003 study by the Independent Sector indicates that households worried about money may decrease their overall giving to religion from 20 percent to 50 percent.

Suggestions for congregations and faith-based nonprofits l Prepare a flat budget as you move from calendar year 2008 to 2009.

l

l

l l

l

At best do not plan for an increase in giving and/or pledging beyond 2 percent. It would also be wise to prepare a worst case scenario of a 5 percent loss in contributions in 2009.

Carefully analyze the demographics of your organization and your major donors. Congregations with large constituencies of retired people or unemployed people are likely to be more seriously affected by the uncertain economic climate.

Many congregations conduct their annual fundraising — stewardship — event in the late fall. Carefully analyze the pledging of the first wave of your stewardship program to discern your congregation’s giving trend for 2009 as those who pledge early tend to be the larger and more faithful donors.

Pay close attention to your fourth quarter receipts – December in particular — as this may be a predictor for the coming year.

If your congregation is significantly dependent on a church endowment for support serious thought must be given to the percent of draw to be made from the endowment in 2009. Bleeding your endowment to survive next year will not serve you well in subsequent years.

Monitor carefully your cash flow during the first six months of 2009. Do not allow your expenditures to exceed your income.

Source: The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, found at www.episcopalchurch.org/stewardship.htm

Food just in time for the holiday Members of the men’s group of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Venice load 2.5 tons of food in a truck Dec. 14 headed to All Faith Food Bank. The parish’s Christian Justice and Social Concerns Committee coordinated a food drive over a two-week period, handing out brown grocery bags for the congregation to fill.

8

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

In Brief

(Continued from page 5) can Board of Directors for OSL and an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. Music will be provided by Church of the Ascension in Clearwater’s Taize musicians.

Teaching, workshops and healing prayer will be offered and lunch and refreshments supplied by Church of The Good Shepherd, 639 Edgewater Dr. in Dunedin.

The event is free, but registration is required. For further information contact Shauna Morris at (727) 278-3577 or Jan Cote at (727) 733-4125 or goodnews@churchgoodshepherd.org.

Calvary Church offers computer classes

Two classes on basic home computing and the Internet will be held on Tuesday evenings from Jan. 13 to Feb. 3 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Indian Rocks Beach.

The Basic Computer Course, from 6:15-7:15 p.m., covers terminology, hardware, software, basic operating systems and maintenance.

The Introduction to the Internet course, from 7:30-8:30 p.m., covers AOL, beginning and advanced e-mail, and an introduction to the World Wide Web. There is a $15 fee per course.

Register by calling (727) 595-2374.

Young adults reunite in St. Petersburg

Vocare #11 is planning a reunion on Saturday, Jan. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg. All Vocare participants present and past are invited to attend, and anyone who is interested in learning more about Vocare. To RSVP and for more information contact Chris Song at Chris.Song@beamglobal.com or (407) 488-4263, or Vanessa Ruitta at (727) 479-8895 or flutterchew@yahoo.com.

U2charist planned Jan. 11 at St. Thomas

A U2charist is planned Jan. 11 at the 10 a.m. Harmony service in the parish hall at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, 1200 Snell Isle Blvd. NE in St. Petersburg. A U2charist is a Eucharist The Southern Cross January/February 2009

featuring the music of the rock band U2. It focuses on the Gospel and U2’s messages of global reconciliation, justice for the poor and oppressed, and the importance of caring for your neighbor.

It’s participant-friendly and a lot of fun.

For details, call (727) 896-9641.

Concert series to honor arts in Indian Rocks Beach

Chanson du Soir, featuring soprano Chelsea Camille and classical guitarist David Isaacs, will perform Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. as part of a concert series at Calvary Church, 1615 First St. in Indian Rocks Beach. The event is free, although a goodwill offering will be taken. The concert series is sponsored

by Calvary in support of the arts and as a service to the people of Southwest Florida. For information, call the church at (727) 595-2374.

Healing Conference set in Bonita Springs

A healing conference led by the Rev. Nigel Mumford, director of the healing ministries at Christ the King Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich N.Y., is set for Saturday, Feb. 21 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bonita Springs. The day will begin with a 9:30 a.m. session including music and prayer, followed by lunch, an afternoon session, laying on of hands and a 5 p.m. Eucharist. A donation of $20 is requested, which includes lunch. For more information, contact Cherrill Cregar at (239) 498-1925 or by e-mail at clcregar@embarqmail.com.

Five-day course for health ministries set

The National Episcopal Health Ministries announces an intensive 5-day course at the Duncan Conference Center in Delray Beach, Fla., March 1-6. The course emphasizes Episcopal traditions in the theology of health and healing, liturgy, polity and prayer. Practical aspects of developing health ministry in a local congregation are addressed. Go to www.episcopalhealthministries.org/ prep_course.html for more information or call (317) 253-1277, ext 34. Registration is limited to the first 20 participants. Registered nurses can earn 40 continuing education credit hours.

Cathedral welcomes new dean St. Peter’s Cathedral has announced that the Rev. Stephen B. Morris has answered a call to become the sixth dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Morris was the rector at St. James Episcopal Church and School in Ormond Beach, Fla. That is the church of Bishop Dabney Smith’s Morris boyhood, where his father was the rector for more than 20 years.

Morris, 43, and his wife, Jayne, are the parents of four children ranging in age from 8 to 14. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola University and worked for three years in a Boston bank.

He received a master’s degree from the Episcopal Divinity School of the Southwest in Austin in 1993.

At St. James, he led a successful capital campaign to raise $4 million, and he grew the church’s average Sunday attendance from 300 to 425.

His official Celebration of New Ministry is set for Jan. 31 starting at 2 p.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral, 140 4th St. in St. Petersburg.

“I want to thank our clergy and staff ... for their leadership and service in the last six months,” said Senior Warden Sheree Graves. “They have cared for us, held us together, and faithfully done God’s work.

Morris said he loves to “preach, preside and care for the flock.” He believes also that “the cathedral should be the flagship, resource congregation for the entire diocese. ”

9

Labyrinth experts sought for classes at DaySpring

Safety fair

Photo by Patricia Kearns

The Very Rev. Michael Rowe, center, welcomes families for a tour of a MedStar helicopter at a safety fair held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bonita Springs.

Representatives from 25 city, county, state and federal agencies and non-profit organizations came together in their commitment for child wellness and safety.

New disaster plan to focus on communication, local response A revised disaster plan for the diocese is being formed, with an emphasis on regional response teams and keeping track of people in the event of an emergency.

The new focus is, in part, the result of lessons learned in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “It was a time of total darkness and loneliness by night and absolute chaos and helplessness by day, a time of hopelessness and despair previously unknown to anyone,” recalled Deacon Dennis McManis, who was in New Orleans the day after the storm hit.

“We didn’t know if several of our clergy were alive or where to find our parish families. There was no one to help and nowhere to turn.”

McManis, the diocesan canon for mission and outreach, along with the Rev. Ted Edwards, the diocese’s representative on the Province IV Disaster Preparedness Committee, are beginning their work now, six months before the 2009 hurricane season begins. “Now is the time to develop your response plans, because when you need to have it already prepared, it is too late to begin planning,” Edwards said.

“You cannot assume government or social service agencies will take care of you,” McManis said. “We all need to not only have a disaster response plan for our families and congregations, but that

10

plan must be well known by everyone to be effective when it is time to react.”

The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana not only had a preparedness plan, but helped parishes design their own plans. A copy of every parish plan and pertinent documents were filed with the diocese. Every parish should have a preparedness plan and a well-established destination not only for evacuation, but for communicating afterward.

Edwards and McManis are proposing a diocesan response system for the purpose of knowing where people are and providing geographically oriented disaster response teams to help them.

As a starting point they are building upon the current Diocesan Disaster Preparedness Plan, which can be found by visiting www.episcopalswfl.org and links to Congregational Life and Disaster Preparation and Response.

Over the next few months they will be assembling a team to develop these plans with an intention of sharing more specific information this spring.

If you are interested in participating in the process or if your parish would like help in developing a specific disaster preparation and response plan, please contact the Ven. Canon Dennis McManis at dmcmanis@episcopalswfl. org or (941) 556-0315, ext 249.

Labyrinths have been in use as spiritual tools since ancient times in many cultures around the world. Incorporated into the spiritual life of the early Christian Church, walking the labyrinth became an alternative path of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages.

Labyrinths went out of favor during the Reformation and many of them, built into the floors of Gothic cathedrals, were destroyed.

Today, there is a search for new ways to awaken and strengthen a relationship with God, and walking the labyrinth has been rediscovered as a tool for prayer, spiritual healing and transformation. The beautiful labyrinth at DaySpring, built behind St. Thomas chapel by volunteers under the direction of Michael Rivera and under the auspices of the Episcopal Church Women of the diocese, is a perfect setting for quiet prayer, meditation, special liturgies and community programs.

This is a call to anyone from the diocese who is a trained and certified Labyrinth facilitator and who would like to be part of a ministry to introduce others to the use and potential of the labyrinth.

DaySpring has approved a plan to offer the option of an introductory program giving the history and use of the labyrinth to any group making a reservation at DaySpring. The plan will initially be implemented by the Rev. Sandy Jamieson, deacon; Debra McMaster; and Esther Miseroy, all from the Church of the Good Samaritan, Clearwater, who are trained and certified labyrinth facilitators.

We invite qualified facilitators from throughout the diocese to be part of a roster of volunteers, who will be available to lead introductory programs upon request.

There will be an honorarium to cover expenses, meals and possible overnight accommodation.

Anyone who would like to volunteer, please contact any one of the following: The Rev. Sandy Jamieson, (727) 4414686; sjamie@tampabay.rr.com.

Debra McMaster, (727) 799-0082; demcmaster@verizon.net Esther Miseroy, (727) 781-5761; emiseroy@verizon.net.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Men making disciples More than 50 men from 20 churches, representing 14 different denominations and fellowships from Spring Hill to Naples, gathered at DaySpring Conference Center for the second annual “Journey in Disciple Making” conference in November.

Presenters included David Delk, president of Man in the Mirror and David Dusek, director of Reaching Every Man, Florida. The Rev. Dale Schlafer of the Center for World Revival and Awakening served as chaplain. Participants heard a mighty “Call to a Relevant Faith” from Delk and spent time in discussion and planning for their local church’s ministry to men, employing the “No Man Left Behind” model for ministering to men with the goal of “Reaching Every Man.” Courtesy photo

Photos by Jim DeLa

ECW annual meeting Episcopal Church Women gathered Nov. 18 for the group’s annual meeting at DaySpring Conference Center.

Retired Bishop Charles Duvall of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast (photo above) was one of the guest speakers. At right, President-elect Carol Eisenbaugh presented outgoing President Joan Kline with a past president’s cross.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

11

Straight talk Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presides at a Eucharist Nov. 9 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Tampa.

12

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Presiding bishop speaks her mind at remarkable session in Venice

F

Story and photos by Jim DeLa or three days in November, the diocese played host to a very special guest, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The bishop was in Tampa Nov. 6 to celebrate and preach at the opening Eucharist of the biannual meeting of the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Bishop Jefferts Schori is the honorary chair of the NAES governing board.

Also during her whirlwind visit, she met with clergy of this diocese at DaySpring Conference Center near Ellenton and was the special guest at a reception at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Venice.

She also spent time with a gathering of young adults at DaySpring Conference Center and toured two Episcopal prep schools in Tampa.

On Sunday, Nov. 9, she celebrated Eucharist and preached at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Tampa. In her sermon, she noted that meeting God happens all the time. It takes practice, though, to notice (you can listen to her sermon by visiting www.episcopalswfl.org/ news).

In her sermon to school officials, the bishop said the world is hungry for peace, “for a city where it’s safe to grow up and safe to grow old …That hunger drove a good deal of the conversation in our presidential election.

People on both sides of the campaign repeatedly expressed their desperate hunger for a world where war is ended and everyone has the ability to live in peace.

(Continued on page 14 The Southern Cross January/February 2009

13

Straight talk

(Continued from page 13) “You have gathered here, as educators, to ponder how to build a world like that. Your work with young people and their significant elders, yourselves among them, can form new generations who will build a world of streets safe for playing.”

Real conversation

The reception at St. Mark’s, Venice on Nov. 7 was a rare opportunity for lay people to ask direct questions and get very direct answers from the leader of the Episcopal Church. What follows are some of the topics that came up in discussions during Bishop Jefferts Schori’s 90-minute question-and-answer session — and her complete answers.

On the aftermath of three dioceses that have recently declared they have left the Episcopal Church:

W

hen we’re focused on the needs of other people, we can usually figure out how to reduce the anxiety level about our differences. I think that’s an important part

14

of healing, remembering that we have a larger mission.

People leave the Episcopal Church; churches and dioceses don’t, because they are more than individuals. They’re communities that don’t disappear when some of their members say they’re going somewhere else. People have left the Episcopal Church from the very beginning. The Christian tradition has had arguments over who can be a member and who can be an appropriate member of the community from the very early days. The first argument was whether Gentiles could be followers of Jesus.

In this country we’ve had a long string of conversations about who can be a full member of the church. I don’t think those conversations are going to end in our lifetime.

I think we’re past the worst of the current upset. I think we’re rediscovering we can live together with a variety of opinions about some hot-button issues. The job of Episcopalians is to remind their brothers and sisters who may have gone somewhere else that there is still a welcome for them in this place. And that we think it is important that this community embraces a variety of viewpoints. We lose when people who disagree leave.

At the same time if someone decides he or she needs to follow their journey in another place, we should bless that. And wish all the best for that person.

On the recent deposition of bishops John David Schofield in the Diocese of San Joaquin and Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh: (Background: The bishops were deposed for “abandonment of communion” on the advice of the House of Bishops after leading efforts to remove their dioceses from the Episcopal Church. A majority of delegates in both dioceses voted to leave following disagreements over issues relating to biblical interpretation and human sexuality.)

J

ustice is for upholding for the whole family of God, for all creation. A healed world is a just world. Human beings exercise judgment in a limited way. We do the best we can with what we know. At our best, we hope we’re helping the community move toward that vision of wholeness.

Judgment is called for in the work that we do, both in the daily sense in making decisions but also in the sense (Continued on page 15) The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Straight talk

(Continued from page 14) of saying ‘here’s the limit to behavior.’

When behavior transgresses that limit, there are consequences. That kind of judgment is not exercised unilaterally or independently, it’s exercised, at least in our tradition, in the Body.

It’s not necessarily a blessing to have to be the one to pronounce this judgment, but the hope is that it’s for the healing of the whole body. If you’ve ever been in a parish where there’s been misconduct, bishops learn this. Entering into this congregation and telling the truth about what’s happened, and saying “yes, so-and-so did a terrible thing.”

That person is no longer going to be a part of this community, because we don’t think it’s beneficial to the healing of the community for that person to stay here.

We can, however, bless the good things that have gone on because of that person’s ministry in our midst but what we say is, “there’s an end to it.”

Let’s be specific — When a bishop does things that destroy a community, we may have to say to that bishop “you can no longer function as a representative of this body.” It doesn’t mean we excommunicate that person but it says you can no longer function as a bishop because you’re leading people astray, in our judgment. It doesn’t take away the fact we say orders are indelible in our tradition, it just says you can’t function in that way anymore.

When we set limits on behavior, we don’t end the relationship. It’s often unhealthy to completely end the relationship. The Body can’t heal if you do that.

part of the Episcopal Church.” That doesn’t include San Joaquin and Pittsburgh.

Eight hundred congregations? No way. When they count those numbers, they’re counting all of the schismatic bodies back into the 1800s. They’re counting the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in North America. Numbers in general, the Episcopal Church is shrinking, as is the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church and the UCC [United Church of Christ]. I asked our statistician to tell me how much of our shrinkage is due to death. He said given our age structure, we would expect to lose about 19,000 people a year, because the number of deaths exceeds the number of births and baptisms.

Until seven or eight years ago that loss was being filled by conversions and transfers from other denominations.

That’s the piece that we’ve lost, I think, that’s probably most significant. Fewer people are coming to join us.

Most people don’t want to join a body that’s in significant conflict.

Congregations that have had significant

conflict about whatever, whether it’s misconduct in a local situation or national issues, don’t attract a lot of people. I have high hopes that we’ve turned the corner — that we’re past the worst of reactivity. I hope that some former Episcopalians will come back.

What areas are ripe for harvest?

Immigrant populations, populations who don’t necessarily speak English as a first language, and most parts of the church have not invested enough energy into that kind of evangelical work.

That’s a significant piece of where the Episcopal Church can grow.

Is Jesus the only way to the Father?

(Background: In July 2006, Time Magazine published an interview with Bishop Jefferts Schori in which she was asked, “Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?” A partial quote appeared in print: “We who practice Christianity understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, (Continued on page 16)

On the State of the Church: Some critics claim up to 800 congregations have left the Episcopal Church, others claim fewer. How much is the Episcopal Church shrinking?

O

ur best data, which is probably almost a year old, say, at that time, about 45 congregations have had significant numbers of members vote to leave. We’re clear in saying that congregations can’t leave, dioceses can’t leave – people may leave. But 45 congregations had big chunks of people saying “we don’t want to continue as

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Biology teacher Martha Deweese shows Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori what students are working on at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa. The presiding bishop also toured St. John’s School in Tampa during her visit.

15

Straight talk

work. It denies the possibility of grace.

(Continued from page 15) I think, to put God in an awfully small box.” The quote was attacked by her critics as denying the fundamentals of Christianity. She elaborates):

C

On the subject of healing in this diocese after former Bishop John Lipscomb renounced his orders to join the Roman Catholic Church: (Background: Lipscomb, the fourth bishop of Southwest Florida, stunned the diocese in 2007 shortly after he retired by announcing he was leaving the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church. His application for ordination has been accepted by the Vatican and is expected to be ordained a Catholic priest sometime this year. )

bless them.

God calls us all to different paths.

[If] we’ve been able to share our life together for a while, and if we’re able to bless what’s been good about that, we’re going to be in a much healthier place to move on and let go.

Your ability to bless what John Lipscomb gave you and the diocese in the years he was here is an important piece of that. Letting go of the need to control his life from this point out is going to be freeing for everybody. It’s not easy. Praying for blessing for him in the coming years is probably the healthiest thing any of us could do.

hristians believe, I among them, Jesus died for the whole world.

At the same time, Jews don’t find Jesus as their Messiah, at least most don’t anyway. As I read the Bible, God clearly made promises to the Jews that have not been broken by the death and resurrection of Jesus. have to imagine it produced a lot of God also made promises to the feelings of anger and betrayal. How ancestors of people who call themselves How is the Episcopal Church do you deal with it when a parishMuslim, to Ishmael and Hagar. Those beginning to engage in new ways of ioner decides he’s going to be happier promises we don’t believe God has social networking, using new technolbroken either. So clearly, the Abrahamic at St. Swithin’s down the freeway? You ogy in building community? faiths have access to God the e’re learning. And Father without consciously we’re learning going through Jesus. from the younger I also look around at members among us. We know people from other faith trathat young people don’t do ditions, and there are some e-mail the way people my great examples out there, like age and older do. They reMahatma Gandhi or the Dalai late in different ways. My Lama, who show us what look understanding is that many like fruits of the Spirit, who youth groups do most of their show us in their lives what we organizational work on social see as Godly behavior. networks. We’re learning If I deny that that person from that. We’re probably not has access to God … I think learning fast enough.

I’m doing something pretty The challenge to keep close to a sin against the Holy up with doubling rates of Spirit. I don’t know how God information in trivial lengths does that. It’s not my job to of time and newly evolving figure that out, it’s God’s job. ways of interconnecting is My job is to be the best that we’re always behind the Christian I can be, to share my curve. As we get younger understanding of Good News, people into leadership roles, and my experience of Jesus, we will be blessed by that, and live a life that shows that and that’s an absolutely essento the world and let God figure tial part of governance. out who’s going to be in the One of the challenges of Kingdom of God for all time. the church is that we have a I believe the whole world very sturdy governance modhas access to God. I’m just el. It’s ponderous. It takes a not too worried about the long time to do anything. That mechanism — and it does is a gift because it means we drive some Christians nuts. It don’t change at a whim. But it does, because in some parts of also makes it much more of a Christianity, we have turned challenge to engage younger salvation into a work – that people who are used to doing you have to claim Jesus as things far more quickly. We’re Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presides at the going to have to adapt. your Lord and Savior in order to be saved. That turns it into a opening Eucharist of the National Association of Episcopal

I

W

Schools in Tampa Nov. 6.

16

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

United Thank Offering under ‘serious’ study Panel to address tax code issues while UTO is told to toe the line

By Mary Frances Schjonberg Episcopal News Service The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council is about to begin a “serious and extensive” three-year study of the United Thank Offering, the organization that has helped the church expand its mission for the last 120 years by making grants to ministries that address human needs.

The study is the end result of a series of conversations that began in January and centered on the need to clarify the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society’s legal relationship with UTO. (The DFMS is the church’s corporate legal entity.)

Sandra McPhee, chair of the Executive Council’s International Concerns Committee that suggested the study, said there is nothing in writing that spells out the UTO’s relationship to the DFMS. “This becomes a problem,” McPhee said, because the UTO uses the taxexempt number assigned to the DFMS by the Internal Revenue Service, which expects the DFMS to “control” the UTO. “That’s a technical term,” McPhee said.

She added that committee members and others involved in the conversations also encountered questions about insurance coverage and liability. They also wonder if UTO’s fundraising model and grant-making method need updating.

UTO grants are funded in large part with the money that Episcopalians deposit in “Blue Boxes.” The total amount of money available to grant in 2007 and 2006 was $2.4 million and $2.7 million in 2005.

Regina Ratterree, who leads the UTO’s governing body known as the Committee, told ENS that the UTO is “concerned that the offerings are down, but then all of church giving is down.”

UTO knows that it must offer its donors online giving, she said.

After early conversations included the suggestion that one solution to the issue of “control” would be for the UTO to form a separate tax-exempt organization, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori appointed an advisory group in February to study the issues.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

She asked the group to look at three things: the UTO’s relationship with the DFMS and how to comply with the IRS rules, the “missional convergence” of the UTO Committee and the DFMS, and how to “enhance the effectiveness of the UTO Committee’s operations.”

When the Council’s committee discussed the advisory group report during its October meeting in Helena, Mont., Ratterree asked the members to back the UTO Committee’s decision to form a separate tax-exempt organization, saying it wanted to be an “affiliated organization” of the Episcopal Church.

A history of thankful giving

UTO was established in 1889 as the United Offering by the Women’s Auxiliary to the Board of Missions and primarily supported the work of women missionaries. UTO later broadened its emphasis to include all areas of the church’s work.

In 2007, the UTO received $2.4 million from the Blue Boxes. It had 198 grant applications in 2008 for a total of $7.9 million and made 91 grants, which ranged from new school buildings and a refrigerated truck for a food pantry to a parish nursing program and computer equipment for a community garden project.

“The UTO Committee feels very good about what it has done” in terms of “our vision and our mission and how we work,” Ratterree said, adding that she is unsure why a study has to take three years.

The ‘control’ question

After the Helena meeting, DFMS staff members learned that the UTO Committee had begun work on a website that provided for online giving and that would reside outside of the episcopalchurch.org

domain where it is currently housed.

Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer Linda Watt sent a letter to the UTO Committee on Dec. 1 telling the members that UTO “must follow DFMS operational and institutional policy, procedures and practices.” Thus, Watt wrote, UTO must stop the website work and to consult with the Church Center’s Office of Communication and cannot contract for services on its own.

She also wrote that the committee must coordinate its work with UTO program officer Elizabeth Beach-Hacking and work with her and the Office of Communication in its marketing efforts “in order to protect DFMS intellectual property and ensure consistent message,” and provide a 2009 budget before Jan. 1.

Watt wrote that “if the UTO Committee believes it is unable to comply with the above requests, the DFMS will have no alternative than to assert the direct authority of the Executive Council over the expenditure of the assets of the trust funds used to support the administration of the UTO.” There are eight trust funds that benefit the UTO Committee with a total of $5 million, according to Episcopal Church Treasurer Kurt Barnes. Interest from that money pays for the UTO’s operations, including reimbursing the DFMS for 20 percent of salary and benefits for BeachHacking and UTO Grants Administrator Marci Wold, and paying for the committee’s meetings each year.

The DFMS budgeted $165,000 in 2008 for UTO’s operation, including the rest of Beach-Hacking’s and Wold’s salaries, and the UTO office.

Ratterree expressed confusion about what prompted the letter. “I still do not know what anybody is upset about,” she told ENS. “No one has contacted the UTO Committee to say anything specifically, to ask us any questions or to get any input.

And we have not done anything any differently this triennium and particularly this year than we have in the past.”

While the committee had not formally responded to Watt’s letter as of Dec. 9, Ratterree told ENS that day “we’re just going to continue to do what we ordinarily would do and we’ll cooperate with folks at the Church Center who say they have to approve things that we do.”

17

Dioceses regroup after splinter votes Editor’s note: In recent weeks three dioceses have begun to reorganize following votes by their conventions to leave the Episcopal Church. Here’s information about those efforts from Episcopal News Service:

Pittsburgh

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has called Bishop Robert H. Johnson, retired bishop of Western North Carolina, to serve as part-time assisting bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh through July.

The announcement was made during a special convention Dec. 13, in which the diocese held elections to begin the process of reorganization. A previous convention had voted Oct. 4 to leave the Episcopal Church.

Lay delegates from 27 parishes, along with 42 clergy, voted to affirm the diocese’s commitment to the Episcopal Church and erase past actions to the contrary.

Standing Committee president the Rev. James Simon, in an address to convention, called on people to turn away from a culture of casting stones and instead to take up stones to begin rebuilding the diocese.

Fort Worth

A steering committee of Episcopalians has begun working to put together leadership for those wishing to remain in the Episcopal Church. A convention has been scheduled for Feb. 7, 2009, pending final approval from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The committee has sent the notice of the proposed convention to clergy and vestries of 12 Episcopal parishes, missions and faith communities functioning in Fort Worth.

Their action was necessitated by the vote Nov. 15 by Diocesan Convention to leave the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

On Nov. 21, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori had inhibited Bishop Jack Iker, thus prohibiting him from functioning as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, after the Title IV Review Committee certified to her that he had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church.

18

Splinter groups announce new denomination Episcopal News Service Members of the 11 self-identified Anglican organizations that form the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) announced Dec. 3 the creation of what they called an Anglican “province in formation” for those who say that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada promote erroneous biblical interpretation and theology, particularly in terms of the doctrine of salvation and acceptance of homosexuality.

The former Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh and CCP moderator Robert Duncan will become its first archbishop and primate. He said the movement he leads is a descendant of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

However, the group could face a yearslong process for gaining official recognition by the rest of the Anglican Communion. A statement from the Iker then said in a statement that he was a member of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and thus Bishop Jefferts Schori’s actions “are irrelevant and of no consequence.” Bishop Jefferts Schori said this was an admission of Iker’s voluntary renunciation of ministry in the Episcopal Church and accepted his action on Dec. 5. He later claimed his statement was not a renunciation.

Quincy

Members of the Diocese of Quincy who want to remain loyal to the Episcopal Church met Dec. 13 to take the first formal steps to reorganize and reconstitute the diocese. Plans called for organizing a steering committee to guide the process and lay the groundwork for a special synod meeting, likely to be held in January, when a Standing Committee will be elected and preparations to accept a provisional bishop will begin.

The action came after the Diocese of Quincy’s synod voted Nov. 7 to realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

office of Archbishop of Canterbury responded to the CCP saying that there are legislative procedures to follow.

“There are clear guidelines set out in the Anglican Consultative Council Reports ... detailing the steps necessary for the amendments of existing provincial constitutions and the creation of new provinces,” the statement said.

“Once begun, any of these processes will take years to complete.

The leaders of the movement released a “provisional” constitution and canons during the meeting in the suburban Chicago community of Wheaton, Illinois. The two documents are due to be ratified by participants in a planned summer 2009 “provincial assembly” at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. (St. Vincent’s is in the Diocese of Fort Worth, one of four Episcopal Church dioceses in which many members have realigned with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.)

No group was in place prior to the vote to help begin the process of reorganization as there had been in San Joaquin, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth. As one priest said, “We’re really starting from square one.”

So far three congregations have announced they will stay in the Episcopal Church, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, the largest parish in the diocese.

Bishop Keith Ackerman resigned as Bishop of Quincy a week before the vote to split took place, and he became assisting bishop in the neighboring Diocese of Springfield in early December.

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori announced Dec. 1 that the Ven. Richard Cluett, retired archdeacon of the Diocese of Bethlehem (Penn.), will serve as pastoral assistant to reorganizing dioceses, working under the supervision of Bishop Clay Matthews.

He will provide pastoral guidance and assistance to dioceses of the Episcopal Church that are in the process of reorganizing and reconstituting.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

The Rev. David Krause, rector of St. Peter’s Church, works on the drip irrigation system at the McKinney Garden, a project of the parish and Holy Family School in the Diocese of Dallas.

Churches, community gardens find common ground

By The Rev. Phina Borgeson Episcopal News Service At Episcopal parishes around the country, increasing numbers of volunteers are putting their faith to work with hoes and trowels, drip systems and harvesting baskets. Community gardens are producing fresh, local vegetables for gardeners and food pantries, stewarding land and biological diversity, and connecting people across cultures and generations.

Our Saviour Community Garden in Dallas is “Plotting Against Hunger” by donating 18,000 pounds of food in the past five years. Teaching others, from toddlers to elders, about community gardening has become part of their mission.

At Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, hope is made tangible in the poor center city area where altar flowers and vegetables for the Sunday feeding program, “A Place at the Table,” green a former vacant lot. As with many church gardens, the Martha and Mary garden at St. Paul’s, Kansas City, Mo., offers both a common growing area, with produce for those who need it, and allotments for urban dwellers who lack the space to garden.

From building beds to packing pickles, St. Peter’s Church Eco-team in Bennington, Vt., has been serving earth and neighbors in their garden’s first season. In The Southern Cross January/February 2009

The Rt. Rev. Paul Lambert, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Dallas, blesses flower, tomato and herb plants in the greenhouse at Our Saviour garden at the beginning of planting season.

Photo by Rebecca Smith

Syracuse, N.Y. ,“Seeds of Grace,” organic beds carved from Grace Church’s parking lot is a spot where food justice values and locavore aspirations meet.

Many community gardens grow friendships as well as vegetables through cooperative endeavors. At Holy Nativity in Westchester, Calif., a lawn was replaced with productive growing space working with the Urban Farming movement. In some places school, community and parish work together, as at St. Paul’s in New Orleans, and in McKinney, Texas,

where St. Peter’s Church and Holy Family School collaborate.

Even the 4-by-16-foot organic plot reclaimed from the lawn at St. Mary’s Church in Cadillac, Mich., has yielded broccoli, peas and salad vegetables for neighbors in need.

—The Rev. Phina Borgeson is a correspondent for FEAST, the reporting series on Faith, Environment, Advocacy, Science and Technology.

19

In Brief

From Episcopal News Service

Rio Grande severs ties with Network

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande voted unanimously at its Dec. 9 meeting to disaffiliate from the Anglican Communion Network and to reaffirm its commitment to The Episcopal Church.

The Very Rev. Mark Goodman, dean of the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, said the ACN’s future direction had been a source of concern for several months. “The threshold was reached on Dec. 3 when the network moved its allegiance under the Common Cause Partnership and the new province,” said Goodman, who is not a member of the standing committee.

He added that the diocese is “a pretty diverse mix. I think the picture people have in their mind about the Diocese of Rio Grande being a very conservative and evangelical diocese is, in many ways, not an accurate picture of where we are today.”

The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson was elected the diocese’s eighth bishop on October 24, 2004. Steenson announced his resignation in 2007 in order to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Retired Bishop William C. Frey of Colorado is serving as assisting bishop; a search process for the ninth bishop is in its early stages.

The diocese was formed in 1952 and covers an area of 153,394 square miles, the largest diocese in the contiguous United States.

The diocese includes 58 congregations representing about 20,000 Episcopalians containing the entire state of New Mexico and the area west of the Pecos River, which includes El Paso and western Texas to the border with Mexico along the Rio Grande.

Los Angeles OKs rite for ‘life-long covenant’

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles has authorized the use of a rite for the “Sacramental Blessing of a Life-long Covenant” for both same-gender and heterosexual couples.

The blessing “involves the exchange

20

High church in Haiti

ENS photo by Mary Frances Schjonberg

Girls from Mission Bon Sauveur de Cange welcome the offertory to the altar during Holy Eucharist Nov. 16 at the Cathedralé Sainte Trinité of l’Eglise Episcopale d’Haiti in Port-au-Prince. During the Eucharist, at the beginning of her pastoral visit to Haiti, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told an overflow congregation that the diocese’s work requires “courageous and whole-hearted investment in something that leads to more abundant life.”

of vows between two people who make a public declaration of unconditional, covenantal love. This God-type love draws us all into the experience of God. It seems obvious that two men or two women are just as capable of making such a covenantal commitment of lifelong, God-like love as are a man and a woman,” according to a policy statement prepared by the Bishop’s Task Force on Marriage.

Bruno emphasized that the policy does not contradict California law, which currently prohibits gay marriage. He said it is also applicable in heterosexual relationships, and could also be used to bless the union of two senior citizens who are unwilling to risk losing Social Security or health care benefits by marrying.

Delegates attending the 113th annual convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles Dec. 5 also overwhelmingly rejected General Convention (2006) Resolution B033, which called for “Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction [to] exercise

restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on the communion.”

Louisiana bishop says he’ll retire at end of 2009

Bishop Charles E. Jenkins III of Louisiana, saying he has struggled with the emotional trauma caused by the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005, has announced his retirement, effective Dec. 31, 2009.

In a letter to the diocese, Jenkins, 57, wrote, “This move is based on issues of health and a concern for the mission strategy of the diocese.”

Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people and flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and areas of the city remain devastated today. Jenkins wrote, “My struggle (Continued on page 21) The Southern Cross January/February 2009

In Brief

(Continued from page 20) with health issues since Katrina has not been a secret. My PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] was exaggerated by the experience of the mandatory evacuation in Hurricane Gustav. The symptoms that accompany the PTSD now seem deeper and more frequent.”

Jenkins was consecrated bishop coadjutor of Louisiana in 1997. He became bishop when then-bishop James B. Brown retired the following year. Prior to his consecration, Jenkins served parishes in Louisiana and Texas.

Puerto Rico makes three-year pledge to ERD

The Diocese of Puerto Rico has made a three-year commitment to Episcopal Relief and Development to contribute a total of $300,000 to the organization in support of the Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund. “This will be the largest gift ever received from a single diocese in Episcopal Relief and Development’s history,” an ERD news release said.

In 2007, the Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund was launched by ERD, Jubilee Ministries and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to stop the spread of malaria in Africa, develop a pilot project in Asia and promote health in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We are proud to support Episcopal Relief and Development in their work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” said Bishop David Alvarez of the Diocese of Puerto Rico.

“We hope that our gift will inspire other dioceses and Episcopalians to partner with Episcopal Relief and Development in their work towards alleviating poverty and disease.”

“This historic gift from the Dioceses of Puerto Rico will significantly help Episcopal Relief and Development in their work toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. This support truly represents Christianity in action,” said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The Diocese of Puerto Rico is part of Province IX and one of 12 Episcopal Church dioceses outside of the U.S. It has about 42,000 baptized members.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Florida parish expands with contemporary worship space

By Kathryn Cramer Episcopal News Service When attendance at a single weekly worship service grows tenfold in less than a decade, that’s wonderful — and challenging.

Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, just south of Jacksonville, met that challenge by raising $12 million to build a new parish center with a 380seat space dedicated to contemporary worship. The services feature modern music performed by a guitar-keyboarddrums trio, casual clothing for clergy and servers, moveable chairs instead of pews and large video screens displaying images, lyrics and the Rite II liturgy.

When Christ Church first offered a contemporary service in the early 1990s, 20 to 30 people attended. Ten years later, the church’s fastest-growing service — and the one attracting the most new members — was the contemporary one, with 250 regular attendees crowded into a small, outdated parish hall.

The contemporary service’s popularity complemented the church’s six other weekend services held in its 650-seat traditional church building and smaller chapel. Founded in 1951 by fewer than 50 people, Christ Church now has approximately 5,900 members and the nation’s second highest average Sunday attendance — 1,500. Its range of worship styles respond to the variety of needs among its members.

The traditional church building, constructed when the congregation was founded, shares a 6.5-acre campus with the contemporary worship center.

“People come to the Episcopal Church from different traditions,” explained the Rev. Richard Westbury Jr., rector of Christ Church. In the contemporary service, “we are able to use the traditional Episcopal liturgy form and communicate it in new and exciting ways, employing different styles of music and using images.”

For these worshippers, the entire congregation and the many community groups that use the church’s facilities, a master planning committee came up

with a vision: tear down the old parish hall and build a larger, two-story parish center with a fellowship hall on the first floor, a contemporary worship space upstairs and a two-level deck out back to satisfy county requirements for parking spaces.

Planning was followed by a capital campaign and a year of construction.

The new center opened this fall — on time and on budget. The contemporary worship space was designed by a committee of church members and clergy who visited similar spaces used by other denominations for inspiration.

The space features a modern audio and video system, moveable walls, flexible seating and a raised platform. In addition to Sunday services, the space also hosts a new, monthly youth-led service and special events, including plays, concerts and dances.

“We’re part of what’s going on now,” said guitarist John Dickens, a member of the youth band that plays for the contemporary service, “rather than being in the next room.” Previously, because of limited space, the band had been in an adjacent room.

“It’s more relaxed, and you get to do things more freely,” said Cameron Davis, a high school student who attends the service. Another student, Emily Lewis, added that “the contemporary aspect makes it more inviting, and all my friends are here.”

Despite the service’s informal style, contemporary worship “never had the dignity it has now” in its newly consecrated space, said the Rev. Robert Morris, associate rector of Christ Church.

“It’s easier to find the holiness.”

In addition, new ways of extending Episcopal traditions into a more modern environment can be explored.

For Bishop Samuel Johnson Howard, of the Diocese of Florida, Christ Church’s variety of services and music is “the mark of a very mature church.”

He called the new parish center “a model for the way a church campus can be built” and expects “to see people come from many places to see how this has been done.”

21

Books The Splendor of His Temple, from Church of the Redeemer, edited by Raul Elizalde, 160 pages, hardcover, c.

2008, $29.95.

The Church of the Redeemer in Sarasota has published a coffee-table book that celebrates the wonders of the parish, The Splendor of His Temple.

The title was inspired by Benedictus es, Domine (Canticle 13), which is sung near the beginning of the service of the Holy Eucharist: “Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers … Glory to you in the splendor of your temple; on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.”

The 160-page coffee-table book showcases the stunning beauty, art, craft, architecture and history of the parish.

The book includes hundreds of full-color photographs and a 19-track CD featuring the Redeemer’s organ and choirs.

In addition to Raul, who served as project manager and photographer, six volunteers — Cady Ferguson, editor and writer; Charlotte Staub Thomas, book designer; Carl Stockton, contributing writer; Scott Ferguson, manuscript editor; Rod Millington, photographer; and Richard Buck, photographer — responded to the call and together began a creative journey that lasted well over two years.

The Splendor of His Temple celebrates the great tradition of religious art — men and women sharing their talents in an offering to Almighty God. The book can be purchased from the Redeemer Gift Shoppe at (941) 9554263.

All proceeds support the production of the book and the Church of the Redeemer.

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise, from Random House, Inc., by Barack Obama, 288 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $13.95.

Change We Can Believe In outlines Barack Obama’s vision for America.

In these pages you will find bold and specific ideas about how to fix our ail-

22

ing economy and strengthen the middle class, make health care affordable for all, achieve energy independence, and keep America safe in a dangerous world.

Change We Can Believe In asks you not just to believe in Barack Obama’s ability to bring change to Washington, it asks you to believe in yours.

The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity, from Crossroad Publishing Company,

by Thomas Keating, 98 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $14.95.

The Christian heritage contains a rich contemplative wisdom, literature and practice, and this volume is written for those who would like to find enrichment in spiritual practices grounded in non-Christian religions while retaining basic Christian commitments. Traditional Christian subjects such as sacrifice, redemption, salvation, faith and prayer are discussed to foster understanding of their contemplative aspects. Explanations on how practices such as Lectio Divina clear the mind of the hectic nature of everyday life and help prepare the heart for profound listening to the divine within are also included.

The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Study, from Oxford University Press, edited

by Charles Hefling and Cynthia Shattuck, 640 pages, hardcover, c. 2007, $15.95.

The Book of Common Prayer runs like a golden thread through the history of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer is the first comprehensive guide to the history and usage of the original Book of Common Prayer and its numerous descendants throughout the world. It shows how a seminal text for Christian worship and devotion has inspired a varied family of religious resources that have had an influence far beyond their use in the churches of a single tradition.

Much more than simply a history, this volume describes how Anglican churches at all points of the compass have developed their own Prayer Books and adapted the time-honored Anglican liturgies to their diverse local cultures. In the dozens of editions now in use throughout the world, the same texts — Daily Prayers, the Eucharist, Marriage and Funerals, and

many others — resemble each other and yet differ from each other in interesting ways. A brief look at “electronic Prayer Books” offers a glimpse at how this story of development and adaptation may continue in the Information Age. Church Wellness: A Best Practices Guide to Nurturing Healthy Congregations, from Church Publishing, Inc.,

by Tom Ehrich, 132 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $20.

All churches, no matter the denomination, are faced with similar challenges: membership development, leadership development, communications strategy, spiritual development, young adult ministry, listening to parishioner needs, and measuring progress. The author provides a guide for clergy and lay leaders in a way that is clear and usable.

Henri Nouwen and Soul Care: A Ministry of Integration, from Paulist Press, by Wil Hernandez. 93 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $14.95.

In examining Henri Nouwen’s approach to the ministry of soul care and spiritual formation at close range, we can conclude that his holistic and integrative style is essentially drawn from his sophisticated understanding of the coinherence of spirituality with psychology, ministry, and theology.

Henri Nouwen’s ministry is characterized by a ministry of integration primarily because he, first of all, embodied a spirituality of integration. His ministry was but an overflow of his spirituality.

Unquestionably, Nouwen ministered out of who he was as a person — a person of deep integrity.

The author contends that Henri Nouwen’s work of soul care and spiritual formation is never about techniques.

Neither is it about programs and curricula — important as they are in ministry.

More importantly, it is definitely not about “roles” even though multiple roles have been attached to his person.

—To order any of these titles, go to Episcopal Books and Resources, online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, or call (800) 903-5544 — or visit your local Episcopal bookseller, http://www. episcopalbooksellers.org The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Calendar

Special Events

Training/Workshops/Retreats

Concert. Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. at at Calvary Episcopal Church, 1615 First St. in Indian Rocks Beach. “Chanson du Soir,” featuring soprano Chelsea Camille and classical guitarist David Isaacs, will perform as part of a concert series at Calvary Church in Indian Rocks Beach. The event is free, although a goodwill offering will be taken. The concert series is sponsored by Calvary in support of the arts and as a service to the people of Southwest Florida. Contact the church at (727) 595-2374.

Hope and Renewal Healing Weekend. Jan. 9–10 at Church of the Good Shepherd, 639 Edgewater Dr. in Dunedin. The International Order of St. Luke the Physician is an ecumenical organization dedicated to the Christian healing ministry. Leaders will be the Rev. Don M. Crary, M.Div., and his wife, Jill.

A former police officer, Crary is vice president of the North American Board of Directors for OSL and an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. Music will be provided by Church of the Ascension in Clearwater’s Taize musicians. Teaching, workshops and healing prayer will be offered and lunch and refreshments supplied. The event is free, but registration is required. For further information contact Shauna Morris at (727) 278-3577 or Jan Cote at (727) 733-4125 or goodnews@ churchgoodshepherd.org.

Martin Luther King Day. Jan. 19. The diocesan office will be closed in observance of the federal holiday. Contact the diocesan office at (941) 556-0315.

Fresh Start Meeting. Jan. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center, 5411 25th St. East, in Parrish. The next meeting of the program for congregations in transition The day’s proceedings will include lunch and a closing Eucharist. There is no charge for the event, but there will be a freewill offering to cover expenses at the end of the day.

To find out more about this program or to register, visit www. episcopalswfl.org.

Celebration of New Ministry. Jan. 31, 2 p.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral, 140 4th St. in St. Petersburg. St. Peter’s Cathedral officially welcomes its new dean, the Very Rev. Stephen B. Morris. The diocesan community is encouraged to attend. Contact St. Peter’s at (727) 822-4173.

U2charist. Jan. 11 at the 10 a.m. Harmony service in the parish hall at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, 1200 Snell Isle Blvd.

NE in St. Petersburg. A U2charist is a Eucharist featuring the music of the rock band U2. It focuses on the Gospel and U2’s messages of global reconciliation, justice for the poor and oppressed, and the importance of caring for your neighbor. It’s participant-friendly and a lot of fun. For more information, call (727) 896-9641.

“Believe in a Miracle.” Feb. 6–7 at DaySpring Conference Center near Ellenton. An evangelical event with the theme “Telling the Story” sponsored by Women’s Ministries of the diocese.

Keynote speaker will be storyteller the Rev. Marilyn Engstrom, dean of the cathedral in Cheyenne, Wyo. For more information, contact Esther Miseroy at emiseroy@verizon.net.

Celebration of New Ministry. Feb. 8 at a time to be announced.

Church of the Good Shepherd in Venice will host a Celebration of New Ministry for the Rev. Jon Roberts. The diocesan community is encouraged to attend.

The Southern Cross January/February 2009

Vocare #11 reunion: Jan. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg. All Vocare participants present and past are invited to attend; and anyone who is interested in learning more about Vocare. To RSVP and for more information contact Chris Song at Chris.Song@beamglobal.com or (407) 488-4263, or Vanessa Ruitta at (727) 479-8895 or flutterchew@ yahoo.com.

Clergy Day. Feb. 25 at a location to be determined. The 2009 clergy day, traditionally held the day following Ash Wednesday.

Bishop Dabney Smith will celebrate a Chrism Mass. Contact the diocesan office at (941) 556-0315 for information.

Annual Clergy Retreat. Sept. 14–16 at a location to be determined. The 2009 clergy retreat with Bishop Dabney Smith.

Contact the Rev. Canon Michael Durning at (941) 556-0315 for more information.

If your group or congregation is planning an upcoming event of interest to the rest of the diocese, please send the information to: The Southern Cross Calendar 7313 Merchant Court Sarasota, FL 34240 or e-mail it to jdela@episcopalswfl.org The 2008 diocesan events calendar is also available on our web site: www.episcopalswfl.org

23