Back to School. . . and Back to Church

September-October, 2014
The magazine of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Yardley, PA
Back to School. . .
and Back to Church
ST. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
Founded 1835
47 West Afton Avenue
Yardley, PA 19067
Tel: 215.493.2636; Fax: 215.493.3092
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.standrews-yardley.org
The Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel 3rd,
Bishop Provisional
Parish Staff
The Rev. Dr. Daniell C. Hamby, Rector
E-mail: [email protected]
The Rev. Lloyd H. Winter, Jr.,
Priest Associate
Mr. Mark Dolan, Music Director
Cheri Peters, Parish Administrator
Joyce Krauss, Pledge Secretary
TITAR Commercial, Cleaning Service
Bob Ebert, Sexton
Office of the Rector
Accounting Warden
Jennifer Duffield 917-846-1120
Rector’s Warden
Joan Thomas 215-369-8141
The Vestry
Clay Hayden 908-391-2686
Angela Grady 215-860-8268
Porter Hibbitts 215-550-6791
Randy Hill 215-579-1518
Liz Lapiska 215-321-7523
Dave Richardson 215-295-3235
Steve Rupprecht 215-428-9568
Write to The Chronicle:
Reviews, Voices: Maximum 500 wor ds.
Letters: Maximum 200 wor ds.
News: Maximum 200 wor ds.
Send via e-mail to editor Robin Prestage at
[email protected]
or call 215-295-7346.
2
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
September
1: Labor Day, Parish Office Closed
2: Nursery School Workday, 9:00am, PH
2: Camera Club, 7:00pm, PH
3: Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, 2:50pm
3: Chancel Choir rehearsals begin, 7:30pm, R
4: Nursery School Orientation, 9:00am, PH
4: Advocacy Group, 7:00pm, PH
8: Gift of Years, 1:30pm, RCR
8: Prayer Shawl Ministry, 7:30pm, RCR
TBD: Proper ty Committee, 7:30pm, RCR
11: Finance Committee, 7:00pm, RCR
16: GRACE Book Club, 2:00pm
17: Junior Choir rehearsals begin, 5:15pm, R
17: Vestry Meeting, 7:30pm, PH
20: Aid for Friends, 8:30am, PH
20: Yardley Harvest Day, 10:00am-5:00pm
21: Church School Registration
22: Gift of Years, 1:30pm, RCR
23: Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, 2:50pm
28: New Church Year begins
28: Church School, Parish Forum, 9:00am
October
1: Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, 2:50pm
5: Homecoming, One Service, 10:15am, C
6: Gift of Years, 1:30pm, RCR
6: Prayer Shawl Ministry, 7:30pm, RCR
9: Finance Committee, 7:00pm, RCR
14: Potluck Supper, 6:30pm, PH
14: Property Committee, 7:30pm, RCR
15: Vestry Meeting, 7:30pm, PH
18: Aid for Friends, 8:30am, PH
18: Evening Organ Recital & Reception
20: Gift of Years, 1:30pm, RCR
21: GRACE Book Club, 2:00pm
26: The Church Has Left The Building
28: Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, 2:50pm
On the cover: Young students heading for classes.
Church School begins on September 28. See page 5.
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
FROM THE RECTOR
Exciting fall program ahead at St. Andrew’s
Discourse in America that is being filmed at Christ
Dear People of God
IT is almost the beginning of the new program year at Church in Philadelphia. These promise to be
St. Andrew’s. I am awestruck when I remember that I stimulating conversations. Forum begins at 9:15am.
am beginning my 16th year as your Rector. What a
gift and privilege.
The Church Has Left the
Building is set for October
26, following the 10:15am
Christian Formation
liturgy. Members of St.
begins Sunday, September
Andrew’s community will
28, 9:15am for Godly Play,
leave from church and
Journey to Adulthood and
engage in ministry in our
Rite 13. We have new teachcommunity. Last year we did
ers working with our children
everything from visiting in a
and youth, the year promises
Nursing Home to helping
to be full of meaning, and
Aiding our Friends with the
fun. Parish Forum also
overgrown bushes on their
begins that day.
property. This year we will
include a letter writing
Home Coming Sunday on
campaign to legislators.
October 5 will be a one
Keep watching for more
service Sunday at 10:15am
information.
followed by a covered dish
brunch in the Parish House.
Cantus Novus concert….
Everyone is invited, and
Our resident artists, Cantus
encouraged to be with us. At
Novus, under the direction of
this event we will announce
Edward McCall will offer
the final numbers for the
their Christmas Concert at St.
Being Church for You CapAndrew’s on Sunday
ital Campaign – that has been
afternoon, December 7.
a stunning success. There is
Cantus Novus always has an
still time if you have not yet
interesting variety of music,
made a pledge to the
and this year the Christmas menu will contain some
campaign.
old favorites like O Magnum Mysterium. Members of
Inaugural recital on the Adams organ is scheduled St. Andrew’s Church sing in the group.
for October 18 at 7:30pm. Princeton University Chapel Organist Eric Pultz is preparing a program that will Advent III Evensong: Messiah by Georg Frederic
highlight the gifts of the French Romantic instrument. Handel is offered by our Choirs, with a chamber
Following the recital there will be a catered reception orchestra, and guest soloists (known to St. Andrew’s,
in the Parish House. Bring Friends! Plan now to be
but who will be a surprise!), 5:00pm in the church.
with us.
I hope you will make these events part of your life,
mark your calendars now, and join us for one of the
Advocacy Group parish forums in October and
most exciting falls St. Andrew’s has experienced in a
November. The Advocacy group will lead a Bible
Study, and look at hunger issues in America beginning long time.
October 19 and will include a video on Civil
Daniell+
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
3
OUTREACH/ADVOCACY
Outreach plans for the New Church Year
WHILE there is no summer break
for St. Andrew’s outreach energies
– the August school backpacks
drive was a big success – the New
Church Year brings with it renewed
efforts by our volunteers across a
wide front of programs and
campaigns.
Plans were still being finalized at
press time, but they are expected to
include efforts to help our ongoing
partners such as Bucks County
Housing Group, Aid for Friends,
Heifer International, Habitat Bucks
and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, as
well as Thanksgiving turkeys and
Christmas gifts and food for young
families in need.
Schedules and assignments for The
Church Has Left The Building on
October 26 are being discussed and
will be announced in church shortly. We will also be asking
people who participated last year to
share some of their experiences in
order to inspire
others to join in.
More than 30
churches
participate this
year and we will
be encouraging all
parish members to
attend the evening
service at Woodside Presbyterian
which wraps up
the campaign.
A number of
specific potential
projects under
consideration
include work at
the Robert Morris
Apartments in Morrisville and the
Yardley Food Pantry, together with
preparing care packages for the
armed forces, birthday cards for
people in hospice care, utensil
packages for TASK, help to
Parish members
gave 40 backpacks
and school supplies
to families at the
Robert Morris
Apartments. Dana
Kurtbeck (top row
right) accepted the
donations from Sarah and Joseph
Willenbucher (top
row) and project
coordinator Ann
Holland.
shut-ins and
letter writing in
support of
children's relief.
All of these
programs and
efforts need the help of parish
members contributing their time
and talent as well as cash donations
and gifts. Please help us continue
this vital work into and beyond the
New Church Year.
Advocacy group to host parish forums this fall
LAST year we launched an advocacy group that grew
to over 50 members and we are continuing to focus on
the pervasive problem of hunger. Congress will be
voting on reauthorizing and funding laws for
providing nutrition and school lunches to infants and
children and there are budget wolves at the door.
Through the Episcopal Public Policy Network,
www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn, we will track the
progress of this legislation and let church members
know it’s time to speak up. We will distribute action
alerts and educational materials from EPPN relating to
other issues keeping people trapped in poverty.
The advocacy group believes civility is an essential
aspect of effective advocacy. The Episcopal Church of
the United States (ECUSA) is hosting a 90-minute
webcast at 2:00 p.m. on October 22: Civil Discourse
in America: Finding Common Ground for the
Greater Good. We will find a place for people to
4
gather to watch this webcast as it happens.
The advocacy group will be hosting five parish forums
this fall. On October 26 and November 2, Bob
Anderson will lead Bible studies on passages in
which Jesus addresses the minimum wage and paying
taxes to Caesar. On November 9 and 16, we will
watch a film, title to be determined. On November 23,
we will discuss what we’ve viewed and learned and
how we go forward.
We are also reaching out to join with other local
churches to increase our impact. We are allied now
with Yardley Lutheran Church of the Resurrection and
the Church of God’s Love in Newtown and we expect
to involve our Deanery too. The Advocacy Group will
meet at 7:00pm on Thursday, September 4 in the
parish house. You are invited. For more information
contact Bob Anderson at [email protected] or
215-968-6216.
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
CHRISTIAN FORMATION FOR YOUTH
Explorers theme for CFY’s new school year
IT’S that time of year…back-toschool time! St. Andrew’s Christian
Formation for Youth (CFY)
program is gearing up as well. This
year we are all EXPLORERS. We
will explore the mysteries of our
faith, explore religious language
and explore our place in the St.
Andrew’s community. Explorers
are curious and courageous.
Explorers often learn a lot about
themselves as they discover new
places and ideas.
CFY classes are held most Sundays
from 9:00am-10:00am beginning in
September and continuing through
May. Classes for kids in grades
Pre-K through 5 are held on the
second floor of the Rectory. Classes
for kids in grades 6 through 12 are
held on the second floor of St.
Andrew’s House. We hope to see
you there! Read on to find out more
information about classes,
curriculum and schedule.
skills they will need in adulthood. The end of J2A is marked
with a spiritual pilgrimage that is
often a life-changing experience for
the group.
Here are some schedule highlights
as we head into a new school year:
Registration Day is September 21
from 9:00am-10:00am in the
Rectory. Register your kids/teens
for CFY! Teachers will be in the
classrooms to meet and greet
parents and students and answer
questions. Can’t make it? Contact
me to get the forms. Teachers will
be commissioned that day at the
10:15am service.
First day of CFY classes is
September 28. No CFY classes
Rite 13 class built a food pyramid in the
December 28. January 4 classes
church last spring as part of its efforts to
feed hungry children in the Trenton area. will meet during the regular time to
prepare for this year’s Epiphany
Rite 13 will continue as the
Feast which will take place later
curriculum for grades 6 through 8
that evening.
as our kids transition to young
Please note that this is in lieu of an
Godly Play will continue as the
adults. Rite 13 gives young adults Epiphany Pageant this year. We are
curriculum for the following clas- the opportunity to explore topics
planning a parish-wide celebration
ses:
such as prayer, poverty, leadership with music, poetry and, of course,
Pre-GP class (Pre-Kindergarten and and nonviolence. Religious
food! More information on the
Kindergarten); GP1 (1st & 2nd
training, social service and
Epiphany Feast to come.
rd
th
grade); GP2 (3 – 5 grade).
discussions about sex and relation- Intergenerational Book Day is
Godly Play gives kids the
ships are ways that Rite 13 teachers currently scheduled for January 25;
opportunity to explore their faith
facilitate that exploration. The
no CFY classes that day. More
through story, wondering and play. program culminates in a Rite 13
information on Book Day to come.
Our teachers do a wonderful job
ceremony usually held in the
No CFY classes April 5 (Easter)
presenting the Godly Play stories
spring.
and May 24 (Memorial Day
and guiding the playtime which
weekend). May 31 is Trinity
follows, but it’s really all about the Journey to Adulthood (J2A) is a Sunday and the last day of classes.
kids! Each week they provide
new curriculum for our teenagers in
amazing insights, wonderment and grades 9-12. J2A is a continuation So come be an explorer at St.
creativity.
of the Rite 13 program addressing Andrew’s CFY this year! Who
We need teachers!!! If you enjoy
many of the same topics in greater knows what we will discover about
kids and storytelling, please
depth. J2A helps teens create
our faith, ourselves and our
consider becoming a CFY teacher; and understand the importance of
community?
contact me at 215-888-5686 or
Christian community as they
Lauren Tetreault
[email protected].
develop critical thinking and other
CFY coordinator
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
5
REVIEW
The common good, on Earth as in Heaven
JIM WALLIS is an Amer ican pr ophet. For decades, he has been a preeminent, progressive, and persistent voice for the least, last, and lost and a champion of the common good. I subscribe to Sojourners, the
magazine he edits, and relish every book he writes.
His latest book is On God’s Side: W hat Religion and
Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common
Good. The title comes from the humble words of
another American prophet, Abraham Lincoln: “My
concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest
concern is to be on God’s side.”
To be on God’s side means to love our neighbors as
ourselves and to build a just, compassionate and
peaceful society here and now. On earth as in heaven.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus makes caring for the
“least of these” — the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the
naked, the imprisoned, and the stranger — the test of
personal and national salvation. Over 2,100 biblical
verses call upon us to be generous and just to the poor.
Hear these words of Brother Wallis:
The Scriptures reveal a God of justice, not
merely a God of charity. Words such as
‘oppression’ and ‘justice’ fill the Bible. The
most common objects of the prophets’
judgments are kings, rulers, judges,
employers — the rich and the powerful in
charge of the world’s governments, courts,
economies, systems, and structures, those
who run the world’s logic. When those who
are in charge mistreat the poor and the
vulnerable, say the Scriptures, it is not just
unkind but also wrong and unjust, and it
makes God angry.
The subjects of the Scriptures’ concern are
always the widow and the orphan, the poor
and the oppressed, the victims of courts and
unscrupulous employers, the debtors whose
debts need to be forgiven, and strangers in
the land who are to be welcomed.
And the topics of the prophets’ messages to
the powerful are things like land, labor,
capital, judicial decisions, employer practices,
rulers’ dictates, and the decisions of the
powerful — all the stuff of justice and
politics.
6
IN this light, Wallis sees budgets as moral documents
to be based on this prophetic principle:
We must agree not to reduce deficits in ways
that further increase poverty and economic
inequality by placing the heaviest burdens on
those who are already suffering the most.
St. Paul preaches that nothing can ever separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
(Romans 8:38). Every aspect of our lives and
afterlives is to be lived according to that love. We
cannot wall off our public lives as citizens from our
private lives as parishioners. Wallis writes:
When faith is merely private, then wealth,
power, and violence remain unchallenged. . .
In fact, privatized faith is an asset to
injustice, keeping the faithful complacent,
complicit, or just quiet about it.
But being political in a gospel sense does not translate
into being partisan in a secular sense. Wallis tells us
we don’t need to go right or left; we need to go deeper. The beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount are
our instructional manual; you won’t find either in our
parties’ platforms.
Wallis inspires, rather than berates. He is a creator of
civility and a practitioner of consensus-building. He
critiques both conservative and liberal ideologies and
embraces the best of both traditions by demanding
personal responsibility and social justice. He speaks
with the faith, hope, and love proclaimed in
1 Corinthians 13.
May we follow the lead of this American prophet,
both in the justice we seek and the faith, hope and love
we practice. May God’s will be done on earth as in
heaven. Amen.
Bob Anderson
P.S. I also recommend The Poverty and Justice Bible,
given to me as a subscriber to Sojourners Magazine.
This Bible’s editors have highlighted every text
specifically relating to poverty or justice.
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
VOICES
What the poor and the busy have in common
AS my Episcopal Community
Services blog gathers regular
followers, I get some wonderful
ideas for subject matter from both
our staff and our readers. An
interesting one crossed the radar
screen recently.
One of our ECS team members
suggested the book SCA RCITY :
Why Having Too Little Means So
Much by Sendhil Mullainathan and
Eldar Shafir.
It’s an interesting read that asks the
question: What do busy professionals and people in poverty have in
common? You would think not
much, but their research clearly
finds otherwise:
“Scarcity does something similar to
our mental processor. By constantly
loading the mind with other
processes, it leaves less ‘mind’ for
the task at hand. Scarcity directly
reduces bandwidth — not a
person’s inherent capacity, but how
much of that capacity is currently
available for use. It may strike you
as odd that a person’s ‘capacity’
can be so easily affected, but that is
precisely the point—we are used to
thinking of cognitive capacity as
fixed, when in fact it might change
with circumstances.”
The argument and the data suggests
that when one is faced with
scarcity, time in the case of busy
individuals and the lack of financial
means in the case of the poor, the
ability to deal with issues as
measured in cognitive capacity is
significantly diminished. The
research suggested a temporary loss
of 13-15 IQ points — enough to
move an individual of average
intelligence to borderline deficient.
At ECS we know that the work we
do needs to be driven by fact-based
research, a proven process, and
measurable outcomes and impacts.
Too many times we find ourselves
fighting the urban myths of
poverty. Bluntly that the perception
is that poverty is self-inflicted and
even a desired condition. Funny
how there are not so many urban
myths when it comes to busy
people!
Lack of time and lack of money are
just two conditions that negatively
affect our ability to cope with the
conditions affecting us in the first
place. We know that by addressing
such issues we can enable individuals to hold themselves accountable
and alter their long term economic
situation. In our world that is
getting employed and lifting
oneself out of poverty.
When we deal with economic
scarcity, abuse, addiction, home-
lessness, the lack of education,
wellness, and safety we change an
individual’s personal algebra with
not only scarcity, but other like
issues that drain energy, focus, and
opportunity.
It’s hard to hold a job if you don’t
have a place to sleep at night.
Mullainathan and Shafir might
argue it may even be impossible.
The challenge is once an
individual’s scarcity is addressed to
move them to the next stage of
lifting up and lifting out of poverty.
All of this takes political will,
private support, time and talent,
passion and focus. It is a challenge
we accept and as a society we all
need to support. To hell with urban
myths, let’s deal with the facts.
David E. Griffith
Griffith is Executive Director of
Episcopal Community Services in
Philadelphia
GRACE Notes: What we’re reading
IN July GRACE (the parish’s book club) voted on books to be read in the
next several months. Members suggest books they’ve read, a list is
compiled, and members vote on what they would like to read. We do this
every several months.
We chose five books but they have not been inserted into the schedule
yet, so are not listed here. We skipped August and will resume
September 16 with two books, A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Journey,
both by W. Bruce Cameron.
June: The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille is about old money and old estates on the north shore of Long Island. The novel chronicles the
decline in the fortunes of the rich families and the estates they lived on.
Some members saw parallels in the breakup of farms to make way for
developments in our area.
July: Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett is
an historical fiction following families from various countries and
different classes leading up to and through World War I.
Henrietta (Hank) Grosz
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
7
VOICES
Remembering Alphonse Apalategui
GOD is a poet. We know this from the first words of preeminent proclaimer of the Word’s beauty. But the
Word won’t let me. There is a fuller truth to be told.
John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and
In one of his last appearances at St. Andrew’s, Althe Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
phonse enacted the part of Jesus
God is also part Episcopalian.
during the Palm Sunday Passion
We know this because our Book
Alphonse Apalategui passed away
narrative. As Jesus, he cried out
of Common Prayer is actually a
Saturday,
May
17
in
Philadelphia
“My God, my God why have you
book of uncommonly beautiful
after a long illness.
forsaken me?”
poetry.
He
was
born
November
22,
1938
According to Matthew and Mark,
When I arrived at St. Andrew’s
in Tucson, Arizona. For many
these are the last words Jesus
in 1982, I did not know much
years he was a marketing
about the Poet or the Poetry.
spoke from the cross. These
consultant
at
Avon
Products,
Inc.
words
But I met master professors in
in New York City.
became the text for the rest of AlAlphonse and Anne
In
addition
to
his
active
role
at
St.
phonse’s days.
Apalategui. In our memor y,
Andrew’s, he was a long-time
who has brought the Word’s
member of the board of trustees
ALPHONSE’S life spiraled
more beautifully alive than the
and a former president of Historic
downwards horrifically. I won’t
Apalateguis?
Fallsington
Inc.
recount the details nor do I care
The Word is not to be mumbled
He is survived by daughters Celia
about the whys and wherefores or
at the lectern or skimmed over
(Kevin)
Pilkington,
of
New
York
the rights and wrongs of what
in the pews. The Word is to be
City, and Diana Apalategui, of
happened. I will simply say that
boldly proclaimed, sung,
Washington, DC. His wife Anne
Alphonse lived for years in a grim
enacted, and created.
and son Benjamin pre-deceased
nursing home, where I had the
him.
honor of sharing communion with
GOD made Alphonse to
A
memorial
service
for
Alphonse
him every two or three weeks.
proclaim the Word. To hear him
was held at St. Andrew’s on
Alphonse had every reason to
read was to be absorbed in every
Saturday,
June
14.
forsake a God that appeared to
word and twist of the biblical
have forsaken him, but he stayed
story. Recall him reading
rooted in the first half of the cry
scripture during Lessons and
of Jesus: “My God, my God.”
Carols or the Easter Vigil. Recall him too reading
poetry at parish forums. We were enthralled.
Anne sang the Word. Recall her singing the exquisite EVENTUALLY this most eloquent man of words
Faure Requiem with our choir or joyfully dancing and became wordless. To be true to their craft, poets must
know what not to say. This is true of
singing Ezekiel’s dry bones into life as a Markette.
Alphonse and Anne enacted the Word. Alphonse used communion-bearers too: false comfort is not faithful.
So our communion services became simpler,
his flair for drama to lead our Christmas pageants
while Anne used her gift for cooking to feed the 5000 concentrated on the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, and
plus on Harvest Days and other occasions.
the bedrock gospel truth that no matter what, every
one of us is a beloved child of God.
Together they enacted Shakespearean scenes and
We are loved, now and always. Despite dementia and
sonnets. Alphonse and Anne created the Word by
drowsiness, Alphonse stayed attentive and reverent.
giving us their beautiful children: Ben and Ceci and
Alphonse held on to God and God held on to him.
Diana. They are our children too and we love them.
“My God, my God.”
Alphonse, you are loved, now and always.
IT would be nice to end my account here,
remembering only Alphonse’s glory days as our
Bob Anderson
8
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
VOICES
FOLLOWING the fatal police
shooting in August of an unarmed
African-American teenager
which ignited protests in Ferguson,
Missouri, Episcopalians throughout
the U.S. have been grappling with a
tough reality that it could have
happened anywhere and with a
difficult question: What should the
church be doing about it?
Despite the shooting death of
Michael Brown and its violent
aftermath the hope “is that it will
finally be the wakeup call we need
in this country to address this
issue,” Bishop Stacy Sauls,
Episcopal Church chief operating
officer, told Episcopal News
Service. “ Because, in my opinion,
race relations in the US have been
getting worse, not better.”
Sauls said Christian churches
sparked the civil rights movement
“and I think we’re seeing a very
strong call for us to be involved
again. One thing we can do is bring
people together to talk, not only on
a local level or a regional level, but
for a national conversation. That
can have a very positive impact.”
Similarly, in a statement young
adult members of the Union of
Black Episcopalians (UBE) cited,
among other things, “the subculture
of prejudice against black people
resulting in headline after headline
of another American lying dead in
neighborhood streets.”
They called upon UBE chapters
across the country to help carry the
message “so that the prophetic
voice of the Episcopal Church
resounds in speaking against the
legacy of institutionalized
oppression in the United States and
across our world.”
The Very Rev. Mike Kinman,
dean of Christ Church Cathedral in
St. Louis, was “trying to listen to
Church sees vital role in
racial justice, reconciliation
folks on the ground” in Ferguson
and counseling others to do
likewise. He also invited cathedral
parishioners to spend time together,
with no judgment, no comments, no
arguing, just plain listening to each
other. “There were tears, anger,
confusion; a wide variety of
feelings were represented, but there
was just this holy space and I
realized it was grace,” he said.
“This is something we can do as a
church: Provide that safe space, to
talk about race, because race is so
hard to talk about. But, I told them
all, if you’re not talking, don’t be
thinking about what you’re going to
say next, just listen.”
The Rev. Eric H. F. Law, an
Episcopal priest and founder of the
Los Angeles-based Kaleidoscope
Institute, which offers leadership
development and diversity training
in multicultural and changing
environments, agreed “the first step
has to be listening to the
historically powerless folks. The
big question to ask is, do you want
to continue to have these sporadic
explosions or do you really want to
find a way to engage people so you
have real relationships?”
Sauls said that after a Florida jury
found neighborhood watch captain
George Zimmerman not guilty in
July 2013 in the shooting death of
Trayvon Martin, the Episcopal
Church began working toward
creating for the first time a
missioner for racial reconciliation.
In June 2014, Heidi Kim was
appointed to that position and
Charles Wynder was named the
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
Episcopal Church missioner for
social justice and advocacy. “I really do believe that if we take
seriously this notion that we are all
members of the Body of Christ,
then we have to behave differently
toward one another. The first step is
listening to people that think
completely differently than you
do,” said Kim.
In her new role, she is responsible
for facilitating the establishment
and growth of networks in the
church to confront the structural
issues of racism in the church and
society. Wynder is responsible for
engaging Episcopalians in building,
resourcing and empowering
advocacy movements and networks
for social justice at a local and
community level.
In St. Louis, Dean Kinman said that
he had received offers from
colleagues across the country to
come to Ferguson to join protests.
“I’m telling people that, wherever
you are in this country, if you really
want to help, then use this moment
of opportunity and gather your
congregation, your people, and ask
the question, why do you think this
is happening?” he said.
“Do some education about race and
class, power and privilege. Ask the
questions: Who in your community
is Michael Brown? What is their
experience of being black or brown
in your community?”
Pat McCaughan
The Rev. Pat McCaughan is a
correspondent for the Episcopal
News Service.
9
FROM EPISCOPAL NEWS SOURCES
Not yet Independence Day for all
FOR more years than I care to remember, we have
attended an outdoor symphony in Tinicum Park in
Bucks County to listen to a selection of music, and
specifically, the 1812 Overture with its iconic cannons
marking the end of the piece and the beginning of the
fireworks. This is a block party in the woods, some
three thousand folks come and park, picnic and visit
with each other. The kids play with
the Frisbee; as the sun sets there is
a fly over of some old biplanes,
and if you are on the right cycle,
the moon will rise over the
Delaware.
I am reminded of the point of July
4th when we rise as one for the
Star Spangle Banner, the crowd
stills and hats are removed. No
doubt there are memories of those
no longer with us who have served
in our armed forces, and those
present who have served are
especially silent as the last notes
float away in the twilight. We are a
free people, independent, and we
enjoy a life that much of the world
envies even as we in large part take
it for granted. As it grows dark and
the music fills the night it is easy to reflect.
I for one worry that 238 years into the experiment we
call America, we continue to need to find our way and
that for many in our country, it is anything but
Independence Day.
If you read the history of the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence, you will find that for
many, the act led to personal hardship, ruin or death.
For individuals unemployed and living with poverty
today, the struggle for independence is no less of a
challenge. Individuals were willing to risk everything
238 years ago because of the opportunity that freedom
presented for them.
We no doubt note that even then not everyone living
in America was included in the founding fathers
vision, yet the words that resonated then and more so
today “that all men are created equal” calls for a
country where opportunity is equal.
What one does with opportunity is clearly an
individual decision, but the notion of equal
opportunity as a great leveler and creator of
independent individuals is fundamental in our national
DNA. It is of interest that of the ten major cities in
America, Philadelphia has the highest percentage of
the population living in poverty at some 26 percent.
Our call to service at ECS, and all
who do this work, is that the way
out of poverty — the path to
independence — lies with
employment. Our focus is to first
establish stability, then build
through education and partnership
the hard and soft skills necessary in
this economy to secure meaningful
employment, and then connect
individuals seeking employment to
those needing employees.
Meaningful employment provides
the means to achieve
independence: 238 years ago the
Founders sought the freedom of
independence to realize the full
potential of opportunity in
America; 238 years later, that
journey continues. Then and now it
remains about opportunity for all and this is the real
message of Independence Day.
I would like to think, and this is not a unique notion,
that opportunity is what America is really about –
specifically the access to opportunity. I would also
like to think that we are a big enough country with the
private and public resources and the private and public
means to provide opportunity to all who would seek
independence and hold themselves accountable for
their own future. Results matter and individual’s
results matter the most. If we are to leverage this
country’s diversity, we need to empower all of its
citizens, as our founders so clearly evoked. Anything
less would ignore the fireworks and ignore our history.
Happy Birthday, America. I know what my wish is.
David E. Griffith
Griffith is Executive Director of Episcopal Community
Services in Philadelphia.
If we are to
leverage this
country’s
diversity, we
need to
empower all of
its citizens, as
our founders so
clearly evoked.
10
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
FROM EPISCOPAL NEWS SOURCES
Youth pilgrimage
to Philadelphia
IN July nearly 1,000 teens from
across the country traveled to
Philadelphia for the 2014 Episcopal
Youth Event (see photo). Geared
for teens in grades nine through 12,
EYE14 brought Episcopal youth
from diverse backgrounds together
as one to witness the social issues
and challenges of different
communities, and how the
Episcopal Church and other groups
are reaching out in service to
others.
As part of Pilgrimage Day, the
teens separated into smaller groups
and toured Episcopal Community
Services program sites – the ECS
St. Barnabas Mission for homeless
families and ECS Youth Center,
Seeing Youth Succeed. While
learning the “ECS Way” of service,
groups were able to hear first-hand
from program participants how
ECS has made a positive and
lasting impact in their lives.
Students visiting ECS St. Barnabas
learned that the “face of homelessness looks just like you and me,” as
Dana Barbry-Nuble, education
services coordinator, explained.
Misconceptions of homelessness
were also the theme over at Seeing
Youth Succeed. ECS teens shared
their knowledge of the subject with
their visiting peers, who were then
encouraged to take their learnings
home to become agents of change
in their own communities.
After four days of worship,
workshops, prayer, late-night
conversations and contemplation of
Scripture and the Five Marks of
Mission, EYE14 all came down to
the call to go out into the world and
love it.
In a sermon, Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori
challenged the pilgrims to
contemplate and then tell the stories
of their experience that day because
their friends and the entire world
need to pay attention to the
brokenness of the world and its
causes, and they need to hear about
the dreams Christians have for the
wholeness that is the kingdom of
God.
Article 18 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. It is
extremely important that aid efforts
are supported and that those who
have been displaced are able to find
safety. With the world’s attention
on the plight of those in Iraq, we
must not forget that this is part of
an evil pattern around the world
where Christians and other
minorities are being killed and
persecuted for their faith.”
Archbishop Welby
speaks out on Iraq
Pray for Ebola crisis
The Most Rev. Daniel Sarfo,
primate and metropolitan of the
THE Archbishop of Canterbury,
Church of the Province of West
Justin Welby, issued a statement Africa, has called on Christians
in August on the situation in Iraq,
around the world to dedicate one
as he began a ten-day visit to the
Sunday as a day of prayer for the
Anglican Provinces in the
deadly Ebola disease. He reiterated
Philippines and Oceania.
the important role that Anglicans in
“The horrific events in Iraq rightly other countries can play in mobilizcall our attention and sorrow yet
ing and bringing resources to the
again. Christians and other religious region. “Anglicans should
minorities are being killed and face challenge their governments to send
terrible suffering. What we are
resources, especially medical
seeing in Iraq violates brutally
supplies, to the affected areas,” he
people’s right to freedom of
said.
religion and belief, as set out under
THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 2014
11
St. Theresa of Avila Prayer:
Franciscan Travel Blessing
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are
exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you
have received, and pass on the love
that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you
are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into your
bones, and allow your soul the
freedom to sing, dance, praise
and love.
It is there for each and every
one of us.
May God bless you with discomfort at
easy answers, half truths and
superficial relationships so that you
may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at
injustice, oppression, and exploitation
of people, so that you may work for
justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with enough
foolishness to believe that you can
make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim
cannot be done.