Monday October 12, 2009

Hello and welcome to the October 12 edition of the eSpirit of Wyoming!

Convention is over and we missed the really bad weather by a week! A lot was accomplished October 1-4 this year and expect more reports on the outcomes later in October.

The newsletter looks different? This reflects our new Diocese website (with the same address: www.wyomingdiocese.org). More is being added each week, so don’t fret if you notice there are pieces missing, some pages that could use more information, etc. This is just the first stage of the new site. It was completely rebuilt in open-source content management software called, Joomla (www.joomla.org ). What makes content management software (CMS) different from other web site software is that the Diocese has full control over the content. Need to add a page? It is literally as easy as using a word processer. So don’t expect a Diocese website, but expect a living, dynamic multimedia site that grows and responds to the needs of the Diocese.

As always, a reminder that if you have articles you would like to share with the rest of the Diocese, please email them (and a picture if you have one) to info@wyomingdiocese.org. It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering news or events, but anything you would like to share.

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The 43rd Annual Convention was a great success! Check out the wonderful photos and videos of the event at the Diocese website (www.wyomingdiocese.org) under News . There are over 500 pictures of the convention and videos of the Presiding Bishop’s Keynote Address, Bishop Caldwell’s Sunday Sermon, and a presentation by the youth to Bishop Caldwell at the Saturday night (featuring Bethany Boyd and Josie Nickels speaking and the music of Fran McKendree)

The Diocese utilizes two free technologies to manage the photos and videos: Youtube and Picasa. While there are many great utilities out there, the Youtube and Picasa are managed by Google and therefore integrate directly into the Diocese email accounts. For more information on how to use these, and other technologies from Google visit their Nonprofit site: http://www.google.com/nonprofits/

Photos for the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming are posted to Picasa (Google) in the Wyoming Diocese Account: http://picasaweb.google.com/wyomingdiocese

Videos for the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming are posted on Youtube on the Wyoming Diocese Channel: http://www.youtube.com/wyomingdiocese

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By The Rev Kay Rohde. Email: kay@wyomingdiocese.org

And God was there

…and so were 13 teens from around the Diocese of Wyoming. Where were they? At Diocesan Convention – Youth Connect of course! What were they doing? Why praying, and playing and talking and planning.

The weekend program was lead by Jenifer Gamber, youth minister at the cathedral in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Fran McKendree, a fantastic musician from Hendersonville, North Carolina. Highlights of our time together:

- The Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori joining us Friday afternoon, sitting on the floor with us and listening to our ideas and concerns.
- Making Anglican Prayer Beads for Bishop Caldwell and presenting them to him at the Saturday night banquet – while encircling him and Brenda and singing the Celtic Blessing to them.
- God talk – sharing our thoughts about how we work for God through our Baptismal promises, in the church and in the world.
- Sharing what we want the church to be…
- Putting together a proposal for a Diocesan Youth Council
- Wild water volley ball games in the swimming pool
- Becoming friends
- Fran’s music (yes he really did get us to do a song with motions and we even taught it to the rest of convention!)

The youth were a very real and visible presence at convention this year and they are ready to be more visible and active in the diocese – committed to mission and gathering in others to join them as they build the future!
 

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By the Rev Leigh Earle. Email: raleigh509@msn.com

The members of the Sunday Evening Bible Study (high school age and over), started at St. Mark’s, Casper, in 2006, have made community service part of our group life, to live out what we study. Every other month for two years, seven to 11 members prepared a dinner in St. Mark’s kitchen, transported it to the Central Wyoming Rescue Mission, and served Sunday dinner to 40 to 70 men, women, and children. St. Mark’s Outreach funds purchased the food; fellowship and fun happened.

The group voted this June to change our service project, to reach a different population and to give other churches an opportunity to serve the Mission residents. The young people voted to work with Habitat for Humanity in Casper; however, when contact with Habitat produced no work, we decided to wait until the fall to look again at local needs.

And then there was a flood in Casper, on July 3. About four inches of rain falling in 20 minutes wreaked havoc in many homes and businesses, and many were forced to seek assistance from the Red Cross and the Natrona County Emergency Response Team to remove mud and black mold from walls and floors. The Bible Study group worked in mid-July to help an elderly couple, painting a room, shampooing carpets, moving boxes of treasures from the garage back to the basement, and moving furniture back into the family room. Eight members of the group worked on those 2 days; the homeowners were deeply grateful.

By late August, we thought the community clean-up work was done, as weeks had passed and the Red Cross and CERT had not asked for our help again, there were no more news stories about the disaster, and assistance programs were in place in the county. But nearly 2 months after the flood, the Red Cross phoned me and asked for help removing the mold from a basement so the homeowner’s wife could come home from a Denver hospital; Mr. K. had been trying to do the clean-up himself, but the job was overwhelming. Two of us went to the home and found that the sheetrock in 6 rooms and the hallway needed to be removed 4 to 6 feet up, and the studs and the interior of the outside walls had to be scrubbed with bleach. This would require humanpower and know-how; we were willing but uncertain about where to start, and we were few in numbers since our college student members had left for school.

But God provides: the Red Cross had been contacted by the First United Methodist Church in Casper, whose youth group was eager to take on a project. The result of phone calls and e-mails and another reconnaissance trip to the home with a volunteer contractor: 7 adults, from Grace United Methodist Church in Cheyenne and First UMC in Casper, brought 7 teenagers and joined us 2 Episcopalians on September 12, to saw, pound, push, pull, crush, carry, and otherwise remove the damaged sheetrock, trim, and doors, and spray bleach and scrub the mold from that entire basement. We had great fun and were thankful for a 70-degree day, glad to peel off gloves and masks and haz-mat suits by mid-afternoon. The larger blessing was that Mrs. K. came home the next day.
The First United Methodist Church and their relief organization UMCOR, (United Methodist Council on Relief) continued the repairs, providing funds for materials and two experienced volunteers to replace the sheetrock and prepare it for painting. When the homeowner is ready, our group’s next service opportunity might just be the painting and finish work.

At our ordination, deacons are told by the Bishop, “You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns and hopes of the world” and “At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself.” The work at the K. family’s home was not my project; it was the work of 16 people who represented their 3 congregations, in a joint effort to address the needs and concerns of a neighbor. As part of this group and of the Sunday Evening Bible Study, I give thanks for those who serve together, ordained and not-ordained, young and older, of any denomination. A wise and thoughtful member of our diocese once told me that she sees the work of a deacon as “serving and inspiring others to serve.” I add to this, “There are many ways to serve. Not everyone needs to go far away from home; ministry is local. We are the Church.”

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Check out Region 4 Ministry Developer The Rev Doug Wasinger's blog on his week to week happenings: http://holypilgrimage2009.blogspot.com/

Contact Doug at doug@wyomingdiocese.org

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