Friday March 27, 2009

Hello and welcome to the March 27 edition of the eSpirit of Wyoming!

Am back from Texas and the Episcopal Communicators confernece (brought back a cold, too) and have a lot of information to share! I would like to assist interested churches in either updating your current communication plan or developing a plan (to include a plan for websites, as well). This doesn't mean WRITE the plan, but assist the parish in developing a plan. A good plan (any plan) has to come from the stakeholders involved, and in this case, from the church itself. Please contact me if this is of interest! I am leaving for a few weeks to Micronesia (see article below) so please give me some lead time on returning emails. No worries, however, as the eSpirit will be in your Friday inbox with no interruption (business as usual thanks to the Internet and Web 2.0).

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. It has been really fun to get to meet so many of you via email and get the stories of what is happening in the Diocese! I hope you can share the eSpirit with others, as the more subsribers, the more stories...the more stories the more sharing...and the more connected we are around Wyoming (and the world, as there are several national and international folks on the eSpirit list, too). Signing up is easy! Just go to www.wyomingdiocese.org and enter your email address in the newsletter box or to www.spiritofwyoming.org to sign up and read past issues.

So thanks and keep the stories coming!

God’s peace,

-Andrew

Email: andrew@wyomingdiocese.org or call (+1) 307.265.5200

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Bishop Bruce Caldwell sat down with Andrew Kerr for an interview about the Diocese. This link is posted in Diocese's account with MyPodcast http://wyomingdiocese.mypodcast.com/

Give it some time to load...it may take a few minutes. OR, click on one of the many podcast options, including sending the file directly to iTunes.

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Last week The Rev Ann Fontaine gave the prayer for the dedication of the new addtion to the Fremont Country Library in Lander:

Prayer for the Fremont County Library in Lander

God of all creation, giver of knowledge, wisdom, and creativity, you spoke your Word and all things were brought into being. In the spirit of the creative power of words:

We offer prayers this day for our library:

For all who worked to bring it into being
For the support of the community of Lander, Fremont County and Wyoming
For the committed, ever welcoming and helpful librarians and staff
For all those who will use its resources

For children of all ages who find it a place to dream and wonder
For those who find it a place of refuge and support in their daily lives

For the connections it provides
between the history and cultures of the world
through books, magazines, and the Internet
in the sharing of our stories, the stories of our community and the stories of the world beyond our experience.
through performances and presentations of plays, films, music and art

May it be a place for the enlightenment of our minds and kindling of our imaginations.

May we receive the gift of intellectual courage to ask the tough questions, encounter the issues of our day, and to weigh critically all the answers suggested here.

May it be a safe place of gathering in the midst of our community
where all are welcome
where our diversity is honored
and respect is practiced.

May we become not only knowledgeable, but also wise.

We pray this day for hope, for understanding, for new vision, and for the courage to take risks for the sake of knowledge and for the wisdom to use these gifts in service of our community and the world. May those who come here encounter hope, grace, and love. May the Fremont County Library in Lander ever be a place of blessing in our community. Amen.
 

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By The Rev Joe Galligan. Email: joe@wyomingdiocese.org

SHARED MINISTRY – BITS AND PIECES

MINISTRY ROLE DESCRIPTIONS: Holy Trinity, Thermopolis and St. Alban’s, Worland are working to identify and define concisely the lead ministries they need to maintain and grow both the internal and outreach life of their congregations. Lead ministries are identified from each of the five areas of congregational life: Liturgy, Pastoral Care, Administration, Formation, and Transformation. Each of these lead ministries is then described in detail, listing Goals, Tasks, Leadership Type, Spiritual Gifts, Activities and Interests, Training, etc. These Role Descriptions will then allow the congregations to match the gifts and skills of parish members with the specific needs of the various lead ministries during the discernment and calling process. Work is in progress.

LENTEN OBSERVANCES: St. John’s, Powell is continuing its Lenten Soup Lunch and Concert Series. Proceeds support local outreach. Holy Trinity, Thermopolis is hosting a Wednesday evening Family Night – soup supper and movie. St. Alban’s, Worland is hosting
a Wednesday evening soup supper and Bible Study.

HOLY WEEK OBSERVANCES: Holy Week observances are being planned. Lay led services are being prepared in several locations where desired or necessary. Holy Trinity, Thermopolis is planning a Vigil in shifts from Friday evening through Easter morning. A sign-up schedule will be available, and suggested readings and prayers will be provided for folk to use during their time “on watch”.

REGIONAL CONFIRMATION: Regional Confirmation is scheduled for Saturday, May 30th at St. Alban’s, Worland. A planning meeting is set for Saturday, March 28th in Worland. Marilyn Braaten and Lynda Wyss of Thermopolis and Caroline Hansen of Worland are leading Confirmation / Inquirers’ Classes.

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By The Rev Warren Frelund. Email: warren@wyomingdiocese.org

REGION II MEETING
After the joint meeting Regions II & III March 21 in Casper, members of the Region II Apostolic Team gathered to plan it's next meeting. Those gathered decided to meet May 9 in Gillette. The meeting will begin at 10:00am. It was suggested that the convention delegates be invited to attend the meeting. The main focus of the meeting will be to develop a vision for the Apostolic Team of Region II. Congregations will also be presenting updates on their Mustard Seed projects. Other 2009 calendar dates for Region II are Confirmation at Holy Trinity, Gillette on May 23 and the Pre-Convention meeting to be held at St. Luke's,Buffalo August 8.

Some thoughts that emerged from the meeting were that congregations had a desire to know more about each other. How could more laity be involved in the Apostolic Team? Communication is viewed as a problem that is being addressed but how can the churches play a role in the solution? The communication technology that was presented has a great deal of potential. However, as was pointed out not all congregations have the equipment at the present time. How can this be addressed? Those attending agreed to meet as a team but made it clear that they wanted a reason and purpose to continuing meeting.
 

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By The Rev Kathy Robinson. Email: kathy@wyomingdiocese.org

As I sit looking out the back windows watching the blizzard that has closed I-25, I know I will have to cancel my scheduled visits to Hartville tonight and Glendo the next day. Despite the fact that the roads may be fine tomorrow, I need to cancel Glendo as well as Hartville, because in order to save gas I always spend the night at some very generous person’s home. So looking at the calendar I figure that it will all work if I move my visits up to next week. But that means that everyone else in the two churches will have to change their schedules and that the meeting I am supposed to have with a couple of people here in Casper will have to change as well. All of this would not be terribly important except that it points out the flexibility, dedication and generous spirit that is required by everyone involved for a ministry developer to do his/her job.

Working with five churches requires that I listen, talk and just plain spend time with all of them – something that is always complicated by the distances and travel time. But then I look at the schedules of the people in the churches and realize that we are all amazingly busy people and I’m the only one who gets paid to do this work!!! Well, not really if you count as payment the laughter, fun, support and strength that comes when people of faith gather week after week as the body of Christ in our world.
 

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By The Rev Doug Wasinger. Email: doug@wyomingdiocese.org

How did St. Patty’s Day treat you? Did you get pinched to ensure that you got the luck of the Irish? As I write this letter I am setting in Medicine Bow and I can hear the train whistle blow from time to time. A quick look around Carbon County looks like this, St. Luke continues to enjoy favorable travel weather as its members are visiting family this weekend; St. Paul hosted a soup dinner on St. Patrick’s Day and listened to me share my trip to Israel; St. James has celebrated a wedding in Colorado; and St. Thomas continues to grow into Shared Ministry. I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday was one of those rare days in which I remained in Rawlins. I spent the day making phone calls in my effort to gather an Apostolic Team for Region IV. I also reviewed some material that was sent by Margaret in preparation for our all day web/phone meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday. Monday was another day I was able to keep up with my weekly correspondence and sent out the Letters to the Churches of Carbon County. In a way I attempted to keep the day light, but that does not always work out that way. Tuesday was some more of the same.

Wednesday was an all day web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers. We discussed such topics like Mustard Seed Projects, what effort has been put forth to start Ministry Reviews with the congregations we work with, technology and communication ideas, Wyoming Visitor Weekend, evangelism, stewardship, and other miscellaneous items. Among all this business we did a general check in to listen to what other developers are doing in their respective regions. Yet, after all this I was still able to sit down and talk to a person about joining the Region IV Apostolic Team. It was a full day.

Thursday was a day that was more focused on tasks than communication. I did some preplanning, a project for EDS, and setting up rooms on the Adobe Connect for other meetings. I was also available to help Linda Wilson set up a web/phone meeting for Region VI Apostolic Team. That evening I made my Holy Land Trip presentation to the Knights of Templar (this is the organization that paid for my trip). Friday was another day in the office to write a sermon, talk to Jess Smith about Easter Services and other various tasks like communicating with Pat about the Winter Fest in Rock Springs. Friday evening I was at St. Thomas (Rawlins) vestry meeting explaining the next steps for Karen Buckingham’s process. They are in the home stretch!

Saturday I met with the Ministry Support Team or MST for an hour. I made a promise to keep it to one hour and we reached our goal! Even though it was one hour we covered all the ministries of St. Thomas and planned the upcoming Bishop’s visit and Holy Week. I also assisted ever so briefly with the Apostolic Team Meeting for Region II and III on a web/phone meeting.

Today (Sunday) I journeyed over to Medicine Bow and had to shake my head in bewilderment that by Monday the state will most likely be hit with a major spring storm. The views of spring were breath taking as I looked at the windmills slowly turning in the wind. I arrived, to my amazement, to see Arlen and Ida getting out of their car. When I spoke to Arlen on Friday he was not feeling well at all, but due to a speedy recovery he made it to Medicine Bow. As they say, when two or more are gathered in Christ’s name, God will be there and so we had a wonderful worship experience all sitting around the front of the church.

The reminder of the week looks like this; Monday St. Thomas has a book study, “The Bible for Today’s Church” chapter nine starting at 9am. After the book study I am getting together with the Cassie at Kraft Hall to lay out the church service for the Bishop’s visit on the up-coming Sunday in Rawlins. I am planning on attending the Spring Bible Café in LSRV weather permitting. Tuesday will be my unofficial day off. We will see. Wednesday there is the standing web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers at 8am. That afternoon I head to Laramie. Thursday I am planning on visiting with St. John (Green River) about developing a plan of action for the next couple of months. Friday I will be working sermon writing, visiting with folks and tie up any loose ends before the weekend. Saturday is going to be one full day and it starts with Region IV Apostolic Team meeting in Rawlins from 10am to 3pm. That evening I have been invited by St. Thomas to visit with the Bishop for dinner. Sunday my day will start with a service at St. David’s (Ft. Bridger) and then I will be at (St. John’s) for another church service. I am then planning on being present for St. James’ vision planning session in Encampment.

What a full week! Shalom my friends, Shalom.

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By Andrew Kerr. Email: andrew@wyomingdiocese.org

Mission Micronesia!

Mission Micronesia sounds like an Army invasion plan from WWII, not an Episcopal mission effort. Instead of an invasion it is an invitation from Wyoming Diocese to reach across the sea to our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Islands. For those of you reading that may not know me, I came to Wyoming via Guam and the Episcopal Church of Micronesia (ECIM) and used to direct a U.S. Department of Education program for the Pacific. The Church, (although called the Episcopal Church of Micronesia), is only present (with parishes) on two islands: Guam and Saipan. This leaves three countries (Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshall Islands), hundreds of islands, and thousands of people scattered across an area the size of the continental United States with no Episcopal church. This Sunday I leave to Guam, Saipan and Chuuk (in the Federated States of Micronesia) to carry on much of the mission and education work I did when I used to live in Micronesia. I also carry with me the blessing of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming to invite people into a relationship with us. Although in August, the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii will take over the administration of ECIM (currently under the military chaplaincy), there is plenty of work to be done and resources to share. Also, the picture of Bruce with a bunch of boxes has meaning, too. He is blessing boxes of donated clothes from around the Diocese going to St. Paul's Episcopal Mission on Saipan, and sporting equipment to an NGO on Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The needs of Micronesia are very great. Although some of the U.S. former territories are now independent countries, they are still very much dependent on the U.S. for funding, including health and education programs. It is the poorest region the United States serves and diabetes, hypertension, and other weight and diet related diseases are epidemic in many islands. On the Chuuk (which is the poorest and most populous island group in the Federated States of Micronesia) I have worked for years with a local NGO that provides education assistance to children through culture and history, as well as athletics. Clark Graham, a former Peace Corp volunteer, came to Chuuk in 1967 and never left. His passion is to reach out to the unreached and help give them an understanding of their cultural heritage, as well as reach out to kids through athletic programs. Among the many things Clark wants to do with the Episcopal Church is a bike ministry. On an island full of obesity issues, he has secured the donation of over a hundred bicycles for not just transportation (gas is over $7 a gallon), but for healthy lifestyle changes.

In start contrast to Chuuk, St. Paul's Mission is on the U.S. Territory of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. A place that has been allowed (until very recently) skirt the U.S. immigration laws, allowing for thousands of primarily S.E. Asian workers to come to Saipan to work at far less than the U.S. minimum wage (which is now changing, too). St Paul’s Mission is an outreach to immigrant Filipino workforce from the mountain regions in the Northern Philippines (which is largely Episcopalian), although all are welcome. This group of people is very much abused and taken advantage of by the businesses and local population, all with the implied consent of the government. Through the work of the priest, Irene Maliaman and her husband Alfred Maliaman, the people have a safe haven for their one day a week off (most workers on Saipan work 6 days a week), plus they have assistance through micro-loans, legal help, and have even rescued women from forced prostitution. As with many missions, St. Paul’s is a lonely beacon of light in a very dark place for many of our brothers and sisters.

Both are great areas of need and both are my focus on this trip back to Micronesia. I will be putting a blog together to tell the story as it happens and will send out that link in next week’s eSpirit. Please pray for the people of Micronesia and please pray on what your own calling is for mission, whether that be in your own hometown, across the seas, or both. I greatly appreciate the support of so many across the Diocese to assist with an area of the world that means so much to me. Thank you and God Bless.

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Mr. John Masters of the Episcopal Foundation of Wyoming submitted this press release from The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado:

Statement Regarding March 24 El Paso County District Court Ruling

The Bishop and Diocese of Colorado, and the more than 500 members of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church rejoice today that the members of the Episcopal parish will be returning to their church home as a result of a decision issued by District Court Judge Larry Schwartz. In that ruling, Judge Schwartz found that the historic property is held in trust for the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and ordered the breakaway congregation that wrongfully took possession of the property two years ago to leave.
The Bishop of Colorado, the Rt. Rev. Robert J. O’Neill expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, saying, “This outcome honors the history of Grace and St. Stephen’s as an Episcopal parish, and of the Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs. We are extremely pleased that present and future generations of Episcopalians in the Colorado Springs community will continue to worship on Tejon Street.”
"We're coming home!” said Lynn L. Olney, senior warden of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, "and we invite all our friends to come home with us. During the past two years of exile, our parish congregation has shown the meaning of a faith community. Now, we're coming home!”
“We are very pleased that the judge was persuaded by the significant legal precedent that, while individual members and even clergy may leave a church, they may not take church property with them,” said Larry Hitt. “Today’s ruling is consistent with the outcome of similar cases throughout the country, almost all of which have held that breakaway groups do not have the right to take away church property,” Hitt added.
Martin Nussbaum, lead attorney for the Episcopal Diocese and Parish said, "We are very pleased. The District Court's decision affirms the First Amendment freedom of churches to define their own governance and property relationships. It is difficult to imagine a much more important constitutional freedom for people of faith in this country.”
“These past two years have been a time of challenge for the people of Grace Episcopal, and we have grown in faith, in love and in service to the community. We are thankful that the court has returned our property to us, and we are eager to resume our worship and ministry at our historic facility,” said The Rev. Martin Pearsall, priest at Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. “There are no winners here, just lots of wounded faithful people. It will be our task and responsibility in the months ahead to strive for healing and to reach out into the community.”
The 500 members of the Episcopal congregation have been worshipping at nearby First Christian Church for nearly two years, while the case has worked its way through the court. “We cannot express enough gratitude to our brothers and sisters at Faith Christian for their continued hospitality and genuine fellowship,” Olney said.
The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado comprises 115 congregations and diocesan institutions all over the state, and is part of The Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church continues to be one of the largest congregations in the diocese.

Contact: Beckett Stokes, The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado
bstokes@coloradodiocese.org
303-837-1173

Lynn L. Olney, Esq., Senior Warden, Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
719-636-3251

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