St. Peter's Episcopal ChurchLouisville, Kentucky

PROFILE

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The History of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church

On February 16, 1958, forty-one people gathered at Wilkerson Elementary School as a

congregation which would soon evolve into St. Peter’s in the Valley Episcopal Church. The

Mission was officially received into the Diocese of Kentucky by Bishop C. Gresham Marmion

on Easter Sunday of 1958 under the Leadership of Rev. Lester Gross.

In July of 1959, St. Peter’s first Vicar, the Rev. Joseph Kalbacher, arrived to begin his

service with us. In August, ground was broken for a building on Johnsontown Road and was

completed in February of 1960. St. Peter’s grew dramatically, and within four years the average

Sunday attendance was over 100.

In 1964, Fr. Kalbacher departed and the people of St. Peter’s found themselves without a

full-time priest. In November of 1968, the Rev. Charles Cherry was called to serve the parish.

During the next three years, the congregation was faced with many challenges, including

decreased attendance.

In the fall of 1971, the Rev. Ken Thompson arrived at St. Peter’s where he served as part-

time Vicar for nearly three years. Under his leadership, the congregation was revived and the

existing building was improved with the addition of 2 rooms.

The Rev. Ward Ewing was called to St. Peter’s in 1975 as a full-time vicar. In May of

1978, the congregation voted to relocate to St. Andrew’s Church Road. Here a more efficient

building could be constructed serving the growing neighborhoods near the center of Southwest

Jefferson County. In October of 1979, ground was broken for the new building. On September

28, 1980, the first service was held in the newly constructed building. In this new location, St.

Peter’s experienced dramatic growth in attendance and membership, creating a sense of

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community within the congregation. The new building was consecrated on June 28, 1980 and

Rev. Ward remained at St. Peter’s until 1985.

On December 1, 1985, the Rev. Paul “Sonny” Smith began his tenure as Vicar of St.

Peter’s. The congregation continued to see growth and in 1993 St. Peter’s was received into the

Diocese as a parish. It was in that year that the final payment on the church building debt was

made to the Diocese, and there was a ground breaking for the new parish hall. Moore Hall was

dedicated in September of 1993. In July of 1995, Fr. Sonny Smith retired.

The Rev.

Stanley Joe Smith, who served as a Deacon during 1995, was called with the special charge to

continue the growth of the parish. Fr. Joe served for seven successful years during which time

baptisms, confirmations, worship attendance, VBS and Christian Education saw a substantial

growth. St. Peter’s hosted the Diocesan Convention for the first time. On October 27, 2002, Fr.

Joe officiated at his last Sunday service at St. Peter’s.

The search process for a new priest was begun, and during this period the Rev. John

Hines served as interim priest from November 2002 to July 2004.

The Rev. Larry Minter was called to be the new rector, and his first service was July 24,

2004. Fr. Larry served for four years during which time the parish conducted two ALPHA

studies, hosted the Diocesan Convention and continued the tradition of Wednesday night Lenten

service followed by pot luck supper and bible study. During this time, there was an increase in

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Adult Sunday School attendance and in summer VBS. The church faced several challenges that

resulted in internal conflicts, and some members left. To help the church, St. Peter’s formed a

yoked partnership with St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church. St. Francis provided some

financial assistance for 3 years and both churches worked together on several projects. On

October 5, 2008, Fr. Larry officiated at his last Sunday service at St. Peter’s.

The vestry called Fr. Sonny Smith to return to serve as Priest-in-Charge while there was a

search for a new rector. The Rev. Ellen Morrell was called to St. Peter’s, and her first service

was on September 3, 2009. During Rev. Ellen’s tenure, many vital programs and activities from

past years were continued. These included VBS and Lenten Wednesday nights, which were

expanded to include Holy Eucharist. Rev. Ellen served until January 15, 2012.

St. Peter’s used supply clergy for six months until Fr. John Hines returned to serve as

Priest-in-Charge, beginning July 28, 2012. Fr. John was with St. Peter’s until April 13, 2014

when the Rev. Suzanne Warner joined St. Peter’s, becoming a bridge clergy until a more

permanent clergy solution could be found.

In July 2014, Rev. Suzanne became Priest-in-Charge. Before Rev. Suzanne joined St.

Peter’s, she had served as a priest to our new refugee members. She continues to fulfill this

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agreement today, leading the people of St. Peter’s to fulfill the mission and ministry of our

congregation.

The Rev. Mary Abrams joined St. Peter’s as Deacon with the Karen community and

served the parish until December 2013. Bishop Terry White then assigned the Rev. Barbara

Merrick as a Deacon to serve St. Peter’s growing congregation. Deacon Barbara provides

liturgical and pastoral support, works with the youth, and leads Morning Prayer when needed.

With her help, St. Peter’s has initiated a ‘Big Red Bag’ program to help our food pantry

outreach. Deacon Kar Kar from Burma assists in some services. The Rev. Fine Hoeft from

Tonga was accepted as a licensed priest at the 2016 diocesan convention. He and his family are

members of the congregation.

We are an international parish. In October 2013, the parish grew in numbers, welcoming

the Karen and Karenni refugees from Burma. They attended other Episcopal churches, but chose

St. Peter’s as their new church-home, close to their own homes. These members dramatically

increased the attendance and membership. We continue to expand our diversity. In December

2014, a family from Tonga joined us. All have become a vital part of our Episcopal church, a

diverse congregation that creates a welcoming atmosphere each Sunday.

The Karen Community of St. Peter’s.

The Karen Community makes up approximately 70% of our church membership. What follows

is a brief background of the Karen people who came to St. Peter’s, Louisville.

From around 2008 when a significant number of Karen people arrived in Louisville as

refugees from Burma, Episcopalians Janet and Ronnie Miller have been supportive friends.

Much of their work was through Episcopal churches. They are called “Pee” (Grandmother) Janet

and “Poo” (Grandfather) Ronnie by many. Janet was functionally blind, but that did not keep her

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from awesome assistance, helping with doctor’s appointments, the logistics of school attendance,

and dealing with the maze of paperwork that faces resettlement in a new country. Janet helped

many families find affordable housing, including first-time ownership of houses nearby. Ronnie

helped with the youth group at church and with practical problems of plumbing, heating, etc.

They joined St Peter’s with the Karen communities and are valuable members in all respects.

Because of present health problems, including Janet’s adjusting now to total blindness, their

“work” is reduced, but their love of the Karen people has` not diminished.

The Episcopal Karen family is part of the larger Karen community in the Louisville area

and holds leadership roles within it. The larger group includes all faith traditions and originated

in different parts of the Karen region of Burma, although they may know each other from time

spent in the refugee camps amounting to 10 to 25 years. Our families have close relationships

with Karen people at Crescent Hill Baptist Church, to the enrichment of both churches. Some

families operate with dual membership and involvement. St. Peter’s Karen families are also

leaders in a national Episcopal/Anglican Network that includes Episcopal churches in Kentucky,

Tennessee, Illinois, New York, California, Texas and wherever there are large groups of Karen

people. Their goal is to include more Karen families in the worship and life of the Episcopal

Church and still honor and preserve some of the Karen language and traditions of worship.

Information from Jolly Paw, Karen leader at St. Peters Episcopal Church

Spring 2017In 1948 Burma had a free “democratic” government of seven states, or divisions, and

more than seven ethnic groups, actually more than 20. After that the Burmese in government

controlled Burma even the ethnic groups. Burma became too bad for other ethnic groups and

there was civil war.

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In 1984 Burma government had more and more fighting with the Karen ethnic group and

other ethnic groups, e.g the Karenni, Chin, Karchin, Shan. In 1984, many Karen people were

burned out of their homes and killed. They crossed over into Thailand and became refugees.

Several camps for Karens, two for Karenni people – more than 100,000 in many camps. When

in refugee camps, we were not allowed to go outside the camps. We had basic food, basic house,

and basic education but no job, no income, no money.

The Thai government hoped we would go back to Burma and not remain as “temporary”

people. In 1998 the government knew this was a political problem and asked UNHCR (United

Nations High Commission for Refugees) to work with Thailand to take care of refugees. The

refugees wouldn’t go back to Burma because still fighting. In 1999 UNHCR officially declared

them refugees, and UNHCR took over camp. In 3 years they wanted to send Karens back to

Burma (also Karenni). Three ways to do 1) petition Burmese government to return, 2)

resettlement program in third country’s refugee camp (and be refugees twice) 3) relocation - no

more refugee camps. In negotiations with Burmese government, UNHCR said better way was to

let refugees go back to homes. Burma government said. “Refugees are not our people” and

wouldn’t take them back.

I chose to come to United States. We had no family; others required us to have a relative there.

I had little education and couldn’t speak English. People in other countries tell us you couldn’t

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go to church in USA because you will work too much. But no opportunities for our children in

refugee camps.

Anglican Church is controlled by Burma Arch-diocese. When we came to Louisville we

found many different churches. Then Father Bu Christ told us about Episcopal Church were the

same as Anglican. Father Bu Christ is an Anglican Priest and a friend from Burma. He is only

Karen priest in United States. His church is in Smyrna TN.

I was 18 when I went to camp and lived there for 25 yrs, and was married there. After a

while I was asked to be a leader in the camp. All my four children were born in the camp. We

left after Fr. Bu Christ told we could find a church. We came to Louisville in 2008. God

prepared us, and we prayed a lot. We attend two other Episcopal churches before we came to St.

Peter’s. We stayed because God sent us here and prepared the place for us. We felt welcome

and our family can grow our children here.

We look for a new priest to come. Holy Spirit will lead someone to us. Old or young

doesn’t matter to us. I think Mother Suzanne will be led by the Holy Spirit when she goes.

1 st Person Account of Karen Moving to Camps in Thailand

Essay by Bar Jor, Sept. 2017 My childhood life was a nightmare. I was born in Burma in 1996, in a little village where there

was a bamboo house and no electricity. Every time I opened my eye I saw the unsafety and

fearful condition, starvation, and the poor of health condition of everyone in my environment

including myself. It was a huge challenge for me to have been faced with these conditions.

When war broke out and all the houses were burned, I fled from Burma to Thailand refugee

camp with my family and other villagers in 2002. Even I was just a 6 years old I had to walk by

myself in the darkness where there was mud, thorn, bugs, and rain. The most fearful and

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dangerous things were landmines buried in the ground and Burmese’s soldiers who were

standing guard across the border between Burma and Thailand.

There were heavy rain, thunder storm, and lightning. I had nothing to eat because there was no

food. I was so hungry and all I did was drink water to fill my stomach. It was impossible to make

a fire to cook because there was rain and all the sticks and wood were wet. Moreover, it was

difficult to make fire because if the solders see the fire or the smoke in the air, they would come

and kill me and others. There was no hut for me to live under while the rain was falling

constantly. I went to live in the cave with my mom and the rest of the other people who escaped

in the same condition as me.

After long weeks of crossed the border between Thailand and Burma, a place where there were

high mountains that I had to climb, I started getting sick because of the heavy rains, uncountable

mosquito bites, and lack of sleep. There was not medication to cure myself and others.

Fortunately, I was able to recoverby myself without medication but, sorrowfully, I lost my

cousin who was very sick and died from the sickness.

I never give up despite the obstacle that I had faced. I encouraged myself to do what I have to be

successful. I have sacrificed my days and nights studying very hard as my goal is to be an

educated person and help people in my community who suffer from the same situation as I have

been through. At the same time, the obstacle that I have had to overcome have taught me

important life lessons, made me more qualified and capable of succeeding and strengthened me

mentally, emotionally and spiritually to accomplish my goals in the future.

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Activities & Ministries of St. Peter’s, Louisville

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild is a group of parish members who volunteer to care for the vessels,

vestments and linens of the parish as well as the decoration of the sanctuary for holidays and

other important days.

Clothes Closet

St. Peter's collects and organizes clothes and shoes for distribution to the under privileged

in our  community. The closet itself is a former Sunday School room which houses the clothes

and other items. The closet is manned routinely by a dedicated volunteer group and is opened

routinely to the public and parish members.

Food Baskets and Food Closet

St. Peter's continues a well stocked food pantry which is provided based on parish

donations. The food closet routinely provided baskets at Christmas and Thanksgiving food

baskets to those in need during the holidays. Small baskets are offered to those who walk in and

ask for food.

Youth Group

Our Youth group is comprised of a international group of high schoolers who meet often

for fellowship, education and parties.  In addition, this group often volunteers for church

activities and other community projects. Events in the past have included a Luau, Halloween and

Mardi Gras parties, lock ins and hiking.  

Adult Sunday School

The Adult Sunday school is usually facilitated by members and includes book studies and

other group based curriculums.  It continues to be a vital learning experience for many of our

parish members.

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High School Sunday School

Our High Schoolers participate in regular Sunday school lessons that are veered towards their

concerns and views.  They meet regularly after the Sunday service and our teachers use faith

based curriculums and movie clips to educated and facilitate conversation.

Children's Sunday School

Our children's Sunday School is a simple one room School house approach where many

grades participate.  The lessons have included Disciples, Saints and Animals of the Bible.  The

children learn a simple story and participate in a craft that reinforces the theme.

Weekly after church fellowship 

St. Peter's provides weekly treats after service and before Sunday school.  We welcome

guests and parish members alike to participate. Treats are donated by parish members and set up

and cleanup is on a rotating volunteer basis.

Lenten Lunches

Our church is host to weekly lunches and services on Wednesdays during Lent.  It's an

interfaith community event with many different area churches participating.  Each week a

different church provides the Sermon and lunch.  

Fundraising Events

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St. Peter's organizes a Trivia Night event annually which is both a fundraiser and current

event. The proceeds which were over $2,000 for 2016, go towards youth activities and camp

scholarships.  

The annual pancake supper is a tasty parish event that brings in our community plus our

own members.  It is always held on Shrove Tuesday.

Daughters of the King (DOK)

St. Peter's DOK welcomes all women from the parish. This group meets the second

Sunday of each month and leads it’s members and parish members in the rosary.

Other Activities 

There are many ways in which  our parish members serve our church. Other activities

include Finance and Treasury, Vestry participation, Music ministry which includes manning the

organ during the weekly service, readers, lectors, acolytes and other participants in the service.  

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Note from our Treasurer SUMMARIZED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

YEAR-TO-DATE AS OF 12/31/16 - FINAL

ASSETS:

Total Checking Account $13,117.42

Total Savings Investment (commingled) Account (at market value) $71,124.78

Total Custody Investment (reserved for priest's salary) Account (at mv) $301,307.08

Total Assets $385,549.28

INCOME STATEMENT: ACTUAL BUDGET CASH OVER (SHORT)

Total Income $66,318.54 $71,435.00 ($5,116.46)

Total Expenses ($76,641.11) ($71,435.00) ($5,206.11)

Net Profit (Loss) ($10,322.57) $0.00 ($10,322.57)

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