seek: news from the episcopal diocese of missouri aug/sept 2010

8/8/2019 Seek: News from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri Aug/Sept 2010

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/seek-news-from-the-episcopal-diocese-of-missouri-augsept-2010 1/8

In November our diocesan convention will take place this year in St.Charles. Preparations are year-roundand the rst mailing to delegates andparishes leaves this oce in mid- August. In that packet is a call ornominations to diocesan governancebodies. Governance is a word that canstop a reader mid-sentence and, insevere cases, cause one’s eyes to cross.But the Episcopalians involved with

Diocesan Council, Standing Commit-tee, Cathedral Chapter, and GeneralConvention have a dierent story totell—one o engagement and unex-pected spiritual growth.

Diocesan Council

Council members are both electedand appointed. Six lay members areelected by convention, one lay andone clerical memberare elected to repre-sent each convocation(regional groupingo parishes), and the

bishop appoints threeat-large members,subject to raticationby elected members.

“Council members are a diversegroup, bringing many individualtalents and expertise,” said councilmember the Rev. Pat Glenn, rectoro Calvary, Louisiana. “Our diering viewpoints make or a strong body.”

“We’re really careul about how we make decisions together,” contin-ued council member the Rev. TeresaDanieley, rector o St. John’s, St.Louis. “We do it in a very positive way: we worship together, we pray

together, when we are experiencing joysor sorrows in our lives, we take time toshare those.” Danieley considers oneo the best parts o council is getting toknow her ellow members rom aroundthe diocese. “I like that we are prayer-ully intentional, not gathered or justanother business meeting.”

According to our Constitutionand Canons, Council prepares a yearly budget to present to convention, andoversees receipts and expenditures inthe current budget as adopted by convention.

“The budget is one o our biggestresponsibilities,” said Glenn. Many council members are leaders in theirown parish vestries and continue theirstewardship o resources at the diocesanlevel.

“It sounds dry ascan be, but riding herdon the budget, not only in terms o programs

and amounts, but alsothe process timetablehas been a positive ex-perience,” said Claudia

Svoboda, council member and parishio-ner at Advent-Crestwood. Svoboda wasinstrumental is getting the budgetingprocess moved up in the year. “It’s nowbased on reality.”

Glenn has been struck by howcouncil members have pulled togetherduring the past years o economicdownturn. “We had to look deep intoour souls, look at our stewardship,” shecontinued. “Everything comes rom

God and we have to be giving it back.”

Council meets six times a

year at locations around the diocese.Sub-committees tend to do their work mostly by conerence call and email.

The council plans, develops, andreviews the programs o the diocese,and reports on them to convention. A beloved eature o convention is theseries o “vignettes” which tell the story o congregations nding God’s missionin the world. Council determines theunding o community ministry andbuilding assistance grants. “I someone wants to know about the nuts-and-boltso the diocese, they should run orcouncil,” said Danieley. “It’s like beingon the Vestry o the diocese.”

One project o council is workingon better relationships between individual parishes and the diocese. “It’s therealization that the diocese is actually

‘us.’ Coming rom a small parish, wemay understand more directly the ben-ets o our relationship with one other,”continued Glenn. “Our council missionis to take that message o relationship toall o our congregations.”

“It makes no di-erence i you are adelegate or member o council or any govern-ing body, when youparticipate you havea better sense o thescope o our diocese,”

said Danieley. “We’remembers o a largerbody, beyond our

individual parishes. When we pray, worship, and share with one another, we come closer torecognizing that together we are thebody o Christ.”

Standing Committee

The Standing Committee is thebishop’s council o advice. Six clergy and six lay members are elected by convention or staggered terms o three years. In the event o a bishop

being incapacitated or leaving hispost, the Standing Committee o thediocese is then the ecclesiastical au-thority. When a bishop is elected by a diocese, a majority o all the Stand-ing Committees o dioceses in TheEpiscopal Church must consent tothat election (in addition to a major-ity o bishops) or the bishop-elect tobe consecrated.

Standing Committee meetsmonthly, except when there are noocial acts or agenda items. Mostormer members admit meetings were a bit perunctory until recently

We had to look deep into our souls, and look at our stewardship. Everything comes from

God and we have to be giving it back. —Pat Glenn

If someone wants to know about the nuts-and-bolts of the diocese,they should run for council. It’slike being on the Vestry of thediocese.—Teresa Danieley

“It’s the realizationthat the diocese isactually ‘us.’ Our council mission is totake that message of relationship to all of our congregations.” —Pat Glenn



2Seek August/September 2010 The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

Making Disciples • Building Congregations • For the Life of the World

when the com-mittee took over the vision-ing work o thedesign team (anad hoc group o

lay and clergy acilitated by the bishopand consultant David Manting).

“Several years ago, when many o the business responsibilities o thediocese shited to Diocesan Council(when Council became COEDMO, thecorporation o the diocese), StandingCommittee struggled with its mission,”said committee president Jane Klieve,parishioner at St. Martin’s-Ellisville.“Incorporating the design work gives usa new sense o mission and an opportu-nity or real collaboration. How do welook at our institutions with resh eyes?How do we encourage lay leadership?”

“Without a vision, people perish,”

contributed the Rev. Doris Westall,rector o St. Matthew’s, Warson Woods. Westall is a committee member, was onthe design team, and did visioning work at the agency she let to attend semi-nary. “We have a great opportunity orimagination,but it’s also easy to get com-ortable andstagnate. Andthat’s a deathknell—movingorward isalways the chal-

lenge.”New-

est member Michael Reiser,parishioner at Christ Church Cathedral, was appointed to ll an unexpired term.“I came in at a great time. It is excitingto imagine what we want our diocese,our church, to become.” Reiser is happy with the balance o what-i visioningapplied through a practical how-can-we- get-there lens.

Standing Committee is proud o itsdiversity—in gender, age, ethnicity, ge-

ography, and also diversity o opinion.“We want to be a body, but we want todo it in a way that is constructive andsupportive o the individuals involved,”said Klieve. Her skills as a leadershipdevelopment consultant helped Stand-ing Committee work on their organi-zational process. “It’s a transormation we’ve made, working on understandingour process so we are better at our com-mon work together.”

Several members o the committeenoted that this was greatly in evidenceduring their discussions beore voting

consent o (then) bishop-elect Mary Glasspool rom the Diocese o Los Angeles. Their conversations were very intense and some elt it was an agoniz-ing decision. One member commentedthat sharing the personal struggle overthe decision was dicult, only possiblebecause o the deep respect and lovethat members o the committee have orone another and or the communion.

“We were engaging in raw, authen-tic dialogue, and it was tough,” saidKlieve. “We could navigate the tough

stu because o the oundational conversations we’ve had as a group.”

Standing Committee interviewscandidates or Holy Orders, one o thelast steps in their discernment pro-cess, Reiser was surprised at a recentinterview. “I expected something moremechanical, but it was like having thebest conversation with a dear riendabout something that is really impor-tant to you. Ater the interview wasover, I elt I had a glimpse not only into who these candidates were, butinto my own spirituality. I’d neverexperienced a ‘meeting’ where 12

people could share atthis level. I didn’t expectto get back so much andin such a short time.”

“It’s clear that ev-erybody can be a leaderon the committee,” saidKlieve, “rom any seatin the room. Our work

together is built on asense o trust and aith,and a sense o commit-ment. As people becomegrounded in this com-

mon work they eel it is more o a call-ing than just an elected position. Andas our church struggles to be relevantin today’s world, I think that’s good orus.”

“There is a conversation goingon in our church right now aboutour polity,” said Westall, “how do we keep the authority o bishops, o

clergy, and how do we empower theauthority o the laity. We’re walk-ing in the tension o top-down versusbottom-up, and we’re just beginningto gure out how to do that. It is anexciting time, or some watching thechurch they grew up in change, it is ascary time.”

Westall quoted a passage romEphesians 3:20: Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infnitelymore than we can ask or imagine. “I’mnot sure a lot o us believe it. My biggest challenge wherever I am as apriest, as a committee member—may-

be our biggest challenge— is to truly believe in that power and to claim itor change.”

The 171st annual meeting of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese ofMissouri will take place November 19-20, 2010, in St. Charles, Missouri. Elected at this convention will be

Diocesan Council: 2 at-large members, clergy or layStanding Committee: 3 members, this year 1 cleric and 2 layCathedral Chapter: 1 cleric and 1 lay memberGeneral Convention: 8 clergy (4 deputies, 4 alternates) and 8 lay members (4 deputies, 4 alter-nates)

Follow progress towards the 171st convention at diocesemo.org (under the tab Governance). All mail-

ings are posted, in addition to the booklet that convention delegates will receive at the meeting con-taining resolutions and nominations as presented in advance. (Both nominations and resolutions areaccepted from the oor of the convention.) Next issue of Seek will explore resolutions and describe inmore detail ways diocesan members not in St. Charles will be able to follow.

Cathedral Chapter and GeneralConvention Delegates

Diocesan convention will also electone clergy and one lay member o thediocese who are not parish members toserve on the cathedral’s vestry, calledCathedral Chapter. Terms are three years, so there are six diocesan memberson chapter. Our Constitution and Can-

ons are specic about the details; two o the clergy and two o the lay membersmust be rom parishes inside the city or county o St. Louis, and the otherclergy and lay member rom a parishoutside the city or county.

The “big” election this year, theone which will have many nominees,is the election o Missouri diocese’sdeputation to the General Conven-tion. Diocesan convention will elect 8clergy (4 deputies and 4 alternates) and8 lay members (4 deputies and 4 alter-nates). Our church’s national meeting isscheduled or every three years, the next

one will be in the summer o 2012 inIndianapolis.

As so much o the bicameral gov-ernance mirrors our own country’sdemocratic institutions o House o Representatives and Senate, it is some-times easy to orget that unlike ourrepresentatives in Congress, memberso the deputation are called to prayeruldiscernment. It’s why we reer to our“deputation” instead o our delegation. We believe that we intentionally createa space or the Holy Spirit to work onthe foor o General Convention.

Are you called to lead this diocese,through service on any o our gover-nance bodies? Please prayerully con-sider this: the diocese is made up o youand me. Nomination orms and addi-tional inormation are available on our website: diocesemo.org.

Many thanks to all o the Standing Committee, Diocesan Council, Chapter,and General Convention Deputies whotook time to talk about their experiences,especially all o the ones not included inthis article.

Ephesians 3:20 tells us: Glory toGod whose power, working in us,can do innitely more than we canask or imagine. I’m not sure a lot of us believe it. My biggest challenge wherever I am as a priest,as a committee member—maybe

our biggest challenge— is to truly believe in that power and to claim it for change. —Doris Westfall

How do we look at our institutions with fresh eyes? How do we encourage lay leadership? —Jane Klieve

Join us onFacebook



3Seek August/September 2010 DioceseMo.org

This monthI’ve had an almostunprecedentedstretch o threeSundays in a row without liturgicalobligations at my parish: no sing-ing, no reading,

no preaching. That’s given mean opportunity toexperience other services and other churches.

One morning, with a long list o chores toaccomplish, I decided to catch an early servicethat would give me more o the day. I arrivedabout ve minutes beore the hour and sat atthe end o an empty pew, one o several avail-able, near the ront o the church.

A couple o minutes later, a woman camein rom the ar aisle, looked at me a little bitaskance, then sat a couple o seats over romme. A minute ater that, another one came in,this time rom the center aisle. “Excuse me,”she said, with a touch o rost in her voice,“may I get in here?”

As I rose to let her in, I realized that I’dcommitted the essential aux pas o church visiting: the sin o sitting, innocently but still

by Sarah Bryan Miller guilty, in some-one’s RegularPew. I debatedshiting to one o the other nearby pews that still satempty near us.But would thatlook as though

I didn’t want tosit with them? What is the

proper church etiquette in these situations? Istayed put.

I stayed put, but there was an undertone o discontent vibrating aintly in our pew throughthe service: My presence in their usual spot dis-rupted their Sunday routine. We are territorial creatures, and creatures o habit. When I’m not in the choir, I like to siton the aisle near the ront, on what is tradition-ally known as the “Epistle Side.” I do it becausemy mother always sat there. My mother always

sat there because her mother and grandparentsalways sat there; they sat there because that was the location o the amily pew generationsago, in the days when pew rentals were a majorsource o parish support. Who knows how long my ladies have held downtheir particular spots? On refection, I should

Sarah Bryan Miller is agraduate of the Episco-pal School for Ministry,a licensed lay preacherin the Diocese of Mis-souri, and a parishionerat St. Peter’s, Ladue.In addition to herwork for St. Louis PostDispatch as classicalmusic critic, she is theeditor and chief writer

for Grace Prayer Network (www.grace-prayernet.org), where this meditation wasoriginally published on July 19, 2010. Milleris a frequent contributor to Forward Move-ment publications, including the upcoming2011 daybook Finding God Day by Day.

© 2010, Sarah Bryan Miller, All Rights Reserved

Community

o Hope trains andsupports lay peopleor pastoral ministry within and beyondtheir congregations.Lay chaplains aretaught to be present,open and attentive, totheir care receivers, to‘listen with the ear o the heart’ in a com-passionate, non-controlling manner to anindividual or group or the purpose o nur-turing their spiritual needs, helping themidentiy the presence o God, and bringing

comort and healing to those in need.To sustain themselves in ministry ater

their initial training, lay chaplains committo a rule o lie based on the monastic Ruleo St. Benedict. This spiritual disciplineincludes daily reading and prayer, weekly worship, monthly Circle o Care meetingsor debrieng and accountability in theirministries, and our hal- or whole-day retreats yearly.

Ater training and commissioning, lay pastoral caregivers select a community in which to oer a pastoral care ministry. Thesetting might be parish outreach to home-

bound or hospitalized members; or regular visits to a nursing home, prison, medical orhospice setting; or to a site serving those inneed such as the homeless or abused.

Lay chaplains continue to be nurturedin an ongoing community that meets eachmonth; the Circle o Care is part debrie-ing, part continuing education, part prayerand ellowship. Having several diocesancenters and Circles o Care gives CoHchaplains more opportunity or ongoingsharing and support.

Grace, Kirkwood is now the third ac-credited Community o Hope center in the

diocese, in addition to the Church o St.

have smiled brightly and said, “Oh, is this yourregular pew? I’m sorry – let me move!”

As it is, it’s a gentle reminder to me o Bibli-cal injunctions, rom Genesis through the Gos-pels, o the requirement o hospitality: “For I was a stranger, and you took me in,” says Jesusin Matthew 25. My brie discomort is some-thing to keep in mind the next time I’m the

one conronting another in a spot I considermy own, and to welcome everyone I meet.

Michael and St. George-Clayton

and Christ Church Cathedral.The training this all will

be held at Grace and requires acommitment on Monday eve-nings rom Sept. 13th throughNov. 15th, several Saturdays, andSunday, Nov. 21st.

Session topics include:• Spiritual Gits• Theology o Pastoral Care

• Benedictine Spirituality • Listening Skills• Prayer, Christian Meditation, Silence• Pastoral Visit, Boundaries, Pastoral Iden-tity • Condentiality, Debrieng• Grie, Coping with Loss• Pastoral Care• Family Systems• Commitmentto Ministry

Sessions areled by a variety o experiencedpastoral caregiv-ers, mostly hospitalchaplains, clergy,and therapists. There are twoSaturday practice

sessions (Oct.23, Nov. 6), andan opening Sat-urday retreat on“MotivationalSpiritual Gits, andIntroduction to The Community o Hope,” led by Bishop WayneSmith and mem-bers o the dioc-esan CoH commu-nity (Sept. 11).

Community o Hope pastoral care

training at Grace is open to members o the diocese and members o other Chris-tian denominations.

Team members o the Community o Hope’s newest center at Grace are: Miriam Jenkins, Training Facilitator; GretchenLogue, Shepherd/Administrative Head;Nancy Ferriss, Circle o Care Coordinator;the Rev. Emily Hillquist Davis, PastoralCare Administrator; and the Rev. Todd McDowell, Abbot. Additional SteeringCommittee members are Mike Bohan-non, Mary Forsythe, John Pestka, and Bill VanLuven.

For more inormation about thetraining at Grace, contact the Rev. Emily Hillquist Davis, emily.davis@gracekirk- wood.org.

Seek is published six times a year by the Episcopal Diocese

Executive Editor: The Rt. Rev. Wayne Smith, Bishop o MEditor: Ms. Beth FeliceEditorial Board: the Rev. Teresa K. M. Danieley, St. John’s,

Jerry Martin, St. Louis; Mrs. Susan Moenkhaus, St. Louis;Samuel, Transguration, Lake St. Louis; the Rev. Beverly

Trinity, Jeerson County; the Rev. Dan Smith, Canon to tDiocese o Missouri.

Vol. 3, No. 4, August/September 2010

Episcopal Diocese o MissouriOces o the Bishop

1210 Locust St, 3rd foorSt. Louis, Missouri 63103

314-231-1220

Diocesan members may request a complimentary subscription by ddress to the Oces o the Bishop, attn. Seek subscription. Seek

to each parish, mission, and preaching station in the diocese. Seenline at diocesemo.org.

Submissions by post, attn. Beth Felice, or by email to belice@dio

Except or contributed articles and images labeled ©, this work isCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.



Seek August/September 2010 The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

The ederal govern-ment denes “long-termunemployment” as a job-less period o six monthsor longer. In March,2010, over 44 % o unem-ployed Americans met orexceeded that standard—

the highest rate since World War II.

April 5, 2010, thePew Charitable Trustsissued ndings rom a s-cal analysis initiative thatcalculates the percentageo people unemployedor a year or more: 23%,or about 3.5 million.(For reerence, State o Missouri population isaround 6 million.)

The Rev. Steve

Lawler, rector at St. Ste-phen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson andan organizational psychologist, has beenasking the question or months now: Whatis our church’sresponse tothe long-termunemploymentcrisis? “We’venever seen atime like this,”said Lawler.“This trend cutsacross every industry and oc-

cupation.” It aects management and line worker, those with multiple degrees andthose with G.E.D.s. Even more stunning,55% o all adults in the workorce reportthat in the past 30 months they have beenunemployed, taken a cut in pay or reduc-tion in hours, or become an involuntary part-time worker. More than hal o us.

St. Louis has a lot o networkinggroups, a lot o resume writing and job-skills polishing groups, but Lawler is inter-ested in resources that ocus on the spiri-tual lie in this time. “Howdo we pray about this? Whatare the resources we have as

Christians?”

David Boudinet, pa-rishioner at the EpiscopalChurch o St. Michael and St.George in Clayton, has been working on church responserom the lay perspective. “We know thatpeople nd jobs through networking,” saidBoudinet, “so perhaps one response wouldbe intentional networking, and it seemsthe parish would be an ideal place orthis.” Boudinet helped design a network-ing group at CSMSG which incorporated apastoral visit with assistant rector the Rev.

Michael Wheeler, and a “case manager”o sorts rom the group to shepherd thenetworking process.

Boudinet main-tains this conversationshould be going onin the parish. “WeEpiscopalians tendtowards politeness; we avoid details aboutour jobs, our amily situations,” continuedBoudinet. “We might not even know whoin the parish is in a dicult situation.”People who have always been sel-reliant

are reticent to say: I need help, I’m introuble. “Folks with next to nothing aremore used to asking or help,” said Lawler.

“They know when their lie is red-lin-ing. When you’ve always provided or yoursel and your amily, you’re moreapt to think that with your educationand experience, the system is set up totake care o you—that tomorrow you’llget ‘the call’.”

“Our cultural myth is all about theindividual, but maybe this time callsChristians to give up the idea o sel

reliance. This posesinteresting questionsor us: how do wethink about how welive in and relate to ourcommunity? and whatdoes it look like whenChristians swing intoaction to join God’smission in creation?”Lawler thinks much o this centers on creatingsharing networks, in

developing ways o be-ing gener-ous withconnections. “We are the Body together. One o our greatestChristian resources is not only the git o one another, but theresponsibility to live relation-ally in community.”

This past Lent, Lawler and Boudinetorganized a weekly group using scriptureand prayer to open and guide the sharingconversation. These sessions created a saespace to talk about the balancing act withamily and riends, a place or raw honesty.“There is some grieving loss o the illusion

o sel-reliance, o not being able to provide ‘the right stu’ in the same ways,” saidLawler.

“Networking isn’t alwaysabout nding a job,” saidBoudinet. “Sometimes it is just meeting people or maybeeven just getting out o the

house.” It’s not uncommon in long-termunemployment that people become house-bound, the expense o driving is a luxury tobe reserved or interviews. “Don’t be araidto ask ‘How are you doing?’ Consider

Map of June 2010 UnemploymentRate by County in the

Diocese of Missouri

Published with permission of the Research Division of the FederalReserve Bank of St. Louis. geofred.stlouisfed.org

being proactive and instead o waiting orellow parishioners who are unemployedto ask you or a avor, start the conversa-tion. Invite them out to lunch or coee andbring along a co-worker or someone they might not know,” continued Boudinet.

We want to fx a situation. Many o our unemployed colleagues have experi-

ence andskills,they’ve runsuccess-ul busi-nesses, hadimpressivecareers—there’s not aast x pos-sible. “Wehave to bring this sense o mission home, we have to reach out to those in need, eveni they are sitting in the adjacent pew,” saidBoudinet.

Lawler is interested in how we asa church provide the invitation and theresponse to this conversation. “Those o us who speak regularly have to include thetopic in our conversations because it’s notcurrently ‘out there’ – and not by makinga public policy comment, but by makingit personal. Those o us with a privileged voice need to attend to this, create a nur-turing space or people in this time, andprovide spiritual resources. This is a timeo opening our hearts to know who is Godand who am I? As Episcopalians, we haveto preach the reality.”

What is our church’sresponse to thiscrisis? How do we pray about this? What are the resources wehave as Christians?

We have to bring thissense of mission home,we have to reach out to those in need, evenif they are sitting in theadjacent pew

This is a time

of opening our hearts, to know who is God, and who am I.

Networking isn’t alwaysabout nding a job.

This article (and others in Seek) will be post-ed on the diocesan website, with commentsenabled. Please join the conversation andshare what your parish is doing to respond tothis cultural change. Look online for hyper-links to more resources, and an additionalway to get in touch with David Boudinet andSteve Lawler.

More information on unemployment statisticsand analysis found at:

•GeoFRED, Geographic Federal ReserveEconomic DataEconomic Research from theFederal Reserve Bank of St. Louishttp://geofred.stlouisfed.org

•The Pew Research Center is a nonparti-san “fact tank” that provides informationon the issues, attitudes and trends shap-ing America and the world. It does so byconducting public opinion polling andsocial science research; by analyzingnews coverage; and by holding forumsand briengs. It does not take positionson policy issues.http://pewresearch.org

Resources in St. Louis:•lawler.org•St. Patrick’s GO! network•Bounceback St. Louis



5Seek August/September 2010 DioceseMo.org Making Disciples • Building Congregations • For the Life of the World

Culture is good, genius is brilliant, civiliza- tion is a blessing, education is a great

privilege; still the thing that we want most of all is the precious gift of the Holy Ghost.—John Hall, Irish clergyman, 1829-1889

Years ago, 39 to be exact, I was home-less. Being homeless at 16, well to put itmildly, is not optimal. Friends’ parked cars were my best bet or sleeping in somethingother than a park. Still there was a particu-lar piece o playground equipment in oneo the parks that had a platorm built upa ew steps that provided a covered areaunderneath. I would get in under that plat-orm and with good use o spare clothesand a big coat, make a little sleepingcompartment, kind o like on a train. Inthe morning I would get up, go to school,shower and try to make my way throughclasses until lunch so I could eat. I workedpart-time at a Ground Round so dinner was covered most nights. But that stretchbetween when I woke up and when reelunch was available at school was the hard-est part o the day. (Those o you who haveraised a teenager or remember your ownteen years probably know what I mean.)

I must have been talking about this with a riend because this riend, Nancy Osborn, told me one day that her youthminister wanted to meet me and that hemight be able to help me out. Thinking with my stomach I thought, “Great, maybe

I’ll get some cash or ood!”

I did get the cash and he took ourconversation with him to a leaders’ meet-ing or a local Young Lie group to includein their time o sharing and prayer. Nancy told me the ollowing week that he wantedto see me again, so o I went. “Somepeople want to meet you. They have spacein their home and can oer you a place tolive.” That was the message. Those peoplebecame my oster amily and I got back toliving indoors.

That was the rst time I really “got”the Holy Ghost. As a riend’s ather, aPentecostal bishop said to me later, “You were living a lie o all sin and no redemp-tion, all conession and no conversion, allcrucixion and no Resurrection.” I was allabout drama and trauma. My oster parents were all about giving me a place o loveand peace.

There are lots o other stories, evennow. Yours may be about aging, amily struggles, or ill health. Lately mine havebeen about the eects o the economicdownturn on my business and people tak-ing swipes at me, one another, the bishop,people who do not behave the way theassume they should, and…

Lie challenges are draining untilI again get (because I so oten orget)

by Steven Lawler

© 2010, Steve Lawler, All Rights Reserved. This article was originally published in St. Stephen’snewsletter, Parish Life, June 2010.

Steve Lawler works as an Episcopal priest,Rector of St Stephens and Facilitator of TheVine, as an organizational psychologist atOpinions Incorporated, and as an Adjunct

Professor of Leadership and OrganizationDevelopment at Washington University in StLouis. Lawler holds graduate degrees fromYale University, the Olin School of Businessat Washington University and is completinghis PhD work in Organizational Psychologyfrom Tilburg University in the Netherlands.You can contact him at [email protected].

The Eucharist is the

central act o worshipor the Christian com-munity. It is the hearto Christian practice andthe soul o Christian liv-ing. Learning to pray theEucharist, then, becomesthe primary means o Christian ormation orevery person and providesa regular opportunity orcontemplative practice ina community setting.

On Saturday, Sep-tember 25th rom 9:00–

3:00, presenters the Rev.Richard Valantasis andDoug Bleyle will lead this workshop, sponsored by Christ ChurchCathedral and Church o the Advent. Val-antasis and Bleyle codirect the Institute orContemplative Living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Praying the Eucharist is a day-longengagement with the Eucharist. Each parto the Eucharist will be presented withcontemplative means o praying through it:gathering, hearing the Scriptures, inter-cessing, conessing, making peace, oering,

connecting with the history o salvationrom creation to today, receiving, and dis-covering ministry in the world.

The goal o the workshop is to equipparticipants in the Eucharist and worship-ing communities to pray the liturgy con-templatively. The worship will present varied contemplative practices associated with public worship and provide an oppor-tunity or learning them in the context o the workshop.

The workshop will be held at ChristChurch Cathedral, 1210 Locust in St.

that God is God. And that through theHoly Ghost, God brings the ruit listedin Galatians 5:22-23: “…the ruit o theSpirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,goodness, aithulness, gentleness, andsel-control.” So the story we live is sim-ply a matter o which version o the story we are open to telling. Which means thatevery day, I have to ask mysel: Traumaand drama, or love, joy, and peace? Whosestory am I going to tell?

Louis. Cost o the workshop is

$20 (bring a check on the day o the workshop). Lunch is includ-ed. Please reserve your place inthe workshop or need or child-care by September 17th. Childcare will include activities orolder kids, too.

Congregationsare encouraged tosend a team (such asa worship commit-tee) to the workshop.Opportunity will begiven throughout theday or teams to meet

and discuss what they are learning and howthis might be inte-

grated into their congregation’s worship.

Adventers and the most re-cent missioners to Lui, Sudan,have some amiliarity with thiscontemplative, refective ap-proach to the Eucharist. Adventhas be doing “Not Church As Usual” this past year usingthis same refection model thatHandschy took as Chaplain on

the most recent diocesan mis-sion trip to Lui, Sudan. It’s a way o asking What is the Lie o Christ? here, and in this situa-tion. Advent’s Vestry uses thismodel in their meetings.

Valantasis was Handschy’srst teacher at divinity school,and their riendship has grown over the years. “He and I developed the model o refection I use,” noted Handschy. “He isboth a top rate scholar and a man o deepspirituality.”

Valantasis is a well-known spiritual direc-tor and academic. Raised and immersed inthe Greek Orthodox liturgical, theological,and contemplative tradition, Valantasis hasconducted retreats and workshops for clergyand lay people throughout the United States.As an ordained Episcopal priest for overthirty-ve years, he has ministered in a smallurban parish that needed to grow in order tosurvive; to large urban parishes with signicantoutreach ministries; as chaplain to a religiousorder of women monks seeking to developtheir contemplative life while performing activeministry; as spiritual director to clergy andlaity exploring the riches of Eastern Christiantheology and practice for their personal andministerial lives; and as director of a spiritualand ministerial formation for ordination candi-dates at Candler School of Theology of EmoryUniversity. His ministry has focused on adulteducation programs in parishes, diocesanclergy retreats, workshops for lay leaders ofcongregations, and parish retreat weekends.

Bleyle holds a degree from Metropolitan StateCollege in Denver in anthropology and the his-tory of the American West with a focus on Na-

tive American history. He also holds an M.Div.from Iliff School of Theology and a Th.M. fromCandler School of Theology at Emory Univer-sity, where he pursued the academic studyof asceticism and contemplative practices.His teaching and research focuses on thecontemplative practices in various religioussystems of Late Antiquity, Eastern Christianity,and Methodist studies. A Postulant to holyorders in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese

of the Rio Grande, Bleyle has a special vocation to minister to Na-tive American peoples and to assist Native American Christians tobridge native and adopted traditions. He is the coauthor of “TheGospels and Christian Life in History and Practice” and currently iscoauthor on “Centuries of Contemplation” a book project with theAssociates of the ICL.

Some diocesan members know Valan-

tasis rom his service in Missouri: Adventers when he lled in or Handschy during therector’s trips back to Massachusetts to sell hishouse; Trinity-Central West Enders when he worshipped and preached there in the nine-ties; and those who took his courses at local

universities.

Saturday, September 25

8:30 AM registration9:00 AM-3 PM conferenceChrist Church Cathedral $20 fee includes lunch

RSVP for conference:to Dan Handschy,[email protected]

or 314-843-0123,by Fri., Sept 17.

RSVP for child care: to Mike Kinman,

[email protected],by Fri., Sept. 17.

Richard ValantasisPhoto: Gary Isaacs

Doug BleylePhoto: Raymond Raney



Seek August/ ep em er e p scopa ocese o ssour

Complete information and more eventslisted online at

http://diocesemo.org/calendar

Bishop Smith’s Visitations

Sunday, August 8 All Saints’ Church, St. LouisSunday, August 15 St. Matthew’s Church, Warson WoodsSunday, August 22 St. Alban’s Church, FultonSunday, August 29 Christ Church Cathedral, St. LouisSunday, September 12 St. Francis’ Church, EurekaSunday, September 26 Christ Church, RollaSunday, October 3 St. John’s Church, EoliaSunday, October 17 Calvary Church, LouisianaSunday, October 24 St. Vincent’s-in-the-Vineyard, Ste. GenevieveSunday, October 31 St. John’s Church, Eolia

Selected Upcoming EventsSat, Aug 14 (and most Saturdays) The Peace Meal Project at St. John’s, TowerGrove, every Saturday. Serving rom 4-6 p.m. To sign up as a volunteer, pleasecontact Scott Splater at [email protected] or 314-497-1050.

Tue, Aug 17, 11 AM – 2 PM (Third Tuesdays) Church o the Transfguration: commu-nity wide FREE Senior Event and Lunch at the church, 1860 Lake St. Louis Bou-levard, Lake St. Louis. Seniors (age 55 and up) rom around the area are invited toenjoy a relaxed environment. At noon, a ree lunch is served to all in attendance.For more inormation, call 636-561-8951.

Tue, Aug 24, 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM Standing Committee, St. Martin’s, Ellisville

Wed, Aug 25, 6:30 PM Celebration o New Ministry, St. Martin’s, Ellisville, JonHall, Rector. 15764 Clayton Road, Ellisville, MO 63011, ph 636-227-1484, www.stmartinschurch.org.

Thu, Sep 9 Submission deadline or Oct-Nov issue o Seek. Submissions to Beth

Felice, [email protected], 314-255-1387Fri, Sep 10 Women’s Weekend retreat in New Harmony, Indiana

Sat, Sep 11 Community o Hope (opening retreat)Sat, Sep 11 Christ Episcopal Church, Cape Girardeau, trivia contest.

Fri-Sat, Sep 17-18 Diocesan Council meeting

Fri, Sep 17, 6:15 PM Transfguration’s Trivia Night at the O’Fallon Elks Lodge,1163 Tom Ginnever Ave. Registrations can be made by email or calling Bill orKerri Robertson 636-294-7003 or [email protected].

Sat, Sep 18 Metro IV Convocation meeting, Christ Church, Rolla

Sun, Sep 19 Compline-Trinity, CWE, holds a monthly Compline service on thethird Sunday o each month beginning at 7:00 p.m. Compline is a brie but beauti-ul service with ancient roots. Enjoy 20 to 30 minutes o music, scripture, poetry,prayers and silence.

Mon, Sep 27 ESM Book Club Online. For an invitation by email contact Fr. Rod

Wiltse, [email protected]. September: The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister.Sep 28-30 Clergy Conerence

Tue, Sep 28, 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Standing Committee, St. Martin’s, Ellisville

Sat, Oct 16 Diocesan Council meeting

Sun, Oct 17 St. Mark’s Fall Festival-Portland MO. Aternoon Holy Eucharist andHayride (with Live Music) Special Guests: Members and clergy o other WestConvocation Episcopal churches

Fri-Sat, Oct 22-23 Diocese o Missouri ECW Annual Mtg and Conerence; Grace,Kirkwood

Celebration of New Ministry

The Right Reverend George Wayne Smith,

Tenth Bishop o Missouri,with the Wardens, Vestry,

and People o Saint Martin's Parish in Ellisville

Invite you to join in theCelebration o New Ministry with

the Reverend Jon W. Hall as the Third Rector August 25, 2010

6:30 PM St. Martin's Episcopal Church

15764 Clayton Rd Ellisville, MO

Clergy: White Stoles

A Louisiana style reception with live music and dancing will ollow the service.

This Labor Day Sunday

Walk, Bike, Carpool, or take the Bus to Church

Sustain a Faith encourages parishes and missions inthe diocese on Sunday, September 5th, to help protectGod’s Creation by using a non-polluting or less-fuel-consuming way to travel to church. “We’re invitingparishioners across the diocese to walk or bike, tocarpool, or to take the bus to Sunday services,” saidSustain a Faith member Kay Faddis.

The committee offers some suggestions for participat-ing parishes: encourage casual dress for the churchservice; offer refreshments upon arrival; acknowledgeparticipants in church, count the number of partici-pants, and offer pledge cards for those who mightwant to challenge themselves to walk, bike... moretimes during the year.

Sustain a Faith would love to know if your parish willparticipate. Please send an email to Kay: [email protected].

Center for Spirituality Offers Two Opportunitiesto Experience Lectio Divina

There are many ways to read the Bible.One is to engage in Bible Study, butanother is to pray the scriptures.

The ancient practice o praying thescriptures is reading God’s word more with our heart than our head. Lectiodivina, literally holy reading , begins withcultivating the ability to listen deeply,to hear “with the ear o our hearts”the words o Holy Scripture. In thiscontemplative way we can discover anincreasing ability to oer more o our-selves and our lives to God.

Using the readings or the comingSunday, the Rev. Susan Skinner will

acilitate two groups in the practice o lectio divina or ve sessions duringSeptember.

One group will meet on Wednesday mornings rom 11:00 AM to Noon atSt. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 808North Mason Road in Creve Coeur,beginning September 1 through Sep-tember 29.

A second group will meet at EmmanuelEpiscopal Church, 9 South Bompart in Webster Groves, on Thursday eveningsrom 5:30–6:30 p.m. beginning Septem-ber 2 through September 30.

A $10 registration ee covers the costo materials and may be brought to therst session. For urther inormation orto register email [email protected].

St. Timothy’s, Creve CoeurSeptember 1-29, Wednesday midday

Emmanuel, Webster GrovesSeptember 2-30, Thursday evenings



7Seek August/September 2010 DioceseMo.org

Making Disciples • Building Congregations • For the Life of the World

Smith, would arrive this day, spend thenight, and preside at Saturday’s closingEucharist.

Morning schedule includes a spiri-tual activity with the Rev. Robert Ard,camp chaplain. Ard is the newly calledDeacon-in-charge at St. Paul’s EpiscopalChurch, Carondelet. He has the younger

and older group work the same activity,in two groups. Friday’s scripture source was Genesis and topic was stewardshipo God’s creation. Each cabin worked to-gether to create banners addressing oneaspect, then shared in a group presenta-tion, with plenty o time or conversationaround the topic.

Friday morning’s schedule alsoincluded horseback riding, archery,kickball, crats, and swimming at the“beach.” An inormal survey o campersrevealed avorite activities were archery,riding, slab, crats, swimming every day,

and campre.Everyone rom the senior and ull-

time Dubois Center sta to the coun-selors and CITs commented on howsmoothly this camp was running. Kevin Williams, senior camp director and di-rector o ormation at Emmanuel, passedalong a Dubois sta report: even on Thursday, the traditional i-it-can-hap-pen-it-will day, her trip up to mealtimerevealed a room ull o happy aces andlaughter—exactly how it is supposed tosound! “Camp’s run smoothly because o the diligent work o the sta and coun-selors this year,” Williams added.

The sta member coming the arthestdistance was Mary Ann Lynn, who direct-ed the arts and crats program. She’d trav-eled rom the Diocese o Bethlehem (PA), where she is parishioner, choir member,and superintendent o church school sta at the Cathedral Church o the Nativity. Additionally, Lynn brought several campsongs rom DioBeth’s camp tradition. ThePhoenix campers discovered one could besung in a round—a new tradition to passback east.

Ater lunch, the Bishop arrived anddirector Bloemker said, “I have an an-

nouncement.” At camp, each utterance o the word “announcement” is greeted witha sung reply: Announcements, announcements,announcements! A terrible way to die, a terribleway to die! Announcements, announcements, an-nouncements, Huh!

Bishop Wayne visited the sta meet-ing, the counselor meeting, then planned onspending time with the groups as they wentthrough the last aternoon o activities. Friday night was skit night, ollowed by the lastcampre.

On Saturday morning, ater a ew rain-drops, parents and campers attended theclosing Eucharist, and said good-bye to CampPhoenix until next July.

Adults: While you may not wish to singthe “announcements” song out loud at yournext interminable business meeting, thinking it might bring a smile. Ask a returning camperor counselor to teach you the tune.

Camp Phoenix draws participants fromEpiscopal parishes around the diocese andwider. This year’s campers included:

Advent-Crestwood(2)All Saints'-St. Louis (8)Ascension-Northwoods(3)Christ Church Cathedral-St. Louis(8)Christ Church-Cape G (5)Emmanuel-Webster Groves (4)Grace-Jeff City (2)Grace-Kirkwood (5)Holy Communion-University City (6)St. Barnabas’-Florissant (1)St. Francis’-Eureka (1)St. Martin’s-Ellisville (2)St. Paul’s-Ironton (1)St. Paul’s-Sikeston (1)St. Peter’s-Ladue (2)St. Stephen's-Ferguson (3)St. Timothy’s-Creve Coeur (3)Transguration-Lake St. Louis (10)Trinity-Jeff County (1)No afliation (2)

Washington DC (2)

“Weather update,” crackled the voiceon the walkie-talkie. The chance o stormsprompted requent weather reports and re-minders o storm protocols rom Camp Phoe-nix director the Rev. Emily Bloemker to hercounselors and counselors-in-training (CIT).But the rain held and activities on the last ullFriday o camp continued on schedule.

Campers gather together or “slab,” ateam building time o ellowship, song, andlightheartedness beore each mealtime. Thedining room was lled to about capacity. The Very Rev. Ron Clingenpeel, director o exter-nal camp operations, said the current numbero campers is just about right; many othercamps using these acilities split mealtime intotwo shits.

The breakast tables were a-buzz withnews o the “eagles.” Each cabin o girls orboys and their counselors travel as a groupthrough the day’s activities and are named:sparrows, nches, robins, blackbirds, owls,

and eagles (rom youngest to oldest). Thurs-day night the eagles separated rom the groupor special activities; they rode horses on anextended trail, set up camp in tents, cookedcampre meals, and enjoyed their own hay-ride. On Friday morning they took a specialexcursion. Breakast conversation was ull o speculation about the details, and the eagles’return anticipated. Adding to the excitement was word the bishop, the Rt. Rev. Wayne

Photos: Choosing your horse to ride;the younger groups off to the trail; onto the next activity; slab; the bishop

arrives and is serenaded.

Photos: Announcements; talk of the eagles; senior staff and weather updates; spiritual activity with older campers; younger campers listening toscripture; swimming.

seek: news from the episcopal diocese of missouri aug/sept 2010

Documents