The headline reads “Churches respond in many ways to help storm-battered communities;” reading the article, it is very clear that people are the church.
In this time of declining church attendance and the pressing need for money to maintain our aging buildings, it is easy to think about church as institution, as someone else. “Why isn’t the church doing more to recruit new members?” is an oft heard refrain as if the clergy or the vestry or the diocese, or someone, anyone, other than the speaker is responsible for bringing things back to the way they were.
As after any devastating storm, fire, or other disaster, people step up in service to others. Today, it is happening in the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy as people – paid and volunteer – work together to bring relief to those for whom ‘normal life’ has ceased to exist.
I encourage you to read this article by Sharon Sheridan, a reporter for Episcopal News Service. The people of her parish, St. Peter’s in Morristown, NJ answered an early call to serve as a warming and recharging station for people who had lost power. Recognizing that many of the people who were coming were hungry, the parishioners organized and began serving meals.
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We lost power as Hurricane Sandy hit on Monday night and got it back at 4:00 am on Saturday. We had gas and water, so we cooked and watched movies, made trips uptown occasionally to charge our computers and check our phone messages. We were fortunate, overall.
What I’m filled with now is gratitude. I’m grateful for warm showers and light in the refrigerator and to be back in contact with the rest of the world. I’m reminded that these conveniences are gifts, and gifts that many around the world do not have regular access to. I should not take them for granted, and remember that I am enormously privileged in the world.
This was a reminder that I am small, and that the life I have built is fragile and largely out of control. I felt for a short period of time in a relatively painless way, the lack of control and instability that many feel their entire lives.
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Thanks to the Episcopal Church Foundation, I was given the opportunity to create a video to share some of things we are learning at St. Cyprian’s as we seek to connect with our vibrant urban neighborhood. We hope the tips shared in "10 Ways to Engage Your Neighborhood" will inspire other churches to engage their local contexts. We may be in San Francisco, but as an elder Episcopal Bishop once said about us, we have lots in common with churches all over the Anglican Communion.
Continue reading below for more about the evolution of St. Cyprian's into a vibrant community...
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I use my iPhone a lot: to take notes, for directions, to record interviews, to keep track of my calendar, communicate with friends and family, take pictures, and, of course, to Tweet. It seems like an essential part of my life (whether or not that’s a good thing is another question), though I did just fine without it up until a few years ago.
Technology has a way of creating a demand for itself. I may have wished I had a map with me all the time when I first moved to New York, or occasionally wished I had a portable phone before I got my cell phone in college, but I didn’t give it much thought.
I think the church can learn from the way the iPhone and other technology meet a need we didn’t know was there. There was a time during which no one needed to be convinced that they should go to church. It was something everyone did and felt was good for them. No one would have thought to question that they needed to go to church.
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Facebook has made birthdays fun again…. I’ll confess: I was looking forward to opening my Facebook account this morning, with the expectation that it would be filled with birthday greetings. I wasn’t disappointed.
Being noticed – and acknowledged – makes me feel good. It tells me that I matter. And today, as I enjoy the good feelings that come from this affirmation, I’m thinking about how we, as people of faith, send affirmations to others, especially people who are alone or lonely, scared, hurt, or sad:
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Your local church is a major community asset!
The more common headline is “local church buried in its deficit and had to close.” With church buildings from many denominations being closed, many congregations see their beloved buildings as liabilities rather than assets.
Episcopal congregations are an integral part of their neighborhoods and cities. Churches serve as important outreach partners or the preferred location for civic events or major funerals. Often congregations have not named the ways they partner with their wider community. As mainline church buildings around the country close, the void that closed churches leave behind becomes increasingly apparent within the neighborhood. Often neighbors and city officials are the last to learn of a struggling congregation and are stunned by its sudden closure.
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Growing up, we were taught not to plan our lives around a television program. It is advice I follow to this day unless it is an Olympic year: Watching the opening and closing ceremonies is required. Television schedule in hand, I map out the events I don’t want to miss and build the rest of my calendar around them.
This year, First Lady Michelle Obama is linking her Let’s Move campaign to the Olympic Games. Families, friends, and neighbors are encouraged to join together on Saturday, July 28 – the first day of Olympic competition – for an afternoon of “soccer, hoola hoop, relay races – whatever gets you moving and having fun!"
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It was Daisy’s Sweet 16 party and the guest of honor was nowhere to be seen. “She’s in the bedroom, under the bed,” said Jackie, “ and she won’t come out…”
The patio was decorated with pink and purple Sweet 16 napkins, balloons, gifts, and a cake. The minister and his wife were there, as was the woman who had arranged the adoption, 16 years ago.
Daisy never joined the party.
Daisy is a cat and not overly fond of people. Her birthday was both an occasion for getting together and a way to support the Marblehead Animal Shelter. Daisy’s birthday ‘wish list’ was from the shelter’s website; guests came bearing bags of cat food and litter, cat toys, and checks.
Gatherings and generosity: They go together. In recent years I’ve been invited to – or read about – get-togethers where participants are encouraged to bring a gift to share with a local or area organization. These include:
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A lifetime of happiness
Couple married 70 years to renew vows at festival (A captioned photo of an elegant looking older couple accompanies this headline and subhead.)
The headline, photo, and subhead drew me in. I was familiar with the Danvers Family Festival, a week plus event in a neighboring town that includes all kinds of family oriented activities.
Imagine my surprise when I read that the vow renewal ceremony was sponsored by Calvary Episcopal Church:
"I think it's really lovely to celebrate the moment that really is the beginning of a family," said the Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas, Calvary Episcopal Church's rector, who will preside over the renewal ceremony.
(Read the full article here.)
Calvary is one of those congregations that seem to ‘always’ be getting a feature story in our local daily newspaper. Their ongoing pet ministry has been covered several times by the local daily – and the Boston Globe – always with a photo.
So, what’s the secret to getting press coverage?
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Pssst. Have you heard?
Great things are happening in the Episcopal churches every single day.
This weekend I reviewed survey responses from subscribers to ECF Vital Practices. While there was a lot to review, I was particularly struck by the way one of our questions elicited inspiring stories and comments. These put fuel in my tank and reaffirmed my belief that the most transformative work in the Episcopal Church is taking place at the grassroots. Below you’ll find a small selection of the stories we received.
We are going to do our very best to tell these stories of strength and hope, but I would also encourage you to reach out and contact these communities directly if their strengths match your needs. Find out what they are doing right and what they’ve learned along the way. And when you’ve done so, be sure to share what you’ve learned in the comments section below or on our Facebook page. Also, be sure to share your own story of what gives you hope below.
Question: What is one project or new initiative that makes you the most excited or hopeful for your church’s future?
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I'd like to share James Lee's story with you: a story of a young boy, devastating circumstances, and how a community - of children and adults - pulled together to help. It is a story that speaks for itself and exemplifies the importance of immediate, generous pastoral care as one of the most vital practices of congregations, schools, dioceses, and individuals.
School community pulls together for ill sixth-grader
By Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
"When students at St. James' Episcopal School in Koreatown learned that James Lee was seriously ill, they held fundraisers and reached out to the community for help. The response was overwhelming.
"The story of James Lee, a sixth-grade student at St. James' Episcopal School in Koreatown, isn't an easy one to write.
"Three years ago, James' mother died of cancer. And before the loss could settle in, his father's clothing sales company lost a major retail contract, and the business went under.
"Then in January, James complained of a headache and seemed disoriented at school. He ended up at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and the diagnosis was devastating."
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Fighting malaria and ending hunger are my priorities for charitable giving and volunteer work. Memories of waking up inside my mosquito netting \at Girl Scout camp and finding the net full of mosquitoes that had entered through a tear are as fresh today as they were on that day so many years ago. (Did I mention that all mosquitoes seem to regard me as their snack food of choice?)
Because of my (too) close relationship with mosquitoes, and my longtime support of Episcopal Relief & Development’s NetsforLife program, a highlight of my trip to Ghana was the dramatization of the NetsforLife story. Created and performed by young people involved with the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organisation (ADDRO) program in Yelwoko, this performance brought home the profound – and lifesaving – benefits a single treated net can have on a family and a village.
For congregations looking to recognize World Malaria Day, the following links may prove useful:
Episcopal Relief & Development
Joint Statement from the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development for World Malaria Day on April 25
Nets for Life press release
World Malaria Day
Imagine if every church meeting began by asking the same question: “How will what we are doing here affect or involve people living in poverty?”
In 1991 the late Roman Catholic Bishop Kenneth E. Untener of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a decree that for three months all church meetings, at every level, regardless of purpose, must begin by asking this question. This practice resulted in a heightened awareness “not only about the poor, but also about us, and how we think about (or don't think about) the poor.” (See “How Should We Think About the Poor”.)
Bringing this practice to the Episcopal Church during the calendar year 2013 is the goal of the Association for Episcopal Deacons who have submitted this as a resolution to the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.
“Care and empowerment for people living on the margins of society is certainly one of the core messages proclaimed in the gospel, but too often the needs and concerns of people living in poverty are treated as an afterthought or ignored completely when we are doing the church’s business,” said Deacon Pamela Nesbit, President of AED. “This is not an abstract or theoretical issue; many people are extremely concerned about the proposed church budget that has just been released, a document that seems to completely ignore our mission and who we are as a church in favor of maintaining buildings and the offices of church leaders,” she added.
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Author's Note: Last week I was at the Episcopal Communicator’s Conference at Kanuga. Our conversations, plenaries, and workshops celebrated communications as mission with the goal of sharing this message throughout our Church. On March 24, Kerry Allman, Internet Strategist with the Diocese of Olympia, The Episcopal Church in Western Washington, posted "Communication is Mission," in his Putting the "I-T" in Spirit blog. The post brought tears to my eyes and I knew that I wanted to share Kerry's story with the ECF Vital Practices audience.
Communication is Mission
By Kerry Allman
A wonderful update from Melodie Woerman (Communications Director for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas):
Yesterday’s “Brother, Give Us a Word” offered this definition of “mission,” a sometimes ephemeral concept for me:
“Mission is primarily about making the presence of God incarnate, that is, visible and tangible, in a particular place and a particular time, where ever “the Body is lacking”and therefore most needed.”
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The baskets were breathtaking. Even more so when we saw what the straw looked like before Monica split it (with her teeth), then soaked, twisted, and sometimes dyed, before weaving into a beautiful, and functional, work of art.
Monica, a widow and amputee, in Bolgatanga, Ghana supports herself by making and selling baskets. Because of her disability, she is unable to gather the straw needed to weave each basket and buys it from other women who collect it from nearby fields.
It takes Monica four days to make each basket, which she then sells for 10 Ghanaian Cedis – approximately $8 US dollars. At the airport in Accra, I saw a similar basket for sale for $90 cedis.
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Sometimes telling the story can feel less important and more removed from the mission field. After all, a story about repairing a roof in Appalachia or cooking meals for the homeless isn’t dirty-hands, feet-on-the-ground ministry. Or is it?
As part of a continuing series on mission and communication, I asked colleagues from around the country to share some of their stories.
In the Diocese of Texas, an article in the diocesan newspaper focused on welcoming visitors.
Writes Carol Barnwell, director of communications: “When I went to do an interview with the director of a resale shop (that funds about $250,000 of our retirement community each year), she said she had read that issue and especially was grateful to become aware of her Sunday morning persona. She found herself talking to a friend after church one Sunday when she noticed a couple standing at the edge of the room. Because she had read the story, she excused herself from her conversation with friends and went to the new couple to introduce herself. They were Iranian, researchers at [a cancer center] and were interested in learning more about the Christian faith.
“Louise invited them to dinner at her home and they are taking the inquirers class at the church now. She said she would never have done so without the 'prompt' of the articles that talked about welcoming as everyone’s mission.”
Communication is mission.
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Feeling a bit down today – the grayness of the day, pressure to write my weekly blog post – and, not wanting to resort (at least not yet) to the chocolate zucchini cake in the kitchen – I let my mind wander….
The iTunes gift card on my desk prompted a memory: The random acts of kindness inspired by Bishop Wolf of Rhode Island which I read about in the Winter 2012 issue of RISEN Magazine:
“At Diocesan Convention in November Bishop Wolf gave each attendee a Stop and Shop gift card and asked them to match it and give the cards away to someone in need. She exhorted us all to give generously and joyously; to someone we meet along the way, or to ourselves if we really need it. Now, doing random acts of kindness, in person, is far beyond the comfort zone of some. But generous and loving giving at the prompt of the Holy Spirit can be a gift to your own heart as well as the recipient. It can be a powerful experience. We asked for your
stories of how you gave your card away and what it felt like."
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In 2010 our Presiding Bishop called on the Church to respond to Domestic Poverty in her keynote address at a three day conference in Newark titled
Called to Serve: The Episcopal Church responds to Domestic Poverty. As part of this address she pointed out that “Schools continue to be an essential part of our ministry of transformation and they are central to addressing poverty.” She went on to say that we are all interconnected, “One of the clearest predictors of a child’s success in life is the presence of interested and unrelated adults.”
In the diocese of Dallas the
One Church One School initiative has become a way for parishes to make a difference in their communities as churches have partnered with neighborhood schools in need. The initiative was started by Dabney Dwyer, Missioner for Outreach in the Diocese of Dallas.
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A warden heard it on CBC radio, how a northern community took the needs of the bereaved seriously. Men seemed to suffer nutritionally when a spouse dies. “We are of a certain age, “said Douglas. “where we would barbeque but mostly we had a spouse who did the cooking.”
Fast food, not enough fruits and vegetables, lack of food safety skills, and the energy drain of grief all make it hard for those who are older, now suddenly single. Classes where they can come together, learn and share, eat in community and take home the leftovers have been a huge success. Sociologists have told us that this age group cannot always manage social media technology and may suffer from the ‘bowling alone’ realities of contemporary culture – fewer men’s clubs that were popular destinations post World War II. We wanted to break that isolation since churches are usually pretty good at building community and because we often gather for meals. We called our program “Mike’s Kitchen” and we keep religious chat at a minimum. (The parish is called St. Michael and All Angels, but we didn’t want anyone to self select out of going into a church and we don’t think we are out to evangelize in a formal sense of the word. We are just seeking to serve where we can in ways that might encourage others.)
Our parish has new stoves, a new refrigerator and dishes that are mainly used on Sunday mornings or for the occasional open table or potluck lunch. Days go by when there are no good smells or even conversation over coffee in the kitchen. Stewardship of our resources, serving the neighbouring community, supporting those in need of new friends - it seemed like a good fit. And it has been true.
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