Gary Allman is Communications Director with The Diocese of West Missouri.
He would like it known that contrary to popular belief, and despite often being seen with a camera in his hands, he is not the diocesan photographer. We are always looking for volunteer photographers, if you are interested please get in touch with Gary — contact details below.
People from across the diocese tell their stories of how diocesan grants and funds are being used in their ministries and outreach.
Gary Allman 15 minute read. Resources
Christ Episcopal Church Springfield hosted this year’s Bishop’s Ball on Saturday November 3. There was good food, awards, and dancing to be enjoyed.
On Thursday November 1, 2018, St. James Episcopal Church, Springfield hosted diocesan Area Confirmations. Taking part were members of St. James Episcopal Church, Springfield; St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Ozark; Shepherd of the Hills, Branson; St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Monett; Trinity Episcopal Church, Lebanon.
I noticed some movement across the street from the corner of my eye and I turned to see what it was. It’s a distracting problem when your office is at the front of the building, facing the street.
What I saw was a woman runner jogging down the far side of the road, closely followed by a big dark Buick. She stopped and the vehicle pulled up opposite her. There was a brief exchange across the road, then the woman resumed running, and the car continued following, staying around ten paces behind. In the time it took me to watch the exchange and then get to the outside door, the woman was already a couple of hundred feet away. As I emerged onto the step, the Buick briskly accelerated and disappeared from view. The woman carried on until she, too, disappeared from view as she rounded the corner at the end of the street.
Why did I leave my office? I was going to ask the woman if she was being bothered by the driver of the vehicle, and if I could be of assistance.
It’s tempting to just dismiss this as an exaggerated reaction on my part. Except. Except that I have some very good reasons to believe the woman was being harassed. I could tell by her body language when she stopped and briefly spoke to the driver, by the way the vehicle followed behind her and not by her side. And finally, this is not the first time I’ve heard of this happening.
Both of my step-daughters have had similar experiences, attracting the unwanted, intimidating, attention of men. One has been stalked multiple times by vehicles while out running. This is a young woman who quite happily toured Asia and Ecuador on her own, and yet she feels more at risk here in Springfield. Her sister dislikes using her bike to get to classes because of the comments and cat-calls she receives and she runs in a cemetery near her apartment to avoid being followed.
Why is this happening? Or more to the point, why are we allowing this to happen? My personal opinion is that it comes down to two basic factors. Firstly, the men involved feel empowered to act in the way they do, and secondly, they have precious little respect for women.
I believe that we are all, to an extent, to blame. When we enable boys or men by encouraging or turning a blind eye to inappropriate behavior, we are empowering them. I will admit to the latter, by not speaking out against inappropriate remarks, something I suspect most of us, both male and female might be able to admit to. What we need is to do is to set examples, to our children and to other youth, of mutual respect for each other — everyone — and not condone inappropriate behavior by anyone, not even by omission. This is a basic tenet of our fifth baptismal promise:
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
In our homes and churches we have lots of opportunities to influence our children and youth. Trying to change the values and attitude of adults within our reach is harder, but not impossible. Mike McDonnell, member at St. George, Camdenton, and Vice President, Social Justice with the Brotherhood of St. Andrew is passionate about raising awareness of this basic issue of respect. He feels that it is the lack of respect for others, and women in particular, that is at the root of sex trafficking. In his article — The Sexual Immorality of Pornography — Mike talks about the role of men in the demand for pornography, and pornography’s impact on families and sex trafficking. Sex trafficking will be one of the topics discussed at this year’s diocesan convention, and on 30 March 2019 there will be workshop held at St. Andrew’s in Kansas City on the topic.
I’ve written before of how I am blessed to be able to attend many of the celebrations that make up the church year: confirmations, ordinations, and installations. (Baptisms are typically a more private affair). This year I was able to add attending the General Convention of The Episcopal Church to that list. Much ink has been spent on the debates and conclusions of the convention, so I’m not going to add to that, but I have shared my experiences in a photo essay. Speaking of General Convention, Hayley Cobb
one of the WEMO Youth Summer Interns has written about the youth’s convention experience.
In closing, I’d like to offer congratulations to the Rev. Warren Swenson and the Rev. Kim Taube who were ordained to the priesthood at St Paul’s in Kansas City, in September. Sadly earlier in the month I missed the installation of Fr. Chas Marks as the new rector of St. Augustine’s, so I’ve stolen a few pictures from their Facebook page to show here, and in recompense, added a couple of pictures I took when I visited St. Augustine’s.
There’s been a lot of words written about the 2018 General Convention in Austin, Texas. Here are the pictures.
Gary Allman Ten-minute read. ResourcesIn 2017 I applied for funding to attend the 79th General Convention. My request was approved, and there I was in the midst of things, and it was totally overwhelming.
I arrived in Austin, Texas on July 4, and things were already in full swing. First lesson arrive earlier to get the lay of the land, and to be able to hit the ground running when things switch up a gear. We — the diocesan, church, and general media, in total over 100 registered media people covered the convention — were allocated a briefing room, recording area (I won’t call it a studio), the services of the Office of Public Affairs, and set-aside areas in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies to work from. The days were long, with early starts and carrying on late into the evening. Meals were taken ‘on-the-hoof’, between sessions. There were Morning and evening media briefings and so much more to take in and try to follow.
It was tiring, but a fantastic and often moving experience not to be missed.
During the convention I left most of the word smithing to my media expert colleagues and concentrated on curating the fire hose of information they produced. I Relayed the important bits on our Social Media and the in the daily General Convention Round-up magazine I produced. The truth is that that the learning curve is steep, and while the ‘old hands’ take it all in their stride, the many ‘newbies’, myself included, wandered around looking a bit lost for the first couple of days!
Did I find the missing pieces of the puzzle? Not really, what I found was that the puzzle was a whole lot bigger and complicated than the view from my computer screen led me to believe.
***
Rather than bombard you with more words about Convention, I’ve picked some of my favorite pictures, which I hope will give you a flavor of what it was like. As always, you can click/tap on any picture to see it bigger and start a slide show of all the images in the article.
You can see a lot more pictures in our Flickr General Convention album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/diowestmo/albums/72157670856010488
You can read about the diocesan youth’s experience at General Convention in this article: spirit.diowestmo.org/2018/09/wemo-youth-at-general-convention/
Alternate Deputies: Fr. Stan Runnels (far Right). At Convention, but not pictured here: Mthr. Megan Castellan, Channing Horner, Christine Morrison.
Also pictured: Bishop Marty, and … WEMO Jesus. Image: Gary Allman
House of Deputies
House of Bishops
Media
Province VII Meeting
St. Augustine’s recently held a Celebration of the Renewal of Ministry.
Gary Allman Five-minute read. ResourcesOn August 28, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City held a Celebration of the Renewal of Ministry, which included the Installation of Fr. Chas Marks as their Rector.
Confession: The Communications Director stole the above pictures from St. Augustine’s Facebook page.
I visited St. Augustine’s in September, here are a few pictures from my visit.
Image: Gary Allman
It happens. It can happen without warning. A favorite activity, a food, a friend, even our spirituality and connection with God — we suddenly lose interest, become lost and we are left with a residue of obligations. It doesn’t have to happen quickly either. Sometimes the ‘loss’ will slowly and insidiously creep up on you; one decision, word, or event at a time. Each chips away at your interest, resolve, or beliefs.
In the secular world this phenomena is often referred to as ‘Burn-out’, and the terms ‘Crisis of Faith’ and ‘Loss of Faith’ are familiar to us in respect to our spiritual lives. The people affected were once talked about in hushed voices, the very idea that these things can happen, ignored until after the event. Now, fortunately, we are more open to recognizing the importance of balance and being cognizant of the situations that can precipitate issues for people. We provide chaplaincy and support programs that cover a whole gamut of situations, from the needs of disaster first responders and their spiritual supporters, to parish clergy.
For church leaders it’s important to remember the volunteers. My guess is that the Pareto Principle (often referred to as Pareto’s rule), probably understates it, but in essence it suggests that 80% of the volunteering will be done by 20% of the members of the church. It’s an unfortunate truth that it probably turns out that the 20% are the same people every time. We insist on annual training quotas, and make provision for sabbaticals for our clergy, but, what provisions do we make for our volunteers?
It’s an issue I’ve struggled with. There have been times at church when I was unable to fully immerse myself and participate in worship because I was counting the attendance for the Eucharist or patrolling the corridors for potential intruders. I have had to remind myself, that it wasn’t just work, but service. And when it became work, it was time to take a break.
Nowadays, I’m often not as rooted in the worship as I feel I should be. I’m sitting in the back of the church posting something about the service on social media, reviewing pictures to make sure I have what we need, or checking ahead in the order of service, so I can work out what I ought to be doing next. The plus side though, as I’ve mentioned before, is that I get to take part in a great number of life-changing events.
Every year I try to attend the Episcopal Communicators Conference. It’s a great chance to swap stories, learn from each other, and every third year, the conference is held at a retreat center. I think this is a deliberate ploy to give us all a chance to recharge and regroup before the Communications onslaught that is General Convention. So in April, I enjoyed the peace and tranquility of sitting by a lake and spending a few hours hiking at the Kanuga Conference Center on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was able to be ‘fully present’ at morning and evening prayer services. It was a great opportunity to recharge those spiritual batteries, and I heard a lot of things I needed to hear.
In this issue of Spirit, Carolyn Thompson writes again about her continuing ‘project’ to visit the churches of different faiths and how that has resulted in recharging and building her faith. There are lots of things that we can do. So, I’ll ask again. What is your church doing to look after today’s willing volunteers to ensure that they continue to be willing, rather than obliged? What can you do to help them by spreading the workload and broadening the pool of available resources?
Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it. The 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church is nearly upon us. It’s very easy to think that it has nothing to do with what happens at my church on Sunday. In the long run, you’d be wrong. General Convention shapes and steers our direction and outlook, and not just for the next three years. It’s never too late to take an interest and see what resolutions are being debated and voted on. You still have the opportunity to make your thoughts known to the deputies who have been elected to represent you at General Convention.
During the run up to convention we’ll be building and updating the diocesan General Convention website, and we’ll be publishing regular news updates there and on social media. We’ve published a list of the deputies along with their contact information. If there are topics of specific interest that you’d like to be kept informed of, please let me know and I’ll make it my business to ensure they get coverage in our reports. The Diocesan Secretary, Curtis Hamilton, has written an introduction to this Convention, and we’ve also provided a link to a handy General Convention 101 Brochure produced by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Despite our best efforts, up until ‘The Wedding’ (and as a Brit I exercise my right to refer to it as such), the light that is Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s preaching, has remained mainly hidden under an Episcopal bushel. No longer, and Bishop Marty writes about it in much more eloquent terms than I in his Keeping Watch article.
However, I’m going to be difficult, and I am going to whine about it. Not the wedding you understand, but that the churches of West Missouri failed to prepare for dealing with a sudden surge of public interest. How so? For four years we’ve been regularly asking church leadership to ensure that their church’s information is included on the Episcopal Asset Map. I think I’d be overstating it if I said that half a dozen of the 48 churches have actually done so. In response to the media frenzy surrounding the PB’s sermon The Episcopal Church actively promoted its ‘Find a Church’ feature — which is (you’ve guessed it) The Episcopal Asset Map — Where was the information about the majority of West Missouri’s churches for anyone searching for an Episcopal Church in West Missouri? Unfortunately, sadly missing.
On the positive side, it’s not too late to do something about it and make sure your church doesn’t get passed over again. Anyone can suggest updates using the online form, you can find out how here.
You are going to be hearing a lot about Human Trafficking in the future, and that’s good. The more we can raise awareness, the more can be done to try and eradicate this deplorable crime. In this issue we’ve news about the proposed safe house from Lake of the Ozarks Stop Human Trafficking Coalition. A lot of human trafficking has its roots in the baser human condition, specifically the baser male human condition, and that’s going to be hard for some people to read and talk about — we’ll be addressing the role of pornography in human trafficking in the September Spirit. In this issue, Mike McDonnell, VP Human Trafficking Ministries with the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, writes about the relationship between Human Trafficking and Slavery, and be warned, he doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to calling out how men and their attitudes are a big part of the problem.
Well, it was supposed to be the May issue of Spirit, but life got in the way, and we encountered some, shall we say, ‘scheduling difficulties’ that can best be summed up as a ready and willing editor, and not a lot to edit. I was going to bluff it out and just publish the May issue in June, but, despite burning the midnight oil, the final version was ready just a little bit too far into June for even me to cheekily call it a May issue.
On Saturday May, 5 2018, Calvary Episcopal Church, Sedalia hosted diocesan Area Confirmations. Taking part were members of Calvary, Sedalia; Christ Church, Warrensburg; and St. Peter’s, Harrisonville.
Please note that you can click/tap on any of the above pictures to see a bigger picture. You can also download print quality images from the diocesan Flickr page.
As you’d expect, this post-convention issue of Spirit has several articles about the diocesan convention and the ongoing work and planning to improve, build, and fund the ‘Episcopal Branch of The Jesus Movement in West Missouri’ aka The Diocese of West Missouri.
For many people, the workings of convention and the diocese (and even the necessity of the diocesan structure) remains something of a mystery. While things keep going and ‘Church happens’ every Sunday it’s easy to metaphorically snooze in the back pews and ignore the details and workings of ‘The Church’ beyond one’s own church’s horizon. Until, that is, something happens, a change in direction or an unexpected decision impacts your favorite ministry. Such things may appear to come as a bolt from the blue, but that’s far from the truth. There are discussions, meetings, proposals, counter-proposals and voting. The majority of the initiatives originate at a deanery or council level, from the representatives that you elect at your church’s annual meeting. Have you ever asked your deanery representative, or diocesan convention delegate what they do, what’s discussed? In an ideal world, they will report back to you via your church’s newsletter or magazine. Unfortunately, your often hard-pressed volunteers don’t have time to do so.
I believe it is worth investing your time to find out more about how we in The Episcopal Church manage ourselves, and how and why things change. This is especially relevant next year as in July the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church takes place in Austin Texas. It’s far too easy to complain about this or that decision after the event, but what about making sure you prime your various representatives on your thoughts, so that they can better represent you before decisions and votes are taken? Needless to say, one way to find out what’s going on within the 48 churches that makes up the diocese is to read the summaries of the diocesan convention and the findings to-date of the Council Work Groups, and whether you agree or disagree, contact your church’s representatives and make your voice heard.
Each diocesan convention and the following year has a theme. For the past five years, the theme has centered around our five baptismal covenants. This year, Bishop Marty introduced the theme: “Called in. Sent out. Building a Community of Purpose.” This concept builds on the work leading up to the Presiding Bishop’s visit last May and looks to build and consolidate the work of the diocese as a parish in its own right. You can read more about Bishop Marty’s vision here.
Convention is not all facts, figures, and discussion. Mike McDonnell (St. George, Camdenton) brings a very personal look at the proceedings, which includes the wonderfully honest phrase “absolutely mind-numbingly excruciating”. You’ll have to read his article to find out what he was referring to and discover the deep emotions that were stirred.
One of the great things about being Communications Director is the privilege of being present and able to help document key transitions in the lives of the people of West Missouri. In the run-up to the diocesan convention, I attended two area confirmation services. The first was at St. John’s, Springfield, and the second was at St. Mary’s, Kansas City. Then in early December, I was present when Fr. Jos Tharakan was installed as Rector at St. James’ Springfield, and two days later at All Saints’, Nevada when Fr. Jim Lyle was installed as Rector. Unfortunately, I missed the two (yes, two) installations of Mtr. Anne Kyle, one as Pastor to Christ and Trinity Lutheran Church, Sedalia, and the second as rector to Calvary Episcopal Church, Sedalia. I also missed the installation of my EfM class-mate and alumna Mtr. Laura Hughes as rector of St. George in Camdenton.
As the end of the calendar year draws nigh it’s traditional to have a little bit of introspection and reflection on the past year. Here is a small selection of some of my favorite memories from the 1,000+ pictures I took during my travels around the diocese this year. Enjoy.
The key work of the Finance Team has been the review of the diocesan budget — more generally referred to as The Plan for Ministry.
However, in addition to reviewing what is being spent the team is also looking at how funds are raised. In particular, the team has been reviewing the Project Resource 2 initiative from the Episcopal Church Foundation and the College of Bishops. At the Diocesan Gathering, Fr. John Spicer (St. Andrew’s Kansas City) and Mark Gallus (Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City) discussed new approaches to raising diocesan funds.
Project Resource provides the tools to inspire radical generosity and engage faith communities in this life-changing work. Project Resource is an initiative:
Project Resource provides teaching, focus, and resources such that a team may return to their diocese equipped to teach and lead locally in areas of resource development. Project Resource does this by:
Project Resource seeks to change churches’ culture and systems around financial development in the worldwide Episcopal Church. It seeks to instill and install effective financial development in diocesan teams of leadership.
Confirmations, receptions and reaffirmations were held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church,Kansas City on Thursday, November 2, 2017. Taking part were members of St. Mary’s, Kansas City; Church of the Resurrection, Blue Springs; Church of the Good Shepherd, Kansas City; and Trinity, Independence.
Confirmed: Thomas Ham, Erica Hurst, Betty Iorg, Spencer Jasper, Isaac Petty, Matthew Plummer, Levi Tosh.
Received: William Govered.
Confirmed: Jayden Morris.
Received: Sherrie Brooks, Lyn Jandt.
Received: Janet Moore, Marcia Applegate.
Received: Dayton Saunders, Hedda Sutherland.
Reaffirmed: Joyce Gillespie, Maudie Saunders.
The Installation of the Rev. Dr. James Lile, Jr. as Rector at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Nevada, Missouri took place on Sunday December 3, 2017.
Welcome to the first ‘online only’ version of Spirit. Its been a long time in the making. It’s was (and is) a huge project to undertake, and it will evolve as we learn how to get the best from this new format. First and foremost, you can print it if you don’t like reading off of a screen. But, I’m jumping ahead of myself.
I’ll admit to a combination of deep disappointment tinged with anger when the delegates of the Special Convention of the diocese voted to approve a budget that defunded the printing and postage budgets for Spirit. We couldn’t even send the 5,000 families who received the magazine a postcard to explain that there wouldn’t be another print issue.
At the same time I was handed the challenge to produce an online version of Spirit that could be printed. We already produced an online magazine-style version, but unfortunately, while that version could be printed, it wasn’t phone friendly, and 48% of our online readers use their phones to access the diocese online. As that wasn’t going to work, I set about a complete re-design.
Personally, I am very pleased with the result which we’ve been able to put together in — what is in design and development terms — a very short time, and with limited resources.
We’ve tried to keep the general layout and design familiar, and the print version uses bigger print to aid readability. For now, to print a copy just click on the print version in the menu and use your web browser’s print facility. We’ll be looking at adding an easier to use ‘print button’ in the future. You can print the entire magazine, or just individual articles, depending on what you happen to be looking at on your screen. There’s some help here.
An online magazine has great advantages over a print version. We are not limited to a certain number of pages and no longer need to edit text to fit on a page. That means we can publish longer articles, we can include more pictures — over 120 in this issue — and even videos, there are three, see if you can find them! Not needing to meet the stricter demands of magazine print quality, we can now include cell phone photographs. We can provide links to related information that you may find of interest and it is possible for you to search for the things you are interested in. We have also provided a way for you to find articles organized by topic too — spirit.diowestmo.org/topics/
All of this I hope will help bring you all closer together in the community that is The Diocese of West Missouri.
And finally there are two things I really love about the online format. First, if you (or I) spot a mistake after I’ve hit ‘publish’, I can go back and make it right. You can’t do that in print. And, second when I am facing that blank screen and having to write my piece, I don’t have to fill a page. I can write as little or as much as my whim dictates.
I hope you enjoy the new format, please let me know about any problems you have, and keep on submitting news and articles.
In reality this is a double issue – so don’t expect subsequent issues to have as much content! Since the March Issue of Spirit, we’ve held:
There was a lot more going on besides, with several installations of priests which I’ve just not got time to include. And, there is a ‘whole lot more’ covered in the articles of this issue.
As a member of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, I’d like to talk about one event in particular.
In September I attended the human trafficking workshop for men held at St. John’s in Springfield. Mike McDonnell — St. George Camdenton, and the Rev. Brian McVey — Church of the Advent, Nashville, Tennessee were the keynote speakers. The meeting was organized by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. I am sad to say, given the importance of the subject, the workshop was quite sparsely attended.
It might be that the worthy men of the diocese do not believe that they can influence human trafficking, or that it impacts their lives. The paper that Mike presented would have opened their eyes, disturbed them, and quite possibly precipitated some in-depth soul searching.
Even more harrowing were the stories of the victims of human trafficking and the criminals behind it, told by Fr. Brian, who has spent many years providing ministry to the victims and perpetrators.
So, I challenge the men of the diocese to take 20 minutes and read Mike’s paper. Next year I shall be inviting Fr. Brian to write an article on Human trafficking from his unique perspective.
I’d like to warn readers that Mike’s paper makes hard reading. It doesn’t pull any punches, and confronts, head on, a topic most people would rather not discuss. Human, and specifically male sexuality. The sad truth is that if we choose to be offended and pretend that this problem doesn’t exist, there cannot be an informed discussion. Without discussion there will be no change.
On Saturday May 6, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined the Diocese of West Missouri in the first half of the Awakening the Spirit in West Missouri held at Kansas City Live! This Awakening is the second of five planned evangelism events to be held during 2017.
Before arriving at Kansas City Live, the Presiding Bishop spent time with the youth of the diocese, the Diocese of Kansas, and the Diocese of Iowa at St Paul’s Episcopal Church Kansas City.
Between 800 and 1000 people attended the event, along with passing foot traffic for the nearby Garth Brooks concert.
Gary Allman
Mary Ann Teschan
Gary Zumwalt
(The event starts at around 7:09)
Awakening the Spirit in West Missouri – on Sunday May 7, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined the Diocese of West Missouri at Hammons Field Springfield in the second half of the second of five planned evangelism events to be held during 2017.
The previous day the Presiding Bishop led the Awakening at Kansas City Live!
The Awakening at Springfield was attended by 600- 700 people who braved the bright sunshine and rising temperatures to watch the Presiding Bishop preach about The Jesus Movement.
Unfortunately due to Internet connectivity issue at Hammons field we were only able to record the Presiding Bishop’s address on video.
On Saturday May 20, nine people were confirmed and two people were received into The Episcopal Church.
Confirmed: Christian Caulk, Stephanie Hasty, Deborah Kenady, Levi Kenady, Willetta Mount, Daniel Mueller, Rachel Mueller, Hunter Polen, Arica Shirley.
Received: Richard Mount, Mary Shelton
On Saturday June 3, 2017, The Diocese of West Missouri held a Special Convention to discuss and approve the remainder of the 2017 Plan for Ministry (budget).
The morning session included reports from Bishop Marty and four teams established by Diocesan Council: Goals, Metrics, Communications Tools and Finance.
The afternoon session saw a completion of the team’s reports, followed by small team breakouts to provide feedback on the previous session. This was followed by discussion and voting on the one resolution and its five pre-filed amendments before convention.
All the slides presented at the convention can be seen by following the links in the Resources section below. Please note that the text is ‘as provided’ and that Resolution #1, Amendment 1-B was further amended from the floor during convention. Further details can be found in the draft minutes of the special convention which are also available from the links below.
The Summer Church Summit was held at Calvary Episcopal Church, Sedalia on August 26. Around 60 people from churches around the diocese attended the summit to find new ways of thinking about the problems they face and how to build on the work undertaken in February and May on Episcopal Evangelism.
In the Resources section below there is a link to a copy of the Summer Church Summit handout – Giving Life to How We Communicate. The handout includes several links that may be of help to diocesan communicators & administrators.
On Saturday September 16, St. John’s Springfield hosted a Human Trafficking Workshop for men. The event was organized by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and lunches were provided by Saint Francis Community Services.
During the course of the day we heard some very harrowing stories about human trafficking from Mike McDonnell and Fr. Brian McVey. And they made it very clear that a large proportion of the demand for human trafficking can be laid at the feet of men.
You can read Mike McDonnell’s paper is this issue of Spirit – but be warned it does not make for comfortable reading.
I was at the church for a Commission on Ministry meeting to discuss how to organize all the Commission’s documents and information on the diocesan website.
On my way in I spotted Bob, who was there for an event in the parish hall. Our interaction was limited to waving to each other as we headed in our separate directions. After my meeting I took some moments to pass the time of day with a few volunteers clearing up after the event. I was headed towards the door when I noticed Bob coming towards me. I stopped. He walked up to me, shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and said, “I miss you. I miss you. I miss you and your family. If there is anything I can do, let me know.” Very simple, and also very moving.
Bob was not only being kind and genuine; he was also providing an excellent example of what evangelism can look like in The Episcopal Church. He shows how we can reach out very simply and with few words and yet still have an impact on the lives of others around us.
What we do need to change is our propensity for being reserved and hiding our light under a bushel.
Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find an account of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s recent Revival in Pittsburgh. The events being held in West Missouri on Saturday and Sunday, May 6 & 7 will be somewhat different to those in Pittsburgh, and we are calling our events ‘Awakenings’. There are similarities, and these events are tied back to Bob’s example, as we found out at February’s Evangelism Workshops. At the workshops we were shown that Episcopalians can be evangelists, and really we don’t need to change much to do so. We just need to carry on the work we do in the community, and the quiet works of help and love we give to friends, family and those we encounter along the way. What we do need to change is our propensity for being reserved and hiding our light under a bushel.
When you are serving in the community tell them which church you go to. Want something really simple to do? Follow the example of St. Stephen’s, Monnet. They took a diocesan advertising grant and invested it in St. Stephen’s tee shirts, so that wherever they go and whatever they are doing, they are taking their church with them and introducing it to people. Have printed calling cards for all your members is another simple thing to do. When you are working in the community, be proud to be Episcopalian. Tell them about the church you attend. Don’t be shy! Welcome questions about your church; answer them. Tell them about our wonderful music, our moving liturgy, fellowship and the way in which we welcome everyone. If people are interested, invite them to join you at a service. Keep it simple, and it will be painless.
