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Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2008
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In the Bishop's Words
Click here for the audio file.
Abiding in Christ at Council
For the 105th time, clergy and lay people representing all of the congregations of the diocese will gather in council to carry on the work of the Church through the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. The 2009 edition of Council will meet February 19 to 21 in McAllen at the new convention center.
This year’s theme, which will be carried out in council’s functions of business, renewal, and reunion, is Abide in Me from the Gospel of John (15:4). “This theme will allow us to examine how we are and can continue to be strengthened individually and corporately by reminding ourselves that Christ is our foundation, and that only as we stay connected to Christ are we able to build His Kingdom,” said Bishop Gary Lillibridge.
The annual diocesan council is mandated by the canons of the diocese, and indeed the “governmental authority” of the diocese is vested in the Council. Council has the power to elect diocesan bishops, to elect and appoint persons to the committees and commissions of the diocese, to admit new missions into union with the diocese, to amend the canons and constitution of the diocese, and to set the diocesan budget. However, throughout the years, the Diocesan Council has also served as a family reunion when clergy and elected lay persons are renewed and refreshed to carry out the diocesan mission and ministry.
Following the format he established three years ago, Bishop Lillibridge will set aside Friday afternoon of Council to have a conversation with those attending. These conversations have amplified the current theme of Council and examined ways the theme can be lived out in our daily lives as we each move forward in mission and ministry. “There is no doubt that the daily ministry of the Church is carried out in our congregations,” said Lillibridge. “So our time on Friday afternoon will focus on how we can strengthen our ministries in the communities in which we live.”
The council theme will be further carried out in Friday morning and Saturday morning Bible studies and in the bishop’s sermon at the Council Eucharist on Thursday evening.
For the details and logistics of Council, visit the Council website – www.council-dwtx.org – often.
McAllen - just a click away
Everything you ever need to know about the 105th Diocesan Council will be on our council website at www.council-dwtx.org. The site will be under continual development as Council plans are finalized. Now up on the site are seven pages:
Welcome to McAllen
Hotel information
Pre-council meetings dates and locations
Nominations for positions that will be elected at Council
Resolutions information
Tentative agenda
New this year is an online nomination form that can be completed online, printed, and mailed to the diocesan office. It must be mailed because signatures are required. In addition to electing diocesan officers (secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chancellor, assistant chancellor, registrar, and historiographer), Council will elect persons to serve on the diocesan Executive Board, Standing Committee, as Trustees of the Episcopal Church Corporation, as Trustee of TMI-the Episcopal School of Texas, as Trustee of the University of the South. Nominations for these positions must be received in the bishop’s office by November 1.
The registration process has also evolved; this year delegates or complete delegations may register and pay online using a credit card or by e-check. This allows church offices that do not have credit card accounts to register their delegation and pay by check. Payment can also be mailed.
Resolutions deadline
All resolutions presented to Council for action must be in writing and must be presented to the Secretary of the Diocese (The Rev. David Read) no later than December 31 prior to Council: December 31, 2008 for the 2009 Council. Any resolution presented later than December 31 will not be considered by Council unless two-thirds of Council votes to consider said resolution. Additionally, any resolution dealing with "serious moral issues that deeply concern national or international affairs" must be submitted to the Secretary before December 31 and must be printed and in the hands of delegates no less than one week prior to the convening of Council.
Any resolution regarding the altering or amending of diocesan canons must be presented to the Committee on Constitution and Canons and to the Chancellor of the diocese no later than December 31 prior to Council.
Pre-council meetings in January
Clergy and council delegates are urged to attend the pre-council meeting for their area (or another area) where the details of the diocesan budget and other reports will be presented. Pre-council meetings prepare delegates for the issues that will come before council and reduce the amount of time spent at council on routine business.
Thursday, Jan. 22 6:00 pm Northeastern St. John's, New Braunfels
Thursday, Jan. 22 6:00 pm Eastern Trinity, Victoria
Sunday, Jan. 25 6:00 pm Valley St. Alban's, Harlingen
Monday, Jan. 26 6:00 pm Southern St. Bartholomew's, Corpus Christi
Tuesday, Jan. 27 6:00 pm Western St. Philip's, Uvalde
Tuesday, Jan. 27 6:00 pm Northern St. Peter's, Kerrville
Monday, Feb. 2 6:15 pm Central St. Mark's, San Antonio
New Braunfels Congregation Restructures
After several months of negotiations, the former rector and about 150 members of St. John’s, New Braunfels, have left the Episcopal Church to form Christ our King Anglican Church. The continuing congregation of St. John’s, of about 55 families, launched their new beginning with a special worship service on Sunday, October 5.
The former senior warden of the church notified Bishop Lillibridge in March that the congregation would begin plans to dissociate from the Episcopal Church and, therefore, from the Diocese of West Texas. The congregation originally asked to be transferred to another jurisdiction of the Anglican Communion, but there is no mechanism in the church canons to accomplish that.
In September, a final settlement between the church and the diocese was reached. The former rector, the Rev. Chuck Thebeau and the entire vestry resigned their positions with St. John’s Episcopal Church. The group vacated St. John’s premises as of September 30. They will worship in the Oakwood Counseling Center, the former Cross Lutheran Church.
As part of the settlement, the continuing congregation of St. John’s retains possession of the church property and all other assets of the congregation. The diocese is selling the departing group a 20-acre tract of unimproved land in New Braunfels (that was to be the site for the relocation of St. John’s at some point in the future) for $85,400, and the departing group will resume responsibility for payment of the outstanding note on the property of about $36,000.
At the service of the continuing congregation on October 5, Bishop James Folts, who has been appointed priest-in-charge, said that the task now is to “reclaim the mission and ministry of this church, reclaim our rightful place in the family of the Diocese of West Texas, and once again become agents of transformation and reconciliation in the community of New Braunfels.”
A full treatment of this story will appear in the November/December issue of The Church News, due to be mailed November 1.
Briefs
The congregation of St. Bartholomew’s had their cake, and ate it too, the last weekend of August when they celebrated their patronal feast day as well as the ending of a successful capital campaign aimed at renovating the entire campus. During the worship service, the Rev. Sean Maloney was installed as assistant rector of the church, and a brass tio and cellist from the congregation’s Boy Scout troop provided appropriate pomp and circumstance. The cake, made by Marcia Lewandos, depicted the entire campus complete with sky-high freestanding cross, school children’s vegetable garden, and three main buildings.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, was the guest of Dean Sam Lloyd of the Washington National Cathedral this past Sunday in the cathedral’s Forum as they explored the state of the Church in the 21st century. Visit the Cathedral website to view the video of 54 minutes. http://www.nationalcathedral.org/
The Presiding Bishop was also interview on National Public Radio this past week. Listen at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95429960.
Morningside Ministries has launched a new website aimed at caregivers. At www.mmlearn.org you will find videos on an array of topics that can be viewed at your leisure as well as a number of educational modules and other tools for caregivers. On the first and third Saturday of each month, a live discussion among caregivers will be streamed live on the website. The site has a wide range of helps for those who care for aging persons. For more info, visit online or phone 210-734-1212 in San Antonio or 830-261-9363 in Uvalde.
On November 16, churches around the Anglican Communion will read the parable of the Five Talents as the gospel lesson (Matthew 25:14-30). Congregations can learn ways to use their own talents and those of their parishioners to relieve world poverty by visiting the website of Five Talents, an organization that promotes microenterprise in Third World nations. Loans as small as $50 can help villagers begin their own small businesses such as buying chickens to sell eggs. To learn more, www.FiveTalents.org
St. Andrew’s, Corpus Christi, is sponsoring a 22-mile swim to benefit the Texas Water Ministry and Surfrider Foundation camps for handicapped children. The Rev. Jeff Hammond of St. Andrew’s will be one of four swimmers, each of whom will swim five to six miles of the 22-mile stretch from the jetty at Packery Channel to the jetty in Port Aransas. The date of the swim is November 8. To support this event or to learn more, visit online www.waterequalslifenow.org.
A group of clergy and laity who planned the diocesan Anti-Racism Training last May is soliciting names of those interested in forming a diocesan Anti-Racism Commission. This commission would be a policy-making body that would work on specific areas such as budget, presentations at Council, identifying race-related issues, training, etc. If you know of someone who would be interested, including yourself, email to the Rev. Robert Woody at rwoody@churchofreconciliation.org.
The diocesan Department of Christian Education and Woman at the Well House ministries are sponsoring a new book, Sustaining Abundant Life, which will be a collection of women’s prayers and poetry. Women from around South Texas are invited to submit poetry and prayers that express their experience, faith, and hope for abundance now and in the future. Deadline for submission is January 15, 2009; projected publication date is October 1, 2009. Send submissions to Woman at the Well, 221 Post Ave., San Antonio TX 78215, Attn: Carla Pineda. Poetry submissions are limited to 28 lines; prose is limited to 120 words. Send $5 with each submission, checks made payable to Woman at the Well. Limit two submissions per person.
October 5 to 11 is national Mental Health Awareness Week. Research tells us that 26.2 percent of Americans age 18 and older – about one in four adults – have a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. This translates to 57.7 million Americans, not including children. Only about half of people with a mental illness get treated; of those, 80 percent respond very well. For more information on mental health, visit www.nami.org.
Resources
Looking for a job with good retirement benefits? Visit our Help Wanted pages on the diocesan website at http://dwtx.org/index.php/diocese/Help_Wanted
Breaking the Silence: The Church Responds to Domestic Violence by Anne O. Weatherholt is a handbook about domestic violence from a spiritual perspective. Here clergy, church leaders, parish nurses, volunteers, and others will learn to recognize the signs of domestic abuse and learn ways that church communities can offer help to those who are caught in abusive relationships.
The publication of Breaking the Silence aligns with Domestic Violence Awareness Month that is observed every year in October. Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the first “Day of Unity” observed in October 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Breaking the Silence is action-oriented in that it includes a checklist to determine if a relationship is potentially violent; clergy resources for counseling, worship, and congregational outreach; information for youth; and pages that can be customized with local and national contact numbers. It is available from Morehouse Publishing www.morehousepublishing.org.
People
When the Rev. Sharon Turner celebrated her first service at Grace Church, Port Lavaca, a member met her at the door and said, “I’ve been waiting for you for 30 years.” Turner is the first and only female priest to celebrate at Grace Church, one of the churches of the Eastern Convocation Partners in Ministry. Turner is one of four priests who serve the eight churches of the partnership, each priest serving in two churches on Sunday on a rotating basis. Turner is a priest, teacher, writer, artist, and grandmother who grew up near Beaumont and served churches in the Diocese of Texas before moving to La Grange.
The Rev. Adrian Amaya has accepted a call to serve as rector of St. Mark the Evangelist in Syracuse, New York. Amaya currently is rector of St. Philip’s, Beeville. He concludes his work in Beeville at the end of October.
The Rev. Bill McClurken, retired cleric of the diocese, died in New York in August. He was 86. McClurken served congregations in Harlingen, San Marcos, New Braunfels, and San Antonio before working for the National Council of Churches as secretary and then executive director. He retired in 1987. For many years, McClurken was the senior clergy in the clerical order of the Diocese of West Texas.
Spencer Stocker is the new full time youth minister at St. Thomas, San Antonio. His email is sstocker@tom1604.org.
Worth Thinking About
“The idea was to read the book and then discuss it at our monthly Ministerial
Alliance gathering. I was reading through the text, marking various passages, and noting good ideas when I came upon this challenge: ‘Would your community care if your church went out of business?’
In truth, the Saint Stephen’s fellowship would care. Our parish day school community would care. But I doubt the people of Wimberley, Kyle, and South Austin would bat an eye. I first challenged the parish staff, then the Vestry, and finally the congregation with the biting question. The entire leadership agreed that we needed to do business a different way, a way that more clearly follows the ministry of Jesus as illustrated in the New Testament.
First, as The Externally Focused Church advises, we decided to start extending ministry to those who could neither thank us nor do anything to benefit the parish. Second, we determined to become more intentional about our missionary work. Third, we knew it was time to take an honest inventory of the missionary outreach we were already providing.”
Read the rest of Gahan’s story as printed in the newsletter of the diocesan World Mission Department at http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/diocese/World%20Mission
While you are there, visit the new PowerPoint presentations created by the World Mission Department that tell the stories of several of the ministries they support.
Retreats, Seminars, Conferences
Episcopal artists from around the diocese will gather to display their talents at the diocesan Arts Festival and Marketplace on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Bishop Jones Center. The offerings will include watercolors, jewelry, sculpture, photography, oil paintings, weavings, glass, and more. Times are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; children’s activities too. For more info, http://events.dwtx.org.
High and Wide Worship, a diocesan youth worship service and gathering for middle school and high school youth, will be hosted by The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs, on Sunday, October 19, 2 to 4 p.m.. Music will be led by In Hymn, the praise band from St. Helena's, Boerne, Texas. Snacks will be provided. For more information about the church and map/directions, please log on to www.dsholyspirit.org or call the church at 512-858-4924.
Bishop Gary Lillibridge will lead the Fall 2008 Bishop Elliott Society Lectures October 24-25 at St. Luke’s, San Antonio. Lillibridge will speak on “Hard-pressed Jars of Clay” reflecting on the recent Lambeth Conference. The Rev. Dr. Chip Prehn will open the lectures with a historical background on the Lambeth Conferences. For cost and to register, www.bishopelliott.org.
Ways of Prayer for Busy People is the topic of the Fall Gathering for Women, October 24-26 at Camp Capers, sponsored by the diocesan Commission for Women’s Ministries. Leader is Sister Suzanne Elizabeth; chaplain is the Rev. Sherridan Harrison, interim rector at All Saints’, Corpus Christi. For details and to register, http://events.dwtx.org.
The Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest will hold visitors weekend November 7-8 for those who are discerning a call to the ordained ministry or those who want to learn more about the programs offered by the seminary for lay people. Visitors will get a feel for the seminary campus and it community and programs. A spring weekend will be held March 6-7, 2009. For details, visit www.ssw.edu.
Noted author and speaker Phyllis Tickle will visit San Antonio November 14-15 for “Faith in the 21st Century: The Emerging Landscape” at St. Mark’s church. Sponsors are the diocesan Christian Ed Department, The San Antonio Community of Congregations, The Sol Center at University Presbyterian Church, and VIVA Bookstore. For more info and to register, visit http://events.dwtx.org.
The Shalem Institute is coming to the Oblate Renewal Center in San Antonio next February to offer a conference/retreat for those who share the vital vocation of spiritual leadership. Radical Presence: The Ground of Spiritual Leadership is a five-day residential conferment and retreat for those who seek to nurture and sustain their spiritual lives as well as deepen their spiritual orientation as congregational leaders. Dates are February 9 to 13. For more, http://www.shalem.org/index.php/short-programs/retreats/southwest-regional-gathering.
Calendar
Philip and Ali Newell will be at the Bishop Jones Center on Monday, November 3rd to present a program titled One: The Spirit, the Earth and the Human Soul: Reconciliation as a Way of Life. There will be a presentation from 9:30 am to noon. Participants are welcome to have lunch on the grounds. There will be a second presentation from 7:00 to 8:30 in the evening. Mark your calendars now and watch for more information.
Oct 14, Women’s Fall Brunch at St. Helena’s, Boerne, with Amanda Graybill as guest speaker. Tickets are $15, on sale through the church office. Call 830-249-3228 or visit online at www.sthelenas-boerne.org.
Oct 17-18, Rummage Sale benefiting Woman at the Well House. Sale location is 702 Cincinnati Ave, San Antonio 78201. Call 210-472-2787 for more info.