The Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
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Vol. 6, No. 2, May 2010

The Bishop's Monthly Video Reflection

Bishop Gary Lillibridge talks about our common call to exercise responsible and effective leadership. “To move cattle, you drive them, yelling and hollering and whistling,” says Lillibridge. “But this approach does not work well with sheep. Sheep prefer to be led . . .”

Watch the entire video here

Bishop Lillibridge May 2010 from Nancy Stinson on Vimeo.

 


Building People, not Programs

“In its early life, the Church was not a weekly event that happened at a specific place,” says church growth expert Reggie McNeal. “It was a community of believers, an organic connection among people who were experiencing a way of life together focused on the simple teachings of Jesus with an emphasis on sacrifice and service.”
  
McNeal will lead us back to that “way of life” when he keynotes our second Abide in Me conference on June 5.
  
Designed for lay leaders and clergy, the event takes place on the campus of TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
McNeal spoke to West Texas clergy at their conference last fall, and the clergy have requested that McNeal return to share his wisdom with our lay leadership.
McNeal focuses on people, not programs, in what he calls the “missional church” approach. People don’t find abundant life by simply participating in more church programs and activities, says McNeal. For the church to grow, it will have to invest its resources in developing people, not more programs. Moreover, the church must move outside its own walls and into its communities, because Jesus calls us to serve and bless the communities where we are located.
Registration for the June 5 Abide in Me II event is online at http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/events/Abide_in_Me.  Cost of the day is $20, including lunch. Children’s programs and childcare for youngsters up to sixth grade (in fall 2010) are free.
  
Seating for the event is limited to 500. The day is being hosted by Grace Church, San Antonio.
For Your Spiritual Journey

Drop in on a conversation between the Rev. Mary Earle and laywoman Sylvia Maddox in the spring/summer 2010 issue of Reflections magazine, now online at http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/prayer/Reflections_April_2010  (Printed copies should arrive in your mailbox by May 8.)
  
In reflecting on the topic of conversion, Earle and Maddox agree that the Christian life is a life of continual conversion, a continual saying “yes” to God. “It is always God who initiates,” says Maddox. “Our part is to be open, to be willing, and to put ourselves in places where we will be found.”

More than a dozen writers contribute to the spring/summer issue, which is mailed free of charge to every household in the diocese. If you don’t get your copy, e-mail Marjorie George at Marjorie.george@dwtx.org.
Interact with Us
Respond to a blog, find a good book, listen to a sermon, connect to our Media Hub – all from one location on our DWTX Interactive page.
New on the page are several articles by our best writers pulled from the spring/summer 2010 edition of Reflections magazine on the subject of conversion.
  
Also new for you to click and listen are sermon links from congregations around the diocese. Currently linked are sermons from St. Mark’s, St. Francis, and St George, all in San Antonio. If your church is recording sermons and posting them to your website, please let us know so we can link to you. Email Marjorie George at Marjorie.george@dwtx.org.
  
For your summer reading, look at our good-books list. Several titles recommended by Grace Church, San Antonio focus on personal spiritual growth and are written in contemporary style. Others are especially for women, with brief reviews by Carla Pineda, vice president for program of the diocesan Commission for Women’s Ministry.
  
If you have books to recommend, contact Marjorie George at Marjorie.george@dwtx.org.

 

From our churches 

Human Trafficking at St. Francis
A 9-year-old girl toils under the hot sun, making bricks from morning to night, seven days a week. She was trafficked with her entire family from Bihar, one of the poorest and most underdeveloped states in India, and sold to the owner of a brick-making factory. With no means of escape, and unable to speak the local language, the family is isolated and lives in terrible conditions. (Information from U.S. Dept of State.)

Unfortunately, scenarios of this type are not limited to third-world countries; examples of human trafficking can be found in South Central Texas. Texas is considered a major hub for trafficking into the United States, and  IH 10 is one of the major routes into the country.

In an attempt to raise awareness about the problem of human trafficking, St. Francis, San Antonio will sponsor a three-week series of classes on the topic during their Sunday Adult Education hour on May 30, June 6, and June 13. The classes begin at 10 a.m.

The first week will focus on the domestic and international aspects of human trafficking which provides ruthless employers with an endless supply of people to abuse for financial gain. 

In the second week, the guest speaker, Sergeant Christian Burchell from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, will discuss the problem in San Antonio and how law enforcement is helping distribute facts about the problem, and investigating and arresting perpetrators.

The third week, guest speaker will be  Melissa Moreno,  who coordinates her efforts through the Catholic Charities Anti-Trafficking Program and is responsible for overseeing a federal grant to provide comprehensive services to victims of human trafficking in this area.  Other organizations attempting to address the problem will also be discussed.
  
For more information about the class, contact St. Francis at 210-696-0834.
New home for the spirit

All through the gospels, Christ reiterates “Come follow Me.”  Last September, selling the property that had been home to Church of the Holy Spirit, San Antonio, for 25 years, the faithful congregation did just that….and moved on to a temporary home, praying that God would lead them to where He intended them to be.
  
Seven months later, when this same loyal congregation attended the April 18 Sunday morning service at Pedrotti Ranch, which had comfortably become “home away from home,” their journey continued.  The Rev. Jason Roberts led the service as usual, but at the closing hymn, the choir filed down the aisle with the congregation following out the doors and into their cars where they would be caravanning to a piece of property that had just become their own. 
  
As if in a blessing, three days of heavy rains had subsided and a beautiful spring sun shone down as almost 70 parishioners gathered on the edge of 10-plus acres on Bandera Road in northwest San Antonio, one mile inside Loop 1604, the new home of The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit. Acres of green, with a forest of tall trees lay before them. For the majority, it was the answer to years of hard work, discernment and prayer. The dream was about to become reality.
  
The service continued with songs to stringed instruments, prayers, psalms and a commissioning of the “Sacred Space Team” who would be in charge of the next phase of developing a new worship center. The 20-foot banner that read “The Future Home of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit” was unfurled and held up by the Sacred Space Team for the congregation to see. The church’s web site address and a motto, pulled from the history of the past 30 years: “Catch the Spirit” appeared below the name.  The reaction was an emotional one of sheer joy and gratitude and a realization of God’s promises.  The banner was immediately hung from oaks along Bandera  Road, in front of the property, bringing about moist eyes and lumps in throats.  This time, when it was time for the packing and moving, it would be a final destination.
  
Visit Holy Spirt at: http://www.chssatx.org/
    
- The Rev. Jason Roberts, vicar, Church of the Holy Spirit, San Antonio
  
News
More than a dozen clergy and lay leaders from around the diocese gathered at Mustang Island on April 15 for a five-hour training on ministering to people with mental illness and their families.

The training was the first event hosted by the diocese as part of a new Faith-Based Mental Illness Ministries Initiative. Suffragan Bishop David Reed participated in the training and had played a key role as an organizer of it, along with Jerry Fulenwider of St. George, San Antonio.  
  
“We provided encouragement for pastors and lay people from several churches in the diocese to reach out to individuals and families living with mental illness,” said Ed Dickey, chair of Education for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) San Antonio. “We also introduced to them to the resources of NAMI in Texas. The training was received very well by attendees. I got at least three invitations to visit faith communities in the diocese for further discussions.”
The training was conducted by seven professionals from the NAMI organization, including a psychiatrist, a medical director, a substance abuse counselor and a professor from Incarnate Word University. “I was amazed at all the resources that have been collected for churches and individuals in regards to mental illness,” says Kelly Harris, a diocesan staff member and graduate student at Wayland Baptist in the Department of Counseling. “Individuals and families should be aware that they are not alone and that the church is a vast resource to help, encourage and walk with you through challenging times.” Another diocesan-wide training will be offered in San Antonio in November. For mental health resources, go to www.naimi-sat.org
  
A Needs Assessment Survey, produced by the diocesan stewardship department, will go to the e-mail boxes of all rectors, vicars, senior/bishop’s wardens and stewardship chairs this week. Responses to the survey will form the basis for August stewardship conferences in Corpus Christi (on August 21) and San Antonio (on August 28). The 40-question survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. If you are a  rector, vicar, senior/bishop’s warden or stewardship chair and do not receive the survey in your e-mail, contact Nancy Stinson at nancy.stinson@dwtx.org.

The stewardship department is recommending the New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program for use by congregations this year. Author of the program is Herb Miller. The program approaches stewardship from a spiritual perspective rather than a fundraising perspective. It focuses on the question, “What is God calling me to do?” instead of “What does the church need in order to pay its bills.” 
   
TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas has named recipients of merit scholarships for the 2010-2011 school year. Fifty-five students, including four who are children of diocesan clergy, who will attend TMI next year earned merit awards through an annual competition. Four children of Diocese of West Texas clergy will receive a Helen and Everett H. Jones Scholarship, for students who demonstrate qualities that bring credit to the TMI community. They are:  TMI sophomore Abby Cole, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Chris Cole, of Church of the Resurrection, San Antonio; sophomore Amy Read, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. David G. Read, of St. Luke’s, San Antonio; junior Aaron Sherman, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Russell E. Sherman; and freshman Patrick Wickham, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Jonathan Wickham, of St. Mark’s, San Antonio. TMI junior Julianne Hardie is the recipient of a Ewing Halsell Foundation Scholarship, awarded to students of academic merit who are members of the school’s Residential Life (boarding) program. She is the daughter of the Rev. John Hardie, assistant rector of St. Mark’s, Corpus Christi, and his wife Melanie. All merit scholars were honored April 21 with a ceremony in the school’s All Saints Chapel.

Nearly two dozen men representing 10 churches from around the diocese participated in the April 16-18 Nails and Prayers Men’s Retreat at Camp Capers. The order of the day was work and play, so the men built a deck, began painting of the activities building, tore down two fences and replaced one with cedar rails, cleaned out a quarter of a mile of river bluff, and built a 20-foot cross.
  
The men also listened to four presentations by the Rev. Ripp Hardaway and followed each with small-group discussion. Bryce Bodie of St. Helena’s, Boerne, led the music. “It was a great weekend of fellowship, good work, worship, and inspiration,” says Rob Watson, diocesan Director of Camps and Conferences. Next year’s Men’s Retreat will likely be scheduled for mid-April. Check the diocesan calendar at www.dwtx.org for a future posting.

The 60th Anniversary Sewanee Church Music Conference, held at the University of the South and the DuBose Conference Center in Sewanee TN will take place July 12-18. For 60 years, the Sewanee Church Music Conference has offered continuing education in liturgy and music and has long been recognized by the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church. Choir directors, singers, organists and clergy from parishes large and small interact for a week with some of the finest teachers in America and Europe at this annual July conference in the scenic mountains of Tennessee. For details and to register, go to www.sewaneeconf.com.  
   
Fishermen (and women) will enjoy a purposeful day of fishing in the Fishin’ for Mission tournament this June 25 and 26.  St Peter’s Rockport is hosting again, and all proceeds go to diocesan World Mission ministries.  New this year is a junior division for anglers 12 and under, and non anglers can go on bird watching boat rides. With your registration comes dinner on Friday, a top quality fishing shirt and an hors d’oeuvres buffet at weigh-in.  There are guided and unguided divisions and prizes for everything from biggest redfish to biggest hardhead, to best on-board photo. Come with your family, come with your buddies, come with your spouse, but be sure and come.  To register, visit www.dwtx.org and click on Special Events under the Calendar and Events tab.
   
Cynthia Briggs Kittredge will assume responsibilities as Academic Dean at Seminary of the Southwest on June 1. She follows Alan P.R. Gregory, who has held the three-year appointment for two terms. At the conclusion of this academic year, Dr. Gregory will return to full time teaching as professor of church history.  Kittredge is the Ernest J. Villavaso, Jr. Professor of New Testament at the seminary.  She holds three graduate degrees, including the Th.D., from Harvard Divinity School. The Rev. Dr. Gregory’s achievements in office are notable and numerous, says a press release from the Seminary of the Southwest. “He has successfully guided the seminary through reaccreditation processes with both the Association of Theological Schools and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He oversaw the reorganization of the seminary’s counseling and non-ordination programs into the Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation and led the process to establish a new degree in the seminary’s curriculum, the Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation,” according to the release. For more information about the Seminary of the Southwest, visit www.ssw.edu.
  
The 2010 Annual World Mission Symposium takes a look at how good works by well-intentioned organizations sometimes leave third-world countries worse off. Symposium speaker Glenn Schwartz is founder of World Mission Associates, a mission consulting organization that focuses on seeing that local Christians in every culture are able to take ownership for their church work. “When outside money and other material things accompany the spread of the Christian gospel, sometimes people get the wrong impression about the gospel itself,” says Schwartz. “If those to whom the Gospel is preached begin to receive material things, they may become more interested in those things than in the gospel,” says Schwartz. Schwartz’s book on the subject is When Charity Destroys Dignity.
The annual symposium will be August 13-14 at the Bishop Jones Center. For details, check in at the diocesan calendar at www.dwtx.org and click on Special Events under the Calendar and Events tab.
  
The annual Episcopal Night at the Ball Park has blossomed into two nights at the ball park – June 27 (date still tentative) at the Corpus Christi Hooks ball park and July 8 at the San Antonio Missions ball park. Contact for the Corpus Christi night is Wayne Sykora, a member of St. Bartholomew’s, phone 361-877-6983. The San Antonio contact is Leigh Saunders at the Bishop Jones Center, phone 210-824-5387 or email leigh.saunders@dwtx.org. More information will be posted soon on the diocesan website.

The Rev. Nate Bostian is the new chaplain at TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas beginning in June. Bostian is currently the Episcopal Campus Minister at Southern Methodist University, where he has served for the past three-and-a-half years. He also has been the director of young adult ministry at St. Michael and All Angels Parish in Dallas for the past two years.  He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and attended high school in Carrollton, Texas.
   
Upcoming services of Ordination to the Diaconate and placement of new deacons are:
Wednesday, June 2, Richard McLeon will be ordained to the diaconate at St. Francis’, Victoria, at 6:30 pm.  He will be assigned to the Eastern Partnership.
Tuesday, June 8, Chris Caddell will be ordained to the diaconate at St. Luke’s, San Antonio, at 6:30 pm.  He will be assigned to St. Alban’s, Harlingen.
Wednesday, June 9, Stephen Carson will be ordained to the diaconate at All Saints’, Corpus Christi, at 6:30 pm.  He will be assigned to St. Luke’s, San Antonio.
Thursday, June 10, Virginia Frnka will be ordained to the diaconate at St. Stephen’s, Goliad, at 6:30 pm.  She will be assigned to the Eastern Partnership.
Thursday, June 24, Tom Turner will be ordained to the diaconate at Advent, Alice, at 6:30 pm.  He will serve his diaconate at St. Mark’s, Corpus Christi
2010 diocesan Bible study on Galatians and Thessalonians is now on the website under the Christian Education page. The study has been created by the Revs. John Lewis and Jane Patterson, assiting clergy at St. Mark's, San Antonio, and co-directors of The Work+Shop. http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/diocese/Christian%20Education
    
Summertime…and the livin’ is easy…
After a winter and spring of working or studying indoors, summertime is made for outdoor activities.  Registration is available online now for all three of our diocesan camping programs.  Look below and make your selections of where to spend your time this summer enjoying the freedom of West Texas.
Camp Capers, the summer camp program for our youth, is in Waring, TX, and is divided into week-long sessions for ages beginning with third grade all the way through high school.  The Camps and Conferences Departments has heard the requests of parents, and so this year all sessions will begin on Sundays and end on Saturdays.  To see the dates of each camp session select this link: http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/entities/Summer_Camp
  
Mustang Island Conference Center is the site for Family Camp, the summer get-away for families and friends to relax at the beach.  It is located on Mustang Island which is a barrier island off the south coast of Texas and two miles from Port Aransas.  If delicious meals, surfing, relaxing on the beach, and time with your family that is uninterrupted by cell phones and work sounds like your kind of fun, then select this link for registration: http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/entities/Mustang_Island_Home.
  
Duck Lake is the newest of the trio of camping programs available now through the diocese.  It offers a trip to Colorado, near Boulder, filled with hiking, backpacking, fishing and kayaking among other outdoor activities in four week-long trips.  This is available for youth from tenth through twelfth grades and for clergy and church or church school employees; to see the dates for each of the groups, select this link:     http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/entities/Duck_Lake.
  
There are letters from various staff members on the camping pages, with an invitation to come and join them for a good time at camp. For other detailed information , contact Jean Beere in the Camps and Conferences office for information, at 888/210-824-5387 or jean.beere@dwtx.org.
  
2010 diocesan bible study on Galatians and Thessalonians is now on the website under the Christian Education page. The study has been created by the Revs. John Lewis and Jane Patterson, assiting clergy at St. Mark's, San Antonio, and co-directors of The Work+Shop. http://www.dwtx.org/index.php/diocese/Christian%20Education
Calendar

For full details and online registration to to the Special Events & Church and Other Events.


May

May 7-8, the Bishop Elliott Society will present Loneliness, The Trinity, and Christian Community at St. Mark's, Corpus Christi, by the Rev. Dr. Leslie Fairfield. Friday, 5-9 pm, registration, worship, supper and first address. Saturday, 8:30 am to noon, breakfast, second and third addresses
  
May 7-9, the 95th Spiritual Retreat for Recovering Alcoholics, Al-Anons and Adult Children of Alcoholics at Camp Capers. 
 
May 13-16, Cursillo #249 at Mustang Island Conference Center.  Lay rector is Caroline Mowen of St. Luke’s, San Antonio; Spiritual Director is the Rev. Earl Mahan, St. Matthew’s, Edinburg.
  
May 17, a Spring Clergy Day at Mustang Island Conference Center. Focus will be discussion of the Anglican Covenant.
  
May 21-23, a Contemplative Christ-Centered Prayer Retreat, led by the Rev. Sandy Casey-Martus, at Mustang Island  Conference Center.
June

June 5, Abide in Me II returns to TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas, with Reggie McNeal as keynote speaker. Seating will be limited to the first 500; registration is online. 
    
June 9-11, the Community of Hope International Annual Conference at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas. The conference theme, “Listen...with the ear of your heart,” is based on the Rule of St. Benedict.
  
June 12, beginning at 10 am, a Welcome Day for New Cursillistas / Day of Deeper Understanding at the Bishop Jones Center with pot-luck lunch. All Cursillistas are welcome.
  
June 21-23, Walter Brueggemann, well-known scholar and lecturer, comes to Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio for the Summer Institute. Both clergy and laity will enjoy.
  
June 25-26, the annual diocesan fishing tournament, Fishin’ for Mission, hosted by St. Peter’s, Rockport. Proceeds support world mission projects throughout the Diocese of West Texas.
  
June 27 (tentative), Episcopal Night at the Ball Park in Corpus Christi.
July

July 8, Episcopal Night at the Ball Park in San Antonio
  
July 30-31, the 2010 TENS (The Episcopal Network for Stewardship) annual conference in Indianapolis, IN. For experienced leaders and new recruits.
August

August 6-8, Happening #116 happens at Advent, Brownsville. The weekend is a spiritual renewal event for high schoolers. 
  
August 13-14, the annual World Mission Symposium at the Bishop Jones Center.  Speaker is Glenn Schwartz, author of When Charity Destroys Dignity.
    
August 21, at Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi and August 28 at St. Mark’s,  San Antonio, a diocesan Stewardship Conference for stewardship chairs and committee members, vestry and bishop’s committee members, church wardens, and clergy.
September

September 24-26, EFM (Education for Ministry) Mentor Training at the Mustang Island Conference Center.  Both a Basic and Formation session will be offered.
October

October 1-3, the 96th Spiritual Retreat for Recovering Alcoholics, Al-Anons and Adult Children of Alcoholics at Camp Capers.
  
October 8-9, Phyllis Tickle will speak at St. Luke’s, San Antonio. Tickle’s work has chronicled the evolving church of today.

October 8-10, “Soul at Work: Discerning God’s Will in Daily Life” presented by the Work+Shop and the  Revs. Drs. John Lewis and Jane Patterson at the Mustang Island Conference Center.  Retreat leader will be Margaret Benefiel, CEO of ExecutiveSoul.com. 

October 14-17, Cursillo #250 will be held at Mustang Island Conference Center.  Lay rector will be Rachel Davies, St. John’s, McAllen.  Spiritual Director will be the Rev. Scott Penrod, Trinity, Pharr.
October 15-17, the annual World Mission Art Festival will be held at the Bishop Jones Center. Artwork of all sorts, created by Episcopalians from our own diocese, will have their wares available for display and sale.
  
October 22-24, Food for the Soul, is a weekend of tasting, preparing, laughing, eating, and praising God for your blessings, at Mustang Island Conference Center.  The Rev. Ed and Chris Dohoney, and Kirk and the Rev. Lisa Mason will cook and reveal the secrets of those favorite Mustang Island recipes. 
  
October 22-24, the Women’s Fall Gathering is at Camp Capers.  Spiritual Director is the Rev. Suzanne Guthrie from St. Aiden’s House in Brewster, New York. 
October 25 – 27, Fall Clergy Conference at Camp Capers.
November 
November 5-7, Clergy Spouses Retreat at Camp Capers.
 
November 12, Bishop’s Golf Classic at Canyon Springs Golf Course in San Antonio.
  
November 12-14, the Diocesan Silent Retreat for Men and Women at Moye Center in Castroville.
  
November 13, the Diocesan Daughters of the King will have their Mini Fall Assembly at Mustang Island from 10 am to 4 pm.
  
November 11-14, Cursillo #251 will be held at Camp Capers.  Lay rector will be Joyce Gray, and Spiritual Director will be the Rev. Nancy Coon, both from Holy Spirit, Dripping Springs.
  
November 17-20, the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) will meet this year in San Antonio for their annual conference.
  
November 24-27, the annual Thanksgiving on the Island will be held again at Mustang Island Conference Center.
  
February 2011 - Save the Date
February 17-19, 2011, Diocesan Council (in San Marcos)

 

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