The East Range Epistle September 2003

    Our “Common Prayer” – the worship that we share in common – is what identifies us as Episcopalians.  We are named for our bishops (episkopoi), but other denominations have bishops.  We are still struggling with the place of gay and lesbian people in our church, but so are others. The real news is that in the midst of deep differences the Episcopal Church continues to celebrate, to gather in communion and prayer.

    The Episcopal Church is a place where everyone in all our differences can gather for prayer together.  When you struggle with any difficult or controversial issue, you can find support in that common prayer.

“Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you ...“ St. John Chrysostom in the Book of Common Prayer

Replying to the Headlines

    Some thoughts for when people ask you about the Episcopal Church and recent headlines:
 

• It is not our place to judge others.  Our role is to bring others to Jesus  and trust that Jesus will judge them, love them, and transform them into his image.
• Supporting a diverse leadership in our church helps bring a greater variety of people closer to God.
• The Anglican (Episcopal) tradition  embraces differing understandings and theologies, while uniting in Common Prayer and worship.

East Range Churches' News

        From September 23-26, escape to the wilderness for spiritual reflection, relaxation, and fun.  An easy BWCAW trip, but far enough in for solitude. Cost will vary from $55-95 per person according to attendance and what equipment participants have.  Topic is The Desert Ammas, Our Mothers in Faith.  Scholarship help available.  Space is limited. . Contact Pat (218-638-1206 or pat@motherflash.com) for details.

   On Sunday, October 12, at 4:00 pm the Rev. Canon Stephen Schaitberger will officially institute and induct the Rev. Patricia Gillespie as our rector. Look for details in the next Epistle.
    Pam McIntosh (218-225-2124) needs helpers for the refreshments afterwards.  Call her if you can help out
    If you want to sing in the event choir, contact Joie Swenson (218-749-2131).

   A time of study, prayer, fellowship, and reflection on God's activity in our lives. Scripture, spiritual writings, or movies (on the big screen!) will focus our reflections. First and third Wednesdays. 7:00 - 9:00 pm at St. Paul’s.

• Wednesday, September 3:  Scripture: The Woman at the Well
• Wednesday, September 17:  Movie:  The Last Temptation of Christ (Part 1 of 3)

   The next meeting of the churches of Region II will be on Saturday, September 27 from 9AM to 3PM at St. Edward the Confessor Church, Duluth.
    The main topic of discussion will be the Diocesan Budget for 2004.  You need not be a delegate to attend.  If you have any questions or want to attend, contact Pat ( 218-638-1206).

    Basic training, refresher, and discussion for acolytes, altar guild, eucharistic ministers, lectors, lay readers, musicians, and others interested on Saturday, September 13, 10 am to 3 pm.

    Worship ministers are encouraged to attend all sessions, though it is only your own area for which you are responsible.
    Those ministers unable to attend are responsible for learning the material covered in their ministry area.  There will be a liturgy booklet published after the workshop. Licensed ministries, such as lay reader and eucharistic minister, will require additional specific training.
   If you have any questions, contact Pat (218-638-1206 or pat@motherflash.com).

        The women will be working every Wednesday at 12:30 PM at Marlene Munig’s house except for the third Wednesday, when they will meet for lunch at Arizona’s (in the Park Inn) at 12:30 PM.  The women of all three parishes are invited.
    For information or directions, contact Marlene Munig (218-741-3077).

    Do you believe in transformation?  Christ can transform our lives. But here's your chance to work transformation -- help transform a garage into a library.  A second working open house at Pat's, 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday, September 20th.  We will be framing a wall, eating goodies, installing a windows and a raccoon den,  insulating, and maybe more. Come for as little or as long as you like; work as little or as much as you prefer. Tippet the blind raccoon welcomes everyone to help (especially those bearing raccoon treats [like fruit loops, granola fruit bars, or candy]).  Construction experience is welcome but not required; supervisors and animal entertainers are needed also.  Then stay for the Cowboy Cuisine afterward.  Neither event requires participation in the other.

    At the end of the day, they all gathered around the chuck wagon to eat... ever wonder what was in those chuck wagons?  And how the food tasted?  Well, here's your chance to find out!
    Everyone from the 3 parishes is invited to attend an afternoon and evening of authentic “COWBOY CUISINE”, beginning at 3:00 pm, at Mother Pat's farm on September 20th.
    We'll do the cooking, you bring your appetite –  (we’re not going to divulge the entire menu, but chocolate cake can be made over an open fire...) and the evening will end with a bonfire.
    If you would like to help, or have any ideas for entertainment, please let Linda know.
    In order to know how much food to prepare, please let Linda know how many you will be no later than Sept. 17.
    A free-will donation is requested to help defray the cost of food. Anything above actual expenses will be donated to the 3-Point Parish Fund.
    Hope to see you on the 20th!

    Get that old time religion on Sunday, September 28.  As part of the Eveleth Heritage Committee's celebration of  the history of the churches of Eveleth, St. John's is hosting a worship service as it might have been when the church was founded.  St. Paul's will be following their lead and also using the 1892 Book of Common Prayer.  If you have nineteenth-century clothing, feel free to dress up.  Fortunately for Pat, clergy dress doesn't change much. Both services of Holy Communion will be at the usual times. Neither of the Rector's horses, however, is fast enough to ride this circuit in a timely manner, so some concession will be made for modern travel – the Rector will be in her Element.

    The semi-annual clean-up of MN Hwy 1 outside of Tower is scheduled for Saturday, September 28, starting around 10AM at the Pike River Bridge.  Bring gloves and dress accordingly.  Vests will be provided.
    Rain Date is October 4.

Deadline for input to the September 2003 issue of The East Range Epistle is Wednesday, September 17, to Carol Morello (218-744-1615, or fax: 218-744-1635).  Processing is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 24.

    Starting in September, St. Paul’s Planning Team will meet about 30 minutes ahead of the monthly Vestry Meeting.
    Instead of a Planning Team Meeting on the Sunday after the Epistle Deadline, there will now be a “Calendar Adjustment Meeting” open to members of all three parishes.  This meeting will take place in St. Paul’s Guild Hall immediately after the service at St. Paul’s.  The first meeting will be Sunday, September 21.

The schedule for the lead article for the next three issues of The East Range Epistle is:

• October: St. John's
• November: St. Mary's
• December-January: St. Paul's

St. John's News (Submitted by Nancy Harvey    and Pat Gillespie)

    Your prayers and presence are invited for the baptism of Eric James McIntyre on Sunday, September 21, at 9:00 am

    Pack up the babies, grab the old ladies, and let everyone know that you can get that “old time religion” at St. John’s on Sunday, Sept 28.
    St. John's is hosting a worship service from the 1892 Book of Common Prayer to support the Eveleth Heritage Committee.  If you have 19th Century clothing, feel free to dress up.
    After the service, the Eveleth Heritage Committee will be selling its booklet on the history of the churches of Eveleth.

    The next Vestry Meeting will be at 6:30 PM. on Wednesday, September 10.

St. Mary's News

    Instead of services in Ely and Tower on Saturday, September 20, we plan to have a service at the Cowboy Cuisine event at Beaglewood Farms.
    If there is a change to this plan, it will be publicized at the service on September 13, or you may contact Mary Groeninger (218-365-3364).

St. Paul's News

    See the ECW entry.

     There following was covered at the Vestry Meeting of July 8:

• The basement flooded from July rains.  A battery back-up for the sump pumps was discussed.
• Pat discussed having several youth events next spring, possibly held at Beaglewood Farms.
• The Fair Share assessment will not be appealed
• The 2001 Parochial Report was 17 months overdue.
• Pat suggested arranging a stewardship drive for October or November

The Vestry of St. Paul’s asked that I try to put a few words together about my nearly two weeks at General Convention ("part legislature, part Middle East Bazaar, and part big fat Anglican Wedding”).  What follows are excerpts from the e-mails I sent out augmented with some additional thoughts.

    All of the electricity used at the Convention Center as well as 35% of the electricity for the lodging of attendees was powered by Wind Energy from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.  Over 220 tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions (as compared to fossil fuel power generation) were not generated.  The Episcopal Church (with great effort by Episcopal Power & Light and Native Energy) made this possible. An environmentally positive outreach project for any church is to support Native Energy with donations for Carbon Offset (www.NativeEnergy.com) .
    The first few days were busy learning how things worked, meeting old friends (and making new ones), and participating in the daily Eucharist  service (over 1,000 in attendance).
    The special event of Sunday was Eucharist for everyone who could make it.  My estimation was around 7,000, while Carol puts it at around 5,500.  It was very much larger than any Eucharist service I have ever attended!  In the long processional of the Bishops, each dressed in robes and special stoles, Bishop Jelinek carried the same staff that Bishop Whipple had used at the 1895 Convention at Gethsemane.  The service was an emotionally moving experience with several “transcending experiences” where I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room.  The altar had a 30- or 40-foot high backdrop of a series of paintings that were projected one after the other, depicting various aspects of Christ's presence on earth, our worship services, and Christ’s commandment.  The paintings were compelling in their size, color, and imagery.  The music of the choir (about 150 voices) was another experience unto itself.  In addition to the Ralph Vaughn Williams “Te Deum” for the Offertory (followed by the congregants joining in with “Come thou Fount of Every Blessing”), the choir sang a world-premiere piece by Monte Mason (Blessed are You, God of allcreation, through whose goodness we have bread to offer ...) that was exquisite in its lightness but intense in its complexity of sound.  Also during the Distribution the choir performed Gerald Near’s “My song shall be always” which expressed in music the multitudes that sing praise to the Lord.  At the conclusion of the Distribution we all sang “I am the bread of life” and it did not appear there was a dry eye in the worship space at the end.  The choir with handbell choir, flute, and organ closed the service with a Blessing by Howard Don Small based on Ephesians  (Go into the world in peace, be of good courage, hold fast that which is good, render to no one evil of evil; Strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, help the afflicted, honor all persons ...). The Eucharist was distributed in stations around the hall and the one impression that stayed with me was, “this might have been how it was with the miracle of the loaves and fishes!”.  There was enough for all who hungered and thirsted.
    The Sermon was delivered by the Anglican Primate of Nigeria.  He spoke on the New Testament Lesson under the title of "Christian Purity".  My thoughts during some of his sermon (talking of how Christians live in a society on the edge between Christianity and Darkness) were pulled very strongly to the memory of a friend who is a Roman Catholic Bishop in Nigeria, and who often wrote me of his problems in this same edge area.  These memories may have drawn me away from some of the points of the sermon, but they brought Joseph into my presence for a time.
    On Monday, August 4, the Episcopal Ecological Network hosted a locally grown dinner at Gethsemane Church, which was attended by about 90 people (anything over 40 is considered a success, so we were “doubly” successful). Mark MacDonald (Bishop of Alaska) spoke about several aspects of environmental stewardship as they pertain to our daily lives.  He mentioned the fact that our youth have grown up without a connection to the land and with a view of wilderness as a place to "be wild" rather than a place to experience the divine.  He spoke of  the waters flowing in 4 directions (in the Garden of Eden, in Ezekiel, and in Revelation) and about how, at the Last Supper, Jesus undid the pattern of
“take, abuse, and hide” and replaced it with “take, bless, break, and share”.  Bishop Mark summed up this approach with “if we share what we have, there will be enough for all; but if we don’t share, there won’t be enough for anyone.”
    He touched on creation being all equal (God created everything as equals with no hierarchy) and about how we relate to creation in our daily lives (our actions are more accurate than the words we may say).  Bishop Mark’s charge to the dinner guests was based on a description of his young son, Blake, as an example of how we should evangelize about the environment in the world:  we should be “narrating” to others that which we see as vividly as a child sees the world.
    The House of Bishops vote on Gene Robinson was taken in the afternoon of August 5, but not read until the end of the legislative day.  While the press was reporting the issue as approving the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, the issue was more narrowly focused on the rights of the Episcopalians in New Hampshire to select the person the Holy Spirit had led them to call to be their shepherd (a fact people on both extremes failed to acknowledge).  Prior to announcing the vote, Presiding Bishop Griswold asked that there be no public outbursts associated with the announcement and that everyone remain for closing prayer.  He then announced that 62 of 107 had voted in favor.
    There was no sign of noise from the House of Bishops.  Unfortunately there was some cheering in the worship space (where about 1,000 of us watched on closed circuit TV), which I found totally disrespectful to the Presiding Bishop and hurtful to those who had opposed.  I then realized that I would be hurting at either decision (for or against approval), because I hurt for those who hurt when the cheering by the pro-Gene people began.  I wish there had not been a public display, as that definitely will be felt negatively by some.
    After the announcement, there was a statement by several Bishops opposed to the result of the vote.  While this statement was expected (as I would have expected one from others if it had gone the other way), it brought a feeling of sadness over me that some of these people truly hurt.
    The legislative session ended with a Taizé-style singing of “Ubi Caritas” and a closing prayer.  Then there was a media frenzy in the convention center.  I did not see or hear anything in the halls that was anything but civil.
    The historic nature of this vote goes without saying and we all need to express our love towards and with those who may not agree with us (whatever our position).  I think in the coming months we should take time to pray – for those who hurt, for those who would do harm because of this, and for our church that the Holy Spirit may be working in the hearts and minds of everyone now and in the days and weeks ahead.
    During the Convention I was impressed by the noticeable presence of a friendly and loving manner (one might say the presence of the Holy Spirit) in the Exhibit Hall, in the Corridors, in the Houses of Deputies and Bishops, and in the worship services.  Reading the newspaper coverage now, I wonder  whether they and I were at the same convention.
    Certainly, there were disagreements but nothing spilled over or became heated.  It is my hope that, over time, some of these concerns will be assuaged through prayer and reflection.  There are some, like an old friend of years ago, who cannot see anything but the fact that the “rich dioceses” will “break away and survive”, while the remaining, “poor” dioceses will “slowly die”.  It is difficult to find a Christian, loving feeling in that approach.  Most of us who were at convention know that the Holy Spirit was present in different ways for each of us.  My old friend was part of a vocal minority of those who were against Gene Robinson’s election for the wrong reasons – by allowing unfounded fears to overwhelm the presence of Christ’s love in their lives and in their churches.
    General Convention was more than just a larger version of our Diocesan Convention.  The active presence of such a diverse population that was able to leave disagreements at the door and come together for worship, prayer, and song was striking, inspiring and invigorating.

So,
    Will I go to the next General Convention?

    I will, with God’s help.

Other links of interest:

• the Diocesan Commission on the Environment.
• the Episcopal Church.

This page maintained for the East Range Episcopal Churches by . Address comments on typographical errors to Chuck.