Over
100 people participate in Christophany 2002
St. Stephens' Pro-Cathedral Seeks Director of Ministry
with Children and Youth
One-Day Retreat for
Church Professionals
A Choir for Diocesan Training Day Eucharist
Active Parenting
Programs
A Machine Cannot Replace a Loving Touch
Maggie and Dan Land,
who Ministered in the Diocese of Bethlehem and Beyond Retire to Wyoming
God's Children Together
Robert Wood Johnson Seeks to Expand Faith-based
Volunteer Programs serving Elderly, Chronically Ill and Disabled
I Saw my First Web Page in a Homeless Shelter
Church Mice Teach Evangelism to Toddlers
How Then Must We Live?
St. James' St. George's
has new Priest-in-Charge
The Gifts We Offered Became 4,320 Hoes for 8,064 Sudanese Refugee
Families in Uganda
St. Elizabeth's,
Allenton, Votes to Move; Calls Scott Allen as Rector
Spiritual Companions Retreat
Over
100 people participate in Christophany 2002
More than 100 people from over 20 parishes
took part in Christophany, February 1-3, at St. Stephen's, Wilkes-Barre:
68 youth and 5 adult participants, 23 youth and 10 adult staff
Return to Diocesan Life Index
- Bethlehem News
What's working... www.trinitybeth.org
Doing a Parish Web Site Together
[This note was posted elsewhere a few weeks... perhaps
a few months ago... by Nick Knisely, rector of Trinity, Bethlehem.
Thanks. -Bill]
We've got a parish web site that is being cooperatively
designed by a number of people in the parish. (http://www.trinitybeth.org
- Kind of an exercise in open source web construction... grin.)
What we did when setting up the site, was to give
each major group in the parish (Outreach, Education, Children's Ministries,
Spirituality, etc...) their own folder on the server. A coordinator
checks the site regularly for broken links and is responsible for
the top-level pages that point to the others. Each group can post
whatever they think is important to their own folder. In essence we
have one uber-editor and a number of other editors.
The upside of this arrangement is that our web pages
are frequently updated and are full of information from the various
program groups in the parish.
The downside is that there's no real unifying theme
in design for the site. (With the exception of some navigation code
that's added in after the fact to the pages.) And that the quality
of the pages is somewhat uneven.
The upshot of all this is that we have had a number
of families and individuals (>15 last year) join the parish having
been first attracted by the web pages. (And once they join, they continue
to use the site as a resource for scheduling and information about
the parish.)
We are in a college town, so that may make our situation
a little different from others.
-- (The Rev.) W. Nicholas Knisely nick@trinitybeth.org
Trinity Episcopal Church nick.knisely@ecunet.org
Bethlehem, PA, USA http://www.trinitybeth.org/
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News
In Wilkes-Barre
St. Stephens' Pro-Cathedral Seeks Director of Ministry with
Children and Youth
St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA is
seeking to call a Director of Ministry with Children and Youth, an
experienced, hands-on minister, with a deep faith in Jesus Christ
and an enthusiasm for sharing faith with all ages. Please note the
job description below and, if interested, contact The Rev. Canon Donald
Muller, 35 South Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701 (570-825-6653).
Director of Ministry with Children and Youth
The person selected for this position will help Saint
Stephen's implement "A Children's Charter for the Church" by:
* being the primary pastor of children, youth, and
the adults who minister with them
* building upon the present Sunday School program
for Nursery through High School
* creating fellowship, worship, and ministry opportunities
for youth and children
* recruiting and equipping adults to minister with
children and youth
* working with the Education and Youth Committees,
other staff, and total ministry of the parish
* administering programs for children and youth
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News
One-Day Retreat for
Church Professionals
[An announcement from Family Life Serves, Topton]
"We Are All Beggars, That Is True." (Martin Luther)
Family Life Services [of the Lutheran Synod] is sponsoring
a one-day retreat for church professionals. We will explore the spiritual
connectedness and disconnectedness that we encounter in our everyday
lives in ministry. Martin Luther's observation that "We are all beggars"
can confront us with the reality that we all come to grace through
our brokenness. This "spirituality of imperfection" leads us to faith,
surrender, healing, and reconciliation with one another and God. Our
retreat leaders will guide us through discussion and feedback about
the spiritual needs and challenges of our ministries. Our guiding
principles are the love, tolerance, grace and healing given by God,
our Father, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This event will take place on April 30, 2002; 8:30
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at The Lutheran Home at Topton. The registration
deadline is April 16, 2002 and is on a first come, first served basis.
The fee for this workshop is $45.00. For a registration form, please
call Family Life Services, 1-888-499-2699.
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News
Singers invited
A Choir for Diocesan Training Day Eucharist
Diocesan Training Day will be held on Saturday, March
16th at St. Stephen's in Wilkes-Barre. As part of the day's activities,
we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist together at 11:45 AM, with music
led by Mark Laubach. Mark invites any and all singers who plan to
attend the day to participate in a "pick-up" choir to lead some of
the simple service music that will be sung at that liturgy. If you
would like to volunteer, please plan to attend a very brief rehearsal
in St. Stephen's Choir Room prior to the service, beginning at 11:25
AM. It would also be helpful to Mark if you would contact him to let
him know that you will sing. Call him through the church office at
(570)825-6653 or send e-mail .
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News
Epiphany, Glenburn,
calls Rector
The Rev. Susan Cembalisty has accepted the call to
become the Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Glenburn. She comes
from the Diocese of Delaware. We welcome Susan to our diocesan family.
She will begin her new ministry in early April.
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News
Active Parenting
Programs
Two Active Parenting Programs are available to
review over the next 45 days at Diocesan House. We have these programs
on loan at this time. To set up an appointment to review either
program contact Diocesan House. You can also get a review copy directly
by contacting Active Parenting directly at http://www.activeparenting.com/.
ACTIVE PARENTING TODAY: For Parents of 2 to 12 year
olds. by Michael H. Popkin, Ph.D. Program contains 6 two hours sessions
that provide parents with the skills they need to develop cooperation,
responsibility, and good character in their children. This comprehensive
program combines activities and discussion with entertaining video
scenes to teach positive3 discipline and communication technique.
Review program includes: Leader & Parent Guides, 2 videos and
promotional materials.
COOPERATIVE PARENTING AND DIVORCE: Shielding Children
From Conflict. by Susan Blyth Boyan, M.Ed., L.M.F.T. and Ann Marie
Termini, M.S., L.P.C. This video-based program helps divorcing parents
shield their children from parental conflict. Parents learn to guide
their children through the process of recovery, while establishing
a positive, long-term relationship with the child's other parent.
This is the most extensive, informed and interactive resource to date
examining the complex realities of divorce.
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- Bethlehem News
Our ability to communicate
A Machine Cannot Replace a Loving Touch
But did I mention how using a Personal Digital Assistant let me
be a better listener?
By Nick Knisely
Diocesan Life, March 2002
I have a funny sort of mind. When I concentrate intently
I can take in and retain a great deal of information, and easily recall
it - at least for a short time. But when I'm working in a place that
has many interruptions and never really get to focus on one task for
any length of time, I become quite absent minded.
When I was working in scientific research, this was
hardly ever a problem. When I started working in a parish setting,
however, I found myself having more and more trouble remembering simple
things - like my appointments.
Part of the work of a clergy person involves attending
regularly scheduled committee meetings. The meetings tend to be on
first or second whatever of the month - unless a holy day falls on
the whatever day that month. Then the meeting is moved.
It's not so bad when you have to attend only one
or two meetings a month or even a week; but when you have one or two
meetings a day, it becomes easy to forget where you are in the schedule.
When I was starting out in parish ministry, it got
so bad that I spent almost all my time worrying about what meeting
I had forgotten and where I was supposed to have been.
If I had been more self-disciplined about keeping
my calendar up to date, this wouldn't have been an issue; but I never
managed to force myself to sit down and propagate those firsts and
seconds of whatever appointments forward on my desk calendar. Something
always seemed more important. It soon got to be a problem.
After the third or fourth finance or pastoral care
meeting I missed, I decided I had to do something about it. It got
to the point that I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing at the
moment. I wasn't able to give the people coming to me for help my
full attention.
I called my brother-in-law, who works as a software
and system developer in Silicon Valley. I described my problem to
him. He immediately said, "You need a computerized calendar."
I said I needed my calendar with me all the time
and I didn't have enough money to afford a laptop - but he suggested
that I get a little computer, a personal organizer.
I had never seen one, but he assured me that they
were affordable. He assured me also that I would be able to program
into the computer the sorts of recurring appointments, the firsts
or seconds of whatever, that were becoming the bane of my life.
Rather than entering appointments for the next 12
months for every second Tuesday of the month, I could write down one
appointment and then tell the assistant how to schedule all future
meetings.
It was wonderful! It was like having an executive
assistant that would keep an eye on my schedule and keep me on track
all day.
I was free to focus my energy on the task at hand
and trust that I wasn't forgetting anything - or wasn't supposed to
be somewhere else.
To me this seems to be a model of how technology
is meant to empower our lives.
The technological device gives us tools we use to
take care of the detailed drudgery of our work day and free us up
to use our talents as creatively and humanly as possible.
There is no way I can imagine a machine will be able
to replace a loving touch, a concerned listener and a friendly smile.
That's the work of human beings who are intentional about being in
relationship with other people.
The technology, however, can free us from worrying
about things beyond what we can handle at the moment. It can empower
us to focus on the creative parts and be more present in the moment.
Technology is a partner and a tool in ministry, never
an end to itself.
[The Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, rector of Trinity
Church, Bethlehem, serves on our diocesan communication ministry,
teaches physics and astronomy at Lehigh University and serves as a
member of the board of director for Ecunet
which provides collaboration solutions for Quest,
the Anglican Electronic Communications Network. Nick's web site is
http://www.wnknisely.org/.]
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- Bethlehem News
Maggie and Dan Land,
who Ministered in the Diocese of Bethlehem and Beyond Retire to Wyoming
By Dave Howell
Diocesan Life, February 2002
Officially retired, Dan and Maggie Land act like
no one told them. Their volunteer work at Trinity Church, Bethlehem,
is well known, continuing a pattern throughout their 41 years of marriage.
They have been constantly involved in church work despite having changed
residences at least 12 times.
Dan and Maggie have now joined a new church, St.
John's Episcopal, and have plans for outreach in their new home in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They bought the house in 1991. One of their
three children lived in it for a time. They are now making it their
permanent home.
Their list of volunteer work since they joined Trinity
in 1986 is daunting. To mention a few: Dan was cochair on the nominating
committee that chose Bishop Paul, has served on the vestry, Diocesan
Council, and the Commission on Ministry, and has represented the diocese
twice at National Conventions.
Maggie served on the Trinity Housing Ministry for
eight years. She has been involved with quilting for AIDS babies -
when I talked with her she said that she had woken up and discovered
a needle in her pajamas that morning.
They say their two visits to Swaziland, where they
represented Trinity, had the most impact of all the tasks that they
have done for the church.
The Lands were told before they visited the country
that they would only be able to focus on one or two ways to help,
or they would be overwhelmed (they may have ignored this advice).
One of the countries hardest hit with the African AIDS epidemic, Swaziland
belongs to a group of countries where 24 to 36 per cent of the population
aged 15-49 is living with AIDS.
"The country is just beginning to see the full force
of the epidemic," said Dan, citing HIV positive cases turning into
AIDS victims. "Sixty percent of the tuberculosis cases and much of
the malaria is AIDS related," he said.
The Lands say the only hopeful sign is that the country
is officially recognizing the problem and trying to erase the stigma
of the disease. King Mswati III declared the pandemic to be a national
disaster two years ago.
"It is a passive society," said Maggie. "There were
no opportunities to make choices under colonialism." She pointed out
that it is also a male dominated society. "You might see a woman carrying
a 25 pound bag on her head, with a baby strapped on her back, carrying
a bag of groceries. Her husband next to her will be carrying nothing."
The Lands saw some of the effects of this in their support of Jacaranda
House, an orphanage for abused girls.
Maggie was impressed during a visit to a school.
"There were 55 or 60 students sitting quietly in a classroom when
their teacher was gone," she said of a scene that would be unheard
of in this country. She also recalled a time when a gift of pens brought
tears to a teacher's eyes. The couple talked of helping to get water
systems for schools and renovating teachers' houses that have no electricity.
"We'll see what God has in store for us in Wyoming,"
said Dan. Whatever His plans are, He surely knows by now that he can
count on getting a lot of work from the Lands.
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News
God's Children Together
By Ginny Rex Day Epiphany 2002
(Dedicated to Rob McMahon)
Diocesan Life, February 2002
Open our eyes that we may see Open our ears that
we may hear Open our hearts that we may receive
may we see Christ in all people may we hear Christ
in the pleas of all may we receive Christ in knowing
knowing that all people are children of God knowing
that all are loved by God knowing that knowing God comes from
opening our eyes so that we may see opening our ears
so that we may hear opening our hearts to realizing that
all of us, whoever we are, wherever we are, whatever
our circumstances of life, rich, poor, black, white, male, female,
gay, straight, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Native, Pagan,
American, African, European, Asian, Indian, tall, short, old, young...
all of us are God's children together.
[The Rev. Canon Ginny Rex Day is rector of Trinity
Church, Mt. Pocono.]
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News
Might your ministry qualify for a Faith In Action
grant?
Robert Wood Johnson Seeks to Expand Faith-based
Volunteer Programs serving Elderly, Chronically Ill and Disabled
January 22, 2002
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has committed
$100 million to triple the size of its successful national volunteer
caregiving program, Faith In Action. It intends to triple the current
1,000 programs, funding new programs in communities across the country.
In the past year, 249 programs have received Faith in Action grants.
Grant applications are currently being accepted for 2002.
AIDS Outreach at Grace Church, Allentown, and the
Berks AIDS Network have received Faith in Action grants.
Faith in Action awards grants to local coalitions
representing volunteers of many faiths who work together to care for
their neighbors in need. Faith in Action volunteers come from churches,
synagogues, mosques and other houses ofj worship, as well as the community
at large. They help keep their more vulnerable neighbors independent
by assiting with transportation needs, gorcery shopping, light housework
and friendly visiting.
Organization interested in applying for a Faith in
Action grant should contact the National Program Office toll free
at 877-3244-8411, or visit www.FIAVolunteers.org.
Deadlines for 2002 grant applications are February
1, June 1 and October 1.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton,
NJ, is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health
and health care.
It concentrates its grantmaking in three goal areas:
to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable
cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions;
and to promote healthy communities and lifestyles, and to reduce the
personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse -- tobacco,
alcohol, and illicit drugs.
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News
Our Ability to Communicate
I Saw my First Web Page in a Homeless Shelter
By Nick Knisely
Diocesan Life, February 2002
I can't remember which moment in my life had a greater
impact on the way I do ministry: the night in the homeless shelter
when I first saw a web page on the Internet or the day my first electronic
organizer arrived.
While volunteering as an overnight chaperone in the
shelter my parish in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, sponsored, I wasn't
able to sleep.
A friend had sent me a disk with a copy of Netscape
and the software I needed to connect to the Internet. I had used the
Internet extensively when I was in graduate school as a way of doing
collaborative work with other scientists, but that was just using
email - no pictures or multimedia files.
After a few minutes of installation, and a long distance
phone call, I was looking at my very first web page, www.yahoo.com.
Yahoo had a button labeled search on the page. I
typed in the name of popular TV show (I wish it had been something
more profound) and pressed the button. Up came a page with hyperlinks
(a term I had known only as a theoretical possibility).
I clicked on the first one. It led me to an homage
page that a teenage fan in New Jersey had posted about his favorite
actress.
I stared at the young boy's writing and the pictures
on the screen. Just outside of Pittsburgh at 2 a.m, I had easily found
this unknown young man's thoughts about something clearly important
to him.
Something clicked in the deep recesses of my brain.
I realized that our ability to communicate with one another had taken
a quantum leap forward.
It used to frustrate me that I was cut off from the
daily news about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion I
had access to when I was in seminary. Brackenridge was overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic and the local media carried religious news only if
it was of interest to the largest body of their consumers.
There were few Anglicans in town. So we simply didn't
hear what was happening unless we read it months later in a second
hand copy of The Living Church or in our diocesan newspaper.
On the computer monitor in front of me, however,
was a tool that would allow individuals to communicate directly with
whoever made the effort to find them. I no longer had to get my information
through "gatekeepers" who decided what information to pass along and
what to ignore. Suddenly I had a tool that would provide immediate
access to what was happening in any part of the worldwide Anglican
Communion.
The implications of the World Wide Web for the work
of the Church have been and will be enormous. They are just now starting
to be understood.
Anyone who is interested can know what is going on
at any given moment. As web sites are being developed, anyone with
an interest now has access to all the historic writings of the Church,
liturgies and alternative liturgies, national and diocesan canons
and rules and much more, all from the comfort of their own computer
desk.
The ability of a few in the Church to control the
flow of information and use that control to shape the Church's discussion
has evaporated. Both a good and a bad thing, it is the reality in
which we now live. As members of the Church we have to learn to live
in it. We may be moving into a new era of true democracy in the Church
- and we are going to have to decide if this is a good or a bad thing.
Bill Lewellis has asked me repeatedly to write a
column for Diocesan Life. I agreed when he mentioned that I might
be able to write about how technology is empowering the work of the
Church in the world today.
What I hope to do in the months ahead is to point
out some of the exciting tools and information sources that are changing
the way the church does its business and the way we Christians are
empowered for our ministries.
Some of the articles will focus on specific online
resources; others will talk about specific tools like cell phones
or pocket organizers that I have found helpful. We might even think
about larger issues of technology like cloning or the impact of industrial
growth.
Next time, I'll tell you how the ability to program
a recurring appointment on a pocket organizer let me truly become
a better listener.
[The Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, rector of Trinity
Church, Bethlehem, serves on our diocesan communication ministry,
teaches physics and astronomy at Lehigh University and serves as a
member of the board of director for Ecunet
which provides collaboration solutions for Quest,
the Anglican Electronic Communications Network. Nick's web site is
www.wnknisely.org
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News
Anne Kitch's New Book
Church Mice Teach Evangelism to Toddlers
By Bill Lewellis
Diocesan Life, February 2002
Morehouse Publishing editorial director Debra Farrington
tells me the Awww! factor around Anne Kitch's new board book, One
Little Church Mouse is high. "People look at it and they just
go Awww! as in Wow!"
"It's the perfect book about evangelism and the nature
of the church for toddlers," Farrington said.
She's gotta be kidding, I thought. She wasn't. Nor
is Kitch.
Kids whose parents read One Little Church Mouse
to them and give them time to linger over the many mouse illustrations
by Teri Weidner will have learned something basic in a fun way about
the "E" word adults don't deal well with.
The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch is canon for Christian
formation at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, and
mother of Sophie, 4, and Lucy, 2.
One Little Church Mouse is her second book
for toddlers.
Her first, Bless This Day is a prayer book
for toddlers based on lines from the psalms that illustrate simple
activities in a toddler's life from taking a bath to buckling a seat
belt.
Morehouse has contracted with Kitch also for a book
for "older" children, 3 to 5, on how God blesses what we do during
the day. Bless The Way has been tentatively scheduled for 2003.
Kitch won the right to have her first book published
by way of a Morehouse nationwide contest in which more than 500 manuscripts
were submitted in a books for children category.
"Anne has turned out to be our best-selling children's
author," Farrington said, "selling double what any of our other children's
books sell. One reason her books sell so well is that people across
all sorts of denominational lines and beliefs find them wonderful."
"Our books don't usually sell in the Catholic market,"
Farrington added, "but Bless This Day does. It sells equally
well in the evangelical market. It has a quality that speaks to everyone,
without regard to right, left, Protestant, Catholic or Evangelical.
I think that will be true of One Little Church Mouse as well."
Ordained a priest in 1995, Kitch had been asked to
preach at Matthew Shepard's funeral when her husband's cousin was
murdered in a gay-bashing incident in Wyoming.
"The combination of all the protesters and the media
attention was intimidating," she recalls, "but I was determined that
God's message of love be heard."
She came to the Cathedral Church of the Nativity
in 1999.
In August of 2000, she was part of a "stellar grads
from two decades ago" feature in the Ladies Home Journal. She was
voted "most dramatic" by her Park Hills High School class in Fairborn,
Ohio.
After college, Kitch became a teacher. But something
was wrong. "I wanted to do so much more for kids," she said, "things
I could do only if I were ordained."
Diocesan Life received an advance copy of
One Little Church Mouse. It won't make it to bookstores before
March, but may be ordered directly from Morehouse
Publishing (800-877-0012). It sells for $6.95.
[The Rev. Canon Bill Lewellis has served as communication
minister/editor for the Diocese of Bethlehem since 1986.]
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News
Diocesan Training
Day
March 16, 2002
January 28, 2002
To The Diocesan Community
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
It is my pleasure to bring you information about
the 2002 Diocesan Training Day.
This annual gathering of the diocesan community provides
a wonderful opportunity for us to come together to re-connect, to
learn, to grow, to try new things, to celebrate, to find inspiration,
encouragement, and energy for our common mission.
In the 46 workshops being offered this year, we have
opportunities to explore new ministries, strategies, and resources
to develop both our personal and corporate responses to the gifts
God has given us – strength for our own journeys and ways to strengthen
and support others.
As you read through the workshops you will see the
rich variety of offerings that range from personal prayer practice
to parish financial management to visiting in prison. This Training
Day comes as an annual offering to every member of the diocesan community
to come together with others to learn news ways to respond to God’s
grace.
In the opportunities for prayer and song and the
Eucharist, we will find our sights lifted, our hearts encouraged and
our energies restored.
I hope that you will do all in your power to assist
people in registering and attending. The February edition of Diocesan
Life also contains all the information about the day.
Please note the registration process and deadlines.
I hope to see you there.
Faithfully,
The Ven. Richard I. Cluett
See an overview of the
workshops
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News
Trinity Institute,
April 5- 6
How Then Must We Live?
At Trinity Wall Street
And as a live teleconference, on satellite
In recent years large numbers of Americans have been
reexamining their relationship to family, work, and God. September
11 has intensified this process a hundred fold. Now we are all on
spiritual alert - more profoundly aware of who we are, who we love
and what we care about. We are living with our eyes wide open and
asking with new urgency "How now shall I live?"
All our speakers are actively engaged in spiritual
formation, helping people in diverse circumstances to rethink their
lives.
Parker Palmer works primarily with educators. Roberta
Bondi counsels graduate students. Andre' Delbecq coaches business
leaders. Sharon Daloz Parks guides young adults. Phyllis Tickle shares
her prayer disciplines both in print and on the internet.
They have their fingers on the pulse of American
spirituality.
For
more info on the speakers
Teleconference Schedule (ET)
Friday, April 5
9:30 AM Phyllis Tickle
10:45 AM Break
11:15 AM Parker Palmer
2:00 PM Parker Palmer
3:15 PM Break
3:45 PM Sharon Daloz Parks
5:00 PM Adjourn
Saturday, April 6
9:30 AM André Delbecq
10:45 AM Break
11:15 AM Roberta Bondi
12:45 PM Closing Panel
1:30 PM Conference concludes
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News
St. James' & St. George's
has new Priest-in-Charge
The Rev. William McGinty has been named priest-in-charge
at St. James'& St. George's, Jermyn.
He was born in Derry City, Northern Ireland and raised
and educated in England. He was a teacher before being ordained a
Roman Catholic priest. He returned to teaching and continued his studies,
earning Masters Degrees in Religious Studies and Education.
In 1994, he moved to the United States and presently
resided near Milford, PA with his wife Maryann and his son.
Bishop Paul received him as a priest of the Episcopal
Church last September and he is serving as Priest-in-charge at St.
James' & St. George's, Jermyn.
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News
A Kajo-Keji Hoedown
in Uganda
The Gifts We Offered Became 4,320 Hoes for 8,064 Sudanese Refugee
Families in Uganda
A package from Uganda arrived at Diocesan House in January. It
told an incredible story.
By Bill Lewellis
Diocesan Life, March 2002
The story began with last year's drought in that
part of northern Uganda where refugees from our southern Sudanese
companion Diocese of Kajo-Keji live in settlement camps.
There are more than 20 camps in the Adjumani area
of Uganda.
"People are hungry," Bishop Manasseh Binyi Dawidi
wrote last year.
"Drought has been there for a year. People are suffering.
Rains have just started. When I was there, there was hardly anything
to eat. People hardly complain about hunger because their belief is
that nobody will listen."
Bishop Manasseh is the exiled bishop of
Kajo-Keji. He lives now in Kampala, Uganda.
Our World Mission Committee, in consultation with
Bishop Paul Marshall, appealed to churches in our diocese.
Churches responded with gifts of more than $19,000.
Trinity Church, Mt. Pocono, made a contribution of
$10,000. Church of the Redeemer, Sayre, $1,500. Church of the Epiphany,
Glenburn, $1,000.
Gifts of $500 came from St. Paul's Church, Montrose,
St. Mark's/St. John's Church, Jim Thorpe, and Church of the Mediator,
Allentown.
"Diana and I are dividing our tax rebate check between
New Bethany Ministries and famine relief for Kajo-Keji," Bishop Paul
had written to the diocese in August. "Knowing that adults and children
in our partner diocese of Kajo-Keji are dying of starvation elicits
my compassion - and my anger: since the beginning of the last century,
famine is almost always the result of political decisions that can
only be described as evil."
During the second half of 2001, we made several transfers
of funds into the Kajo-Keji bank account, routing them through Episcopal
Relief and Development. Most of the money was designated for food;
$2,200 was for bicycles.
The package from Uganda was for Connie Fegley, chair
of our diocesan World Mission Committee.
"After meeting several times among themselves and
with the United Nations Refugee Agency in Adjumani," Fegley explained,
"Bishop Manasseh and some of his church folk decided to purchase hoes
with $8,500 (almost 15,000,000 in Uganda shillings) of the funds received:
4,320 hoes.
"The package included the most thorough
documentation I've ever seen: a cover letter of thanks from the bishop,
copies of thank you letters from the authorities in
Adjumani, the UN and the Prime Minister's
office, page upon page of who received the hoes, page upon page with
rows containing every family name, their card number, number of people
in the family, number of hoes given, and a signature. In some cases,
the signature was a thumb print."
Fegley, a lay person from Christ Church, Reading,
has been chair of the diocesan World Mission Committee for the past
few years. On behalf of the diocese, she had visited a settlement
camp in Uganda populated by many refugees from Kajo-Keji. World Mission
may send another team of at least two people to Africa this summer.
Bishop Manasseh wrote the cover letter
that came the package, dated December 21, 2001: "I hope you are all
faring well and have already received the report of the distribution
of the 4,320 hoes to 8,064 Refugee families in the Adjumani area.
They were distributed to 14 camps, the Theological College and Amazing
Grace Orphanage. As you can see from the appreciation letters written
by the beneficiaries, they truly were longing to find hoes."
One letter of appreciation sent to Bishop Manasseh
by the chairman of the Elema Settlement included the following: "We
are very happy to inform you that we have received what we have been
crying for. We are now thanking you for having remembered us this
first time. Let God bless your hands and we expect that you will not
end with this assistance. We are praying that God will give some-thing
in your hand and we shall receive it again. We are also crying that
you could be able to help our children who are in school, especially
those in secondary school."
"How these people, who live under such harsh conditions
and with such deprivation," said Fegley, "would be able to pull this
off is still baffling to me! We discussed recently at our World Mission
meeting how difficult it is for us to comprehend the complete lack
of things that characterizes life for these people. When I was staring
in disbelief at page after page of this documentation, that began
to sink in.
"Only people who have nothing would be so careful
about acknowledging
something so precious to them as a hoe,
something that will allow them to begin to feed themselves more effectively
than they've been able to. There probably isn't a person reading this
who couldn't just pop into Home Depot and pick up a hoe without giving
it a second thought.
"I wish I could describe what it was like to open
and examine this package. I was stunned and had tears in my eyes.
I pray I have some small understanding of what a difference these
tools will make to them."
Jack Moulton of St. Paul's Church, Montrose, husband
of St. Paul's rector Elizabeth Moulton, is a member of the diocesan
World Mission Committee.
"When the refugees got to Uganda," Moulton
said, "I understand they were located in areas where the soil is quite
marginal. With the hoes they received, they can cultivate what land
is available to raise crops to feed their families.
"When I was in Mozambique two years ago, each person
was able to get two hectares of land from the government to raise
maize that would feed their family. In a normal year they could raise
enough to provide food for the family for one year.
"Most of Africa is in a subsistence agriculture,
not a surplus agriculture that could sustain refugees who are unable
to raise their own food. I would think the same would hold true for
the refugees from Kajo-Keji who are in Uganda. Uganda would not have
the resources to be able to feed their own people plus the refugees
nor would they cultivate and raise the maize for the refuges."
A trained professional farm manager soon to retire
as manager of the Northampton County Conservation District, Moulton
has worked for over 37 years with nonprofit lead agricultural organizations
using US Aid International Development funds on people-to-people type
programs.
"Africa is one of the continents where USAID programs
are being conducted," he said, "thus my interest."
Since 1994 Moulton has been doing volunteer work
in Russia, Romania, Macedonia and Mozambique with ACDI/VOCA, a private
economic development organization that resulted from the merger of
Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers
in Overseas Cooperative Assistance. Each had over 30 years of experience
in agricultural and cooperative development.
"Hoes to the refugees from Kajo-Keji," Moulton said,
"would be like our
farmers getting a tractor from someone;
the refugees from Kajo-Keji are now able to raise their own food on
land that might be made available to them by the Ugandans or back
in their own country of the Sudan.
"The hoes gives them dignity and hope as providers
for their families, all we take for granted. The cost of the hoe would
be a year's salary for some."
[The Rev. Canon Bill Lewellis has been communication
minister/editor for the Diocese of Bethlehem since 1986. Connie Fegley
and Jack Moulton provided significant help with this story.]
Sidebar
Kajo-Keji is the Southernmost Diocese in the Persecuted Episcopal
Church of the Sudan
Until 1974, Sudan was a single diocese under the
archbishop in Jerusalem. Today, our companion Diocese of Kajo-Keji,
is the southernmost of 24 dioceses of the persecuted Episcopal Church
of the Sudan.
Since 1956 when Sudan became independent, the country
and the church have suffered through a series of civil wars, violent
persecutions of Christians and, in this decade, displacement of almost
5 million people.
There was a period of peace between the Muslim/Arab
north and the Christian and Animist south, 1972-83, when fundamentalist
Muslims from the north who thought themselves to be the only true
believers began to oppress and persecute the Christian south in order
to convert the people there.
According to Bishop Manasseh Binyi Dawidi,
exiled bishop of Kajo-Keji, Muslims have declared a jihad, or holy
war. "They have burned church buildings with pastors in them," he
said. "In Khartoum, they took bulldozers and knocked down church buildings.
"They claim the south is fighting Islam. The south
is not fighting Islam. We have Muslims who are our brothers." More
than 1.5 million people were killed during the 1990s. Yet the church
has experienced explosive growth.
Because the territory covered by the Diocese of Kajo-Keji,
bordering northern Uganda, is a strategic position for rebel forces,
the war by the Khartoum Muslim government has been waged there even
more fiercely than in some other places in southern Sudan. Bishop
Manasseh and his people have had to flee, many to refugee camps in
Uganda.
Dominant throughout the south, the Anglican Church
has grown with amazing speed during the period of persecution. Because
all other institutions have been destroyed, the church will have a
crucial role in helping to rebuild.
The Republic of the Sudan extends over 966,757 square
miles. There are five million Anglicans in a population of more than
30 million. Over 70% of the people are Muslims. Some 10% are of the
traditional animist belief. There are 22 bishops and 2,923 clergy.
The people of Kajo-Keji need our help. The companion
diocese relationship between Bethlehem and Kajo-Keji began on January
1, 2001, and will run for five years. It can be renewed by mutual
consent.
You can help by praying for relief from the suffering
of famine, genocide and persecution faced by the people. Write, email
or call your Congressman and Senator to seek an end to the civil war
in a way that ensures the safety of the southern Sudanese and ends
slavery and other human rights violations.
Bishop Manasseh has said the Sudan needs America
"to be our voice, to be advocates for peace, to raise awareness to
the world so the government will agree to a peaceful dialogue."
Make a monetary offering payable to the Diocese of
Bethlehem and designated for "The Kajo-Keji Fund."
If you feel called to serve in this special ministry,
speak with Connie Fegley for
more information.
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St. Elizabeth's,
Allenton, Votes to Move; Calls Scott Allen as Rector
Note #14389 from Scott Allen to BETHLEHEM OF PA:
On a day where the Gospel focused on the call of
Jesus to his four original disciples, St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church
Allentown met at their Annual Meeting to consider a proposal to move
the congregation from its present site to another area of Allentown
the Diocese has targeted for a new congregation.
After much of the Annual Meeting business was over,
the Interim Rector asked for a period of silence before the vote was
taken and then opened the floor for any clarifying questions or discussions
before the vote was taken. Two parishioners stood and shared their
feelings with the congregation.
The vote was then taken by secret ballot and the
result was 16 in favor 6 opposed and 1 abstention from the quorum-established
meeting of the parish. Afterwards all were invited to stand and sing
"Spirit of the Living God Fall Afresh on Me" .
Afterwards the vestry at its organizational meeting
unanimously ratified Joan Laudenslager as Sr. Warden, elected Joan
Bonekemper as Junior Warden, discharged the Search Committee, and
unanimously issued the call to The Rev. T. Scott Allen to serve as
Rector of St. Elizabeth's Church. At this writing the Rev. Mr. Allen
is seriously considering accepting the call <wink>.
Please keep this courageous congregation and its
leadership in your continued prayers as we walk "one day at a time"
toward a new destination. Seeking to indeed leave our nets and follow
a Lord who calls us away from certainty and comfort for the sake of
the Kingdom and life abundant.
Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement
and support as we approached this day of roller-coaster-like emotions.
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Contemplative
Action
Spiritual Companions Retreat
April 26-28, Mary Immaculate Center
[From Howard Fegan]
The Spiritual Companions group is going to hold its
spring retreat at Mary Immaculate Center, Northampton, April 26-28.
The topic is Contemplative Action.
One of the challenges of Christian living is finding
a balance between contemplation and action. Spending too much time
on prayer and contemplation can lead us to withdraw from the world.
Spending too much time in action, doing our work or ministry, can
lead to burnout. How do we integrate contemplation and action, being
and doing in ways that draw us closer to God and to God's people and
renew our strength?
The Rev. Maria Tjeltveit, rector of the Church of
the Mediator, Allentown, will help explore this question through scripture,
discussion, and meditation, and seek a way of balance in our lives.
Maria has spent much of her ordained ministry doing
parish based social ministry. As a rector and the mother of two young
children she finds the question of balance to be quite challenging
and hopes to share insights as well as learn from others in this retreat.
The "spiritual companions" group is just the organizing
body; everyone is welcome, so please come and have a great time.
Howard Fegan
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IRS Mileage Rate for 2002
The IRS has announced that the standard business
mileage rate for all of year 2002 will be 36.5 cents per mile ( up
from 34.5 cents in 2001.)
Maggie Watkins
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Estimated 2002
taxes and filing dates for estimated taxes for 2002
Note #14500 from Maggie Watkins to BETHLEHEM OF PA:
Dear Croutons,
There are four steps for reporting and prepaying
estimated taxes for 2002.
1. Obtain a copy of IRS Form 1040-ES. Obtain a copy
of IRS Form 1040-ES prior to April 15, 2002. You can obtain these
forms at many public libraries, or by calling the toll-free IRS forms
"hotline" at 1-800-829-3676.
2. Compute your estimated tax for 2002 on the Form
1040-ES worksheet. This is done by estimating adjusted gross income
and then subtracting estimated adjustments, deductions, exemptions,
and credits. Using the data set forth on your previous year's tax
return is a helpful starting point. To determine your estimated taxes
for 2002, estimated taxable income is multiplied by the applicable
tax rate contained in the Tax Rate Schedule reproduced on Form 1040-ES.
3. If estimated taxes (federal income taxes and self-employment
taxes) are more than $1,000 for 2002, and the total amount of taxes
to be withheld from your compensation is less than the lesser of (1)
90% of the total taxes (income and social security) to be shown on
your actual 2002 tax return, or (2) 100% of the total taxes (income
and social security) shown on your 2001 return, then you must pay
one-fourth of your total estimated taxes in four quarterly installments
as follows:
For the Period Due Date Jan. 1 - March 31 April 15
April 1 - May 31 June 15 June 1 - Aug. 31 September 15 Sept. 1 - Dec.
31 January 15
4. After the close of 2002, compute your actual tax
liability on Form 1040. Only then will you know your actual income,
deductions, exclusions, and credits. Estimated tax payments rarely
reflect actual tax liability.
Maggie Watkins
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Note #884 from DKissinger to BETHLEHEM NEWS:
AWE: Children's Ministries
Events
Diocesan Offerings
Advocacy, Worship & Education Workshops Diocesan
Training Days St. Stephen’s, Wilkes-Barre March 16, 2002
Diocesan Curriculum Fair May 4, 2002 St. Stephen’s
Wilkes-Barre
Harry Potter Visits the Bishop’s School for Kids
July 20, 2002 St. Luke’s, Scranton
Harry Potter Visits the Bishop’s School for Kids
July 31, 2002 Nativity Cathedral, Bethlehem
Teacher Training & Nurture Day November 9, 2002
St. Stephen’s, Wilkes-Barre
OTHER OFFERINGS
East Coast Conference on Religious Education Province
III Christian Education Network February 21, 2002 Washington DC
V.B.S. Fair March 1 – March 11, 2002 Center for the
Ministry of Teaching Virginia Theological Seminary Alexandria, VA
Seasons of the Spirit New Curriculum Introductory
Workshop March 8; 9-12 noon First UCCC, Quakertown, PA 215-536-4447
http://www.spiritseasons.com/
Children’s Ministry Live Half Day Workshop March
9, 2002 Philadelphia, PA www.cmmag.com/cmml
Helping the ADHD Child to Succeed March 12 – April
9, 2002 (Tuesday Nights) Lehigh Carbon Community College http://www.rtcoach.net/
Children’s Ministry Live Half Day Workshop April
20, 2002 Lancaster, PA www.cmmag.com/cmml
2002 Children’s Pastors’ Conference Hand in Hand
April 23-26, 2002 Cincinnati, Ohio http://www.incm.org/
Learn To Teach Workshop Sponsored by Cokesbury April
27, 2002 Elm Park UMC, Scranton http://www.ilearntoteach.com/
Province III Network Retreat May 21-23, 2002 Rehobeth
Beach, DE
Christian Education in Small Church Ministry Province
III Synod June 2 –4, 2002 Martinsburg, WV
Christian Formation Conference The Stories Jesus
Still Tells June 23-28, 2002 Kanuga, North Carolina http://www.kanug.org/
To Baptism & Beyond Institute for Ministry of
Initiation & Formation for Baptismal Living July 7 - 12, 2002
Columbia, PA
Children’s Defense Fund Institute for Child Advocacy
Ministry July 15-19, 2002 Former Alex Haley Farm, Clinton, TN http://www.childrensdefense.org/
Children’s Ministry Live Half Day Workshop September
14, 2002 Lancaster, PA www.cmmag.com/cmml
Children’s Ministry Live Half Day Workshop September
21, 2002 Harrisburg, PA www.cmmag.com/cmml
Parish Ed Day: Adult Faith Formation October 4-5,
2002 Virginia Theological Seminary
National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths October
18-20, 2002 http://www.childrensdefense.org/
Children’s Ministry Live Half Day Workshop November
2, 2002 Newark, NJ www.cmmag.com/cmml
What About Faith Formation, Generation to Generation?”
Office of Children’s Ministries February 13-17, 2003 Chicago, IL
To learn more about any of these opportunities contact:
The Rev.
Debra J. Kissinger Missioner to Children & Child Advocate
Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem 333 Wyandotte Street Bethlehem, PA
18015-1584 (610) 691-5655 ext. 237 fax: (610) 691-1682 www.diobeth.org
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever
has." Margaret Mead
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Integrity/Bethlehem Meets to Plan Future
Changes format to meet current needs
On January 18 the members of Integrity met to discuss
a change of format for the Bethlehem Chapter which has been in existence
for over 10 years. Integrity is the organization for gay. lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered Episcopalians (both lay and clergy) and
their friends and families. You do not have to be gay to be a member,
just gay-welcoming and affirming.
When the chapter first started, a need to meet once
a month to share scriptures and the Holy Eucharist in a "safe" environment
was an articulated need of sexual minorities in the Diocese. The good
news is that all who were present felt both welcomed and affirmed
by their congregation and that our work over the past decade has gone
a long way to further that environment for participating members.
The strong support of the clergy of the diocese in serving as celebrants
each month has contributed to this result as well.
Low attendance at the Monday gathering spoke volumes
and the chapter was called to together to plot a course for the future
shape of the chapter and to better meet the needs of the membership.
In order to retain a charter from National Integrity, a chapter must
meet two main criteria---meet once a year with its Diocesan Bishop
and have a presence at the Diocesan Convention.
After discussion it was decided that the chapter
would continue and have quarterly gatherings at homes and other venues
around the Diocese, to which friends and members are invited. The
emphasis would be more on fellowship. The first Monday Eucharist will
be halted immediately. The Bishop will be explicitly invited to one
gathering to have a conversation and celebrate Eucharist with the
gathered chapter. Integrity has enjoyed a good relationship with the
Bishops of Bethlehem. If you would like to become a member and receive
a quarterly magazine from National Integrity (and automatically become
a member of Integrity/Bethlehem) please go to Integrity's
web site to print out the application and mail it to the address
provided . National yearly dues are $35/year with $5 sent to the local
chapter. Persons who are interested in receiving these invitations
and want to become members should call 610-758-8642 or drop an E-mail
to integritybeth@mindspring.com .
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