St. Mark's in Jim Thorpe was built
to last
The Episcopal Youth Event - EYE
Canons Caum and Krieger
The Rev. Michael B. C. Shrubsole
Integrity/Bethlehem
Changes Format
If You Don't Make a Will, the State will do
it For You
Child Sexual Misconduct Prevention
Training
We are on a Transforming Mind, Heart
and Place Journey
Cathedral Parishioners serve
in NYC Soup Kitchens
Connections are Critical
Retired
Priest Rescues, Raises Grandsons
Video Library
Policies and Procedures
From The Morning Call
St. Mark's in Jim Thorpe was built to last
By Frank Whelan Of The Morning Call
April 12, 2002
(read the story online)
Gazing up at the granite gray mass of Jim Thorpe's
St. Mark's Episcopal
Church, set high above the town at the
end of a long row of 19th-century stone buildings, it is easy to imagine
it as a backdrop for top-hatted and hoop-skirted parishioners.
The wealth that built St. Mark's came from the heavy
industries of coal, iron and railroads. And the church reflects the
opulence of the era in which those industries held sway in this historic
Pennsylvania town, then called Mauch Chunk.
The building's pedigree is impressive.
It was designed by Richard Upjohn, the leading church architect in
America and founder of the American Institute of Architects. Its windows
were created by master American stained-glass artist Louis Comfort
Tiffany. The sculptural screen behind the main altar was reproduced,
reputedly by special permission from Queen Victoria, from those in
St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Victorian feel persists in St. Mark's sanctuary.
Elaborate ceiling beams
seem built to hang battle banners. Sunlight
filtering through stately stained-glass windows turns into shimmering
pools of blue, red and gold on English Minton tile floors. The reredos
behind the altar is carved from Caen stone imported from France. At
four pinnacles atop it, angelic musicians play heavenly songs.
Rector Rev. Kenneth Umbehocker notes that the congregation
has changed since the church was built. ''What was once the church
of millionaires is now a growing house of worship for working families,''
he says.
St. Mark's is a little off the beaten tourist path,
but worth visiting.
St. Mark's links to the noted Packer industrialist
family are strong. According to well-worn legend, Asa Packer was kept
out of the Mauch Chunk Presbyterian church when he refused to sign
a temperance pledge. Discovering that the Episcopal church was willing
to overlook his consumption of an occasional glass of rye whisky,
he joined that flock.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania gave a charter
for the establishment of a church at Mauch Chunk in 1835. St Mark's
first building, a small Gothic-style structure, was begun in 1840,
completed in 1845 and consecrated in 1852. This church was in use
until 1867.
To design a new building, the church vestry chose
leading architect Upjohn (1802-1878), an English immigrant and cabinetmaker.
The story goes that he was working in his New Bedford, Mass., shop
one day when he saw an architect's drawings of a proposed courthouse.
''If that's architecture, then I am an architect,'' he exclaimed and
began offering his services designing buildings, particularly churches.
What Upjohn did was not all that unusual at the time.
''There were no schools to train architects in America then,'' says
Allentown architect and Jim Thorpe resident Benjamin Walbert, St.
Mark's architect of record. ''Thomas U. Walter, for example, who designed
the U.S. Capitol building, had no formal training.''
In the 1840s, Upjohn designed a new sanctuary for
New York's Trinity Episcopal Church. He used Gothic Revival, a style
then becoming popular on both sides of the Atlantic. It was the start
of a fruitful career. St. Mark's was one of the last churches he designed.
George Wolfe Shinn included St. Mark's in his ''King's
Handbook of Notable Episcopal Churches in the United States.'' Upjohn,
he wrote, ''studied the scenery of this so-called Switzerland of America'
in order to adapt the designs to the peculiar surroundings.''
In a 1939 biography of Upjohn, his great grandson,
Everard M. Upjohn, writes of St. Mark's, ''the picturesque yet sturdy
mass clings appropriately on a mountainside . its late date might
be deduced from the large turret climbing up one corner of the tower
. ''
The cornerstone of St. Mark's was laid on Sept. 21,
1867. ''It is very pleasant to me as I sit writing in my study to
hear again the busy click of the stone masons,'' wrote St. Mark's
rector, the Rev. Leighton Coleman, in the February 1868 issue of the
parish newsletter, ''and to think that thus something is being done,
even at this season, to forward the building of the new church, of
which I am constantly feeling more and more the great need.''
The consecration took place on Nov. 25, 1869. ''No
one who was not present can appreciate the great happiness of those
who participated in the glorious services connected with this long
looked for event,'' wrote Coleman in December 1869. ''We were at last
privileged to worship in . an ecclesiastical home of our own.''
Coleman had every reason to be proud of
his church. The two Tiffany-designed windows in the main sanctuary
alone make St. Mark's worth seeing. One, titled ''The Road to Emmaus,''
depicts a scene from the New Testament account of Christ's encounter
with two of his followers after his resurrection.
The other, called ''The Breadth of My Love,'' shows
a beardless, youthful Christ, arms outstretched, walking in a rural
landscape. Both are rich with the colorful glass that is the hallmark
of Tiffany's best work.
Another high point of St. Mark's is its baptistry.
Frescos of kneeling angels hover overhead. Two many-branched gas candelabras
on either side of the baptismal font are the type of technology the
19th century delighted in. As Umbehocker lights one, blue flames burst
forth as from patriarch Moses' burning bush.
The current organ was built in 1911. It has 36 ranks
of 2,350 pipes. St. Mark's organist J. Clinton Miller notes that he
is pleased to continue in the tradition of music at St. Mark's.
Thanks to Packer's daughter, Mary Packer Cummings,
St. Mark's was one of the first churches in America to be equipped
with an elevator for the handicapped. ''She put it in in 1911 because
she couldn't climb up the steps to the church anymore,'' says Umbehocker,
''but the only time she was ever in it was when it carried her casket
into the church at her funeral.'' The elevator has been updated recently.
The days when St. Mark's was the church
to millionaires is over. Fortunately, says Umbehocker, its forbearers
amply endowed the church, making it possible to maintain it as a place
parishioners and the public can still enjoy.
frank.whelan@mcall.com
610-820-6751
Copyright C 2002, The Morning
Call
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The Episcopal Youth Event -- EYE
[From Scott Moore]
I just put the application letters in the mail today.
In the letter, it says the deadline for application is April 5. Because
the application itself is so late, I'm moving that date to April 12.
All the rest of the deadlines in the letter still apply.
Please let all the people in your parish know about
the change in deadline. Make sure everyone who wants to apply has
the forms - if necessary, copy the ones you get in the mail. See if
you can get your priest to announce it on Sunday - a good day, because
everyone will be in church!
If you have questions about the application process,
please get in touch with me right away.
Scott Moore
Moores@dnb.com
610-266-6398
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News
Canons Caum and Krieger
Bishop Paul has named The Rev. Ned Caum and The Rev.
Walter Krieger canons of the Diocese of Bethlehem.
Caum has been rector of Trinity Church, Athens, since
1990. In an area of the diocese bordering New York, far from Bethlehem,
he has been known affectionately as "pope of the valley" for his leadership
and pastoral care for clergy and people of all the Episcopal churches
there. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1962, he served in Alaska (Fairbanks
and Wrangell) for the next 28 years.
Krieger has been rector of Christ Church, Reading,
since 1979 where he has been a catalyst in the development of Episcopal-Lutheran
relationships. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1965, he served churches
in New Jersey (1965-73) and Ohio (1973-79) and had been a visiting
lecturer in Christian education and homiletics at the Philadelphia
Divinity School (1969-73).
Canon in the Episcopal Church is an honorary designation
given to clergy and lay people to recognize their contributions to
the life and ministry of the Cathedral or to the ministry of the bishop.
It is an honorary title comparable to that of "monsignor" in the Roman
Catholic Church.
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News
Obituary as
published in The Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre
The Rev. Michael B. C. Shrubsole
Deland, Florida, Formerly of Shavertown Died Wednesday in Deland
He was born and educated in England. He had entered
the novitiate of the Society of the Sacred Mission, Kelham, an Anglican
religious order.
During World War II, he left the monastery and joined
the British Army. Following his military service, he became an international
businessman and later moved to the Wyoming Valley.
He had been a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church,
Wilkes-Barre, and was a graduate of the EFM program of St. Luke's
School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.
Following his ordination to the Diaconate, he was
an intern at Grace Episcopal Church, Kingston. After being ordained
to the priesthood, he became rector of Holy Cross Episcopal Church,
Wilkes-Barre.
He retired to Deland, Fla., and was a part-time assistant
rector at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Deland, serving under the
Rev. Donald Lyon, former rector of St. Stephen's Church, Wilkes-Barre.
He is survived by his wife, Turkan Shrubsole, two
daughters.
Funeral and interment will be in Florida.
A Memorial Requiem Eucharist will be held Saturday,
March 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Holy Cross Episcopal Church, 375 N. Main
St., Wilkes-Barre. The Rev. Daniel G. Jones and the Rev. John Leo,
clergy of Holy Cross Church, will officiate.
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Integrity/Bethlehem Changes
Format
Members of Integrity/Bethlehem decided to change
the format for the 10-year-old local chapter. When the chapter 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. Those present at the January meeting felt welcomed
and affirmed by their congregations. Low attendance at the Monday
gatherings spoke volumes. They decided now to have quarterly gatherings
at homes and other venues around the diocese, to which friends and
members are invited. Emphasis would be more on fellowship.
Integrity is the organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgendered Episcopalians (both lay and clergy) and their friends
and families. Integrity has enjoyed a good relationship with the bishops
of Bethlehem.
To become a member and receive a quarterly magazine
from National Integrity (and become a member of Integrity/Bethlehem)
go to Integrity's web site,
to print out the application and mail it to the address provided,
email (integritybeth@mindspring.com)
or call 610-758-8642. National yearly dues are $35. You do not have
to be gay to be a member, just gay-welcoming and affirming.
The next social gathering of Integrity will be the
evening of Friday April 12 in Bethlehem at a member's home. Please
email (integritybeth@mindspring.com)
for directions. Members already on the E-mail list will be notified
with details soon.
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News
Will Pennsylvania be
able to read your mind?
If You Don't Make a Will, the State
will do it For You
By Char Horst
Although preparing a will can be a simple matter,
more than half of us will not manage to get it done. Clergy observe
all too frequently the pain that results when a parent or family member
dies without a will. The Book of Common Prayer (p. 445) charges pastors
to remind parishioners of this very important responsibility: "The
minister of the Congregation is directed to instruct the people, from
time to time, about the duty of Christian parents to make prudent
provision for the well-being of their families, and of all persons
to make wills, while they are in health, arranging for the disposal
of their temporal goods, not neglecting, if they are able, to leave
bequests for religious and charitable uses."
If we die without a will, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
will determine how our assets are distributed according to a legal
formula that may differ significantly from what we would have chosen.
The only way to ensure that our wishes are carried out and our family
properly provided for is to prepare a legal will.
It is important for each of us to prepare or update
our wills. As part of this process, please carefully and prayerfully
consider including a provision to help maintain the life and ministries
of your parish. You may wish to "endow" your annual pledge, or "tithe"
your estate. Whatever provision you choose to make, offer it in a
spirit of thanksgiving for the abundant blessings God has given you
and in the knowledge that your gift will be well used to help bring
about God's kingdom in this community.
In order to increase awareness of providing for the
future of your parish, last year Bishop Paul announced the creation
of the diocesan St. Matthew Society to acknowledge and thank those
who choose to support the life and work of their parishes through
bequests and other planned gifts. Anyone in our diocese may become
a member of the St. Matthew Society simply by making known that the
church is included in his or her estate plans. Members receive special
recognition and thanks for providing Christian witness to the importance
of supporting the future mission of their parishes. Brochures and
enrollment forms providing more information about the purpose and
benefits of the St. Matthew Society are available from your rector
or Diocesan House [and on line].
No gift is too small for membership.
Consider putting your will in order. Become a member
of the St. Matthew Society. May God continue to bless you in your
faithfulness.
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Saturday, April 27 At Prince of
Peace Church, Dallas
Child Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training
"This could never happen in our church" might be
your response when hearing about cases of child sexual abuse. We often
have a false sense of security about this problem. The sad truth is
that 80 percent of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone the
child knows and trusts: a parent, teacher, coach, and, yes, a church
youth worker.
We are working in the Diocese of Bethlehem to reduce
the possibility of child sexual abuse occurring in our congregations.
We require training in child sexual misconduct prevention
for all persons who work with children and youth either during "off
hours or off site" events. This includes nursery workers, youth leaders,
chaperones for youth events and all paid church workers. This does
not include Sunday school teachers, though the training is beneficial
and encouraged for all who work with children and youth.
The next training session will take place on Sat,
April 27 at Prince of Peace Church, 420 Main Street, Dallas (570-675-1723)
from 10 to 2. A registration fee of $15.00 per person, payable to
the Diocese of Bethlehem, covers materials.
Call or e-mail Linda Shifter at Diocesan House to
register: 800-358-5655 or 610-691-5655, ext. 222, lshifter@diobeth.org.
Firm deadline: April 22. Bring a bag lunch.
The leaders will be Christine (Chris) Sutton and
The Rev. Robert Nagy.
Sutton is a registered nurse, health specialist for
the Luzerne & Wyoming counties Headstart program. She is a graduate
of the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. She is also a CPR, First
Aid, and child care instructor for American Red Cross.
Nagy, rector of Prince of Peace Episcopal Church,
Dallas, assisted with the design, implementation, and training for
the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for the Diocese of Arizona.
His work experience includes management and organizational-development
consulting and, in the health care field, administrative and patient-care
roles. He specialized in neonatal and pediatric respiratory intensive
care.
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News
St. Elizabeth's chooses to move
We are on a Transforming Mind, Heart and Place Journey
By T. Scott Allen
Diocesan Life, April 2002
Their stories inform our economic oral tradition
of the opportunities afforded by a free market and capitalism: Steve
Jobs and Apple Computer, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Ray Kroc and McDonalds,
Sam Walton and Wal-Mart. All cultural icons of economic entrepreneurial
spirit. People who turned a small amount of resources into a vast
fortune. People who risked their financial and creative resources
to multiply their wealth, with no guarantee that they wouldn't end
up in the poor house, losing it all.
We who work in the spiritual realm often don't see
that casting our bread upon the water is a similar venture. To risk
something small for something big is not programmed into our heads
when it comes to the mission of the Church - though the scriptures
are full of heroes and stories of faith invested in God's economy.
To change, to reinvent, to transform, to re-cast
is the furthest thing from our minds when looking at our individual
and collective ministries. We in the institutional church come to
change kicking and screaming rather than with the excitement of being
a little scared, a little moved, a little hopeful or hugely energized
by a new possibility for our communal life and our ministries.
It began as a conversation with some of the leadership
of St. Elizabeth's. They had been obedient to the call process: having
a search committee, doing a self-study, preparing a profile, and waiting
for candidates to be given to them to interview. None were forthcoming.
The church had the resources to employ only a less-than-half-time
priest. The bishop who ordained me often joked, "I don't understand
why the Holy Spirit always calls clergy to a higher tax bracket!"
The church was waiting for something that probably
wouldn't happen in the near future.
I was in a search mode myself. Interviewing with
some parishes, not inspired by what I was hearing and seeing and just
hoping that the computer dating service we know as the Church Deployment
Office in New York would soon match me with the perfect parish. I
blew off some search committees and some blew me off.
Not content with our seemingly unfocused and ambiguous
waiting, I decided to try something new. On Pentecost Sunday I preached
about a twist in the path, using an image of Susan Guthrie about the
Holy Spirit's activity on that first Pentecost. I spoke about the
reality of St. Elizabeth's life and how they couldn't go on doing
what they had always done and survive, much less find a priest that
would be genuinely excited about their ministry.
We had lost a key lay leader. The reminder of grief
because of losing their former priest to death still hung in the air.
Then there was the lack of budgetary resources. All of that indicated
that this congregation, while spiritually rich, was in need of radical
surgery to save its life.
So we embarked upon a six week real self study -
ordering a Percept demographic and educating the people on the realities
of congregational life cycles and family size parish dynamics that
dictated how we, leaders and clergy, functioned. Taking all of this
we decided that we had to put everything on the table as a possible
future.
We came up with five paths.
1. Keep doing what we were doing and face certain
death. "Last one out turn out the lights," we joked among ourselves.
2. By some miracle do something we hadn't done/thought
of in our more than 90-year history that would cause the neighborhood
to stream through the doors clamoring for a place at St. Elizabeth's.
Right!
3. Join with our partner church, Grace Lutheran,
and form a joint Episcopal/Lutheran parish on the south side of Allentown.
How would that work?
4. Pack it in, declare our mission finished and farm
the orphan parishioners out to local congregations. That would have
been honest, but problematic.
5. Move, relocate to a place more conducive for our
present ministry. Our Percept study showed that the Episcopal Church
was not the first choice of the great sea of people in our neighborhood.
We had always fought a somewhat uphill battle in the neighborhood.
Now we saw why.
We put the five options out to the congregation and
asked for feedback, prayer and real discernment. Our oldest member,
Cass Boehrer, 100, said it first. "A former rector told us we were
in the wrong place years ago!"
Some other things were happening simultaneously.
The bishop and the diocesan congregational development committee were
hot to put a new congregation in the Schnecksville/Orefield area and
had the resources put aside for that. A new scary and risky thing
started to stir the hearts of the majority of the congregation..
So on January 27, 2002, at our annual meeting, a
large majority of those present voted to move, voted to risk something
small for something big, to take Sarah and Abraham up on their example
and to lose our life to save it. To invest the rich spiritual resources
of our community for a bigger dream and vision. To kiss it all good-bye
for the sake of deeper faithfulness to what we saw as our call. To
be spiritual entrepreneurs rather than religious commodity consumers.
Move over Steve, Bill, Ray and Sam!
We invite anyone who may be into this kind of journey
to join us in this mission. While we are still at Hall and Wyoming
Streets in south Allentown, we are pulling up our well-set tent stakes
to make our way to the desert of suburbia.
We feel often that we are flying the plane while
building it and are using diocesan and national church resources to
equip us for this exciting new ministry. We aren't building a new
building right away, we are building a congregation. We hope to find
a store front (or something like it) up 309, Cedar Crest Boulevard
or 15th Street (all north of US 22) to make our debut. It's a little
anxiety producing, a little frightening. It tweaks our nostalgia for
how it used to be and is hugely transformative. It's going to be an
awesome pilgrimage.
[The Rev. T. Scott Allen, rector of St. Elizabeth's
Church, Allentown, has served over 20 years in parish ministry and
on diocesan staff for social ministries. A graduate of Yale Divinity
School, he serves the diocese on the Commission on Ministry and the
Safe Spaces task force. Nationally, he serves on the executive committee
for Episcopal Peace Fellowship. He was the founding chaplain of Integrity/Bethlehem
and has two children: Olivia, 14, and Zachary, 8.]
SIDEBAR
"As
we find ourselves nearing the dawn of a new day for St. Elizabeth's,
the phrase 'Let God, Let God' has taken on a whole new meaning. We're
all experiencing a roller coaster of emotions, but have to trust in
our God, who is always full of surprises. The Spirit of God did wonders
with Abraham and Sarah, so we need to claim that promise for our small
army of believers, that God will breathe new life into us as we make
our move and relocate. Please continue to keep us in your prayers."
(Joan Laudenslager, St. Elizabeth's senior warden)
SIDEBAR
St. Elizabeth's Timeline
1910 St. Elizabeth's meets weekly in the home of
Mr. And Mrs. Charles Gilbert on Cleveland Street in Allentown; Morning
Prayer, afternoon Sunday school and Evening Prayer. Father Kline of
Grace Episcopal Church comes once a month to celebrate Holy Communion.
Later a building was rented for $1.00 a year. Six clergy and a few
seminarians serve the congregation.
1922 Cornerstone laid for building at Hall and Wyoming
in south Allentown. Bishop Talbot assigns first vicar, Father Van
Fossen..
1928 Father Benner becomes first fulltime vicar.
His sister pays his salary!
1940 St. Elizabeth's has 50 confirmed members.
1960 Father Packard Oakie becomes rector of St. Margaret's
Emmaus and St. Elizabeth's Allentown
1974 St. Elizabeth's becomes part of Associated Parishes,
a cluster ministry served by a team of clergy: Father Malcolm MacMillan
of Church of the Mediator, cluster rector; Father Ron Molrine of St.
Anne's Trexlertown, Christian education director; Father John Wesley
of St. Elizabeth's, youth minister. Father. Richard Cohoon assisted,
filling in gaps and lending pastoral care skills
1975 A Faith Alive weekend and the Cursillo movement
reshaped St. Elizabeth's spiritual life.
1979 Building remodeled and repaired.
1980 Cluster dissolves with St. Anne's becoming independent.
St. E's down to 20 members. Bishop Gressle considers closing. The
Rev. Richard Cohoon becomes interim vicar.
1981 Through Father MacMillan's efforts, three families
are recruited from Mediator to re-seed St. Elizabeth's. The initial
commitment was that they stay for three years. One of the original
missionary families continues on at St. Elizabeth's.
1982 Father Dunbar Evans becomes an associate of
the Church of the Mediator with primary responsibilities for oversight
of St. Elizabeth's, bringing a renewal style to the church's ministry
and life.
1985 Father Evans becomes first fulltime vicar in
many years.
1988 Father. Evans accepts a call to Florida.
1991 The Rev. Marie-Elizabeth Dyer becomes vicar,
then rector, moving St. Elizabeth's to parish status.
1999 The Rev. Marie Elizabeth Dyer dies from a brain
aneurysm.
1999 The Rt. Rev. Mark Dyer serves as interim
2000 (June) Bishop Paul Marshall assigns Father Scott
Allen as interim rector.
2002 (January 27) At its annual meeting, St. Elizabeth's
votes to move.
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On the six-month anniversary
of 9-11
Cathedral Parishioners serve in NYC Soup Kitchens
On March 11, the six-month anniversary of 9-11, 40
people from the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, led by
Dean William B. Lane, traveled to New York City for a day of service,
remembrance and reflection.
They began the day with prayer in the Cathedral and
then went by bus to New York City where they divided into three teams
and spent the morning and early afternoon serving in three of the
city's soup kitchens.
They regrouped at the World Trade Center and spent
some time individually or in small groups viewing and reflecting on
what they saw and experienced as they moved around the area of devastation.
Their day closed with prayer in Saint Paul's Chapel.
he Chapel is part of Trinity Parish and it is located across the street
from the World Trade Center. It survived September 11 without damage
and, according to Dean Lane, "has been a haven for the nurture and
refreshment of the women and men of the search and recovery teams
working on the Trade Center site."
Dean Lane said that a post Easter re-gathering of
those who were part of this experience will provide opportunity for
worship, sharing and fellowship.
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Connections are Critical
By Nick Knisely
Diocesan Life, April 2002
You can find the most interesting things when you
read an old contract.
When I was priest in my previous diocese, I noticed
there were some curious requirements in the Letter of Agreement I
signed with the church I served. One point stated that the parish
had to provide the clergy with a phone for use "inside" the church
office. Because this requirement was so out of line with normal expectations
of clergy-congregational relationships, I asked why it was spelled
out so clearly.
Apparently, in that diocese in the 40's and 50's,
telephones were seen as technological luxury for the work of the clergy.
Parishes and vestries often refused to have a telephone line installed
in the church building, citing the cost of the line and their concerns
that the priest would use the telephone indiscriminately.
The sainted priests before had never had a telephone
in the parish and had successfully ministered to the flock. Why should
the new priest need such a thing? Also, many of the parishioners didn't
have a telephone in their homes, so who was the priest going to call
anyhow?
So the requirement that each parish install a telephone
line came from the diocese because it was recognized that without
such a top-down approach, many of the clergy in rural parishes had
no hope of getting access to a telephone to use in their work.
One parish was apparently so upset by the requirement
that they had a pay phone installed on the outside of the church office
building and built a small shelter around the phone so it would be
"inside" the church.
I find this to be a fascinating vignette on how the
Church adopts new technology.
I can't imagine trying to do my job as a parish priest
without a phone on my desk. For that matter, I can't imagine doing
the job without a cell phone in my briefcase.
When the "new" technology of phones was introduced,
however, there were some in the church who couldn't see how important
the phone was going to be in keeping the members of the parish connected.
I wonder if today we don't see the same thing sometimes
with the Internet
Frankly I can't do what I do on a daily basis without
access to email.
Years ago I used email mainly to stay in contact
with other clergy or with young couples planning their weddings. Now
I use email to answer parishioners' questions about programs, to collect
and respond to sermon feedback, to pass along information to groups
and meetings in the parish, and to send emergency announcements to
the parish along with the phone tree.
Email is just one part of what the Internet does.
I use the web to read newspapers from around the world. I subscribe
to "clipping" services that send me lists of interesting news stories
every morning on topics I've told the service I want to read about
regularly.
I use the Internet to research sermons and Bible
lessons, and have been able to get easy access to some of the ancient
texts of which very few libraries have copies. I am able to use the
Internet to pass along the Sunday readings and the readings for Feast
Days to the people who have volunteered to read during the service.
I use the Internet to share my calendar with my administrative
assistant and my wife - so they know where I am in case of an emergency.
We can make changes to my schedule and be sure that everyone has access
to the same up-to-date calendar.
I use Instant Messaging programs to help provide
tech-support to people all around the country and the world, and use
it at home to stay in contact with my family members who live overseas.
The Internet is quickly becoming the "phone" of the
21st century.
In my next few columns, I will point out some of
the most useful tools I've found online. I will specifically talk
about how the parish I serve has been able to use these resources
to support its work and ministry.
My hope is that as I've been able to find some of
these services so fantastically useful, you might put them to use
as well.
If we do this together, you might be able to find
new ways to use the tools of technology so we might all become more
effective servants of Our Lord Jesus.
[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 on the
Ecunet board, http://www.ecunet.org/.
Ecunet provides collaboration solutions for the Anglican Electronic
Communications Network, Quest, which may be accessed at www.ecusa.anglican.org/quest/.
Nick's web site is www.wnknisely.org/]
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News
Retired Priest Rescues,
Raises Grandsons
By David Howell
Diocesan Life, April 2002
[This feature can be viewed with photos and maps
in .pdf format as part of the April edition of Diocesan
Life]
Father Henry Pease, 70, a retired Episcopal priest
in charge of a small parish near Wilkes-Barre and a part-time economics
teacher at King's College, is raising three young grandsons at his
Saddle Lake home near Tunkhannock. Though he considers raising grandchildren
to be an ordinary lifestyle today, how he rescued the children from
South America is anything but ordinary. It involves a murder and a
kidnapping that would not be out of place in a Hollywood thriller.
The former rector of St. Paul's Church in Montrose
(1972-98), now serving St. George's Church, Nanticoke, a parish of
some 25 to 30 Sunday worshippers, prefers to focus on the happy ending
of the story and how Francisco, 10, Dominic, 5, and Simon, 4, have
changed his life.
"In some ways it [raising his second set of children]
is a lot easier," he said. "I know a lot more than I did forty years
ago and I'm not involved in day-to-day work, so I have more time.
I plan my days on the basis of the kids' needs."
Father Pease is one of many householders raising
grandchildren. He said two other families on his short street do so.
According to census figures, 2.35 million grandparents in the United
States are raising at least one grandchild.
He noted that grandparents are healthier and stronger
today, though he admits to being tired by the close of an average
day. Because families have become less stable, grandparents have to
step in more often.
The volatility of society is one of the biggest changes
for Father Pease in his second round of parenting. "In the sixties
life was simpler. There was an atmosphere of greater safety. You can't
just put kids on the bus anymore and have them go somewhere on their
own."
Francisco, Dominic and Simon are sons of Father Pease's
son, John, a pediatric nurse who dreamed of starting a fish hatchery
in Ecuador. His Ecuadorian wife, Loli, whom John had met while he
worked with the Peace Corps, traveled from North Carolina to Ecuador
with the two youngest boys in 1998.
Father Pease offered to take Francisco then because
they all thought the oldest child would be better off with him and
going to school in Pennsylvania. The boy lived with Father Pease until
February 2000 when he went with his father to join the rest of the
family in Ecuador.
John spent almost a year trying to track down his
household goods, a small truck, a power shovel and shrimp hatchery-related
items he had shipped to Ecuador that somehow wound up in Colombia.
While in Colombia, John received news that Loli had
been killed.
Back in the U.S., in October 2000, Father Pease received
email from Quito, Ecuador, saying he should come to get his grandchildren.
He also received a phone call telling him the children had witnessed
their mother's murder. They, too, were in danger.
Father Pease went first to Quito, then to the island
of Muisne where the boys had been. There he discovered that relatives
of the children's mother wanted money for their safe return. One of
the children later told him that the family's name for Father Pease
translated into English as "man of gold."
John and Father Pease then went to Esmeraldas, a
rough Ecuadorian coastal city with a history of hundreds of years
of smuggling. Those who held the boys would not release them. The
Peases were harassed for hours by an angry mob that did not like Americans.
They left without being harmed, even though the police refused to
disburse the mob.
Lawyers representing the Peases and the dead mother's
relatives negotiated for days, "primarily about money in exchange
for the children," according to Father Pease. After the Peases' attorney
threatened to bring charges of kidnapping, arrangements were made
to have the children put on a bus at 2 a.m., to be met by the Peases
at a shopping center in Quito.
Having met the children in Quito, the Peases still
feared they might be followed. Their cab driver took them to the Embassy
Hotel on the opposite side of town rather than to the American Embassy.
They reached the American Embassy an hour later than
expected. Though more than a hundred people were waiting in line there,
the American Marines saw the three small boys and let all of them
in right away.
The next day they left the country, still receiving
demands for money and still worried about their safety.
The children explained to Father Pease as best as
they could what had happened to them. Though they are now fluent,
the younger two could not speak English at that time. Father Pease
learned the broad lines of their story over time. He continues to
this day to learn new details.
Father Pease has chosen not to pursue further investigations
in Ecuador. The most important reality to him today is that the children
are safe.
Francisco is receiving counseling. All three seem
to be recovering from their experience.
Their father, John, may have been the most deeply
affected. He is leaving the care of the children to his father while
attempting to build a new life for himself in Spain. Father Pease
is making arrangements to adopt the children.
Father Pease was confident that God was with him
in Ecuador, that things would work out. "I knew I would be able to
take care of them."
"I am in better health now than when I first started
to take care of the boys. God has been working through me so that
I can do what I have to do. That has been a source of great joy."
Francisco is in fourth grade. Dominic is in kindergarten.
Simon moves between a child care center and Head Start.
Ordained a priest in 1966, Father Pease served as
an assistant at St. Stephen's Church, Wilkes-Barre, for six year before
being called to be rector in Montrose in 1972.
Prior to seminary and ordination, he worked at Dun
and Bradstreet (Richmond District) and as a Bank Examiner for the
Federal Reserve in Philadelphia.
Today he serves the Diocese of Bethlehem as president
of the Standing Committee and as chair of the Personnel Committee.
For the past 17 years he has served as an Education
for Ministry mentor in Montrose and Scranton.
He has been chair of the diocesan Program and Budget
Committee, the Grant-in-Aid Committee (now Congregational Development),
and the United Budget Task Force, and vice-chair of Diocesan Council.
In the community he serves as board chair of the
Tre-Hab Center Community Action Agency, the Susquehanna/Wyoming Unit
of the American Cancer Society, and the Susquehanna County Chapter
of the American Red Cross.
[A parishioner at Trinity Church, Bethlehem, Dave
Howell is a frequent contributor to Diocesan Life.]
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The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem
Video Library Policies and Procedures
Effective March 1, 2002
Rental Length: Two (2) weeks per video
Maximum Videos: Three (3) videos or one (1) series
per person, at any given time
Previewing a Series: One (1) week to preview, if
series is wanted, ALL videos within the series must be returned except
the first. Each video will then be sent as needed until the series
is complete. After the viewing of each video, the video must be returned
promptly.
Reservations: Reservations can be made. Videos will
be pulled from the library for one month only. While on reservation,
the video may be requested, however, the video MUST be returned to
Diocesan House within one (1) week.
Late Videos: There will be a $2.50 per day late fee
applied, up to and including the day the video is returned to Diocesan
House, to the responsible parish and billed accordingly. The maximum
fine is the total replacement cost of the video(s).
Shipping and handling fees will accompany all videos
shipped from Diocesan House and will need to be paid upon the return
of each video.
For questions, please contact Diocesan House, 610.691.5655.
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