.......online
| News
from The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, Bill
Lewellis, Editor |
Presentations
by Bishop Paul -- Oct. 14, 21, 28, Nov. 5, 6, 11, 13, 18,
Dec. 2. 9
1. How we receive the Bible in the church
2. How the Episcopal Church thinks about questions of human sexuality
In a letter to rectors and wardens, September 10,
Bishop Paul said his mail on the two highly-publicized issues from
General Convention "has been about 50-50, which is usual, although
the volume is high." People who have written to him negatively
about the issues, however, "have in essence asked how the Bible
plays into decisions like this."
In order to address this question, the bishop said he will accept
invitations from parishes to do a two-hour presentation - a presentation
to which parishes in the entire region would be invited - on (1)
the crisis in biblical interpretation in general, how we receive
the Bible in the church, and (2) how we think biblically and theologically
about questions of human sexuality.
In offering to do this, the bishop expressed the "hope that
youth would be invited to such meetings, as they are the ones who
must still make many decisions in life."
All presentations will begin at 7:00 and conclude by 9:00. All interested
parishioners of the diocesan community are welcome to attend any
of the presentations. In his convention address, Bishop Paul added,
"I am requiring that clergy and that those who hope to be ordained
attend these presentations to reflect on their own way of teaching
scripture.."
"It would not be my intention to convince anyone of a point
of view, much less have a debate," Bishop Paul said, "as
there are many ways of using the scriptures present in Christianity,
but I would want to demonstrate how one Christian who tries to follow
Jesus in a thoughtful way receives and uses the Bible in the present
day."
Ten presentations have been scheduled All from 7 to
9 pm
1. Tuesday, October 14, Cathedral, Bethlehem, 321 Wyandotte Street
2. Tuesday, October 21, Trinity Church, Easton, 234 Spring Garden
Street
3. Tuesday, October 28, Trinity Church, Mt. Pocono, Trinity Hill
Road
4. Wednesday, November 5, St. Margaret's, Emmaus, 150 Elm Street
5. Thursday, November 6, Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit,
Church Hill Road (Glenburn)
6. Tuesday, November 11, EMU, All Saints, Lehighton, Coal Street
at Second
7. Thursday, November 13, Church of the Redeemer, Sayre, 201 South
Wilbur Avenue
8. Tuesday, November 18, St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre,
35 S. Franklin Street
9. Tuesday, December 2, Trinity Church, Pottsville, 200 S. Second
Street
10. Tuesday, December 9, St. Gabriel's, Douglassville, 1188 Ben
Franklin Highway East
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God's word is meant to
have an edge
By Judith Green
Diocesan Life, October 2003
Don't be deceived by the mild academic manner and gentle voice.
Hemchand Gossai is a revolutionary.
The new chairman of Muhlenberg College's religion department and
newly ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church is offering a course
called The Biblical Prophet as Enemy of the State. The title is
meant "to have an edge to it," he says.
He is also director of the RJ Fellows, a program at the college
for select students to explore activism and change in the world.
His own acceptance of Christianity, in fact, if not an act of open
rebellion, was one that troubled his family and himself.
Hemchand was born in then-British Guyana to Indian parents: his
father a "seriously religious" man who read the ancient
Hindu texts in Sanskrit, his mother "deeply rooted" in
Hinduism.
"My decision to join the church was a serious family issue,"
he says. "It was a painful thing, and it was not made with
any casual attitude." Over time, however, he and his mother
"were able to come to something of an understanding, if not
acceptance. At least," he adds, "we can agree that much
about religious belief transcends the narrow confines of one tradition."
When it came time for college, Hemchand decided against the relatively
new University of Guyana, where "the kind of things I wanted
to study - philosophy and religion - were not available.
"And then," he adds dryly, "there were strings attached."
University admission required a term of service in a paramilitary
force that was, in effect, the prime minister's personal bodyguard.
"I was disinclined," says Hemchand. "It was not a
place for me."
So he went to Concordia College, a Lutheran school (sister institution
to both Muhlenberg and Gettysburg colleges) in Moorhead, Minnesota
- a world away from his tropical homeland. "I had literally
never seen snow in my life," he says. "I did not own a
winter coat! I remember arriving there on a day when it was 78 degrees,
and I felt chilled."
He stayed in Minnesota for graduate work and ordination at Luther
Theological Seminary in St. Paul.
He chose the University of St Andrews in Scotland for doctoral work,
intending to explore issues of social justice and liberation theology
in the book of Exodus.
His advisor suggested a slight course correction, and Hemchand wrote
his dissertation on the 8th century BCE prophets: Micah, Hosea,
Amos, and the writer of the first part of Isaiah. The dissertation
became his first book, Justice, Righteousness, and the Social Critique
of the Eighth Century Prophets (1993).
His course on the prophets - Thursday nights at 7:00, Sept. 11 to
Oct. 23 at Mediator, Allentown - is an encounter with these visionary
men, and with others from Moses to Daniel, in order to confront
issues of our own time.
"Prophets do not function in society to make us feel good,"
he says. "They engaged in a head-on match with political leaders.
They challenged the established order. They challenge us to be not
only hearers of the word but doers of the word."
After teaching at St Andrews, Hemchand returned to the United States
where for a while he taught at a Lutheran and a Catholic seminary
and later at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. There
he met his wife, Shannon, and formed a merged family with his two
children, Nathan, now 22, and Chandra, now 18, and her son Zachary,
now 13. Four years ago, he came to Muhlenberg. Shannon remained
in Quincy, Illinois, where she works in public health.
Shortly after he came to Allentown, Hemchand made the decision to
become Episcopalian. "It was not new to me," he says.
"This was the church next door in Guyana. I worshipped at the
Scottish Episcopal Church when I was in Scotland. I've been thinking
about this liturgy and about the nature of community for a long,
long time."
After his confirmation, he spoke with Bishop Paul about a "bi-vocational
life" of teaching and ministry. Last year, he began the formal
process of ordination. He became a deacon in May and serves as an
intern at Grace Church in downtown Allentown.
"I have no idea how it's all going to happen or what lies in
store," he says. "I am open to my heart and mind, and
what the church's calling is for me - and frankly how I feel God
is speaking to me."
His wife is going through much the same quest, working over the
last few months with a discernment committee at Mediator. She, too,
plans to seek ordination if its answer is positive.
Though he's taught seminarians and laity, Hemchand takes special
delight in the 18- to 20-year-olds of his college classes. "Despite
what you may hear, many do not come in as blank slates. They have
different sets of presuppositions, and they delight in asking questions.
Somehow, the older we get, the more disinclined we are to ask questions.
"Sometimes a student takes a religion class that is required
and discovers he or she must take another and another and another.
I have an opportunity to give shape to these students. After all,
we are shaping not for livelihood but for life."
[Judith Green is assistant director of publications at Moravian
College and sings in the choir of Episcopal Church of the Mediator.]
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A new place for Grace
Bill Lewellis
Diocesan Life, October 2003
At Grace Montessori School in Allentown, where our vision statement
calls us "to generate a world of creative thinkers, lifetime
learners and community builders who are willing to work with each
other and are comfortable with diversity," said board president
Jim Peck, "we take children seriously and handle them lightly
to encourage their interest and cherish their wonder, to return
their empathy and accept their generosity."
Father of two students at the school, Peck spoke at a downtown Allentown
event that announced a $500,000 grant to the school from the State
of Pennsylvania to renovate part of its new home in the former Hess'
parking deck at Ninth and Linden streets where it will have 9,000
square feet of classrooms, outdoor green space, a safe drop-off
area and offices.
Grace Montessori School has been an outreach ministry
of Grace Episcopal Church, Allentown, since 1992. It will partner
with the Allentown Parking Authority (owner of the new property),
Theatre Outlet (an award-winning company and multi-disciplinary
community arts center) and generous financial supporters to develop
the Allentown Performance and Education Center scheduled to open
in September 2004.
Grace and Theatre Outlet will each be responsible
for half of the total project cost of $1.8 million.
The school has outgrown its modest beginning. Having offered consistently
high quality Montessori programming and daycare, it is now located
at two sites: the church at Fifth and Linden and an off-site branch
at 808 Hamilton Mall, opened a few years ago to accommodate growing
enrollment.
"This project is the culmination of over a decade's worth of
dreams and toil," said Peck, "and the beginning of a new
phase of our commitment to serve the children and families of Allentown
and surrounding communities."
Grace Montessori began when parishioner and trained Montessori teacher
Cathy Constantin and the Grace Church community, during the rectorship
of Father Donald Knapp, turned a vision into a plan to provide early
developmental support for children of the church's Food Bank clients
in an urban environment and HUD target area.
Grace is unique among Montessori schools because it combines a Montessori
educational environment with an optional religious component, Catechesis
of the Good Shepherd, in an economically disadvantaged area.
The children learn by doing, by interacting and by perfecting skills
at their own pace. The Montessori approach encourages children to
become independent thinkers and builds each child's self esteem
through "I can do it myself" experiences. It's an early
chance for children to take charge of their lives.
The children also teach each other. For that reason, part of the
mission of the school - enabled by a commitment to making scholarships
available to inner city children - is to mix disadvantaged students
and those whose families are able to pay full tuition. The Montessori
method works best when children learn about different cultures from
those who are part of them.
The ministry began in 1992 with seven children and a $10,000 grant
from the Diocese of Bethlehem. It now enrolls some 70 children.
One-third of the school's broadly diverse student body has received
some kind of scholarship assistance.
Its mission then and now, said Peck, is to provide young children
and their families a high quality and affordable early childhood
educational experience in a prepared Montessori environment.
"This year," he said, "eight trained or certified
Montessori teachers will serve 72 students operating out of two
fully-equipped, multi-room sites, including two classes of full-day
kindergartners.
"An active scholarship program will subsidize the education
of students who could not otherwise attend, and children with special
needs will be integrated into the learning environment. A professional
administrative staff will oversee the day-to-day operations of the
school and plan for its future. We will offer wrap-around childcare
informed by the Montessori philosophy. We will collaborate with
Lehigh Carbon Community College to offer accredited courses in the
Montessori method of early childhood education."
"Montessori education puts highest emphasis on the educational
setting," Peck said, "and this new space will improve
our programming in myriad ways. It will bring all students and staff
under one roof, increasing efficiency and allowing for increased
camaraderie and synergy among faculty and administrators. We will
become handicapped accessible and have more secure and manageable
drop-off zones. We will add outdoor green space including a community
garden, indoor gross-motor space, and superior observational facilities
for our adult educational programs.
"We will also have the capacity to grow the school even further,
potentially enrolling up to 120 students between the ages of two
and one-half and six."
The school's reputation for educational excellence, moral grounding
and diversity brings children from suburban families to the inner
city.
A downtown Allentown church of some 70 families situated near City
Hall, the Courthouse, the Art Museum, the Baum School of Art, The
Morning Call and Lehigh County Prison, Grace Church, www.graceallentown.org,
has been described as the largest small church in the USA.
Related outreach ministries in addition to the school include Grace
Community Foundation, a food bank plus that serves 200/300 families
every month and AIDS Outreach, a community-based organization that
provides nonmedical services to persons and families affected by
HIV/AIDS.
The church budget is approximately $150,000. The combined budget
of the church and the three outreach ministries approaches $500,000.
Most vestry members and one-third of Grace's parishioners are actively
involved in one or more of these three ministries. A significant
percent of the board members of the three ministries are parishioners.
Canon Bill Lewellis, editor and communication minister for the Diocese
of Bethlehem, has been a parishioner at Grace Church since 1981.
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Episcopal Church
approves Interim Eucharistic Sharing with Moravians
By The Rev. Canon Jane Teter
Diocesan Life, October 2003
General Convention 2003 of the Episcopal Church approved interim
Eucharistic sharing with the Moravian Church in America.
A dialogue between the two churches was established by our 1997
Convention and continued by Convention 2000 which also recommended
interim Eucharistic sharing. The goal set by the dialogue is "common
Christian mission through full communion in faith, life and witness."
When the Moravians met in their Provincial Synods last summer, both
the Northern and Southern Provinces approved interim Eucharistic
sharing.
The proposal adopted means that (1) Moravian Provincial Elders'
Conferences and Episcopal diocesan authorities are encouraged to
authorize joint celebrations of Eucharist; (2) an authorized liturgy
of the host church must be used, with ordained ministers of both
standing at the communion table for the Great Thanksgiving; and
(3) the preacher may be from either church.
Most of us in the Diocese of Bethlehem have heard of Moravians.
This was not so at convention in Minneapolis.
Several Moravians attending General Convention led singing and prayers
during a Singstunde. We were expecting some 50 people to attend.
Over 350 were there! It was wonderful and heartwarming.
These are some of the facts shared by the Ven. David Veal, an Episcopal
member of the Moravian-Episcopal dialogue, at the hearing on the
interim sharing resolution.
The Moravians are not just another group of German Pietists or Anabaptists.
They are heirs of the Reformation movement, a hundred years older
than Lutheranism. Their roots are in the reform movement started
by Jan Hus, the dean and master of the University of Prague.
When he was martyred in 1415, his desire to see the church reformed
and renewed did not die with him. A union advocating reform within
the Church Catholic was organized and called the Unitas Fratrum.
We have much in common. Like us, the Moravians adhere to the authority
of Holy Scripture, but are not fundamentalists. Their official position
is that "the Triune God as revealed in Holy Scripture is the
only source of our life and salvation."
Like us, the Moravians are not a confessional body. However, they
are Nicene Christians and they teach and believe the doctrines of
the Apostles and Nicene creeds.
Like us, the Moravians know the church to be more than a mere assembly
of like-minded people. The church is a family into which we are
born in baptism and in which we are nourished regularly at our Father's
board, the Holy Communion. Differences of opinion among the members
are not only tolerated, they are expected and accepted as a sign
of the vigor and vitality of the family.
Like us, the Unitas Fratrum is an inter-national body and an inclusive
one, embracing men and women of many races and nations. All Church
offices are open to all qualified persons (without regard to sex
or race).
Like us, the Moravians have retained the traditional orders of ordained
ministry: bishops, presbyters, and deacons.
Like us, they have retained the historic episcopate. They were convinced
that their bishops received valid apostolic consecration and they
have carefully maintained the succession.
Like us, the Moravian Church is a liturgical church. Moravian forms
of worship are rich and varied. Like us, the Moravians are not puritanical.
They are famous for their use of instrumental music in worship and
they were a beacon on musical creativity in colonial America. Their
love of feasting and dancing led Anglican observers to label them
"a merry people." We have much we can learn from the Moravians
and, perhaps, they can learn a few things from us.
[The Rev. Canon Jane Teter is Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of
Bethlehem. She serves on the national Moravian-Episcopal dialogue
as an appointee of the Presiding Bishop.]
Unitas Fratrum is the ancient name by which the Moravian
Church, which got its start in Moravia and Bohemia, was first known.
It is a Latin phrase meaning, Unity of the Brethren. Worldwide,
it is still the official name.
The history of the Moravian Church is usually divided into two eras:
1) the time of the Ancient Unity in Moravia and Bohemia after the
martyrdom of John Hus; and 2) the time of the Renewed Church which
flourished in Germany after a party of religious refugees found
a safe haven on the estate of Count Zinzendorf.
The desire to spread the Gospel carried the Moravian Church around
the world. There are 700,000 Moravians in more than a dozen countries,
including Canada, Czechoslovakia, Jamaica, Germany, Guyana, Honduras,
Nicaragua, South Africa, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United
States.
As the Moravian Church in America became established as an autonomous
church body after the Unity Synod of 1848, Bethlehem and Winston-Salem
became headquarters of the two U.S. provinces (Northern and Southern).
Combined, the provinces have some 160 parishes and 50,000 members,
and have been in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America since 1999.
The Moravian Church in the United Kingdom has engaged in significant
dialogue with the Church of England, producing the Fetter Lane Common
Statement in 1995. For more information on commitments between the
Church of England and the Moravian Church in Britain and Ireland,
see www.cofe.anglican.org/ccu/moravian.
For more information about the Moravian Church in America, visit
www.moravian.org.
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Welcome
to Camp GC
By Barbara Cameron Caum
Diocesan Life -- September 2003
"Welcome to Camp General Convention!" the House of Deputies'
Chaplain said to us as we gathered for our first legislative session.
We laughed - but, by the end of our time together, it became clear
there was truth in that statement. The ten days, stretched to two
weeks for some of us, was a marathon. Alarms went off as early as
4:30 a.m. in hotel rooms while groggy deputies and bishops arose
to face another day which began with legislative committee meetings
and hearings at 7:00 or 7:30, worship at 9:30, legislative sessions
until 1:00, an hour and a half for lunch, which in most cases meant
yet another committee meeting, legislation until 6:00, a break for
dinner, more meetings, late night press briefings, Compline at Gethsemane
Church, typing up reports, calling home, checking email, and finally
falling into an exhausted sleep for the next day. The alarm clocks
surely had the sound of camp reveille.
The gathering of the Episcopal Church has many aspects of a family
reunion. Old friends, seminary classmates, former parishioners,
committee members, co-workers catch sight of each other in the crowded
halls, restaurants, sidewalks, hotels and walkways. They hug or
shake hands, happy to connect again. As in many families, there
are old rivalries and disagreements. Somehow the thousands of people
manage to gather at tables to pray, study and legislate with patience
and grace.
It was always in our minds that the last General Convention in Minneapolis
was perhaps one of the Church's most dramatic gatherings. The passionate
debates, long hours and talk of schism had hung in the air of this
city before. That was in 1976 when the question was women's ordination.
This time the focus was on the confirmation of a bishop-elect who
was openly gay. This time the Houses of Bishops and Deputies, through
prayer, conversation and debate tried to discern the will of the
Holy Spirit while over 300 members of the press with cameras, lights
and satellite uplinks watched every move and chased after anyone
wearing a purple shirt. (Our own wise bishop avoided wearing purple
whenever possible.)
There was a reason Gene Robinson had a bodyguard. He was gracious
and patient, granting interviews and dealing with the crush of the
press wherever he went. When, halfway through convention, the allegations
against him were raised, the tension was palpable. People walked
around with a "deer in the headlights" look in their eyes.
Sometime during that period, I was walking across the back of the
display hall and saw Gene walking quickly across the hall with camera
crews running in front of and behind him. It made my heart ache.
There were moments also that made the heart truly glad. Moments
of humor graced even the most tense debates when, instead of shouting
in anger, people allowed a joke to ease the tension. Here's an example
from Father Nick Knisely's blog: "My favorite line as we continued
with the work of convention while we waited for the results of the
vote: We can't confirm this action on the part of the House of Bishops
- the software we're using to run this convention won't accept the
word "confirmation" when we type it in. I'm sure there's
a message in that somewhere."
Our youngest deputy, Hillary Dowling, was a member of the Legislative
Committee on Prayer Book and Liturgy, as were Jan Charney and Bishop
Paul. Their hours were excruciatingly long. Still, they found time
to laugh.
Our deputation's table became famous for boxes of Dots candy; we
had one perched on our standard and at the end of the convention,
when midday prayers included a photo collage, one of the photos
was of our table and the boxes of Dots. Hillary loved it. Like the
rest of us, she often said, "I'm never doing this again."
Like the rest of us, she later said, "It was an amazing experience;
yes, I'd do it again."
Our senior deputy, Canon Jane Teter, made her way through the endless
legislation with humor and grace. "One of the many highlights
for me," she said, "was the adoption of Interim Eucharistic
Sharing with the Moravians.
"As a member of the Moravian/Episcopal Dialogue, I was excited
to see our three years of work come to fruition. My hope is that
many of the congregations in our diocese will do some intentional
planning to share with our Moravian sisters and brothers in the
three year interim period. We have much we can learn from the Moravians
and, perhaps, some things they can learn from us. I am looking forward
to being in ministry together."
Archdeacon Rick Cluett served on the Legislative Committee on Ministry,
which worked on a huge revision of Title III, also a controversial
subject for some. "Some people are looking at the 2003 General
Convention of the Episcopal Church in terms of having won something
or lost something," he says. "My experience leads me in
another way. In all of the thousands of people - lay persons, bishops,
priests and deacons - who made up this triennial gathering of the
Episcopal Church, I found no radical ideologues of either the right
or the left. I know of no one who went to Minneapolis to have their
way 'come hell or high water.'
"I found only people of faith, integrity, compassion, and a
willingness and desire to discern how God might be leading the Church.
Each deputy had been chosen by their diocese for these same qualities:
people who had been sent to convention to wait upon God's Holy Spirit
and to participate in a communal process of discernment and decision-making.
"The people I met went to listen, to pray, to experience 'the
church gathered' and to make a contribution. I am very grateful
to have been part of the deputation from the Diocese of Bethlehem
which embodied this spirit: all prayerful men and women who placed
themselves humbly before God, the Church, and one another as we
sought God's revelation."
First-time deputy Father Knisely was everywhere. While those among
us with some convention experience often chose to marshal our reserves,
he attended not only his committee meetings, but lunch discussions,
hearings and late night press briefings. He also kept a blog, www.
wnknisely.org/blog/blogger.htm.
Here's an entry from his birthday, also the day the deputies voted
on Canon Robinson's confirmation: "At our seminary dinner last
night the seminary faculty handed out little pins of the Berkeley
crest. The motto of the school is printed on the bottom: In ill
qua ultra sunt (Into the regions beyond, or Into the unknown). I
decided that was what I wanted to have on me today - a statement
of faith that God is leading our church into a place we've not been
before.
"It wasn't the first time something like this has happened.
It has happened again and again in the life of our congregations
- and it happened again today. God asks us to be faithful, even
if we're afraid.
"The first missionaries in America knew this - now maybe my
generation will know this too. God is sovereign and God's will can
not be frustrated. So, into the unknown! God is calling us to a
new adventure of love and ministry. I couldn't think of a better
slogan for what has happened today..."
Deputy Jan Charney found it "hard to pick only one special
moment" when I asked her. "Although all the worship was
special for me, I guess I'd have to vote for the moment at the end
of the Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music Committee open hearing on
preparation of rites for blessing same-sex unions (where so many
both pro and con spoke eloquently and passionately), when we all
stood and sang the Taize Ubi Caritas, 'Where there is love, God
is.' It was for me a spine-tingler, a holy moment, at the end of
a challenging evening. I suspect it was as well for many others."
Jan sat right behind me. Her comments from time to time were so
funny. When we sang, her delightful harmonies floated over me.
My impressions are myriad. blistered feet, dragging my computer
to Communication meetings where I served as secretary, working joyfully
with a priest who walked out after the Robinson vote, but returned
later because he felt obligated to the people in his diocese, the
gift God gave me to be able to love him for himself and not worry
about politics; endless walks to the hospital where my husband was
in CCU; prayer beads always close at hand whether at worship or
in legislation; standing with 800 other deputies watching the live
feed from the House of Bishops; disgust and sadness at the Fred
Phelps picketers, laughter at the Flat Earth society demonstrators,
running to find lunch; finally not flinching to have to pay $3 for
a soda or $2.50 for a cup of coffee.
"Are you on lunch break?" the cleaning woman asked us,
as another woman and I entered the restroom. "No," I said,
"We're on a we-can't-take-it-any-more break." We all laughed.
As I washed my hands, she said, "Well, we certainly enjoyed
having you all here; but we'll be glad to see you go."
By Saturday night, there were no more familiar faces on the streets
or in the restaurants. I ate dinner alone in my room. Ned would
be released from the hospital the next day. The TV crews were gone,
the deputies and bishops and the thousands of volunteers and staff
were gone. I looked around the city and there was little trace that
we had been there. But the echoes of those ten days will go on for
years.
Engage God's Mission was the theme of convention this year. Now
the real work begins.
[Diocese of Bethlehem webmaster Barbara Cameron Caum -- bcaum@diobeth.org
or, if you prefer, barbara.caum@ecunet.org -- was a deputy at the
General Convention. She is a parishioner at Trinity Church, Athens,
and chair of the diocesan communication ministry.]
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Grace Montessori,
Allentown, awarded $500,000 grant
Grace Montessori School, an outreach ministry of Grace Church, Allentown,
which has offered high quality Montessori programming and daycare
for the past 11 years, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the
State of Pennsylvania to renovate part of 40,000 square feet of
vacant space as its new home in the former Hess' parking deck at
Ninth and Linden streets.
[Presentation of the award will be made at the Ninth and Linden
site on Tuesday, August 26, with the participation of Grace, Theatre
Outlet and Parking Authority and Diocese of Bethlehem reps as well
as city, county and state officials.]
Now located at two sites, Grace Church at Fifth and Linden, and
at an off-site branch a few blocks away, the Grace Montessori has
outgrown its small beginnings.
Its new home, designated The Allentown Performing Arts & Education
Center, will be shared with Theatre Outlet, an award-winning company
and multi-disciplinary community arts center. Grace and Theatre
Outlet will work with The Allentown Parking Authority, owner of
the property, to develop the space for opening in September 2004.
Grace and Theatre Outlet will each be responsible for half of the
total project cost of $1.8 million.
Grace will have 9,000 square feet of classrooms, outdoor space,
a safe drop-off area and offices. It will also share classrooms,
lounges, green space and programming with Theatre Outlet.
Cathy Constantin, a parishioner and a trained Montessori teacher,
and the Grace Church community, during the rectorship of Father
Donald Knapp, began the program with the intent to make early developmental
support available to inner city children who were coming with their
parents to the Grace Church Food Bank, children who would not otherwise
have an opportunity for a Montessori based experience.
It has grown from serving six to some 70 children. About one-third
of the its broadly diverse student body has consistently received
some kind of scholarship assistance.
The school's reputation for educational excellence, moral grounding
and diversity continues as well to bring children from affluent
suburban families to the inner city.
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Talbot Hall Grant Applications
Talbot Hall awards grants -- maximum $5,000 -- annually to Episcopal
churches and nonprofit, tax-exempt organization and agencies within
our 14-county diocese "to provide spiritual, emotional, educational,
cultural, physical and social opportunities for children who may
not have experienced these blessings." [Mission statement of
Talbot Hall]
If you have a program that meets the criteria of this statement,
you may be eligible for a grant. Grant application forms have been
sent to parishes. Application deadline is September 15.
The Talbot Hall guidelines say: "Our unrestricted grants are
for programs which are not part of the on-going maintenance or operation
of the organization. We are interested in pilot programs which have
the potential to become self-sufficient and in collaborative projects
between organizations."
Speak with Maggie Watkins at Diocesan House - mwatkins@diobeth.org,
610-691-5655 x230, 800-358-5655 x230 -- for more information.
The Church Home, formerly known as Talbot Hall, had, since its founding
in 1881, been an institution of the Diocese of Bethlehem, living
and serving its purpose in the climate of each of the times of its
life: First, as an institutional orphanage, then, as Talbot Hall,
a home for the care and rehabilitation in an institutional setting
for children and young persons whose own home lives had been so
disrupted or had become so intolerable as to necessitate specialized
care and training. A larger sense of public sector responsibility,
together with new techniques and approaches for combating social
problems and dislocations of the young, particularly in rural settings,
created a climate in which Talbot Hall no longer functioned with
the framework of its original institutional objectives. Although
the corporation governing Talbot Hall has been dissolved, its mission,
to serve the needs of "desolate children" wherever they
may be found and at the time and place they may best be aided, is
being continued by the Talbot Hall Fund.
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On Saturday, September 20,
in Scranton
A Conference for Wardens and Vestry Members
The Diocese of Bethlehem will offer a conference exclusively for
wardens and vestry members on Saturday, Sept. 20, at St. Luke's
Church, Scranton, from 9:30 to 4;00. Childcare is
available.
Several presentations will provide information and assistance for
people serving on vestries.
Among the areas to be discussed: the nature of the church, the diocesan/parish
vision, polity of the Episcopal Church, responsibilities of wardens
and vestry members, clergy care and diocesan standards for clergy
care, canons covering mutual accountability, ministry review, fiduciary
responsibilities, models of functioning for vestries/leadership
and communication. Questions will be addressed during a panel discussion.
Registration forms, to be returned to Diocesan House by September
10, have been mailed to parishes.
The Conference will be useful both to those who have had experience
serving on vestries as well as those who have been newly elected.
Clergy have been asked to encourage their wardens and vestry members
to attend.
If you have questions please contact Canon Jane Teter,
jteter@diobeth.org, or 800-358-5655.
Child care, up
to age 12, will be available for children of participants at the
September 20 Conference for Wardens and Vestry Members for up to
age 12 is available for children of participants. No charge. Please
pack a lunch and drink for the children.
Interested parties may register with Diocesan House, 800-358-5655.
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Grace Church, Kingston,
calls rector
Grace
Church, Kingston, has called the Rev. Geoffrey E. Howson from the
Anglican Church of Canada to be their new rector. Ordained a deacon,
1982, and priested the same year in the Diocese of Ottawa, he has
been deeply involved in social justice issues both in and outside
of the church. He served the Canadian government for five years,
1989-94, on its Immigration and Refugee Board while serving also
in interim positions in the Diocese of Toronto. He resigned from
the government to return to full-time ministry in Toronto in 1994.
Since that time he has served the church in Canada and New York
State. He is a graduate of the Clergy Leadership Project and a trained
presenter in the DOCC program of the University of the South, Sewanee.
He recently married. He and Jan, have six children: he has three
daughters; Jan has two sons and a daughter. Jan recently completed
her MSW at McGill University in Montreal and is now working in New
York.
Geoff has been accepted into the social work program at Marywood,
but is deferring for at least a year as he gets a feel for his new
parish. At some point, he will begin part-time studies there.
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St. James/St. George,
Jermyn receives priest-in-charge
Bishop
Paul has appointed The Rev. Paul Meglathery, retired from the Diocese
of Northwestern PA, priest-in-charge at St. James/St. George, Jermyn.
Meglathery graduated from Temple University and Episcopal Divinity
School. After serving two churches full-time in New Jersey, he earned
an MSW at Rutgers and worked over 25 years in social services, mainly
with family services, housing related problems and mental health,
while assisting at several NJ churches.
He moved to the Diocese of Northwestern PA in 1997 to serve churches
in Port Allegany and Emporium and retired from full-time parish
ministry last November. He and his wife, Kathe, now live in Susquehanna
County. They have four children.
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