Diocesan News

Diocesan Leadership Days gather like-sized churches to celebrate, learn from one another

On Saturday, April 24, and Saturday, May 1 representatives from Upper SC's congregations gathered at All Saints’, Clinton, for the first two of five Leadership Days organized under the banner of "Share the Hope" and according to church size.

Program-size congregations (average Sunday attendance 225-800) were the focus of the April 24 kick-off event, followed by pastoral congregations (50-140), who came together on May 1 to tell the story of their congregations, exchange ideas, and reflect on the road ahead.

In a series of presentations and small-group conversations, participants celebrated their congregations by sharing successful ministry initiatives related to worship, Christian formation, and outreach. They also learned of common struggles, defined growing edges, and identified resources to meet common needs. Bishop-elect Andrew Waldo served as facilitator for large-group discussion.

Bishop-elect Andrew Waldo in conversation with Leadership Day participants (click to enlarge)

Several key questions guided the day's work:

What is your mission? How are you unique? How are you known to the wider community?

What is your greatest strength? What are your new ministry endeavors? What are your joys?

What are your greatest challenges? What are your growing edges? What are your needs?

Visit the April 24 Leadership Day photo gallery.

Vocare 5 inspires Upper SC young adults

For the weekend of April 9-11, Gravatt served as home to Vocare #5, a renewal ministry for Upper South Carolina's young adults ages 19-30.

The aim of Vocare is to concentrate closely on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. Our faith is seriously examined in a relaxed and loving three-day adventure shared with an international community of young adults. Participants strive to keep God first, find their place in his world, and look to hear Christ's calling in the heavy life decisions that young people encounter.

Visit Vocare on the diocesan website, and in the meantime check out these wonderful photos by Vocare 5 chaplain, the Rev. Bob Chiles.

See these and the entire photo gallery by Bob Chiles here.

York Place launches Carruthers Cottage initiative

Your gift will honor a beloved bishop and help the children of York Place.

Do not let the term “cottage” mislead you! Carruthers Cottage is a large brick structure near the Hillside Lane entrance to the York Place campus and is named for Thomas Neely Carruthers. Fondly remembered by those he confirmed, mentored, ordained and countless people he served, he was the 10th bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina from 1944 until his death in 1960.

Designed to be a residence, Carruthers Cottage has been awaiting a new use since York Place's Richardson Treatment and Evaluation Center – which includes living space – opened two years ago. The plan is for Carruthers to be converted into a spacious learning center with classrooms, media center, library, and computer lab. It will be in Carruthers that the trained staff from York School District together with trained York Place staff will work with children whose needs require that they have special attention before they can attend area public schools.

This initiative needs the support of all Episcopalians in the state of South Carolina to become a reality. Estimates indicate it will cost approximately $250,000 to complete the conversion and to outfit the learning center for use. Since this summer marks the 50th anniversary of Bishop Carruthers’s death, won’t you consider making a contribution both to honor him and to provide this vital space to children of God so deserving of the advantages the learning center will provide?

Kathy Grier at York Place (803.684.4011 X1013) would be pleased to answer any questions you might have about the Carruthers Cottage Initiative. Your tax-deductible contributions, which will be received gratefully and will be used wisely, can be sent to Ms Grier’s attention at York Place (234 Kings Mountain Street, York SC 29745). Please specify “Carruthers Cottage” on your gift.

Good news from Cange

By Jackie Williams

Artisans' Center quilt wins recognition in international 2011 "Dream Rocket" competition.

Click to enlarge

The Artisans' Center at Cange, an outgrowth of our 30+-year diocesan ministry in Haiti's Central Plateau that offers employment to local seamstresses and artists, has been recognized  for its recent submission to the global "Dream Rocket" project. The project is sponsoring an international competition whose goal is to create a massive quilt that will wrap around a replica of NASA’s historic Saturn V Rocket standing in front of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Entrants were asked to submit a 2' x 2' quilt square representative of their dream for a  better future. The Artisans' Center contribution depicts a simple Haitian scene--little house, palm tree, animals--and expresses the dream "as a longing just for a normal life, away from the squalor and rubble of earthquake-ruined Port au Prince. All we ask is a simple home, a bit of shade, a pig, a donkey...."

The entry will be displayed in many sites, including here, on facebook (scroll down a bit!). The Dream Rocket quilt in its entirety will be unveiled in May 2011, in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy’s May 25, 1961, pledge to “land a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."

More great projects--bracelets, rugs, and more

At the Artisans' Center folks are busy working with Fr. Buck and Lucy Close from the Springs Mill textile family One of Lucy's projects is Haiti Awareness bracelets. These are tediously crocheted from tiny beads, black with the red & blue of the Haitian flag. They sell for $25. and they are flying out the door. Each person who finishes one gets $5.00 cash, and this is a fine incentive.

Another popular project is rugs. Dr. Don Lineback, recently retired as the chief fund raiser at Furman University, spent two weeks in Cange teaching the technique. The rugs too have been wildly popular. They sell for $50 - $75 and custom orders are joyfully taken. Do you want a butterfly underfoot? Or perhaps a Fleur de Lis? Pick a color choice, and it will happen. See more styles here.

The Center continues hand embroidery, and the marketing strategy this year is to send a gift of a purificator to every altar guild in the diocese as a sample of the quality of the work.

Upper SC's donations of cloth, thread, yarn, sewing machines, and so on have proved invaluable. Any donations, clothing also, can be sent to Tim Wilson, Palmetto Adhesives, 112 Guess Street Greenville S.C. 29601.

Dr. Beth Kunkel of Trinity, Clemson has opened a shop of our Haiti goods in the building next to the church, Greenville Highway, Downtown Clemson. We hope all good Episcopalians will support this effort. Our goal is to have Sant Art ak Kouti (Art and Sewing Center) financially independent one of these days. Many thanks for your help.

Jackie Williams

Ecuadorian program begun by Upper SC's Cameron Graham Vivanco featured on YouTube

Education Equals Hope Scholarship Program is supported by a 2009 Upper SC MDG grant

The Education Equals Hope Scholarship Program, established in Ecuador, by missionary Cameron Graham Vivanco from Church of the Advent, Spartanburg, is the subject of a YouTube video posted by one of the program's Ecuadorian workers. The film focuses on interviews of Education Equals Hope students and parents who have benefited from the program.

In 2009 the Education Equals Hope Scholarship Program was one of the recipients of a diocesan MDG grant, a program which administers funding from the 0.7% MDG (Millennium Development Goals) line item in the diocesan Statement of Mission.

The Education Equals Hope Scholarship Fund exists to provide for the education of children in difficult and desperate situations. One hundred percent of funds donated to the program goes to the education of children in one of three Ecuadorian church communities. The scholarship program supports more than 100 children, and funds raised cover registration, tuition, uniforms, books, and supplies.

For more information about this ministry and others in Ecuador, please contact Chip Smith, csmith@ewprocess.com.