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[Episcopal News Service, London]
Describing themselves as representing the "broad center" of the
Episcopal Church, six bishops were welcomed Oct. 23 as guests of
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at his London residence, Lambeth
Palace.
"Our message was to say that the Episcopal Church is not a perfect
church, but … it is alive, it is well, it is vital, it is pursuing the
mission that God has set before it," said Bishop Clifton Daniel of the
Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina in an interview with ENS following
the meeting. "I came away as thankful for the Episcopal Church at this
meeting as I did for the Archbishop of Canterbury -- and I'll continue
to give it everything I have to further its mission and its life."
Daniel was joined by bishops Michael Curry of North Carolina, Stacy
Sauls of Lexington (Kentucky), Neff Powell of Southwestern Virginia,
Assistant Bishop William Gregg and Assisting Bishop Chip Marble, both of
North Carolina.
During their 90-minute meeting, the church leaders discussed a variety
of topics and concerns facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican
Communion, including the development of an Anglican covenant,
cross-provincial interventions, human sexuality issues, the Millennium
Development Goals, and the Episcopal Church's focus on domestic and
global mission.
Read it all.at www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_116008_ENG_HTM.htm.
[Episcopal News Service] A majority of delegates attending a special convention of the Charleston-based Diocese of South Carolina voted October 24 to distance themselves from the Episcopal Church and to seek "missional relationships with orthodox congregations isolated across North America."
About 300 Episcopalians gathered at Christ Church in Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, approved four of five measures that, among other things, declared General Convention Resolutions D025 and C056 "as null and void."
The two resolutions focused on human sexuality and reaffirmed the Episcopal Church's commitment to the Anglican Communion. Resolution D025 affirms "that God has called and may call" gay and lesbian people "to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church." Resolution C056 calls for the collection and development of theological resources for the blessing of same-gender blessings and allows bishops to provide "a generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."
Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina told delegates that the special convention was a protest against "false teaching, that I have called the Gospel of Indiscriminate Inclusivity [that] has challenged the doctrine of the Trinity, the Uniqueness and Universality of Christ, the Authority of Scripture, our understanding of Baptism, and now, that last refuge of order, our Constitution & Canons." The full text of Lawrence's speech may be read on the diocesan Web site, www.dioceseofsc.org. Read it all at www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_116025_ENG_HTM.htm.
Good Grief, Upper South Carolina, it's the Great Pumpkin!!
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Bishop Henderson holds an episcopal pumpkin bearing his likeness. The pumpkin, a gift from the people of St. Simon & St. Jude, Irmo, was carved by Jim Hayes.
Mitre Chat No. 6
“Which nominee does Bishop Henderson support?”
I haven’t decided. At present I have no choice. Please believe
nothing you hear, see, or read that implies or states that I
have.
Beloved, I don’t read blogs—not necessarily because of lack of
interest. I don’t read them because I don’t have time, and
because so many of them are more energy-draining than objective
and accurate. However, it has been reported to me that at least
one blog receiving much attention asserts that I am so
determined to control the choice of the next bishop that I not
only have a choice, but am attempting to force that choice on
the diocese. The assertion goes so far as to claim actions on my
part which are absolutely untrue.
I pray that I’m not prideful about most things—but one of the
things I have been proud of is the distance that I have kept
from this calling process. The truth is that at this moment I
couldn’t name all of the nominees without looking at a list.
Like most I am still in the discernment mode—that is, I pray
that “most” of us continue in that mode, driven in our
decision-making process by mission, not issues.
God may be calling any one of the nominees to be our next
bishop. Our task, as so faithfully and clearly explained to us
by the co-chairs of the calling committee, is to determine which
of the nominees we believe God is calling—by immersing our task
in prayer. So, like you, I will be praying—studying the
information we have from and about the nominees—praying—watching
again the visual presentations the nominees
prepared—praying—attending the “get acquainted” sessions with
the nominees in Columbia and Greenville—praying—studying the
ordinal in the Book of Common Prayer so as to be ever mindful of
the exact ministry of a bishop in a diocese and in the larger
Church—praying—and in dialogue with others charged with the
ministry of choosing the next bishop—and praying. It is God’s
will and God’s vision and God’s mission for the Church in Upper
South Carolina which we seek to discern as we decide the
nominee(s) to support.
But there will be no endorsement from me, as I have maintained
since I announced my decision to resign—perhaps you will
remember that I did so under the heading, “Don’t ask; don’t tell”. For one thing, Beloved, I know enough about the history
of episcopal calling processes to know that an endorsement by a
resigning bishop can be nothing less than the proverbial “kiss
of death”. And—I write this with a smile on my face—I know the
clergy and lay people of this diocese well enough to recognize
that I couldn’t control the election if I wanted to—nor do I
believe any one person could or should. But—again—the truth is
that I have not progressed sufficiently far in the discernment
process to have a choice.
So, let us continue our prayerful discernment together, praying
also for each nominee and his family.
Faithfully yours in our Lord from the one blessed to be your
bishop,
+Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr.
USC VII
St. Thaddeus', Aiken, and St. Simon & St. Jude, Irmo, mark new beginnings
The celebration at St. Thaddeus'
By Ginny Peterson
On October 1, 2009, The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., was present at St. Thaddeus' on the Feast of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, for a Celebration of New Ministry. The parish family and other ministers in the Aiken and Augusta area and clergy of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina welcomed the Rev. Grant Buchanan Wiseman as the 18th rector of the church.
The preacher at this liturgy was the Rev. Heather Buchanan Wiseman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, mother of the new rector. She shared with those present that she had been a deacon in the Episcopal Church, and that people, including her son Grant, kept encouraging her to become a priest. His father, the Reverend Marshall Wiseman is a deacon.
Among those making presentations to the new rector along with Bishop Henderson were Mr. Frank Wise and Mr. Robert McClure (senior and junior wardens), the Rev. Joseph Whitehurst (Dean of the Gravatt Convocation and Curate at St. Thaddeus'), Mr. Marko Zatovic and Mr. Stefan Zatovic (Mead Hall Student Body President and Vice President), Mrs. Gail Butler (representing the Stephen Ministry), Mrs. Jan Waugh (Care Team Leader), Mrs. Mary Peebles (Usher Chairperson) and Mrs. Judy Allen (Altar Guild co-chair), Mrs. Janine Hepner and Mr. David Hepner (representing the Lectors and Intercessors).
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The Revs. Grant Wiseman and his mom, the Rev. Heather Buchanan Wiseman, pose with our bishop (Photo: Steve Peterson) |
Joining Fr. Wiseman in his ministry in Aiken are his wife Heather, who is teaching Spanish at The Westminster School in Augusta, Georgia, and their twin daughters, Abby and Audrey, who are attending 4th grade at Mead Hall Episcopal Day School. Heather Wiseman’s family also includes members of the clergy.
The people of St. Thaddeus' feel very blessed to have the Wisemans in our midst and are eager to have Fr. Wiseman’s leadership to guide us as we live into our mission statement of “Loving God … Serving Others … Living Our Faith”.
The celebration at St. Simon & St. Jude
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Bishop Henderson welcomes the Rev. Mark Abdelnour to new ministry at St. Simon & St. Jude |
The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., was celebrant, and the Rev. Canon J. Philip Purser, rector of St. Francis of Assisi, Chapin, preached.
Among those making presentations to the new rector were St. Simon & St. Jude parishioners Mr. Roy Talbert, Mr. Jim Wallace, Ms. Cai Armstrong, and Ms. Donna Newton, and Midlands Convocation dean the Rev. Canon Charles M. Davis, Jr., who gave Fr. Abdelnour a copy of the diocesan Constitution and Canons. A combined choir of adults and youth performed the music.
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God Willing,
The Right Reverend Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr.,
Bishop of Upper South Carolina,
will ordain
George Christopher Roberts
to the sacred order of Priests,
Friday, the 4th of December,
Two Thousand and Nine,
The Feast of John of Damascus,
St. Mary's Episcopal Church,
Columbia, South Carolina, at
7:00. p.m. A reception will follow.
Your prayers and presence are requested.
Clergy: White stoles.
Visit the Bishop Search Web site, www.bishopsearch.edusc.org, for information on and from those nominated to serve as our Eighth Bishop
Register for a walk-about online at www.edusc.org/nextbishop or contact Bethany Human at Diocesan House, 803.771.7800, ext. 19.
Two walk-abouts are scheduled for the weekend of November 21-22. The
walk-abouts are designed to allow certified delegates to the electing
convention and other interested persons to meet the candidates and ask
them questions. For planning purposes, those who would like to attend
one of the walk-abouts are asked to sign-up beforehand. Registration is
available on the diocesan Web site at www.edusc.org/nextbishop.
The first walk-about will be held on Saturday, November 21, at St.
John's Episcopal Church in Columbia. Registration will begin at 8 am
followed by Morning Prayer and an introduction of the candidates at 9 am
at which time each candidate will make a brief opening statement. At
10:30 am, attendees will move to designated breakout rooms, and the
candidates will rotate from room to room, thereby allowing attendees to
ask questions of each candidate for approximately 30 minutes in smaller
group settings. There will be an opportunity to submit questions at the
beginning of each breakout session in each room, and the questions asked
will be selected at random by the moderator assigned to the breakout
room. A lunch break is planned from 12:15 -1:30 pm, and box lunches will
be available for purchase at a cost of $8 per person. A reservation for
lunch is requested and may be made at the same time as registration for
the Saturday walk-about on the diocesan Web site.
The second walk-about will be held at Christ Church in Greenville the
afternoon of Sunday, November 22. Registration will begin at 12:30 pm
with a welcome and introduction of the candidates to follow at 1:30 pm.
Breakout sessions, similar to those planned for Saturday, will take
place beginning at 2:30 pm. At the conclusion of the breakout sessions,
Evening Prayer and light refreshments will be offered at the church.
St. David's, Columbia, will host its annual fall bazaar from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m., November 7, at the church located at 605 Polo Rd., in
northeast Columbia.
The event will feature crafts and foods – all handmade by church members
and friends. It also will include a used book sale, a baked goods
sale, a frozen soup shop, a hot dog lunch, a Secret Santa shop, and a
raffle for one of three items: a dessert a month for a year made by a
church member, a handcrafted child’s wooden rocking horse, or a hand
crafted quilt and stand. Children can purchase gifts for their parents
inexpensively in the Secret Santa Shop
Proceeds will go to charitable, community needs. For more information,
call 803.736.0866 or visit www.stdavidscolumbia.org.
The Episcopal Church of the Ascension and St. John's Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Seneca are jointly sponsoring Coats for Christ an
effort to collect new and
gently used coats for those in the community who are vulnerable and
unable to purchase a coat for the upcoming cold winter months. All are
welcome to
share in this special time for prayer and worship.
On Sunday evening November 8 at 7 p.m. a community-wide prayer service
will be held and the donated coats will be collected and blessed. Pastor
David
Coffman of St. John's and David McCutcheon of the Oconee United Way will
speak. The service will be held at Ascension at 214 Northampton Road in
Seneca. Light refreshments will be served following the prayer service.
New or gently used winter coats should be brought to the service. Coats
may also be dropped off at Ascension on Friday November 6 between the
hours of
9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monetary donations to be used for the purchase of
coats will also be accepted. All coats collected will be distributed by
the United Way
to those in need in our community.
For more information and directions to the church, call 864.882.2006 or
visit Ascension's Web site www.ascension-seneca.org.
A Midsummer Night's Dream opens the 10th season of St. Peter's
Players, Greenville, from November 12th through 14th.
Shakespeare's comic love story concerns the agreements and disagreements
of four couples getting ready for their dream wedding. In the middle of
all that courting six children are rehearsing a love story to present at
the wedding. The children's play-within-the-play is tragic in content
but farcical in delivery making this one of Shakespeare's most popular
plays.
Performances will be held nightly at 7:30 p.m. November 12 through 14t t
St. Peter's Episcopal Church located at the intersection of Devenger and
Hudson roads on Greenville's Eastside. Performances are free and open to
everyone. Groups are welcome.
Please contact the church office if you have questions: 864.268.7280.
St. Peter's, Great Falls, will hold its annual bazaar on Saturday, November 22, from 7:30 a.m. till 2 p.m.
Come enjoy ham "de-lites," sausage biscuits, vegetable soup and corn
muffins, and hot dogs. The bazaar will also offer homemade cakes, cookies, pies, breads, jams, jellies, chow-chow, and a variety of handcrafted
items and Christmas ornaments. St. Peter's is located at 30 Hampton Street, Great Falls; 803.482.6755.
To our friends in the Diocese, We are asking that all congregations in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina send at least two representatives from your church to . . .
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Celebration
Luncheon |
Sip warm cider, nibble on tasty treats while you shop from more than 20 vendors at the Still Hopes Annual Holiday Market on November 18 from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. For more information, contact Sherry French at the Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, 803.739.5015.
Grace Church, Camden, 1315 Lyttleton Street, will host an Advent
Quiet Day on Saturday, December 5, from 9 a.m. till 3:15 p.m.
An Advent Quiet Morning led by Sister ES/Ellen Stephen, OSH
Theme: Expecting the Holy: Preparing for God’s Holy Wisdom to Light
our Lives. Three meditations will be based
on quotations from the writings of the 13th-century Dominican friar,Meister Eckhardt. The meditations will focus on the ways and means
of preparing to receive the gifts of God’s coming to us in holy
awakening, clarity and wisdom.
An Advent Quiet Afternoon led by Sister Sophia Woods, OSH
Theme: Letting Wisdom Lead Us to Jesus. Using meditative imagination on
the figures of the Nativity, we will open ourselves up further to
Wisdom’s gifts. Bring a journal.
9:00-9:30 a.m. Coffee and fellowship
9:30 a.m. First Meditation with Sr. ES
10:30 a.m. Second Meditation
11:30 a.m. Third Meditation
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Meditation with Sr. Sophia Woods
3:00-3:15 p.m. Liturgy
Please pre-register for this event by calling the Grace Church office:
803.432. 7621
An Advent Quiet Day and Prayer Vigil with meditations from St
Francis will be held at St Matthew's, Spartanburg, on Saturday, December
12 from 11a,m till 4 p.m. Readings will be on the hour with
Morning Prayer at 11:55. Contact Melinda McDonald 864.205.2695 or melindamcdonald07@gmail.com.
for more information.
Looking for an exciting spring break opportunity? How about a week at Camp Gravatt? More info to come, but mark your calendar for April 5 - 10 (coincides with spring break for Richland County, SC as well as many others). This camp session is available for 5th through 9th graders. Cost will be $350. Sign up for spring break camp, and receive a discount on summer camp fees!
The Reverend Harold Morgan, Rector of All Saints' Episcopal Church, Clinton, and The Reverend Elizabeth Morgan, Rector of St Luke’s Episcopal Church, Newberry, will be hosting a group on a tour of the Holy Land and Jordan which will depart on March 1, 2010.
The purpose of this tour will be to experience the major Christian pilgrimage sites: Jerusalem, Galilee, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Masada, and Petra among many others. The tour includes round trip transportation form New York, quality hotels, sightseeing with English-speaking guides, lectures, most meals, and much more. For the enjoyment of the travelers, all arrangements will be made in advance.
However, there will also be ample leisure time to pursue personal interests, learn, relax and shop. Mark you calendar and join this wonderful opportunity to travel the Holy Land with your Bible. For further information, contact the Morgans at 204 Derby Lane, Clinton, SC 29325 or call 864.923.2033 or 864.938.6693 or e-mail allsaintsclinton@earthlink.net.
The Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, 1st Sunday of Advent 2009 to Last Sunday after Pentecost 2010, is available for download.
Updates to clergy information forms can be submitted online on the diocesan Web site, www.edusc.org, under "Resources--Clergy Resources." Please remember that you are responsible for providing Diocesan House with correct information for the database and mailing lists.
The Upstate CROP
Hunger Walk team invites you to attend one of the upcoming Pastors’
Breakfasts on November 23 and 24 to learn more about the 2010 Upstate CROP Hunger Walk in February. We
want churches in Greenville and Spartanburg counties to participate in
this joint effort to address local hunger needs.
Please RSVP by November 17 to Bethany Human at Diocesan House, bhuman@edusc.org, 803.771.7800 ext. 19.
| November 10 | Catawba clericus, Harmony House, noon Fresh Start, All Saints', Clinton, 9:30 a.m. |
| November 19-22 | Province IV Youth Event (hosted by USC at Gravatt) |
| November 21 | Bishop nominees—Midlands "walk about" |
| November 22 | Bishop nominees—Upstate "walk about" |
| December 4 | Ordination to the priesthood, St. Mary's, Columbia, 7:00 p.m. |
| December 4-6 | Happening #62 |
| December 12 | 87th Diocesan Convention, cont'd: Election of our eighth bishop |
| December 17 | Reedy River clericus, Redeemer, Greenville, 12:30 p.m. |
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Photo: © amerks23; all rights reserved |
We were hiking at the top of a gorge along the side of a waterfall
when I noticed the first one. I stood still for a minute and watched in
silence, checking my perception and holding my breath in anticipation.
“Nicky, is that snow?” I whispered. Sure enough, the tiniest flakes were
coming down, barely big enough to see. We both took a minute to enjoy
the October surprise and to let a few of those cold flakes rest on our
hair and tickle our noses. October 14th. That seemed early for snow to
me.
When we descended the mountain, the snow had mostly stopped, and by the
time we were back into Ithaca we didn’t notice any more. There was a
scattered cold rain all afternoon, but nothing that stopped daily life
from moving on. We kept on with our plans of driving up the East side of
Lake Cayuga and tasting the wines on that side of the lake. I remembered
hearing Frederick Buechner say, “Never change your plans on account of
the weather”, and I told Nick that I was glad we had not changed our
plans. We would have missed the snow at the top of the gorge as well as
some amazing wines and a lovely and intimate late lunch at an Inn had we
been stopped by what appeared at the outset to be a gloomy, damp, cold
day.
But the best surprise awaited us the next morning. At 6 am when we
opened our hotel curtains we were greeted by a winter wonderland. Four
inches of snow had fallen over night in the Finger Lakes Region of New
York, and it had fallen slowly and softly so everything was covered,
coated, and laden with the new, white, and very shiny snow. Waking to a
surprise like this is one of the great pleasures of life for me. It
evokes memories of growing up on Long Island and waking to a newly
fallen snow. It evokes the feeling that plans will have to change, and
usually for the best. No school, hot chocolate, homemade soup. It’s like
having an unexpected but well-loved friend arrive at your door on a
Sunday afternoon. Oh my! Change of plans! How wonderful! How long can
you stay? We finished packing to leave, thanked the hotel staff for a
lovely stay, borrowed a snow-scraper from someone better prepared than
we were, and headed back to Manhattan. What awaited us on our drive is
hard to describe. Here’s my best shot.
If Monet had painted snow covered mountains, I believe they would have
looked like this. All of the brilliant colored leaves of autumn were
still on the trees. The fiery reds, the neon pinks, the pumpkin oranges
and the deep golds already had the hillsides awash in color. Coat that
with a layer of white, translucent snow, and what was there closely
resembled an impressionistic painting. Like a mound of candy and
desserts, the mountains were peaches and cream, raspberry mousse,
strawberry parfaits, and caramel-filled chocolates, stacked one on top
of another. Depending on how the sun filtered through the morning cloud
cover, they either sparkled like jewels or looked like a fruit-infused
glaze on top of a bundt cake. It was hard to take it all in. We stopped
several times to try to capture something of it in pictures, knowing all
the time that this is one of those times that “you just had to be
there”.
Perhaps this was the Finger Lakes Region at its most magnificent. It was
beautiful before the snow. The crystal clear lakes, the vineyards
running down the hillsides all the way to the shores, the array of
colors of the fall foliage, the multi-storied gorge walls, stacked with
three or four different types of rocks, the wealth of waterfalls and
trails all add up to an amazing area of the country. Add a layer of the
first snow of the season and you’ve got quite a treat. We knew, at that
moment, that we may never see anything like that again in our lives.
There are many, many opportunities to see something for the first time.
In fact, the recent gospel of the blind beggar reminds us that we are
all blind and in need of seeing anew. Today I am thankful for that
reminder in the splendor of nature that my vacation provided me. Where
in your life can you see something new? Is God providing you with
opportunities to slow down and look more deeply at something that is
right in front of you?
©2009 Amy Sander Montanez, D. Min.
