Who We Are

June 2010 Epistle

Download the June issue of our newsletter: The Epistle, June 2010

Inside this issue:

• 'A Radically Benevolent Universe' by Wallace+
• Who Celebrates? by Kate+
• Changing the World: Young Adults in Community
  
• St. Paul's College & St. Paul's Church
• 'What I Like Most about Having a Big Sister'
• Transforming Lives, Preventing Homelessness
  
• Faith@Work column by Ed Zakaib

and much, much more! Download the PDF to read the full issue.

On the Cover:

'A Radically Benevolent Universe'

Pictured: Earth Day Sunday, April 25, 2010

My Dear People,

Julian of Norwich, a fifteenth-century English mystic, is best remembered for the following words she heard God speak to her,

Countless Christians through the ages have been comforted and buoyed by those words and by Julian's deep trust in God and in God's saving power at work in the world.

The witness that Julian left us comes from the same deep trust in God from which Dr. King was speaking when he famously said, "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice."

And, more recently, Richard Rohr, a Franciscan, gives expression to that same faith, that is, to our faith, and its implications for the world in which we live, when he writes that, even with all that is not right with the world and in our lives, "Until we accept that ours is a radically benevolent universe, we are not Christians."

In a word, because of God, everything is ultimately on a divine trajectory.

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There is, however, a big "however." It is the "however" of "can" and "will" and "shall." That is, while the whole of the cosmos is indeed destined for redemption, we aren't there yet. And, of course, we are, in truth, far from "there," very far.

There is much healing, and repairing, and peacemaking to do. Much feeding and clothing and welcoming. Much praying, repenting, proclaiming, and celebrating to do. On the way to all things being well.

As we pray every Sunday, and sometimes more often, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."

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Last month, Buford Scott was quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch, talking about the origins of Micah, "We made three decisions: Make a friend at church; bring a friend to church; and change the world."

And, indeed, over ten years later, many friends have been made; many friends have been brought to church; and the world has been changed.

In this month's Epistle, you'll read about a whole range of ways that God continues to work through us, here at St. Paul's, on Grace Street, bringing healing and hope and kindness and compassion to God's world and to God's children.

Yes, there's a lot of work still to do. That said, we know the end of the story, and, indeed, the Author of the story is with us in all that we do, as we do our part in helping the "can's" and the "will's" and the "shall's" become realities in God's benevolent universe.

Thanks be to God,
your brother in Christ,

Wallace+

Who Celebrates?

by The Rev. Kate Jenkins, Associate Rector

What's in a name? Do we identify the ordained priest who oversees the liturgy as the "celebrant," the "presider," the "presiding priest," or the "priest"? And is this question of terminology mere hair-splitting or is there something more to it?

When The Book of Common Prayer that we currently use in worship was authorized by General Convention in 1979, one of the most significant changes theologically was the recovery of a thoroughly baptismal ecclesiology -- that is, an understanding of the church that defines Christian community in terms of the common ground that all of the baptized members share. Baptism became the defining sacrament of incorporation, not Confirmation.

This renewed vision of the church, the "body of Christ," also caused a re-examination of the role of the ordained in relation to the role of the laity. The previous model had been heavily "clerical" in theology - the 1979 prayer book is far more balanced. A baptismal ecclesiology affirms that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to all members so that ministry can be understood as shared by all of the people, whether lay or ordained, each according to the nature of the gifts that the Spirit has given.

Presider or Celebrant? Words Matter.

Thirty years later, we are still in the process of incorporating the theology of baptism recovered from the early church into our daily life of worship and three decades of reflection and prayer have lead to some subtle adjustments. We see this notably in the words we use to describe leadership roles in the liturgy. In recent years several ancient terms have reappeared to designate the role we have usually called the "celebrant." The term "presider" may seem new, but it is in fact the oldest term in the Christian vocabulary for one who serves as the liturgical overseer at a celebration of the eucharist; the one who proclaims the words of the Great Thanksgiving, the eucharistic prayer by which the gifts of bread and wine are consecrated for communion. Newer eucharistic liturgies from various parts of the Anglican Communion, namely from the U.S., New Zealand, England and Canada reflect this recovered theology by using the terms "priest" or "presiding priest" to refer to the liturgical overseer.

The term "celebrant" developed in a context in which the ordained priest was seen as the only essential person for a celebration of the eucharist to take place - the laity were extraneous to the essential action. Limiting the term "celebrant" to bishops and priests sends the message that only the priests are celebrating the eucharist, and fails to recognize that all the people gathered are celebrants. All of the people who have gathered are the celebrants of the liturgical action. Thus, the celebration of the eucharist is not an act of the ordained clergy that laity are permitted to observe, but the "work of the people," which is the classic definition of the word leitourgia, liturgy.

St. Paul's is a church which embraces this transformed vision of ministry -- you, the people of God -- live a baptismal-shaped life. Just ask Fletcher Lowe! However our continued use of the term "celebrant" did not accurately reflect or support that vision. Beginning on the First Sunday in Lent, we began referring to the priest overseeing the liturgy as the "presider" rather than the "celebrant" to more accurately acknowledge that the Eucharist is truly the shared action of the whole people of God -- not one person wearing a stole.

Words matter.

Pictured: Kate+ enjoys lunch with Charlie Fox's Micah mentee, Tra, on Earth Day Sunday 2010.

"Sweet - This is going to be the best pilgrimage ever"

by David White, YAC Mentor/Israel Experience Coordinator

As we began our first planning meeting for the youth pilgrimage to Israel, Si's headline-grabbing comment above captured what we have all been thinking in the back of our minds. What could possibly be better than a trip to the Holy Land to conclude our time together? Eight years ago, this year's Young Adults in Community (YAC) group came together as fourth and fifth graders running around the Youth Center for Third Friday Fun. Over the years they have grown very close -- sharing each other's highs and lows. They have built houses in New Orleans, taught children in Mwitikira, fed the homeless in San Francisco, and developed a tutoring program for fifth and sixth grade girls from Woodville Elementary. In August they will go in different directions, having graduated to young adults and many off to college. But right now they have one more thing to accomplish. And they are suddenly realizing that it is actually going to happen. What an opportunity! What a gift from the St. Paul's community to this incredible group of young people!

Experiencing the Birthplace of Their Faith

The preparations have gone on for many months now -- weekly presentations by visiting experts on history and current events, as well as monthly presentations by each member of the group about their research into the region. They have studied the land, the people, the politics, the overlay of religions, the stories and the meaning of it all in this crazy, mixed up and yet somehow "holy" part of the world. It is a part of the world in which we all feel some deep sense of ownership. But it is also a part of the world about which we all know so very little.

So on July 18, Si, Julia, Joy, Douglass, Henry, Nena, Elizabeth, Olivia, Staige, Quint, Margaret and Thomas, along with Bryan Appel and mentors Barbara Davis and Michaelle Justice, will begin a two-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They will experience first-hand the birthplace of their faith -- to see the Bible in a way very few do -- in the land where it all happened. They will experience the land and the stories, and appreciate how each has informed the other. They will meet and get to know Christian youth who are living their faith in the land where it began. They will walk through the desert where Jesus was tempted, stand where he healed the blind, walk where he carried his cross and celebrate his resurrection with a Eucharist by the Sea of Galilee.

We hope you all will join us on July 11 at the 10 a.m. service when our pilgrimage is formally commissioned and we are sent on our spiritual journey. And we hope you will follow our progress on the St. Paul's Web site while we are in the Holy Land.

St. Paul's & St. Paul's

by Jasmin Betts, St. Paul's College Class of 2010

St. Paul's College submitted the following article to highlight the connection between Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, a St. Paul's Episcopal Church parishioner, and St. Paul's College.

Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, M.D., Associate Dean for Admissions at the VCU School of Medicine, encouraged students at Saint Paul's College's to incorporate service into their lives. During an address to honorees at the College's April 7 Honors Convocation, she reflected on the text, "To whom much is given, much is required," and emphasized that "the responsibility of success is sharing."

"Keep one hand up in praise," she said, "the other hand pulling someone up with you." Dr. Whitehurst-Cook left the students with the charge, "Wherever you go, leave it a better place."

Dr. Whitehurst-Cook's ties to Saint Paul's College began in early childhood, when her father, the late William Whitehurst Sr., chaired the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She stated that her medical education began in the classrooms of the College, watching her father's biology students dissect cats. She shared warm memories of growing up near the college, including her baptism and marriage in Saint Paul's College's Memorial Chapel.

Dr. Whitehurst-Cook, who also serves as Associate Professor of Family Medicine at VCU, has a long record of service and advocacy on behalf of underserved populations in rural and urban areas of Virginia and is the recipient of many honors and awards.

Dr. Robert L. Satcher, Sr., President of Saint Paul's College, presented Dr. Whitehurst-Cook with a plaque of appreciation, and recalled teaching her when she was a child in his Sunday school classes.

A highlight of the convocation was the announcement by William McKee, a representative of the Phelps Stokes Fund, of the formation of a Ralph Bunche Society on campus. Dr. Bunche, the former Under Secretary General of the United Nations, was the first African-American to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. The Phelps Stokes Fund partners with colleges and universities to establish Ralph Bunche Societies which are open to all, but which emphasize minority and working class students. The societies are extracurricular, undergraduate, student-led associations dedicated to developing global citizens, regardless of their field of study, and Saint Paul's Ralph Bunche Society will help expand and deepen the College's involvement in the international arena. The Ralph Bunche Societies began in 2006 and are now on the campuses of Winston-Salem State University, the University of Maryland-College Park, and the University of Virginia.

Dr. Satcher presented one of the College's Rays of Light Awards to Dr. William H. Jones, author of Looking for God's People in Rural Places. The Honors Convocation recognizes students who have excelled academically. An impressive 71 scholarships were awarded during the program.

Pictured: Back row, left to right: Dr. Robert L. Satcher, Sr., Marian H. Satcher, Dr. Raymond holmes, William McKee. Front row, left to right: Lovi Holmes, Dr. Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, Emma Staples. Photo by A.J. Gass, class of 2010, taken on Honors Day at St. Paul's College.

"What I Like Most About Having a Big Sister"

Following is a testimony for the Micah mentor program by Christina Smith about her mentor, St. Paul's parishioner Bev Lacy. Christina submitted it to Big Brothers/Big Sisters for their Volunteer Appreciation contest on April 18, 2010. Bev met Christina over eight years ago through the Micah ministry at Woodville Elementary.

What I like most about having Mrs. Lacy as a Big Sister, is that she always listens. I met Mrs. Lacy when I was in the first grade. Since then, I don't want to get rid of her. She is more than a Big Sister, she's my friend. Nothing in this world would stop me from loving her. What makes Mrs. Lacy special to me is that she is very caring, sweet, and she makes me happy. I know that if I call her and tell her what is going on, she is willing to listen. She taught me to read and to know how to swim. She always encourages me to do better. When I am with her nothing else matters. Most importantly, she is different from everyone else.

‘She is part of me'

One of my favorite times with Mrs. Lacy is when we used to make bread together by scratch. One of my other favorite memories with her is that we also read together. It's funny to me how you met someone when you were in first grade, and she turns out to be with you until...whenever. Places that we have gone to are movies, and to lunch. I love it when we make dinner together for my family. What I like the most about her is that we both love to read and watch Twilight.

She has done so much for me and I would like to thank her for that. She is one person who has changed my life. I wouldn't ask for anyone else. She is part of me until the day I die. She is part of my family and no one can take her away from me. If she wasn't in my life, I wouldn't be who I am today. I know that everything is going to be all right because she is there with me.

‘I love you, Mrs. Lacy'

Mrs. Lacy makes me feel special in the inside and the outside. I admire Mrs. Lacy for everything she has done for me. She always puts a smile on my face. I never thought I could be so close to someone who makes me happy. I have never been close to someone who I can look up to and realize that they are there for me.

No one loves anybody more than I love Mrs. Lacy. She is like my role model. I love you, Mrs. Lacy!

Pictured: Christina Smith and Bev Lacy

Transforming Lives, Preventing Homelessness

by Jenny Bliley, St. Paul's Social Worker

Each year, thanks to the support of the St. Paul's community, the church is able to provide direct financial assistance to individuals and families. These transformational grants are a crucial part of our effort to not only help those who are homeless, but also prevent individuals from becoming homeless. It is much better for individuals and more cost-effective to work with them before they become homeless. Since July 2009, 66 clients have been assisted financially, 18 of whom were assisted a second or third time. The average amount of assistance given is $440/client/time.

Additionally, St. Paul's has been able to refer families in need of assistance to Area Congregations Together in Service (ACTS) since August 2006. ACTS is an interfaith organization that provides emergency financial assistance to clients in the Richmond area that are in need in order to prevent them from becoming homeless. Since August 2006, St. Paul's has given $22,500 to ACTS for client assistance. In return, we have made referrals to ACTS and ACTS has assisted 88 St. Paul's client families with a total of $72,657 in financial assistance. Over $50,000 has been for rental assistance and the other has been spent on utilities.

Below are just a few examples of those whose lives were transformed in part thanks to St. Paul's Transformational Grants ministry. Names have been withheld for privacy purposes.

Between Jobs: Mr. G was a single man who lived in an apartment. He lost his job several months ago and had started the unemployment process. He came to me in need of assistance with his rent. He had an appointment with unemployment scheduled for the end of the month. He was also going to see two agencies that he had worked with in years past who were going to help him find employment. I agreed to assist him that month. He came back to me after his unemployment meeting and they had denied him, but he had two interviews set up in the coming week so I agreed to help him a second time. He got one of the jobs but would not get his paycheck in time for the next month so I agreed to help him the third time. Paying his rent those three months provided him with the time he needed to find employment and maintain his stability and housing. I felt that because he was working so hard and going out of his way to work with other agencies to help him find employment that it was worth the investment to pay for three months of rent.

Paying It Forward: Mr. X came to see me because he was behind one month on his rent. He has been put in jail and had to use his disability income to pay his bond. He made enough money to pay his bills going forward and I felt this would help him to maintain stable housing. I paid the rent and he insisted that he would pay us back. He came back two months in a row and paid us back a portion of the rent, which went right into transformational grants for others.

Stable Housing: A couple came to see me that was staying in a rooming house. They had some problems with their landlord and the landlord wanted them to move. He received disability and she was in the process of getting disability. I told them they needed to find other housing and that I would assist them with the start up costs. They found other housing arrangements and I assisted them with the rent/deposit for the first month. They have been stable and able to pay their rent since that time.

Hope & Self Confidence: Mr. Z and his girlfriend came to see me several years ago. They were homeless but had both gotten a job and wanted to stay in a rented room. I knew they both had substance abuse problems but I was willing to give them a chance to see if their new employment would help stabilize them. I paid for their rent at that time. Two years later Mr. Z came back to see me. He had been homeless again for a while but he had gotten into a men's shelter and was sober and working on getting his life back together. He had an old debt with the DMV and needed help getting that paid off in order to get his license back and start looking for better employment. He was working for a janitorial company but has had his CDL license and used to be a truck driver. I agreed to pay off the large bill in order to give him more employment opportunities. I spoke with his case manager recently and he stated that our assistance had really given him the hope and self confidence he needed to continue to move forward. He is still working on getting all of his life together but I think our paying that bill was a good investment in his future. He comes in periodically to let me know how he is doing.

When Employment Is Not Enough: Ms. D is a single mother who is an Eastern European immigrant. She has two young daughters but no other family and very little social support. She came to me because she had gotten behind in her rent. She works at McDonalds and they had cut her hours. Her manager is hoping to be able to give her more hours and Ms. D is looking for another job but that is difficult. I agreed to pay the rent in order to keep the family stable and out of the shelter system. She came back to me 5 months later seeking assistance with her electric bill. Her electricity was off. She had not been able to get any more hours at McDonalds yet but she was caught up on her rent payments. I agreed to assist her in order to get her electric cut back on. This is a hard situation because she is always going to come up short on her bills and she is always going to have to decide. My decision to help her is not only to help her family remain in housing, but also to prevent another family from falling into the shelter system.

Pictured: St. Paul's Youth Minister Bryan Appel, VCU student Steven Geissinger, and Richmond Magazine editor Bethany Emerson are interviewed by WRIR 97.3 FM about their participation in "Walking In Their Shoes," an event to raise awareness about the challenges faced by those who are homeless and the services available to them. It was organized by Homeward as part of Affordable Housing Awareness Week. Wallace+ and Bryan were among a dozen community leaders who participated in the event.

Faith @ Work: Blessings in Work

by Ed Zakaib

A year ago, I heard The Rev. Fletcher Lowe speak at an Adult Forum about faith at work and how our church life intersects and shapes our work life. The presentation made me think about my relationships with my coworkers very closely. Was there something to what Fletcher and so many parishioners said that Sunday? I thought about the discussion the day after and said, "That doesn't apply to me." How can I influence other people in the course of my day as I help them debug their code; or when a critical software component that works perfectly for months suddenly fails in the middle of the night? That's life in the Information Technology (IT) trenches of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The answers to those questions became apparent when Fletcher visited me at work.

I focus on the various things that customers bring me. Installing software on servers, configuring the hardware and software to work together, analyzing problems and working to correct them are things I see every day. I work with many different people. Some do not work in Information Technology, but use services that my division provides. The majority of people with whom I work and interact are in IT. I work with people predominantly from the United States, but in addition there are others from China, India, Pakistan, South America, and the former Soviet Republics. I have to strike a balance between being teacher, coworker and project leader and it can be different each day.

As Fletcher and I discussed my work, I did have a few ideas about how I bring my faith to work. I have always believed that God is not just at church on Sundays, but with me all the time. Some days I send swift, "arrow" prayers for help, guidance and strength as I am working on problems; always with short deadlines. Some problems seem bigger than me! Each day is different. That is what I enjoy about my career in IT. Each day brings new experiences and sometimes new people together. The interactions with my customers are what I enjoy most about my work. The computers are just a perk of the job. Many years ago, I told a programmer that I was starting to work with that I would make him a "people person" like me. He barely smiled and said, "Sure Ed, that will be the day." Over the years Bob and I have become quite close. Even though we are not in the same department, we talk on a daily basis in addition to the regular work we do together. Bob recognizes that he's become more of an extrovert like me and most of my team would agree.

I want to take the problems people bring me and turn them into opportunities. Opportunities include working on something I have not seen before. It is the opportunity for me to work with new people and more familiar ones. Each day I learn something new about a process, or technology, or even about a coworker\customer. Being open and receptive is the key to being successful. I often say to those customers, "I want to make your problem my problem!", or "Let's take your software and make it better!" People are not used to hearing that and it surprises them. Now people ask me questions in addition to bringing me more problems or projects to work on. It brings me great satisfaction in knowing people appreciate my help and expertise. I didn't think about it at the time, but that's a blessing when people entrust you to help them.

In retrospect I recognize that I bring enthusiasm, teaching, leading, administration, compassion and other talents to work each day. Being attentive and open reinforces my relationships with people as we fix a problem together, or automate a business process. I thank God each day for allowing me to work with so many different people. Fletcher enabled me to think about my faith at work in a way I never had before. I really benefitted from our time together and encourage others to explore how faith and work intersect.

RELATED: Faith, Work & Daily Living

On March 29, the Alban Roundtable, a blog of The Alban Institute in Washington, D.C., began hosting a weekly series of guest posts on the relationship between faith, the work that people do, and our need to make sense of our faith in the context of daily living. Posted every Monday, the articles should be familiar to the people of St. Paul's.

That's because they are written by the laity of St. Paul's as part of this "Faith @ Work" series and made available courtesy of The Rev. Fletcher Lowe, a St. Paul's Priest-in-Residence. Fletcher is also convener of Episcopal Partners for Faithfulness in Daily Life, now in its fourth year.

You can read the articles, written for The Epistle, online at: http://albanroundtable.org/archives/category/faith-daily-living

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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