Life changing

Darien Lake celebration is equal parts music festival, retreat and church service
Tens of thousands convene for Kingdom Bound
By Amanda Erickson
The Buffalo News
August 6, 2007

DARIEN — The cars that started rolling into Darien Lake Theme Park Resort early Sunday afternoon were not your average minivans full of kids on a mini-vacation.

Many were covered in paint and slogans that declared “Jesus Rocks” or asked those who passed by to honk if they love the Lord.

The visitors were coming for Kingdom Bound, a four-day Christian celebration that is part music festival, part retreat and part extended church service. The event, which bills itself as the premier Christian gathering in Western New York, will draw about 65,000 people to the area this week, organizers said.
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St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in the Town of Tonawanda had borrowed seven recreational vehicles to house about 40 students at the park this week. The high school and college kids milled around, eating hot dogs and telling jokes around the makeshift fire pit.

“Our goal is to get the kids to grow closer to the Lord,” said the Rev. Arthur Ward, who has been taking a group here for about eight years. “It’s a lifechanging experience.”

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Episcopal Social Services opens new site
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita (KS) Eagle
Aug. 05, 2007

Episcopal Social Services is opening its new office doors to the community after being displaced by the future downtown arena.

A free open house with light refreshments is planned for 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the organization's new temporary office, 1005 E. Second St.

The organization plans to launch a capital campaign in 2008 to construct a new building in downtown Wichita.

"We will stay downtown," chief executive Sandra Lyon said. "There's no doubt about that."

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Jubilee Center gets funding
By James Roberts
Central Kentucky News-Journal
August 05, 2007

The intersection of Stockyard and Main streets is busy Thursday afternoon. As the Rev. Dr. James Magness, Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky's chief operating officer, looks over the traffic, he imagines children coming home from school, workers driving home from their jobs and the elderly returning from doctor's visits - all meeting each other at the intersection.

The scene is symbolic of Green River Ministries' Jubilee Center, Magness said. The center, he said, will mark the crossroads of life for those who are in need.

Magness and local, state and federal officials were on hand Thursday for a check presentation at the future home of the center.

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Holy Trinity rebuilds from ashes
Juneau (AK) Empire

Saturday afternoon the congregation of historic Holy Trinity Episcopal Church begins to rebuild its house of worship and community hall lost in the spring of 2006 to an arsonist’s blaze.

The celebration, dubbed “Remember, Rebuild and Restore,” will include a blessing of a cornerstone and performances by artisans who thrived in the parish’s McPhetres Hall, which was regularly used by the community. “I look forward to saying thank you to everyone who helped us through the year,” said the Rev. George Silides, Holy Trinity’s pastor.

The eventual church and hall will be built at Fourth and Gold street, the same location as the 110-year-old building that served a congregation of 200.

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Need to talk?
Church center to provide professional counselors who consider spiritual issues
By Sarah Bruyn Jones
TUSCALOOSA (AL) NEWS
August 4, 2007

That there is a spiritual side to treating mental and emotional issues has become the basis for forming a new nonprofit faith-based counseling center.

Counseling Ministry Professionals will provide a specialized ministry of professional counseling services to the community.

Marriage or family problems, job pressures, anxiety, depression, loss, grief, emotional pain and depression are just a few of the issues the center hopes to address. The therapists, who will have the proper counseling training, will also be trained to incorporate the spiritual dimension with the psychological dimension to promote healing and health.

“We pastors get some training in seminary, but we are by no means qualified counselors to deal with complex problems,” said the Rev. David Meginniss, pastor of Christ Episcopal Church and one of the founding board members of the new group. “In my denomination, we’re allowed to counsel someone three times about one problem and then we have to refer them to a professional.”

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Yonkers church offers "spiritual interlude" next to weekly farmers market
By ERNIE GARCIA
THE WESTCHESTER (NY) JOURNAL NEWS
August 3, 2007

YONKERS - The story time topic yesterday was Noah's ark, though Yahir Morales was interested in a different ship.

The 3-year-old fixed his gaze on the ceiling during St. John's Episcopal Church's inaugural story time next to the Getty Square farmers market.

The Rev. John Hamilton debuted the Peace in the Square program yesterday to offer shoppers a spiritual interlude, and he noticed Yahir's distraction.

"The church is in the shape of a boat," Hamilton explained in Spanish to the children and mothers who took a break from the outdoor heat, "because this is a vessel for salvation."

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A priest recovers sobriety, his faith
By Eileen Flynn
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
August 03, 2007

The priest is tall and wears blue jeans and a beige stole. He greets everyone like a long-lost friend. When the music stops and everyone has taken a seat, the priest steps to the lectern. "Hi, I'm Bill. I'm an alcoholic."

Some of the roughly 100 people gathered to hear him are patients here at Austin Recovery, the Northeast Austin center that helps people overcome addiction and that hosts the service in its converted gym. Some have been sober for years, some for days.

The Rev. Bill Wigmore is one of them. Thirty-four years ago, Wigmore's alcoholism led him to drop out of the Jesuit seminary and landed him on skid row in Detroit, the beginning of a long journey back to sobriety and his faith.

Today, as Christians worldwide rejoice in the triumph of their risen Lord, Wigmore, 61, will preach his first Easter sermon as an ordained Episcopal priest at the service he created six years ago for people in drug and alcohol recovery.

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