epiScope

WWII chaplain's collection now shines

Salvage and salvation:
Stained glass shards from WWII debris return in Penn exhibit
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA
By Geoff Gehman
April 24, 2008

Frederick A. McDonald was a true-blue shepherd during his 18 months as an Army chaplain in World War II. Traveling through Europe with a group commanded by Gen. Omar Bradley, the Episcopal priest gave last rites, opened closed synagogues and collected pieces of stained glass from ruined cathedrals. He mailed the shards to his mother back home in Seattle to save as relics of horror and hope.

For more than 50 years this broken mosaic rainbow remained in envelopes and shoe boxes under McDonald's bed. Its destiny changed dramatically when McDonald's story was relayed in 1999 to Armelle Le Roux, a stained-glass designer and restorer born in a village in Brittany.

Read it all here...

Connecting with God

All Saints parishioners join art with spirituality
By Bronislaus B. Kush
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
April 8, 2008

WORCESTER— One woman wanted to try her hand at sumi-e because she was curious about the ancient Japanese form of ink painting; another signed up for the workshop held recently at All Saints Church because she simply “liked to play with watercolors”; and a third believed that the delicate art exercise might provide “new insights” into her personality.

One individual shyly admitted that the slow and deliberate strokes of the sumi-e paint brush might somehow bring her closer to God.

“People come to our center for a number of reasons. Many of them have a deep longing to understand God better or they want to learn something about themselves that they didn’t know,” said the Rev. Nancy Elder-Wilfrid, the director of the Kairos Center, a ministry at All Saints Episcopal Church downtown. “We try to provide some answers.”

It’s all here …

Sacred furnishings

Woodworker's creations adorn Southport church
By Brenda C. Birmelin,
Wilmington (NC) Star-News
March 30, 2008

When you move to a bigger house, you always need a few new pieces of furniture. Father Barry Kubler found he had the same problem when St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Southport moved from its old sanctuary to its new one in 2004. In his search for a local artisan, he found Jerry Heller, a retired IBM systems engineer, who was willing to try his hand at crafting church furniture.

Heller learned woodworking from his grandfather. He spent his childhood summers on his grandfather's farm in Warfordburg, Pa. His grandfather was not only a farmer, but also a blacksmith, machinist and saw mill operator.

It's all here ...and CORRECTED 4/3/08.

A new song

On Day of Resurrection, a Church Unveils Its New Organ
By JAMES BARRON
The New York Times
March 23, 2008

Jack M. Bethards stood on a catwalk in a room the size of a walk-in closet, a little room that his crew had built in the front of a little church on the Upper West Side.

The components of the organ were built near San Francisco and shipped to New York, where an installation crew raced the calendar in an effort to have it up and running by Palm Sunday. More Photos »

In this space, a few feet from the altar, are the inner workings of a brand new $600,000 pipe organ that his crew had also built. He wanted to tune it. But on a March morning that was more lion than lamb, the church was too cold. The thermostat had been left at 65 during the night.

“I’ve asked for it to come up to 68,” Mr. Bethards said. “We’d like it to be a little closer to 70.”

It was the beginning of another 12-hour day of testing and tuning at Christ and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, on West 69th Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue — another day in the race to get ready for Palm Sunday and Easter, two of the most important days in the Christian calendar.

It’s all here …

Jammin'

Alaskan bluegrass group leaves its mark on valley
By John W. Barry
Poughkeepsie Journal
January 7, 2008

A bluegrass band from Alaska and officials from the Episcopal church are joining forces in Kingston to help bring music to native villages in the state called the "Last Frontier."

Bearfoot, a quintet that performed last summer at the Greyfox Bluegrass Festival in Columbia County and took home the top prize at the 2001 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, will perform Tuesday night at St. John's Episcopal Church on Albany Avenue in Kingston.
…
The concert in Kingston will benefit Dancing with the Spirit, an organization launched by Mickelson. Dancing with the Spirit raises money to purchase instruments and offer musical instruction to youths in native villages in Alaska and Canada.
…
Today, Mickelson; Bishop Mark MacDonald, the former Episcopal bishop of Alaska who became the first indigenous bishop in Canada; and the Rev. Ginny Doctor, the canon, or bishop's assistant for Alaska, who is of Mohawk Indian descent and from New York, will meet in Manhattan with officials from the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

It’s all here …and for more on Dancing with the Spirit, including a rare bluegrass and gospel jam session with Bishop MacDonald (guitar), the Revs. Doctor (mandolin) and Mickelson (fiddle), and your editor (also on mandolin...sort of), see next month's Episcopal Life Focus...

Windows for the soul

Stained glass - almost a religious experience
Churches, not surprisingly, are frequent clients.
By A.D. Amorosi
The Philadelphia Inquirer
December 20, 2007

Emily Selvin has dealt with lots of pressure in her time as a custom stained-glass artisan, designer and restorer.

Since forming her Philadelphia studio, Selvin Glass, in 1999, she has trademarked her "Illuminated Tables," restored the RCA Victor dog in Camden, and appeared on the Home & Garden network. She's created artworks for private homes and made specialized pieces for high-profile clients such as Stephen Starr and Patti LaBelle.

But God is another matter.

It’s all here …

Legacy etched in glass
Needham studio's restoration artistry shines across the country
By Susan Chaityn Lebovits
The Boston Globe
December 20, 2007

Roberto Rosa and Domenico Iriti have spent two decades repairing dozens of deities, numerous saints, and countless angels.

The heavenly beings can be found on the stained-glass windows that have been meticulously restored by the artisans at Serpentino Stained & Leaded Glass Inc. in Needham. Rosa's father-in-law, Joseph Serpentino, 93, began working in the stained-glass business in the early 1950s and then went into business for himself, opening his studio in Needham in 1968.

Serpentino now has a reputation that extends well beyond the Boston area.

It’s all here …

¡Viva la Virgen!

Guadalupe Spreads Her Theatrical Wings
By MIREYA NAVARRO
The New York Times
December 12, 2007

LOS ANGELES — Andrea García Soto, who sings in the choir, was recently found to have breast cancer, so she prayed for her own health. Guillermo García, a dancer, has a terminally ill sister, so he danced to stop her suffering. His wife, Nellie García, another singer in the choir, was simply thankful for past blessings, so she sang to show devotion.

These performers in the play “La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin,” mostly amateurs, take to the stage with very personal agendas. “She came down to the poor people and said there’s hope for everyone,” said Ms. García Soto, 61. “I’m part of everyone, so there’s hope for me.”
…
The audience of about 1,800 people at last Thursday’s opening performance included three priests and a canon from All Saints Episcopal Church in neighboring Pasadena.

“We’re big Guadalupe fans,” said Canon Lydia López, who said she had also visited the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

All Saints’ rector, the Rev. Ed Bacon, called Guadalupe “the center of Angeleno spirituality.”

“God calls us to be bridge builders, and Guadalupe to me is an incarnation of God building bridges between cultures and religions,” he said. “And she does it in a radical way. She appears not to the bishop or a European or even a Christian. She appears to an Indian, a marginalized person.”

It's all here …

A tower revealed

A Blossoming Cathedral Tower Sheds Its Scaffolding
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
The New York Times
November 6, 2007

Fifteen years have passed since the stonemasons put down their chisels and mallets for the last time. Now, they can finally see what their carving wrought: the uppermost 55 feet 2 inches of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.

In recent weeks, the cathedral’s southwest tower has emerged from the rusty scaffolding that had enclosed it since the last round of construction ended in 1992. The tower is still far from complete, but it has grown noticeably closer to the sky.

What is now revealed, in a limestone several shades blonder than the rest of the cathedral, are crisp buttresses, gables, colonettes, gargoyles, pinnacles, crockets and ornaments known as trefoils (three cusps), quatrefoils (four cusps) and cinquefoils (five cusps).

The tower has a newly imposing presence.

It’s all here …

Movie time

'Bible' preaches positive to choir about homosexuality
By Glenn Whipp
San Jose Mercury News
10/12/2007

CHALLENGING the generally held assumption (even among non-believers) that the Good Book condemns homosexuality by calling it an "abomination," the polemical documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So" is a less a movie than a call to arms and a plea for peace, unconditional love and cultural understanding.

Directed by PBS' David Karslake, the movie doesn't attempt to examine both sides of the issue. In fact, on the rare occasion Karslake bothers to include a comment from a dissenting voice (say, Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard Mouw taking exception to biblical revisionists), the words are quickly brushed aside and ignored.

That means "For the Bible Tells Me So" will be pretty much preaching to the choir, though once on DVD, the movie could prove helpful to Christian parents struggling with their childrens' homosexuality, which, as the movie (not to mention science) repeatedly tells us is a matter of genetics, not personal choice.

It’s all here …

All sorts

Bishop emphasizes inclusiveness
Openly gay, he's at the heart of controversy
By Kate Moran
New Orleans (LA) Times-Picayune
September 24, 2007

As the leadership of the Episcopal Church meets in New Orleans to confront dissension over the role of gays in religious life, the church's first openly gay bishop gave a sermon at a liberal church on Canal Street focused on the inclusiveness of divine love.

The ordination of the Rev. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire opened divisions in the church four years ago that seem to have widened and deepened with time. The worldwide Anglican Communion is now on the verge of schism as conservative prelates demand that the church stop consecrating gay bishops and blessing gay unions.

Although Robinson occupies the center of the controversy, he did not use the sermon he gave at Grace Episcopal Church on Sunday to advocate for the rights of gay ministers. The sermon, rooted in the Gospel of Luke, nonetheless conveyed his view that the church should embrace outsiders who live "on the edges of acceptable society."

If all scripture were lost save for one story, Robinson said, he would preserve the parable of the prodigal son: a young man who left home, squandered his inheritance and crawled back to his father in shame. His older brother lived a sober life and grew resentful when the father welcomed the wayward son home.

Robinson said the older brother did not understand that "the father's love is big and expansive enough for everyone, for both the good and the bad sons."

It’s all here …

TORKELSON: Rector has big task in troubled parish
Jean Torkelson
Rocky Mountain News
September 24, 2007

Ah, retirement. A life of cruise ships and the call of exotic places, from Hawaii to Assisi. Sweet, carefree days were just ahead for the Rev. Rod Moore and his wife, Mary.

So they thought.

"We had plans to travel,' Moore confided Sunday to his audience of about 150. "It just never occurred to us we'd be traveling to Broomfield."

The laughter he got had to feel good, especially since everything else is so dicey. At 65, Moore is taking on perhaps his most challenging assignment as an Episcopal priest: He's the new rector at Holy Comforter Church, the man Bishop Rob O'Neill counts on to hold together a parish racked by the chaos in the Episcopal Church USA.

It’s all here …

Trinity Cathedral initiating Blessing of Artists
Monday, September 24, 2007
By Marylynne Pitz
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In grim moments, writers curse frozen lap tops, oboists obsess as they scrape new bamboo reeds for their wind instruments and actors fume inwardly when they flub lines on stage.

Tomorrow, they may find some divine intervention at the city's first Blessing of the Artists, to be held at 5 p.m. in Trinity Cathedral.

The Rev. Paul Johnston, whose voice is familiar because of his 18-year stint as an on-air host for WQED-FM, has organized the 45-minute blessing service to wish artists well as they embark on a new cultural season.

Trinity Cathedral, Father Johnston noted, borders Downtown's Cultural District, and church leaders want to send artists "into the new season inspired and blessed and ready to go."

It’s all here …

Retired rector dies at 80
Colhoun worked with community
By Melissa Hall
Winston-Salem (NC) JOURNAL
September 24, 2007

When the Rev. E. Dudley Colhoun was called to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1961, he told the congregation, “It is wonderful to be here and I hope the response will be the same in six months and six years.”

He got his wish. Colhoun spent the next 31 years at St. Paul’s before retiring as rector in 1992.

Colhoun died Saturday night. He was 80.

It’s all here …

Growing in grace

New, edgier churches attract county’s growing population
Weatherford (TX) Democrat
Christin Coyne
August 10, 2007

Weatherford has seen a population boom in the last few years and many aspects of life in Weatherford have seen change as a result, from the economy to the traffic. While banking and construction are taking off, some are wondering just how Weatherford’s churches are handling the growth.

From church growth to outreach, many pastors see a healthy and changing church. Others believe it is a mixed bag when it comes to churches meeting the needs of the growing community.

…
Father Scott Wilson leads a smaller congregation of about 200 at All Saints Episcopal Church and is involved with around 10 other churches in a ministerial alliance.

Wilson said his church gets visitors new to the area regularly, but isn’t growing very fast. However, he does believe churches are keeping up with the population growth.

It’s all here …

Exhibit reveals layers of AIDS journey
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times

Even before she had seen it in person, Nan Nalder wanted to bring the Keiskamma Altarpiece to Seattle's St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.

The massive altarpiece — 13 feet high and 22 feet wide, with three layers, weighing a ton — was created by residents of Hamburg, a village on the Keiskamma River in South Africa devastated by AIDS. It depicts the suffering of the villagers as well as their transition from despair to hope.

It’s all here …

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church showcases labyrinth
BY STEFANIE WHITE
McKinney (TX) Courier-Gazette
August 09, 2007

In Greek mythology, the labyrinth was a maze that housed the minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull. Those who entered the labyrinth got lost in its turns and dead ends and never made it out alive.

For Carolyn Hewitt, the labyrinth at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is nothing at all like a maze but instead is like a walk through life.

“It’s different than a maze,” Hewitt said. “A maze has dead ends. This is a continuous walk to the center.”

It’s all here …

Church to celebrate Mary, her key role
The mother of Jesus generates strong feelings among Christians.
By LISA BUIE
St. Petersburg (FL) Times
August 13, 2007

She's obedient. She's a revolutionary. Some say she went her whole life never having had sex. Others point out the fact that she had several children.

She enjoys direct access to God and can put in a good word for folks who ask nicely. While special, she has no closer link to God than anyone else.

In spite of the contrasting beliefs, the woman often depicted in a pale blue robe and halo evokes strong feelings among followers of her son.

"The people of the church need to know that Mary is important in the life of the church," said the Rev. William F. Dopp, rector at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Hudson. "Mary is to be honored."

It’s all here …

Ancient scroll exhibit inspires local church members
By Sally Carpenter
Thousand Oaks (CA) Acorn
August 9, 2007

Faith meets historical evidence as seen by local church members when they recently traveled to San Diego to view the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Natural History Museum. According to a museum brochure, these artifacts are "one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time."

For Richard Buckner, a Thousand Oaks resident who organized the trip along with his wife, Liz, the scrolls are more about spirituality than history.

"I am interested in the origins of Christianity because they may shed light on what Christianity should be," Buckner said. "I am interested in using Christ and his life and teachings as a model for my life. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit helps me understand the existential aspect of the Christian religion."

It’s all here …

Faith+Values: Tearing down barriers among faiths
Interfaith center preaches the importance of getting to know people from different backgrounds.
By Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune
August 10, 2007

'It's hard to hate someone when you know their story," said Paul Strickland.

That, in a nutshell, is the mission of the Center for Religious Inquiry, an interfaith resource facility that Strickland founded and runs almost single-handedly.

"We're teaching people about their neighbors," he said. "If I hear someone disparaging Muslims, I'll ask them, 'Have you ever talked to a Muslim?' Most of the time, the answer is no. When you meet each other, barriers come down."

The center, in St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral on the edge of downtown Minneapolis, recently completed its first year of operation. In addition to serving as a resource center for religious study, it operates an ambitious community outreach program that includes everything from movies to lectures to trips to places of worship. Typically, these visits end up focusing more on similarities than differences.

It’s all here …

Discernment

Same-sex unions might earn blessing
By Carolina Astigarraga
News & Observer
Modified: Jul 12, 2007 09:06 AM

******

CORRECTION

A story Wednesday in the City & State section about The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal church in Chapel Hill incorrectly described how the Rev. Gene Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. Robinson was elected bishop of New Hampshire. The article was also imprecise in describing the participation of the Rev. Pauli Murray in a rite at the Chapel of the Cross. Murray celebrated her first Eucharist as an ordained priest at the church.

******

CHAPEL HILL -- At a time when women were often denied positions of authority, the tattered book that chronicles the 1842 incorporation of The Chapel of the Cross bears the signatures of 12 women beside those of 12 men.

The book also lists the names of young slave children whose owner brought them to be baptized in the 1850s. Pauli Murray, the granddaughter of one of those slaves, became the first black woman ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. She returned to Chapel Hill and received her first Eucharist as an ordained priest in the church.

Now, The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church is incorporating another minority community into its 1,200-member congregation by entering into a discernment process -- or active discussion -- about blessing same-sex unions.

It’s all here …

Bishop loses gay employment case
BBC News
18 July 2007

A gay man has won his case for unlawful discrimination after he was refused a youth official's job by a Church of England bishop.

The employment tribunal said John Reaney, 42, was discriminated against "on grounds of sexual orientation" by the Hereford diocesan board of finance.

Mr Reaney, from Colwyn Bay, Conwy, said he was "delighted" at the decision.

The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev Anthony Priddis, said he was "naturally disappointed" and may appeal.

It’s all here …

Outfest to lead a Bible study
By JOHN HORN
Los Angeles Times
Jul 18, 2007

LOS ANGELES — The battle for gay and lesbian equality has been fought at the ballot box, within the government and military, through the courts and on the streets. But arguably the most dramatic and divisive clashes are now unfolding inside churches — and a group of independent filmmakers is taking notice.

There is so much new documentary and dramatic work exploring the explosive intersection of spirituality and sexuality that this week’s Outfest, as the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is known, has created a five-film series, “Queers in Christ,” on the subject. Although diverse in story and tone, the movies are linked by a common argument: That God and Jesus would welcome every member of the human family into their realm, regardless of sexual orientation. Since good storytelling involves conflict, though, there are any number of people in these films — including Scripture-quoting anti-gay activists and not-in-my-house Pentecostal parents — taking a dramatically different view of inclusion.

It’s all here …

New art work

Religious music notes and a review
By Brent Castillo
Fort Wayne, Indiana McClatchy Newspapers
May 16, 2007

Has your church group ever needed quality art for a project? The Episcopal Church's Office of Communication's Web department may have a solution. The department commissioned four Episcopal artists to each create a set of 12 Christian symbols. The images have been placed on the church's Web site, www.episcopal-life.org/symbols, for use at no charge for noncommercial purposes.

"From time to time, someone would call asking for free clip art or graphics, or asking if we could recommend a designer for a church logo or T-shirt," said Bowie Snodgrass, Web content editor. "From these requests came our idea to commission some good, original Episcopal clip art - making what might sound like an oxymoron into a created reality."

A bit of self-promotion, but the clip art is catching on!  It's all here...

Short takes

Elliott is new interim rector at St. Andrew’s Episcopal in PTC
Tue, 04/03/2007 - 3:15pm
Fayetteville (GA) Citizen

St. Andrew’s in the Pines Episcopal Church has welcomed its new interim rector, the Rev. Paul Courtright Elliott. Father Elliott, 39, who took on his new responsibilities in mid-March, is inviting area residents to participate in activities observing the most holy week in the Christian year.

Elliott is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College and earned a master of divinity degree at the General Theological Seminary in New York City. A native of Huntsville, Ala., he is married to the former Susan Farmer Langley. They have three children, Quincy Bassett, 16; Elizabeth, 9; and Kathryn, 7.

It’s all here …

A post-Katrina 'Godspell' has its own building to do
The pop-rock musical has trouble staying afloat in a ravaged New Orleans setting.
By David C. Nichols
Lose Angeles Times
April 4, 2007

The first impression of "Godspell" at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse comes from designer Christopher Beyries' remarkable set of wreckage-strewn Louisiana façades, with palmetto leaves at ominous angles in the latticework. Sound designers John Feinstein and Erik Bleuer flood the auditorium with hurricane noises, sirens, newscasts. Lighting designer Michael Tushaus supplies the first of many coups, all strobes and flashing reds. It's New Orleans the day after Katrina. A final voice-over states, "Nobody is coming."

It’s all here …

Kids of illegal immigrants forced to choose when parents deported
By Juliana Barbassa
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:17 p.m. April 3, 2007

PALO ALTO – Twelve-year-old Adrian Ramirez huddled with his two sisters on a bench Tuesday, trying to find words to talk about their mother's deportation to Mexico, scheduled for the end of the week.

As immigration officials step up efforts to seize illegal immigrants, the story that these children are struggling to tell is increasingly familiar. Many of the more than 18,000 men and women who have been deported under Operation Return to Sender since June were raising families – among them, children born in the United States.

It’s all here … and this:

“No matter how we feel about immigration reform, leaving children abandoned and violating a person's constitutional rights are wrong,” said Rev. Anna B. Lange-Soto of El Buen Pastor Episcopal Church in Redwood City, who went with Isabel Aguirre to see immigration officials and attorneys on Tuesday.