The Main Event

" I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished -- I am terrified that, this year, it won't happen; that, that year, it didn't. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you're not a believer."

from A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I can't believe that there are only 11 days left until Kanuga! Are you registered? We have a great conference planned and it's not too late to squeeze in a few more. Visit the Kanuga website to register. I'm really excited about our speaker, Jo Bailey Wells, who is director of the Anglican Studies program at Duke Divinity School. In addition, I've just learned that Lauren Winner will be joining us as a conference participant. Along with her busy speaking and writing schedule, Lauren is currently a postulant for the priesthood in the Diocese of Virginia pursuing her M.Div. at Duke. She's looking forward to a short break while she's with us, but she'd love to sign any books you may bring or buy in the Kanuga bookshop. If you have any questions about the upcoming conference, or anything else, give me [Lydia] a call at 843-813-1861. See you there!

Have you seen this?

Western North Carolina Website

Get to know the board of the ECW in the Diocese of Western North Carolina by visiting their website at WNC ECW.

There you will learn that ECW President Mary Ann Ransom lives in Lake Lure, North Carolina where she is a member of the Church of the Transfiguration, Bat Cave. She currently serves on the board of the Highland Episcopalian.

Mary Ann is also a member of the following: Global Mission, Outreach & Justice, Commission to Dismantle Racism, Companion Diocese Exploration, Episcopal Communicators, and serves as president of Hickory Nut Gorge Community Church Outreach, Inc. a non-profit organization which does outreach in the Gorge community where she lives.

She has served as a vestry person at her church. She writes poetry, short stories and is a self-taught photographer. She enjoys hiking, reading and walking with her husband Dick.

Contact Mary Ann at her email and look for her at Kanuga! mransom1@bellsouth.net

Shirley White Represents ECW at UN

Shirley White, vice-president of the Episcopal Church Women, was one of 92 delegates representing the Anglican Consultative Council while attending the 50th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in New York in late February and early March. Women from each of the 9 provinces in ECUSA and all 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion took part in this meeting which brought several thousand women from around the globe to New York to address the challenges that face women and their families.

The two themes of the 50th session of the UNCSW dealt with women in decision-making and women in development, issues that lie at the very heart of the Anglican Communion, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Millennium Development Goals.

The delegation from the Anglican Consultative Council was the largest non-governmental organization to attend this UN event. This group has grown from four delegates in 2003 to 92 through the efforts of Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE), a group founded by Phoebe Griswold, the Episcopal Church's Office of Women's Ministries, and the Anglican Observer to the United Nations.

The Anglican Consultative Council Resolution 13/31, calling for equal participation of women in decision-making, was discussed in depth and the importance of implementing this resolution was reinforced. The delegation to the UNCSW called on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to join them in working for:

Equal participation at all levels of decision-making.

The use of the Beijing Platform for Action with companion diocese relationships and investment and mission strategies.

Active and ongoing condemnation of violence against women as part of the curriculum for training for ministry.

Addressing the discrepancy in salaries between ordained women and men which is a justice issue.

A statement drafted by the ECUSA delegates concludes, "Our attendance at the 50th UNCSW meeting has taught us that, although there are significant gender issues in our own country and women who need our ministry, our opportunities, freedoms, and security are great. We have felt the call at this gathering to use the resources that have been given us to help our sisters around the world. New mission and ministry projects have been conceived here."

"We leave with more to pray for, more work to do, and more people to love. We thank God for the ways we have been changed and challenged by this meeting."

For the full text of the ECUSA delegation's statement to the Executive Council: Statement on UNCSW

Humour in the Church Kitchen

Looking for a chuckle? Check out Cartoon Church. All of these cartoons are great, but I especially love the new one called The Church Kitchen. Tell me if you can't relate to this!

Planning to be in Mobile next week?

Sally Sinclair from the Diocese of Alabama passes along this tidbit. It's a benefit for Hurricane Katrina Relief at Christ Church Cathedral in Mobile [the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast].

April 3-4, 2006

Grace and Elegance of Flowers for the Church and Home

A benefit for Hurricane Katrina Relief

Christ Church Cathedral, Mobile April 3rd

St. Paul's, Daphne April 4th

Presenters: Marion Zimmerman and Sue Morriss, leading flower arrangers from Flower Guild of the National Cathedral

For further information, call 251-438-1822

Lord, if I forget you, do not forget me.

This is one of my favorite prayers, and though you've seen it before on this blog, I think it bears repeating. It's a prayer attributed to Jacob Astley (1579-1652), and you can find it in St. Benedict's Prayer Book from Ampleforth Abbey Press (ISBN 0-85244-2580).

Help me today to realize that you will be speaking to me

through the events of the day, through people,

through things, and through creation.

Give me ears, eyes and heart to perceive you,

however veiled your presence may be.

Give me insight to see through the exterior of things

to the interior truth.

Give me your Spirit of discernment.

O Lord, you know how busy I must be this day.

If I forget you, do not forget me.

Sunday's Gospel

Among the many signs and wonders in the Gospels, we find the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

It's a familiar story. In the sixth chapter of John's gospel, Jesus crosses the sea of Galilee and sees the crowd approaching. He asks Philip how a group of this number can be fed, and Philip, overwhelmed by the size of the task, suggests that it cannot be accomplished. Andrew, taking note of the one available resource, says, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two pickled fishes; but what are these among so many?" Both disciples counted the cost, and considered the mission impossible.

How often have we heard a story of desperate need and yet felt that nothing we could do would possibly make a difference?

In Readings in St. John's Gospel, William Temple reflects on this sign and writes, "Then, as now, the Lord and His disciples were confronting a mass of human need. Philip, daunted by the sheer magnitude of the task, gives it up. Andrew points to what is available, but he knows that this a futile suggestion. Then the Lord gives thanks and distributes, and the need is met."

And, of course, we know that not only was the need met, but that when the disciples gathered what was left over, it filled twelve baskets! Temple sums it up when he says, "The need of the world is not too great for our resources if it is the Lord who directs the use of those resources."

Are we asking the Lord to direct our work? Are we asking Him to bless and multiply our efforts?

"When Thou Hast Done . . . I Have More"

Special thanks to Karen B. at Lent and Beyond for reminding me of this wonderful work by John Donne. Karen is a missionary serving in Africa with ties to the Episcopal church in SE Florida. She, along with other contributors, manages a terrific Anglican prayer blog -- check it out at Lent and Beyond

A HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER
John Donne

I. WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.

II. Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.

III. I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.

Source: Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 213.

You can listen to two sung renditions of the first verse from the recording “A Quiet Conscience” here and here.

The Women's Wall Timeline

From the webpage of Women's Ministries in the Episcopal Church:

"One of the special features at the General Convention this summer will be a timeline featuring the history of women in the Episcopal Church . . .[and] the Committee on the Status of Women decided it was important not only to recognize women who have been ordained priests and bishops, but other women who have contributed to the rich history of the Episcopal Church.

The Women’s Wall Timeline is being sponsored by the Episcopal Women’s History Project, the Episcopal Women’s Caucus, and the Committee on the Status of Women, . . . [paying] special tribute to the women who served as convention deputy in 1970, the first year that women could be seated in the House of Deputies, and whose presence and vote made it possible for their sisters to be ordained to the diaconate in 1970 and the priesthood in 1976.

The Women’s Wall Timeline will be in the nave of Trinity Episcopal Church, . . . [and] will be officially blessed at Evening Prayer on Monday, June 12 at 5:30 p.m.

Read the entire article by clicking on Women's Ministries above, and come to Triennial ready to honor and memorialize the participation of your diocesan women in the life of our Church. I know I'm planning to post the names of Alice Gregg, Gertrude Bull, Helen Barkley, Mary Trott, Marie Ravenel . . .

Five in Four for PB

In case you have not been following the news of the upcoming Election of a Presiding Bishop during the General Convention, a total of 5 nominees are currently Province IV Bishops:

The Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander (Atlanta)
The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr. (Kentucky)
The Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Jenkins III (Louisiana)
The Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr. (Alabama)
The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls (Lexington)

This means that 25% of the diocesan bishops in Province IV are on the slate. In total, 7 candidates have been nominated. The remaining two nominees are the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada and the Rt. Rev. Francisco J. Duque-Gomez, Bishop of Colombia.

Note: you may click on each nominee's name to be redirected to their biographical information.

Looking for Triennial Meeting information?

Did you know that most of the information you need for the upcoming Triennial Meeting can be found on the ECW website? At the left you'll find a link for the site. Check it out and you'll find an updated calendar, registration forms, website/newsletter competition information, and more.

Don't quit your day job!

Ever wonder where Kay Meyer spends her days? That is, when she's not on the road with the National ECW Board . . .

She can be found most days at the Jolly Nut Company in Ft. Valley, Georgia, their family business since 1924. Looking for a great dessert to take to the next covered-dish supper? Here's a recipe from their website.

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Jolly Nut Pecan Pie

1-1/2 cups sugar	1/2-cup melted butter
3 eggs	1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon cornstarch	1/4-cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon flour	1-cup chopped pecans

Mix flour, cornstarch, and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Add butter, vanilla, buttermilk and pecans. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350-degrees for 45 minutes. (If used for little individual pies, yields 14).

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CEWO

Eight Episcopal women's organizations have come together to form the Council of Episcopal Women's Organizations following a recent planning retreat. According to a press release,

"Out of the retreat has come a decision to rename the Council [of Women's Ministries] and refocus on the original mission of the council -- to provide a support network to encourage cooperation among those organizations that began as ministries by women."

Founding organizations of the Council of Episcopal Women's Organizations include representatives from the Episcopal Church Women, the Committee on the Status of Women, the Episcopal Women's Caucus, the Episcopal Women's History Project, the National Altar Guild, the United Thank Offering, the Girl's Friendly Society, and Episcopal Asian Women. Other organizations currently part of the council are the Church Periodical Club and Daughters of the King.

Holy Spirit: Advocate, Comforter, Paraclete

This is the theme for the upcoming Province IV Women's Conference at Kanuga, and we're getting excited! This year's conference will be held earlier than usual -- April 24-26, 2006.

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Our keynote speaker is the Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells, Director of Anglican Studies at Duke Divinity School, as well as Associate Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Bible. Dr. Wells teaches Old Testament and biblical theology, particularly in relation to its contemporary relevance for ministry, and directs the Anglican Studies program to meet academic and formational interests of Episcopalians at Duke University. Her scholarly writing has focused on Old Testament theology. Her books include God’s Holy People: A Theme in Biblical Theology (Sheffield, 2000) and the forthcoming Isaiah in the People’s Bible Commentary Series (BRF, 2006). She also enjoys devotional writing, seeking to bring the fruits of biblical scholarship to a wider audience.

Dr. Wells was in the first group of women to be ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England. Dean at Clare College, Cambridge, England, prior to moving to North Carolina in 2005, she is married to the Rev. Canon Dr. Samuel Wells, who was installed as chaplain of Duke University Chapel in September. They are the parents of two young children.

Our conference chaplain will be the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, rector of St. Philip's Church in Charleston, and Shaun Pezant, music associate at St. Luke's, Birmingham, will lead our music. Workshops and Triennial Meeting previews are "in the works". Encourage the ladies in your diocese to come to the mountains for refreshment and renewal in April.

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This is a conference you won't want to miss! Registration information is now available on Kanuga's Province IV ECW webpage. An optional play day is offered, beginning with 4-6 pm check-in on Sunday, June 23rd.

If you would prefer to print a registration form which may be faxed or mailed to Kanuga, click on Printable Registration Form. Kanuga may be able to provide a partial scholarship for someone who otherwise would not be able to attend. If you or someone from your diocese cannot join us without financial assistance, download the Kanuga Conference Scholarship Application. This application may be printed and mailed to Kanuga.

For more information, contact the conference coordinator, Lydia Evans,at 843-813-1861 or lydiaevans@comcast.net.

Electing a Bishop in Tennessee

The Diocese of Tennessee is meeting today to elect their new bishop. Say a prayer for our sister diocese in Province IV, and check the results of today's ballotting at Tennessee Election Results.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.