triennial today-A - The Episcopal Church, USA

triennial today-A - The Episcopal Church, USA

Nominees anounced; new
board to be elected Tuesday
News of the 43rd Triennial Meeting of the Episcopal Church Women
Denver, Colorado
Triennial TODAY
July 8, 2000
Vol. 7, No. 4
Saturday
July 8, 2000
Inside this issue:
2: Church Periodical
Club: pennies and
books
President
Cynthia S. Bartol
Diocese of
Virginia
VP for Information
Pamela G. Stewart
Diocese of
Long Island
VP of Program
Janet R. Farmer
Diocese of
Texas
Sharon K. Hoffman
Diocese of
Springfield
Shirley C. Hunte
Diocese of
Southeast Florida
Assistant
Treasurer
Lynnette B. Frazer
Diocese of Louisiana
Members at Large
Harriett M. Neer
Diocese of
Arkansas
Social Justice:
Mary Ann Lawing
Diocese of Kansas
Social Justice:
Barbie Tinder
Diocese of Maine
Multi-Media:
Susan Russell
Diocese of Los Angeles
Textures and tapestries: ecclesiastical
art exhibit shows beauty in fabric
A
Jane Henning
treasure trove of magnifi
cent ecclesiastical art is
on display in Room A111. The show exemplifies the
theme of the sponsoring National
Altar Guild Association, “Celebrating Diversity in Altar Guild
Ministry,” for here you can see
banners and paraments, small
linens and kneelers, all manner of
vestments and even a needlepoint
creche of standing figures.
Kathy Price, who assembled
the exhibit, speaks of the coming
together of “an incredible amount
of dedication and skill and
devotion.” Around 200 pieces are
on view.
Ecclesiastical art display, Room A-111
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
through Tuesday, July 11
Look for the centennial banner
of layered and crosshatched
fabric rising pinwheel fashion
from a bright, stylized peacock.
Nearby a heavily embroidered
19th century European fiddleback chasuble depicts the resurrection in a method called
“needle-painting.” A Jewish
woman was asked to take this
chasuble for safekeeping from the
advancing Nazis as she fled
Europe.
Delightful and unusual needlepointed cushions from San
Francisco’s Grace Cathedral are
from a set of 150 cushions made
by people from the cathedral.
The vestments with an aspen leaf
design are part of a 20-piece set
designed and constructed by
continued on page 2
July 8, 2000
TODAY
at Triennial Meeting
3: Ordained women: a
young priest and the
first priest
8-9 a.m.
Registration/Delegate Certification
9:30 a.m.
GC/TM Daily Eucharist
General Convention Worship Site
11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Workshops
4:45 p.m.
Social time and Meet the Candidates
Westin Hotel
6:30 p.m.
“Leading Edge” Dinner for Women of
Vision/GATES presenters
Westin Hotel, Horace Tabor Room
4: A notable woman
in Denver:
Derby Quin Hirst
Catherine Boyd photo
Triennial Today / Page 1 ❖
July 8, 2000
Spreading God’s word with books and pennies
I
Barbara Braun
n 1888, during a meeting of a
guild of Episcopal Church
Women in Mary Ann Fargo’s
home in New York City, Mrs.
Fargo suggested that
they collect religious literature
and ship it free
of charge to
the “wild,
wild, west”
of Wisconsin
and Minnesota. And
she had a
shipping
method to
suggest: her
husband’s
stage coach
line: Wells
Fargo.
The women
embraced the idea, thus
beginning what was later named
the Church Periodical Club. Over
time, their shipments became
larger and went farther away.
The CPC story is a rich one,
full of meaningful personal
connections. An Alaskan prospector who was an early
recipient of books
showed his gratitude
by sending a gold
nugget to the
women. The
nugget was
made into a
pin which has
been worn by
CPC’s current
president ever
since.
In the 1930s
Captain
Raymond Lewis
of the Church
Army and an
Episcopal nun were
doing mission work in a
small town in Virginia.
The missionaries wrote the
Church Periodical Club in New
York, requesting books, and soon
more than 200 books arrived. A
boy who came to help unpack the
books (thereby becoming interested in reading) was Earl Hammer, Jr. He grew up to write the
books on which the television
series The Waltons was based.
In the 1940s the National
Books Fund Committee was
organized to meet the growing
needs of overseas missionaries.
The demand for more instructional materials, along with
Bibles, Prayer Books and Hymnals, had gone far beyond the
earlier concept.
Following World War II, the
national church realized the
importance of the ministry and
incorporated it into the national
budget, leaving monetary donations free to fund grant requests.
In 1970 the national church
eliminated both the Church
Periodical Club and United Thank
Offering from its budget. United
Thank Offering was able to
continue, thanks to a legacy.
Church Periodical Club was given
an office and a staff person to be
paid by donations. It was a
struggle to maintain the ministry,
but with dedicated people it
survived.
In 1991 an idea was adopted,
to be used for one year, asking for
pennies to be donated by the
mile—$844.80.
The one year has stretched into
nine, with 182 miles donated so
far, and Miles of Pennies has a
promising future. This year, a
contribution was made to start an
endowment fund for Miles of
Pennies.
The enthusiasm and dedication
of legions of women, those who
started this ministry of the
printed word, and those who have
kept it alive and helped it thrive,
are continuing into CPC’s second
century. ❖
Ecclesiastical art
display continues
continued from page 1
Kathy Price of the Vestment
Guild from St. John’s Cathedral,
Denver.
Two handsome metal-sculpted
banners are mounted like standards among lovely, lightweight,
dyed and painted china silk
banners.
Here and there are unexpected
pieces such as ceramic holy water
fonts, several pieces of iconic
jewelry and unusual stations of
the cross made of cotton applique
quilting.
The exhibit, titled “Celebrating
the Gift of Creativity,” is open
every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
through Tuesday, July 11. ❖
Above: Pam Steude photo; below: Catherine Boyd photos
All former UTO
Committee members
are invited to the UTO
office (C-202) on
Tuesday, July 11 for
coffee and
conversation from
8 to 9 a.m.
• Great Meals Around Town •
Restaurant recommendation:
Dixon’s on 16th Street. Meal to die
for: Grilled Vegetable Tacos with
black beans.
Had a good meal in Denver?
Drop by the Triennial Today press
room (C-206) and share your recommendation.
Y
Triennial TODA
TODAY
Vol. 7, No. 4 ❖ July 8, 2000
Press Room: C206
❖ Triennial Today / Page 2
Editor
Contributors
Catherine Tyndall Boyd
Mary Beth Dent (Diocese of MD)
Diocese of Lexington
Nancy Grandfield (Diocese of CA)
Assistant Editor
Renee Haney (Diocese of KS)
Melodie Woerman
Debra Harris (Diocese of NH)
Diocese of Kansas
Jane Henning (Diocese of Milwaukee)
Staff Photographers
Carolyn Jones (Diocese of MO)
Pam Steude, Diocese of Upper SC Polly Marshall (Diocese of Mississippi)
Dede Dunn, Diocese of Olympia
Marilyn Mason (Diocese of LA)
Alice Medcof (Toronto Canada)
Mary Parris (Diocese of Atlanta)
Jane Porter (Diocese of Dallas)
Ann Kendall Ray (Diocese of W. Tenn)
Rosanne Sova (Diocese of Wyoming)
Louise Horner (Diocese of West Missouri)
July 8, 2000
Priest suggests nourishment Chaplain’s Message
by food and each other
Jesus said, “I chose this”
S
Renee Haney
haring meals won’t solve all
our problems, but it might
be a first step toward
simply slowing down, paying
attention, and letting ourselves be
nourished—not just by food, but
by each other.”
This is part of one of the
meditations written by the Rev.
Beth Maynard in the newly
released cookbook, The Bread of
Life, A Cookbook for Body and Soul.
The cookbook was produced
by the Episcopal Church Women
and published by Morehouse
Publishing. It is a compilation of
the best of ECW-published
recipes submitted from hundreds
of parish cookbooks across the
country.
Maynard was working on
another book when she was
approached about writing meditations for the cookbook. She
quickly agreed.
“I spent time thinking about
memories of shared meals and
images of cooking that had been
meaningful to me.” She loves
cooking and is looking forward to
trying the recipes, although she
had not seen them prior to writing
the meditations.
Maynard grew up in Tennessee
unchurched and became an
Episcopalian before college. She
says, “I started looking for God
and Jesus found me.” She was
drawn to the Episcopal Church,
Carolyn G. Jones
I
Pam Steude photo
she said, because of the liturgy.
She currently serves in a shared
ministry as rector of Good
Shepherd, Fairhaven, Mass. and
assistant at St. Gabriel’s in
Marion, Mass. She also is active
with the “neXt Generation,” an
association of young clergy.
In one of her meditations she
writes, “When we build community at our tables, we lose something if the hospitality is limited
to our friends alone. And we lose
even more if the motivation is
limited to what we ourselves will
get out of the event. Take the
risk; set a place, somehow, for the
outcast and the unlikely. This is
the way of Jesus; not to give and
welcome because of what we get
out of it, but because giving and
welcoming is built into the very
life of God.” ❖
New center honors 1st woman
ordained in Anglican Communion
W
Alice Medcof
hen an English missionary, speaking in
Hong Kong, asked, “Is
there no Chinese woman who will
work as a deaconess for
God?” Li Tim-Oi said,
“Yes, I will.” And so
began a life of treading
a path never before
walked by a woman.
She went to theological college, was ordained a deaconess and
was posted to Macau to
serve Anglican Chinese refugees.
Within four years all priests
had left the Japanese-occupied
Macau. Bishop Ronald Hall sent a
message to Tim-Oi, seeking her
to meet him at a halfway point.
The dangerous journey, through
enemy lines, took several days.
After a night of prayer, Hall
was convinced God was calling
Tim-Oi to the priesthood. On
Jan. 25, 1944 she was ordained a
priest.
After World War II, and in
response to church pressure, TimOi graciously relinquished her
title and role of priest, but she
continued to work
faithfully in very challenging conditions.
She said, “I had
always wanted to serve
where no one else
would go.”
To honor her life and
work, the Rev. Florence
Li Tim-Oi Center is
being created at Renison College,
the Anglican College at the
University of Wateloo in Canada.
A reading room, archives and
global Internet access to women’s
writing and scholarship are
planned.
For more information on this
project, contact Dr. Gail Cuthbert
Brandt, principal of Renison
College at <gcbrandt@
denison.uwaterloo.ca.> ❖
like so many people, have been drawn to the movie “Saving Private Ryan,”
probably the most powerful movie I have seen in years. I saw it in the
theatre, bought the tape as soon as it was released and now have the DVD,
with all the horrors of Omaha Beach coming out (in surround sound) in my
home.
You know the story. After surviving Omaha Beach, Capt. John Miller (Tom
Hanks) and his squad of Rangers are given the assignment of saving Pvt. James
Francis Ryan of Iowa (who has bought a ticket home because all three of his
brothers were killed in action). They trek across Normandy in search of Ryan –
losing men, one by one, in various skirmishes. Once they find Ryan, he refuses
to go, choosing to stay with his ragtag band of soldiers (who have hooked up to
defend a bridge).
The Rangers decided to stay and fight, believing, as Capt. Miller says, it just
might earn them a ticket home. The fight is gory, hard and devastating, and
almost everyone dies. At the end, as they prepare to blow up the bridge before
the Germans cross it, Capt. Miller is shot and, as he dies, he whispers to Pvt.
Ryan, “Earn this.”
The initial time you see the movie, you can not understand Capt. Miller when
he first says this. Almost everyone – male and female – is crying (because it is
Tom Hanks who is dying? The incredible power of the movie? The realism?
Who knows.) Capt. Miller repeats his comment and now one can hear him
clearly: ”Earn this.”
It becomes clear, at the end of the movie, that Ryan has agonized about this
responsibility through his adult life. He has borne the burden of whether or not
he has earned what all those seven lives bought for him.
Every time I watch the movie, I am bothered by this last scene. Tom Allen,
pastor of Grace Church, Seattle, a former Ranger himself, wrote that the
Ranger motto for the past 200 years is not “Earn this” but Sua sponte, “I chose
this.” A Ranger’s non-cinematic response would be “I chose this. This is free. You
do not have to pay for this. I give up my life for you. That is my job.”
As Christians, when we stand before the cross, the words whispered to us are
not “Earn this.” Instead, we see Jesus there, dying a slow, painful death and, what
he says to us is “Sua sponte.” “I chose this. This is for you. You do not have to
pay for this.”
We do not have to agonize about it: we are saved by the blood of Jesus. It is
free. We could not pay, even if we wanted to do so.
This is God’s work, his gift to us. This is our joy.
“He escogido esto”
Y
o, como tantos otros, he sentido la atracción de la película Saving Private
Ryan (A salvar al soldado Ryan), la película más potente que he visto en
los últimos años. La vi en el teatro, compré el vídeo tan pronto como
apareció, y ahora tengo el DVD (videodisco digital), con todos los horrores de la
Playa Omaha saliendo en sonido omnidireccional, dentro de mi hogar.
Ustedes ya saben el argumento: habiendo sobrevivido los peligros de la Playa
Omaha, al capitán John Miller (Tom Hanks) y su brigada de Rangers se les da la
misión de salvar al soldado James Francis Ryan, de Iowa, quien ha comprado un
boleto para volver a su patria porque todos sus tres hermanos han fallecido en el
campo de batalla. Viajan por la Normandía en busca de Ryan – perdiendo
hombres, uno por uno, en sendas batallas. Cuando encuentran a Ryan, se niega a
partir, prefiriendo quedarse con su banda desorganizada de soldados que se han
reunido para defender un puente.
La Brigada decidió quedarse y luchar, creyendo, como lo dice el Capitán
Miller, que podrá acaso valerles un boleto a la patria. La batalla es sangrienta,
difícil, desastrosa, y casi todo el mundo muere. Por fin, en el momento en que
van a hacer estallar el puente antes de que lo atraviesen los alemanes, el capitán
Miller recibe una bala y, al morir, susurra a Ryan, “Merece esto.” La primera vez
que uno ve la película, no entiende al Capitán Miller cuando lo dice. Casi todos,
hombres y mujeres, está llorando (¿porque es Tom Hanks que muere? ¿la
increíble fuerza de la película? ¿el realismo? ¿Quién sabe?) El capitán repite la
frase y ahora se le oye claramente, “Merece esto.”
Está claro, al fin de la película, que Ryan ha pasado el resto de la vida
atormentándose sobre esta responsabilidad. Ha cargado la duda de que sí o no
ha merecido lo que le compraron todas estas siete vidas.
Cada vez que veo la película, me preocupa esta última escena. Tom Allen,
pastor de la Iglesia de la Gracia en Seattle y antiguo Ranger él mismo, ha dicho
que el lema de los Rangers durante 200 años ha sido, no “Merece esto,” sino “Sua
sponte,” “He escogido esto.” La auténtica respuesta de un Ronger habría sido, “He
escogido esto. Es Gratis. No tienes que pagarlo. Doy mi vida para ti. Para esto
estoy aquí.”
A nosotros los cristianos, parados frente a la Cruz, las palabras susurradas no
son “Merece esto.” Al contrario, vemos allí a Jesús, sufriendo una muerte lenta y
dolorosa, y lo que nos dice es, “Sua sponte”, “Escogí esto. Es para ti. No tienes
que pagarlo.” No tenemos ni siquiera que atormentarnos: somos salvados por la
sangre de Jesús. Es gratis. No lo podríamos pagar, aunque quisiéramos hacerlo.
Para esto está Dios; es su regalo para nosotros. Este es nuestro gozo. ❖
Triennial Today / Page 3 ❖
A Notable Woman in Denver
July 8, 2000
Derby Quin Hirst: 90 years
of General Conventions
Canon Susan Heath of Trinity Cathedral, Columbia, S.C. pays a visit to Derby Quin
Hirst’s table in the Convention worship area.
I
Mary Beth Dent
n 1910 a four-month-old Derby
Quin attended her first General
Convention. She traveled to
Cincinnati with her father, the Rev.
Clinton S. Quin, who was a deputy.
Now visiting the 73rd General
Convention, Derby Quin Hirst says,
“The General Convention and the
Episcopal Church are such a great part
of my life. I just feel so at home here.”
Since her early
General Convention
experience, Mrs. Hirst
estimates she has
been a part of 20
General Conventions.
In 1916 she, her
two sisters and their
maid accompanied
her parents to the
General Convention
in St. Louis where
they stayed in a
rented top-floor room
in a boarding house
for the duration of
the Convention.
In 1918 her father became Bishop of
Texas and served until 1955; she was a
part of the Quin family entourage to
General Conventions thereafter.
Bishop Quin served on the original
Forward Movement Committee, and
Mrs. Hirst remembers that her mother
also was very active in Conventions.
She has followed the family tradition.
❖ Triennial Today / Page 4
In 1925 she attended the General
Convention in New Orleans as a youth
representative from the Diocese of
Texas. In 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio she
was an ECW delegate to the national
board meeting of the Episcopal Church
Women.
One of Mrs. Hirst’s most memorable
ECW national board meetings was
1946 in Philadelphia where she was a
delegate. Her mother,
Hortense Quin, was
the Presiding Officer
of the National
Executive Board of
the Episcopal Church
Women, presiding
over that Triennial
Meeting.
She remembers
clearly the excitement over the
fantastic hats worn by
the parliamentarian
each day.
Mrs. Hirst also has
represented West
Texas and Southern Ohio as an ECW
delegate over the years.
In 1928, now married to the Rev.
Penrose Hirst, she went to the Berkeley
campus of the University of California
with her chaplain husband. She recalls
that the Berkeley campus has “not
changed in spirit over the years.”
Pam Steude photos
For most of her life, as the daughter
and then the wife of clergymen, Mrs.
Hirst never had to make a decision
about her parish home. She now lives in
a lifecare community near Annapolis,
Maryland, where she has made certain
there is a weekly
Eucharist for 30
“Change is
to 35 residents
inevitable but
there. She has
growth is
taken responoptional.”
sibility for lining
up clergy and
— Derby Quin
ensuring the
Hirst
chapel is ready
each week. She
also attends Regional Council meetings
and visits parishes in the area as
transportation is available.
One of the changes in the General
Convention format of which Mrs. Hirst
approves is the recent practice of
beginning each day with study,
reflection and Eucharist.
“This is the way the church should
do business,” she said. General Convention “gives me a sense of the
church,” she said, and she sees her trip
here as a Jubilee experience, an opportunity to have the grace to “let go.”
She believes that “change is
inevitable but growth is optional,”
therefore the church needs to get on
with the business of inclusiveness and
ministries to the poor and needy. ❖