Taking worship to the streets: Ashes to Go 2014 How-to

Your Church Participating this year? Let us know! We'll include you in diocesan publicity. Email Edmund@epiphanyep.org

Every year on Ash Wednesday, the Church invites us “to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and

meditating on God's holy Word.” Our foreheads are marked with ashes as we remember our mortality and need for repentance as well as the scope of God’s love and mercy.

Have you ever considered taking this invitation to the streets? This Ash Wednesday, Bishop Knisely and Church Beyond the Walls invite you and your congregation to do just this by taking part in Ashes to Go. On March 5, Episcopalians across Rhode Island will be participating by offering ashes, prayer and an invitation to be part of church on street corners, outside of coffee shops, at train stations, bus depots and airports throughout Rhode Island. Will you take part?

Planning an Ashes to Go event in your community is easy. The Reverend Emily Mellott of Calvary Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Chicago provides some excellent tips:  

Choose a place that allows you to meet people where they already are on a Wednesday.

Choose a liturgical option that fits that place.

The liturgical action can be as simple as offering the ashes themselves (“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”). A prayer (the Collect of the Day works nicely, or the prayer over the ashes from the Ash Wednesday liturgy) before imposing ashes, and a simple “Go in peace,” give the symbol a toe-hold in our common prayer. This option can go nearly anywhere, from transit stops to McDonalds to hospitals. You can do it with a small group of people, or one-on-one. If you wish to use the Lord’s Prayer, remember that different traditions learn it differently! In a location where you may encounter people in groups, or with more leisure, you can use more of the day’s liturgy and enrich the symbol.

Recruit a team

Ashes to Go is a ministry that lay people may lead as well as bishops, priests and deacons. It’s great to have teams that include both clergy and lay people not only to offer ashes, but also to engage in conversation – about Lent or about life – with people who receive ashes and those simply passing by.

Let people know what you’re up to

In addition to recruiting in the congregation, let local media know that you’ll be doing something new and interesting. Ashes to Go is photogenic, and makes great copy for local papers. Chicago congregations found themselves in the traffic and transit reports and on

the evening TV news in 2011, as well as in local papers.

Equip your team

Dress for the weather and dress for the liturgy. For liturgy on street corners and transit stops, it’s probably a good idea for at least half of your team to wear vestments. This makes you stand out in the crowd, and gives passers-by a sense that something special is happening.

A sign isn’t usually necessary, but consider your location, the style of your congregation, and what will help make you visible. If you use incense every Sunday, take a thurifer as part of your team. For a rainy transit platform, our team borrowed patio umbrellas from a parishioner, which doubled as shelter and a way to locate us. It’s good to bring ashes in a sealable container, especially if the weather is windy or wet. You can often find small screw-top jars sold for travel toiletries which work great for ashes.

Give people a take-away

The liturgical moment speaks for itself. But participants may want to find a way to reflect on the encounter, or know who it was who met them with a moment of grace in a busy weekday. Prepare a give-away. Consider Lenten reflection booklets from Episcopal Relief and Development. Or create a prayer card or leaflet that includes prayers for Lent and information on your congregation’s Lenten program. Make sure to include your contact information and weekly service times!

Pray

Pray for the people you will meet, for your team, and for all God’s people looking for a moment of grace.

We want to know where and when your congregation will be offering ashes on Ash Wednesday. So that we can share this information with local media outlets, drop us a line and let us know by Monday, March 3. Email the Reverend Edmund Harris, Priest and Organizer for Church Beyond the Walls, at Edmund@epiphanyep.org.

For more information about Ashes to go, including additional resources, check out the Ashes to Go website here (http://ashestogo.org/).

See you on the streets!

Where are the people who are not in church on Ash Wednesday? On trains and buses? At the store? Doing shift work? Having lunch on the run? Shuttling the kids to school? Where else? 

Places with a lot of pedestrian traffic and an opportunity for drivers to pull up are ideal for brief Ashes encounters. You are looking for a place where people can pause for a few minutes without blocking traffic. If your church opens onto a busy sidewalk, you are in luck. Public sidewalks near transit or shopping might be good options. 

If you are on private property (such as shopping centers) you may be asked to leave, unless you make arrangements with the property owner. 

Ashes to Go can also mean encounters at the tables of a coffee shop or somewhere people have to stand and wait. Do you and your congregation have a good relationship with a coffee shop or local business?

Canon's Corner: Silent Auction How-to

By The Rev. Linda L. Grenz, Canon to the Ordinary

One of the easiest ways to raise money for your church is to hold a silent auction, and now is the time to ask merchants for a donation to yours. 

Most businesses set aside a specific amount to give in response to requests like this and they give them out on a first come, first served basis. If you ask in August, you may be out of luck, so ask in the first quarter of the year.....preferably February or March (they often haven't done their inventory and closed the prior year's books until the end of January).

When you ask, have a specific fundraising purpose you and your parishioners can describe to potential donors. Ask your parishioners to think of goods or services they can donate, or places beyond your local community that might be willing to support this effort. 

It isn't unusual for parishioners to donate a time-share unit they don't plan to use this year, or for them to ask the ski resort they frequent to offer free ski lift tickets. Also, think beyond the usual food baskets, toys, artwork and dinners. A swim club might offer a free family membership (which was THE most popular item at one church), a museum might offer free admission, and a roller rink might offer free skating for an evening. Approach any business your church uses as a vendor and ask parishioners to tell you their favorite stores, events and organizations so you can ask them for a donation.

Business people want to make a difference in their community, but they also need to earn a living. Some may ask you "What is in it for us?"  Tell them you will give them credit at your event, and then make sure you do so. Put their name in a booklet you hand out and/or on the paper next to the donated item -- you can even put out a business card or small flyer about their business. Send them the usual thank you letter with the IRS tax deduction statement when they donate. And then remember to send them another letter after the auction, thanking them for their donation and telling them how much you raised at the event and what you will do with it. In other words, tell them how their contribution will help make a difference in your cause and their business.

If you set up form letters for your requests and thank you letters, you can easily solicit many vendors. Some will require you to use your shoe leather and personally request it, but some will respond to a letter. You can always follow up with those who didn't reply to the request letter.

There are many people outside the church who want to make a difference and will support a cause by attending your event even if they couldn't donate an item, so promote your cause widely outside the church. Then, at your event give attendees a way to make a difference regularly and they will begin to identify with your church -- some will begin to see it as "my church" even if they don't attend worship. If they feel belonging in this way it more likely that they will turn to you at other times in their lives, or even just start coming to your church!

At the auction, have a set opening and closing time. Be sure you collect names, emails and phone numbers so you can follow up with winners who left early (and so you have that information and can invite them to your next event!). Prepare some interesting food (appetizers and desserts are good) and music, then arrange your silent auction items on tables around the room and let people browse. If you have really good food and music, you can even charge a modest cover charge ($5/person) which increases the income. And don't forget to have your parishioners circulating, getting to know people and inviting them to church.

If you have a beautiful church building, you can even have the organist playing (or set up some quiet recorded church music), light lots of candles and offer people a chance to tour the church. You'd be surprised by how many people will take you up on that -- and, again, it gives you an opportunity to connect your church with people in a way that makes it easier for them to turn to you when they are seeking God.

This (and every fundraiser) can have some, or ideally all, of these goals: 1) raise money, 2) build relationships with people, 3) invite people to church, 4) provide an opportunity to serve and 5) be a fun/joyful/rewarding experience for participants.

New RiteWorship License for all RI Episcopal Churches

With less than one month left in the year, you may be looking at renewing your church's copyright licenses for music. Before you do, take note. The Diocese of Rhode Island has already purchased Church Publishing's Riteworship subscription for all of our churches, effective 1/1/14.

If you have subscribed to Riteworship in the past, you don't need to renew your current subscription. If you aren't familiar with the program, check it out here to see what it includes before you renew your other licenses. The music you use may already be covered by Riteworship.

In addition to permission to use the music included in the program, Riteworship has a nifty church bulletin builder that may make your Parish Administrator's job a whole lot easier. There is a

free 30 day trial if you would like to acquaint yourself with Riteworship's tools before your subscription starts on 1/1/14

So how will this work? When Church Publishing sets up your riteworship account, your church will receive an e-mail notification with your account login details and instructions. When you first log on, you can change your password to one of your choosing. That will be the password, along with the email address on the account, that your church will use to access the program each time.

To get started you may want to view the 13-minute riteworship introductory video on YouTube. It’s a helpful and easy-to-follow video led by the person most responsible for the program’s development. Or if you prefer, you can download the User’s Guide here.

Finally, Riteworship has a wonderful tech support staff ready to answer any questions not covered by the video and User Guide. You can reach Anita by dropping an e-mail to CPIeProducts@cpg.org or by calling 800-242-1918 and hitting prompt 2 then prompt 1.

Get Ready: Ashes to Go 2013

By the Rev. Edmund Harris

Last year on Ash Wednesday, a handful of lay people and clergy from congregations in the Diocese of Rhode Island did something new: we took ashes outside of our church buildings and offered them to people on the streets. Of all the days in the Church’s year, we thought, Ash Wednesday is a day when God’s love and mercy meet people wherever they might be, whatever their connection to church or God has been.

Seeking to embody this, we stood at bus depots, train stations and even at the airport, imposing ashes on people’s foreheads and offering prayers. When people asked about who we were and what would compel us to stand out in the cold for hours, we told them about the Episcopal Church and invited them to come on Sunday. “Ashes to Go” was an incredibly simple, easily organized event, yet one that had a huge impact on both those offered and received ashes. The following Sunday, many of the congregations who had participated saw a surge in visitors and newcomers. One woman, who has since joined the Episcopal Church, said she saw us on the news and knew she “wanted to be part of a church that did something like that.”

This Ash Wednesday, February 13, Bishop Knisely will be participating in Ashes to go as well, and invites every congregation in the Diocese to participate by taking ashes out into their local communities. Where might your congregation offer ashes in your local community? Where are the people in your community who are not coming to church on Ash Wednesday? Are they in coffee shops? Waiting on train platforms? Hanging out on park benches? Dropping their kids off at school? We encourage you to pay attention and to consider offering the gift of ashes, your prayers and your presence. Only God knows how your encounters on Ash Wednesday will change others, yourself, even your whole congregation.

Ashes to Go 2013 is being coordinated by Church Beyond the Walls, a new ministry of Church of the Epiphany in East Providence, which is planting a “street church” in Providence that hopes to begin worship soon near Burnside Park, and encourage Rhode Island Christians to engage people outside of their doors.

Church Beyond the Walls will hold an orientation to Ashes to Go on Thursday, February 7 from 6-7 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany, East Providence. All who are interested in offering ashes are encouraged to attend.

Plan to participate? please contact the Rev. Edmund Harris, Church Beyond the Walls Priest and Lead Organizer 434-5012 #14.

For online Ashes to Go resources, visit http://ashestogo.org/.


 

Canon's Corner: Tips & Resources for Talking to Kids About Tragedy

This afternoon The Rev. Linda L. Grenz, Canon to the Ordinary, sent out a document called "Talking with children about Tragedy", courtesy of LeaderResources.

We recommend you take a look whether you are a parent, clergy person, lay leader, teacher, or someone who interacts with children on a regular basis. When tragedies such as the shooting in Newtown Connecticut happen, it is difficult to know what to say to our little ones. Even so, it's important that we adults be able to answer their questions at their level, and be able to help them process thoughts, fears, and emotions in a healthy way.

Parish Resources for Post-Sandy Sunday

Parishes and Clergy,

Here is a list of resources you can use to help respond to the needs of the people in the pews on this post-Sandy Sunday, when emotions are heightened and there may be lots of new faces.

People who made it through the storm unscathed might be more willing than usual to give what they are blessed to still have, to help others.  People who have had their homes and lives destroyed might be more willing to receive aid of the spiritual sort as well as the physical sort. Here are a few ways our parishes can pay close attention to these sensibilities, and make some good of this disaster.

• Share Bishop Wolf's Letter with your parishioners on Sunday, at coffee hour, in your email newsletters, on your websites, however you think is best to get it to them.
• Be extra ready to welcome any new visitors you get this Sunday. Make sure your congregations are ready to engage new people, and welcome them into the family in this difficult time. If you have a welcome team, it might be worth shooting them an email so they are extra on their toes this Sunday. If you don’t have a welcome team, it might be worth shooting an email to the whole parish to get a couple one-time volunteers who will just make a point of talking to visitors.
• In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, some of our more fortunate parishioners might be thinking about helping with Hurricane Sandy relief. Let’s give the folks who are thinking about contributing a little reminder and some direction about where to do so.
• Let people know they can Donate to Episcopal Charities to help with relief in RI, through RI agencies. To learn more contact Peggy Amatore 401-274-4500 x23
• The worst Damage has been in NY and NJ. To donate financial aid to those areas, Episcopal Relief and Development is a great option. ERD has even created a bulletin Insert you can download here, which might be good to include in your bulletins for a few weeks.
• For those wanting to help with their hands, Serve Rhode Island is looking for volunteers for clean up and re-building. Try organizing a group from your parish to volunteer, as some people might be more likely to do so if they have friends to work with.

Blessings in this time,
Ruth Meteer
Communications Director
The Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island

Canon's Corner: Hurricane Preparedness for Parishes

By The Rev. Linda Grenz, 
Consultant to the Bishop Elect

As we anticipate the arrival of a major storm, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the precautions we need to take with our buildings and the actions we can take as a faith community.

First: Bishop-elect Knisely and I would like to have each clergyperson’s cell phone number so we can contact you – both in the case of an emergency such as this one might become and just so we can contact you in general.  Please email that to RMoulton@episcopalri.org.  She keeps a list of all churches and clergy on the server that we can get on our IPhones as we travel around so getting this up to date is important.

Second: Check with your local emergency response office for information relevant to your community. Each congregation’s situation will be different, but here are some things to consider:

Buildings:

·      Batten down the hatches! Make sure windows are closed tightly – if you are near the coast you may need to consider additional protection. Check around the church yard to make sure there aren’t any cans, planters or other objects that have the potential to become flying missles.

·      Turn off propane tanks and unplug appliances -- especially computers!

·      Turn refrigerators and freezers to the highest setting and tape around the door frames to keep food as cold for as long as possible if electricity goes out.

·      If you anticipate that anyone will be in the church during the storm, put flashlights in key locations (with fresh batteries).

·      If you have a sanctuary lamp, it is probably best to extinguish the flame during the storm.

Pastoral Care

·      Make a list or, if you have one, review the list of people in your parish who live alone or who may be vulnerable for any reason (which isn’t just elderly people!). Find a way to make sure someone will check up on those folks to make sure they are OK or find help, if needed. You can do this in a variety of ways: recruit partners, let people self-select a partner, etc. You may also want to notify police and fire departments of vulnerable people, if that's your community's system. In any case, it is important to have a way to make sure that someone will check on people if that's necessary.

·      This is a good time to make sure your parish contact list is up to date.  Collect cell phone numbers, confirm addresses, etc. Also, you might want to gather as information about who will be out of town so you don’t go hunting for someone who is in Florida!

·      You may want to identify people who are ready, willing and able to assist should you need extra hearts and hands if the situation requires.

·      In any case, encourage people to follow emergency preparedness suggestions offered by your local community – and by common sense!

Service

·      If your parish hall serves as an emergency shelter or you plan to make it available as one, contact your local emergency response office for information and requirements.

·      If you think you might end up with folks coming to the parish for shelter (not as an official shelter but as a back up option), ask parishioners to bring blankets, pillows, air mattresses, water, food, baby supplies, etc. so you are equipped to handle that should the need arise. You can, for example, ask people to drop off boxes labeled with their name and then if the supplies aren’t needed they can take them home again the next Sunday.

·      Take time to talk about options, strategies, etc. so you have an idea of who to contact, things to do (or not do). Sometimes just talking about emergency preparedness can help us remember what we need to do to get ready.

The Episcopal Relief and Development website has some information you might find helpful: http://www.er-d.org/resourcelibrary. In particular, there is an article on how to set up an emergency shelter inyour parish hall. http://www.er-d.org/userfiles/Post-HOW-TO_Yonkers(1).pdf.

Thanks to all of you for being on the front lines of ministry at times like this. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. And know that we will hold you in our prayers in the days ahead.

~Linda   (on behalf of the diocesan staff)