Jonathan Daniels House Accepted into Episcopal Service Corps

An exciting hurdle has been crossed by the Diocese of Rhode Island’s Jonathan Daniels House (JDH) project, which aims to open a service-oriented intentional community for young adults. After three years of planning and preparing, last week JDH received official membership into the Episcopal Service Corps, a national network of over 25 Episcopal young adult service programs across the United States.

As an Episcopal Service Corps community, Jonathan Daniels House will draw upon a diverse group of young adults from across the country, and plans to welcome four young adults in August of 2014.  Participants will live together, work in service agencies embedded in local communities, and engage in vocational and spiritual discernment for a period of 10 months. They receive a modest stipend and are supported by a program director and mentors.

“We recognize that young people’s lives are formed by their experience in young adulthood – and that the service they provide will change them as well as those around them, said the Rt. Rev. Nicholas Knisely, Bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island. “They will bring energy, vision and ideas to us, and new hope to the people they serve.”

The next step forward for the JDH task force will be to hire a Program Director whose major work this spring will be to make arrangements with prospective service agencies, acquire housing, and prepare to welcome the first class of JDH participants. The JDH Task Force believes the support of the Episcopal Service Corps to be crucial as we work through these last tasks. 

The community is named after Jonathan Daniels, a martyr of the Civil Rights movement who engaged in ministry in Episcopal churches in South Providence. As a seminarian in the 1960s, Jonathan Daniels traveled south to help register African Americans to vote in Selma, Alabama. On that trip, Daniels was shot and killed while pushing a teenage girl out of harm’s way. 


The mission of Jonathan Daniels House is to honor Daniels by continuing the work of service, justice and reconciliation for which he lived and died. In the footsteps of Jonathan Daniels, participants will work with those in the margins for whom justice and access to basic human services is often difficult to achieve. 

By Ruth Meteer
Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island
Communications Director

St. Augustine's Feeds 80 URI Students and Friends, Monthly

Last night at their monthly "Feed a Friend" dinner St. Augustine's Church in Kingston fed 80 people, at least 40 of whom were current URI students. St. Augustine's is located on the URI campus, and started these "feed a friend dinners" last Shrove Tuesday when parishioners volunteered to cook students their favorite home cooked meal if they brought a friend. The first dinner had 5 students.

For St. Augustine's the jump in numbers is a great success. Over the past year they've made it their mission to better reach out to the college students around the church, to provide for their needs both spiritually and physically.

Early on they recognized that two major issues for the students are hunger during breaks (read how they've tackled hunger here) and homesickness. There's nothing like a home cooked meal to help with homesickness right?

At last night's dinner there was even a prospective URI student or two in attendance. Some of those who were visiting the campus that day had been sent to the dinner by the University's LGBTQ group. According to Deacon Jan Grinnell one student even said that he now really wants to come to URI. Knowing there is a loving, supportive Episcopal community on campus seems to have made a big impression.

It isn't just the students who's spirits are lifted by this ministry though. The whole congregation is feeling the joy of sharing and caring. Carol Miro, the parishioner who coordinated this last dinner, said in an email to Deacon Grinnell:

"So many contributed in so many ways and the energy in the room was palpable. Students and others are telling us how much  they feel unconditional love at St. A's.  We are acting on our mission!" 

This was the last "Feed a Friend" for 2013, since the students are moving toward exams and winter break. St. Augustine's says that the next one will be January 28th, and that the students have voted the meal to be "Soup and Stew".

A Homecoming: The Rev. Patrick Greene to be Priest-in-Charge of Sts. Matthew & Mark Church

The Vestry and Search Committee of Saints Matthew and Mark Church is pleased to announce that the Rev. Patrick Greene will join them as priest-in-charge beginning January 1, 2014. 

This will be a homecoming of sorts for Patrick Greene, who is a native Rhode Islander and grew up in Barrington attending St. John's Episcopal Church. In 2002 he graduated from Barrington High School, and in 2006 he received his BA degree, Summa Cum Laude, in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Rhode Island. St. John's sponsored him through the ordination process, and he received his Masters in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 2010.

Since his graduation the Rev. Greene has been Assistant to the Rector at St. Paul’s Church in Wickford. He describes his ministry in this way: “As a priest in the Episcopal Church I seek to serve Christ through a sacramental life by sharing God’s love for his creation, so that empowered by these signs of God’s love and grace we may join in bringing about the Kingdom of God in the world around us.” 

Saints Matthew and Mark extensively interviewed Patrick and believes that they have found the perfect candidate for their priest. They announced "Patrick is deeply spiritual, knows Rhode Island and the Barrington community well, is gifted in pastoral care, will be a calming presence and a strong leader, and will be an enthusiastic and welcoming presence in our church and the surrounding community." 

Patrick and his wife of one year, Carmen, are eager to join Saints Matthew and Mark, and delighted with the prospect of living in the beautifully restored rectory. 

Saints Matthew and Mark will formally welcome their new Priest-in-Charge at the 8 am and 10 am Communion services on Sunday January 5, with a welcoming reception after the 10 a.m. service. 

Meanwhile, if you would like to write welcoming Patrick and Carmen to their new Ministry, you may write to them at 47 Church Lane, North Kingstown, RI 02852 or by email. 

Watch Bishop Knisely's 2013 Convention Address

Missed our 2013 Diocesan Convention? Watch the Bishop's Address to catch up on what has happened in our diocese in the last year, and hear where we are headed in the next. This slideshow movie is made from the Keynote presentation Bishop Knisely gave for this year's Bishop's Address.

You can watch the whole movie for the full effect of the presentation,  or dial in to an update on a particular topic at these timestamps:

• Bishop's vision for the Diocese 1:03 
• Presentation of our new diocesan logo 8:26 
• The Cathedral of St. John 11:00 
• Same sex blessings 14:19 
• Changes to the Organization of the Bishop's Office 16:32 
• Episcopal Conference Center 18:32 
• San Jorge's requests Mission status 20:05 
• St. John's on the Point restarts as a Mission 21:19 
• Young Adult Ministry 22:14 
• Ministry to those with Autism 23:28 
• Expanding Hispanic Ministry 24:46 
• Presentation of the 2013 Anchor of Hope Award 25:53

Church Beyond Walls: It Takes a Village to Proclaim the Gospel

By the Rev. Edmund Harris, Priest & Organizer for CBW

Two remarkable things happened at Church Beyond the Walls last Saturday that serve as a marker for me about people's growing investment in our community.

The first thing that happened was that we started singing! I mean, really singing. Of course, we've been singing at CBW since we first got started. But all along, I've sensed that we had a lot more potential in us. Music, for those of you who've had the experience of singing in a choir might know, has an amazing capacity to bring people together and to build community. Throughout this year, I've wondered, how might music at CBW both give glory to God and also build up our little corner of Christ's Body? How might music make us more authentically the community God is calling us to become?

Thankfully, I found someone who was willing to ask these questions alongside me. Since late summer, our Music Consultant and Animator Waylon Whitely has been hard at work brainstorming with me about how to create a music repertoire at CBW that would invite us to claim our voice. Last Saturday, it was finally time to put everything into action. After a music workshop in the park at which Waylon led us in practicing new songs accompanied by our "shruti box", it was time to worship!

We sang! The shruti box-which makes what I can only describe as an other-worldly, drone-like sound-provided the perfect canvas for our voices. As we sang, I watched as more and more people joined in and offered the gift of their voices. Although we might not be invited to sing at Westminster Abbey based on our first week of singing, more importantly, I could already see glimpses of the leavening effect I'd hoped and prayed that music might have in our community. Thanks be to God.

The second thing that happened took place during the reading of the Gospel. As many of you know, one of our biggest worship challenges comes from the ambient noise in and around the park. Between the car engines, sirens, music emanating from the skating rink, cell phones and chatter, it's can sometimes be darn near impossible to hear the service. Nowhere is the noise more overpowering than during the reading of the Gospel.

On a whim, last week I decided to print the Gospel story in the handout. I hoped that people could at least follow along while Deacon Ricky was proclaiming it even it they couldn't hear it. Lo and behold, as Ricky read the Gospel, people started reading it out loud along with her. Suddenly, because so many of us were proclaiming the Gospel, we could hear it loud and clear! It reminded me of the "mic checks" people used when making announcements during Occupy Providence two years ago. And like that movement, this one emerged quite organically out of the desire among people in our community to hear and proclaim the words of Jesus themselves. So it seems we might just have a new tradition on our hands, proclaiming the Gospel together! Thanks be to God.

Will you come and be part of this tradition on Saturday? Will you claim your voice? Will you join your brothers and sisters in proclaiming the Gospel and preaching it? Will you come give thanks to God? 

RI Rally4Recovery Shows Faith's Role in the Recovery Process

Quilt honoring those who've died of addictions

By Anne M. Stone

On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in late September, thousands gathered in Roger Williams Memorial Park in the heart of Providence for the eleventh annual Rhode Island Rally4Recovery. Part of National Recovery Month, the event served as a celebration of those in long-term recovery from addiction or mental health disorders. It offered inspiration and support to those who may be wrestling with their own or a loved one’s addictions. And it spread the message that people can—and do—recover from substance abuse and mental health disorders.

The rally was equal measures entertainment and education. It featured live music, children’s activities, food vendors, and giveaways, but also inspirational speakers and access to a wealth of service providers. At its heart stood a multi-panel recovery quilt honoring those who have died of their addictions, those clawing their way up and out, and the service agencies working to help.

Among the groups sponsoring booths was Faith Infused Recovery Efforts (FIRE). This interfaith collective offered a quiet space where clergy from different traditions were available to pray with or for those in recovery. On its table sat a basket of hand-knitted or crocheted prayer squares contributed by houses of faith as a tangible symbol of their love, support, and concern. Other FIRE giveaways included hygiene kits—small bags of toiletries—and pamphlets detailing an array of social and support services available to those in need.

Prayer Orchard

“Sometimes you get worn out,” said FIRE participant Amy Saramago of the Catholic Diocese of Providence. “We are here to help folks re-energize. We’re here talking to people and trying to get the word out about what we do, and to have them know that churches are here for them.”

Also at the rally was a booth sponsored by The Blessing Way, an ecumenical, faith-based agency co-founded in 2004 by the Rev. Dr. Joyce Penfield. Penfield was a chaplain for the Rhode Island Department of Correction at the time and saw a need to offer a spiritually oriented response to the high recidivism rate and high rate of death by overdose among those formerly incarcerated. Thus came into being The Blessing Way, which provides spiritual and social support for men and women returning to Providence from prison or drug treatment programs. It encompasses housing, job assistance, life skills education, case management, mentoring, and more. Today Penfield is its executive director, in addition to serving at St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Providence.

The Blessing Way crew

“We gave out two bags of small wooden crosses at our booth,” said Penfield at the Rally4Recovery. “And everyone, everyone, wanted a blessing, and half of them started talking to me. I didn’t expect that.”

Canon to the Ordinary Linda L. Grenz (L)
& The Rev. Penfield of Blessing Way (R)

What is the role of faith in helping people beat addiction? What, practically, can churches do? It may be as simple as providing free hygiene kits to restore a measure of dignity to people in need, as FIRE did, or handing out wooden crosses and prayer squares to tell people they are loved. It could mean celebrating a Recovery Sunday annually in your faith community, or hosting recovery group meetings in your parish. Or, as with Penfield and The Blessing Way, it could mean embarking on an entirely new ministry of service to those on the path to recovery and their loved ones. We are all called in different ways. The important thing is to answer that call.

At the close of the Rally4Recovery, participants lined up with luminaria to process along the canal, joining with WaterFire Providence to transform the streets and waterways into a celebration of light and hope. It was a fitting end for a rally that is about the far greater transformation of people’s hearts, minds, and bodies—and their lives.

The Blessing Way

http://theblessingway.org

Faith Infused Recovery Efforts (FIRE)

http://ricares.org/?page_id=329

National Recovery Month

http://www.recoverymonth.gov

RICARES: Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts

http://ricares.org

On the Deacons Blog: An interview with Bishop Knisely

It has been a year since Rhode Island elected its current bishop, Nicholas Knisely...Deacon Barbara Mays Stock caught up with him recently, to ask him some questions regarding his thoughts on the diaconate...

BMS: Bishop Knisely, can you tell me a little bit about your experience with the Diaconate in your years as a priest?

Bishop Knisely: I've been particularly blessed to work with 6 extraordinary deacons during the time I served as a parochial priest. In fact, every parish I served as the Rector eventually either had a deacon assigned, or lifted up someone to that ministry...

Read the full interview on the EpiscopalRI Deacons blog

The Rev. Jeffery C. Lewis, New Chaplain for St. George's School

The Rev. Jeffrey C. Lewis will join the Diocese of Rhode Island this month, as the new Chaplain and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at St. George's School in Middletown.

  
Many of you may remember St. George's School as the location of Bishop Knisely's Ordination and Consecration last November. What you may not have known then is that St. George's is an Episcopal Affiliated School. Bishop Knisely sits on the board of trustees, their chapel's services follow the order for worship in the Book of Common Prayer, and the school chaplain is an Episcopal priest.

So we welcome The Rev. Jeffrey C. Lewis into our life together as the Diocese of RI.  

Hailing from Camden, Maine, Jeff was ordained in 2006 in the Diocese of Maine, where he served as Associate Clergy at St. John the Baptist in Thomaston and Priest-in-Charge of St. Giles Church in Jefferson.   For the last few years, Jeff has been the Chaplain and Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department at Salisbury School in Connecticut.

Jeff is a life-long sailor and self-described waterman. He says that his move to St. George's School and the Diocese of Rhode Island feels like coming home.  

As a licensed captain, Jeff worked for many years as a professional mariner.   This included years he taught in the Sea Program at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School where he was a Senior Instructor and Course Director.  His passion for character education, environmental and energy issues and the spiritual life of young people has infused his work in and out of the Church for many years.

Jeff and his wife Susan, also a teacher, have three sons aged 18, 13 and 10.   They will make their home in Middletown on the campus of St. George's School.