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Lent/Easter 2015 Volume 46, Issue 1

MAGAZINE OF THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Tampa Landmark Lives the Faith

PLUS J Thrift Shop Guide J Mosaics Return J Episcopal Cuba

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From the BishopWe Spiritually Thrive Together My dear friends,

I once took a college class about out-door survival. We were instructed in the particulars about Florida fauna and flora. We learned about the delectable heart of the palmetto palm, wild grape vines, grubs and roots, and getting water from the morning dew. We were instructed in the survival practices of eating insects, lighting fires with sticks, and setting traps for wilderness eating. The final exam for this class was to live through a weekend in the woods alone with only a pocketknife and a small length of rope. One weekend, the entire class went into the woods on a small lake near Gainesville where we were all sent off into individual directions.

I thought it was going to be a great experience being alone with my thoughts and my new survivalist skills. I searched out a clearing that I supposed would be rat-tlesnake free and bed down as best I could. To make a long story short: night fell. It was incredibly dark. There were a great number of nocturnal noises all around me and being alone with my thoughts did not provide any source of comfort. I didn’t like it too much. Fortunately, a group of us found each other and discovered a desert-ed lake cabin with some matches. We lit a fire and spent the night being brave with each other. In the morning I collected and ate wild grape vines. They were horrible! Hours into the day hunger defeated us, so a few of us hitched a ride into the nearest piece of civilization and purchased bread and peanut butter. All had a good time. We didn’t starve and gleefully pretended

we were tough. Ultimately, the instruc-tor discovered our peanut butter survival technique and we all received “C” grades in the class. I didn’t care though; peanut butter and comrades were better than bugs for dinner in isolation.

Every Lent we reflect on Jesus facing temptations alone in the wilderness. We do so after beginning the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday by being invited to observe a holy Lent by including self-ex-amination and repentance; prayer, fasting and self denial; and by reading and medi-tating on God’s holy Word. This Christian set of disciplines, on some level, feels like being alone with one’s thoughts. It might reveal the spiritual reality of nocturnal noises and fears. We might prefer to es-cape for some comforting peanut butter!

As I have matured in age I recog-nize my own need for chosen quiet and solitude so as to better reflect and pray. I

remember this college class though as a reminder that I am not as courageous as I think and that I need others. My own thoughts are not enough to sustain me.

I do encourage you to faithfully em-bark on a holy Lent. Spiritual reflection is a necessary discipline in a holy life. We are invited though to the observance of a holy Lent “in the name of the Church.” That one simple phrase is a healthy, spiritual corrective to the thinking of my outdoor survival class. We are not intended to perform the holy life in isolation. We are intended to be in community. Personal self-reflection in community is our path. Private self-absorption in isolation is not our goal or purpose.

Pray personally with at least one trusted friend. Better yet, pray with a group. Self-reflect and then discuss your process, thoughts, and journey with another. If you are not sure about how to start, then talk to your priest who is conversant with the spiritual journey. We can certainly survive alone; but we spiritually thrive togeth-er. In the name of the Church, and within the community of the Church, observe a holy Lent. X

Bishop Dabney Smith is Fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida.

Private self-absorption in isolation is not our

goal or purpose.

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In this Issue

8 Thrift Shopping in Southwest Florida Get a bargain, give a donation, help a ministry

12 St. James House of Prayer A Tampa landmark renewed

15 Mapping Out a New DaySpring DaySpring Development Committee’s Phil Beauchamp on future plans for our Diocesan home

Features

Here, a view of St. James House of Prayer,

built in 1922.

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177

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Departments

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The Wider Church, Briefs: General Convention Blue Book ....................... ..………………………........ 7

University Ministries by The Rev. Canon Eric Cooter ………………………………………................ 8

Meet the Priest: The Rev. Kevin Warner .............................……………...…………………....................... 9

Thrift Shops in the Diocese ......................……………………………………….........……....................10

Easter by The Rev. Dr. Tom Thoeni ………………………………………...............……….................... 21

Evangelism: At a Bride Expo by The Rev. Nathan Speck-Ewer …........……………….............................. 22

Food: Sanibel Crabcakes, Aspic and Three Bean Salad …......……...………………................................. 24

Education for Ministry: Theological Reflection for All, by Martha Goodwill …….....……........................ 26

Music: Anglican Musicians Meet Here This May ….................................………………………................ 27

Nature: Blessing the World’s Largest Artificial Reef ...............................................…....................................... 28

Travel: A Visit to Episcopal Cuba by Sarah Hill ....................................................................… .......................... 29

Obituaries.....................………………………………………………...........………………………...... 31

Events …………….........................…………………………………...........……………….………...... 32

Glancing Back with Ann B. Davis of The Brady Bunch ….……………………….………...................... 34

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Bishop, The Diocese of Southwest Florida: The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith

Editor: Garland Pollard

Contributing Writers: Phil Beauchamp, The Rev. Canon Eric Cooter, Sandy Davis, Martha Goodwill, Roger Grunke, Michael Hunter, Sarah Hill, The Rev. John Palarine, Roberta Poellein, The Rev. Nathan Speck-Ewer, The Rev. Dr. Tom Thoeni

Contributing Photographer: The Rev. Eric Cooter, Bonnie Jean Durning, Dr. David Hill

Advertising Inquiries: Garland Pollard, 941-556-0315 or gpollard@episcopalswfl.org

Subscriptions: The Southern Cross is mailed to parishioners of the Diocese of Southwest Florida from member parish lists. Email your address to southerncross@episcopalswfl.org to subscribe or update delivery preferences.

Editorial Submissions, Letters: The editor welcomes submissions of articles for every section of the magazine including features, news and departments. Email editor@episcopalswfl.org. Manuscripts must be in Microsoft word format. We invite letters to the editor on subjects of interest to the entire Diocese.

Identification Statement: The Southern Cross is published by the Diocese of Southwest Florida, Department of Communications. USPS permit No. 946.

Diocese of Southwest Florida DaySpring Episcopal Center 8005 25th St. East Parrish, FL 34219 941-556-0315

web: www.episcopalswfl.org email: editor@episcopalswfl.org Twitter: @episcopalswfl

ISSN 2372-7861 (print version)ISSN 2372-8159 (online version)

On the Cover: St. James House of Prayer in Tampa

Year 46 | Issue 1 | Lent/Easter 2015X

First Published A.D. 1970

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General Convention Blue Book Now Online

NEW YORK – Seeking informa-tion about the 78th General Conven-tion? The Report to the 78th General Convention, commonly referred to as The Blue Book, this year will only be available online at the Episcopal Church General Convention.

At presstime, reports were cur-rently posted on the The Taskforce for Reimagining The Episcopal Church (TREC), the Task Force on the Study of Marriage, and the Standing Com-mission on Communications and Information Technology. Additional reports will be posted weekly, as they are translated and edited for publi-cation. The Blue Book also contains reports of the committees, commis-sions, agencies and boards of the General Convention.

The Episcopal Church’s 78th General Convention, June 25 – July 3, 2015 will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

Documents can be downloaded as desired.

The information is available in English and in Spanish. X

The Wider ChurchTask Force Issues Report for Convention

NEW YORK – In December, the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church presented its final report to the 78th General Conven-tion and to the Church, and for in-clusion in Reports to General Con-vention, commonly referred to as The Blue Book.

The document came with a mem-orandum about the TREC process:

“We hope that the resolutions we proposed will be a jumping off point for this discernment process, which we hope will engage Episcopalians both within the General Convention context and far beyond.”

It went on to explain the ratio-nale for issuing the report in advance of the Convention:

“We will be sharing our specific proposed changes to the constitution and canons with experts in canon law in the coming weeks and months to help ensure internal and technical consistency. We felt it was important to share our report with the whole church now, even though some of the more highly technical aspects might need further perfecting between now and next year’s General Convention.”

TREC’s work was directed by Resolution C095, which was ap-proved by the 77th General Conven-tion in 2012, with the specific task of preparing recommendations to the 78th General Convention for reimag-ing and restructuring the church. X

Briefly

Naples Mosaic RevivalNAPLES - The family of Harriett Hutchings, a beloved parishioner of St. Paul’s, Naples, commissioned a mosaic in her memory.

Hutchings was a church leader and children’s faith-book author; the mosaic was inspired by the cover of one of her books. The art, by artist Truman Adams, is unusual because it revives the almost lost art of mosa-ics in liturgical use.

“Mary’s arm on the lamb ex-plains Jesus as the divine Lamb of God, while his closed eyes evidence Jesus’ humanity. He sleeps peacefully in the care of his mother and Joseph, relying upon them totally for his life and well-being, just as we relied on our family when we were infants.” said the Rev. Tara McGraw, rector. Hutchings died in 2013; her widower Don died last year, but lived long enough to see it installed.

“This nativity scene reminds us of the importance of family and calls us to holy and loving fulfillment of our family roles,” said McGraw. “It challenges us to live deeply into our partnerships with God in the fulfill-ment of God’s good purposes in our current settings.” X

Blue Book onlinevisit generalconvention.org for more information

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On CampusUniversity Ministries Link with Nearby ParishesBY THE REV. CANON ERIC COOTER CANON FOR MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT

IN 2013, A Campus Ministry Task Force was formed from several stakeholders in the Diocese. The primary purpose of the Task Force was to set a vision for re-imag-ining Campus Ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida.

The strategy adopted and implement-ed last year, included the development of partnerships with parishes geographically located near three of our colleges/univer-sities (FGCU – Fort Myers, USF- Tampa, and SCF-Bradenton). The focus was to identify and support rectors of parishes who had a heart for and a sense of call to minister as mentors, guides, and coaches to student leaders on those campuses. In addition, the focus was to identify, train, and mentor young student leaders who would serve as interns on those campuses.

Today, we have three ministries in the early stages of living into this new strategy. There is now a fledgling ministry in the early planning stages at FGCU.

The Rev. Dr. James Reho, Rector of Lamb of God Church in Fort Myers, is serving as chaplain to two of our student interns Alexandra Diaz and Austin English-Levitt.

The Rev. Bry-an O’Carroll, Rec-tor of St George’s in Bradenton, is overseeing a de-veloping campus ministry for State

College of Florida, which includes cam-puses in Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and Venice. The Rev. Jo Popham, Priest-in-Charge at St. Nathaniel’s in North Port is working with Fr. Bryan, to help facilitate a ministry on the Venice cam-pus. Fr. Bryan is coaching and mentor-ing our student intern Paige Parker, and

our newly n a m e d Chaplain Assistant, W i l l i a m Pardy, an alumnus of SCF and a student at USF Sara-

sota, working on his bachelor’s degree. As of January, 1, 2015, the Rev. Roy

Allison, Rector of St Mark’s Tampa, along with Deacon Alisa Carmichael is now leading the St. Anselm’s Chapel Center at USF in Tampa. Fr. Roy and Deacon Alisa mentor and coach six student interns who live in covenanted community at the Chapel Center.

As this new ministry strategy evolves, the hope is that there will be more opportunities for local parishes to identify young student leaders who un-der the guidance and mentorship of the local priest, will be able to explore and live out a lively ministry as peer minis-ters and coaches to their fellow students on campuses we have yet to engage. X

get in touchIf you are interested in a campus ministry partnership, please contact the Rev. Canon Eric Cooter, Canon for Ministry Development, atecooter@episcopalswfl.org

Tiara Metayer at a fall event at the St. Anselm community at University of South Florida. Metayer is one of the intern residents at USF..

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Meet the PriestThe Rev. Kevin Warner, St. John the DivineQ: You came to St. John the Divine, Sun City Center, last summer from California. Are things appreciably different here?A: Yes and no. Both San Diego and Southwest Florida are strong dioceses, led by excellent bishops. In both places there is good camaraderie among the clergy and one feels at home quickly. Culturally there is a difference between San Diego and Tampa. Before our five years in San Diego we lived primarily in Michigan, with so-journs in Virginia and South Carolina; Southwest Florida feels more like home. My first Sunday, one of my parishioners introduced herself, a former member of my childhood church in Michigan where she remembered me as an acolyte. At the recent Tampa Bay Lightning game against my beloved Red Wings there were as many, if not more, red sweaters in the stands than blue. At the game I ran into former neighbors from Michigan, and we keep getting visitors from the North!

Q: In Ed Brown’s arrival announcement, he referred to you as a “joyful evangelist”. What do you see as evangelism?A: To me, evangelism is helping people come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Seeing people come alive in the Lord is a tremendous honor and a lot of fun, hence the joyful appellation. When I was about seven I experienced the pres-ence of God in a significant way. I knew that He was real, that it was okay, and al-ways would be okay. Thus, my primary spiritual gift is faith and my ministry is about helping others experience the true presence of God in their lives.

Q: You have four boys in that ‘millen-nial’ group that, like you, have grown up in the Episcopal Church. What are they telling you about the future of the Episcopal Church?A: I have never asked them expressly their views but they all attend Episcopal churches by their own choice. My youngest is still in California finishing his Computer Information Systems degree at Cal Poly, Pomona, and at-tends a nearby church. He is active there, supporting the music program by playing bass and is also involved in a non-denominational campus fel-lowship. Our third son is living with us here and works as a preschool teacher at Redlands Christian Migrant Association and also plays trombone at the 9:15 service. Sunday evenings he also volunteers with the youth group. Our older two live and work in mid-Michigan, getting to church when they can, but both work weekends.

Q: You have worked with the Alpha Course. Did that work in your previous diocese and if so, how?A: I was an early adopter, and have been running Alpha since 1999. I have watched as it has stopped the decline of the Church of England, produced our latest Archbishop of Canterbury while chang-ing countless lives over the years. In my last diocese our parish was a “Lighthouse Parish”, providing training and support for our area of San Diego and working with other Lighthouse churches to provide re-gional support. We were among the first in California to introduce the Parenting

Course and the Marriage Course. Both are as the names would indicate, with the Parenting Course teachings split be-tween younger children and teens. Like the Alpha course it employs fellowship, teaching and small group discussion. We found it a wonderful way to penetrate the surrounding community and connect new and existing families with children of like ages. Likewise the Marriage Course brought in many from outside the parish. The format for it is a little different starting with a romantic dinner for two. All watch the videos and the discussion is between the couples, not in a group.

Q: What has been the best thing about your move here?A: That’s easy, the people of St. John the Divine! They have been wonderful in their welcome of me and my family. We feel very much a part of the community and give thanks to God for such a wonderful place! X

The Rev. Warner leading worship at Monthly Eucharist at DaySpring.

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Retail OutreachThrift Shops Asset to Larger Community

THIS YEAR, ST. Michael and All An-gels in Sanibel offered $1,500 to each of the seminarians in the Diocese of Southwest Florida from proceeds from their thrift shop, Noah’s Ark. It was one of many dona-tions for the store, which is able to fund a wide array of programs with its revenue. “It’s not about raising money for the parish,” said the church’s rector, The Rev. Dr. Ellen Sloan. “It’s about outreach locally and globally.”

The store (the sorting area is pictured above) is located on parish property, so it helps establish a place for recycling goods to those who can use it more. Noah’s Ark is one of a wide array of shops in the Diocese. Fully one third of the parishes and mis-sions in the Diocese operate retail shops.

The funds raised through the vintage and thrift shops in the Diocese of Southwest Florida assist dozens of chari-ties across Southwest Florida, as well as supporting the main operations budget of some smaller parishes.

For 2013, here are a few sample figures representing funds raised through Diocesan retail shops:

• Holy Trinity, Clearwater, $122,000

• All Souls, North Ft. Myers, $106,000

• St Andrew, Spring Hill $70,000• Christ Church, Bradenton,

$63,000• Iona-Hope, Ft. Myers, $55,000• Lamb of God, Ft. Myers $50,000• St Vincent, St. Petersburg

$40,000• St Mary, Bonita Springs $40,000• St Alban, St. Pete Beach $18,000• St Bartholomew, St. Petersburg

$18,000At right and on the following page

are shops in the Diocese. Call ahead to make sure of opening hours.

Clearwater • Ascension, Clearwater: The Shed Thrift Shop is located at Church of the Ascension, 701 Orange Ave., Clearwa-ter, FL 33756. Phone: 727-447-3469. • Good Samaritan Episcopal, Clear-water: Located next to Good Samari-tan, 2167 NE Coachman Rd., Clearwa-ter, FL 33765. Phone: 727-447-9581. • Good Shepherd, Dunedin: The Little Thrift Shop is located at Good Shepherd, 506 Main Street, Dune-din, FL 34698 on the north side of the street. Phone: 727-734-8238. The Fur-niture Thrift Shop is located just south of the light at Alt. 19 and Sunset Pt. Rd., Clearwater, FL. Phone: 727-600-5820. • Holy Spirit, Safety Harbor: Located next to the parish hall at Holy Spirit, 601 Philippe Pkwy., Safety Harbor, FL 34695. Phone: 727-725-4726. • Holy Trinity, Clearwater: Located at Holy Trinity, 3200 McMullen Booth Rd., Clearwater 33761. Phone: 727-723-7631. • St. Andrew, Spring Hill: Karen’s Kit ‘N Kaboodle is located at St. Andrew, 2301 Deltona Blvd., Spring Hill, FL 34606. Phone: 352-686-1114.• St. John, Clearwater: Located at St. John, 1676 S. Belcher Rd., Clearwater, FL 33764. Phone: 727-531-6020. • St. Stephen, New Port Richey: Located at St. Stephen, 5326 Charles St., New Port Richey, FL. Phone: 727-846-1378.

Thrift Shop Directory

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more onlinego to episcopalswfl.org keyword : thrift for hours and links

Tampa Deanery • St. Elizabeth, Zephyrhills: Angels in the Attic is located at St. Elizabeth, 5855 16th St., Zephyrhills, FL 33542. Phone: 813-782-1202.

St. Petersburg • St. Alban, St. Pete Beach: The Attic Shoppe is located at 316 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, FL 33706. Phone: 727-360-5647. • St. Bartholomew, St. Petersburg: Located at St. Bartholomew, 3747 34th St. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711. Phone: 727-867-7015. • St. Vincent, St. Petersburg: Located at 5124 Gulfport Blvd. S., Gulfport, FL 33707. Phone: 727-321-7215.

Manasota• Christ Church, Bradenton: Located at Christ Church, 4030 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, FL 34205. Phone: 941-747-3709. • Church of the Redeemer, Sarasota: Episcopal Thrift House is located at 1503 Second Ave., Sarasota, FL 34236. Phone: 941-955-4263.

Venice • St. David, Englewood: Located in Englewood Square at 485 N. Indiana Ave., Englewood, FL 34295. Phone: 941-474-1047. • St. Mark, Venice: Divine Consign Shop is located at 203 Miami Ave. W., Ven-ice, FL 34285. Phone: 941-488-3219. Open

Monday-Saturday, 10-4. Divine Consign Showroom is located 170 James St., Ven-ice, FL 34285. Phone: 941-488-3219. • St. Nathaniel, North Port: Located at St. Nathaniel, 4200 S. Biscayne Dr., North Port, FL 34287. Phone: 941-426-2520.

Ft. Myers • All Souls, North Ft. Myers: The Ruth Tucker Memorial Thrift Store is located at All Souls, 14640 N. Cleveland Ave., North Ft. Myers, FL 33903. Phone: 239-656-6229. • Iona-Hope, Ft. Myers: The One More Time Thrift Shop is located in Gulf Point Shopping Center at 15660 San Carlos Blvd., Unit 6A, Ft. Myers, FL 33908. Phone: 239-437-5333. • Lamb of God, Ft. Myers: Located in San Carlos Park at 7021 Constitution Blvd., Ft. Myers, FL 33967. Phone: 239-432-0655. • St. Michael and All Angels, Sanibel Island: The Noah’s Ark Thrift Shop is located in the last building behind St. Michael and All Angels, 2304 Periwin-kle Way, Sanibel, FL 33957. Phone: 239-472-3356.

Naples • St. John, Naples: St. John’s Shoppe is located at 886 110th Ave. N., Naples, 34108. Phone: 239-597-9518. • St. Mary, Bonita Springs: Penny Wise Shop is located in front of St. Mary’s at 9801 Bonita Beach Rd., Bonita Springs, FL 34135. Phone: 239-947-3363. • St. Paul, Naples: The Unique Bou-tique is located at the St. Paul Farmers’ Market, 3901 Davis Blvd., Naples FL 34104. Phone: 239-353-2804. X

Parish not listed? Email editor@episcopalswfl.org and we will post it in our online directory.

Mission & Ministry Dividend; Choristers Sought for Confirmations

PARRISH - In a letter to vestries, Bishop Dabney T. Smith announced a $150,000 “mission and ministry dividend” for local use for congregations, a result of full participation in annual diocesan apportionment. The Diocese has been able to return a portion of apportionment payments to congregations due to the fact that all churches paid their full apportionment.

ST. PETERSBURG - Dwight Thomas, Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, is seeking singers for a Diocesan Choir to perform at Diocesan Confirmations, Diocesan Ordinations and other events. Diocesan Confirmations are Saturday, April 11, at 11 a.m. and Diocesan Ordinations are Saturday, June 13, at 11 a.m. Visit spcathedral.net X

Briefly

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The Rev. Ernestein Flemister, Rector

St. James House of Prayer’s need for a new roof brought two Tampa parishes together, and secured the future mission of one of Florida’s most memorable landmarks.

ST. JAMES HOUSE of Prayer is among the most unique historic churches in the U.S. Built entirely of stone ballast, it has been, literally a rock for the Tampa Heights neighborhood it anchors since its construction in the 1920s. Back in the heyday of 20th centu-ry tourism, it was one of the landmarks of the city, appearing in those retro hand-tinted linen finish postcards you see on the wall at restaurants.

The House of Prayer sits in a transi-tional area of Tampa west of Ybor City and north of downtown in the neigh-borhood of Tampa Heights. Though bisected by I-275 and now sitting to its west, Tampa Heights was spared during various city urban renewal programs. Its historic street grid and collection of

handsome frame cottages and houses mostly survived. However, the neigh-borhood still suffered blight, and the parish declined.

For almost 70 years, the House of Prayer remained a largely white con-gregation, as its members gradually left Tampa Heights for newer suburbs. But that flight, not only of whites but of the black middle class, has meant that St. James House of Prayer is largely a com-muter church, which attracts its parish-ioners because of its unique legacy and mission, and not because it is nearby.

The church is a merged congrega-tion, the historically black St. James, and the House of Prayer. While the combined church’s attendance is con-sistent and its members are faithful

Tampa’s Rock

By Garland Pollard

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parish viewsStudents from Lee Elementary walk to Cornerstone Kids afterschool classes; the parish cornerstone; street pavers; a Cornerstone student; copper flashing; ferns on flint walls and close up of stone on church walls.

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The next step is the replacement of their

corner sign, the victim of one too many car crashes.

givers, it has struggled as much of the parish, both black and white, arrives from other neighborhoods in the city to attend the church. The neighborhood has seen some revival; a thriving Tampa Heights neighborhood association puts on a yearly house tour to celebrate the architecture.

The Rev. Ernestein Flemister, the current rector, came to St. James House of Prayer in 2009. Flemister is a native of Liberia. She is a second-ca-reer priest who first took a law degree and then an M.B.A. before she decid-ed on the priesthood. A lifelong Epis-copalian, she readily admits that she has very much needed both of those degrees in her calling as priest.

In Monrovia, she attended Trinity Cathedral and the Cathedral School. Because of Liberia’s status as the sole American colony in Africa, its clergy were a part of The Episcopal Church, and did not report to London, as the rest of the continent did. Her grand-father was an Episcopal priest. It was only when she came to the United States, however, that she felt called to the priesthood, first in Columbus, Ohio and then at Grace Church in Cincinna-ti, which, she says, prepared her for the challenges and opportunity of running a legacy parish. “I’m kind of used to the building issues,” said Flemister.

When she arrived in 2009, the church building had any number of those “issues.” Most recently, the roof. It leaked. The origi-nal roof was made of an asbestos cement shingle, and while it had been replaced, it needed replacing again.

Enter The Rev. Canon Benjamin Twinamaani, rector of Grace Church, Tampa. Twinamaani, a native of Ugan-da, works with Flemister as members of the Tampa Deanery, meeting regularly in Clericus gatherings of local clergy.

Twinamaani, when he arrived at Grace Church, had his own building issues that included a large mortgage, and con-sistent parish worries about finances.

Twinamaani said that his parish fi-nances had been a struggle since 1993. The parish was, he said, “always need-ing money from the Diocese.” Indeed whenever he got anxious, or felt anxiety from the vestry, he reminded himself that “no, your job is always to be steady.”

So he prayed. Literally. Nine years ago, after receiving a

seed gift of $4,000 to begin an endow-ment, he had prayed with the parish-ioner that the parish would some day have “three more zeros.” His prayers were answered, when part of the Grace property was needed for retention for Hillsborough County highway expan-sion. The sales price was over $4 mil-lion, which was enough to pay off the mortgage for the church, and create a permanent endowment to support fu-ture ministry in perpetuity. The money was tithed, which meant that there was over $300,000 to share with the com-munity. From meetings of the deanery clergy, he long knew of the needs of St. James. He took the idea to his vestry, which supported the gift.

Grace Episcopal is now in a posi-tion to have their deacon, the Rev. Dr. Lynn Grinnell, give away the tithe on the gains from the money, as well as the gift to St. James House of Prayer. The gift recipient, Grace Church, then be-came the gift giver.

With the roof now secure, STJHOP can contend with the Gospel. The gift to St. James does not solve all of the histor-ic parish’s building needs, which include an antique wiring system that Flemister called “every which way but loose” and a need to upgrade all the facilities. But the momentum is there. The next step is

the replacement of their corner sign, the victim of one too many car crashes. The parish has sourced replacement stone to match the historic flint.

But in spite of the problems, the par-ish is enormously blessed. It is not just a church and a parish hall, but a complete religious education complex right in the heart of Tampa. In addition to a half-dozen or so buildings, the parish campus includes an astounding four, yes four, acres of land. It has no debt.

The futureWhile there are any number of

worthy community needs and pro-grams around the city of Tampa, Grace ultimately decided that St. James, with its outreach programs and consistent witness in Tampa Heights, was a cause worth celebrating, or more precisely, blessing. After all, had not Grace been blessed by an unexpected windfall?

Today, after wide press attention in Tampa, and a solid footing established for both Grace Episcopal Church and St. James House of Prayer, the donation toward the roof seems obvious. It was not always so.

“Sometimes,” said Twinamaani, “you forget you are in a Diocesan family.”

There are many twists in the story of St. James House of Prayer and Grace Episcopal Church. Most notable is that it was the cooperation of two African-born African-American priests that

continued on page 16

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CONSTRUCTED IN 1926, the origi-nal Episcopal House of Prayer—since 1997, the combined parish of St. James House of Prayer—was built of flint stone that was formerly ballast on the old, freight, sailing-ships. The weight of the ballast in the ships’ hulls provided stability in the rough seas, but once moored in Tampa Harbor, the ballast was cast overboard, into the harbor, and crates of cigars and other goods, from the manufacturing city, replaced the weight of the ballast for the trips to New Orleans, Havana or beyond.

At one point, the harbor-bottom was cleared of the cast-off ballast stone. It was this salvaged, flint-rock ballast that was used for the construction of the outer walls of the Episcopal House of Prayer. Unlike the indigenous Florida sand-stone, flint is a very hard, almost “petrified” material and could last for centuries. The church’s exterior walls are believed to be structural brick, with the flint rock providing a very thick veneer. The walls are on average 14 inches thick. The style of the building is “fanciful neo-gothic” and exudes charm like no other structure in the city.

The history of the church is indeed, the history of the city itself, architecturally, socially and economically. Although Tam-pa Heights was the city’s first residential neighborhood outside of downtown, and although the city’s most prosperous fami-lies had built beautiful Victorian homes along the granite-curbed, brick avenues, by the time the church was under con-struction, the new suburbs of Old Hyde Park, Morrison Grove, Suburb Beautiful and West Hyde Park began to steal Tampa Height’s wealthy southward. After the de-pression and World War II, the old Tampa

House of Prayer HistoryBy Roger Grunke, A.I.A., Junior Warden

The style of the building is “fanciful neo-gothic”

and exudes charm like no other structure in the city.

neighborhoods fell into further decline as the automobile lured people further out into the new suburbs. With the neighbor-hood’s decline, the House of Prayer also declined. Maintenance was deferred or done in a make-do way, when in the 1980’s, stones were literally falling from the walls. During the same period, the congregation was making history as the first integrated church in the city and attracted some of the city’s most progressive citizens. Sylvia Kimble, Hillsborough County’s first Af-rican-American County Commissioner, was an example of the progressive parish-ioners at the House of Prayer. The church

also has a history of a number of maverick rectors. As the House of Prayer member-ship dwindled, it was only logical that, in 1997, the House of Prayer amalgamated with the historic congregation, that of St. James—the first Episcopal church estab-lished to serve Tampa’s Hispanic, Carib-bean an African American Episcopalians.

As charming as the neo-gothic build-ing design is, it has had design problems since its inception. The first problem is that the flint-rock, triangular parapet gables, at every end of the building, form an uneven surface for the roof flashing to attach to. Consequently, the roof, along each gable end and wherever the roof shingles meet the stone have been prone to leaking—for the last 88 years. This hurdle is being over-come by cutting the protruding corners of the flint-rock and filling the spaces be-tween the uneven shapes of rocks (“parg-ing”), so that modern metal flashing can be installed. A second problem is that the

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Future Needs

• Restoration of the belfry’s wood louvers, which need to be painted and or replaced, as they allow water into the sacristy

• Historic doors need to be re-hung and reworked, to better reflect current codes

• Wiring needs to be updated and replaced.

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building lacks roof insulation. Insulation was not thought of in the 1920’s and people didn’t air-condition the spaces under the roofs. Today, as fast as the air-conditioning can produce cold air, the sun’s radiant heat penetrates the thin roof deck, canceling out most of the air-conditioning value. Adding insulation was a dilemma, in that as the building is a historic building and as long as it is eligible for local, state and federal grant monies, neither the interior ceiling nor the exterior could be noticeably altered, without losing funding.

After much research and investiga-tion, a design was created that would raise the existing top surface of the roof shingles only a few inches, and create a continuous series of conductive draft chambers. The new roof takes in ambient air at the edge of the eaves, and the conductive power of the sun’s heat pulls the air upward along the steep roof, where it exits with the ra-diant heat along the new ridge vent. Nei-ther the in-take vents nor the exiting vent along the ridge beam will be noticeable

from the street. Two layers of aluminum foil also reflect much of the sun’s intense, sub-tropical energy. The new shingles will also be “tapered” to give a diagonal pattern that simulates those in old photos of the 1930’s. $65,000, a full half of the costs of the re-roofing is derived from a Hillsborough County Preservation Challenge Grant.

In removing the old roofing shingles, workmen discovered the gables them-selves to be unstable! This condition was one giving rise to serious alarm, as the ga-ble ends are the very structure and support of the church. Putting several professional minds together, a system of anchors has been devised, anchoring the gable ends to the “roof diaphragm.” While the solution is logical, it is not one commonly applied. Thus, contractors were hesitant in render-ing a fixed bid for the work. This work was not anticipated in the original re-roofing budget, but its necessity is not arguable! The “in progress” solution is to execute the anchor plan on the smallest gable, on the south side of the Germaine Room, keep-ing strict accounting of all time and mate-rials, and then determine the price for the remaining four gables from the experience of that gable. This cooperation, on the part of the structural specialist, is in itself a blessing.

With the re-roofing (an endeavor of several-years), the interior will be easier to cool due to the convection insulation system, and the water intrusion should be halted. This however does not solve all of the little rock church’s inadequacies. A se-ries of continued improvement must be made to bring the building to full, modern comfort and safety compliance. X

Junior Warden Roger Grunke, A.I.A., prepared this report for the vestry in prepa-ration for the new roof.

put aside parish boundaries to protect the legacy and future of The Episcopal Church in Tampa. While of course the rest of the city does not attend St. James House of Prayer, it is a much-beloved civic landmark in Tampa.

Twinamaani reminds that money can become a golden calf, and it cannot be worshiped because gold takes you “back to Egypt.” Twinamaani said that where he comes from back in Uganda, cows, cattle and land are seen as God, but not money.

“I’m from Africa, where money is not God,” said Twina-maani.

Today, if you visit St. James House of Prayer on any weekday afternoon, the parish hall is bus-tling with the Cornerstone Kids afterschool program. On Sunday, attendance is solid, and attracts a wide variety of professionals. They have revived Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood, and hold a Harvest Festival with bouncy houses and games.

“We’ve come this far by faith,” said Flemister.

There is little doubt that the material needs of the parish will be met. Flemister said that her challenge is how to share the Gospel in a way that the immedi-ate neighbors can relate to.

“More than anything, our call is to become a part of this community,” said Flemister. X

Con’t: History of St. James House of Prayercontinued from page 16

Con’t: Tampa’s Rockcontinued from previous page

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Mapping Out a New Plan for DaySpring

By Phil Beauchamp DaySpring Development Committee

EACH OF US has our conception of a sacred place, a place where we find quietness in the spirit. For me, Day-Spring is that sacred place, where I can be most closely in connection with Christ.

And since 1984, DaySpring has been welcoming guests at this “sacred place at the heart of the Diocese” for retreats, meetings and summer camp events. Over these past 30 years, this ministry, property and set of facilities has grown and changed.

From the start, DaySpring quickly outgrew capacity and dormitory buildings. Additional meeting rooms and a pavil-ion were added to accommodate larger groups. Four youth cabins and a second large pavilion were added in the late 1990s. Diocesan offices were moved from Lakewood Ranch to the DaySpring campus in 2011 with the construction of Diocesan House, creating a renewed energy and traffic for the property. Now, three decades later, as DaySpring continues its mission, it includes 18 buildings on a 92-acre campus.

But as the campus has grown and aged, it has many new needs, including the need for larger, multi-purpose

conference rooms, a pool and enough space for all to wor-ship together. With Bishop Smith and Diocesan Council’s desire to continue the growth and excitement of creating a gathering place for the Diocese, a formal “visioning” pro-cess began in the spring of 2014 with the hiring of plan-ning consultant Jody Oates of Westerville, Ohio-based master planning firm Kaleidoscope Inc.

In the December issue of the Southern Cross, Michael Kline, the chairman of the DaySpring Development Committee, discussed a new master plan for DaySpring Camp and Conference Center. This plan is the culmination of multiple years’ work by the committee, which is now beginning to implement the plan.

Gatherings centered on improving parish life, such as Vestry Retreat, are a key part of programming for DaySpring. Pictured here in 2014 from St. Alban’s St. Pete Beach, are Joanne MacConnell, Anna McKenzie, Joel Taliaferro, John Paul, the Rev. Gigi Conner, Ernie McKenzie and David Ottinger.

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With the new master plan, which replaces one from 2000, we set out to achieve a DaySpring vision based on three important guidelines. The vision would be concise and affirm the purpose of DaySpring; it would be capable of motivating all persons, and it would provide the cornerstone roadmap for DaySpring’s future. The plan is intended to serve as a gen-eral guide for our planning over the next five to 10 years-- specific enough to say something about what we will do and capable of driving us to achieve common goals.

DaySpring is a place where we can see that the land-scape and Holy Spirit are interconnected. The concept plan,

pictured here, hopefully reflects this, and identifies various “sectors” of the campus, both existing and to be developed, for worship, programs and meetings. The plan also includes lodges with guest rooms and additional recreation areas in-cluding a pool and pool house. As we move forward, we will trace a link back from our planning and goal setting to our Vision Statement, asking ‘how does this help us achieve our Vision?’

The plan was presented to the Diocesan Council in De-cember and unanimously and enthusiastically adopted.

MASTER PLAN – FULL SITE DaySpring Episcopal Center

p.12

About the Master PlanPictured below is a new map of DaySpring. Main buildings such as Curry Hall, St.

Thomas Chapel, dorms and cottages and cabins remain, and wetlands remain undisturbed. However, spaces have been identified for a possible Meeting/Worship Center, Program Center and two adult lodges.

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It is a joy and honor to be in the Diocese of Southwest Florida and to be working for Bishop Smith and to be part of the amazing staff. I so look forward to getting to know the Clergy, Youth Leaders (teens and adults) and other lay leadership in the Diocese. I am grateful to be here.

I have been ordained in the Epis-copal Church for many years and have served in many roles. My passion has al-ways been to serve Christ and to lift up the gifts of young people in the Church. I do this not because they are the future of the church (they are the present and future) but because they have touched my life and have transformed many congregations. My primary goal in this new position is to create a movement in this Diocese where every congregation regardless of its size or circumstances would have a strong youth presence. In short, my first priority is to support your parish or mission in lifting up young people. If your ministry is strong, I want not only to support it but cele-brate it and help others learn from you. If your ministry with youth is nonexis-

tent, struggling or not where you want it to be, I want to help you see God’s vision for youth in your part of God’s kingdom and offer my full support. You will soon see many opportunities for enhancing your ministry with young people. You will be hearing about an effective three phase model: creating a vision, raising up adult teams, and leadership train-ing for young people. I believe strongly that youth ministry is different in every place and possible in every place. I can hardly wait to see us discover this to-gether.

I give thanks to God that we have New Beginnings, Happening and the wonderful camp at Dayspring. I am grateful for all of the leadership that has made this possible and for the con-tinued commitment by many to these valuable ministries. I intend to sup-port these programs and to person-

ally be fully engaged in opportunities to change lives in the name of Christ.

We are so blessed in this Diocese to have Dayspring, its outstanding staff and the wonderful facility with such rich traditions. I receive the news of the “Master Plan” with great joy and the great possibilities for the future. Along with my youth responsibilities, I will be exploring with others, ways to add and enhance Episcopal programming. Stay tuned, the present and future are so bright and exciting.

I am excited about this summer’s all new camp program including the expansion to six weeks. The first three weeks will continue to offer the tradi-tional camp activities with even more growth and formation program op-portunities. Weeks four through six will offer special programs. Elementary age

Last summer, youth, counselors and seminarians at DaySpring Summer Camp enjoyed teamwork on the high ropes at DaySpring. Pictured here are, from left, Katherine Gunther, John Winter and an instructor from Pathfinder, the group that teaches DaySpring’s ropes.

DaySpring Plan Begins in the Parish By The Rev. John Palarine Canon for Program and Youth

camp onlineTo find out about youth programs or register, visit episcopalswfl.org keyword youth. Camp photos from the last three years are online at campdayspring.org

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The Vision Statement reads:

“We, as a Diocesan Community, will realize the full potential of DaySpring as the finest faith based camp and conference center in Florida; offering sustainable programs which provide spiritual enrichment and personal growth to support and enrich our guest’s journey of faith; while serving the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida and the larger church, by providing a place of welcome, comfort, and state of the art facilities.”

We believe that the Vision State-ment answers the questions: If you were looking back from 2019, what would you be celebrating? And, if you were looking forward from 2019, what would you be planning? As we begin implementing the master plan, the de-velopment concept, our next step, will be centered on the highest and best use of the DaySpring campus consistent with our mission and vision.

At the January 17, 2015 meeting of Diocesan Council, representatives from across the Diocese of Southwest Florida voted to authorize our DaySpring De-velopment Committee to retain a land use planner to proceed in implement-ing the DaySpring Master Plan. This will ensure that our overall direction is understood by Manatee County be-

fore we begin. Concurrently, we will be presenting a plan for immediate con-struction of a replacement building for the deteriorating triple-wide modular “New” Pavilion, which actively serves all large groups utilizing DaySpring, but was designed to be temporary.

As we talk about the plan, our vi-sion is not just about buildings and maps, but about connections. The vi-sion centers on the people of the Dio-cese, and our relationship to each other in Christ.

The first visible part of the re-emphasis of DaySpring came with the move of Diocesan House to DaySpring, which meant Bishop Smith and Dioc-esan staff are now a part of DaySpring each day. The second part of the plan is addition of staff resources to support programs at DaySpring, including the hiring of The Rev. John Palarine to lead youth and adult programs. X

DaySpring Development Committee member Phil Beauchamp has been active in three parishes, as well as his work with the Diocese. Beauchamp is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Morton Plant Mease Health Care and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. While in Sarasota, he attended St. Boniface from 1985-9 and later All Saints Tarpon Springs from 1992-2004. He and his wife Carol are parishioners at Calvary Episcopal, Indian Rocks Beach, where he has been a warden, Endowment Board Chair and active in supporting the award-winning youth sailing program there.

DaySpring Master Plan

Leadership and Youth Programs

will offer two mini camps especial-ly for new campers or those who don’t want to be away very long. Week five will be a “Mission Camp” to teach and encourage mission in our congregations and give a mis-sion experience. Week six is “Lead-ership Camp” for high school and adults coming as teams from con-gregations. I have a proven leader-ship training model that teaches 16 leadership skills. This will make a difference not only in the lives of those who participate but in the life of your congregation.

There is much more to say about all that is about to happen but let it suffice for now to say thank you for allowing me to serve in your midst. I look forward to ways that we can work together and enrich our minis-tries and God’s kingdom. X

Information on camps, including online registration, is at www.episcopalswfl.org under the Youth tab.

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EasterAngels & Miracles at Resurrection Matthew’s Gospel focuses on angels, but Jesus simply says to go forward. The Rev. Dr. Tom Thoeni reminds that the guards were left with the mystery.“His appearance was like lightning. His clothing white as snow. The guards shook with fear and became like dead men because of him. He spoke to the women. He gave them explicit commands, offering comfort and clarity in the midst of a moment wrought with fear and amazement.”

I AM SPEAKING of an angel, not of Jesus. I am speaking of an unnamed, heavenly being, charged with opening the empty tomb for a risen Savior and announcing his resurrection.

It is curious that on Easter morning we have more information about the angel than we do our Lord. Matthew takes more care in describing the angel’s appearance, his clothing, actions and words, than he does in telling us about Jesus. More than half of our reading this morning is focused on the angel. Only the last three sentences of our passage deals directly with our Lord. Even then we are told so very little about His ap-pearance, or actions and He speaks a fraction of the words of the angel.

What are we to make of this? If it weren’t such the central feast and day of Christianity, if you knew nothing of our faith, you could hear this reading and think that the resurrection of Jesus was just another passing miracle, like the healing of the blind man, the feeding of the 5,000, or the raising of Lazarus.

As we mark His resurrection, we are told so very little about Him. We are

told He met the two women and greet-ed them. He met them as they were running to tell the disciples of the an-gel’s message. They grasped His feet and began to worship Him. Jesus’ response was surprisingly terse. He calmed their hearts and reminded them of the angel’s message to the disciples: Go to Galilee; there they will see Me.

As Matthew continues the story of Jesus there still is no magnificent mo-ment of epiphany or mystical rapture. The very next words of the Gospel of Matthew are these: While they were go-ing…. Matthew continues the story by telling us that the women quickly and faithfully obeyed as the guards were left to deal with the crisis of an empty grave.

Perhaps that is why Jesus’ words are so terse and our reading treats this

Easter moment, the very moment of resurrection, as little more than transi-tional. Perhaps we are called to consider whether this moment, the new life in Christ, this Easter reality that began with Jesus’ empty tomb, is one of crisis or one of obedience.

Let us be clear: there is always a reac-tion to the resurrection. There is always a response. It seems that, to Matthew, the responses are two: Will we deny this mo-ment or will we embrace it?

“I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.” the an-gel says to the two Marys. “He is not here, for He has been raised….”

“Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;” Jesus says, “there they will see Me.”

There is no standing still in this pas-sage. There is no repose or angelic choirs or beautiful moments of peace. There is only response. Come and see. Go and tell.

There is always a reaction to the resurrection. There is always a re-sponse. We are challenged to em-brace our faith and step forward on our way to Galilee, to Plant City, to our neighbors and friends and fami-lies; to loved ones and strangers. To speak and serve in love. To preach peace to all, even ourselves. To come and see. To go and tell.

Happy Easter XThe Rev. Dr. Tom Thoeni is rector of

St. Peter’s, Plant City.

Through the years, many artists have interpreted the tomb. Pictured here, Benjamin West’s The Angel at the Tomb of Christ, part of the collection of The Brooklyn Museum.

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EvangelismAt the Expo for the BrideGuided by the Holy Spirit, Fr. Nathan Speck-Ewer decided to visit a local Wedding Expo, and found out about the ultimate ‘wedding planner.’

LAST OCTOBER, A billboard that I had passed time and again began nag-ging at me. “Wedding Expo” it said— the date and time listed for a coming Sunday after church. It was curiosity, mainly: What happens at a Wedding Expo? Having never been, I didn’t know what to picture. And in my life as a Christian and an Episcopal priest (where a wedding is a covenant with God) I wondered each time I passed it...what is a Wedding Expo all about?

Furthermore, if aliens (and I’m ag-nostic when it comes to belief in aliens, but just saying…) if aliens were to come down and visit a Wedding Expo, what would they then say that a wedding of two people is? And so it was that on the Sunday of the Expo I found myself pull-ing in to the parking lot for the under-taking of a grand anthropo-theological experiment—to discover what I could. And come to find out, an hour later as I walk out, three great truths were illu-mined for me by the Expo—truths that I will now share.

The first truth: in life, sometimes we circle around, rather than directly address, the questions that confront us the most.

Expos—or at least this one—are about circling around. As I walked through the hall of the convention center, having got-ten my little bracelet that allowed entrance, and walked inside as a participant, I began circling around just like everyone else. Ex-cept, of course, I was not like everyone else. I was dressed in a suit, in clericals (having just come from church) and alone.

Y o u n g brides-to-be in casual clothes and their moth-ers (and the occa-sional sometimes unhappy-looking fiancé) domi-nated the scene. And there was a lot to look at: for what people circled around were vendors of sundry things. There were caterers, DJs, country clubs that hosted weddings…even the zoo had a booth (staffed, I’m happy to say, by an Episcopalian—so visit often and get mar-ried there!) Stationers, clothing boutiques for brides, bridal shops, vacation rentals to plan that special honeymoon—every-thing you could think of… except, oddly

enough I noticed, any booth dedicated to the service itself.

Indeed, as I circled around, it came in focus for me: where are the celebrants? Where are the officiants? I began to picture an alternative Episcopal Wedding Expo that we might do: Rite 1 celebrants, booth 3F; Rite 2 celebrants, 4C; diocesan station for permissions for second marriages, per-haps done electronically (like ATMs?). But this Expo was not that Expo.

In fact the more I circled, and as I

began talking with vendors and people around me, the more I realized a great irony. For like the vendors who circled the wedding itself with their goods, but for whom the question of the wedding ceremony itself with their goods and wares, but did not directly address it, so it was with the people—they were cir-

we circle around, rather than directly address,

the questions that confront us the most.

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cling, too. Which leads me to the next great truth...

Sometimes the questions choose us (and not we them).

As I circled, some people around me took notice and asked me: “Are you a priest?” To be charitable, I suppose since it was somewhat close to Hallow-een, I might not have been. A man in a clerical collar and black suit… “Yes, I am a priest,” I replied. But when I asked in return who is going to do their wedding ceremony, what surprised me is that a few of the brides-to-be seemed genu-inely startled by the question. Had they not thought about this aspect yet? Some deferred to their mothers with their eyes. (Uh-oh!) Others genuinely didn’t seem to know. They had begun to plan the food, the entertainment, the dress, what they would wear afterwards—all the things around the wedding—but as for the ceremony itself, it was yet an unknown. What about the ceremony? With weddings it’s not a question you can really avoid for too long, can you? Sometimes we simply can’t avoid the questions because (for better or worse) they don’t avoid us.

But, alas, as I kept going around, it was not to be. On one of my final passes of the hall, a member of security ap-proached me (remember I stuck out like a sore thumb or priest, take your pick!). He wondered in a calm way if I was soliciting. He had seen me talking to vendors and those around me. And I had not paid to be a vendor at the Wed-ding Expo after all. I had come and paid the fee as a participant to browse along-side the brides-to-be, their mothers, and that occasional sometimes dour-faced fiancé. Of course, there are many things that popped into my mind to respond to his question whether I was soliciting: “I’m not soliciting, I’m on a

mission from God.” “I’m not soliciting, I’m doing God’s Will.”

Indeed, some part of me wanted to say, “I’m a priest. Isn’t the heart of this ‘Wedding Expo’ the wedding itself? Didn’t we (Christians) invent mar-riage?” I suppose I could have gone that way. After all, the caterers, DJ’s, honey-moon vacation specialists, stationers—this whole industry that is so clearly thriving here because of the Church and the sacrament of marriage—where would they all be were it not for us? You can see I got a little huffy. But I realized a split-second later that these responses wouldn’t do, because of a truth which I have known a long time, which I can too easily forget, but now (by way of his question) was coming back to me and in a new way… that long before we Christians came along, marriage was. And long after we individually are gone from this mortal shore, marriage will be. The wedding of one to another, the joining together of two people—this great, enduring institution of marriage that has wound its way through cen-turies, cultures, and changes in expres-sion—we Christians in the West just got into the habit somewhere along the way of thinking it was ours…because it was exclusively—at least for a little while.

But perhaps you can see where this is going. Because I was going. Security was kind but I couldn’t stay. Though as I neared the door near the last of the vendors (did you know that you can rent fog machines

and strobe lights for your wedding after-party?) a young woman, her mother, and grandmother stopped me. I had seen them before and they found me again. They wondered if I did weddings: “we want God to be a part of the ceremony,” the bride-to-be said. I replied in so many words that, yes, I did weddings; and that, yes, I had this crazy idea that God wanted to be part of their ceremony, too.

And there by the door (not out-side yet, but just on the edge, in just a little) we shared a laugh, I listened to their spiritual story and of their hope, and we exchanged numbers… and security nearby with both eyes on me, not encouraging. (I could imagine the news headlines: “Priest Thrown Out of Wedding Expo!”) But nonetheless through it all, a third truth illumined plain as could be: for I realized that God’s work at the margins isn’t to be marginalized. Indeed, in a way—in our time as in many others—it’s the kind of thing that God does best: at the margins, calling us to the heart of matters, through questions which we can’t avoid (though we may try) and into deeper expressions of faith.

So I don’t know what you do with Wedding Expos. I’ve been to one, and I was not thrown out. And I may as yet go to others—I don’t know; we’ll see. But come next October, I do know this… I am doing a wedding. X

About the Author: Father Nathan Speck-Ewer is Chaplain of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton. He assists the Diocese of Southwest Florida as appointed Vicar of St. Dunstan’s, Largo, and consults with churches of different denominations on matters of retreats, strategic planning, conflict resolution, and governance.

Even the zoo had a booth (staffed, I’m happy to say, by an

Episcopalian)

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FoodSanibel Flower Guild LuncheonOur search to show off the culinary heritage of the Diocese takes us to St. Michael and All Angels, where their Angelic Fare cookbook presents tasty options from that storied Gulf island, Sanibel

SANIBEL - St. Michael and All Angels began in 1957 when a group of Episcopalians met to establish a mission church. The Rev. Thomas Madden was the first vicar.

The mission first met in a res-taurant at the ferry landing until the construction of their current home, a gothic modern structure designed by Gustel Kiewitt, the architect who de-signed the St. Louis Arena. The first services in this unique structure were on Palm Sunday, 1961.

Below, a few choice recipes from the book created by their cookbook committee, which was led by Liz Coffey:

Crab Cakes by Betty Stephenson

1 T. scallions, finely chopped1 T. red bell pepper, finely chopped1 T. garlic, minced1-1/4 sticks (6-oz.) unsalted

butter, melted2 T. all-purpose flour1/4 c. heavy cream1 lg. egg yolk, lightly beaten2 T. fresh basil, finely chopped1 T. Dijon mustard2 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce1 tsp. fresh lemon juice1 tsp. salt8 slices firm whole wheat sandwich

bread cut into 1 inch slices

1/4 c. chives, finely chopped1/4 c. parsley, finely chopped1 tsp. black pepper2 lbs. jumbo lump crabmeat

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook scallions, bell pepper and garlic in 2 T. butter in a 1 qt. heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring for 1 min-ute; then whisk in flour and cook the roux stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add cream and bring to a boil while whisking.

Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking 2 minutes. Mixture will be thick. Remove from the heat and whisk for 1 additional minute. Whisk in the egg yolk, basil, mustard, chili sauce,

lemon juice and salt; chill uncovered about 15 minutes, until cooled. While sauce is cooling, line a tray with wax paper and butter a shallow baking pan. Set aside.

In a food processor pulse the bread, chives, parsley and pepper until finely chopped and transfer crumb mixture to a plate. Stir the crabmeat into the cooled sauce and form into 12 (3-inch) patties, arranging them on the tray with the wax paper.

Gently coat each crab cake with the crumb mixture and place in the but-tered baking pan. Drizzle with remain-ing melted butter and bake 8-10 min-utes or until golden brown.

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Poem

Fr. Dodd’s Mother’s Three Bean Salad

1 can of yellow wax beans, drained and washed

1 can of green beans, drained and washed

1 can of red kidney beans, drainedand washed 2 med. onions, sliced thinDressing:1 c. sugar1 c. white or wine vinegar1/3 c. oil

Mix dressing and combine with beans and onion. Put into quart jars (or one larger container). Refrigerate at least overnight, or longer. Add sliced almonds, pimiento or garbanzo beans, if desired. Stays good in the refrigerator for some time.

Mary Jane Rawlins’ Tomato Aspic

1 pkg. lemon Jell-01 c. tomato juice, heated2 T. fresh lemon juice1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce2 dashes garlic powder1 (8-oz.) can stewed tomatoes,

smushed in food processor1/4 onion, grated

Combine the heated tomato juice with the lemon Jell-0. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, tomatoes and onion. Stir well and pour into a ring mold. Refrigerate 6 or more hours.

Unmold aspic on lettuce and serve with shrimp salad or cottage cheese in the center. Place a small dish of Miracle Whip salad dressing by the plate with the aspic. Serves 4 - 6.

Ode to the Diocese of Southwest Florida ‘Twixt waters’ shore and citrus groveTo north and south we seeA land abundant with God’s grace,A land of fruit and tree,Of sun and sand,Of palm and pine,Of heritage and pride.Lord, lead us here in work and playOur hearts and hands please guide.Show us the needs of those we serveIn poverty and pain.To age and youth,To rich and poor,In sunshine, wind and rain,To neighbors, friends and travelers hereGrant us the means to showYour gracious, kind, refreshing ways,Your love and peace to know.

© by Sandy Davis, 2014

Flower Guild Luncheon Salad from Harriet Pattison

8 slices thick cut bacon8 oz. mixed colorful lettuces1 lg. Granny Smith apple,

peeled and chopped1/2 c. toasted walnut halves,

coarsely chopped1/2 c. dried cranberries6 oz. crumbled blue cheese Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place

baking rack on a sheet pan and lay ba-con slices on the rack. Roast the bacon for about 20 minutes, until brown. Cool. In a large bowl, toss lettuce, apple, wal-nuts, cranberries and blue cheese. Chop

the bacon into large pieces and add to salad mixture. Toss the salad with just enough dressing to moisten.

Dressing 3 T. apple cider vinegar1 tsp. grated orange zest2 T. freshly squeezed orange juice2-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard2 T. pure maple syrup Kosher salt,

to taste freshly ground pepper2/3 c. good olive oil Using a blender combine the vin-

egar, orange zest, orange juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil last. Blend well. X

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Theological Reflection for All Finding the ultimate meaning, is the goal of the EfM program writes Martha Goodwill.THE DESIRE TO create meaning out of experience is universal. From one generation to another, people need to find answers to important questions or at least simply to understand better their experience. As a person matures the is-sues change but the desire to know and understand remains. We are meaning-seeking beings who hope to find wis-dom that guides us. In general, the term “theological reflection,” used in various ways throughout the theological world, means knowing God and knowing about God through experience.

Theological reflection is a life skill used to create meaning, in fact, to discover ultimate meaning. What makes reflection theological is not a specialized vocabulary, but the relentless, restless urge to experi-ence wholeness which brings a person to the Holy. The word “holy” in English stems from the Old English word haleg, which means whole.

Education for Ministry makes a bold claim: Each of us is a theologian. It is not an option. The question is not whether or not we reflect theologically. The question is how proficient we are.

Throughout the four years in EfM, participants practice the discipline of theological reflection. Models and methods developed within the program guide and support theological reflec-tion. Assignments present fundamen-tals of theological reflection. The intent is to provide resources and practice for the refinement of this life skill. X

Education

About Education for Ministry“Theological Reflection has been a wonderful tool for me.  I have thoroughly

enjoyed sharing within our EfM Group. Taking an image, exploring the metaphor, sharing where it is found in our culture, searching the Bible for scriptures, exploring what we learned and always ending with a wonderful Collect. It has taught me about Spiritual discernment and how important it is for me to think and feel about myself, others and our world.  It has truly given me the insight to be a LIGHT for the World!”

Shirley Duncan

“The process of Theological Reflection has been of great value to me in trying to sort out complicated situations, especially those that embody conflicting values or are emotionally charged. The discipline is particularly effective when performed in my EFM group - with spiritual friends who are mutually respectful and non-judgmental. My goal is to apply the discipline regardless of where or with whom I am when such a situation arises. I am often surprised by the different perspectives of others regarding a particular issue, and find that the process opens me to other ways of seeing things.”

Judith Radasch

“I am still working through the process of Theological Reflection, and having difficulty wrapping my head, if you will, around the concept. But, it has helped me to be able to stop and review my concerns and questions, and work on a broader perspective of working problems out.”

Doriel Boyce 

“For me, Theological Reflection is opening the door to a difficult topic and inviting God into the conversation.”

Susan Board

Education for Ministry is a lay theological program from Sewanee, The University of the South. Contact Diocesan Education for Ministry Coordinator Martha Goodwill at mgoodwill@episcopalswfl.org for information.

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Music Anglican Musicians Meet HereThe Association of Anglican Musicians meets in Tampa this June to share ideas and make connections. Roberta Poellein and Michael Hunter invite the Diocese to plan ahead and join them.

THE ASSOCIATION OF Angli-can Musicians will hold its 49th annual conference in the Tampa Bay area June 14–18, 2015. This will be the first time the organization has met in the Diocese of Southwest Florida. With the event, the planning committee has made a point of showcasing area musicians and clergy in the daily concerts and services.

Venues will include St. Andrew’s and St. John’s, Tampa; St. Thomas, St. Petersburg; and the University of Tam-pa; performers will include Dr. Haig Mardirosian and Joshua Stafford, or-ganists; the choirs of St. Andrew’s and St. John’s, Tampa; and The Gulf Coast Youth Choir.

The conference preacher will be the Rev. Dr. Thomas Williams, Profes-sor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida and newly appointed Canon Theologian at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, St. Petersburg. Bishop Dabney Smith will officiate at the closing Eucharist at St. Andrew’s, Tampa, on Thursday, June 18.

The theme for the Tampa Confer-ence, “The Tree of Life My Soul Hath Seen,” was inspired by the majestic banyan trees indigenous to the area, with the text of the well-known set-ting by Elizabeth Poston informing the committee’s planning. At each confer-

ence the national organization provides funds to commission original choral and instrumental works, and this year’s hymn composer, the Rev. Dr. John L. Hooker, has written a stunning text and tune based on the earlier poem.

Dr. Hooker is a priest and a musi-cian and was active in AAM for many years prior to his retirement. Until re-cently he resided in Clearwater and was a member of the conference planning committee. Dr. Hooker’s name will be familiar to Episcopalians in the many churches that use the supplement to The Hymnal 1982 entitled “Wonder, Love and Praise,” which provides hymns with a slightly more contemporary flair. Orlando organist and composer—and outgoing president of the Royal School of Church Music in America—Andrew

Walker has been commissioned to write a festival setting for the Rite II Eucharist (including optional parts for congrega-tion, brass quintet, and timpani).

The planning committee would like to invite all parish musicians and clergy in the Diocese of Southwest Flor-ida to join the conferees for the morn-ing session on Thursday, June 18, at the Hilton Tampa Downtown Hotel. Two workshops will be offered:

Dr. Daniel A. Vincent, Jr., MD, FACS, specializes in the diagnosis of voice disorders, the medical and sur-gical care of the voice, and care of the professional voice. Jason Lorenzon is Managing Attorney at Lorenzon Law LLC in Independence, Ohio. He is an Immigration attorney with an added knowledge of copyright law—which is of particular interest to Lorenzon, as he is also an organist. He studied with Todd Wilson and was a former Direc-tor of Music at the Roman Catholic ca-thedral in St. Petersburg before enter-ing law school. His workshop will seek to answer your questions about photo-copying, fair use, licensing, and other issues that arise for organists and choir directors—especially those with mini-mal budgets for new music. X

Find out about the conference at conference.anglicanmusicians.org

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Blessing of World’s Largest ReefOne of the world’s largest artificial reefs is under construction off the coast of Naples. Trinity-by-the-Cove’s The Rev. Edward Gleason blessed the project.

Nature

ONE OF THE largest artificial reef projects in the western hemisphere has begun. The first of 36 reefs has been constructed in the Gulf waters of Collier County in January 2015. The first 500 tons, of 18,000 tons of reef material in total, was deployed on January 9.

This massive project started with a vision just two years ago, when longtime angler and local attorney Peter Flood of Naples joined forces with the Economic Recovery Task Force to develop a state of the art ar-tificial reef program.

The Task Force engaged the City of Marco Island, the City of Naples and Collier County. They applied for a Gulf Seafood and Tourism Pro-motional Fund grant from BP. Pri-vate donor funding was made pos-sible through an agreement with the Community Foundation of Collier County.

The mission from the beginning was to build a world class artificial reef system without the use of taxpay-er funds. To ensure that the technical expertise was secured to support a project of this magnitude, the quint-essential expert was contacted. ‘Dr. Reef ’, that is. Dr. Heyward Matthews, the father of artificial reef develop-ment for more than 40 years, volun-

of the Reefs’ by Associate Rector The Rev. Edward Gleason of Trinity-by-the-Cove. – Meg Stepanian

The blessing including a Prayer for Stewardship:

Most Holy God, you have provided the vast resources of earth and sea, and the hid-den forces of nature. Teach us to recognize Your hand in all your works that we may rejoice in Your goodness with reverence and thanksgiving, ever striving to be good stewards of the sea and creation; protect and keep safe those who will deploy the reef. We pray these things through Your Holy Name. Amen.

Gleason created a special prayer for the Blessing of the Reef. It reads:

Gracious God, you said let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and you blessed them so they would fill the seas. We give thanks for the hearts, imaginations and hands that have worked to make this reef a reality and pray that you would bless, hal-low and consecrate this reef, that it may be transformed from dead stone into vibrant life so that living creatures may indeed fill the seas. We offer these prayers through your most Holy Name. Amen.

teered as a critical partner in the suc-cess of the program.

On January 8 and 9, hundreds participated in the Artificial Reef De-ployment Celebration Events. Marco Island Marina donated the use of their parking lot for attendee parking and Dolphin Transportation donated the transportation of attendees to a Deployment Ceremony. On January 9, the Key West Express donated the use of their vessel and crew for spe-cial guests, dignitaries, and media to cruise 10 miles offshore to witness the momentous occasion of the ‘Blessing

Reef materials before deployment

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TravelRevisiting Episcopal CubaHavana is closer to Marco Island than Wesley Chapel, yet that Episcopal Diocese has been out of our consciousness. Sarah Hill tells of a recent visit, part of her altar guild work.

IT ISN’T OFTEN that Diocesan Altar Guild can really be classified as exciting but sharing our experiences with the Episcopal Church in Cuba brings teaching to an entirely new level! I have just returned from my fifth trip to Cuba in the past fourteen years and want to share with you how vibrant our church is in a country that has so many limitations.

There are 44 Episcopal churches across Cuba with the Cathedral be-ing in Havana. It may seem surprising that our church is thriving in a country where religion has been suppressed. In the time that David and I have been traveling to Cuba, we have seen more new churches each time. Some are only house churches with five to six people. They are so eager to live out the Gospel as the Body of Christ. As I have become acquainted with priests and parishio-ners across the island, I have been asked to help with many aspects of liturgy.

Their worship is very traditional and familiar to us. They have no way to buy religious goods or even fabrics, so they welcome items we no longer use. They of-ten cannot buy candles but they still have candlesticks! Their altars are adorned with maybe one nice linen or a lovely tablecloth. They need all the little white linens. Many altars are a nice old table and some have very creative frontals! Chalices and patens are impossible to obtain and they like nice,

metal ones! When they receive Commu-nion, they all intinct. A very small amount of wine is placed in the chalice and each person is given a wafer and they barely dip it. No one drinks from the chalice. The pu-rificator is used as a napkin in case a drop of wine falls. They can buy wafers from a Roman Catholic convent in Havana. I have also seen them use bread cubes.

The church is eager to ordain new priests and deacons. Fortunately, there is an excellent seminary in the city of Matan-zas. It is actually ecumenical but the Epis-copalians have wonderful teachers and services. We were there for two days and went to a midweek Eucharist and morn-ing worship. While there, we had a chance to discuss altar guild practices that they would love to offer as part of a seminary program. One consideration could be to buy maybe a bolt of white fabric and let them share with churches and then create sewing projects to construct pieces. Stoles and albs are also in popular demand.

We went to 10 different Episcopal

It may seem surprising that our church is

thriving in a country where religion has been

suppressed.

churches and had communion seven times. It was the beginning of Advent and we brought purple candles for them. Their wreaths were not our pine circles but rather glittery tinsel mounds. Some had candles, and some used only one. In Santiago we went to house ser-vices for the lighting of the weekly can-dle, and they prayed and sang and then had refreshments. Probably 30 people attended. It was beautiful.

In Santiago, I had been asked to have a sewing class for 20 ladies. I brought white fabric, needles, thread, scissors, samples to copy and they had a Saturday morning workshop with three sewing machines and lots of en-thusiasm. This all took place in Spanish and somehow, my college Spanish has surfaced and I was able to do it. We had tiny cups of coffee and a big cake at the end. They sewed and sewed and created purificators and corporals. In Cuba, they had made palls stiffened with old x-ray film and thought mine were too thick! They are so creative in the face of having nothing to buy!

The Bishop of Cuba is a woman who has become a good friend. The Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado was with me several times to translate and encour-age the ladies to prepare the Lord’s Table with loving care. They loved hearing that they were part of a world-wide group, and that altar guild is the

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same wherever you are.They use the Spanish (blue) Book of

Common Prayer in their churches and follow them faithfully. What is different is the music! They have a whole range of what might be considered “praise” music but it is more traditional. Often they play the music on a small recorder or in some churches, they use a television and have words on the screen. We were impressed that most people seemed to have all the words memorized and they sing out with such great joy. When they pass the peace, it can easily take 20 minutes. Everyone kisses each other and are so loving and car-ing. Cubans are very compassionate. Two other very important ways the church is doing God’s work is having purified water available at some churches now for the community to share and some also have gardens and Cubans can have healthy fruits and vegetables to eat. Their diets are very restricted and food is expensive for them. Their salaries are tiny. With all the adversities, they always share and care for one another.

The most valuable thing I was able to bring with me was the Spanish ver-sion of the Altar Guild manual from the Diocese of Texas. I gave them cop-ies and they were so grateful. They will make more copies but since paper is hard to buy and expensive, they share.

Just a week after our return, Presi-dent Obama opened the door of hope for the Cubans. They deserve this chance for a future and there is plenty of room for the Episcopal Church to help.Cuba is ready to move forward. They have a high literacy rate and work very hard. They will do their part. Keep them all in your prayers. XSarah Hill is a member of Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg, and is President of Diocesan Altar Guild. She traveled on a Cathedral religious visa.

POSTCARDS FROM CUBA POSTCARDS FROM CUBA

Photos by Dr. David Hil

From top: Altar guild techniques; sewing in Santiago; interior of the Havana cathedral; historic postcard of the cathedral formally called Iglesia De La Santisima Trinidad. It was designed by Cram & Ferguston, the noted Boston gothic architecture firm.

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Lynda BotzenhartBRADENTON - Lynda Botzen-

hart, a youth leader for the Diocese of Southwest Florida and Christ Church, Bradenton, died January 9, 2015.

Botzenhart, whose career in youth ministry at Christ Church was almost 15 years, was a leader both at the parish and Diocesan level.

Born Oct. 3, 1960, she was hon-ored at the 2014 Bishop’s Ball for her many years of service to Diocesan youth, including chairman of the Happening Steering Committee and lay director of Diocesan Happening events.

Her funeral was held at Christ Church, Bradenton, on Saturday, Jan-uary 17, 2015.

The Rev. Leon Anthony Jaster

CLEARWATER - The Rev. Leon Anthony Jaster, 85, died December 15, 2014. Fr. Jaster received a BA (1952) and MA (1957) from Loyola University and a BTh from the Je-suit Theological Seminary in 1961. He was received into the Episcopal Church in 1982 by Bishop James Wetmore. He married Margaret Ann Everett in 2004.

Service to The Episcopal Church included assistant at Church of the Good Shepherd Dunedin 2000-04; rector, Church of our Savior, Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1989-94; assis-tant at St. Mary’s, Tampa, 1984-86; and Vicar, Christ Church, Magnolia, NJ 1982-83.

The Rev. John Beverly KelleyDUNEDIN - The Rev. John Bev-

erly Kelley, 86, died peacefully on January 2, 2015. 

Fr. Kelley was a retired priest of the Diocese of Connecticut. Ordained in 1953, he served many parishes in Southwest Florida for the past 10 years. Born August 1, 1928 in Miami, Florida, he holds degrees from Union Theological Seminary, Seminary of the Southwest. He was ordained by Bishop A.C. Lichtenberger on Dec. 6, 1953.

As an active priest, he served congregations in the Dioceses of Connecticut, Virginia, New York and Ecuador. He is survived by his wife, Gwynneth Davis; children Gregory, Ayla, Katherine and Kevin; and six grandchildren and two great-grand-children.

A service at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Dunedin, was held Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.

The Rev. Robert David Liguori

OSPREY - The Rev. Robert David Liguori, 85, a longtime priest at St. Wilfred, died January 6, 2015.

Born July 18, 1929 in Oneonta, New York, Fr. Liguori married Joan Muriel Schrang in 1951. He was awarded an STB from Yale Berkeley in 1953 and was ordained deacon and priest in the same year by Bishop Frederick Barry. Prior to his arrival in Florida, he served New York parishes in Syracuse, Auburn, Cambridge, Sa-

Obituarieslem, and Albany. He served St. Wil-fred, Sarasota, beginning in 1984, first as assistant and as rector from 1988-94. He retired in 1994.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joan and four sons, David, Jon-athan, Christopher and Joel (Luann).

The Rev. Arlo LeinbackVENICE -  The Rev. Arlo Leroy

Leinback, 96, a longtime rector of St. David’s Englewood, died December 15, 2014 in Venice.

The Rev. Leinback married the late Mary Duff Burt in 1947. They had four children, Bruce, Susan, Sheila and Joan. He received a Master of Arts degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 1950. He read for Holy Orders and was or-dained to the Diaconate in 1957 by Bishop Hamilton Kellogg and made priest in 1959 by Bishop Philip Mc-Nairy. He served parishes in Gary, In-diana, and Cannon Falls, Minnesota.

Leinback came to the Diocese of Southwest Florida in 1964, where he served as vicar of St. David’s Engle-wood. He was later called as rector of St. David’s, serving until his retire-ment. As a retired priest, he served at St. Boniface, Siesta Key; St. Edmund, Arcadia and Church of the Nativity, Sarasota. While in Southwest Florida, Fr. Leinback served on the Court Ar-ray (Disciplinary Board), the Com-mittee on Constitution and Canons

A service in his honor was held December 20, 2014 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Venice. X

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2015 CalendarVisit us at episcopalswfl.org for more information; look for EVENTS tab. Events at DaySpring Episcopal Center unless noted otherwise.

Diocesan Events

Feb. 19 - Chrism Mass, St. BonifaceFeb. 21 - Deacons’ RetreatMarch 10 - College of PresbytersMarch 11 - Retired Clergy LunchMarch 21 - Clergy Spouse Association RetreatMay 9 - Vestry RetreatAugust - Baseball with the Bishop, Tropicana FieldSeptember 8,9,10 - Fall Convocations across DioceseSeptember 14,15,16 - Fall Clergy RetreatSeptember 26 - Acolyte Festival, Cathedral Church of St. PeterOctober 16, 17 - Diocesan Convention, Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference CenterDecember 11 - Church Employee Gathering

Specialized Events & Training

April 28 - Audit WorkshopMay 21-23 - Education for Ministry Mentor TrainingSeptember 15, 16 - QuickBooks & ACS User DaysSeptember 29 - Healthcare Benefits Workshop October 27 - Budgeting Workshop

Youth Events & Camps

March 6-8 - Happening #71 (High School)June 7-12 - Elementary Summer CampJune 14-19 - Middle School Summer CampJune 21-26 - High School Summer CampJuly 12-18 - Elementary “Mini” Camps Session 1, July 12-15; Session 2, July 15-18July 19-24 - Middle School Mission CampJuly 26-31 - High School Leadership CampSeptember 26 - Acolyte Festival, Cathedral Church of St. PeterNovember 13-15 - New Beginnings #58 (Middle School)

Exercises at the 2014 Church Employee Gathering. The 2015 event is set for Dec. 11 at DaySpring.

Diocesan Altar Guild at Cathedral

ST. PETERSBURG - The Diocesan Altar Guild has set their annual meeting for March 7, 2015, at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter. Their featured speaker is Sr. Suzanne Elizabeth, CSJB, a member of the Episcopal Community of St. John Baptist in Mendham, New Jersey. During the course of each year, many groups come to the Convent and Retreat House for prayer and study.

PARRISH - The Rev. Dr. Melford “Bud” Holland, a leader in theological education and leadership development in The Episcopal Church, will lead Fall Clergy Retreat this September. Until his 2009 “retirement” Holland served as program officer for ordained ministry and leadership development at the Episcopal Church Center. The Fall Clergy Retreat is set for Sept. 14, 15 and 16. It will be held at DaySpring.

Events

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DATES AND NEW PROGRAMSCounselor TrainingJune 5-7

Elementary Summer CampJune 7-12Rising 3rd – 5th Grade, $390All the traditional and fun camp activities at DaySpring for students going into the 3rd grade to 5th grade.

Middle School Summer CampJune 14-19, $390Rising 6th-8th GradeFull camp activities and program for middle schoolersSpecial addition of Canon Michael Durning as chaplain.

High School Summer CampJune 21-26, $390Rising 9th-12thCanoeing, high rope, sports and zip line with even more additions for 2015.

Elementary “Mini” CampsSession 1- July 12-15 (through lunch), $200Session 2 – July 15 (dinner) – July 18, $200Rising 3rd – 5th GradeSpecial focus on those who have not been to DaySpring or would like to have a shorter time away from home. Same great activities in a condensed time. Participants can choose one of the sessions or stay for both sessions (note: attending both sessions would add one day to the normal five-day session).

Middle School Mission CampJuly 19-24, $390Teams of middle school students and adults from congregations. Come to camp, learn about and experience mission. Day missions in the Diocese. Featuring missionary Michelle Perry, Children’s Village, South Sudan.

Senior High Leadership CampJuly 26-31, $390Teams of senior high and adults will participate in the “After Damascus” leadership training for youth in partnership with Youth Presence Ministries (founded by the Rev. John Palarine). Great way to raise up the leadership of young people for your parish or mission.

Register online at episcopalswfl.org by March 31, 2015 and save $30!

ATTEND SUMMER CAMP AT DAYSPRING

CONTACTThe Rev. Dr. John Palarine Canon for Program and Youth941-556-0315, cell 941-807-9906jpalarine@episcopalswfl.org

Katie ArpCamp Director 813-833-8102 karp@mail.usf.edu

Michelle Mercurio Registrar941-556-0315 x977, fax: 941-556-0321 mmercurio@episcopalswfl.org

Campers participate in a Christian program designed to help them grow spiritually and emotionally, providing opportunities to explore new interests, skills and friendships. Six week-long sessions have been programmed for elementary, middle and high school students. The fee for one week includes room, all meals and activities fees. Programs for high school and middle schoolers will include, for 2015, more in depth personal and spiritual growth design and program as well as the traditional canoeing, high ropes and zip line.

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ANN B. DAVIS, the actress who played Alice on The Brady Bunch, vis-ited Diocesan House in St. Petersburg. She was a regular worshipper at Holy Cross in St. Petersburg while she ap-peared in Three on a Honeymoon at a local dinner theater. She is pictured here with Bishop Hargrave, Bishop Haynes and Fr. Herbert Beck in The Southern Cross. Davis, who died in June 2014 in San Antonio, was a well-known Episcopalian who sold her home in California in 1976 join Bishop William Frey in an Episcopal religious com-munity of work, study and prayer. She later relocated to Pennsylvania where Frey was at Trinity School for Ministry.

That winter, The Rev. John M. Howells of Swansea, Wales is selected to head the Episcopal ministry to colleges in the St. Petersburg area. He had been a chaplain to the Archbishop of Jeru-salem, where he worked in the Persian Gulf oil fields.

At the ECW fall meeting, the Deanery Choir sings a newly written ECW hymn by Suzanne Waterman with words by her sister, Gloria Morse, both of St. Boniface. The song is “Arise o Christian Women”

1955The Palm Branch newsletter reports

that at St. Andrew’s, Tampa, Freddie Little-john wins the Brotherhood of St. Andrew

Ring; other “popularity” contests are won by Chuck Martin and Mary Lou Newde. Meanwhile, St. Mary’s Tampa has sur-passed its goal of raising over $100,000

for a building, which

was “truly the record of faith, prayer and sacrifice.” St. Mary’s began as a Sunday School of St. Andrew’s and reached mission stage in 1950 with the calling of The Rev. Warren I. Densmore. The canvass, led by William H. Reynolds of Tampa Marine, was oversubscribed by $30,000.

Meanwhile, Episcopal Church Wom-en were supporting a Diocese of South Florida radio program, heard in South-west Florida on WPLA Plant City.

1965St. Thomas, St Petersburg has or-

ganized a “Caller” program under the leadership of Mr. Norman Neale. The group of eight women and nine couples call on every member of the parish. The group makes 405 calls and meets with

310 individuals. Meanwhile, St. Bar-tholomew’s holds a St. Petersburg Altar Guild meeting, led by Deanery Direc-tress Mrs. Hattie W. Troy.1985

That year, Diocesan staff under the Rt. Rev. Paul Haynes includes Canon to the Ordi-nary The Rev. Canon Wells

Newell Graham; Archdeacon the Ven. Hoyt Massey, South-ern Cross Editor Joyce Smith;

and Records Secretary Mrs. Martha Hallas.

At DaySpring, a junior high conference called Friendship is planned; Senior High students were participating in a confer-

ence called Sweet Dreams, to be led by Fr. Bill Spaine, the former assistant at St. Thomas, Snell Isle. Also that year, the Rev. John Palarine, Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of Cen-tral Florida, is keynote speaker at the New Life in Youth Conference April 19-21. Also that year, “Episcopalian” youth from across Florida gather at Cy-press Gardens; Fran McKendree closed the day with a “fantastic concert!” X

Honor Our Tradition: Looking Back is taken from the archives at Di-ocesan House. If you have questions about your archive or can donate items of interest, contact the Communica-tions Office at 941-556-0315.

Glancing BackHere’s a Story! In 1975, actress Ann B. Davis, Alice on The Brady Bunch, visits Diocesan offices.

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