We are called to compassion.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness –
on them light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2

We often approach Christmas as the celebration of a past event, in effect the birth Jesus Christ. He came into the world in the same way we all did, a crying and shivering infant. His mission was to establish God’s kingdom on earth. But aside from our celebration of the nativity, we are called at Christmas to celebrate the continual birth of God and God’s kingdom in our midst, among the confusion, chaos and darkness that surrounds us.

The world is reacting to a terrible event that took place at an elementary school just a week ago. Adam Lanza, a troubled 20-year-old man, opened fire in a Connecticut elementary school killing 26 children and teachers, himself, and earlier that day, his own mother.

What do we celebrate when such violence claims the innocent?

Marc Pitzke, writer for the German newspaper Der Spiegel, reacted to the tragedy in Newtown, CT, by describing us, from the outside, as a nation with a troubled identity. Fearing the erosion of our nationalism and leadership in the world, we cling more closely to our weapons and illusions of power.

In scripture we learn that the child who is the Prince of Peace doesn’t respond to violence with violence, but offers an alternative way of building bridges and connections.

Violence has always been part of life on earth, as in the ancient world in the time of Jesus. King Herod, a traitor to his people, ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem in order to avoid the loss of his throne to the newborn King of the Jews, whose birth had been announced by the Magi.

But it is important to remember that we, brothers and sisters, are the hands and feet that can create change.

We are called by God to engage in the politics surrounding gun ownership, mental health resources, and violence and cruelty in the media. We are also called to be compassionate. Isolation is pervasive in our culture, especially among teenagers and young adults. We can be a light to those who are living in darkness by listening to their stories, speaking kindly, and having a spirit of inclusion.

Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez writes in his book Sharing the Word Through the Liturgical Year, “If during these days the coming of the Lord sets our hearts on fire, and if we respond by our commitment and solidarity to the gift of love which God gives in his son, we will gradually transform the threatening darkness into a human, peaceful and luminous night.”

Amid the violence and darkness, there is peace, love and solidarity against the oppressive forces in the world. Our inclusive communities, our love for humankind, can transcend the violence that plagues the world.

In Luke’s gospel, which will be read across the world on Christmas Eve, angels rejoice, praising God saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

Christ is born. Heaven and earth have come together. The human race and God are connected. Now we embrace one another, the homeless, the hungry, the troubled, the mentally and physically disabled, the isolated, the oppressed, because Christ is in them, too.

Even with terrible tragedies happening daily in the world, we pray that the peace of the Christ child brings you transcendent love, faith and hope – the things that can work against the violence and oppression in the world.

Merry Christmas from the staff at The Episcopal Center. Joy and peace in 2013.
– The Rt. Rev. Robert R. Gepert and the EDWM Staff

Upon My Return from Sabbatical

The word sabbatical means literally a ceasing. Though the concept of a sabbatical has been largely adopted by academia, sabbatical originates from within the church, where clergy in cathedrals were given a hiatus which lasted two months to a year.

I want to thank the diocese for the gift of my sabbatical, from which I returned this week.

Before I left, I was not so much tired as I was weary.

I learned that it’s nice to be Bob Gepert. Bob Gepert is defined by things other than bishop. The things that I really want to be remembered for are being a husband and a father. A child of God. A spiritual person.

At the same time, I love the diocese.

I’m seeing more opportunities to change the story, and I will be sharing some of my ideas in the coming months.
I think for me, some of the problems in the diocese had taken on a life of their own, preventing me from seeing the church at work in healthy ways. I have a different perspective now.

I am just so grateful.

I spent time reading through my old journals, some dating back to the 1986, filled with names of people I had forgotten and situations I had put out of my mind. Some of the lessons, which included experiences I’ve had as bishop, were hard for me to learn, but helped me to understand so much more about the way the church works. I gained wisdom.

In July I told you of my plans to work on a book incorporating my knowledge of family systems theory, practical experience and the Rule of St. Benedict, and incorporating the radical teachings of Jesus into our lives and institutions. The book is coming together. The gift of the sabbatical gave me time to work on that.

I’ve also come to understand that part of my next ministry is about coaching leaders through difficult situations. I learned these skills from the diocese and every other church I was a priest in before. My spiritual director has helped me to see that coaching others, rather than being in front, is part of my next ministry.

The sabbatical was also important to my wife Anne and me. It gave us a preview of retirement. Anne is an extrovert, but I like quiet time. We fell into a rhythm, starting with breakfast together every day. Mornings, we retreated to our personal spaces in the home we have chosen for our retirement in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She has a studio on the third floor of the house; I have an office on the second floor in the back of the house.  We met for lunch, after which I went on a long 4-5 mile walk around the city. We met for tea later in the afternoon, then a late dinner.

Our children and grandchildren were able to visit us on the weekends. Anne and I have been unable to do anything on the weekends since I am most often working.  But most people, including our children who are employed in secular jobs, are free on the weekends.

The remodel of our kitchen was completed the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. All but one of our children was able to come to Pennsylvania to spend it with us.

It’s too early to say what the experience of the diocese has meant for me. It has been a wonderful but challenging ministry. I’m someone who gets bored if I don’t have a challenge. As a priest, I knew it was time to go when my parishes were running themselves. I think a lot of people look forward to getting to that place, but not me. I can honestly say that the diocese has never bored me.

The time I was given to be away from the day-to-day work of bishop makes it seem less oppressive upon my return.

To expand, I think it’s important for parishes to understand the importance of consecutive days off, vacation time and retreat time for their clergy. It is also important for clergy to have regular meetings with a spiritual director. Parishes should be willing to send their clergy person to be spiritually refreshed, renewed and to go deeper. In turn, she or he can encourage us to go deeper. How can a spiritual leader teach and encourage spirituality when they’re not working on their own spiritual lives?

I’m grateful I was given the time and space of a sabbatical. I am refreshed and able to offer myself fully to prepare the diocese for the transition to its ninth bishop. 

– The Rt. Rev. Robert R. Gepert

Staff Blog: The Consecration of a New Church

We Episcopalians in Western Michigan have strong attachments to our church buildings. They are beautiful structures with stained-glass windows, high ceilings, and historic design. They are places of sanctuary where generations of families experience the sacraments and love of community with reverent consistency.

It’s difficult when a parish must leave or face the loss of its building. There is fear that without the building, there will be no congregation, no ministry, no outreach, and a lost connection to the past.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Paw Paw, however, has just walked through the darkness of losing not one but two buildings to which their identity was closely linked. Their journey comes full circle at the consecration of their new church building on Saturday, January 12, 2013 in Paw Paw. (Click here to see EDWM calendar for details).

The original church in Paw Paw, like many of our churches, has a Michigan historic marker. Consecrated in 1876, it served the congregation for well over 120 years. However, it was in desperate need of repair and renovation, which was cost-prohibitive to the congregation. The parish decided at that point to build a new, much-larger church.

Five years ago, when the Very Rev. Rebecca Crise, Dean of the St. Joseph Deanery and rector of St. Mark’s was called to the parish, they had already moved into the new building.

But the church was quickly draining its cash reserves on the new mortgage.

Mother Rebecca helped the parish see it had to set priorities between the building and the ministry that they wanted, using the resources that they had.

In early 2011, the vestry of St. Mark’s voted to sell the new building.

The bank which had mortgaged it agreed to a short sale. It was sold to a non-denominational church in Paw Paw.

Faced with having no building or worship space, the congregation was grateful to form a partnership that enabled them to rent space from the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Paw Paw. Since Seventh Day Adventists meet on Saturday, St. Mark’s was able to use their space for Sunday services, where they worshipped one year.

“The time after we left the new building was a year of grieving,” said Mother Rebecca. “The building that we lost was a symbol of hopes, dreams, blood, sweat and tears. It was a time of recognizing that if we were going to survive, we had to pick ourselves up and try again. It was a time of prioritizing.”

However, the congregation longed for a home of its own. It was difficult to do their ministry in another church’s building.

In a quick turn of events over the summer, the congregation became aware that a small church in Paw Paw, one they had once wanted to buy, was available for sale again. The owners of the little white church contacted the St. Mark’s treasurer and said they were seeking a buyer

With little time to make a decision, Mother Rebecca implored the congregation to dig deep and offer what they could for the purchase.

The congregation raised $80,000, and the offer was accepted. The congregation voted unanimously to purchase the building. The Standing Committee of the diocese later approved the purchase as well.

The first service of St. Mark’s in the new building was a funeral for a long-time member on November 3rd of this year. The first Sunday in the new church was November 4th.

Mother Rebecca admits it has been difficult for St. Mark’s. Membership in a congregation is lost anytime big changes are made. The loss was two-fold, having happened when leaving their first building as well as their subsequent brand-new building. But the vote to purchase the new St. Mark’s building, a little white church built in 1956, was unanimous.

“It is exciting to watch a congregation pay attention to prudent stewardship and focus on the needs of ministry,” said the Rev. Canon William Spaid. “St. Mark’s seems to have found an ideal location for serving the needs of the Paw Paw community."

Their new worship space holds about 100 people comfortably, although they are still seeking seating. There is also space for one office and a sacristy. Downstairs there is space for a fellowship hall and several classrooms.

“Our energy is high, and there is hope, enthusiasm and a sense of ownership,” said Mother Rebecca. “St. Mark's has proven you can let go of the building and survive and thrive.”

You can learn more about St. Marks Episcopal Church in Paw Paw on their website (click here now). The Very Rev. Rebecca Crise can be emailed by clicking here now. This article was written by Communications Assistant to the Bishop, Karmel Puzzuoli.

Guest Blog: "Giving Thanks for Ordinary Things" by Nann Bell

Recently I was having a difficult day.  I wasn’t feeling well and was encountering a number of frustrations.  As I was returning home after running around here and there,  John Rutter’s setting of “For the Beauty of the Earth” come up on the CD playing in the car.  If you aren’t familiar with this piece, you can find many recordings of it on YouTube - and it’s well worth knowing.  The lyrics and music of the hymn returned me to a place of joy and gratitude that I’d let the day’s aggravations pull me away from.

And as I have found to be true time and again, when I turned my focus to all that is good in my life and to telling God how grateful I truly am for all those things, the difficulties of the day mattered much less. And that started me reflecting on how important a sense of gratitude and the joy that comes from it has been in my life. 

Back in my twenties I often ended my day knowing things had happened during the day that I wanted to thank God for, but I had no memory of just what those things were.

Now then, I am a cradle Episcopalian and I am at least the 5th generation of women on my mother’s side to be such. With that background, I learned early on that thanksgiving should be a part of one’s prayer life. I kept forgetting stuff though and it seemed rather too casual to say, “I can’t remember the good stuff, God, but I know some happened.  You know what it is and thank you!” 

Around this time one of the priests at the church I attended then mentioned the prayers the traditional Jews say throughout their day, thanking God for the ordinary things in our lives.  That made a lot of sense to me and I resolved to begin a new practice of saying thank you at the time something good happened.  Not just big good things like avoiding a major car accident but also the small stuff, those little daily hassles you expect to be a royal pain but that somehow magically work out. At these times I would stop for just 2 or 3 seconds and say a heartfelt “thank you” to God. Sometimes I’d remember to do it right away, sometimes it took a while to sink in that something had really gone right. Whichever way, I’d take a few seconds as soon as that realization hit me.

I was surprised by the overall effect this new practice had on me.  Because I was saying thank you after many little things throughout the day, I became much, much more aware of all the blessings, large and small both, of life. And I found that expressing my gratitude to God throughout the day changed my mood and my ability to handle frustrations.  I was in a better frame of mind overall for being reminded of all the good in my life. The daily annoyances didn’t matter nearly as much with that balance in my mind.   Other people - coworkers, family, friends - began to comment on how well I took things in stride.

Fast forward 30 years . . . I am now 55 years old and am under treatment for 4 chronic illnesses. Pain and fatigue are perfectly ordinary to me along with a limited diet due to my most recent diagnosis. If I were to wake up tomorrow feeling well, I’d be in such shock I’d accomplish nothing all day! (But I’d still like to try it.) And yet I have people continually commenting that I’m always smiling and seem to take it all so well. Even my doctors comment on my attitude. My standard response to these comments is that aside from a few health problems, I really do have a good life. And it’s true - I do have a good life.  Only recently, on that rough day when I heard “For the Beauty of the Earth," did I realize the connection between my long-standing practice of saying thanks throughout the day and my approach to life with chronic illness.

I do have a lot in my life that warrants complaining and whining.  To be honest, there are times when I indulge in these things though generally just to a few friends and family members who don’t tell on me. But my life has so many more things that are good, things to be grateful for, things to celebrate.  Saying thank you every day, throughout the day, reminds me of this constantly.  Give it a try.  

Nann Bell is a homemaker, cat mother, fabric artisan and area volunteer. A Florida native, she is now grateful for Michigan's seasons, for the community of Manistee and the ongoing support of her husband, the Rev. Mike Bell, rector of Holy Trinity. You may email her by clicking here.