A Message from Bishop Kym: Being Christ in the World

Greetings, beloved in Christ. This week I received several email responses commenting on my new COVID protocols. I’d like to share a couple of them with you:

One: “Dear Bishop Lucas, you are losing two members of the Episcopal Church because of your overreaction to require masks at church, and encouraging only outdoor worship.”

The other one says, “you are destroying our church and church families with your COVID restrictions. We have had loving church members leave because of your unreasonableness around COVID protocols.”

This week I also learned of two communities in the Episcopal Church in Colorado where there had been COVID infections in children.

I know that you, like me, are tired of this. I know that the prospect of going into another fall, another winter, another spring with the threat of COVID hanging over our heads may lead many of us to the verge of despair. But know this, my first priority as Bishop of this Church is to guard it, is to help us protect one another and our communities however we can.

Dear Siblings in Christ,

The current pandemic is far from over. Recently, there has been an alarming increase in infections and hospitalizations due to the Delta Variant of the coronavirus, especially among the unvaccinated. While we strongly encourage that everyone eligible to receive a vaccine get vaccinated, we cannot presume to know the vaccination status of everyone who enters our doors. We do know, however, that children under the age of 12 cannot receive any of the available vaccines, and there are others who for various reasons cannot receive the vaccine.

While this is not the news any of us wanted, it is in these moments that we are called to live out our faith and the great commandment to love God, yourself, and love our neighbor. I would like to update our May 24th recommendations considering recent events.

Messages from Canon Carl Andrews & the Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman

Dear Friends in Christ,

I wonder; I really wonder what does the future hold for the great people of Colorado? I wonder how long it will take before the Delta Variant moves across the state. And do more damage. I wonder if we have the energy for another lockdown if the fall brings the variant back in full force. I really wonder….

Some years ago I had the joy to sit with my colleague Jerome Berryman, whom I got to know after he moved to Colorado. I, so appreciate his approach to scripture and how that comes to be so pronounced in Godly Play. So I am borrowing Jerome’s approach from Godly Play of “I wonder?” to navigate and to look to the future of our COVID life. Jerome shares a few thoughts at the conclusion.

Calling all Godly Play enthusiasts! September 11 and 18, 9:00-10:30 am, via Zoom. Join our virtual circle as we offer this refresher course for Godly Play storytellers and doorpersons. This is an opportunity to get to know Godly Play practitioners from across the diocese as we revisit Godly Play fundamentals, participate in and debrief a full session, share experiences, and look forward to the formation year ahead. Some prework, as well as optional opportunities for further exploration, will be provided leading up to each session. This is a complimentary course offered by the Formation team in partnership with St. John’s Cathedral. Please reach out to Tracy Methe with any questions you might have. Recommended reading: Teaching Godly Play: How to Mentor the Spiritual Development of Children, by Jerome W. Berryman.

Have you ever been hungry? And by that, I do not mean have you ever skipped breakfast and become famished by lunch; I mean have you ever gone to bed hungry without knowing where or when your next meal was coming?

Growing up in the small-town North Carolina, my family did not have many financial resources, but we did have land. And every spring we tilled the soil and planted a garden — it was, in fact, a small farm on half an acre of earth yielding everything from tomatoes to rhubarb. We had beans and peas, squash, okra, sweet corn, and an assortment of greens. We also picked apples and peaches from my grandmother’s mini-orchard and berries from the wild brambles that grew near the creek edging our property. So we also had jams and preserves.

Are you ready to begin the vital work of racial healing? Have you already begun this work and are looking for the next step in your formation? It is essential to build a spiritual foundation for this work, whether your work is just beginning or further along, and seeking the next step in equipping your community. Dr. Catherine Meeks, the Absalom Jones Center’s executive director, teaches that sustaining a ministry in dismantling racism demands a life-long program in spiritual formation. To this end, she has asked the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Swanson, Chair of the Board at Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing, to develop a new prayer discipline to support those involved in racial healing.

The next seven-session class for leaders and advocates committed to this work will take place on Zoom and start on August 30. It will meet every two weeks from 4:00 to 6:00 pm MST. Every session will have an hour of small group work to discuss the practice of each discipline, followed by an hour of learning a new discipline and its historical and theological context. For the duration of the course, every participant must commit to attending each two-hour session, dedicate an hour a day to practice the disciplines, do the assigned reading, and keep a prayer journal.

Series courses include: White Privilege and the History of Racism in America, the Prayer of Examen and Spiritual Autobiography, the Prayer of Oblation, the Examination of Sin, the Exploration of Virtue, the Circle of Forgiveness, & the Way Forward.

Contact Dr. Ken Swanson at [email protected] to register for this series.

Tuesday, August 24, 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Are you interested in Latino ministry in our diocese? Please join a conversation with Bishop Kym, Canon Alex Dyer, and the Rev. QC Cornejo, Missioner for Multicultural Ministries. We will gather via Zoom to discuss the future of Latino ministry in the Episcopal Church in Colorado.

This summer, Bishop Kym extended an invitation to leaders across the diocese to preach the diocesan sermon. Clergy and lay leaders from around the diocese agreed to preach sermons for one another, for us. It is an opportunity for us to build connections, and to hear the gospel in many voices. Bishop Kym commends these sermons to the diocese, saying "I hope that you will avail yourselves of these messages. I hope that the gospel will ring through these voices for you and that you and I will all be nurtured and lifted up by these proclamations of our gospel."

Gather around the campfire and join your fellow children and youth leaders from around the state at Cathedral Ridge, August 27-29, for a weekend of fellowship and planning as we brainstorm together how to move forward in our ministries. The weekend will be co-hosted by Elizabeth Cervasio, Missioner for Children, Youth, and Campus Ministry, and Renzi Ricketts, Summer Program Director of Cathedral Ridge. For questions, please contact [email protected].

Our Upcoming Offerings webpage shows all virtual, hybrid and in-person opportunities for the months ahead on one page, making it easy to see everything coming up in one place, with information, registration links, and people to contact for additional details. If you would like assistance in registering for these offerings or creating new kinds of gatherings, contact the Rev. Canon Greg Foraker at [email protected], Tracy Methe at [email protected], or Canon Mike Orr at [email protected].

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