The
Angelus
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral • Kansas City, Missouri •
Vol. 75 No. 10 • October 2006
Contents
From the Dean
Our journey forward
Cathedral ministries with new contacts
Seeking new acolytes
Rite of Healing offered October 22
Schola Cantorum presents concert at GHTC
Fall back
Adult Formation
Tuesday Bible study makes changes
Michael Johnston
Pictorial directory plans underway
Rally Day Round Up
News from Guild of the Christ Child
This fragile earth, our island home
The Cathedral’s Financial Status
Commitment Sunday
Reel People
Memorials and thanksgivings
With Sympathy
Children’s Formation conducts Star Search
Our Blessed Children
Book Review
Trunk or Treat
Prayers for the departed
Weekly Activities
Activities for the Month of October
From the Dean
In 2000, 181 countries began the new century by signing the Millennium Declaration pledging a massive global mobilization against poverty. Out of this historic covenant came eight measurable, interwoven goals to be completed by 2015, now known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are:
- Cut in half extreme poverty and hunger;
- Achieve universal primary education;
- Promote gender equality and empower women;
- Reduce child mortality;
- Improve maternal health;
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other preventable diseases;
- Ensure environmental stability;
- Develop a global partnership for development with targets for aid, trade and debt relief.
In 2003, the 74th General Convention of The Episcopal Church embraced the MDGs as being compatible with Christian teaching and our Lord’s admonition that all people are our sisters and brothers, “recognizing that funding for nutritional, education, health care, and development programs is essential to achieve not only the MDGs, but also for recognizing the dignity of all human beings” as we state in our Baptismal Covenant.
This past June at the 75th General Convention, the House of Deputies joined the House of Bishops in supporting the MDGs and urging parishes, missions, congregations and dioceses across The Episcopal Church to work for their implementation.
In what has become a major mission and evangelism emphasis of that General Convention, the MDG resolution (D022):
- Establishes achieving the MDGs as a stated mission priority of The Episcopal Church for the next three years;
- Urges each diocese, congregation and parishioner to give 0.7% of income toward the MDGs by July 7, 2007; i.e. by 07/07/07;
- Designates the Last Sunday after Pentecost as a special day of prayer, fasting and giving in The Episcopal Church toward global reconciliation and the Millennium Development Goals;
- Calls on every diocese to establish a global reconciliation commission to mobilize Episcopalians to work for achieving the goals of the MDGs;
- Endorses the “ONE Episcopalian” campaign that calls on the U.S. government to spend an additional 1 percent of its budget to combat global poverty.
In passing a budget of $152 million for the work of this Church over the next three years, a new line item equal to 0.7% (or roughly $900,000) in the coming three-year budget for work that supports the MDGs was established. Financially supporting the MDGs was listed as one of the top mission priorities for the Church in the next three years.
The next steps are with us, as individuals, a parish, and a diocese. In drawing up the Cathedral’s 2007 budget and as the Vestry comes to approve the proposed budget, the resolution urging that 0.7% of our 2007 income support these goals will be taken very seriously. As our Diocese meets in Convention at the end of this month, serious and prayerful consideration will be given to supporting the MDGs in our diocesan budget.
Further, here at the Cathedral and throughout the Diocese, November 26, the Feast of Christ the King, will be observed as a day of prayer and fasting for global reconciliation, and a special collection to support the work of Episcopal Relief and Development in meeting the MDGs will be taken.
Support of the Millennium Development Goals was at the center of the General Convention’s work this past June. Yet, not surprisingly, the hearings and votes concerning recommendations from the Windsor Report on issues of human sexuality and church order dominated the press reports. Such a focus on internal matters shifted focus away from the ongoing, vital work of sharing the Gospel and serving the poorest among us.
A great deal of money and energy was expended at General Convention so that various positions might be heard louder than other views in order to carry the vote.
The MDGs provide us all a chance to publicly and personally reclaim our primary mission as the People of God. Our money and talents and energy surely can be better spent coming together in order to seek and serve Christ in all persons and in loving our neighbors as ourselves.
All through September we have heard readings from the Epistle of James, challenging us, as individuals and the Church, to put our faith into action, that we might build up the Body of Christ. Faith without works is dead – as dead as people who starve without food, who die from diseases borne by unclean drinking water, who die without access to prenatal and infant care. Faith without works is death.
We don’t need a resolution of General Convention to tell us that financial support of the MDGs is a part of healthy Christian stewardship, but I am proud that The Episcopal Church has taken such a public stand on the need to share our blessings.
Loving God Back is the theme of this year’s Commitment Sunday gathering at the Cathedral on October 8. It could also be the theme of our 2007 parish budget, and the theme of the financial pledge each of us makes. Let us Love God Back with boldness, thanksgiving, and courage. Faith, without works, is death. Faith, with works, is life.
The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean
Learn MoreONE Episcopalian™ is a grassroots partnership between The Episcopal Church and the ONE Campaign to rally Episcopalians – ONE by ONE – to the cause of ending extreme poverty in our world and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). |
Our journey forward
My car, and Julie Toma’s car were vandalized in the Cathedral parking lot late one afternoon in August. Some guy took a piece of scrap iron and smashed the passenger side windows. No one was physically injured, and nothing was stolen from either of us, except the two hours Julie and I might otherwise have spent with our respective families that neither of us will ever get back.
The police caught the man who immediately confessed. Apparently, he’s well known at the downtown police station, and has a rap sheet several inches thick of random acts of vandalism. He’s one of the downtown, mentally ill, homeless folk. The cynic in me believes he may simply have been looking for a couple of days of “3 hots and a cot” either at the Kansas City jail or in West Missouri Mental Health.
The priest in me has no doubt that despite his street smarts he is as powerless over his mental illness as my dear father is over his dementia – or, indeed, that a healthy athlete would be over perspiration. The comic in me echoes the priest in me, as clearly no one in his/her right mind would bother breaking into a six-year-old Neon if the intention was to find something of value to steal.
In other words, there was nothing personally vindictive about what he did, inconvenient though his actions turned out to be. There were, however, several grace-filled things that came out of this act of violence that did affect me personally.
For starters: two employees of Argus, one of whom witnessed the act and the other of whom made the 911 call. Both of them had finished their own long work day, but stuck around for two hours while we waited for the police to arrive. As shook up as one of them was by witnessing the act, she nonetheless hung in, and when the apprehended man was brought to the Cathedral parking lot in the police van for a positive ID, she gave it.
Her reason: “My car was stolen three years ago and never found. My house has been broken into three times. If I can help someone else, I will.” Wow. Someone transformed by injury not into bitterness but into compassion. Bless her heart, and bless her co-worker’s heart too for sticking around and providing moral support to us all, and communicating to us when the police called him back on his cell phone to say that they had apprehended the guy and would he and the other witness please stay around to ID him. They had families waiting at home too, and yet they went the extra mile for Julie and me.
I, on the other hand, didn’t want to see the man who vandalized my car. As it is more than likely that he is at least a periodic guest at the Kansas City Community Kitchen where I routinely volunteer, I’d just as soon not be put in a position of having to serve someone who I knew had damaged my car and inconvenienced me. I’d rather be able to serve lunch to everyone and think, as each guy picks up his tray, “This guy probably wasn’t the vandal,” than to know for a fact that I was helping to provide aid and comfort to the guilty party.
Our Roman Catholic friends might graciously call my action, Avoiding a Proximate Occasion for Sin. It’s a recognition of one’s own moral weaknesses in order to avoid circumstances wherein one might be tempted beyond one’s capacity to act morally. In my case, I know perfectly well where my own character flaws lie and one of them is a tendency toward holding grudges. It is far easier for me to forgive a “theoretical” vandal than a person I’m likely to run into again. Not surprising.
My personal experience, as well as my pastoral observation from 12 years in the priesthood, tells me that it can be hard to forgive the transgressions of people we know and harder still to forgive the transgressions of people we have a relationship with. (This reality, by the way, is one of the reasons why squabbles among families, neighbors, and parishioners can get so protracted and so ugly).
This would be but one of the huge differences between me and God. I can forgive someone as long as I can keep some emotional distance between him/her and me. Forgiving people with whom I have a relationship is far harder for me. If I’m honest with myself, I know that most of the time I’d much rather “gather [my] brows like gathering storm/and nurse [my] wrath to keep it warm” [Robert Burns, “Tam o’Shanter”] than to act as God acts.
Which brings me to grace-filled thing number two: an awareness
that God knows us each so intimately that even the very hairs on our
heads are numbered, sees our destructive
acts both great and small, loves us, and forgives us before we even
come to ourselves and frame the words of confession.
More than that, God is not simply a witness to our sins, God is a victim, if you will, of our sins. The difference between a parking lot vandal and me on any given day is a matter of degree. After all, we injure God day in and day out by all the acts we recount blithely each Sunday in confession, to say nothing of the petty meannesses of which we all (present company included) indulge from time to time.
And still, God loves us and desires us to love God and each other as God loves us.
– by the Rev. Canon Susan Sommer
Cathedral ministries with new contacts
Below is a listing of some of the Cathedral ministries previously coordinated by Deacon Linda Yeager, and the clergy person who now has oversight. An asterisk indicates that the clergy person is the staff liaison to a committee otherwise chaired by a layperson.
- Eucharistic Visitors: Deacon Bryan England
- Homicide Memorial: Deacon Bruce Hall
- Education for Ministry: Mother Carol Sanford
- Cathedral Caregivers: Canon Sue Sommer* (includes updating Prayer List)
- Mom’s Bible Study: Mother Carol Sanford
- Guild of the Christ Child: Canon Sue Sommer*
- Prayers of the People: Canon Sue Sommer
- Sunday ministries: Canon Sue Sommer* (includes Acolytes, Lectors, Eucharistic ministers, Healing, Ushers)
- Women’s Retreat: Mother Carol Sanford
- Scheduling baptisms: Canon Sue Sommer.
- Pastoral care: Canon Sue Sommer, (after hours call
816-505-7269)
Mother Carol Sanford, (after hours call 913-831-2281)
Dean Terry White, (after hours, call 816-407-9305)
(back-up provided by Deacons Bryan England, 816-252-2359 and Bruce Hall, 816-531-6207)
Seeking new acolytes
We are looking for acolytes for all services. Successful acolytes generally are at least 10 years of age, able to handle a torch safely, and able to conduct him/herself appropriately during the service without calling undue attention to him/herself. If you have any questions, or are interested in participating in the ministry, please contact Curtis Hamilton [(816) 529-5260 or cdhamilton@gmail.com].
Rite of Healing offered October 22
In honor of the feast of St. Luke, patron of healers, (feast day: October 18) the Cathedral will offer the rite of healing at the 8:00 and 10:15 services on Sunday, October 22. Watch the Sunday bulletin for more information.
Schola Cantorum presents concert at GHTC
Schola Cantorum, a choral ensemble affiliated with the local American Guild of Organists chapter, presents a concert to benefit the Metropolitan Organization for Racial and Economic Justice in the Cathedral nave on Sunday afternoon October 22 at 3 p.m.
Dale Shetler, director, has programmed works by Eleanor Daley, Charles Wood, Gerald Near and Frank Ferko. The benefiting organization seeks to provide equal job opportunities for minorities in our community. A number of Cathedral musicians sing in the ensemble and Mr. Shetler was a singer in the choir that toured the British Isles this past summer.
There will be no admission charge; a freewill offering will be received.
Fall back
|
Remember to set your clocks |
 |
The Angelus
A laypersons’ newspaper published in the interest of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.
THE ANGELUS SMALL GROUP CONTRIBUTORS:
Emily Akins
Tom Atkin
Mary Byrne
Jan Frizzle
John Hornbeck
Geoff Logan
Chris Morrison, Small Group Facilitator
Julie Toma, Editor
Submissions from parishioners and small groups are welcome and encouraged. All entries are requested by the 15th day of the month prior to publication via fax: (816) 474-5856 or e-mail: communications@ghtc-kc.org
Adult Formation
October 8, 15, 22, 29
How to Read the Bible, and Why Bother?
Fr. Michael Johnston
We’ve all got one. A copy of the Holy Bible. Often it sits on a shelf at home collecting dust, seldom opened. We tend not to read it for a couple of reasons. Its content seems largely inaccessible, transparent only to those with professional training in biblical studies and arcane ancient languages. On the other hand, we think we know what’s there. After all, we hear these stories over and over again in church on Sundays.
So why bother? Somebody else will tell us what it means—maybe even during the sermon.
Together we will take a look at how we can gain a deeper encounter with the biblical literature, how it has shaped the content and character of Christian life throughout the centuries, and what its narrative might mean for us today. We will use Engaging the Word, from the New Church’s Teaching Series as a jumping-off place for discussion. Copies will be available from the bookstore.
Sundays October 1-November 19
A Journey of Faith
Make plans to come along! Whether new to the Christian faith, the Episcopal faith tradition or are simply seeking a ‘renewal’ as an Episcopalian, please join us on this meaningful journey. This class also serves as our catechumenate for those seeking the Rites of Baptism, Confirmation, Reception or Reaffirmation. Details are on our website!
Tuesday Bible study makes changes
We have changed our name from the previously gender restrictive “Women’s Bible Study Group” to the Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study; men are now most cordially invited to join our class.
On Tuesday, September 19, we began our fall series on St. Paul and the Church at Corinth. One can argue that Paul’s letter to the Romans is his most important theological document, set out as a self-referential introduction to the Church in Rome which Paul had neither built nor visited. There was a thriving Christian community in Rome long before Paul got there.
By contrast, the Church in Corinth was planted by Paul, and his letter to the Corinthian community is arguably his most important document sent later to a diverse and divisive congregation of Christians, Jewish “god-fearers,” and converted pagans.
The letter is our first detailed look at what it must have been like to develop a new community of believers in a major urban center of the Roman world.
We meet on Tuesday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and if you haven’t attended the September sessions there is ample opportunity to catch-up. We probably won’t start reading the Corinthian letter itself until early October in any case. Contact: Fr. Michael Johnston, 913-432-4534; mjohns06@sbcglobal.net.
– by Michael Johnston
Michael Johnston
Fr. Johnston began his career as a biochemist, obtaining his PhD from Yale. He was then a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, and spent his Post Doctoral fellowship at MIT. Subsequently he attended General Seminary in New York City, obtaining his Master of Divinity degree. Unsure what he would do with his new training, “Scripture captivated me” says Fr. Johnston, and he taught Scripture at Grace Church, Plainfield, N.J., for two years prior to ordination. “I found the people of God were out there hungry for intellectually respectable, but spiritually grounded access to Scripture.”
Fr. Johnston was ordained into the diaconate in 1990 and into the priesthood in 1991. Thereafter he served in three very different parishes in the Diocese of Chicago, St Matthew’s, Evanston; the Church of the Epiphany in Central Chicago, and at Grace Church, Oak Park. After a gruelling and incapacitating bout of illness he resigned from Oak Park in 2005. He is very grateful for his time as a parish priest. “These very human experiences help to inform my interpretation of scripture.”
He has been a guest faculty member at numerous institutions. In Advent 2006, he will teach a series on “Advent Prophesies” at the Hartford Cathedral, Conn., and next year will offer a course entitled “Exegesis for Preaching” at Sewanee Seminary. He is the author of a book titled Engaging the Word published by Cowley in 1998.
In his spare time, with a partner, Greg Bailey, he conducts pilgrimages to Italy centered around art and scripture, and sacred spaces. In fall 2007 one of the pilgrimages to the southern Italian cities of Rome and Florence, will study “The Art of the Incarnation,” and will be opened up to members of the Diocese of West Missouri.
– by Geoff Logan
Pictorial directory plans underway
The planning for a new pictorial directory for GHTC is underway and the committee needs your help. All you have to do is sign up (online at http://signup.olanmills.com or at coffee hour) to bring you and/or your family for a portrait sitting. Photo dates are October 24-25 and October 31-November 4. Sign up early to get the time that works best for your family. Each family will receive a copy of the new directory and an 8x10 portrait FREE. At the time of your sitting, you will see on a computer screen the poses the photographer has taken and select your favorite for the directory. At that time you will also be able to order additional prints from Olan Mills. One hundred percent participation in this project would be an invaluable tool for our congregation. If you have any questions about the directory, please contact Sharyl Wallace or the Cathedral office.
Rally Day Round Up
This year’s Rally Day round up was a spectacular showing of
cowboys and cowgirls, hats, boots and the like! Founders’ Hall was
brimming with every kind of country western decor and prop you can
imagine—the creativity at this-here corral is VERY impressive.
Fifty-five groups were represented at this event and included
displays describing liturgy/worship, formation, social outreach and
small group ministries, and parish life.
This year’s special recognition was given to the group with the
most creative display within the theme, which was voted upon by
those in attendance. The vote went to the Newcomers group. The
‘watering hole’ was designed by Paula Connors (and family). All
items in their display were brought from the family’s farm located
in northwest Kansas. Spirited attendees who dressed to the theme
were also awarded prizes and included: Betty Phillips, Pat Wright
and John Kurtz.
Congratulations to all who successfully energized this year’s Rally Day with their enthusiasm and dedication to the various ministries at GHTC!
– by Valerie Johnson
photo by Jan Frizzle
This year’s Rally Day provided an opportunity to learn about the various ministries at the Cathedral — and the chance to join new groups or find a new way to volunteer at the Cathedral.
If you want to know more about any of the Cathedral’s ministries, contact the Cathedral office.
photos by Julie Toma
News from Guild of the Christ Child
The Guild of the Christ Child is excited about redefining our
mission for the families of GHTC. We are “undergoing construction”
of our planning group and deciding on our next plan of action to
support our families at the Cathedral.
Labor Day weekend we celebrated Baptism feasts with Conor James Folger, Andrew Elison Cruz, and Daniel Selvaraj John. Our congratulations and blessings to these wonderful families.
Trunk or Treat is coming soon! The Guild will be participating, so watch the bulletin for more news about this special treat later.
Mom’s Bible Study began reading “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis. Please join us Friday mornings from 9:30 to 11, childcare provided, as we broaden our faith through this interesting book study.
Our next Guild meeting will be Tuesday, October 17 at 6:15 p.m. in the Youth Room. We have great ideas and need great moms and grandmothers to join us. Please contact Connie Kurtz 816.255.3664.
– by Connie Kurtz
This fragile earth, our island home
Do we as a faith community have a responsibility to care for God’s creation?
Members of the Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition encourage all of us to care for creation—through environmental education and sustainable actions. There are several documentaries out now which are very educational, “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Great Warming.” After viewing these films, it is hard to go back to consumption as usual. Both films are being shown in a number of congregations in the metropolitan area this month. Watch for locations and times in our future communications.
Why Should We Care?
The earth we share is suffering. The climate is warming. Ninety percent of the world’s fisheries have perished. Thousands of species are threatened due to habitat loss. Almost half of the United States’ populations live in areas that do not meet national air quality standards. Even today, locally, we are faced with issues of trying to supply more power to our communities, yet injuring our environment with harmful emissions and possibly the health of individuals living in nearby areas.
| For the good earth which God has given us, and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord. – Prayers of the People, Form 1 |
Caring for creation is a moral and ethical obligation requiring all of our attention. How will we respond?
What Can We Do?
There are a number of things an individual or family can do. Here are just a few environmentalists suggest:
- Replace the light bulbs in your home with the spiral shaped compact fluorescent lights. Because they only need to be replaced about every five years, it will save you money also.
- If you will be buying a new car in the next year, consider one of the hybrids.
- If your furnace and central air conditioner have reached the point where you are not sure how much longer they will last, replace them now with more energy efficient ones.
- How about that extra/old refrigerator you have in the basement? How necessary is it? It is not likely energy efficient.
Keep watching for additional environmentally-friendly things you can do.
Do you remember the saying from the 1960s, If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem? These things may not seem that significant, but to borrow from Bridging the Gap, “When we each do a little, we all do a lot.”
– by Vivian Gibbens
The Cathedral’s Financial Status
Income received trailed income budgeted by approximately $5000 in August with both pledges received and plate received trailing budget. Actual expenses for the month were approximately $2700 below budget.
Expenses for the year are below budget to which we can give thanks to the vigilance of our staff. Income is also below budget for the year but now that summer vacations are over, let us bring our pledges current and support the important ministry of the Cathedral.
– by Doyle White, treasurer
| AUGUST MTD | BUDGETED MTD | ACTUAL MTD |
| INCOME | $ 151,831 | $ 146,921 |
| EXPENSES | $ 153,371 | $ 150,696 |
| VARIANCE | $ (1,540) | $ (3,775) |
| AUGUST YTD | BUDGETED YTD | ACTUAL YTD |
| INCOME | $ 1,117,414 | $ 1,077,293 |
| EXPENSES | $ 1,116,949 | $ 1,096,849 |
| VARIANCE | $ 465 | $ (19,556) |
Please make your reservation by October 3 for
Commitment Sunday and
Fellowship Luncheon
October 8 • 11:30 a.m.
In lieu of a potluck item, please bring 1 or 2 large canned food items that will be donated to the KCCK.
Children’s Meal and Activities Provided
Reel People
Young Frankenstein
October 25
6:30 p.m.
Memorials and thanksgivings
September 3 • The flowers at the altar are given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for her daughter Melisa by Pat Burns; and in loving memory of Marjorie Beckord by Clint Haberland and Linda Voran; also in loving memory of Chloe Thorn by Suzanne Wright.
September 10 • The flowers at the altar are given to the glory of God and in celebration of the marriage of Erika Rich and Kevin Sweeney by John and Vangie Rich; and in thanksgiving for her granddaughter, Merritt Sloan, and her grandson, William Herbert Sloan, by Mrs. Herbert A. Sloan.
September 17 • The flowers at the altar are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Jo-Ann E. Platt by John B. Platt. At the chapel altar, flowers are given in thanksgiving for the anniversary of Alan and Phyllis Ryder and the birthday of Gretchen Ryder. At the baptismal font in memory of his parents, Marie and Charles Lowrey, and his brothers, Donald Lee Lowrey and Charles Lowrey, Jr. by Paul and Bonnie Lowrey.
September 24 • The flowers at the altar are given to the glory of God and in thanksgiving for Hilary (Thomas) Gaboriau; and in memory of John Edward Deweese by Jeannette, Jennifer and John. Memorial candles are given in loving memory of her mother, Marie Cheers, by Sharon Cheers.
With Sympathy
We offer our sympathy to the members of the Cathedral who have experienced the death of family members this past month:
Marjorie Beckord, mother of Pat McKenna
Children’s Formation conducts Star Search
Children’s Formation has been busily gathering together a dedicated and diverse cross section of Cathedral members who feel it is their Christian duty to illuminate the path to love, compassion and forgiveness for our children.
To this end, Connie Kurtz, Stacy Morgan, Heather Cleavinger, Jackye Finnie, Kristy Moore, Chris Morgan and Fr. Michael Johnston give their full support as volunteers in Children’s formation. They have answered the call and may be calling you soon to talk about the great need for Children’s Chapel assistants.
Children’s Chapel assistants model and monitor appropriate responses and behavior during our modified services for children. While the Chapel Leader “officiates” and the Homily Leader gives the sermon, the Chapel Assistant models the congregational response for children. Chapel Assistants follow the order of service and cue the children, simply by doing, in responses such as when to stand or kneel or when to proclaim “Thanks Be To God!”
Chapel assistants also help to maintain focus. Overall our mandate to staff two adults in the room, at all times, underscores our commitment to keep God’s children safe.
Children’s Formation sure could use you! We also have a need for volunteers to help with Trunk or Treat, Christmas Pageant and Advent Workshop.
| HELP WANTED: Loving adults who will serve as a guiding light for children and provide forty-five minutes of time and attention, one Sunday a month. |
If you can lend a hand please contact DeAnn McTavish at the Cathedral Office, or any member of our Star Search Support Team. You may also jot down your info and interests and place them in the big, shiny box by Haden Hall auditorium. Come take your place in our constellation of the faithful!
– by DeAnn McTavish
Our Blessed Children
Gather up your children in the morning
and gently plant them in their places.
Handle them with tenderness
for here grow the flowers of God’s Universe.
Watch over them in their play
and keep them safe in body and spirit.
Encourage them in their learning
that their minds might rest in reason.
Lead them in an attack on their arithmetic
so that they might declare victory over their long division.
Open their eyes to the windows of the world
and help them see the possibilities of their dreams.
And lead them in the paths of righteousness
that they may know God and live in the fullness
of His protection and Divine Love.
– by e.c. binford September 2006
Book Review
If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Philip
Gulley and James Mulholland, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. 2003.
ISBN 0-06-251704-X
If you have ever wanted to simplify your faith, this book may be the book for you. In the opening chapter, in the setting of preparing a eulogy for a parishioner who, at first glance, seems to have led less than an exemplary life, the authors lay out their thesis, “I believe God will save every person.” The rest of the book is about those seven words.
Gulley and Mulholland talk of being drawn to the “God of Jesus ... the God who loves people more than formulas, mercy more than judgment, and pardon more than punishment ... the God who seeks the lost, heals the brokenhearted, accepts the outcast, is kind to the wicked and ungrateful, is merciful and forgiving, and loves the whole world.”
Most of us grew up to believe that salvation would be the province of a few; and that more than a few would be cast into hell’s fire. A background of such traditional and confounding teaching makes the starkly simple message in this book hard to internalize. But persist, keeping in mind the parable of the workers in the vineyard, who all got the same pay at the end of the day, no matter how long they had worked in the heat of the sun. The rewards are great!
Philip Gulley and James Mulholland are ministers in the Society of Friends. To those familiar with Gulley’s gently humorous novels of life in the parish of Harmony, this book is a logical extension of the ministry of two truly loving souls.
– by Geoff Logan
Trunk or Treat
An enchanted parking lot for children
October 29
Following 10:15 service
Dress in your All Hallow’s Eve finest and join us for lunch!
To sponsor a trunk or help with the festivities please e-mail dmctavish@ghtc-kc.org
or phone 816-474-8260.
Prayers for the departed
Prayers for the departed will be offered at the 8 and 10:15 a.m. services on November 5, the Sunday in the octave of All Saints.
Beginning October 8, forms will be available in the nave for parishioners to submit the name(s) of loved ones who have departed this life.
Weekly Activities
SUNDAY
8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
9:15 a.m. Christian Formation
10:15 a.m. Holy Eucharist
5:00 p.m. Order for Evening and Holy Eucharist
MONDAY
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist
TUESDAY
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist
1:30 p.m. Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study
WEDNESDAY
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist
5:45 p.m. The Tallis Singers
6:00 p.m. Grace Choraliers
7:00 p.m. Trinity Teens Youth Group
THURSDAY
7:00 a.m. Men’s Bible Study
9:30 a.m. Cathedral Outreach Program
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist
6:30 p.m. EfM
7:30 p.m. Trinity Choir
FRIDAY
9:30 a.m. Moms’ Bible Study
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist
Activities for the Month of October
Please verify times and dates of the events listed with the appropriate person(s) or by contacting the Cathedral Office.
1 • SUNDAY
3:30 p.m. Centering Prayer Group
3 • TUESDAY
6:30 p.m. Needlework Arts Group
7:00 p.m. The Angelus Small Group
5 • THURSDAY
5:00 p.m. Budget Committee
7 • SATURDAY
4:00 p.m. ECS “Servin’ Up Jazz” Concert
8 • SUNDAY• Commitment Sunday
11:30 a.m. Fellowship Luncheon
9 • MONDAY
6:00 p.m. Robbery Victims Support Group
6:30 p.m. Sign Language Class
10 • TUESDAY
6:15 p.m. Cancer Support Group
11 • WEDNESDAY
5:00 p.m. Stewardship Committee
12 • THURSDAY
6:00 p.m. Children’s Formation Support Team
6:30 p.m. Thursday Evening Bible Study
15 • SUNDAY
12:00 p.m. Integrity
17 • TUESDAY
6:15 p.m. Guild of the Christ Child
18 • WEDNESDAY
7:00 a.m. Finance Committee
19 • THURSDAY
5:00 p.m. Budget Committee
23 • MONDAY
6:30 p.m. Sign Language Class
25 • WEDNESDAY
6:30 p.m. Reel People
26 • THURSDAY
5:00 p.m. Vestry
6:30 p.m. Thursday Evening Bible Study
27 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Diocesan Gathering and Convention & Diocesan Youth Event
29 • SUNDAY
11:30 p.m. Trunk or Treat
The Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri
P.O. Box 412048
Kansas City, Missouri 64141
Telephone: (816) 474-8260
Facsimile: (816) 474-5856
Website: www.ghtc-kc.org
E-mail: office@ghtc-kc.org
The Right Rev. Barry R. Howe
Bishop of West Missouri
The Very Rev. Terry White
Dean
The Rev. Susan Sommer
Canon Pastor and Subdean
The Rev. Carol Sanford
Curate
The Rev. Bryan England
Deacon
The Rev. Bruce Hall
Deacon
Mr. John L. Schaefer
Canon Musician
The Very Rev. J. Earl Cavanaugh
Dean Emeritus and Pastoral Adjunct