Construction Ministry

by Jan Paxton
editor, The Grapevine

What shall I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wiseman I would do my part;
Yet what can I give him - give my heart.

So ends the Christmas hymn, In the Bleak Midwinter, whose words are by Christina Rossetti. In the Diocese of Newark a new ministry has begun out of the desire of people to give their time and talents. This venture is called the New-Ark Construction Team.

About twenty years ago Joe Hager, a member of St. John the Divine, Hasbrouck Heights, had the idea that within the diocese there had to be lots of skilled people who could get together to help congregations with the construction and maintenance projects that are so necessary, but so expensive. These are the projects that so often stand between a congregation and a ministry to the community. You can't open an after school safe space project or a day care center unless you can get the undercroft to meet fire safety standards. You can't start an elder-care project unless you can make your facilities handicapped accessible. The inner-city mission can't stay open to minister to the changing neighborhood if the roof can't be replaced. But twenty years ago Joe had a demanding job and a young family and no one with whom he talked seemed taken with his idea.

In 1995, Christ Church, Pompton Lakes had a fire which destroyed its offices, day care facility, and parish hall. Its congregation had many of the re-building skills that were necessary - several electricians, some HVAC folks, a general contractor, a roofer, and lots of willing painters. When they asked the Cursillo Community for a painting day to enable the day care center to re-open on schedule, the outpouring of help was overwhelming, despite a snow- storm.

So, you say, what does that have to do with ministry or Joe's idea? Well, add the working of the Holy Spirit! At the 1996 Diocesan Convention of the Diocese of Newark, Joe Stewart, the electrician and convention delegate from Christ Church, Pompton, was talking with Joe Hager about his experience with rebuilding and Joe Hager shared his dream. They spoke with Bishops Spong and McKelvey and the New-Ark Construction Team was born.

A call was published in The Voice, the diocesan paper, and sent to all the congregations of the diocese, a meeting was held and a mission statement drafted:

Mission Statement: The mission of the New-Ark Construction Team is to assist our Diocesan organizations by providing ways and means to improve their buildings and grounds, as requested, whenever possible. The New-Ark Construction Team is committed to encouraging the Diocese of
Newark Community to be part of reaching this goal. We offer assistance in the following areas:

Sheetrocking, Plumbing, Painting, Roofing, Repairs, Clean-up, Clerical, Fund Raising, Grant Writing
The New-Ark Construction Team offers assistance and expertise in many areas of maintenance and construction, from conception and fund raising to completion and inspection of the project. The members of the team are \members of Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Newark, who are struggling to keep their own churches in proper condition. In all of their work they are conscious of their work as ministry. Each project begins with a Team Eucharist and the congregations receiving assistance help by providing more hands and meals. There are places on the Team for men and women, skilled workers and willing unskilled helpers. Several members of the construction team are contractors or builders by trade and have access to specialized equipment and tools. The Cursillo Community of the diocese has provided a great deal of support. The ministry of the team is helping others with what its members have learned and reaching out to others who need assistance.

So far the Team has helped with the construction of a new church for St. Thomas, Vernon by working on sheetrocking, they have re-roofed St. Mary the Virgin, Ridgefield Park, they have done painting at Newark School of Theology, and they have done repairs to the roof and gutter system at St. John the Divine, Hasbrouck Heights. The diocese has been urging congregations contemplating repairs and construction to consult with the Team as it makes its plans.

The New-Ark Construction Team is a unique place where folks can have a sense of real, visible accomplishment and it offers an opportunity for service to folks who are most comfortable building things. By pulling together to maintain all of the houses of worship they make a difference - offering their hearts through the work of their hands.

Contact Person: Joe Hager
New-Ark Construction Team, P.O. Box 105, Sparta, New Jersey 07871
website: www.intac.com/~paxton/new_ark/

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Missionary Spirituality: Small Churches Teach Christian Living

by Mary Williamson and Wayne Schwab
originally appeared in The Living Church

On March 2nd, lay and clergy leaders from twenty-eight small congregations from New Jersey to Alaska will begin to talk to each other weekly via E-mail about what they are doing and learning in "missionary spirituality." These congregations average under 100 people and most of them average under 50 on a Sunday. Though small, they see themselves on the growing edge of mission today. As they discovered in an opening workshop, January 29-February 1 at Stony Point Center, Stony Point, NY, missionary spirituality is living the mission of Jesus Christ wherever you are--living rooms, bedrooms, boardrooms, stores, workplaces, community centers, coffee breaks, voting booths, beaches and ski slopes. After a year, they will gather again to share their experiences and results and decide how to communicate them to others. The work is funded by $51,195 grant from Trinity Grants Program of Trinity Church, New York City. Part of the funding has reconditioned older used computers for fifteen of the congregations.

The Rev. Wayne Schwab, Mentor for the project and a member of St. John's Church, Essex, NY, the small church sponsoring the project, observes, "We know we plow ground that, while quite old, is new to today's church life. For too many, spirituality stops with Sunday morning in church. But Jesus calls us to a spirituality that is always on mission. We want to learn how to make the purpose of church life the helping of each member to live the mission in the world--and to do it better. We do not want to add another program' to already stressed small congregations. We want to make more faithful living the goal of all we are already doing--baptizing, marrying, burying, teaching, and worshiping."

When Mary Williamson, one of forty-two laity and clergy representing these 28 congregations, stepped off the plane for a long weekend at the Stony Point Center on the Hudson River above New York City at the end of January, she now admits, she "had a very limited view of what missionary spirituality might be about." All she and Cathy Massoni and Valerie Valle, their priest from St. Alban's in Brentwood, Diocese of California, had was a copy of the grant proposal. They hoped the weekend would clarify missionary spirituality and how to form it in others and in themselves as leaders. So did the rest from congregations in the dioceses of New Jersey (4), Albany (5), Milwaukee (1), Minnesota (13 Native American and 1 Hispanic), Los Angeles (1) and Alaska (2). The Rev. John E. Robertson of the Minnesota Committee on Indian Work was there to support the Minnesota congregations. Participants included a working mother and her first-grade daughter. Bob Hatch, volunteer treasurer, said, "The mix of people itself was exciting."

At Stony Point, they plunged deeply into a kind of group Bible study they had not known before. Bible lessons for the day were the means to reflect on daily life. Each time, the final question was "What is God calling you to do, to be, or to change in your life?"--your "mission fields" of your work, your home, your local and wider communities, and your leisure as well as your church life. Williamson commented, "Individuals were consistently redirected toward personal experience and a real sense of how each reading may apply to their immediate situation." Another participant exclaimed in surprise, "I can interpret the Bible!"

Conference leaders were the Rev. Glen Michaels, rector of St. John's, Essex NY, the Rev. Juan Oliver, Canon Missioner for the Diocese of New Jersey, and Schwab. They offered catechumenal formation--how the early church taught the way of Jesus Christ--as the model for recognizing when and how to build missionary spirituality in church members. Reflecting on daily life in the light of scripture, praying and worshiping regularly, caring for people in need and working for a more just society--these create a community in which people can move from inquiry to reshaping their living to committing themselves to join the mission of Jesus Christ. The Baptismal Covenant (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 302-3) describes what living that mission is like. Oliver puts it simply, "All you need are people, the Bible, and experience." A fifth generation Episcopalian said, "This was my very first experience of laity and clergy working together as equals."

Participants experienced ways that worship can express and further the sense of being active sharers in the mission of caring, working for justice, and making Christ known. People active in mission during the week need to be partners in Sunday worship. Lay and ordained shared equally in leading morning, noon, and evening worship. Prayers were spontaneously offered by the people as they responded to a leader's identifying of specific areas of life. The Eucharist was celebrated in the round.

Schwab says, "Missionary spirituality is a spirituality that lives the good news in deed and word in all the arenas of daily life. It is sustained by private and corporate prayer and support groups where people apply the biblical story to their own lives. Isn't this just the kind of living Jesus wants from us?' people ask. Yes, it is. And re-forming our congregations around supporting the members in their daily mission fields will take several generations. The church has not done a good job orienting people for life. A missionary spirituality is crucial for both today's and tomorrow's church."

As the conference progressed, participants began to see that worship, biblical reflection in small groups, and Christian community became more important than ever. At work, at home, in the local and wider communities, even in leisure, each of the baptized is most often alone. Each returns to their congregation from their "outposts" for healing, strength, and a fresh sense of direction for Monday morning. They began to ponder how to invite others "out there" to join them in the work of the mission and, in time, how to invite them to the same table where they are fed. Michaels comments, "Such living is possible only when one is rooted in a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. So we talk of building a missionary spirituality."

First reports from teams returning home show they began to use their new methods right away. Several vestries began their meetings with Bible study. Others set about a policy for infant baptism that took daily living as an adult Christian as its goal. Young mothers will support each other in their missions in their homes and in helping their families share fully in the mission. Another group will explore women's spirituality.

Contacts: Mary Williamson <caultreya@ aol.com>
The Rev. A. Wayne Schwab
PO Box 308, Essex NY 12936-0308
voice 518-963-7541, fax 518-963-4638
send E-mail with MIME attachments to <Aschwab525@aol.com>

Interested people can be on read only for the Ecunet meetings of the 28 by contacting wayne.schwab@ecunet.org. Almost all of the same notes can be seen , along with dialogue through the Ecunet meeting MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY OPEN.

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The ECW Looks Toward the New Millennium

by Lillian Davis-Wilson
Province II ECW President

The Episcopal Church Women's triennial theme was "Enlarge the Site of Your Tent...lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes," taken from Isaiah 54:2 (NRSV).

It is the lengthening of our cords that will lead us into the 21st century! In fact, a quick look at the history of the Episcopal Church Women will show the adaptability of this organization in meeting the ever-changing needs of the church. When the Episcopal Church Women were known as the Women's Auxiliary, they did what was necessary for the mission field, for the church during world wars, and the unemployed during the depression. Today, the ECW is found working with literacy programs, soup kitchens, child care, homeless shelters and providing love to countless children and adults afflicted with AIDS, to name a few of the things associated with the Women's Ministry in our church. The times have changed and are still changing, but the social issues are still basic ones of hunger, the need for shelter, the need for family and the need for loving community.

The Journey of Our Women's Ministry is to extend the church into society's ever-increasing need for support of those at home and abroad. Women's Ministry follows the circular model, creating with God nurturing relationships that bring healing and renewal. The ECW is challenged to show that we are for all the women of the church. No longer are we called to be kitchen stewards, fund raisers, or maintainers of the altar and the rector's office. We realize that we are called for new work, to teach, preach and become God's change agents that transform negative actions into positive ones. We must be the miracle growers, for God has much for us to do and to be.

Province II ECW has accepted the challenge of our new Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold's vision "to go and rebuild my church" with a "ministry of encouragement." On May 1, 2 and 3, Province II Episcopal Church Women will hold its Annual Meeting and Conference with two dynamic women sharing their ideas in enlarging the site of our tent as we look toward the 21st century. Our own National President, Jane Banning, will speak to her vision of wholeness and renewal for Episcopal Church Women. "To relate to one another by listening to God and growing together through the gifts that each one of us brings to become one body." Mary MacGregor, form the Diocese of Texas, will show us how to revise, revamp, and recreate our ECW's. In an effort to meet all the needs of all women in Province II, we have arranged accommodations and meals for the entire weekend at $150. One night accommodations and meals are $100 and Conference only accommodation plus lunch is $25.

All women interested in this exciting weekend should contact Mary Anne Johnson at 141 Gertrude Street, North Syracuse, NY 13212, or phone her at 315-452-9715.

In closing, the ECW of Province II would like to inform all Province II bishops and synod delegates that, as a body, we are looking to support a project over the next two years that deals with advocating for children at risk. Over the past three years we have been able to raise over $10,000 for Haiti to assist them in bettering the quality of life for their children.

If you have a project for which you would like the assistance of the women of Province II, please forward a brief outline of your project and how the ECW can assist you. Forward all outlines by August 30, 1998 to: Lillian Davis- Wilson, President, 69 Carriage Hill East, Buffalo, NY 14221.

We are called in the new millennium to lengthen our cords to strengthen our stakes in providing a safe place where all children are free to become the persons that Christ created them to be.

Contact: Lillian Davis-Wilson
Province II ECW President
69 Carriage Hill East
Buffalo, NY 14221

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Resources

Try the World Wide Web! Many of you are familiar with the Episcopal Church's official Website at www.ecusa.anglican.org. That site has a vast quantity of information about everything from the Episcopal News Service pages to Children's Ministry to which congregations, provinces, and dioceses have websites registered with the official church's website. To do that, contact John Rollins, Managing Editor, at rollins@intac.com, providing him with your province, diocese, congregation, URL, and contact person, and request addition to the list.

Within our province, the only province which has a web page (www.ecusa.anglican.org/province-two/), the dioceses of Newark, New York and Central New York have websites. Newark's site has information about Diocesan Council, the search committee reports and profiles of the candidates for bishop, Youth Ministries, and constitution and canon information.

As we approach the Lambeth Conference, that conference has an ever-growing website. John Rollins has been busy adding information to that site. Its URL is www.lambethconference.org, and right now you can see Section 1, Called to Full Humanity and Section 2, Called to Live and Proclaim the Good News, of the Lambeth Conference Agenda. Eventually there will be four sections.

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