You Asked How Faith Communities Are Preparing To Reopen. We’ve Got Answers.

From Indianapolis-

Members of the Indiana 2020 Two-Way asked us how different places of worship and religious organizations are approaching reopening in-person services. To join, text “elections” to 73224.

So, Indiana Public Broadcasting and All IN went to work to answer some of those questions by gathering a panel of experts, including: Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis; Fatima Hussain, president of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana; Rabbi Mike Harvey, Temple Israel in West Lafayette; and Tim Shapiro, president of the Center for Congregations.
What are religious organizations telling faith leaders? 

The Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis is allowing people to return to buildings to live stream services at the end of the month. But Bishop Baskerville-Burrows says she’s encouraging people to stay home and continue to live stream services from home, as they’ve done for the past two months.

More here-

https://www.wboi.org/post/you-asked-how-faith-communities-are-preparing-reopen-we-ve-got-answers#stream/0

Episcopal priest stirs interest in faith in Starbucks sessions

From Indiana-

Sometimes they vent. Sometimes they cry.

Almost always, they wonder: What’s up with a black-shirted, white-collared Episcopal priest hosting simple, weekly listening sessions at a local Starbucks?

The Rev. Marc Vance, pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, acknowledged that the grande idea was hardly his own. Christian ministers have been stirring faith over coffee at shops nationwide for a few years.

“What I wanted was a high-traffic area,” Vance said, sitting at the Starbucks on National Road in Columbus recently. “I told the manager specifically I would not bring any kind of pamphlets from my church, and I certainly would not harass people or ever make them feel uncomfortable. I’m just here to listen to people.”

More here-

http://www.reporter.net/news/state_news/episcopal-priest-stirs-interest-in-faith-in-starbucks-sessions/article_6759670d-cd81-518a-bb7a-bf750e2715a5.html

Indiana church sues JPMorgan for millions

From Indiana-

The Rev. Stephen Carlsen went to a seminary, not business school, but he's quickly becoming an expert on how Wall Street works as his church battles America's largest bank.

Carlsen is dean of Christ Church Cathedral of Indianapolis, which is suing JPMorgan Chase for millions.

The church claims that JPMorgan intentionally mismanaged its funds, which shrank in the past decade. Meanwhile, the fees the church paid JPMorgan skyrocketed.

More here-

http://www.wcvb.com/money/indiana-church-sues-jpmorgan-for-millions/30898094

CATHOLIC AND EPISCOPAL BISHOPS LEAD PRAYERS FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

From Indiana-

On the evening of Jan. 18 at St. Matthew Cathedral, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and Episcopal Bishop Edward S. Little of the Diocese of Northern Indiana joined together in common fellowship for an ecumenical prayer service to initiate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Bishop Rhoades served as the main celebrant for the Vespers, asking that “the Lord bless us and the Church, that we may be united in our Baptism as brothers and sisters in Christ.” He acknowledged that true unity is only possible through the work of God. “By our own efforts, our own works, we cannot achieve peace. It is only through the gifts of the Holy Spirit that this will be possible; that is why we are here this evening.”

More here-

http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2015/01/catholic-and-episcopal-bishops-lead-prayers-for-christian-unity/

Indiana joins push to allow public body prayers

From Indiana-

Indiana is one of 22 states hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will allow prayers that endorse a specific religion before public government meetings.

The Indiana attorney general's office last week signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to exempt public bodies from screening opening prayers for sectarian references.

The high court's justices said in May they would review a federal appeals court ruling that found upstate New York town of Greece, a Rochester suburb, had violated the Constitution by opening nearly every meeting over an 11-year span with prayers that stressed Christianity.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Greece should have made a greater effort to invite people from other faiths to open its monthly board meetings. Two residents who are not Christian complained that they felt marginalized by the steady stream of Christian prayers and challenged the practice.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled that prayer that doesn't endorse a particular religion is acceptable at public meetings. But Indiana and 21 other states want the justices to hold that sectarian prayer is also constitutional.


More here-

http://www.ibj.com/indiana-joins-push-to-allow-public-body-prayers/PARAMS/article/42923

Chuch offered auction item by James Taylor to raise money

From Indiana-

The congregation has been referring to the church they attend the “James Taylor church” for some time.

Through a fundraising effort, the folk musician has reached out to the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to help reinvigorate the music they hear. The church is trying to raise a total of $51,000 to disassemble, move, restore and install a 10-rank pipe organ in its building.

St. Paul’s Rev. Donald Hill explained the church put together a video and posted it online to request donations on a crowd funding website to have the organ installed. The church has already raised about half of the $51,000 needed to restore the organ.

Bart Fisher, church member and chairman of the pipe-organ committee, said that when the church posted the call for donations on the website it used “Fire and Rain” as the theme, which in turn caught the attention of James Taylor’s representatives.

“Fire and Rain” is one of Taylor’s iconic songs, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard charts in the 1970s, as well as being listed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
More here-

http://newsandtribune.com/local/x1633465760/Chuch-offered-auction-item-by-James-Taylor-to-raise-money

Good Stuf in TEC: Indiana

St. Christopher's Episcopal Church holds first service

The final construction phase of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church astonishes Karen Poyser.

The chairwoman of the architectural committee for the Carmel church likes the 65-foot-tall ceiling and the painted ornamental trusses. She also likes the library with its bay window and French doors that open to a memorial garden. Stained-glass windows, she says, reflect a sense of history and a sense of place.

St. Christopher's Episcopal opened a new sanctuary and narthex Sunday at 1402 W. Main St.
The opening celebrates 10 years of planning and hard work, Poyser said.
"We were struggling with trying to balance a great vision with somewhat limited finances," she said. Building in three phases allowed the church to achieve its long-term goal without taking on huge debt.

Poyser called it fortunate that the design lent itself well to building in phases. The complex is divided into three functional elements: worship space, administration and education space and fellowship space.

The main entrance court has a soaring gable and a grand scale gothic portal. There is a separate drive-up entrance for accessibility needs and deliveries.

More here-

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090613/LOCAL0101/906130322/1015/LOCAL01/St.+Christopher+s+Episcopal+Church+holds+first+service

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on the label below.

Good Stuff In TEC: Indiana

One amazing fish fry in Jeffersonville

Though a Friday fish fry during the month of March sounds pretty commonplace, one held by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church produced some amazing numbers Friday.

The event — held in conjunction with Jeffersonville’s Fraternal Order of Police — raised more than $20,000 to benefit two officers injured in a shooting last month. Generally, St. Paul’s fish fries bring in about $3,000, according to Wendy Walker, spokesperson for the church.

“It was really great to see the community come out,” said John Grimm, senior warden at the church. More fish fries are planned on Friday nights later this month.

Jeffersonville Police Cpl. Dan Lawhorn and Patrolman Keith Broady are recovering after being shot while responding to a suspicious activity call at Jeffersonville’s Motel 6 on Feb. 19. Broady was shot in the chest. Lawhorn was shot in the leg. Both are in fair condition.

The community came out to support the officers in a big way during Friday’s event. So much so that it was still the talk of the town during a Jeffersonville City Council meeting Monday night.

“The fish fry was absolutely amazing,” Mayor Tom Galligan said during the meeting.

http://www.newsandtribune.com/local/local_story_063134741.html

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on Good Stuff in the labels below.

Good Stuff In TEC: Indiana

'It's the most fun I've ever had in church'

The crease lines of neatly pressed trousers broke ever so slightly as their owners swayed forward during communion service at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Syncopation has that effect on legs.

For the third year, the Valparaiso congregation has celebrated the last Sunday before Lent with a Jazz Mass.

Under the direction of guest music director J.D. Struckmann, people moved to off-beat renditions of their favorite hymns, while Struckmann, the Jeff Brown Trio and trumpet player Tom Reed wove in and out with jazz improvisations.

"It is the most fun I've ever had in church," said L.P. Manning of Valparaiso. "I knew the words to everything they played."

Not just the hymns, but some "adapted" standards played before and after mass, too. Struckmann, a specialist in liturgical jazz music, who studied under Valparaiso University Professor of Music Jeff Brown, now lives in Houston, Texas, where he teaches music at Lutheran High School North and jazz history at Concordia College.

http://www.post-trib.com/news/porter/1444183,vjazzmass.article

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on Good Stuff in the labels below.

Viewing Episcopal split through historical lens

From Fort Wayne- My good froend Bishop Ed Little is quoted.

With another schism in the headlines this week - a possible split in the Episcopal Church due in large part to the appointment of an openly gay bishop in 2003 - it's good to remember that such conflicts are neither new, nor unique to Christianity.

That's because, while God may be perfect, we human beings most definitely are not.

All of which is of little comfort to the Rev. Edward Little, Episcopal bishop for the Diocese of Northern Indiana. Even though he opposed the consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson because it required “changing Christ's doctrine in a serious way,” he said this week he is saddened by the proposed split and wants no part of it. Neither, he said, do his diocese's 36 congregations, including three in Fort Wayne.

“In John 17 Christ prays that we ‘may be one.' Schisms never solve anything, they make us less effective,” Little added. “Many of the people with whom I disagree love the Lord. This isn't the same as disagreeing about the resurrection or the nature of the Trinity. We need to work out these issues, even though it may take decades or even centuries.”

In other words, disagreement over fundamentals of the faith is one thing. A schism over the church's response to homosexuality does not.

He's right, although - no pun intended - the devil is, as always, in the details.

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081206/NEWS/812060326/0/FRONTPAGE