Ferguson church shelters music outreach program

From St. Louis-

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson received a $2,500 grant from the Missouri Humanities Council  to support its Strings Attached project. The project connects youth, ages 5 to 17, with music education using American roots music. They learn to play instruments such as guitar, ukulele, dobro, banjitar and mandolin

It all goes back to Ray Charles.

Project founder Steve Housewright, a St. Louis native, began working in an after-school program in Los Angeles in 1999, as Terry Perkins reported for The Beacon. This was a program sponsored by Ray Charles called the Sir Charles Blues Lab. When Housewright moved back to the St. Louis area, he founded a similar program in 2009 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church with the support of Father Steve Lawler, who had started community outreach programs under the umbrella name “The Vine.” They started with guitars, hence the name “Strings Attached."

More here-

http://www.stlamerican.com/religion/local_religion/ferguson-church-shelters-music-outreach-program/article_68a5d7f4-8b3e-11e6-8964-b3cba883d974.html

7 Churches Burned in St. Louis: 'Racism is Alive,' Pastor Says

From St. Louis-

Several St. Louis, Missouri religious leaders believe that racism is the motive for seven church burnings throughout the area since the beginning of October.

According to the Christian Post, police believe that a person or group of people have targeted the churches, which, vary in denomination. Authorities have yet to declare the burnings a hate crime.

"Holy God … if we ever needed a wake-up call to believe that racism is alive in St. Louis — if this is not it, I don't know what it could be," Rev. Mike Kinman, an Episcopal priest at St. Louis' Christ Church Cathedral, told the Post.

Since Oct. 8, seven churches have been torched, the latest of which, occurred Oct. 17 and have noticed similarities in the burnings.

More here-

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/10/_7_churches_burned_in_st_louis_racism_is_alive_pastor_says.html

"...and the child will be healed." -- A sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon from the Cathedral in St. Louis yesterday-

OK, everybody take a deep breath.

I mean it. Take a deep breath.

And let it out.

Let’s try that again.

Everybody take a deep breath.

Let it out.

God is here.

God is here.

And that means right here, right now, in the middle of everything that has happened this past week, in the middle of everything that is happening all around us as we gather, this can be the eye of the storm. For this moment, right now, we can take a deep breath, 

More here-

http://yourcathedral.blogspot.com/2014/08/and-child-will-be-healed-sermon-for.html

A renegade Polish priest and an Episcopal bishop walk into a bar …

From Patheos-

OK, not really. But you know how we’re always going on about stories that make people not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church seem like they are, in fact, affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church? Well, here’s a great example of a religion journalist doing it right. Here’s the very top of St. Louis Post-Dispatch religion reporter Tim Townsend explaining part of a complicated scenario:

It has stood up to three Catholic bishops. It has weathered a decade-long legal storm. It has embraced doctrine far afield from its Roman roots.

Now St. Stanislaus Kostka Church is on the verge of aligning with a different denomination entirely, joining forces with the Episcopal church.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/2013/09/a-renegade-polish-priest-and-an-episcopal-bishop-walk-into-a-bar/

In 'Lent Madness,' saints vie for the Golden Halo

From St. Louis-

As college basketball fans prepare for March Madness, a holier tournament already has Christians rooting and cheering this Lenten season.

For three years running, "Lent Madness" has taken to the Internet as a competition between Episcopal saints in a single-elimination bracket tournament resembling the one followed by March Madness fans.

This Lenten devotional, first created by the Rev. Tim Schenck on his blog "Clergy Family Confidential," allows readers to learn about and vote for the saints presented daily on the website, with the winning saints moving closer to the coveted prize of the Golden Halo.
"I was looking for a fun way to embrace the Lenten season," said Schenck, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Hingham, Mass.

"Lent doesn't have to be all doom and gloom," said Schenck. His goal, he says, is to help people "connect with the risen Christ during this season" and to "have a bit of fun in the process."
Combining his love of sports and passion for the saints, the Lent Madness competition includes 32 holy men and women from the Episcopal Calendar of Saints. The saints move through the Round of the Saintly Sixteen, the Elate Eight and the Final Four. After the championship, the winning saint is crowned with the Golden Halo on the Wednesday before Easter.

Read more:

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/in-lent-madness-saints-vie-for-the-golden-halo/article_4339fd04-f245-59ea-86f1-6986dd4ad12f.html#ixzz1oiLvLpnq

Musings: Easter morning and the sanctuary is dark

From St. Louis-

The winds passed over the Episcopal Church of St. Stephen at the corner of North Clay Avenue and Darst Road in Ferguson on Friday, leaving it undamaged.

However, like so many residences and businesses and institutions, the church was without electrical power. That’s not such a disaster, but when thoughts turned to Sunday, it became clear a pall would be cast on the proceedings. Given the forecast of more gloomy weather outside and the opacity of the stained glass windows within, the nave and sanctuary of the church would be gloomy themselves, not to mention dark.

What to do?

At first, the rector, the Rev. Steve Lawler, sent out an email scrubbing the Easter service for 2011. He wrote that the church was undamaged, and asked the members of the congregation to help their neighbors who were suffering one way or another.

As for Sunday morning, Lawler wrote, “I will let you know as soon as possible about services tomorrow. Suffice it to say, if we have not power, we will have not services.”

Then it occurred to him, “Why not?” Why not indeed. A hard-working team came together and joined him, and together they set about creating a place of worship in the roomy parish hall. A second email appeared on Saturday announcing the service would go on.

More here-

http://www.stlbeacon.org/arts-life/neighborhoods/109822-duffy-on-easter-service-in-ferguson

Local priest featured on “What Not to Wear”

From St. Louis-

A good time was had by all at a recent viewing party for a new episode of the popular Learning Channel series “What Not to Wear.” WNTW, as it is known to fans, is one of those makeover shows that takes people who are in the frumpy-to-normal range of appearance and makes changes to their clothes, hair, and makeup that are supposed to leave them looking absolutely fabulous. As the promo for the show put it, this was an episode about Emily, a “typical single girl with one divine difference…she’s an Episcopal priest.”

I don’t know Emily very well, but I was interested to see how a colleague in ministry would handle this challenge. And it’s clear that she considered the makeover a challenge. Like most of us, she was comfortable with a certain way of dressing and she wasn’t too sure about trying something completely different. Emily is a young, smart, and very accomplished person who had decided that, in terms of her appearance, blending in was more important than standing out. Besides the usual obstacles to looking her best–limitations of time, money, energy, and the vision to know what really does look best (I’d hate to have to face that 360-degree mirror myself!)–Emily also has the hurdle of sticking to what’s appropriate for a priest.

Which is where the show got really interesting. The hosts were genially clueless about the life of an Episcopal priest, but they were unafraid to ask the obvious, though impertinent, questions: Can a (currently single) priest date? Is it okay to look sexy when you’re not at work? Are you always representing the Church, or only when you’ve got your collar on? It quickly became clear that talking about a female priest’s body was not very comfortable for anyone, including the priest herself. But for a basically kind of silly TV show, I thought they handled it fairly well.

More here-

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/entertainment/2010/02/local-priest-featured-on-what-not-to-wear/