Matthew Shepard to be interred at Washington National Cathedral on Oct. 26

From D.C.-

Twenty years ago, the world was horrified when it heard the story of Matthew Shepard, a gay man who died after being beaten and tied to a fence in a remote part of Wyoming.

“In some ways, Matthew’s death may have been even more important to our straight allies than our community itself, in the sense that it shows what happens when ‘Good people remain silent in the face of injustice,'” says Bishop Gene V. Robinson. “It serves as a symbol of the kind of senseless violence committed against our community simply because of who we are.”

Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, praises Shepard’s parents, Dennis and Judy, for channeling their grief into advocacy, choosing to travel around the world urging tolerance, compassion, and respect for those who are different. By raising awareness of the LGBTQ community’s challenges, Robinson says they helped pave the way for later LGBTQ rights victories — from the end of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy to the legalization of same-sex marriage.

More here-

https://www.metroweekly.com/2018/10/matthew-shepard-interred-washington-national-cathedral/

For sale: One church with smalltown charm in Oakfield

From Wyoming-

If you’re in the market for a property filled with colorful stained glass windows, decorative mahogany wood, plenty of reading materials and an entertainment center, Steven Metcalfe has got just the thing.
St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, which closed for services in August 2009, is up for sale.

“We would love for somebody to come in and operate a church here. We’re open to whoever can see the possibilities,” the Rev. Metcalfe said Tuesday at the South Main Street site. “It’s a beautiful example of a small town church; it has been a fixture in this community. I know folks here are eager to make a sale possible. There’s a lot you can do with it, especially with the house next door.”

Metcalfe is leading the effort on behalf of St. James Episcopal Church. In 2009, the Batavia church got a letter from St. Michael’s officials informing them there were not enough people to support the Oakfield site any longer.

With the bishop’s blessing, St. James took over the property and has been maintaining it and paying utility and insurance costs with some leftover funds from St. Michael’s account. It has taken a couple of years to work out the details and the site is now up for sale. The church and former rector’s house are on 1.2 acres and are going as a package for $150,000.

More here-

http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_be2459e4-a489-11e1-960b-001a4bcf887a.html

Paws and reflect: Dog brings joy to Rock Springs church

From Wyoming-

In the Episcopal Church, priests wear stoles that drape across their necks. Deacons wear colored cloth across the shoulder. But the church rules are silent about what vestments dogs should wear.

So necessity once again gave birth to invention, and Chewy the church dog routinely dons a white coat with a cross on the back.

Meet and greet

Each Sunday, Rev. Bob Spencer pulls a white garment over his clothing, which is meant to represent the clothes worn in the days of Jesus. He adds the stole — blue this time of year for advent season. Then he straps on Chewy’s vestments and together they follow the procession into the Church of the Holy Communion at Rock Springs, where Spencer conducts services and Chewy oversees them — both at Spencer’s feet and while roaming the pews and greeting parishioners

Read more:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/paws-and-reflect-dog-brings-joy-to-rock-springs-church/article_35b61c9f-8216-5fce-9314-a57c0c5eafa4.html#ixzz1gPvZdz6i

Former Wyoming Supreme Court justice dies

From Wyoming (I had the priviledge of serving with Judge Thomas at General Convention)

Former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Richard Thomas died Saturday at Rio Rancho, N.M., according to his daughter, Sidney Hardgrave. He was 77.
Thomas served on the court from 1974-2001.

He was born in Superior in 1932 and grew up in Lingle. He moved to Rio Rancho in 2001.
Thomas graduated from the University of Wyoming with his law degree in 1956. He earned his masters of laws at New York University with an emphasis in tax law.

Thomas was a 1st Lt. in the U.S. Air force where he served a three-year tour of duty as a Judge Advocate General, stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.

He was a partner at the law firm of Hirst, Applegate & Thomas prior to serving as the U.S. district attorney for the state of Wyoming.

Thomas achieved his 33rd degree honorary from the Scottish Rite. He was also a member of the Order of the Coif at the UW School of Law. Thomas held numerous leadership positions with the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club and was active in the Wyoming Bar Association and the United Way of Laramie County.

For many years, he enjoyed serving as a Special Friend with Youth Alternatives. Thomas was also a lifelong member of the Boy Scouts of America, serving in many leadership positions for both the Long's Peak and National Council. The Boy Scouts of American honored his service with the Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope awards.

More here-

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_685c903e-bb7a-11df-8715-001cc4c002e0.html

Casper priest now Episcopal bishop

From Wyoming via Montana-

One minute, he’s a parish priest.

But as a dozen bishops placed their hands on the shoulders of a kneeling John Smylie, he became the new head of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming.

The national church’s presiding bishop, the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, conducted the two-hour consecration service attended by several hundred members of the Wyoming diocese at the Casper Events Center on Saturday.

“Therefore, Father, make John a bishop in your church,” Jefferts Schori prayed during the laying-on of hands. “Pour out upon him the power of your princely spirit, whom you bestowed upon your beloved son Jesus Christ, with whom he endowed the apostles, and by whom your church is built up in every place, to the glory and unceasing praise of your name.”
In March, Wyoming Episcopalians elected Smylie as the diocese’s ninth bishop, which marked the first time a bishop was elected from within the state. All others, including the outgoing the Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, have been from outside Wyoming.

Caldwell, bishop since September 1997, and his predecessor, the Rt. Rev. Bob Jones, were among the dozen bishops from the United States and Swaziland, South Africa, who laid their hands on Smylie during the consecration.

Wyoming has about 7,000 Episcopalians, according to the diocesan website. Their numbers have declined, as have those in the U.S. Episcopal Church, which has lost members in part from internal disagreements over doctrine and practice.

More here-

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_0a8bef16-9d27-11df-9cb2-001cc4c002e0.html

WYOMING: 14 members of one family baptized together

From ELO-

Betty Lou Anderson was overjoyed to hear there'd be two baptisms in her family June 13 at Holy Trinity Church, Gillette, in the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.
And then another one was planned. And then a few more, until the number swelled to 14.

"They just kept coming forward," Anderson said June 16 of her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and four other relatives who were baptized by the Rev. Tom Fiske.

"It's a miracle," added Anderson, 77, a widow who has attended Holy Trinity since moving to Gillette from South Dakota in 1956.

It's a miracle she helped along.

"Betty Lou Anderson is a very near and dear member of Holy Trinity, and she's been after them to get baptized," Fiske said during a June 16 telephone interview from his office. "In this post-modern society, it's very difficult to get that generation to step up to the plate and say, ‘All right, we need to be baptized.'"

With each additional request, Fiske recalled, "I just said, all right, we can do that. So I ended up with 14 baptisms … That's the most I've ever done, and it wasn't even Easter."

The candidates ranged in age from 33 years to about 15 months, said Fiske, who said the celebration didn't faze him. "Grace does abound, and baptism is the entrance into Christ's family. You might not know all the ifs, ands or buts about the church, but you are welcomed into our family. There you begin a process of learning and discerning about the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life."

As family matriarch, Anderson presented the adults – her grandchildren – to Fiske for baptism. "And then the adults who were baptized brought forth the children," Fiske said. "I reiterated over and over again that, while they may not all go to Holy Trinity, I really do care that they go to church."

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81803_123014_ENG_HTM.htm

Rio Grande diocese elects Michael Louis Vono as ninth bishop

From Episcopal Life-

The Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Vono was elected April 24 as ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.
Vono, 61, rector of St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, Italy, was elected on the third ballot out of a field of six nominees. He received 150 votes of 189 cast in the lay order and 69 of 86 cast in the clergy order. An election on that ballot required 106 in the lay order and 64 in the clergy order.

The election was held in the context of worship during a special election convention at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Vono will succeed Jeffrey Steenson, who announced in September 2007 that he was leaving the Episcopal Church to join the Roman Catholic Church. The Rt. Rev. William C. Frey, retired bishop of the Diocese of Colorado, has been serving Rio Grande as assisting bishop.

Vono has been rector of St. Paul's Within the Walls since 1992. During his tenure there, he also served for six years – three as president – on the council of advice to the bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and has been active in ecumenical and interfaith work. He was for 12 years president of the Anglo-American Medical Assistance Fund of Rome.

Previously he served in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts as rector of Christ Church, Rochdale, and curate at All Saints Church, Worcester. For the diocese, he was a congregational development consultant; a leader in ecumenical and interfaith work, including organizing a major social services outreach program; chair of the diocesan stewardship committee; and dean of the Central and West Worcester Deanery.

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79425_121849_ENG_HTM.htm

Voting results here-

http://www.dioceserg.org/bishop_search.php

Wyoming diocese elects John Sheridan Smylie as ninth bishop

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Rev. John Sheridan Smylie was elected March 20 as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming, pending the required consents from a majority of the church's diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction.

Smylie, 57, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming, was elected on the fifth ballot out of a field of six nominees. He received 63 votes of 103 cast in the lay order and 37 of 63 cast in the clergy order. An election on that ballot required 33 in the lay order and 53 in the clergy order.

The electing convention was held at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Laramie, Wyoming.

Smylie will succeed Bishop Bruce Caldwell, the eighth bishop of the diocese, who will retire in mid-2010 after 12 and a half years as bishop.

Before being called to St. Mark's as rector in January 2007, Smylie served for two years as a consultant for the bishop and the Diocese of Wyoming.

From 1998-2005, Smylie was dean of Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington. He has also served parishes in New York and New Jersey.

Smylie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University, New York, and a Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He served as a clerical deputy to General Convention in 2009.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_120991_ENG_HTM.htm

The Separation: Bishop Mary Glasspool, Sola Scriptura, and the Episcopal Church

From Casper Wyoming (Via Philadelphia)

Mary Glasspool is an open, avowed, and active lesbian living in California and an active member of the Episcopal Church. She is now also the new assistant bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Her recent election to the new position has national and even international ramifications. Local Episcopal churches, priests, knowledgeable lay members, and thousands of average members, find themselves on the front lines of a debate.

Episcopal churches in Casper, WY, are no different. Here too the debate is in full throat and people on both sides are feeling the pain of the issue in their personal and spiritual lives.

Pamela Kandt, a lay member of the Episcopal church in Casper, feels deeply about the schism which is currently ongoing in the church. She is clearly passionate about scripture and the context of it; desiring a serious, honest, and open, debate about what is found in the Word of God.

Pamela sees the context of the Bible in terms of what Jesus taught as superseding, or being superior to the Petrine and Pauline doctrines (doctrines evinced by Apostles Peter and Paul), in understanding what God wants for believers.

This paradigm in which she believes with such great conviction, applies in her view to any doctrinal questions/discrepancies between what the Apostles taught and what Jesus taught: therein lies the core of the dichotomy between the two sides.

More here-

http://www.examiner.com/x-33738-Casper-Christianity-Examiner~y2010m3d18-The-Separation-Bishop-Mary-Glasspool-Sola-Scriptura-and-the-debate-on-homosexuality-within-the-Ep

2 new bishop candidates emerge

From Wyoming-

The list of finalists to become Wyoming's new Episcopal bishop has expanded to six, as two new candidates have emerged.
Casper resident Margaret Babcock and Sandra Casey-Martus of Corpus Christi, Texas, are the latest to apply for the office. Wyoming's current Episcopal bishop, Bruce Caldwell, is retiring next summer after 12 years in office.

Both of the new candidates have connections to Wyoming. Babcock works for the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming as the canon for congregational and ministry development.
Casey-Martus, who is currently rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi, served as executive director of the Alta Retreat Center for 10 years and was vicar of St. Francis in the Tetons from 1996 to 2005.

The four other finalists are the Rev. Rebecca "Becky" Brown of Foxborough, Mass.; the Very Rev. Canon F. Michael Perko of Albuquerque, N.M.; the Rev. Canon Dr. Clark Michael Sherman of Bozeman, Mont.; and the Rev. John Sheridan Smylie, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper.

Clergy and delegates from Wyoming congregations will elect a new bishop in March.

http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_4e65609f-19e0-5292-96fc-42bb6ab72f31.html

Episcopal Diocese building goes green

From Wyoming- (Via Montana)

When it opened this week, the remodeled Episcopal Diocese in downtown Casper became one of only a handful of buildings in Wyoming to comply with nationally recognized green building guidelines.

The diocese incorporates principles from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, which aims to reduce a building’s impact on the environment. The remodel incorporated renewable and recycled materials, and equipped the building with energy-efficient heating and lighting systems.

“I think we just want to be good stewards of the environment,” said John Masters, executive director of the Episcopal Foundation for Wyoming, the nonprofit group behind the remodel.
In opting for a green building design, the foundation wanted to model good environmental practices to churches in the diocese, and the community as a whole, Masters said.
“They consciously made the decision that we would probably end up spending a little extra money, but we would have a model ... on what could be done with an old building,” he said.
The green design also keeps with the Episcopal Church’s national commitment to the environment, said Andrew Kerr, communication director for the Wyoming diocese.

During the remodel, workers installed an energy-efficient heating system in the roughly 50-year-old building and took advantage of as much natural light as possible, Masters said.

More here-

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_ef9a648c-eb90-11de-98df-001cc4c03286.html

Wyoming: Four Nominees Remain

From The Living Church-

One nominee has withdrawn from the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s search for its ninth bishop, but four nominees remain. The diocese has set Dec. 21 as the deadline for nominees by petition.

The diocese announced on Dec. 12 that the Very Rev. Robert Neske, Dean of St. Mark’s Pro-Cathedral in Hastings, Neb., had withdrawn his name.

The four nominees are:

• The Rev. Rebecca Brown, rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Foxboro, Mass.

• The Very Rev. Canon F. Michael Perko, Ph.D., canon to the ordinary/ecclesiastical authority in the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

• The Rev. Canon Dr. Clark Michael Sherman, rector, St. James Episcopal Church, Bozeman, Mont.

• The Rev. John Sheridan Smylie, rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Casper, Wyo.

The diocese has distributed the four nominees’ résumés [PDF]. It plans to distribute more detailed profile information after it announces any nominees by petition.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/12/15/four-nominees-remain-in-wyoming

Episcopal Diocese narrows list of bishop candidates

From Wyoming-

The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming has narrowed its search for a new bishop to five finalists, the diocese announced Monday. The list of finalists to succeed outgoing Bishop Bruce Caldwell, who is retiring next year, includes candidates from around the country -- including a Casper rector.

The five finalists are: the Rev. Rebecca "Becky" Brown of Foxborough, Mass.; the Very Rev. Robert "Bob" Neske of Hastings, Neb.; the Very Rev. Canon F. Michael Perko of Albuquerque, N.M.; the Rev. Canon Dr. Clark Michael Sherman of Bozeman, Mont.; and the Rev. John Sheridan Smylie, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper.

Monday’s announcement also opens the door for people to submit additional nominations for the position. Any nominee must submit an application and a head shot by Dec. 21.

The application form, available online at http://www.wyomingbishopsearch.com, must also be signed by eight Wyoming clergy and current congregation members, among other requirements.

Clergy and delegates from Wyoming congregations will vote in March on a replacement for Caldwell, who will retire next summer after more than 12 years as the head of the Wyoming diocese.

The congregation's choice will then have to be approved by the House of Bishops, composed of every Episcopal Church bishop in the United States. The consecration ceremony for the new bishop will be held around July 24, said bishop search committee chairwoman Linda Anderson. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the church's presiding authority, will travel to Wyoming for the ceremony, Anderson said. The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming covers the entire state, serving more than 7,000 Episcopalians.

http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_930a92ce-60f8-5ce0-b1a0-d06cdd296e48.html

Episcopal presiding bishop to visit Casper

From Wyoming-

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to visit Casper this week for the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.

Diocese officials say Jefferts Schori will attend events on Thursday and Friday at the convention being held at the Parkway Plaza hotel.

Jefferts Schori was bishop of Nevada when she was elected the first female leader of The Episcopal Church in 2006.

In Casper, Jefferts Schori is scheduled to preach at services on Thursday night and Friday morning. There will be a banquet in her honor Friday night.

The convention will also honor retiring Wyoming Bishop Bruce Caldwell with a banquet Saturday evening.

Diocese officials say they expect several hundred Wyoming Episcopalians to attend.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11216096

Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming moves to Casper

From Casper Journal-

The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s new home should be ready just in time to welcome the 400-500 Wyoming church members who will meet in Casper for their annual convention in mid-October. The major renovation of one of downtown Casper’s vintage buildings is turning the 1959-60 era, concrete construction building into a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “green” showcase.

The first formal location of the Episcopal diocese that now numbers approximately 8,000 members was in Fort Laramie in 1849, when the fort’s soldiers and its families were assigned an Episcopal chaplain. Episcopalians built the state’s first church edifice, St. Mark’s in Cheyenne and in 1886, Wyoming as part of the Missionary District of Idaho and Wyoming had its first bishop.

According to a church legend related by executive director of the Episcopal Foundation John Masters, the diocese was headquartered in Laramie because the bishop at the time agreed to settle in the community that would build a cathedral. The denomination now has 47 churches throughout the state, including St. Stephens on the Wind River Reservation, and provides financial support for the Cathedral Home in Cheyenne and Casper’s Youth Crisis Center.

The 40,000 miles of annual travel retiring Bishop Bruce Caldwell put in to serve his far-flung flock prompted a search for a more central location for the diocese, Masters said. The Episcopal Foundation found the former Beech Street Law Office building on South Durbin Street with the help of CAEDA, and reconstruction began in March 2009.


More here-

http://www.casperjournal.com/articles/2009/09/11/news/news090909.43.txt

Good Stuff in TEC: Wyoming

Episcopal church announces its plan to share $12,000 Pay It Forward money

The Episcopal Foundation of Wyoming recently sponsored a Mustard Seed Mission and forwarded a check of $12,000 to each Episcopal congregation in Wyoming. To quote the Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, Bishop of the Diocese of Wyoming, regarding the mission project, “I imagine a Kingdom tree growing out of this small mustard seed: a Kingdom tree so large that the poor, the lonely, the old, the young, the sick, and the hungry can find within it a place of refuge and peace.” May God bless your efforts – all for Christ’s sake and God’s glory.

In response, St. James Episcopal Church members in Kemmerer, have prayerfully pondered the mission project and planting $12,000, like a mustard seed in Kemm-erer/Diamondville. Our local “Pay It Forward” project is intended to plant, grow, and pay it forward, in our community, through the members of our community.

As in the movie “Pay It Forward”, an action to help another person, benefits the giver, the receiver and the community when paid forward from person to person. We may be in need, our neighbor may be in need, or a shut-in down the street may not be able to pay a utility or buy a needed prescription. Or perhaps, a job is lost or hunger exists. The real life situations we are all too familiar with, go on and on. Most all of us can remember when someone lent us a much needed helping hand sometime in our lives. Now is an occasion when we can be a helping hand.

For Kemmerer / Diamondville, St. James members will hold a Pay It Forward event on August 9th at 7 p.m. to give $100 in cash to individuals in our communities. All we ask is that you use the $100 to pay it forward and then send back a short explanation of how you used the money in a self-addressed stamped envelope we provide. For example, give the $100 to someone poor, old, young, sick, hungry, jobless. Invest in someone in need. That someone could be you.

Please join us in lending a helping hand to those in need by taking part in the Pay It Forward event, August 9th, 7 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church.

Use the gift of $100 to pay it forward to someone in need. It is our prayer that by using these gifts of $100 to help those in need that God’s grace may turn this small gift into a huge blessing.

Good Stuff in TEC: Wyomng

St. John’s Episcopal Church members raised almost 5 tons of food for a local food bank, the church’s rector said.

Church raises 5 tons for valley food bank

The Rev. Ken Asel challenged the membership to raise one ton of food to restock the Jackson Cupboard, which has seen a run on its resources since the valley’s economy has taken a downturn. He said he had hoped to reach the mark by early 2009, but the congregation surpassed that in eight days.

In the two weeks of the drive, Dec. 7 through 21, the congregation raised 9,435 pounds, almost 5 tons.

Others in the community have also contributed thousands of dollars to purchase fresh food items.

Jackson Cupboard is an independent agency that started through the St. John’s ministry and is still located on the church campus.

http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=4066

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

Good Stuff in TEC: Wyomng

Sargent Foundation grants

The Episcopal Foundation for Wyoming has announced that more than $550,000 in grants have been awarded to support projects across the state. These Sargent Foundation for Episcopal

Ministry grants are the result of the generosity and vision of the late Newell Sargent, a well-known philanthropist and businessman from Worland.

"Newell was a true Christian who ministered to the poor, the needy, the sick and the afflicted; always tried to help others help themselves. Like the biblical Abraham, Newell was blessed, but, more importantly, was a blessing to others," said Charles W. Smith, president of the Sargent Foundation.

John Masters, executive director of the Episcopal Foundation of Wyoming, noted that Sargent had given his foundation broad discretion in its funding policies, which enabled the board of directors to approve a wide variety of applications. The 2009 grants total $114,420 to individual parishes and $440,000 to Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming programs supporting youth and local parishes statewide.

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/12/22/features/home/3bfaa90e655c3ff38725752500267738.txt

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

Episcopal bishop announces retirement plans

At the annual Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming convention in Rock Springs last week, the 8th Bishop of Wyoming, the Rt. Rev. Bruce E. Caldwell, announced his intention to retire. The Standing Committee of the Diocese has called for the election of the Ninth Bishop of Wyoming, a transition process that is expected to be complete in 18 months.

Bishop Caldwell is beginning his 12th year of ministry as Bishop of the Diocese. He holds a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Divinity, both from General Theological Seminary in New York. After retirement, he and his spouse, Rev. Brenda Caldwell, plan to reside in Shell.

More here -

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/10/12/news/community/1d08983e114b62bc872574df0021025d.txt