First ordained Native woman receives honorary doctorate after decades of public service

From Alaska-

When asked what it felt like to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Laws last week from the University of Alaska Fairbanks at age 79, the Rev. Anna Frank said the experience was incredible and emotional, quite similar to the journey of trials and triumphs that got her there. 

“It was so awesome and overwhelming and emotional,” Frank said. “Because it’s like your life just flashed in front of you, of how you got to that moment. It’s hard to describe, but just amazing.”

Frank was born in Old Minto in 1939 and was raised around five siblings. For the first years of her life, she traveled with her family from the village to her family’s spring camp to summer fish camp and then back to the village. 

More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/first-ordained-native-woman-receives-honorary-doctorate-after-decades-of/article_a63b0078-7545-11e9-9125-cf8cb0290bcf.html

Alaskan Episcopalians eager to worship in Native language with Book of Common Prayer translation

From The Living Church-

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, in the business center of the Interior region’s largest city, is distinctly Alaskan in its wood and its words.

Log buildings are ubiquitous Alaskan structures, both the homes and churches – from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in the small town of Nenana to Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in the Interior village of Venetie. And in Fairbanks, St. Matthew’s presents a familiar facade to the worshippers who enter the log church on First Avenue.

What sets St. Matthew’s apart from churches in the Lower 48 is what is said inside: Every Sunday, the congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer and doxology in Gwich’in, the Native language most common in the region. The congregation, a mix of white and Native families, doesn’t offer a full service in modern Gwich’in, however, because official services in the language don’t exist in the Episcopal Church – at least not yet.

“I would love it,” said Irene Roberts, who serves as an usher at St. Matthew’s.
On Sept. 24, she greeted dozens of Episcopal bishops and their spouses as they filled her church’s 9:30 a.m. Sunday service, at the midpoint of the six-day House of Bishops meeting in Fairbanks. “It only took me 83 years to see this many ginkhii ch’oo,” Roberts said, using the Gwich’in term for bishops.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/09/28/alaskan-episcopalians-eager-to-worship-in-native-language-with-book-of-common-prayer-translation-backed-by-uto-grant/

A Temple Called Alaska

From The Living Church-

Soon after he became the eighth Bishop of Alaska in 2010, the Rt. Rev. Mark Lattime began lobbying to host one of the semi-annual meetings of the House of Bishops.

A new presiding bishop took office in 2015, and Lattime told TLC how thrilled he was when, “as soon as Michael Curry was elected, not long after that, he said, ‘You know what? We’re going to come to Alaska.’”

About 115 bishops from all corners of the church gathered in Fairbanks Sept. 21-26 to bless the land, visit far-flung churches, and conduct the business of the church. Many brought their spouses.

The twin themes of the meeting were racial reconciliation and the environment, and Lattime told Episcopal News Service that Alaska was the perfect location: “This is your laboratory to experience that and see that.”

More here-

http://htl.li/XAZv30fttaw

Bishops close meeting in Alaska with letter urging ‘prayerful listening’ on race, environment, poverty

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops approved a letter to the church on Sept. 26 invoking the bishops’ experiences in Alaska listening to the stories of the state’s indigenous people, and they called on Episcopalians to join them in working toward environmental and racial justice.
The letter was the capstone of the bishops’ six-day fall meeting, held in Fairbanks but incorporating a weekend of travel far beyond this small city. Across Alaska’s vast Interior, groups of bishops visited Native communities that are struggling to preserve the subsistence way of life they have followed for thousands of years.

The threats to that way of life are many, though Native residents specifically voiced concerns to the bishops about climate change and the impact of the resource-extraction industry.
“The bishops of the Episcopal Church came to Alaska to listen to the Earth and its peoples as an act of prayer, solidarity and witness,” the message. Alluding to Ephesians 2:19,  the message continues, “The residents of Interior Alaska whom we met not strangers; they are members of the same household of faith.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/09/26/episcopal-bishops-close-meeting-in-alaska-with-letter-urging-prayerful-listening-on-race-environment-poverty/

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 6

From Bishop Martins-

No dramatic or particularly compelling photo ops today. What you're looking at here is a fuzzy shot of the Rev. Robert Williams of the United Methodist Church, who flew all the way out from Philadelphia to advocate for the emerging full-communion agreement between the UMC and the Episcopal Church. This matter won't come before General Convention until 2021, but its proponents are doing all they can to get it on everyone's radar.

I'm of a double mind on this. I have a deep personal commitment to ecumenism. Reconciliation and unity are of the essence of the gospel. The way the proposal is being framed is that we are being asked to recognize one another as churches, and hence, one another's members and ministries. There is no assertion that we are to agree on every point of faith and practice. That said, I stumble over the Methodists' use of grape juice rather than wine in the Eucharist. That may seem like a picayunish detail, but it's not, particularly in view of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral's articulation of the use of "the elements ordained by [Christ]" when it lays out the benchmarks for Anglican ecumenical discussions.

More here-

https://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-6.html

Alaska Native villages struggling to preserve way of life offer warm welcome to Episcopal bishops

From ENS-

Sunrise in Fairbanks was 7:40 a.m. on Sept. 23, but Diocese of Alaska Bishop Mark Lattime had an unnegotiable command for his fellow bishops: Don’t be late.

They weren’t. Beating the sun by 10 minutes, they boarded the bus for the airport at 7:30 a.m. sharp, bringing with them their rochets and chimeres, their boxes of food to give to the villagers they were to meet and their personal expectations for what awaited them in Alaska’s northern Interior.

Bishop Prince Singh of the Diocese of Rochester in New York was in good spirits on the bus. Some of his thoughts turned to his previous missionary work in the poor southern region of India. His group of bishops was headed this day for Arctic Village, where families of Native Alaskans on the edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge still survive largely on hunting and fishing.

At the airport office of Northern Alaska Tour Company and Arctic Air, Bishop Greg Brewer of the Diocese of Central Florida took his turn as the bishops placed their travel bags on a scale to be weighed: a five-pound backpack here, a 10-pound duffel there.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/09/25/alaska-native-villages-struggling-to-preserve-way-of-life-offer-warm-welcome-to-episcopal-bishops/

Bishops visit Alaska, bless land, people

From Fairbanks-

Prayers were offered to bless Alaska, its people and wildlife, Saturday afternoon at the site of the ramshackle gold dredge near Chatanika Lodge.

More than 25 Episcopal bishops, clad in vibrant red chimeres and white rochets, stood in a half moon formation facing the dredge as they recited their prayers. The bishops had come from all corners of the U.S. and their wives were in attendance too.

Among them was Bishop Arthur Williams, of the Ohio Diocese, from Cleveland.

“These days we use the word ‘awesome’ a lot,” Williams said. “I have a deeper understanding of the awesomeness of God and his creations after driving from Anchorage and seeing Denali.”

Williams explained how twice a year the Episcopal bishops gather for missionary work, often going to “far flung” areas of the country. Different groups of bishops also performed blessings in Eagle, Fort Yukon, Venetie, Arctic Village, Beaver, Allakaket and Huslia. 




More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/bishops-visit-alaska-bless-land-people/article_a23692b0-a0fa-11e7-a692-af16be34862e.html

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 3

From Bishop Martins-

Here's the lovely Lady Brenda, along with Alaska's own Bishop Mark Lattime, boarding our principal mode of transportation today. It took us, along with the Presiding Bishop and his right-hand man Canon Michael Hunn, the Bishop of Wyoming and his wife, and the Bishop of Vermont and his wife, to the village of Fort Yukon, a little more than an hour north from Fairbanks by air (and well inside the Arctic Circle). This was but one piece of a large "apostolic progression" of bishops into several communities in the interior of Alaska. (Bishop Lattime, by the way, travels this way all the time; most of the places he visits can't be driven to.)

A word about the history of Christianity in Alaska is in order. The gospel was first brought to this part of the world by Russian Orthodox missionaries in the eighteenth century. But they tended to concentrate on the coastal areas and not pay much attention to the interior. It was other mainline churches--generally Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Anglican--that were hugely successful in evangelizing the native peoples of the interior in the nineteenth century. But since, in that era, churches were expected to take responsibility for hospitals and schools, the churches prudently decided not to compete with one another, and divvied up the territory. The sprawling plain known as the Yukon Flats became an Episcopalian enclave.

More here-

http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-3.html

House of Bishops, Alaska, Day 1 and 2

From The Bishop of Olympia-

I arrived in Fairbanks on an Alaska flight from Seattle filled with bishops and other support staff headed for our meeting in Alaska.  We were all warmly welcomed in Fairbanks by Bishop Mark Lattime and by members of the diocese.  The first night was mostly about getting settled in and resting.  That was easier for me this time considering Alaska is basically in our neighborhood and this is most often not the case.

Thursday we met with several of the elders of the Athabascan people and heard presentations about culture in Alaska.  The Presiding Bishop was gifted with a beaver skin miter and then the visiting elder reminded him, and us, that it is customary to dance after receiving a gift.  Our PB did not miss a beat!

More here-

https://bishoprickel.wordpress.com/2017/09/23/house-of-bishops-alaska-day-1-and-2/

The blessing of kindred people

From The Bishop of Rhode Island-

Yesterday morning, as we began our House of Bishops meeting, we were greeted by two representatives of the native communities on whose ancestral lands we have gathered. The speakers began by telling us that this was the common custom of the native people’s of Alaska – that when people came for a visit, it was proper to be greeted by the people who lived in the place.

One of the speakers was a the leader of consortium of tribes and native communities in the Fairbanks area. He talked at length of the challenges facing his people, how they were trying to balance the resources of the modern world with the wisdom and traditions of their people. He talked specifically about an issue that had arise regarding the foster care for a village child. The state system wanted to take the child out of the village and place the child with state certified foster parents. But the community insisted that the child stay with the village and in their extended family so that the child would know their customs and would learn how to live according to the traditions. The chief who spoke to us said that they had been successful, that the child was now a young man who was doing well and starting a family – and because he had stayed in the community and learned the traditional ways – had not fallen into habits of drinking, etc that are such a challenge for the native communities right now.

More here-

https://entangledstates.org/2017/09/22/the-blessing-of-kindred-people/

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 1

From Dan Martins-

This is the actual airplane flown by the third Bishop of Alaska, the legendary "flying bishop" Bill Gordon, who was elected in 1948 at the age of 29 and served until his retirement in 1974. The aircraft is on display at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, a museum in downtown Fairbanks about a dozen blocks from the hotel where the House of Bishops is meeting through next Tuesday. Most of the bishops and spouses made a stop there as part of their afternoon activities. I found it an intensely interesting place.

Our day began with Morning Prayer at our tables in the main meeting room. We were then welcomed by Bishop of Alaska Mark Lattime, who, in turn, introduced two gentlemen from the indigenous peoples of the area, who addressed us at some length. I was particularly impressed by the first one, who maintains a profound sense of connection with the people who have inhabited this land for 10,000 years alongside an uncommonly rich, articulate, and well-formed Christian faith. He had some insights into the story of Melchizedek in Genesis that I had never heard before.

More here-

http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.nl/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-1.html

Gathering of Episcopal bishops comes to Fairbanks

From Alaska-

A worldwide assembly of Episcopal bishops will come to Alaska for the first time this month for a series of meetings and blessings in Fairbanks and Interior villages.

Rt. Rev Mark Lattime, the Bishop of Alaska, said in an interview this week that he’s been inviting his fellow bishops to Alaska since he became bishop seven years ago. He learned last year that the House of Bishops had chosen Fairbanks for its fall 2017 meeting.

“This is a historic event,” he said. “I have been extending the invitations, sort of tongue in cheek, not expecting anyone to ever take me up on the offer. But with the new presiding Bishop Michael Curry, he said, ‘Sure, we’re going to come.’ So here they come.” 

About 128 bishops and about 78 of their spouses are scheduled to be in Alaska on Sept. 21-26 for one of the body’s twice-yearly meetings. The assembly will include meetings, services and trips to eight Interior bush communities.

More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/gathering-of-episcopal-bishops-comes-to-fairbanks/article_f78630a8-952f-11e7-9a36-0b6f268ca002.html

Two of the Fairbanks Four talk about life after prison

From Alaska-

It’s been a year of beauty and sorrow for two members of the Fairbanks Four, who spoke Sunday at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church during a “Service of Thanksgiving” marking the one-year anniversary of their release from prison.

“So many beautiful things have happened,” George Frese said before about 45 people in the church sanctuary. “Oprah Winfrey says they are whispers from God, right?”

Frese and fellow speaker Eugene Vent spent most of their adult lives behind bars after juries convicted them — along with Marvin Roberts and Kevin Pease — of the murder of John Hartman, a teenage boy who was brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and left to die on a Fairbanks city street Oct. 11, 1997. 

More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/fairbanks_four/two-of-the-fairbanks-four-talk-about-life-after-prison/article_315ba0fc-c5c3-11e6-bcbf-8fbb2e4f6c14.html

My Turn: Saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: A sacred part of our collective story

From Alaska-

I have never been to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and yet, it is a part of me, and I a part of it. I have been an Alaskan since 1972 when my husband and I packed our earthly belongings into our VW bus sporting a sign declaring, “Alaska or Bust!” and headed west. I am captivated by Alaska’s vast natural beauty and rich history, and have written four books about my adopted home.

As a member of the Episcopal Church, I am in communion with Christians from many walks of life, including many of the Gwich’in people, whose ancestral land lies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nine out of ten Gwich’in people are not only my fellow Alaskans, but they are also my brothers and sisters in Christ as part of the Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2016-05-23/my-turn-saving-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-sacred-part-our-collective-story

Rev. Scott Fisher recalls life of service to church, Alaska

From Alaska-

In October 1970, a young man landed in Fairbanks on a 24-hour layover between his old life and a life that would come to touch countless people throughout Alaska.

That man was Scott Fisher, known to most now as “Father Scott” of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, the century-old log church on the banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.

Fisher, who is now retiring, arrived as a volunteer layworker at the encouragement of the Episcopal Church’s “Flying Bishop,” Bishop William Gordon Jr., after graduating from Kenyon College in Ohio with a major in English and a minor in religious studies. Bishop Gordon met Fisher at a summer camp, and Fisher was struck by how un-fatherly Gordon appeared sitting on a porch wearing shorts.

more here-

http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2015-11-28/rev-scott-fisher-recalls-life-of-service-to-church-alaska

Anglicans could lose new igloo church in Canadian Arctic

From Alaska-

Officials from the Anglican diocese of the Arctic say they are in a financial crisis after receivers for a bankrupt contractor asked for the outstanding bills on the new cathedral in Iqaluit, the capital city of Canada’s eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut, to be paid.

“We risk losing our cathedral for the second time in a decade because Dowland’s receiver is asking for a payment of outstanding Dowland bills,” Bishop David Parsons at a press conference on Monday.

The new St. Jude’s cathedral, which opened last year, replaced a church destroyed by a deliberately-set fire in 2005.

More here-

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20131010/anglicans-could-lose-new-igloo-church-canadian-arctic

Episcopal church presiding bishop visits Alaska

From Alaska-

 For six days in July, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori traveled Alaska, getting a firsthand look at the work that churches are doing around the state. “In each place the church is working at being effective in different cultures, environments and social contexts,” Schori said.

“They are seeking to be the hands and heart of Christ.”

One of her last stops was Fairbanks on July 28 for a potluck dinner on the lawn at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, with singing, dancing and a discussion titled “The Episcopal Church as Missionary Society.”

The tour took Schori and her husband Richard Schori to Sitka, Anchorage, Kenai, Kotzebue, Kivalina, Fort Yukon, Fairbanks and Nenana. Alaska’s Episcopal Bishop Mark Lattime accompanied the Schoris to all sites but Sitka. “It was absolutely fabulous, a great blessing,” he said. “It was delightful to travel with the presiding bishop; it was quite a journey.” It was Lattime who invited Schori to visit Alaska. She had come once before in her role as Presiding Bishop, but just to Anchorage to consecrate Lattime as bishop three years ago.

More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/features/faith/episcopal-church-presiding-bishop-visits-alaska/article_ef44d96c-fb4b-11e2-85f1-001a4bcf6878.html

Episcopal leader talks conflict, faith during Sitka stop

From Alaska-

The leader of a major denomination of Christians is in Alaska over the next several days. Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2006. The church claims more than 2 million members in 16 countries.

But before she started in ministry, she was an oceanographer. During a stop in Sitka, she had a chance to meet relatives of both Jack Calvin and Ed Ricketts. They are co-authors of Between Pacific Tides, a book that redefined marine biology.

She spoke to KCAW the morning of Tuesday, July 23.

KCAW: You have a science background.

Jefferts Schori: I do.

KCAW: And you’re here on the side of the Pacific Ocean… you’re an oceanographer?

Jefferts Schori: I was. It’s hard to claim still to be one.

KCAW: It’s hard to get out on a research vessel when you’re (presiding bishop)?

Jefferts Schori: It is.

KCAW: Are you going to have a chance to experience some science here?

Jefferts Schori: This afternoon we’re going to visit with some people who are descended from scientists I knew of in my earlier career.

More here-

http://www.kcaw.org/2013/07/24/episcopal-leader-talks-conflict-faith-during-sitka-stop/