Indianapolis Bishop Waynick announces retirement plan

From ENS-

Bishop Catherine M. Waynick of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis has announced that she plans to retire two years from now and has called for the election of her successor.

Waynick expects to retire as a new bishop is ordained and consecrated on April  22, 2017. Waynick’s successor will be elected at the diocesan convention in October 2016.

Waynick has served the Indianapolis diocese as its 10th bishop since 1997. By the time of her retirement, Waynick will be 69. The Episcopal Church requires all clergy and bishops to retire, technically to resign, when they reach the age of 72.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/05/07/indianapolis-bishop-waynick-announces-retirement-plan/

Also here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/bp-waynick-retiring-2017

Indianapolis Downtown Inc. to make amends for cookie crackdown

From Indianapolis-

Busted by the city for selling cookies during the Circle of Lights, the youth group at Christ Church Cathedral will receive an apology and a check from Indianapolis Downtown Inc. to make up for their lost revenues.

The nonprofit Downtown promotion group has acknowledged that it asked city code enforcement officials to do a “sweep” of unauthorized vendors selling food and other items around Monument Circle during the lighting ceremony Friday night.

“Unfortunately, the youth group’s fundraiser was caught up in that sweep,” Bob Schultz, the IDI’s vice president of marketing and communications, said Sunday.

Schultz blamed the cookie crackdown on a new city ordinance, enacted for the 2012 Super Bowl, that requires sidewalk vendors during Downtown events to get a city permit to sell their wares.

More here-

http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2013/12/01/indianapolis-downtown-inc-to-make-amends-for-cookie-crackdown-/3797425/

Daughter of Muslim imam ordained as Episcopal deacon

From Indiana-

It’s not every day the daughter of a Muslim imam is inducted into the Sacred Order of Deacons.

Episcopalians from across the state dropped into Terre Haute for a weekend of works and one unique celebration.

In addition to other business conducted at the 173rd Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, the ordination of Fatima E. Yakubu-Madus inside the sanctuary of St. Stephen’s on North Seventh Street drew special attention Saturday.

“She’s going to be serving St. John’s at Speedway,” said the Rt. Rev. Catherine Waynick, bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis.

Born in Nigeria, Yakubu-Madus moved to America in 1979 to attend school. Earning her undergraduate degree in math and chemistry from Kentucky State University, she went on to earn a graduate degree in pharmacology from the University of Mississippi and currently works in Indianapolis as a scientist and consultant.

And while her family practices Islam, and her father serves in the leadership role of an Imam, Yakubu-Madus converted to Christianity while living in America.

More here-

http://tribstar.com/news/x693286755/Daughter-of-Muslim-imam-ordained-as-Episcopal-deacon

If we are fortunate, much good might come from doing without

An Interesting Opinion piece on the possible spiritual benefits of the current financial crisis. Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal Priest in Indianapolis.

I am telling church leaders that it is time to let go of old anxieties, especially self-centered fussing and stale traditions, and to focus instead on being lean, efficient and self-sacrificial enterprises that are dedicated to serving others. Too many congregations are strangling on yesterday's bickering and priorities.

There are so are many families and businesses with arguments that don't end and business models that don't work. We all need fresh starts.

In fact, when we stand back, I think we will see why we ran up $2.3 trillion in personal debts: We were trying to escape ourselves and the difficult decisions that we needed to make in order to have peace and meaning in our lives.

We have tried to live without God. We have tried not to see our skills, blessings -- indeed, our very existence -- as God-given assets entrusted to our care, but rather as economic engines for amassing worldly wealth. In our world-view, we weren't engaged in a dynamic transaction with a living God. We were living as we chose, and if we turned to God at all, it was only as a last resort.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20081115/LIVING09/811150381/1007/LIVING

Is competence too much to ask from business?

A commentary by The Rev. Tom Ehrich (Episcopal priest in Indianapolis) on leadership and the economy. From the IndyStar.

Yes, I know we are a fallen breed, and the same depravity that dumped toxic waste into streams is polluting our lives now with shoddy merchandise, half-tested drugs and government bailouts. But insulating systems from depravity is just another business challenge, like balancing risk and assessing global competition. Do we lack the will to keep greed and folly away from the helm?

I also know that any human system is never far from jungle rules.

Business thrives on competition, as it should. But we don't seem to evolve. Today's mansions-and-Prada culture shows little advancement from the Gilded Age, which almost wrecked the Republic. We should know by now that unrestrained jousting and personal excess inevitably lead to recession or depression.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/LIVING09/809270415/1111/LIVING09