Untitled Document

God is good! All the time! – All the time – GOD IS GOOD!” shouted Bishop Rabb into the microphone. Responding were hundreds of people, seated and awaiting the actual groundbreaking for the new dining hall and meeting space at The Bishop Claggett Center.

The day was glorious - crisp air and not a cloud in the sky. The red barns, the silo, the freshly mowed fields, and Sugarloaf Mountain were a painter’s dream that Sunday afternoon, September 19. Many have waited for decades to witness the start of new buildings at Claggett. Contributions to the Building on Faith for the Future Capital Campaign made this moment possible.

Festival streamers and massive bouquets of colored balloons whipped in the wind marking the sites of special activities – an exhibit about the Old Buckingham School, origami, face painting and spider making, a church youth choir festival, hay rides, a jazz combo, snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn, and of course, a delicious Claggett fried chicken picnic buffet. Many wrote their name on a wall-size plywood board that will be part of the new construction. People wrote prayers on cards to be buried on-site for the future. The Federal Jazz Commission Quartet pumped out Dixie Land music from the front steps of Powell Hall. Musicians from St.Thomas’ Church,Towson warmed up their instruments for the worship service out in the field.

Church groups came by the busload – from the churches of Baltimore City and from Western Maryland. Carloads came from all over the state. Some people had not ever been there, while others were returning after many years. Most came because they cherish The Bishop Claggett Center and the role it has played in their faith’s journey. Picnic tables were a buzz with former campers and counselors, adults who recalled youth conferences, past and present Claggett board directors, representatives of many groups and special programs that use the center, County officials, and Buckingham’s Choice neighbors. Young parents and proud grandparents strolled with the next generation of Claggett users.

The Rev. Bill Ticknor, St. James’, Lothian, dressed in flowing black and white vestments like his ancestor The Rt. Rev.Thomas John Claggett, D.D., welcomed everyone to this historic occasion. Bishop Claggett, for whom the center is named, was the first bishop of Maryland (1792-1816) and the very first Episcopal bishop consecrated on American soil. The Rev. Dr.Mark Gatza directed the Warding and Blessing Ceremony, an Anglican ritual that blesses the site of the future building. Four standardbearers walked the perimeter and marked the four corners of the new building space. Judging by the distance between the corners, everyone could see that the building will be big - and will be able to accommodate our large Christian formation programs, retreats and multi-congregational gatherings.

Our Bishops, Claggett Trustees and staff (past and present), Capital Campaign leaders, adult, youth, and diocesan group representatives (past and present) and initial campus planner, Kent Cooper, took turns digging the soil with a golden shovel. They broke ground amidst cheers and applause – all lifted up to the glory of God.

Teenage ushers wearing construction hard hats passed contractor size buckets to gather the offering, prayer cards and campaign pledges that they poured into a cement mixer (a clean but well used empty one!).

Words of the prayer,“let the whole world see and know that things which had grown old are being made new, and all things are being brought to their perfection by Him through whom all things were made . . .” could not have been more appropriate. “Because God is so generous with us,” Bishop Rabb exclaimed,“We must be generous.” Building on Faith for the Future depends on our generosity.We must finish the job we have begun.” The Deacon shouted the dismissal for the afternoon event,“Our Worship has ended. Let our service begin. Alleluia! Alleluia!”

[Return to Top of Page]

Companion Diocese Cursillo - A Tapestry Woven with Love

By VAL HYMES

Along and close friendship between the bishop of the Diocese of Accra in Ghana, Africa, and Bishop Ihloff led to this international Accra Cursillo #1 with 12 Maryland team members joining their African brothers and sisters and three British Cursillistas to celebrate a new Cursillo family. From the diocese were representatives of Ascension,Westminster, Christ Church, Forest Hill, St. James’, Lothian, St. John’s, Hagerstown, St.Thomas’, Providence Road, St. Mark’s, Lappans, St. Margaret’s and St. Anne’s, Annapolis.The Rev. Ron Fisher and Deacon Mary Jane White were part of the team.

“We have stories!!! And stories!!! And stories!!!” The messages came from Africa over the cyberwaves, joyful and excited.: “Just to let you know Accra #1 is complete. OUTSTANDING! Finished on time. Could not have been better. Did I tell you we have stories?
“This may have been the hardest Cursillo and the most remarkable Cursillo that we have ever done.: “Did I report that we have stories? About roosters, and dogs, and weddings, and the Upper Room, and the youth group singing praise music with drums at 3 a.m., and the mosques at 4 a.m., and birds at 5, and the roosters all day and all night.
“Did I tell you we have stories?: “We have sung in Ga, we have "shaked the devil off,” we have developed and sealed relations with Cursillo and Tres Dias in Canterbury (England), and we are fully, fully in love with the work we were sent out to do on Accra 1.
“Thanks to everyone for support and for Palanca and for digging even deeper … to say ‘expect the unexpected’ is an understatement -- have you ever heard of singing placemats? “We were well prepared. We were loved and cared for beyond any expectations - oh there is more and we are so tired.”

Team and candidates pose for the traditional closing day photo after Cursillo Accra #1 in August. Some of the Accra team members had taken part in Maryland Cursillos. --Debi Frock photo

The messages were erratic, sometimes lost, swallowed in space. But those that made their way here because of Mike Winn’s persistence were filled with colorful snapshots of a team of Marylanders weaving with their African brothers and sisters a tapestry of love, prayer, music, joy, feasts, singing and dancing.

The Cursillo weekend took place at Trinity Seminary in Accra, a city of about three million people.The team members were about an hour away “in favorable traffic” from most of the host homes on “city roads like dried up river beds with deep holes, boulders and deep open gutter troughs.” Izzy Winn, lay rector, St. Margaret’s, Annapolis, described it as a “bone-shaking experience.”

Most of the host homes had occasional or no running water.The musicians, led by Debi Frock of Ascension,Westminster, had no electric power but the benefit of Ghana’s “magnificent voices singing in harmony,” said Winn.

There was a “substantial breeze off the ocean” most of the time, but the air was “terribly polluted … and extremely smoky from all the outdoor cooking, kerosene lanterns and random trash fires everywhere.”

Team members Patty Forsythe, St., Mark’s, Lappans, left, and Connie McNey, Christ Church, Forest Hill, right, hand out stickers to some of the children in the village of Opah where the team is raising funds to finish building a pre-school by asking for $111 pledges. --- Debi Frock photo.

Getting together was a challenge. “Collecting every team member on a tro-tro (sort of a bus without any wheel suspension and NO leg room and no air conditioning) to get to one place as a group is about a two-three hour ordeal.” “Daily life is so hard,” said Marjie Mack, echoing other team members.“There is no time for anything else. Just getting from one place to another is hard …but it was wonderful! They have so many gifts we don’t have.”

The adventure began Aug. 12, when the team left for Africa after a shaky start because Ghana Airlines was grounded.They came home Sept. 1 after holding a Reunion Ultreya and a Fourth Day Workshop.

‘Gingered Up by Holy Spirit’

When asked why Cursillo is important to his diocese, Bishop Justice Akrofi said there is tremendous religious fervor there “but no commitment.” The bishop later wrote Bishop Ihloff, “I have been very satisfied with the outcome of the weekend and pray that the participants, having been gingered up by the Holy Spirit, are ready for action, action, action.”

In their last week, the team “made the arduous, but very worthwhile pilgrimage to Cape Coast” said Bishop Ihloff.“Having made this pilgrimage myself, I know how moving it is.” It was, the team wrote, “90 miles of the worst road imaginable …the Cape Coast Castle – largest site from which slaves left Africa through the door of no return to the Caribbean and the Americas…” Said Winn,“It was beyond most of us to comprehend that these were human beings being traded globally for hundreds of years.” Before leaving, the Maryland team -- companion diocese ambassadors -- came up with a plan for apostolic action, asking for help in raising funds to finish a pre-school in a village where Accra team member Mercia ministers.

“We need 80 persons to give one million Cedis, or $111 US,” they wrote.The team members each pledged $111. More were still needed at this writing. Between the Cursillo events, there was feasting, dancing to drums, trips to the beach on the Gulf of Guinea, the city of Kumasi and the Lake Volta Dam on the largest man-made lake in the world.

“It is amazing to realize,” they wrote after noting cultural differences, “that there were no sponsors, no Mananitas, a Candlelight (procession), three weddings in our space, hundreds of young persons, no beds, an emergency run for mattresses, team members giving up sheets and pillows, cooking over wood fires, drums in the night, songs in the night, mosques in the night, roosters 24-7… “Just As I Am, that was how they accepted us.

“We are all incredibly healthy and happy …in fact, we feel like a million!” “This was not a trip for the faint of heart,” said Winn.“We expected the unexpected, but we had no idea! This was not just a Cursillo experience. Because of the companion relationship of our bishops, we were included in the living pattern of the people of the diocese – eating, sleeping, and worshipping with them.”

Send pledges for Opah Village School to: MEC, c/o Ascension Church, 23 North Court Street,Westminster MD 21157.To invite a team member to talk about the Cursillo mission, contact Izzy Winn at ewinn421@mindspring.com or call 410-849-2605. Send Palanca to help pay for the mission c/o MEC Comptroller to Ascension Church marked Ghana Cursillo Export.
[Return to Top of Page]

Diocesan Task Force ready to get Anti-Racism sessions underway

By THE REV. CARL REHLING

At the 220th Convention of the Diocese of Maryland, the Anti-Racism Task Force was charged with the assignment of making available and conducting anti-racism sessions throughout the parishes and organizations of the Diocese.

In June, at the Diocesan Council retreat at Claggett, four members of the task force, Ms. Carrie Brown,The Rev. Angela Shepherd,The Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool and The Rev. Carl Rehling, conducted the first of these sessions for the members of the Diocesan Council.The curriculum used was from Study Circles Series entitled Facing the Challenge of Racism and Race Relations.

At the July meeting of the task force, Ms. Carrie Brown and The Rev. Dr. Harry Brunett were appointed co-chairs and plans were laid out to carry the sessions to the whole diocese.

When parishes are ready to proceed with these sessions, the task force will be ready to assist in planning for and conducting the program.

For further information, call Ms. Carrie Brown at 410.489.4688 or The Rev. Dr. Harry Brunett at 410.730.6079.
[Return to Top of Page]

Journeys Community: A Vision for the Future

By THE REV. DR. HARRY BRUNETT

As Journeys Community continues to thrive and attract members who are seeking to explore their spiritual paths in the company of others, it is inevitable that this spiritual community will expand beyond its current scope. For the future, we envision Journeys Community growing in three areas: through campus-based Journeys organizations; through congregations and other organizations that are interested in replicating the Journeys model; and by establishing a second Journeys Community to accommodate the demand and overflow of the first.

Currently Journeys Community supports the development of a campus-based spiritual community at Goucher College in Towson. Goucher’s Journeys applies the same principles of open-ended spiritual seeking through contemporary culture and is meeting the needs of a col- lege-aged audience. Goucher’s Journeys continues to attract students who wish to deepen their spirituali- ty in ways that feel comfortable and engaging. Other colleges and uni- versities in the Baltimore area have expressed interest in devel- oping their own Journeys as a means of attracting students who may not connect with traditional reli- gion but who are interested in exploring their spiritual paths.

The Rev. Dr. Harry Brunett

As we look to the future, we envision that the Journeys Community model can be successfully replicated in various settings across the country. Many churches of all denominations are looking for ways to reach out to the growing numbers of seekers who have been unfulfilled by traditional expressions of religion and worship. Journeys Community, as an open-ended spiritual journey can also be effective in prisons, retirement communities and other institutions. The Journeys Community experience will be attractive to all these groups because we offer a model of how to nurture the spiritual hunger of people who wish to connect with God in a way that is inclusive and experiential.

Finally as Journeys Community matures in its current location in Howard County, planning will soon begin for a second Journeys Community to be created closer to the Baltimore Metropolitan area. Several Journeys Community members travel a good distance to attend services and are interested in establishing a Journeys Community closer to an urban center. At the same time, the membership of Journeys Community in Howard County is growing at such a rate that the need for a second location will be necessary in the near future.

As a seeker ministry for the twenty-first century, Journeys Community’s commitment is to continue its work in enabling seekers to establish a relationship with God in the contemporary culture and in the language of their lives.We invite your inquiries and welcome the opportunity to assist clergy and lay leaders bring the Journeys Community experience to their churches and other organizations.

This is the final article on Journeys Community. For more information visit their website at www.journeyscommunity.org. or email The Rev. Dr. Harry Brunett at journeyscommunity@mris.com .
[Return to Top of Page]

Urgent need and prayer for the Episcopal Diocese of KajoKeji in Southern Sudan

A letter from THE REV. MICHAEL KIJU PAUL

Iam writing to you on behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of KajoKeji, located on the Sudan Uganda border. Because of its location, KajoKeji has been constantly exposed during the civil war in the Southern Sudan. Most refugees fleeing their homes from the war pass through this township, hence KajoKeji has to feed and accommodate huge numbers of refugees. According to an assessment conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other NGO’S serving the country, the population numbers over 177,000 inhabitants.

While many laws have been recently signed between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA/M), the Lord Resistant Army (LRA) rebels, fighting to topple the Government of Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, have turned their guns against innocent Sudanese refugees who are under the temporary protection of the UNHCR. Last month, the LRA rebels entered the camps in Northern Uganda and killed many harmless refugees including children, mothers and elderly people. Villages, local schools and churches have been burned down as looting was widespread. About 55,000 managed to escape and cross the border into KajoKeji. A report coming from The Rt. Rev. Manasseh B. Dawidi, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of KajoKeji, is heartbreaking. “The situation is dire; the returnees are resorting to eating tree leaves. Women and children have no shelters, no clothing, no blankets for covering at night, no medical supplies for the sick and the dying, and the list goes on and on. Moreover there is a looming drought that will worsen the situation drastically.”

I am very grateful for the advocacy work the Diocese of Maryland has done in the past, speaking out and writing letters to the United States Government. I am especially grateful to The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff and The Rt. Rev. John L. Rabb, our Bishops, for leading the way in the efforts to bringing peace, stability and humanity to Sudan.With this in mind, I am making this appeal on behalf of Bishop Manasseh Dawidi and on behalf of your Christian brothers and sisters facing persecution because of the faith they profess in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. More so, I am writing because you have embraced and touched my life and the lives of many Sudanese. The Diocese of Maryland, to which I now belong, has been praying for the Sudan every Sunday, and the people of KajoKeji are grateful for your prayers. As I stand in the gap between you and the people of the Diocese of KajoKeji, I stand in confidence that I am not asking too much.

I am therefore requesting you to make a special contribution of love to alleviate the suffering of your brothers and sisters in KajoKeji.Think about people who are surviving on tree leaves and compare them to the blessings that you have in this country.The amount of food you have, the freedom and peace that you enjoy. I can assure you that the contribution I am asking from you is within your reach. And when you give it out of love, you are fulfilling Jesus’ words in Scriptures saying, “And the king will tell them, I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” (Matthews 25:40).

Please forward your checks to the Presiding Bishop Funds for World Relief and designate it to the Diocese of KajoKeji. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 410.628.1680 (home), 443.722.3236 (cell phone) or through my e-mail, Kijupaul@yahoo.com. God bless you for your contribution to the needy in KajoKeji.

St. Giles Church in London welcomes Marylanders

By P. KINGSLEY SMITH

The Rev. Dr. Julian Davies of St. Giles in the Fields, London, reports, "We appreciate very much our link to Maryland and we would like to strengthen it.We would extend a very warm welcome to anyone from the state of Maryland who would choose to visit us.

"St. Giles in the Fields is probably the most centrally placed church in London, very near to the Centre Point Building, at the end of Oxford Street. Our services have a traditional ethos - the main Sunday services follow the Common Prayer Book and the Authorized Version- Sung Matins (10.15 a.m.), Sung Eucharist (11.00 a.m.) and Sung Evensong (6.30 p.m.), although we do occasionally have alternative services.The church is open every day for prayer and reflection.

"St. Giles has a very close association with Maryland. Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore and the first Proprietary of Maryland, fitted out the ships Ark and Dove which sailed with 200 adventurers, including some from St. Giles' parish, in 1633. He did not travel with them, and administered the colony from England. He died in the parish in December 1675 and was buried in St. Giles-in-the-Fields.

"Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore, was both Proprietary and Governor, spending much time in the colony, but he lost the authority to govern during the revolution of 1688 as he was a Roman Catholic. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Jane Calvert was buried at St. Giles in May 1692, and his second wife, Jane, was buried at St. Giles in January 1701. His third wife,Mary, was also buried at St. Giles in March 1710.A memorial to Cecil, Lord Baltimore, was inaugurated on 10 May, 1996 in the presence of the United States Ambassador. It is on the west wall, under the gallery, and was unveiled by the Governor of Maryland, Parris N. Glendening."

Our diocesan historian, Kingsley Smith, adds "If you go there, be sure to ask about the St. Giles' 'parting cup.' For this and much more of the lore, access their website www.stgilesonline.org or ask Google for 'St. Giles Cripplegate'."
[Return to Top of Page]

From Bishop Rabb

On Pilgrimage

Paul Elie wrote in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” that a pilgrimage is a journey taken in the light of a story. On September 23, I will begin my sabbatical that is unfolding more and more like a pilgrimage. I have been long drawn to the stories of Francis and Clare of Assisi and now I am going to do some serious study around their stories. From September 23 until December 11 of 2004 I will be at the Franciscan International Study Centre in Canterbury, U.K. This is the Franciscans’ international center for formation and is on the campus of Kent University (the location for the 1998 Lambeth Conference). The center is maintained in a unique collaboration between the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), the OFM Conventual and the OFM Capuchin. They have a specific program for Franciscan sabbaticals. My plans are to work on what I now call,“The Compassionate Church,” a look at the church in light of the Rule of 1123 of St. Francis. I do believe that the work of Francis and Clare and their tradition has much to say to the church in the 21st century and to critical areas of congregational development, homiletics and worship. In two clergy quiet days, work with the Urban Missioners, a retreat with the vestry of All Saints, Sunderland, the adult forum at the Church of the Redeemer and the parish day for Holy Trinity, Essex, I have worked on the various themes of this work. Because of your encouragement and support and with your comments and feedback I hope to pull these ideas, thoughts and visions together into a book that I hope to publish. The program will involve classes, tutorials and the full experience of a Franciscan community including worship and their common life. In April of 2005 I will join them for a weeklong pilgrimage to Assisi. I have also been invited by The Rt. Rev. Stephen Venner, Bishop of Dover and Bishop in Canterbury to do some preaching and teaching in the diocese.

As with any spiritual pilgrimage one has to be open to let God work. In “The Singular Pilgrim,” Rosemary Mahoney quoted Bishop Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts who said that a pilgrimage, is to “invite into our hearts what we know in our heads.” I have taken this to mean trust God as God leads me and to pay attention to heart as much as head. Now this is a challenge for us NTs!

We must always be ready to let God stretch us. I trust that I will return with my ministry as bishop strengthened and that I will be stretched as I share with you all in my preaching, teaching and ministry throughout the Diocese of Maryland.

The schedule has been set up so that The Rt. Rev. John Smith, retired from West Virginia, will cover some visitations, but in many instances we simply stretched out the time and I will visit some parishes scheduled for the fall of 2004 in early 2005. In 2002 when Bishop Ihloff was on sabbatical I covered for both of us and the same will be true this fall, as he will cover for both of us. We have seen to it that key events, committees and ministries are adequately covered.

Sharon will be with me for the latter part and we are going to have our family Thanksgiving in England, (bangers and mash instead of turkey and dressing?). In addition I am treating myself to a weekend in Scotland to both celebrate my 60th birthday and to do some tracing of my own ancestry. I do hope that I will have other enriching events in addition to the study.

I am very grateful that the Diocese of Maryland has provided the time for this sabbatical. I see this coming as I start my seventh year as a bishop to be the perfect time for renewal, reflection and new learning. I am grateful for the support of you all in both the sabbatical and in your encouragement of my work on Francis, Clare and the “compassionate church.”

+John

[Return to Top of Page]

St. Margaret’s, Annapolis awards grants

By IZZYWINN

Last July, the vestry of St. Margaret's, Annapolis awarded $74,342 in grants to support ten projects of need in Annapolis, the state and beyond. St. Luke's Church, Eastport, and All Saints Church, Sunderland were the Episcopal churches that received grants. Grant recipients serve the jobless, the untrained, the unchurched, children and families at risk, the poor, and other Episcopal congregations.

An unrestricted bequest of $2.9 million in 1995 from the estate of Edwin and Zoe Hall made possible the creation of the existing church endowment at St. Margaret's.

The church is entering its eighth year of awarding grants. Over the past seven years, St. Margaret's has distributed $849,825 to 139 local, national and international programs.This year, 43 applicants applied for a total of $286,770. A committee of 12 persons, chaired by Carol McClees of Severna Park, reviewed applications and made the awards.

Application information for 2005 grants (to be awarded next July) will be mailed at the beginning of September. For more information, send a letter to the Grants Administrator, c/o St. Margaret's Church, 1601 Pleasant Plains Road, Annapolis, MD 21401. Include a contact person, name of organization, mailing address, phone number and e-mail. Completed application requests must be submitted or postmarked by November 30, 2004.

There is no minimum or maximum for a grant request but generally grants have been between $2,000 and $25,000 in past years.Typically organizations are not funded for successive years but longer term and/or multiphase funding may be considered. Frequently project requests are partially funded. Proposals for grants are evaluated more favorably if they support the mission of St. Margaret's Church in serving needs of others.

Proposals should exhibit demonstrable need and a high probability of success. New initiatives within a program or project already in progress may be considered. Organizations or individuals may apply.
[Return to Top of Page]

‘Thy Kingdom Come"

By MADELEINE BEARD

Every Sunday we pray the Lord's Prayer. Every Sunday we ask that God's Kingdom come "on earth as in heaven." When we think about what God's Kingdom is and what it will be, we see those who live among us in poverty as signs of how far we are from the Kingdom.

At the end of May,The Rev. Carl Rehling, Diocesan Liaison for Peace and Justice, and I attended Call to Renewal, a Faith-based Movement to Overcome Poverty. We joined with other Christians - with Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians - all who see that the Bible instructs us to raise those living in poverty. This instruction unites us across politics and theology. This year's Call to Renewal presented "The Isaiah Platform," drawing on Isaiah's vision of a society where "no more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few day, or an old person who does not live a lifetime…They shall build houses and inhabit them: they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit: they shall not plant and another eat; for life the days of a tree shall that days of my people be, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear their children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord…" (Isaiah 65:20-25)

When we read Isaiah, and because Our Lord chose words from this prophet to begin his ministry, we learn that as a Christian community we must prayerfully consider what we are asked by Our Lord and told by the prophet to do. We are to call ourselves and to call those who represent us, or wish to represent us, to work for justice. We are to support programs and policies that serve God's ends, not only those of the marketplace. We need to acknowledge that it is morally unacceptable for thirty-five million people, including twelve million children, to live among us in poverty. Call to Renewal asks us all to "raise the Isaiah Platform in public debate and to ask all candidates for public office to propose and support policies that will accomplish this goal: for all who work, and for those unable to work, a living family income, quality healthcare, affordable housing, adequate nutrition, and educational opportunity for their children."

Someone at the conference said, "In churches, we do kindness". He was right. We do kindness well. What we also need to do is "justice." It is in doing justice that we reflect the generosity of God. To do justice requires more than individuals; it requires the entire community, the body politic. Government in America has long been a source for legal and civil rights and progress. Call to Renewal reminds us that, in Dave Beckman's phrase, "citizenship is part of stewardship." 2004 is an election year, an important year both for our nation and for the world. Every election presents challenges and hopes and new visions of the future. Isaiah gave us a glimpse of God's Kingdom, of God's vision of the future. Let us commit to make it reality.

For more information about Call to Renewal and copies of "The Isaiah Platform", contact Madeleine Beard at beardmcd@aol.com or Carl Rehling at crehling@ang-md.org.
[Return to Top of Page]

The Church Club to hear the future of Claggett

ByWILLIAM STUMP

Joe and Donna Kerner, the husband and wife team who have become practically synonymous with the Bishop Claggett Center, will present a progress report when the Church Club holds its Fall Dinner on Wednesday, October 27, at St. John’s, Glyndon. Joe is the director of the Diocese’s conference center near Buckeystown in Frederick County, and Donna is director of programs.

The Kerners will explain why Claggett’s future is upon us: a $4.5 million campaign is almost concluded; the new swimming pool is now in use; and construction is soon to begin on a number of new buildings.

The Church Club will begin with a 6:00 p.m. tour of the historic St. John’s Church building, followed by a 6:30 p.m. reception in the new parish hall and a 7:15 p.m. buffet dinner. A purely social organization for the people of the Diocese, the Church Club was organized in 1898 at the suggestion of the sixth Bishop of Maryland,William Paret, who wrote,“I cannot see why pleasure and religion should be divorced. And everything which can help us carry true, but bright religion into social life, or bring social life in touch with the church, will be a great gain.”

All are welcome. Advance registration is a must. For more information or reservations, call the club secretary, Dolly Chin, at 410.889.2884.
[Return to Top of Page]

The Columbarium of the Cathedral of the Incarnation

By FRAN BROWN

The Niche Chambers of the Cathedral’s Columbarium

Echoing the catacombs of early Christianity, a vacated storage space in the Cathedral of the Incarnation’s undercroft was renovated for its new Columbarium. Latin for dovecote, the dwelling place of columbia or doves, a columbarium is a burial chamber protected by the Holy Spirit, whose emblem is the dove.

A tripartite organization of chambers resulted from the location of existing concrete beams.The center chamber, the Area of Remembrance, into which one immediately enters, was designed to be a place of transition.The focal point is the dry stacked stone wall-- reminiscent of Christ's tomb and through which a Golden Light has broken. A simple brass cross emerges from the wall, as a white, illuminated shroud with gilded edges "floats" above. Forms, materials and colors shape the symbols of the Resurrection and celebrate the sense of formal procession into the flanking Niche Chambers containing the cremorial units that receive the Ashes of the Dead.

As a symbol of passage, one enters the Niche Chambers through arched portals by stepping over black, polished granite thresholds inserted in the warm, rose colored Santa Cecilia granite, which is flame finished, exposing flecks of jewel-like quartz. Centered light wells, like the barrel-vaulted ceiling in the Area of Remembrance, have been painted purple - the color of the early dawn.They illuminate the Alpha and Omega symbols inscribed into bronze medallions in the floor; these symbols are emblematic not only of the cycles of "material life" but are reminders of the all encompassing power of Christ, who said "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."

One third of the niches in the new Cathedral/Diocese columbarium are now reserved. "We hope the remaining niches will be leased dur- ing the next 12-18 months," said Jim Ridenour, chair of the Cathedral Columbarium Committee. Located in the lower level of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, next to the Peace Chapel, it is clearly a beau- tiful, sacred space within a worshipping community, surround- ed by music and prayer.

It has won awards from the AIA and was designed by Tom Gamper, a faithful parishioner at the Cathedral. "People should know that there are layers of architectural symbolism in this sacred space," mentioned Gamper. A burial in a colum- barium, compared to other forms of burial, is estimated to be about half the cost. "It is clearly a very cost effec- tive way for Christian burial, and your family will appre- ciate that you have arranged this for the future. Some jokingly refer to it as their retirement home,” said Mr. Ridenour.

Bishop Ihloff stated, "Nancy and I take comfort in knowing that in time we will take our place in the Cathedral Columbarium, surrounded by the saints, living and dead.” “Some years ago we both decided to be cremated: it makes sense ecologically, it brings to pass the concept of "dust to dust, ashes to ashes" in a more immediate (and for us more appealing) way, and it would enable us to be buried in the church."

The Cathedral Altar Guild places flowers in the Columbarium each week and it is a beautiful place to visit. Fran Brown, longtime Diocesan receptionist, said, "Give me a call and I'll be glad to show you this sacred space.Our Columbarium is ready now---we have overcome all the problems in creating a space like this."

For a tour of the Columbarium or to receive more information, call Fran Brown or Mary Jane Hall at the Diocese, 410.467.3750 or 800.443.1399.

These symbols are emblematic not only of the cycles of "material life" but are reminders of the allencompassing power of Christ, who said,

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."