Apr 26, 2024 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
A minimum of three bishops are required to ordain and consecrate a new bishop, according to The Episcopal Church’s Constitution and Canons (Article 2, Section 2). Bishop-elect Austin Keith Rios is expecting to have seven consecrators at his May 4 ordination and consecration service (more than double the required minimum!).
The chief consecrating bishop will be the Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce (The Episcopal Diocese of Western Missouri). There are also five Episcopal co-consecrating bishops: The Rt. Rev Mark D.W. Edington (the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe), the Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Brown (Maine), the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus (California), the Rt. Rev. Rafael Morales Maldonado (Puerto Rico and Cuba), and the Rt. Rev. Phoebe Roaf (Tenessee).
The other co-consecrator is the Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ECLA). The ECLA is in full communion with The Episcopal Church. This means ECLA bishops can serve in Episcopal ordinations and consecrations (and vice versa).
Apr 23, 2024 | #Stories
Story and photos by Georgiana Vines
The Rt. Rev. Brian Lee Cole of the Diocese of East Tennessee, who will preach the sermon at the consecration of the Rev. Austin Keith Rios as bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California, is a person who reads richly and often speaks as a poet.
Those who attend the service at 11 a.m. May 4 at Grace Cathedral can expect Cole to make references to John’s Gospel where Jesus asks Peter if he loves him to feed His sheep.
And he also will have something to say about grace – since Cole preached the sermon when Rios was ordained a priest at Grace Church in Asheville, North Carolina, and now is preaching where Rios is being ordained a bishop at Grace Cathedral.
“A consecration sermon involves the person being consecrated but ultimately is for the people of the Diocese,” Cole said.
The two men have known each other from attending St. James Episcopal Church in Black Mountain, N.C., some 20 years ago. Cole said that sometime in 2000-01, Rios wanted to meet with him as part of his discernment in becoming a priest. They went to a coffee shop.
“At that point, neither of us were ordained as priests,” Cole said.
Cole, who is a native of southeast Missouri, is a 1989 graduate of Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, with a B.S. degree in business administration. In 1992, he earned a Master of Divinity degree at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and had additional studies in Anglican Church History at the University of the South School of Theology, in Sewanee, Tennessee, in 2001.
Then in 2002, he was ordained and served as vicar at the Church of the Advocate, a worshiping community of the Diocese of Western North Carolina for the homeless in downtown Asheville, N.C. From 2002-2005, he studied liturgics in Asheville, and became sub-dean at The Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville in 2005, staying until 2012. He also pursued studies in art and prayer at General Theological Seminary in New York City in 2006.
In 2012, Cole became rector at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, Kentucky, where he served until being elected bishop of the East Tennessee Diocese in June 2017. His ordination and consecration as bishop was on Dec. 2, 2017. He has served on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church and the Executive Committee of the Executive Council.
Besides his duties of overseeing 49 parishes and worshiping communities in East Tennessee and Northern Georgia and ordaining priests and deacons, Cole reads voraciously, particularly on the Appalachians as a region and culture, but certainly not exclusively. With his wife, Susan Weatherford, he leads a monthly book study at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville and even gave a blessing at the annual Rose Glen Literary Festival in Sevierville, Tennessee, in February – his first at a literary festival, he said at the time.
Cole, 56, is very connected to Appalachia, a region of the country that some who don’t live there only see through negative stereotypes.
Before becoming a priest, he served for seven years on the staff of the Appalachian Ministries Education Resource Center in Berea, Kentucky. He has said much of the work there involved teaching seminarians; listening to Appalachian leaders, both in and out of the Church, and learning how to read and appreciate the culture of the region.
?He also has been an instructor in Appalachian Religion, Faith and Practices, and Appalachian Religion and Culture, at Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, North Carolina; Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.
“For me, when a person encounters Appalachia, they end up seeing what they are looking for. If you want to find a people deeply connected to nature, with an agrarian spirit, you find it. If you want to find a people with fierce independence and self-reliance, you find it. If you want to find deep rural poverty and alienation, you find it. In many ways, Appalachia is a microcosm of the U.S.,” Cole said.
ishop Brian is interviewed April 11 in his office at the Diocesan House of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee in Knoxville.
Cole and Rios have remained in touch as friends through their own moves and career advances. Cole indicated he wasn’t surprised that Rios was selected as the Diocese of California’s next bishop to succeed Bishop Marc Handley Andrus.?
“There is a joy to him that is palpable,” Cole said, referencing Rios’ work with refugees in Rome through an outreach center of St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church, and other “hands on” experiences.
“He keeps an easy, joyful and somber curiosity about people. He’s good to listen and worry about other folks,” he said. “They (the Diocese) had very good choices (in the three candidates for a new bishop). It did not surprise me that there were good choices.”
Georgiana Vines is a retired Knoxville Tennessee News Sentinel associate editor. She is a member of St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville and a frequent congregant at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Inverness, Calif.
Apr 16, 2024 | #Stories
By Stephanie Martin Taylor, Diocesan Canon for Communications
In 1969, my mother had just submitted her application to the English doctoral program at Texas Christian University when my father received an enticing offer from U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough (D-TX). As Chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, he wanted my dad, a fellow University of Texas Law School graduate, to serve as the committee’s assistant counsel.
Earth Day founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), and Press Secretary Carol Martin, circa 1970. Martin, now 80, is Canon Stephanie Martin Taylor’s mother.
Being one of the most adventurous people I know, my mom urged him to accept, even if it meant rescinding her Ph.D. program application. He did, and that summer, they excitedly packed up their tiny place in Fort Worth, Texas, and headed east to Washington, D.C.
With a master’s degree and several years of experience teaching English, it didn’t take long for Mom to land her own job in the U.S. Senate. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) needed a press secretary—and fast. Not only was his office awash in letters from Vietnam veterans and active duty troops seeking his help (Nelson was staunchly anti-war), but he also needed communications support as he planned a little event designed to raise awareness about the sad state of our environment. He called this event “Earth Day”.
Ok, so it wasn’t that little—an estimated 20 million people took part in the nationwide teach-ins and other Earth Day celebrations. But as Mom points out in the attached essay, she had “had no idea that Earth Day would ever be repeated—or become an international event celebrated each year up to the present day.”
In 1971, my parents decided it was time to go home. Mom turned her attention to motherhood, teaching college-level English literature, and, later, painting. She never got that Ph.D., (although heaven help me, I would have loved to watch her shut down sexist comments with, “It’s Doctor Martin to you.”) But, as she often reminds me, titles and honorifics are, in and of themselves, worldly things. What counts is that we each, in our way, honor our creator by building a better and safer world for all.
She writes, “Since [Earth Day] is now part of the World Calendar, it is interesting to note that almost no one remembers the name of its founder.” However, “What is more important than his name is what he accomplished through sponsoring legislation that affects all of us to this day. He was the messenger, and this message continues to inspire our nation to protect our fragile resources—especially our clean air and clean water.”
Amen to that. And as Mom says to me every year on April 22, “Happy Earth Day!”
My mom, 80, and my dad, Mr. Boe Martin, 83, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, College Station.
My Dad with his former boss, Senator Ralph Yarborough (D-TX). Dad also worked as a legislative assistant in Yarborough’s Senate office.
My mom often took dictation from Senator Gaylord Nelson as he answered letters from Vietnam War veterans and active-duty troops. This is a pamphlet I found in my parents’ home, along with the black armband Mom wore to protest the war.
Apr 16, 2024 | #Stories
By Carol Martin, former press secretary to Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson (and DioCal Canon Stephanie Martin Taylor’s mom)
In the late 1940s, Fort Worth, Texas, my hometown, experienced a devastating flood. After the waters subsided, large trucks drove through the neighborhoods and sprayed the pesticide DDT to control the mosquito infestation. As a truck carrying a load of liquid containing DDT passed through my neighborhood, my childhood friends and I ran behind it, playfully soaking ourselves in the wide, cool spray.
Earth Day founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), and Press Secretary Carol Martin, circa 1970. Martin, now 80, is Canon Stephanie Martin Taylor’s mother.
Decades later, an enthusiastic outdoorsman from Wisconsin, a state known for its vast forests and rivers, read a book called Silent Spring. The author, Rachel Carson, warned of the danger of nonbiodegradable pesticides like DDT. Carson explained these pesticides were contaminating our food chain through insects, birds, animals, and fish. The pesticides were being found in human tissue—and even in milk ingested by nursing babies.
That reader of Silent Spring was Senator Gaylord Nelson, who was so profoundly affected by the book—which described in frightening detail how garbage and industrial waste were poisoning lakes and rivers and how industrial smoke and automobile emissions were polluting the air—that he decided to call attention to the urgent need for government protection of our environment. To do this, he galvanized like-minded activists to plan a specific day to remind America of our collective responsibility towards the world we live in. They decided to call it Earth Day.
I was a member of Sen. Nelson’s small Washington, D.C. staff and had the privilege of helping organize that national event, which took place on April 22, 1970. At that time, I had no idea that Earth Day would ever be repeated—or become an international event celebrated each year up to the present day. Since it is now part of the World Calendar, it is interesting to note that almost no one remembers the name of its founder. However, what is more important than his name is what he accomplished through sponsoring legislation that affects all of us to this day. He was the messenger, and this message continues to inspire our nation to protect our fragile resources—especially our clean air and clean water. We are blessed to have had such a leader.
This coming Monday, April 22nd, will be the 54th Earth Day. At my church, St. Thomas Episcopal in College Station, Texas, we sometimes sing the hymn about “the beauty of the earth” and “the glory of the skies.” May we, on this day, also be reminded of the admonition to us by “Blessed Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,” that we are all called to be stewards of God’s gift of this fragile space we share.
Happy Earth Day!
Carol Martin
Apr 11, 2024 | #Stories
May 30, 2024 UPDATE: Come closer and witness the good news impacting the lives of children and families! Wait no longer to continue the ministry of young children and teens. You and I have made a difference by honoring Bishop Marc and Dr. Sheila Andrus: we have currently received $52,000 of the gracious matching grant of $50,000, bringing us to $102,000. We have made excellent progress toward our ultimate goal of $150,000. We are planning to reach this goal by June 30. Please know that your donation will go that much further due to the generosity of matching contributions. Our goal of $150,000 will endow camps for Bishop’s Ranch and St. Dorothy’s Rest for many years! These camps are sacred spaces that provide much-needed faith, spirit, guidance, and recreation in loving, intergenerational settings.
May 25, 2024 UPDATE: We are grateful to announce that we have received $30,000 toward the matching grant of $50,000 with an additional $15,000 that has been pledged. That leaves only $5,000 to complete the matching grant and $55,000 to reach our goal of $150,000! Your generous donations will ensure that children continue to experience the joy of camp for years to come.
A message from the Ven. Cn. Nina Pickerrell
We want to honor in a very special way Bishop Marc and Dr. Sheila Andrus as they move into retirement. Over 100 years ago, the Rev. James Otis Lincoln and his wife Nellie Lincoln were moved to start a camp for children with critical illnesses. Each year over 400 children come to St. Dorothy’s Rest at no cost to “experience the sacredness and healing of heart that nature provides.” In a similar spirit, The Bishop’s Ranch, which was realized by Bishop Karl Morgan Block, provides scholarships for its youth camps.
It is our desire to continue this legacy by funding camp scholarships in the Andrus’ name. Living into the Beloved Community, they understand that all of God’s children should share in the wealth of the earth—so this is a fitting tribute.
We hope you can contribute to this fund. The goal is to raise at least $150,000, which will ensure that children continue to experience the joy of camp for years to come.
All donations are welcome!
And, we are so excited that the first $50,000 raised will be matched! Donors at the $10,000 level and above will be recognized with a nameplate at St. Dorothy’s Ranch or The Bishop’s Ranch. If you could consider a gift of any amount, it would be so meaningful.
Download the invitational letter >>
Photos from Bishop’s Ranch | Photos from St. Dorothy’s Rest
Donation Instructions:
Donate online via this form >>
Please make out your check to the Diocese of California and in the memo section write in “Youth Camps”.
Mail to:
Diocese of California
Attn: The Ven. Cn. Nina Pickerrell
1055 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA. 94124
For your records, the TaxID for DioCal is 94-1156840
Apr 9, 2024 | #Stories
Story and photos by Canon Debbie Low-Skinner
Canon Debbie had a lovely time with the good folks at St. Paul’s, Oakland on Sunday, April 7. She was the Guest Celebrant at the 8 and 10 a.m. Holy Eucharists, while Archdeacon Gary Wm England was the Gospeler and Archdeacon Carolyn Bolton was the preacher. Great music was provided at 10 a.m. by Music Director/Organist Benjamin Bachman. Thanks to 30-something year old Andrew, a new member of St. Paul’s and helper in the Food Pantry, for his courage and willingness to serve for the first time as an acolyte at 10 a.m. that day!
Rev. Carolyn’s homily* on Doubting Thomas began with a charming story about an older woman who was directed, on a very busy Sunday morning, into a prime parking spot at the local Episcopal church’s lot. As the parking usher was about to open her car door she told him, with some confusion and a bit of irritation, that while she appreciated his help with the parking spot, this was not her church! Her church for the past five decades was the Baptist church down the street! Carolyn went on to ask us, “How often do we feel our lives are parked in the wrong place or that God has directed us to a place we didn’t expect?” In the end, with faith and trust in God, our doubts (like Thomas’) will be removed and resolved.
During the Prayers of the People, we prayed for safe travels for St. Paul’s Rector, The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson, who was in Costa Rica that weekend to be with his family to celebrate his mother’s 90th birthday.
*(The photo of Archdeacon Carolyn was taken at the Juneteenth Eucharist in 2023 at St. Augustine’s in Oakland.)
