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Spring seminary graduates are ordained in June services

	Bishop Dean Wolfe (center) with the Rev. Zane Wilemon (left) and the Rev. Matthew Buterbaugh

Three recent seminary graduates were ordained in June services at Grace Cathedral, Topeka.

On June 9, Bishop Dean Wolfe ordained Matthew Buterbaugh and Zane Wilemon as transitional deacons. Plans call for them to be ordained to the priesthood in January, after the required period as a deacon is fulfilled.

Buterbaugh graduated from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. He has been named as curate at St. David’s, Topeka. His home parish is Grace, Winfield.

Wilemon is a graduate of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, having attended seminary from Trinity, Lawrence. He is exploring employment opportunities outside the diocese.

The Rev. Betty Glover

On June 23, the Rev. Betty Glover was ordained to the priesthood. A graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, she had been ordained as a vocational deacon in 1997.

She had served at St. David’s, Topeka, and also spent a period assigned to St. Philip’s, Topeka. She later discerned a call to ordained ministry as a priest, leading her to attend seminary.

She will be the priest in charge of Grace, Winfield, and Trinity, Arkansas City, beginning July 1.

Tornado fund gets boost from Katrina church
A fund established by Bishop Dean Wolfe to aid victims of the Greensburg tornado and other spring natural disasters received a boost when a church decimated by Hurricane Katrina sent a check for $5,000.

The Rev. J. David Knight wrote that his parish, St. Patrick’s, Long Beach, Miss., “was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.” He said, “We can well relate to the pain, anguish, suffering and anxiety of the people you serve, and our hearts go out to you.”

Knight said that as his parish began to receive relief funds to help them rebuild, they decided to hold back 10 percent to assist others “when disaster strikes.”

Bishop Wolfe also received a check for $400 from the Church of the Ascension in Hattiesburg, Miss.

There was no Episcopal church in Greensburg, which is in the Diocese of Western Kansas, but area clergy are providing assistance to residents who have been displaced to surrounding towns.

Diocesan Comptroller Jay Curries said more than $12,000 has been received for this fund, including many small contributions. He said the diocese also is seeing how it can help people who suffered uninsured flood damage from heavy rains in early May.

Bishop Wolfe sent a $5,000 check to Bishop Adams of the Diocese of Western Kansas immediately after the tornado hit. Episcopal Relief and Development also sent $25,000 to Bishop Adams. He said he is distributing those funds to his clergy primarily to provide housing and transportation assistance.

Books by Kansas scholars examine Irish monk and Hungarian thinker
Two members of the diocese have written books that look at the lives and works of influential people who lived 14 centuries apart. Their complex titles point to the scholarly nature of the works, written by holders of doctoral degrees.

James Lewis, Ph.D., of St. James’, Wichita, wrote Paths of Exile: Narratives of St. Columba and the Praxis of Iona. It is published by Cloverdale Books of South Bend, Ind.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Grosso, canon at Grace Cathedral, Topeka, wrote Personal Being: Polanyi, Ontology, and Christian Theology. It is published by Peter Lang Publishing, an international company specializing in academic books.

Columba's influence
Lewis’ book is described by the publisher as “an in-depth study of the principal stories about the great Irish St. Columba, focusing on his actions, whether historical or legendary.”

The book concludes that these stories provide a guide or way-of-being-in-the world — what theologians call a praxis — for those who want to associate themselves with the saint, who lived in the 6th century.

Lewis examines early writings about Columba and compares them to descriptions of later Irish monks and determines that the later Christians were part of Columba’s tradition and show the importance of the church in Ireland in the Christianization of the world.

An appendix describes how Christians today can follow the path laid out by the great Irish monks and Columba, their founding father.

An informational web site is provided for additional information. The book is available from the publisher for $19.95.

Lewis is a member of the faculty of the Wichita Collegiate School.

Polanyi and theology
Grosso expands on work he did for his doctoral dissertation at Marquette University in examining the work of Hungarian-born chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi, who lived in England in the 20th century.

He does three things in this book: explores how Polanyi’s thoughts about knowledge might impact a sense of reality, uses Polanyi’s thought as a foundation for the concept of personhood and applies this model of person hood to theological issues, especially Trinitarian theology.

Noting the deeply academic nature of this work, Grosso said, “It’s not the kind of thing you’re likely to find at Barnes and Nobles any time soon.”

It is available from the publisher for $70.95.