You are here: Home > News > The Harvest May/June 2005 > Also in this issue

Episcopal Church Women readying for October annual meeting

ECW publicity chair Lonnie Isaak reports that plans are underway for a time of worship, learning and fellowship for women throughout the Diocese of Kansas at the annual meeting of the Episcopal Church Women Oct. 28-29, 2005 at St. Thomas, Overland Park. The gathering begins on Friday with a Eucharist at 6 p.m. Dinner will follow. The next day, Oct. 29, there will be a workshop on the Enneagram.

What is Enneagram? It is a dynamic personality system that provides information on why you feel, act and think the way you do. There are nine distinct personality patterns: the perfectionist, the giver, the performer, the romantic, the observer, the loyal skeptic, the epicure, the protector or the mediator. Underneath each of the nine patterns is a basic belief system that motivates people to meet their needs, from a need for survival to a desire for satisfaction..

A registration form and more information will be mailed to each parish in September. Watch for more information in future issues of The Harvest. Contact Sharon Atherton for more information at 316-729-2590 or satherton@prodigy.net.

Katie Knoll hired as summer youth intern

The Diocese of Kansas has hired its first summer youth ministry intern. Katie Knoll, St. Margaret’s, Lawrence, will spend the summer working with diocesan youth coordinator Chad Senuta learning the ropes of ministry with youth. The money for a small stipend for her work is coming from savings in the youth department budget.

Senuta said he is delighted to be able to provide Knoll with this opportunity. “Much of my personal spiritual formation happened through an internship program at a church in Kansas City where I worked as a youth ministry intern for a summer,” he said. “I have long wanted to have an internship program in the diocese.”

Knoll, 21, will be a senior at the University of Kansas in the fall. She said she is planning on a career in the church, saying, “I see youth ministry in my future.” She even has switched majors to prepare for such a position and now is pursuing a degree in religious studies.

Senuta said Knoll will be keenly involved in a busy summer of youth activities in her new position, which began May 23 and runs through Aug. 7. She was assistant director of senior high camp and was program director for junior high and intermediate camp. She also will travel to Kentucky as a sponsor for diocesan youth attending the national Episcopal Youth Event in late July and will assist in August with Happening, a weekend spiritual retreat experience for teenagers. Senuta said her schedule also includes time for reading and study, as well as personal devotions and some time off.

Knoll will continue her service in youth ministry even after the internship ends. She has been hired as a part-time youth minister at St. Thomas, Overland Park, beginning Aug. 7.

Archdeacon Jim Upton receives national award

Archdeacon Jim Upton has received one of the highest awards bestowed by the North American Association for the Diaconate. He was one of nine deacons honored with the “Recognition of Diaconal Ministry” designation this year at the June meeting of NAAD in Atlanta.

The award is designed to provide formal recognition for the ministry and work of deacons in the Episcopal Church. In honoring Upton, the award certificate praised his service, saying in part, “Jim is an inspirational model of diaconal ministry, and his example and teaching has elevated this order of ministry for the entire diocese.”

Upton was ordained in 1984 and currently serves as one of two archdeacons for the diocese, representing the southeast and southwest convocations. He is assigned to St. Matthew’s, Newton. A longtime educator, Upton is the vocational and special needs coordinator for the Sedgwick County Special Education Cooperative, where he oversees services in three school districts for special needs students.

This marks the second time a Kansas deacon has received this award since it was first given in 1995. That year the late Deacon Robert Parker was a recipient. He was executive director of Episcopal Social Services in Wichita.

Cathedral youth choir sings in Omaha

Members of the chorister choir from Grace Cathedral, Topeka traveled to Omaha, Neb., April 21-22 for their annual choir tour. The choristers, children in the fourth grade and older, were invited to sing for the main service at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Omaha.  Choir members sang three anthems as a prelude, as well as a piece at the offertory and at the close of communion.

Cathedral organist and choirmaster Steve Burk said the group was well received by the congregation. “I was stopped by so many people after the service who told me how beautifully the choir sang,” he said. Fun activities while in Omaha included a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo and a stop at a local restaurant and mall.

Art show at Trinity, Lawrence aids outreach projects

Artists from Trinity, Lawrence, rubbed shoulders with colleagues from across the city in the second annual art show and sale sponsored by the parish on April 30 in the parish hall. The works on exhibit represented a variety of media, including oil paintings, photographs, pencil drawings, ceramics and sculpture.

The artists represented a wide range of experience, from middle and high school students at Bishop Seabury Academy to Robert Sudlow, one of Kansas’ most honored and well-known painters.

Trinity’s rector, the Rev. Jonathon Jensen, said this was the second year the parish has hosted a night for area artists. About half of the 22 artists showing works are members of the parish, a percentage Jensen said led him to create the opportunity for them to display their works. “This was a great mix of younger, emerging artists with those more established in their careers,” he said. “It was great to give them a place to show their art.”

The show also served as a way to raise funds for parish outreach projects. Artists donated half of the sale price of pieces purchased during the show, resulting in more than $3,000 for outreach projects, including an AIDS orphanage in Kenya, a youth group mission trip this summer to Houston and a
local arts project for young people called Van Go.

Jensen said the show offered an important opportunity for the parish to be present to the larger community. “I’ve always wanted to do an art show,” he said, “and since we have so many artists in the congregation it was a natural.” Jensen said the art show and sale will become an annual event for the parish.