Harvest

At 7 am, they come out of the cafeteria of the diocesan guest house and climb onto a bus, which winds its way out of the bustling streets of Nakuru—second largest city in Kenya—climbing north from the tan savannah into the green mountains until, an hour-and-a-half later, they reach the town of Mirangine and the lumbering vehicle eases through a gated entrance onto the grounds of a one-story clinic with a dozen treatment rooms. 

In partnership with Global Action for Mental Health, Breakthrough Episcopal Social Services is helping launch a community-based mental health Clubhouse in Bungoma, Kenya in January of 2024.

Since the garden’s grand opening in October of 2022, many seeds have been planted, those that flower into beautiful plants and vegetables and those that build relationships and faith. The garden is flourishing and being visited regularly by members of the community. Teachers from Topeka High bring their classes for outdoor lessons, volunteers assist with weeding, planting, and harvesting, and neighbors engage with programs and special events.

Another amazing Camp week has come and gone, and Mega Camp 2023 is in the books. Camp is something I look forward to each summer. It means we get to spend a week living in God’s creation, spreading the Love of God and Christ, and deepening our faith together in Christian Community.

Every three years, in accordance with General Convention Resolution #1982-D079, the Episcopal Church convenes an international youth event so “that the energy of the youth of the Episcopal Church can continue to be utilized in active ministry as members of the Body of Christ.” Since the event in 2020 was canceled due to Covid19, this summer was the first time the event has been held since 2017.

My life has been a sort of lesson in ecumenism.  Having grown up as a P.K. (pastor’s kid) in the Church of the Nazarene, spending nearly 19 years ministering in the United Methodist Church and then becoming Episcopalian in 2014, I have experienced the depth and breadth of the Christian tradition. 

The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska led a pilgrimage to Tennessee and Alabama focused on racial reconciliation June 6-12. The pilgrimage was named “Monuments and Roads” because the pilgrims would visit both monuments and roads in Tennessee and Alabama that mark key moments in our national history.

As I looked over the excavation of the pools of Bethzatha in Jerusalem this question that Jesus posed to the paralyzed man over 2000 years ago was alive in me for the parishes of the Episcopal Church. The need for community wellness for parish volunteers, vestries, staff, and clergy has become a growing prayer in me.

Among my greatest joys at the beginning of the “program year,” is the launch of another year of the celebration of new-in-call clergy that we call Thresholds in Ministry. For the next nine months, at the bishop’s direction, Canon Lisa Senuta and I will gather monthly with deacons and priests from around the diocese who are within the first two years of a new call or appointment.