Update on Global Missions in Kenya (by Warren & Anne Marie)

Warren Smith and Anne Marie Werner-Smith returned on Oct. 20 from a nearly two-month trip that included periods in New England. New York, Kenya, Turkey, and Greece. It was an amazing time of renewal for both of us. We want to focus on Kenya for which we have done fundraising for nearly 10 years with the generous support of many people at Canterbury. 

Here are the areas of support:

St. Lukes Hospital, Kaloleni, for which we bought a 33-seat bus in 2010 which allowed its nursing school to receive accreditation. The director of the hospital and his staff welcomed us warmly (even though they had no advanced notice we were coming!), showed us the bus which has been maintained in perfect shape, and has even made money for the hospital though being rented out. The nursing school is thriving and we had a tour of their latest teaching equipment. They are getting ready to trade in the bus for a 54-seat model.

Bishop Hannington Institute, Mombasa (BHI). This school has many needs. The principal, Martin Orlando, has opened up areas of fundraising in the U.K. and has put the school’s budget in the black, but they need more enrollment (currently about 35 students), more full-time faculty, and building expansion.  Anne Marie and I stayed in a cramped dorm room and when we emerged the first morning, the entire faculty, staff and maintenance crew were lined up at the bottom of the stairs to greet us.

The new Diocese of Malindi, run by our old friend Bishop Dena and his wife Jane, who hosted us for nearly a week. The diocese has just been created and the Denas are busy visiting often remote parishes and determining their needs.

We had nearly $7,000 (700,000 Kenyan shillings) to distribute and we are now operating through Anglican Development Services, (ADS) run by our friend John Mangenge out of the Diocesan offices in Mombasa. We directed him to distribute these funds in this way:

--making the final payment on the nursing school bus

--scholarships for two students at BHI

--two computers for the BHI library

--licensure for BHI to start using E-textbooks and end its antiquated do-it-yourself Xeroxed text system

--at Bishop Dena’s request, buy a motorbike for a priest in a remote parish (we have bought motorbikes for priests twice before). We also bought a large tea-urn for the Denas to serve up to 100 cups of chai at the many functions they now host. We accompanied the Dena to several “harumbays” (fundraisers) including one for a new church bookstore they are starting in Malindi.

Warren has completed a book on the origins of the church in East Africa, “A Colony of Heaven: Bishop Hannington and Freretown,” which, after many delays, should be published in 2016. He is at work on publishing the diary and letters of William Henry Jones, one of the first native clergymen in East Africa and strong leader of the Christian community in the 19^th century; this will require a second trip to Birmingham, England, where the Church Missionary Society papers are stored. One of the blessings of this trip was to have breakfast with Simeon Tabu, chair of the hospital board and banker who helped us buy the bus, and to discover that his wife Gladys preserves in her memory many old stories of the Freretown community Warren has been writing about, and knows personally relatives of Rev. Jones and others from that era. Sounds like another trip to Mombasa is also needed.

What's this Methodist doing at Canterbury (by Don Denoon)

What's this Methodist doing at Canterbury? (by Don Denoon)

John Wesley was an Anglican priest who lived in the 18^th Century. Through his methodical and disciplined approach to spiritual life, he influenced the lives of countless people of faith in England and The New World. Ultimately he became the force behind the organization of the Methodist Church in the American Colonies. But he, himself, remained an Anglican priest all his life.

           

 A couple hundred years later, I grew up in a Methodist congregation in Indianapolis and was confirmed as a member at age 12. My best friend in that Methodist church was Tim Hall who, in college, united with the Episcopal Church and eventually became an Episcopal priest. I, however, maintained my Methodist connection and eventually entered the Methodist ministry.As adults Tim and I remained good friends even though our paths didn’t cross very often.

After I took early retirement from United Methodist ministry in Nevada, I moved to Albuquerque where I worked for a number of years in a counseling center. Since I was not serving as a pastor, my connection with the UMC in New Mexico was limited. Then 20 years ago I decided I would visit several different congregations in Albuquerque. It was in that process that I first came to St. Thomas of Canterbury.

Because the worship and liturgy I grew up with in the Methodist Church had been appropriated from the Book of Common Prayer, I was immediately comfortable with worship at Canterbury. It was sort of like coming home again.

           

 When she learned of my background in ministry, the Rector, Carole McGowan, invited me – a Newbie in the life of the Episcopal Church – to help her lead an Inquirers Class. My jaw dropped. “Me? You want me, a Methodist minister to instruct Episcopalians?” Yep. That’s what she wanted. I reluctantly said yes but came to realize Carole was very wise. The best way to learn is to teach.

A few years later I was elected to the Vestry, which I knew had to be a mistake. But that worked out, too.

And then, as she did with Bob Browne a retired Presbyterian minister who was part of this worshiping community, Carole invited me to preach.

My varied experiences at Canterbury have been extremely special. But perhaps the one I loved best was serving as Chalice bearer at Communion. This past year, however, I had to give that up when I became unsteady on my feet. But I am pleased to say I am still able to serve as Lector and also as one who leads the Prayers of the People.

Over time at Canterbury I found I was becoming an Episcopalian in Spirit if not in Reality. And that was good. Whenever I spoke to Tim Hall about my experiences at Canterbury, he was genuinely pleased.

Unfortunately, Tim died in March 2014. But I am convinced he continues to smile as he observes my ongoing participation in this congregation. And you know what? I bet John Wesley is smiling, too.

My Journey of Faith (with Dick Steele)

A Life Long Episcopalian, by Dick Steele

I came into this world at the Biltmore Hospital in Biltmore, North Carolina on May 20, 1946.  Little did I know that some of my formative years as an Episcopalian would be spent at All Souls Episcopal Church just a few hundred yards away.  I was baptized at St James Mission in Black Mountain, North Carolina.  Too young to remember the ceremony I do know I was pinched so I cried to ensure the Devil was gotten out of me.  Not sure if it worked.  I don’t remember attending St James as a young child.  I do remember being sent to a private Pre K/Kindergarten school at which the children of the rising preacher Billy Graham attended.  Our teacher stressed wasn’t it wonderful that Franklin Graham was the Baby Jesus for the Christmas pageant.  I on the other hand was a Shepard and was awed when all the Angels stood on the winding stair case leading up to the second floor singing “Glory To God In The Highest” as baby Franklin cooed!  

I do remember going to All Souls in Biltmore.  All Souls was built by the Vanderbilt family as the parish church of the town of Biltmore which was built as an English town in support of the Biltmore Estate.  (I was not aware of this fact until later) all I knew was each Sunday I was dressed in a suit and went off to attend Sunday School singing Onward Christen Soldiers etc. and allowed infrequently to very quietly attend the adult services.  At the same time I attended the Swannanoa, North Carolina (First People’s word for Muddy River).  Swannanoa was the home to Beacon Mills who manufactured woolen blankets.  My mother Mary worked but more accurately volunteered to bring help to folks in the hills and hollers of the Blue Ridge.  I went with her.  It was an eye opening experience for a young child.  I saw poverty first hand as well as dignity and independence.  My Mother worked with those proud people explaining how the State and Federal Government could assist them.  She was unique since she was a Yankee and they respected her for coming to them.  I did not learn till later that she took me along since there was an unwritten code of the mountains that no women was to be bothered if she had a child with her.  This experience made me realize that the world was not equal and that you had to help those who needed help.  I listened to the Bible stories about Jesus and began to realize that we were all equal under his mantel.  

Also one thing I learned in public school that during mandatory religious class that as an Episcopalian I was not in the norm.  I was taken aside by a friend that when asked if your parents drank, smoked, danced, used bad language, etc. that I was not to raise my hand.  I said it was true and he said his did the same but the code was to smile sweetly at the Religion Teacher and admit to nothing.  So much for hypocrisy.  I no longer got special prayers.  In the 4th grade I was transferred to the private Catholic School Gibbons Hall School for Boys.  I finally found a religion that was close to an Episcopalian.  I later learned that the school population was made up of 75% Jewish, 15% Protestant, and 10% Catholic.  Instead of a religion class that made you feel guilty you got to learn things.  Only problem was that our Catholic brethren were preparing for their Confirmations.  The rest of us read the Old Testament.  Safe ground for us but after you read it you heard the Catholic’s getting their responses drummed into them.  We listened.  When the Monsignor came to ensure the Catholics were ready to meet the Bishop he started asking questions like Who Made You.  All our Catholic brethren froze so Leo Finkelstein and I raised our hands.  The Monsignor called on me I answered The Lord God Above.  Leo answered the next, and others helped our Catholic brethren out.  They soon joined us in making the correct replies.  At the end of the Monsignor’s visit he congratulated our teacher, a wonderful Sister of Charity, on how well the entire class was prepared.  After he left she turned to the class and said “If the Jews and the Protestants know it you little Catholics can darn well know it to.”  That was my first experience in ecumenical efforts.  While there I discovered prayer.  It came about in a roundabout way a protestant friend and I discovered if we went to chapel after lunch we could spend 15 minutes extra out of class.  I still can remember the chapel with it life size Saints and their purposes.  Unlike All Souls the Chapel had real things you could concentrate on not just the brass cross.

I also learned the discrimination between those Confirmed in the Episcopal Church and those who were not.  My older brother got to take Communion and serve at the Altar.  I got to sing in the junior choir.  Since all my friends were there with me it did not bother me till I came to Albuquerque.  We went to St Marks On The Mesa since it was the closest Episcopal Church to our home.  You did that by custom not like today when you get to choose your Episcopal church.  I had been confirmed prior to coming to New Mexico and looked forward to being an Acolyte.  The rector at the time welcomed my brother to the altar but informed me he had too many acolytes and I should continue in the Jr. Choir.  I was pissed but realized it did not affect my relationship with God.  

You have to remember I was a child of the 1928 Prayer Book so guilt and purgatory were all part of the game.  Fortunately my Mother had made friends with a lady I later called my New Mexico Grandmother who urged us to come to St John’s Cathedral.  We did.  We found it welcoming, concerned with the less fortunate, and struggling to keep the doors open so everyone who was there was counted on to make a contribution.  I didn’t get to serve at the Altar until I was on my way to Vietnam.  This helped to sharpen my awareness of God and realize that the building and the people could support that awareness but not take it away from me.  

This supported me as I attended seven other Episcopal churches during my service in the Air Force.  The one thing that I always remembered as a single person: it was God and me.  When I was married it was God and us.  In many cases there was only one Episcopal Church but He was always with us.  He led Janet and me to integrate the oldest Episcopal Church in Alaska.  Our New Mexico heritage did not even make us aware we were doing it.  It lead me to stage a kneel in at the Altar at our church in California when a lay person would not serve my two year old son wine even though he had been admitted to Communion at Canterbury during a visit to Albuquerque .  God is always with us wither we be a cradle Episcopalian, or a new comer to the faith, or just a Child of God.  He is with each of us and we have to remember we are sheep of His fold.

Dick Steele

Our Journey of Faith (with Perk and Anne Murphy)

I (Anne), was born, baptized, and confirmed in the faith of my family--the Catholic Church.  Perk was baptized as a child in the Pentecostal faith, but his training stopped at an early age.  I remained a Catholic until Perk and I married in Reno, Nevada in 1942.  As our two children reached the teen ages, we decided they needed a spiritual education.  Since Perk was against some of the teachings of the Catholic church, we decided to go church hunting.  So for about 6 months we attended a different church every Sunday.  We did this until Perk's brother, who had been going to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, invited us to go with him the coming Sunday.  Needless to say, I was very pleased as the service was near to what I grew up with, and Perk was also impressed with the service and the friendly people.  So that was our first step into the Episcopal faith.

We began going to Confirmation classes along with our children.  Perk and our children were confirmed by the then Bishop Ned Porter and I was welcomed into the church.  We stayed at St. Matthew's for about 8 years, then we moved across town and joined Our Merciful Savior.  We stayed there about 8 years, then moved and helped build a new little church called St. Mary the Virgin.  We stayed there until we moved to Albuquerque and found St. Thomas of Canterbury.  

By this time we had been retired a good number of years and traveled many miles and visited and prayed in many churches as we crossed the USA 3 times, going across the North, Middle, and South, and by car, RV, and cruises we visited Mexico, Canada, Alaska (twice), Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malasia, Panama, Barbados, Caribbean, and Hawaii.  We ended up here in Albuquerque to be close to our daughter, and will remain here for the rest of our lives.  

PS If I included all our adventures, I would write a book!

Welcome Newcomers! (Fall 2015)

This past Sunday we read God's promise in Revelation: "See, I am making all things new!"  One of the beautiful ways that God is renewing us at Canterbury is by bringing newcomers to worship and work with us, week after week!   This past Sunday we celebrated and welcomed newcomers who have come to Canterbury over the past 6 months.  I hope you will join me in welcoming:

Amy & Larry Malick 

The Malicks moved to Albuquerque two years ago, returning to the West after living on the East Coast 15 years. The each grew up in Colorado, and raised their three children (now grown, with a total of seven grandkids) in Durango.

Amy advocates for people experiencing homelessness and marginalization due to mental illness, addiction, and entanglement with the criminal justice system. Her particular focus is women, and she facilitates a weekly support group with women experiencing violence and homelessness, helping them connect with each other and with resources to build the lives they want.

She serves as a member of the pastoral care team at St. Martin’s Hospitality Center with the Mission to the Homeless project of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. She is a board member of Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless and a covenanted member of the Companions of Mary the Apostle, a New York-based new monastic community

Sundays at St. Martin’s is the fourth church serving unhoused and housed people Amy has been involved with. She helped start Church by the Pond In Hartford, Conn., 15 years ago, lived and worked with Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh, N.Y., for a year, and moved to Albuquerque to work with the congregations of St. Martin’s and Community of Hope.

After retiring from a career in law, Larry is doing a variety of volunteer activities, including tutoring ESL, recording interviews with veterans for the Library of Congress, and leading a meditation group and serving on the board at La Pasada, a transitional re-entry program for men and women leaving incarceration. He dabbles with writing, and is reading everything he can about the Vietnam War as research for a novel.

Amy and Larry came to Canterbury to meet Sylvia, whom they’d heard was coming to Albuquerque via St. Gregory of Nyssa. They fell in love with the Miller-Mutias and the congregation on their first visit.

Kate Bolintineanu (& Baby Gabriel)
My name is Kate, and I am a new member of St. Thomas of Canterbury. My husband Dan and I first came to St. Thomas back in 2012 to receive marriage counseling before our wedding and returned for the baptism of our son, Gabriel, in 2015. We love the friendly folks at St. Thomas, as well as all of the ways in which we are encouraged to be involved in church life. I am an artist and teacher by training, having received my B.A. in Art and M. Ed. in Art Education from the University of Minnesota. I primarily paint and draw, but I love to dabble in clay, digital art and photography, and traditional handcrafts like wool felting and glass fusing. I taught high school art for nearly 4 years in Los Lunas before our son was born. I met my husband Dan at the University of Minnesota while taking a ballroom dance class. Together we love to travel, hike, mountain and road bike, as well as snowboard (although lately we've put a pause on most of these activities with a new baby at home!) Right now we are loving our new roles as parents and enjoying time with Gabriel as we watch him grow (too fast)-- quick! We need to child-proof our house! Our families live in Canada and Wisconsin and we miss them very much. We try to get back to our other "homes" as often as possible, and love hosting visitors as well in beautiful New Mexico.

Dan Bolinteineanu  (and Baby Gabriel)
I was born in Romania, and grew up there until my family moved to Toronto, Canada when I was twelve. I moved again to attend graduate school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I met my lovely wife, Kate. After graduate school, I took a science/engineering job at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque. Both my wife and I thought this would be a temporary move, but four years, one house purchase and one awesome baby later, we feel comfortably and happily settled here. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with our 9-month old son Gabriel, reading, riding my bike, being outdoors, and renovating our house (okay, maybe 'enjoy' is too strong a word for that last one). We initially came to to Canterbury in 2012 to receive our premarital counseling, and after a long hiatus, returned recently to have our son Gabriel baptized. The wonderful services, clergy and congregation at Canterbury have kept us coming back since, and we very much look forward to becoming more involved in the church in the future.

Kirby Lewis  I'm an Okie, 66, and a retired UNM Hospital clerk.  I enjoy Jesus novels, science fiction and war movies, college football, vegetarian food, beer, and liturgy and chanting.  My family includes a daughter in Ohio and two dogs.  Most of the time I am well behaved.

Matt Gilbert (our new sexton):  Hello, my name is Matt Gilbert. I've resided in Fairbanks, Alaska the last several years, but originally, I'm from Arctic Village, Alaska. A village in the far north among the Brooks Range. I'm happy to begin working here at Canterbury as your Sexton and will hopefully blend into the community. I will be starting courses this spring at the University of New Mexico toward a Masters in Elementary Education. I have been an Episcopalian all my life, my grandfather is the Episcopal Priest of Arctic Village. I hope to do well here and finish my degree. Thanks very much (Mahsi). 

Nick Tollardo          Hello, I am Nick Tollardo, and I am very new here at Canterbury. Currently I am working on my bachelor’s in psychology at the University of New Mexico. I plan on graduating in the fall of 2016 and then shortly after moving into my new degree plan regarding my master’s degree in psychology. I am partnered romantically and blessedly with Victor Torres Jr, who attends Canterbury as well. We have been together over a year and a half and are looking forward to our 2nd year anniversary coming up in January of 2016. We both had wanted to practice the Christian faith and luckily it was a great trait we shared in common. School is tough but I am determined to better my life and my future so I have been and will be working very hard to attain my ultimate goal of having a Psy-D, or doctorate of clinical psychology. I look forward to my time here at Canterbury and have many high hopes for letting God lead my life.

Victor Torres Victor is a student at CNM, who is interested in pursuing a career in social work. Victor and his partner Nick participate in our Couple's Group at Canterbury, as well as Campus Ministry. 

Lorenzo Baca & Moriah Montoya Lorenzo and Moriah are undergraduate students at UNM.  They participate in Canterbury's Couples Group and are looking forward to getting married in May!   

Jessica Morales, Alvaro Ulloa (and Gabriel) Jessica and Alvaro are graduate students from Peru, studying at UNM.  Their son, Gabriel, is in pre-school.  They worship at Canterbury's monthly bi-lingual service and participate in Canterbury's Couple's Group. Jessica is looking forward to participating in the Music that Makes Community conference with the team from Canterbury in January and bringing what she learns to our bilingual service.


Robert Solorio Robert recently relocated to Albuquerque from Wisconsin.