Category Archives: Church

During the last two weekends, I helped SAMA –
St. Andrew’s Medical Assistance –
in their annual sale of goods from the Holy Land. SAMA supports several medical
programs in the Holy Land, including the

Ahli Arab Hospital (the only Christian hospital in Gaza) and the
Four Homes of Mercy (based in Jerusalem).
Many of the crafts we were selling were created by Palestinian Christians.

On my two trips to Israel (in 1979 and in 2006), I purchased many crafts
like those we were selling. In fact, our olive wood nativity set at home is now richer
by three angels and two camels from the SAMA sale. Here are some photos:

SAMA Tile

Ahli Arab Hospital

Bishop Riah Abu-Assal

Holy Land goods for sale

Jerusalem tile

SAMA Donation Certificate

Palestinian cloth crafts

Palestinian puppets

Palestinian puppets

Palestinian cloth crafts

Olive nativity set

Olive nativity set

Silver and Gold crosses

Liz at the sales table

Holy Land goods for sale

Olive wood carvings

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson

I attended the ordination of Bishop Mary Gray-Reeeves today. It was
a beautiful, moving, and very well managed event.
Bishop Mary is the 3rd Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
El Camino Real, on the Central
Coast of California. Today’s service for 1,000 was held at

St. Andrew’s in Saratoga, my new home parish.

I was among those who voted for Bishop Mary at the electing convention
last June. She was elected by

overwhelming majority on the second ballot.
Bishop Mary is the 15th woman elected as a bishop of the Episcopal Church and
she among the five youngest members of the House of Bishops. She is the
1027th Bishop in the American succession. I think Bishop Mary is the first woman
Bishop ordained by our new Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Katharine
Jefferts-Schori.

Bishop Mary’s former boss, the Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, gave today’s sermon.
Bishop Frade has been a Bishop for over 25 years and is the Senior Bishop
with Jurisdiction in the House of Bishops. Bishop Frade pointed out that
as the new Bishop of the Silicon Valley, Mary would face challenges
unlike those of his generation which only had to make the transition from
rotary to pushbutton phones. Bishops in the past did not have their
flock sending them email 24×7.

The service was alternately in Spanish and English and featured a
Sudanese Choir and also a
Native American ceremony at the beginning. The most impressive part for me
was the great rumbling words of approval when Bishop Katharine asked us,
The People, for our approval and support:

• Bishop Katharine: Is it your will that we ordain Mary a Bishop?
  
  The People: That is our will.
  
• Bishop Katharine: Will you uphold Mary as Bishop?
  
  The People: We will.
  

It was wonderful to see so many Bishops present. There were at least 20, not including
Bishop Mary. I was glad that El Camino’s last two Bishops, The Rt. Rev. Sylvestre Romero
(now Assisting Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey) and The Rt. Rev. Richard Shimpfky,
could both attend. It was also a delight to see The Rt. Rev. Nedi Rivera, the first
Hispanic woman Bishop, participating. There were some funny moments. When
The Rt. Rev. Chester Talton presented Biship Mary with her crozier (a processional
staff with the head in the form of a shepherd’s crook), he said she could whack us
with it if we did not behave. Of course, a cell phone went off during Bishop
Mary taking her vows (sigh).

John and I sat in the 6th row back. I was sitting behind someone who
was at least 6’5″ tall so we did not get very good photos. Also, we were asked not
to take pictures during the service but here is what we saw before and after:

St. Andrew’s Altar with Bishop’s Throne:

Clergy after Bishop Mary’s ordination:

Bishop Mary and Bishop Katharine:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

John and Paul and I are visiting Jessica for CMU’s Family
Weekend here in Pittsburgh, PA. Last night, Jessica and
Paul and I saw a late showing of the movie
Transformers
(which was much better than I feared). Paul and the cabbie who drove
us back to the hotel had a passionate discussion about the
history and collecting of Transformer toys.

We woke up today to the headline “Episcopal Diocese Votes to
Leave” in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. There is a minority
of Episcopal parishes here in
Pittsburgh which are opposed to the recent vote to split from the
national church. So, we are going
to have fun deciding which Episcopal parish church to attend tomorrow
morning – one which voted to split or one staying with the national
church?

Today was the second and last day of the annual convention of the
Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real
(ECR) at Sherwood Hall in Salinas, California. I am a convention delegate
but this is also my last day as Convener of

DIEM, the Department of Intercultural Evangelism and Mission
(diocesan Department of Missions). I have served as DIEM Convener
since 2003.

Today, we approved the budget and voted in the new diocesan officers and
committee members. Since ECR has just finished several years of
restructuring (resulting in new boards which had to be filled for the first
time), the voting and ballot counting took most of the day. Bishop-Elect
Mary Gray-Reeves, who came to us from Florida, kept making jokes about

how voting was done there.

This was a joyous day for me because two of the 13 missions with which I
have been working for the last five years were promoted.

St. Stephen’s in the Field of San Jose was promoted to parish status.
Cristo Rey
of Watsonville was promoted to Mission status. I am very proud of both!
I was honored to process with the banner for Cristo Rey around the
convention hall.

In between votes, we heard reports on a variety of topics:

• Ms. Robin Denney (of the Episcopal
  
  Young Adult Service) told us about her experience being a
  missionary in Liberia.
• Bruce Friesen, Parish Administrator for
  St. Andrew’s
  in Saratoga, gave us an update on Episcopal Relief and Development with which he has been working for 5 years. ERD provides emergency assistance in times of disaster; rebuilds devastated communities and offers long-term program development solutions to fight poverty. Bruce said that
  ERD gave 97% of its funding to programs. He also recommended that we consider
  giving presents from the ERD “Gifts for Life” catalog. He said: “There
  is no greater look of joy on the face of your loved one when on Christmas
  morning they find that you have given them a pig.”
• Rev. Mary Morrison of
  St. Luke’s Los Gatos spoke of arrangements for Bishop Mary’s
  ordination at St. Andrew’s
  in two weeks. She said in passing that Anglicanism was a
  system of salvation by haberdashery and told the clergy the dress
  code and colors for the day.
• Rev. Lorenzo Robles of
  Santa Maria Urban Ministry (the official diocesan charity) spoke about their current programs and needs. SMUM provides basic services in the inner city of San Jose, CA: both short-term needs such as food, clothing and transportation, and long-term transformation through education, counseling, and after-school and seasonal programs.

In her ending remarks, Bishop Mary asked us to make our first year
together a Year of Wonder. Sherwood Hall was a good meeting space.
I particularly enjoyed its artwork. On the landing of the stairs is
a huge tapestry illustrating the words: “To Plow is to Pray – To
Plant is to Prophesy – And the Harvest Answers – And Fulfills”.
Good sentiments for both an agricultural town and a diocese starting
a new life with a new Bishop.
Here are some of John’s and my photos from the convention:

Bishop-elect Mary Gray-Reeves:

Bishop Ernest Shalita Muhabura, Uganda speaks:

Living Waters band:

Cristo Rey’s promotion:

Cristo Rey’s banner:

St. Stephen’s banner:

Resolution on the Year of Wonder:

Roby’s “Field Workers” Sherwood Hall painting:

Sherwood Hall tapestry:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

I am a convention delegate for the Episcopal Diocese of
El Camino Real (ECR) and today is
the first day of our annual convention
here in Salinas, California. This is ECR’s first convention since
we elected our new Bishop, Mary Gray-Reeves. Bishop-Elect Mary
will be ordained next month but she is acting as President of this convention.

My husband John is an Alternate Delegate and I am a Delegate from
All Saints’ Parish in Palo Alto.
Our family is in the process of transferring
to St. Andrew’s Parish
in Saratoga, which is closer to where we live in San Jose. We are finishing
up our duties as delegates to our former parish this weekend.

There are about 250 of us at the convention today. Probably more will
join us tomorrow when they are not working. So far, we have celebrated
communion together (in both English and Spanish), passed
the revised Constitution and Canons, and passed Resolutions 1 and 2
(supporting funding for the
Millenium Development Goals and increased base
clergy pay). Bishop Ernest Shalita, from the Diocese of Muhabura, Uganda
who is visiting Calvary Parish
in Santa Cruz briefly addressed the convention and talked about his work
with education and youth. Most of today has been taken up with untangling
the parliamentary procedure of multiple amendments (friendly and unfriendly)
to resolutions. There will be more of the same tomorrow when we will
consider the budget.

Each parish delegation sits at one or two tables and chats while we are
waiting for vote counts and for amendments to be written up. It can be dry
work but the people are wonderful.

We went to the Santa Clara
Barnes and Noble tonight after work to buy books and see the
Fuego Nuevo Ballet
folklorico group dance to benefit
Santa Maria Urban Ministry. SMUM provides
basic services in the inner city of San Jose, CA: both short-term needs such as
food, clothing and transportation, and long-term transformation through education,
counseling, and after-school and seasonal programs. Tonight’s book sale and
dance benefit event will help raise money to buy and install a playground at SMUM.
Some photos from tonight:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

Santa Maria Urban Ministry (SMUM) provides
basic services in the inner city of San Jose, CA: both short-term needs such as
food, clothing and transportation, and long-term transformation through education,
counseling, and after-school and seasonal programs. SMUM’s programs have continued
without interruption since 1983. SMUM serves the needs of the community
and promotes self-sufficiency.

On 11 October 2007, SMUM is partnering with
Barnes and Noble to help raise money to buy and install a
safe and age-appropriate playground for ABC Playtime. SMUM’s classroom is small
and outside activity is crucial to the growth and development of young minds
and bodies.

SMUM needs your help! It is very easy – just go to South Bay Area Barnes and Noble
book stores on October 11 and buy some books or music. A list of participating
stores is on the SMUM webpage along
with vouchers and instructions on how to place special orders.

Music and books make great Christmas gifts and this is a chance to get a jump on
your holiday shopping and also support a great cause. Tell your friends,
neighbors, co-workers, mailman, etc. Give them a voucher and ask them to shop on
that day.

Ballet Folklorico to be at the Stevens Creek (San Jose) Barnes and
Noble on 11 October. They will be dancing (3 couples) at 7pm. There will be other special presentations at the store on Stevens Creek and in Gilroy at 6:30 p.m.

SMUM was founded as an outreach ministry of the
Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real.