Tag Archives: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

May 18, 2018 · 2:06 pm

New Jail Curriculum

Collaborating with the Rev. Canon William H. Barnwell, this month I have been designing a new curriculum for studying faith and literature at Elmwood Jail (Milpitas, California). In 1980, at the University of New Orleans (UNO), Canon Barnwell started developing a program which would eventually be called The Transforming Literature of the Bible (TLB). TLB is based on his original class in the “Bible as Literature” in the UNO English Department. From the mid-eighties, Canon Barnwell continued to work on TLB for both the university and at his churches: first at Trinity Episcopal in New Orleans, then at Trinity in Boston, and finally at the Washington National Cathedral where he served as Canon Missioner. TLB has been presented dozens of times in a variety of settings. The TLB version we are updating now is dated 2008.

I had been looking for a shorter course to offer at Elmwood Jail where I have been leading seminars in Education for Ministry (EfM) since 2015. Unfortunately, EfM takes nine months per program year and many of the inmates are not at Elmwood that long. EfM continues to be the right program for some Elmwood dorms; however, I was glad to find TLB for faster-cycle dorms. I think we can complete both Old and New Testament studies using TLB in about four months.

With Canon Barnwell’s enthusiastic support, I have edited the first six TLB sessions. I plan to edit the next 30 sessions starting next week. The first six sessions cover “The Hebrew Scriptures, Part One: The Great Stories of Genesis”. In addition to reading all of the Bible book of Genesis, students will also read:

- “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker (1973)
- “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1955)
- “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears” by Mohja Kahf (2003)

I am grateful to have Diane Lovelace and my husband, John Plocher, as my Co-Mentors in this new venture. I am giving the inmates Bibles, Books of Common Prayer, dictionaries, pencils and journals to support their studies. Some books are in Spanish and some in English. Ten inmates came last week to hear about the new program. They are a varied group from many faith backgrounds: Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim. We are looking forward to developing the TLB pilot program together.

This program is supported by the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

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Images Copyright 2018 by Katy Dickinson.

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Tagged as Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy - CIC, Episcopal church, Jail, John, Mentoring, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, teaching

October 9, 2017 · 12:39 pm

Honored Woman 2017

Four years ago, I wrote about Honored Women’s Day, at which the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of El Camino Real join each year with the parish churches to honor a woman for her notable service. I am touched to be the 2017 Honored Woman for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, California). The text on the certificate prepared by ECW Chair Diane Lovelace based on the submission of our Rector, the Rev. Channing Smith reads:

Katy is creative, knowledgeable, faithful, persistent, and swift to action. These are all qualities that are necessary for leadership, and Katy exudes them all. Katy is involved in many areas of the church. She has served in our vestry, chaired our Strategic Plan Personnel Committee, been an alternate to General Convention, and faithfully represented our community as a Diocesan convention delegate. However, her most recent ministry in EFM, Jail Ministry, and as the Diocesan EFM Coordinator is the reason for her nomination.

Katy takes part in 3 EFM classes a week: one at Saint Andrew’s, and two at Elmwood Jail. She has been instumental to many parishioners continued faith formation as an EFM Mentor. She has leveraged her creativity to inspire and engage others, which has had a real world impact. Katy also leveraged her talents to set up an EFM jail program (1st one in the country) and took it a step further and got a second one approved. She needed to work with many agencies to make that happen, along with funding for the classes, co-mentors for each class, and negotiating with Sewanee to get a lower tuition rate so it would all be possible. This is a large ongoing time commitment (there are no class breaks in jail ministry). She is an inspiration and a rock for the guys there, and has even led some to join the Saint Andrew’s community. Katy also volunteered to take on the role of Diocesan EFM Coordinator. She arranged training locally, which was no small feat – normally the closest Mentors could go would be Auburn. This has expanded her outreach beyond El Camino Real, to all parts in California. Katy deserves to be recognized for the hard work and dedication that she has made to the Saint Andrew’s and broader community. She is a great example of faithful service to others and sharing the Good News of God’s love which she does so joyfully.

I am honored to be included in the ranks of the women leaders of our diocese. Special thanks to the Rev. Channing Smith for nominating me, and to the Rev. Peggy Bryan for asking my inmate students to write notes to present to me with the certificate. You can read more about the University of the South – School of Theology Education for Ministry (EfM) program and our jail-based EfM seminars on the El Camino Real diocesan webpage. If you are interested in supporting the incarcerated in Santa Clara County, please contact the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy. Please contact me if you live on California’s Central Coast (Palo Alto to San Luis Obispo) and are interested in becoming an Accredited Mentor for EfM.

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Images Copyright 2017 by John Plocher

CIC Article: Education for Ministry at Elmwood Jail

It was an honor to be featured in an article by the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy (CIC) called “Education for Ministry at Elmwood Jail”. The article tells the story of how CIC, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, the University of the South – School of Theology’s Education for Ministry program and I have worked together since late 2015 to create a new jail-based college-level theological education program.

We have almost completed two 9-month terms and are getting ready to expand the program into a second Elmwood jail dorm. If you are interested in volunteering in a Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) jail, please contact the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy (CIC).

11 May 2017 update: Another article was recently published about our Elmwood Jail program in the alumni magazine “From the Mountain” – from the University of the South – School of Theology, Sewanee Tennessee, Spring 2017 edition. The article is called “Inmates Explore Faith, Life Through Education for Ministry” by Kevin Cummings. Links to these articles:

“Inmates Explore Faith, Life Through Education for Ministry” by Kevin Cummings, Spring 2017, From the Mountain
“Education for Ministry at Elmwood Jail” CIC Ministries Newsletter, 4 April 2017

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January 17, 2017 · 5:22 pm

What the Presiding Bishop Said

“You are doing it. Keep going.” is what Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in Salinas, California, on 7 January 2017. I was a member of the panel that asked questions after his keynote. From my notes, my opening question was:

“The Silicon Valley has a skewed population. In the high tech world where I work, there are about 25% female, 4% Latino, and 2% Black in the computing professions. In Elmwood Jail where I lead an Education for Ministry seminar each week, men and women are separate and there are 42% Latino and 29% Black. I feel like I live in two worlds. What can we do to reach out, to bring this divided community together?”

When Bishop Michael answered “You are doing it. Keep going.” I heard that the answer lay in outreach ministries like mine – and in telling people about that work. Individuals with a foot on both sides can connect a community.

It is a good but a little scary to have an experimental program succeed so well. I have been thinking a great deal about what Bishop Michael said – and about what to do next. The Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, CIC, and EfM have strongly backed our jail-based seminar during the last year. My first step was to talk with the CIC Chaplain for Elmwood, and then with the EfM program at the University of the South – School of Theology, about starting an additional class at Elmwood. They support expanding the program. Now to find more funding!

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Tagged as Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy - CIC, Episcopal church, Jail, Silicon Valley, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, teaching, technical women, Theology

January 10, 2017 · 4:50 pm

Presiding Bishop Speaks in Salinas

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was featured at an all-day event at Sherwood Hall in Salinas, California, on Saturday, 7 January 2017. I was on the panel that asked questions after his keynote presentation. I was also on the Tech Team that helped to create the event – with my husband John Plocher and the Rev. Stephenie Cooper.

With the “PB” on the stage was our own Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, and the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers. On the panel with me were Dave Mora (former Salinas City Manager), and the Rev. Ian Dellinger (Rector of St. Stephen’s, San Luis Obispo). The moderator was Joe Heston (President & General Manager of KSBW). A video of the event is in development. About 650 attended the event.

Thanks to my EfM Co-Mentor Karen Carlson for the photo of me on the stage!

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January 6, 2017 · 6:31 pm

Images of God

This is an online version of a handout I created for my weekly Education for Ministry seminar at Elmwood Correctional Facility (County Jail – in Milpitas, California). The students in EfM Year 1 (the Hebrew Bible) were reading Genesis 1:27 “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Here are 21 varied images of God, dated from 527 – 2017, plus Bible verses describing God, for class discussion.

Update June 2002: Trinity – Images of God (7 June 2020 Prelude) – images in this post were used in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church – Trinity Sunday service. Update 22 October 2021, fixed broken link.

List of Pictures:

Description	More Information	Image Source
1. Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) – mosaic in the presbytery, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (527 CE)	Basilica of San Vitale	Basilica of San Vitale – Lamb of God mosaic
2. God in Heaven – mosaic in the apse, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (527 CE)	Basilica of San Vitale	Vault_mosaic_-_San_Vitale_-_Ravenna_2016
3. Christ Pantocrator – All Powerful – mosaic, chapel of San Zeno, Rome, Italy (822)	Santa Prassede	Mosaic of the vault of the chapel of San Zeno (IX century)
4. God as Architect of the Universe – Frontispiece of Bible Moralisee, Paris, France (1230)	Bible moralisée	God the Geometer
5. God the Father – painting by Giotto, Florence, Italy (1330)	Giotto	God the Father with Angels
6. Ghent Altarpiece (detail) – painting by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium (1432)	Ghent Altarpiece	Retable de l’Agneau mystique (Altarpiece of the Mystical Lamb)
7. The Creation of the Heavenly Bodies (detail) – painting by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy (1512)	Michelangelo	Sistine Chapel: Creation of the universe
8. God the Father – painting by Cima Da Conegliano, Venice, Italy (1517)	Cima da Conegliano	Cima da Conegliano, God the Father
9. God the Father – painting by Ludovico Mazzolino, Ferrara, Italy (1520)	Ludovico Mazzolino	Ludovico_Mazzolino_-_God_the_Father
10. God the Father – painting by Girolamo dai Libri, Verona, Italy (1555)	Girolamo dai Libri	God_the_Father_with_His_Right_Hand_Raised_in_Blessing
11. Picture Bible “Die Bibel in Bildern” (detail) – engraving by Julius Schnorr (1860)	Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld	Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern
12. Holy Lord Sabaoth – Russian Icon (date?)	Russian icons	Holy Lord Saboath
13. Kakure Kirishitan Heaven – scroll painting, Ikitsuki Island, Nagasaki, Japan (date?)	Kakure Kirishitan	The Hidden Christians (at Ikitsuki Museum, Nagasaki, Japan)
14. God as Mother Hen – Dominus Flevit Church, Jerusalem, Israel (1955)	Dominus Flevit Church	Mosaic_Art_at_Dominus_Flevit
15. God as Dove (Holy Spirit) – stained glass by James Scanlan, Cathedral of St. Mary & St. Anne, Cork, Ireland (1990)	Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary & St. Anne	Stained Glass at the Cathedral of St. Mary & St. Anne
16. Father (and Holy Spirit) – stained glass at St. Virgil Church, in Morris Plains, New Jersey USA (contemporary, date?)	St. Virgil Parish	Top Panel, Stained Glass wall depicting Ascension of Jesus
17. George Burns as God, from movies “Oh, God!” (1977), and “Oh, God, Book II” (1980)	Oh, God!	Classics of the Corn
18. Alanis Morissette as God, from movies “Dogma” (1999), and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (2001)	Dogma (film)	View Askewniverse Wiki: God
19. Morgan Freeman as God, from movies “Bruce Almighty” (2003), and “Evan Almighty” (2007)	Evan Almighty	Evan Almighty Morgan Freeman as God
20. Ethiopian Orthodox Trinity – painted hide (2014)	Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church	Picture by Katy Dickinson – Painted icon purchased in Ethiopia 2016. Icon Pictures and More Icon Pictures
21. “The Shack” – movie (2017)	The Shack	“The Shack – A Film Review,” Formed Faith, 20 June 2017

Pictures of God:

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Images of God in the Bible (Selected):

Beasts

1 Bear: “I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps” Hosea 13:8
2 Lamb: “This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:28-29
3 Moth: “Like a moth you eat away all that is dear to us.” Psalm 39:12

Birds

4 Eagle: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” Exodus 19:4
5 Eagle: “He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.” Deuteronomy 32:10-11
6 Bird: “Hide me under the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 17:8
7 Bird: “Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings.” Psalm 61:4
8 Bird: “For you have been my helper, and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.” Psalm 63:7
9 Bird: “He shall cover you with his pinions, and you shall find refuge under his wings.” Psalm 91:4
10 Dove: “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” Matthew 3:16
11 Hen: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Luke 13:34 and also Matthew 23:37

Woman

12 “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” Deuteronomy 32:18
13 “From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?” Job 38:29
14 “Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.” (God as a midwife) Psalm 22:9
15 “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.” Psalm 123:2
16 “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.” Psalm 131:2
17 “For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept myself still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant.” Isaiah 42:14
18 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15
19 “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 66:13
20 “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.” Hosea 11:3-4

Fire and Clouds

21 “The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.” Exodus has seven mentions, in: 13:21-21 through 33:10
22 “They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people; for you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.” Numbers 14:14
23 “The Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.” Deuteronomy 31:15
24 “You led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go.” Nehemiah 9:12 and 9:19
24 “He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.”Psalm 99:7

See linked pages for individual image copyrights.

Image links updated from time to time. Additional text added 8 June 2020.
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Tagged as birds, Education for Ministry, Episcopal church, Jail, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, teaching, Theology

January 3, 2017 · 3:22 pm

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in Salinas on January 7

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will be featured at an all-day event at Sherwood Hall in Salinas, California, on Saturday, 7 January 2017. I will be one of three panelists asking him questions after his keynote presentation. The event is free and you are invited to attend – no registration is required.

El Camino Real Diocese Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves held a phone call this morning to discuss the panel with participants. I am very much looking forward to meeting Bishop Michael again. I met him briefly during lunch at General Convention 2015 and have listened to many of his talks. Bishop Michael is the 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and is the first African American to serve as PB since its founding in 1789. He is a remarkable and inspiring speaker.

One of the highlights from his keynote at the “Evangelism Matters” conference in November 2016 in Dallas, TX: “God made us for God’s dream. We were made to be in communion with our God, with each other, and with the world God has made. That is why we are here… Evangelism doesn’t have a thing to do with a bigger church. It has everything to do with a better world… We Episcopalians are of the Anglican tradition of Christianity. I want to suggest that Anglicans are not allergic to evangelism. Episcopalians need not take Excedrin before saying ‘evangelism’…”

Bishop Michael’s most recent book, Songs My Grandma Sang, was published in June 2015; Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus was his first book, in August 2013. He has received honorary degrees from Episcopal Divinity School, The University of the South – Sewanee, Virginia Theological Seminary, and Yale.

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Tag Archives: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

New Jail Curriculum

Honored Woman 2017

CIC Article: Education for Ministry at Elmwood Jail

What the Presiding Bishop Said

Presiding Bishop Speaks in Salinas

Images of God

List of Pictures:

Pictures of God:

Images of God in the Bible (Selected):

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in Salinas on January 7

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