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 EAST LANSING -In a service on May 2, All Saints', East Lansing, lifted and installed a new 550-pound bronze bell in the church bell tower.
In her story for the Lansing Community Newspapers, reporter Dawn Parker noted that All Saints parishioners couldn't remember why the church did not install a bell during the church's original construction in the mid-1950s. Rector Kit Carlson passed along one theory: "The area around the church was still fairly rural--complete with farms--and no one wanted to disturb the cows."
View a YouTube video
of the bell raising HERE.
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Father Matthew opens new portals for evangelism
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 YouTube is more than a passing fad; it is a social networking phenomenon that has powerful implications for the Episcopal Church.
So claims Matthew Moretz, a priest at Christ Church in Rye, New York, who has made something of a name for himself in the YouTube genre.
The name by which he is known online is Father Matthew. His somewhat zany videos have caught on, and caught on in a social environment that isn’t always cozy to religion. (For those reading along at home, that concept goes by another name in the Episcopal Church: evangelism.)
Check out just two of Father Matthew’s various clips. Holy Baptism: Father Matthew Presents the Sacraments is the first of an eight-part series the video-evangelist has published on the sacraments. “One of the things the Church does best. Making God’s love visible and tangible,” Moretz described.
In another direction, Moretz attempts to clarify the Church’s view toward Mary Magdalene in Father Matthew Presents: Mary Magdalene (Episcopal).
From these two samples, one can easily navigate to a voluminous collection of Father Matthew videos that make you think, make you laugh, and help you hold onto your faith in a time when everything appears up for grabs.
The Record announces video addition to Church Newsletter Contest
The Record announces an addition to its annual Church Newsletter Contest. The Record will award a Blue Ribbon award at the annual Diocesan Convention AND a prize of $100 to the best YouTube video produced by an Episcopalian in the Diocese of Michigan.
Requirements: The YouTube video must demonstrate some aspect of life in the church: humorous commentary; mission trip; beliefs and practices, etc. The video must be posted on YouTube before October 1. Posted videos must fully adhere to the YouTube copyright provisions, including the prohibition of any video segments, music soundtracks (even if the music includes their choir singing a copyrighted anthem or song) or other materials which already have copyright protection.
Not required, but a suggestion: Adhere to the example of Father Matthew and many YouTube enthusiasts. Keep it short! YouTube is not a forum best used for length sermons or services, but rather pithy commentaries on church and society. Enter any entry you wish (limit: two videos per person); the judging will be conducted by a panel of experts.
Inform The Record when and where it is posted and its creator.
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Piazza as theology and practice:
Cleveland dean discusses creative liturgy |
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| by Herb Gunn
[Royal Oak, Mich; March 4-5, 2008]
 At a typical church setting in April that usually seats Episcopalians on any row but the front, something unusual happened. The congregation rushed the altar.
Be not alarmed, Anglicans; the migration wasn’t as earth shaking as a Pentecostal altar call, but it was something out of the ordinary.
Creating time and space for an out-of-the-ordinary celebration was just what Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, hoped for. Lind was the speaker and preacher at the annual Becoming the Household of God stewardship conference, held at St. John’s, Royal Oak, on April 4-5. In her two-day presentation, she introduced the 200 assembled to the idea of piazza.
Piazza is the Italian word for place or plaza, said Lind, adding, “it’s what the British call ‘the commons.’” Although the term has something of a tidy municipal tinge, which wasn’t out of line for Lind who was trained as a city planner, when the Cleveland dean wrapped her theology and practice around the theme, piazza took on a larger dimension.
Get your four-CD set of Becoming the Household of God conference
$25 (plus $5 postage)
Call the Whitaker School of Theology at
313/833-4423
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 A storyteller’s hat and the thinking beneath it
by Herb Gunn
[Detroit, Mich] Hats off to Catherine Blackwell. The legendary Detroit educator holds fast to a lifelong dream to immerse her students in the love and lore of Africa. Despite 65 trips to the continent over the last half-century and her constant drumbeat of encouragement for teachers and students to visit for themselves, Blackwell moved closer to her goal this past winter without even leaving Detroit.
Read her story HERE >>>>
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Crossing the borders of liturgy
Tracey Lind
Bishop Wendell Gibbs and Dean Tracey Lind discuss liturgy in the urban setting.
Dean Tracey Lind crossed over to the Diocese of Michigan in April for the annual Becoming the Household of God conference at St. John’s, Royal Oak, on April 4-5. She came from the neighboring state and diocese of Ohio, where she was raised in Columbus and currently serves as the dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland.
While she was in town, Lind engaged Bishop Wendell Gibbs in a conversation that touched on the boundaries and borders of liturgy and the potential for organic and creative expressions of faith through liturgy that can reinvigorate the church.
Read about the conversation HERE.
Listen to the entire conversation HERE.
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A Woman of Letters
Diane Walker
 by Herb Gunn
Diane Walker has a Zest for life: a Quiet, but Unbound, Vibrant Yearning if you will.
The Washington State Episcopalian calls herself a contemplative photographer. Her work of many years touches on theology, parenting, gardening—a raft of thoughtful and deeply spiritual themes.
Walker was a writer before she picked up a camera, before she settled on Bainbridge Island across Puget Sound from Seattle, and before she began a blog that mixes her images with her imagination and her thoughtful commentaries on a life of reflection.
The Record Reading Room and Gallery will feature the photography of Diane Walker during May and June. Specifically, the display will show her Contemplative Alphabet in which each letter serves as the focus of a photographic and poetic reflection.
Explore Diane Walker's alphabet HERE.
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| Miter Meeting held at Trinity Church, Belleville |
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What you should know about The Record's new communication strategy
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You have found The Record's new Web site, which is the lynchpin of a three-pronged communication strategy for 2008 endorsed by The Record Editorial Board. In a shift of emphasis, news will be prepared and posted on The Record Web site as news occurs. We encourage readers to bookmark this site and return frequently. No longer will readers have to wait until next month for this month’s news. But news will shift quickly; check back once a week, at least. And ... not everything that is on the Web will make it into the print issue.
Here are a few Questions and Answers
about the new approach.
Q: Will the print issue of The Record continue to come to my home?
A: Yes. While news will be updated more frequently on this Web site, the monthly issue of The Record will continue to bring the most important news and features we offer to every household.
Q: Should I drop my subscription to the print version?
A: No, we would prefer that every household still receive the same information and the print version will continue to be the standard news outlet for that common body of information. It is the only way to reach 10,000 households. When they say "did you see it in The Record?", we want the answer to be "yes."
Q: Can we submit news and announcements about our church's events to The Record?
A: Yes. Send us your written news stories. Not all parish news gets into the print issue, so consider what is of broad diocesan interest.
Many announcements about church events are not diocesan-wide news. Your special events can be mentioned up to two weeks prior in The Record Weekly, which is the Monday morning e-mail that will remind subscribers what's coming up in the days ahead. Learn more and send your information This Way.
Q: What is "Page Two"?
A: This Web site features Page Two--a standard place to see details of important, diocesan-wide events. News on the Front Page; Diocesan Events on Page Two. Parish events in the Monday morning news brief called The Record Weekly.
Q: What about letters to the editor?
A: The Record Web site will published letters to the editor (50-350 words and signed) and other readers' short comments (50 words and signed) to those letters. These letters will be published as soon as they arrive. It's an angle on discussing the news and events during the month. Send them Here.
The print version ofThe Record will continue to reach every household with the monthly issue of the newspaper for the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan and Episcopal Life.
Q: Will The Record print every month?
A: We will not publish and mail print issus in March, July-August or November in 2008. In part, it's a financial decision, and in part, a gradual shift toward publishing and reading all the news online. News these months will only be available on the Web. A recap of important news will make it into the following print issue.
Do you like that idea? Do you hate it? Let us know.
Q: Has the general philosophy of The Record changed?
A: Not in 57 years! The overarching principles upon which The Record was founded in 1951 still apply. The guiding principle will be news coverage for the person in the pew. And we want to share your views and opinions about your Episcopal Church.
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Detroit, MI
On Tuesday, April 29, two dozen Episcopalians turned out for the Miter Meeting at Trinity Church, Belleville, and heard Bishop Wendell Gibbs discuss an array of issues facing the Diocese of Michigan, from procedures to obtain permissions for church music to what the bishop expects during this summer's meeting of Anglican bishops at the Lambeth Conference, which begins in July.
