From the Senior Warden: “Snowball Earth”

by John Wallingford

I was fascinated to read in the LA Times about new evidence for massive glaciation early in Earth’s history, so large that it eroded about 3 miles of the crust of the Earth, creating vast shallow seas and conditions for the emergence of multicellular life.  The article speculated that the glaciation was caused by a precipitous drop in atmospheric CO2, the result of geologic activity.  I wondered, maybe we could use geology to harness the runaway CO2.  Some digging around brought me to recent research on that very concept here in our diocese.

The National Academy of Sciences book Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration identified carbon sequestration in live trees and charcoal as one of 5 cost-effective technologies available today, support for the Diocesan commitment to plant “Paris Groves”.  A later chapter in that same book described two experiments where CO2 was pumped into porous basalt where it could react with magnesium and iron and calcium, basically being absorbed into rock.  Such chemistry had been demonstrated above ground, and the experiments were undertaken to learn if the results could be replicated in situ.  One of those was in Iceland, and the other in Wallula, WA, the site of the first European settlement in the state.  Researchers in Richland injected 1000 tons of CO2 into the basalt about 2600 feet down, and the CO2 stayed put.  Some became new rock, ankerite.

There are other start up efforts to pull CO2 out of the air to make useful products.  A company in BC, Carbon Engineering, concerts CO2 into fuel, NewLight technologies converts CO2 into plastics.  A direct capture site in Switzerland estimates each facility can capture as much CO2 as is emitted annually by 250,000 cars, which means a mere 70 such facilities could neutralize the automobile CO2 emissions from the 17 million new cars sold in the US each year.  For comparison, there are some 8600 energy generating facilities in the US. Hearings are being held on new legislation (SB5116) for 100% clean electricity in Washington State January 17 and Jan 23.   There are things society can do to reduce CO2 emissions, and also to capture the CO2 already in the air.  Some are already cost-effective; for others, research can bring costs down.

The point for us as a church is that we have reasons to be hopeful, we can help bring about balance of humankind with nature; we can pray “Open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness” p 814, BCP.

Back to the Garden?

A note from the Senior Warden, John Wallingford

Christian doctrine has been restated over time, often as our understanding of the nature of the world has been revealed in science. Think Galileo and Copernicus. The earth was no longer the center of all things, we fit into the solar system. Think of how our understanding of evolution and the natural emergence of species overcame the idea that humans have existed only for a few thousand years of genealogy written in the Bible. One of the more recent debates has to do with the origin of altruism. Why do people do good things for other people? There was a theory-kin selection-that said people acted altruistically moreso for their kin than for non-genetically related persons. In 2010, Harvard sociobiology professor E.O. Wilson, once a proponent of the theory, published a critique that punctured that theory. In studying the genetic basis for eusocial behavior (he spent most of his career studying ants) he notes distinct parallels in human cultural evolution. Humans conquered the Earth because we are eusocial. Wilson’s The Social Conquest of Earth, 2012, gives a compelling integration of evolution and religion, explaining that religion may have been mechanism whereby the force of the group came to balance the force of the individual. In a related essay Wilson wrote[1], “within groups selfish individuals beat altruistic individuals, but groups of altruists beat groups of selfish individuals. Or, risking oversimplification, individual selection promoted sin, while group selection promoted virtue.”

I’ve lived with the idea that the Kingdom of God- the reconciled state- would be like the return to Eden, all harmony, the lion laying down with the lamb. People would show ultimate respect for each other and the earth. Now I’m wondering if that image needs reassessment. What if our role as one of many faith communities is to be in tandem, not to dominate? What if Jesus meant, when he said that the Kingdom of God is at hand, is that the redeemed world is where the balance of the self and the group is perfect, not that all self is sublimated? Doing unto others in perfect balance with doing unto ourselves. (I have long contemplating the meaning of the word “as” in the Golden Rule). Maybe the Kingdom is when we enable the selfish genes to have their sway, reined in by our altruistic genes. We openly advocate for each individual’s fullness of life which must include allowing individuals the single-minded focus on their pursuits to press the edge of their capabilities, but we also advocate that individuals stay mindful of the group’s priorities. What if the Kingdom of God is when religion is half of the equation, the counterbalance to innate human selfishness, not Eden. That doesn’t lessen the imperative of our work together at all. If Wilson is right, our communal faith is a hallmark of the species, the driver of our evolutionary success. When we talk about God writing his law on our hearts, it may be the next stage in our evolution, built on what is already written in our genes. And it is in our church life that we become that group to promote the virtues we know as Christianity. Being in church is more important than you ever knew.

[1] The Stone, June 24, 2012

Spotlight on Outreach

Compiled by John Wallingford

The Cathedral reached out to our community in some new ways these last few months, in addition to long-time outreach endeavors such as volunteering at Crosswalk, West Central Episcopal Mission, or the Windfall. Have you heard about these new opportunities? Here is a wrap up and a hint of things to come.

• We answered phones during the KSPS fund drive. Chatting with callers in kindness made me think about Meals on Wheels, where the kindness of conversation is worth as much as the food. Or crisis hotlines where conversation can be a life saver. One elderly man living 80 miles north of Calgary bought tickets for a concert in Calgary as a Christmas present for his wife. We talked about when he’d spring the surprise. It was lovely, listening to his talk about the love he had for his life’s partner.
• We joined Lands Council for the 15^th annual Spokane river clean up, working the edge of the river to fetch beer cans and such, lulled by the rhythmic chatter of water over rapids. Not much more than a mile from the center of the city, you could hardly see evidence of development. This river is a treasure, clear and clean.
• The visit to Hutton Settlement was described in the Chimes. There are a number of people who were not able to go then, but who would like to tour. Hutton’s Program Director David Milliken was one of the panelists at the Empty Bowls fundraiser for West Central Episcopal Mission on Sept 28^th as was Bishop Rehberg, speaking to the importance of partnerships in Outreach. If you are interested in touring Hutton, let me, Gretchen Ramey or Mike Leiserson know and we’ll keep you informed as we set up the next tour.
• Chapter submitted a resolution to Convention for our Diocese to plant Paris Groves of trees, respecting the Paris Climate accord. Our research established new relations with the Finch Arboretum, the Spokane Soil Conservation District, Lands Council and Spokane Ponderosa, each of whom has recommended sites for Groves. One possibly overseen by the WA Dept of Transportation is alongside the North/South corridor. Imagine a Cathedral Grove there! We expect to work through the winter to refine plans for spring planting season.
• The Cathedral was invited to join Spokane 350, a new interfaith group for environmental concerns. This group offers a collective voice for environmental issues, stay tuned to learn of opportunities for involvement.
• We have reached out to the League of Women voters to see how the Cathedral can help their efforts to educate and encourage participation in voting. September’s Episcopal Journal‘s lead story was on the responsibility Episcopalians have to vote! Our via media tradition positions us well to help the process, holding our personal political perspectives in check. It is getting late for the current election, but we hopefully have started a long-term relationship.

We expect to begin a new phase of Outreach activity by convening regular Committee meetings. Watch for the announcement of a meeting in early November.

Finally, let me invite you to propose outreach activities.  I’d love to see every parishioner active in at least one reach out into our community. What activity would you invite your fellow parishioners– or folks who are not yet a part of our faith community– to join you to do?

Meet our new Deacon: the Rev. Jake Andrews

I come to Spokane with my wife, Chris, and our son, Jonah. We were most recently living in Iowa, where I earned my MFA in English from the University of Iowa; I taught there and at Iowa State. But I do not have divided loyalties: I’m originally from Alabama, so I cheer for the Crimson Tide (if I cheer for anyone)!

Before our time in Iowa, Chris and I lived in Scotland and England. Chris earned her PhD in English from the University of St Andrews, and I earned my PhD in Divinity from the University of Aberdeen. I taught theology and was a researcher at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge.

I started my journey to ordination with the United Methodist Church in Alabama before becoming an Episcopalian in seminary. I began my formal discernment process with the Scottish Episcopal Church and then life took us to England and then to Iowa, where my process reached its conclusion with my ordination to the transitional diaconate just last summer. Life again intervened, and we moved to Spokane where I have taken a position as Assistant Professor of English at Whitworth, where I teach creative writing. Chris and Jonah are adjusting to life in Spokane before Chris starts looking for a job. If you talk with me long enough, I will mention Augustine – the subject of my doctoral studies – and my theological (and fictional) interests have to do with articulating God’s grace in the midst of the suffering and hardships that life throws our way. But enough about me! Jonah loves the music at the cathedral and he sometimes says “ding ding” where he thinks bells should chime during the Eucharist. Chris is passionate about the liturgy and has a long history of serving parishes (but I won’t say how so as not to volunteer her inadvertently!).

Deacon’s Corner

by Dave Walker

“Ministry is how we practice living our faith, preparing us for living our faith outside of the Cathedral.  Outreach is the subset of ministry that gets us out of our comfort zone and broadens our understanding of the love of God for all persons and all of creation.  Like prayer, fellowship, and the reading of Scripture, Outreach is the stuff we need to build personal faith and build our faith community.”                                                                                                                        John Walllingford, Sr. Warden

 

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Romans 12:4-5

 

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:27

 

What a glorious weekend at St. John’s!!! There was such a great spirit of praise and thanksgiving, warmth and welcome among the worship services on both Saturday and Sunday capped by the amazing turnout and participation with the Ministry Fair. It was one of those weekends where I truly felt the sense of us being a “community under construction” as we gathered for worship and enjoyed each other’s company over a meal and conversation. It was great meeting new folks, reacquainting with longer-term members who’ve been away for the summer and having the opportunity to get to know others who call St. John’s “home” during the weekend. There was certainly a lot of planning and execution of the planning that made the weekend what it was, especially all the behind-the-scene stuff with cooking, set-up and program elements. WAY TO GO!!!

 

As we enter a new and exciting future with Heather and her family’s arrival with us, the opportunities abound for how we will collectively use our skills, talents and resources in ways that form and shape us as followers of Christ. The ripple effect of our numerous Outreach ministries has both tangible and spiritual ramifications for those we serve through these ministries and for our own understanding of how God is working in us. The energy displayed by the individuals who represented the various ministries was inspiring and I left the festivities with high hopes for our communal commitment to serve those outside and inside the Cathedral through these hands-on and more behind-the-scene ministries.

 

What I’m most excited about is the potential for how we can collectively bring all our God-given gifts in service to others as we get to know one another better, serve together in ministry, pray together, worship together and welcome both newcomers and long-timers as members of the body, the church. I really appreciated Heather’s challenge for us in this regard. I personally believe that it is in our “doing” when combined with our “faith” where we get to truly experience the power of God in our lives and in those we’re called to serve. It’s our working and worshiping together, with God’s help and leading, that will build up St. John’s as a place of welcome for all people and where we can engage this collective journey of faith in hope, love and service.

 

Peace,

Dave

Better Know a Parishioner: Kathie Hawkins

I’m Kathie Hawkins. Outside my work at the Cathedral, I work for Travelers Insurance as a licensed insurance agent in 45 states. My hobbies include cooking and sewing and my mini garden on my patio.

What is your history at St. John’s Cathedral, and the Episcopal Church at large?  

My husband Dallas grew up in an Anglican Church in Calgary, while I grew in the Assemblies of God Church as a young person. I was searching for a Church home with a more structured liturgy, which we both found at St John’s about 13 years ago.

What ministries at St. John’s are you most passionate about? If none at St. John’s, what ministries in Spokane are you most passionate about?

Oh where do I begin?  I think I am most passionate about the Verger ministry, since that is my job almost every week. Keeping things running smoothly for our worship is important to me. I also enjoy being the Acolyte leader, as well as the fellowship of Daughters of the King.

I am active in Altar Guild and of course, St. Monica Guild since I love to cook.

What is one thing you’d like to know more about at St. John’s?

I would love to become more knowledgeable about our history, and learn every detail of our Cathedral. One day I will do just that!

What is one thing you would like St. John’s to know more about you?

Most of you already know my love for St John’s. It is my second home!

Racial Reconciliation and the Episcopal Church: Charlottesville

Last weekend marked the year-anniversary of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. We in the Inland Northwest share a history of challenges from white supremacist groups and ideologies. In the past decade alone, we might remember the 2011 attempted bombing of the Martin Luther King Day parade or the racist flyers that have been repeatedly posted around town. While we are time zones away from Charlottesville, curated resources in response to those events can shed light on race relations in the United States today and help us to respond as people of faith. Learning is key to reconciliation – in order to repent and make amends, we must understand what was done and how it continues to shape our lives today. In that spirit, here are three resources that you might explore in the coming month.

1. Congregate Charlottesville, the website for an interfaith organization committed to “faith-rooted action and justice oriented education. Congregate Charlottesville equips and prepares people of faith to bear public witness to (in)justice and educates faith communities on issues of justice and liberation.” The Christian resources include liturgy, prayers, and “resources for repair” in the spirit of repentance for complicity in white supremacy, among other goals.
2. JSTOR’s Charlottesville Syllabus, subtitled “Readings on the History of Hate in America”
3. The Charlottesville Syllabus, a collection of links put together by UVA Graduate Students Coalition for Liberation designed “to educate readers about the long history of white supremacy in Charlottesville, Virginia”

 

Better Know a Parishioner: Nicole Sheets

I’m Nicole Sheets, and I teach in the English department at Whitworth University.

What is your history at St. John’s Cathedral, and the Episcopal Church at large?

I joke that I’m a common law Episcopalian because I’ve attended an Episcopal church off and on for the last 18 years, but I haven’t been confirmed. I moved to Spokane in 2010 and started attending St. John’s regularly the year after.

What ministries at St. John’s are you most passionate about?

I’ve heard choirs described as a church within the church, and that’s certainly been true for me at St. John’s. Janet Ahrend and Tim Westerhaus have taught me a lot about music, and what it means to sing as part of an ensemble. I love that there are professional musicians as well as amateurs like me in the choir. And it’s really an intergenerational ministry, which isn’t all that common.

The Cathedral Choir has been my home at St. John’s, and the center of my spiritual practice. I feel more deeply connected to the church calendar, as the music in our rehearsal folder reflects the more introspective seasons of Advent and Lent, and the exuberance of Eastertide. Maybe it’s just the fancy robe, but when I process with the choir on a Sunday morning, I have a heightened attention to what’s happening in the service. Certainly, working on my singing has made me a better listener. My son, Henry, was born last September, and I’ve taken a break from the choir. I miss it very much, and you can hear me belting out hymns in the children’s area in the South Transept.

What is one thing you’d like to know more about at St. John’s?

Now that I’m experiencing St. John’s with two young children, I’d like to learn more about St. John’s youth ministries. I grew up in a different tradition, so I really don’t know what it’s like to be an Episcopal kid. This is maybe exceeding my “one thing” I’d like to know, but I wonder if St. John’s will one day have an outdoor play structure. I was on Chapter when the short-lived Playground Exploratory Committee presented its report. The dream still lives!

A Fond Farewell

A lot can happen in three years.

Three years ago, I was ordained a Priest here at St. John’s Cathedral. It was a great moment in my life and a launching off point for what I am sure will be a life well-filled. Just under three years ago, I started working here at St. John’s Cathedral, the newest Curate, ready to cut my teeth in real ministry and put all of my seminary learnings to good use. It was just over a year ago, that you helped my wife and I welcome our baby girl Charlee into the church as she was baptised here. And it was this past year that we’ve lived into the uncertainty of transition together. It has been these past three years that have taught me a lot about what it means to be a priest, what it looks like to live into that vocation, how I can take what I have learned here with me as I answer the call to serve as the next Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, in Longview, Washington.

This past year in particular has allowed me to really stretch my learning and put into practice those things I learned in my first two years, while also growing with and learning from this community. Whether it be our exploration together last fall on what mission and outreach means to us as a community, or the experiment that turned into a regular offering of the Joyful Noise Eucharist this past spring, we have worked diligently and faithfully together to create formation, liturgy, and community here at St. John’s. This past year of faithful community discernment and transition period living has also influenced my own personal discernment as I sought my next calling to serve God’s church.

I particularly want to thank the youth and young adult(ish) people of this congregation. I have spent much of my time and energy working with these groups of people in our community, and I have loved every minute of it. Whether it be attending youth group every week, helping grow the Yoga at the Cathedral program, doing seasonal book studies, attending baseball (and hockey and basketball) games, and launching a new concert experience, these people have inspired me in my ministry to see church in new ways.

Ultimately I want to thank this congregation and the people within it that have given me a platform in order to succeed. It started with Bill Ellis, someone I will always treasure having had the opportunity to learn under. It ends in our time of transition as we (not so) patiently await the arrival of our next Dean, Heather. I know that this place and this congregation are in fine position to help lead the church into our unknown future, and I will be excited to see how the Cathedral of Spokane, the Cathedral on the Hill, continues to live out its call to ministry in the greater Spokane community and Spokane Diocese.

Thank you.

Better Know a Parishioner: James Rosenzweig

Your name and what you do in Spokane (whether that be work or volunteer or hobbies or activities or…)

My name is James Rosenzweig—the primary thing I do, locally, is serve on the library faculty at Eastern Washington University, where I’m currently an Assistant Professor and the Education Librarian.  I’m also a part-time employee of the YMCA of the Inland Northwest, as I serve as an advisor and mentor to a group of teenagers who participate in the Y’s Youth & Government program for civic engagement.  Those two commitments, plus being the husband of a cathedral chapter member and the father of an energetic 4 year old, don’t leave me a lot of time for hobbies or activities.  But when I find time, I do enjoy reading (especially science fiction), playing board games, and spending a little time under the stars as an amateur backyard astronomer.

What is your history at St. John’s Cathedral, and the Episcopal Church at large?

My family started attending St. John’s in January of 2015, just a week or two after we moved to the area from Chicago, and we’ve been here ever since.  We’re naturally a bit introverted (except for the 4 year old), so it’s taken us a while to settle in and learn about all the things the parish does in the community, but we’ve been really glad we chose to be a part of the congregation, and are invested in seeing St. John’s thrive.  I’m active as a lector and as one of the people who offers the prayers on Sunday mornings, and last year I was licensed as a lay preacher (as I had been previously), which has allowed me the rewarding opportunity to preach on occasion.

As far as the Episcopal Church goes, neither my wife nor I were raised in it.  My story starts out in a Swedish Baptist Church, which I attended very faithfully throughout my childhood and young adult years, and in which I was baptized.  For reasons, I don’t really recall, when I went off to a graduate program in history, I chose as my subject the religious history of the English Reformation, and I fell in love with the church I was studying.  I like to say (half-jokingly) that my first prayer book was the 1549 version.  My wife and I became Episcopalians in 2005, when we started attending St. Margaret’s in Bellevue, Washington, and we were very active in that parish for a number of years, prior to our move to Chicago in 2011.  In Chicago, we had a harder time finding a church home, but we settled for long stretches of time at St. Paul and the Redeemer on Chicago’s south side and at St. Luke’s in Evanston, which is the church we were attending right before moving here to the Spokane area.

What ministries at St. John’s are you most passionate about?

I think it’s fair to say I’m pretty passionate about lectoring/praying, which is a ministry I’ve been involved in at every church I’ve attended for many years now – I love our liturgy and I delight in the opportunity to participate in the liturgy in that way.  I’m also pretty passionate about ministries to children and teens—both as a parent of a kid I expect will engage with those ministries for many years to come, and as someone who’s long worked with young people both in the church and outside of it (at the YMCA and as a public school teacher, which I was for a number of years).  And I’m very glad that our church is involved in supporting the homeless and the underemployed through ministries like the West Central Episcopal Mission, which I’ve been able to participate in a little, helping with meal preparation.

What is one thing you’d like St. John’s to know more about you?

Probably the best thing is something I alluded to earlier: I’m a bit introverted naturally (which people don’t often expect, since I don’t mind reading or speaking in public … it’s the social setting of something like a coffee hour that I find a little more challenging), so I may be a little quieter in some settings at church.  But I have enjoyed getting to know people at St. John’s, and if you cross paths with me, I hope you’ll say hello.  I’d be glad to talk about all these things I’ve mentioned (my kid and my job and my hobbies, and all the rest), and maybe get the chance to know you a little better, too.