Episcopal churches in Indiana participate in program to use buildings to catalyze community connections

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The Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Huntington, in the Diocese of Northern Indiana, is part of the first cohort of the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships project.

The Rev. Drew Downs and the people of St. Stephen’s in Terre Haute, Indiana, are stewards of a big, old church building that can be hard to keep humming. When Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows started talking about the ways in which such buildings could be transformed into assets, “that idea instantly spoke to some of us,” he said.

Several months and a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. later, St. Stephen’s and 13 other Episcopal parishes across the state are deep into a program that will help them develop the vision and skills to make better use of their buildings. The Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships project, funded by a three-year grant from the endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative, welcomed its first cohort in June and will launch its second with 12 congregations later this month.

The program will eventually encompass four cohorts and provide instruction and coaching to every Episcopal congregation in the state of Indiana. It is rooted in the simple notion that if congregations made better use of their buildings, they could serve God’s mission more effectively, foster deeper relationships in their communities, and possibly develop additional mission-supporting streams of income.

If the membership of the first cohort is any indication, that idea appeals to congregations of all sizes, in all kinds of settings, ranging from large urban churches with space to spare, such as St. Stephen’s, to rural and small-town churches ministering in tighter quarters.

“We are a very small parish with an elderly demographic, so we are naturally seeking ways that we can move into the future, and one of the things we have been kicking around at vestry meetings and among ourselves was how can we use the building in different ways,” said Meg Moss, a member of the CBCP team from Christ the King, Huntington, in the Diocese of Northern Indiana. “So when this came up it seemed like a really good fit and we were excited about that.”

Drawing on tools, training and coaching from Partners for Sacred Places and Indiana Landmarks, participants in the program—which requires a nine-to-12-month commitment—are learning a variety of skills including assessing the space-sharing potential of their buildings and grounds; cultivating relationships with potential community partners, and improving their ability to speak about the impact of their ministries on their community.

“The CBCP project helps teams from participating churches learn to describe their best attributes and tell others about them, to the end that more ministry and impact will occur,” said Linda Buskirk, the program’s director. “Confidence and optimism build as congregations gain a more positive sense of the community value of their spaces.”

Putting church buildings at the service of community needs is not a new idea. Members of the team from St. Thomas, Franklin, in the Diocese of Indianapolis knew this well when they attended the program. In the mid-1990s the Rev. Judith A. Culpepper, a priest who was also doctor, served at the church, as did the Ven. Alice Goshorn, the diocese’s former archdeacon, who was married to a doctor. The two couples and a few volunteers established a free medical clinic with drop-in hours one day a week. The St. Thomas Clinic is now in its 26th year, has a separate director and separate steering committee from the church and writes grants to support itself.

Still, the Rev. Whitney Smith, the church’s rector said, the opportunity to use their building “as an asset that could be used for community connections that didn’t exist yet” appealed to them, and that after the first training session, the team held a scavenger hunt that led them to experience their property differently.

“I went to a nursery space, which is huge, and has a jungle gym, playground and a working kitchen,” he said. “Somebody else went to the vacant deacon’s office, and we began to come up with ideas. So the process has begun.”

Other participants say the challenge of looking at familiar space with new eyes has led them to think differently, not just about their buildings, but also about their mission and ministries.

“Our outreach committee tithes 10% of our operating budget to our community,” said Susan Gooden, a member of the team from St. John’s Church, Mount Vernon, in the Diocese of Indianapolis. “But we’ve never really done anything except donate money to them. [The program] made us reevaluate that list of partnerships as to how we might provide a different kind of partnership than those just based on money.”

A similar reevaluation is underway at Christ the King. The congregation currently donates space to a daycare center but is not deeply involved in its day-to-day operation. “We would like to supplement this ministry with something that would make use of our other spaces and perhaps involve the congregation and a community collaboration in ways the daycare doesn’t,” Moss said.

In addition to classroom work and one-on-one interviews between leaders of the congregation and Partners for Sacred Places’ project staff, the CBCP program includes a three-hour site visit by members of the project staff.

Smith said the visit at St. Thomas, Franklin, consisted of three parts, including a rigorous assessment of his parish’s property; an hour-long conversation about its potential uses; and what he described as an eye-opening conversation with a community leader who had an encyclopedic command of the needs of numerous nonprofit agencies in the region.

“We haven’t made any decisions,” about potential community partners, Smith said. “But we definitely have some ideas.”

The process of preparing for the site visit can be challenging.

Gooden said she spoke with the directors of a variety of local social service providers in the public and private sectors, the leaders of local schools, and a township trustee. Then just when she thought she had made a survey of community needs, the local homeless shelter closed.

“We are very concerned about poverty here,” she said. “It is a very poor county. There is no place for children, for the elderly and the homeless. But we can’t do all of that. We have to focus.”

St Stephen’s in Terre Haute has both significant space to offer in its old building and a focus of ministry suggested by its location on the edge of the Indiana State University campus in the city’s arts corridor. But Downs said the church’s aging physical plant presents problems of its own.

“There is part of me that is kind of embarrassed on our behalf that some of these rooms, we don’t have any use for them. … We have an old nursery that has essentially become a closet and a couple of families did some work on it, but there is a leak and it smells bad,” Downs said.

“My first thought was that [during the site visit] I am going to be embarrassed to show this space. Then I had to take a step back and realize that it was important to say what is actually here. To say, it’s used as a closet, but we want it to be a room again. If you can envision something here. We would love to see what we can make here. That became a different image, more collaborative, not me trying to sell you something.”

Not every site visit provokes a deep reckoning with a parish’s capabilities and limitations, but the process of convening community leaders both brings local congregations to their attention and begins the process of narrowing down the kinds of initiatives a congregation might consider hosting.

Christ the King invited the head of senior services in Huntington County, the head of Love, Inc., which works among those living in poverty and isolation, and the director of the Parkview Huntington Foundation.

“We discussed community needs, gaps that we might consider filling, and areas of collaboration to explore,” Moss said. “We fielded such possibilities as a monthly [at first] adult day care afternoon with a healing service and hymn or song singalong, providing transportation to hospital appointments, and launching a program to help users of the food pantry at Love Inc. to use and cook unfamiliar ingredients in one-pot meals using our daycare kitchen.

“Everyone left feeling connected and enthusiastic,” she said. “At the very least we have surfaced in the community as a congregation with the will and desire to fill a need.”

In the coming months, when their projects have come into focus, congregations in each cohort will be eligible to apply for planning and capital grants to make key investments to their buildings.  Congregations that complete the program will be included in a statewide, web-based inventory listing the spaces congregations have to offer.

Press release written by Canticle Communications and published by Episcopal News Service.

Pastoral Letter Regarding Updated COVID-19 Guidelines

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December 29, 2021

Dear Siblings in the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

As we face a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates in our area and the arrival of the new Omicron variant to Indiana, it is important that we revisit our diocesan COVID-19 guiding principles. As you may know, the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana is spread across 31 counties. The Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard and Map advisory level graphic was updated this afternoon. It currently reports that 19 of the 31 counties within our diocese are currently in the red advisory level. Those counties are Lake, Newton, Porter, Jasper, LaPorte, Starke, Marshall, Elkhart, Kosciusko, Wabash, Whitley, Noble, LaGrange, Steuben, DeKalb, Carroll, Howard, Grant, and Jay. The remaining 12 counties are currently in the orange advisory level. 

You may recall that in May 2020, nearly two months after closing all our physical spaces due to the outbreak of COVID-19, I released a pastoral plan, in collaboration with clergy and lay leaders from across the diocese, for how we could begin to regather in-person for worship. Together, we lived into those guidelines for several months. As we have learned more about COVID-19 and vaccines became widely available, we revised and updated our diocesan guidelines. In May 2021, we released guiding principles for each faith community to consider given their particular context. Each faith community has chosen to implement these guidelines differently based on what their clergy and lay leadership felt was right for their situation. 

The missioners and I met last week and discussed any revisions that may need to be made to our plan given our current situation. Therefore,effective January 1, I am requiring that proper masks be worn inside the buildings of our faith communities if the county in which your building is located and/or the county(s) where a significant number of parishioners live are in the red advisory level as shown by advisory level graphic on the Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard and Map. Clergy, readers, and choirs, can continue to remove their mask while speaking or singing if they are fully vaccinated, including having received a booster shot, and are speaking or singing in a location significantly distanced from the congregation as we know being able to read lips helps those with hearing difficulties. In addition, I strongly encourage each faith community to review their current operating procedures and to tighten up their COVID guidelines where they may have gotten a bit lax. Examples could include returning to tracking who is attending each service, reinforcing physical distancing in pews and during hospitality, and ensuring access to hand sanitizer and masks. Please also continue to provide services and formation opportunities in a hybrid format whenever possible.

Lastly, I want to reiterate the importance of getting vaccinated and receiving the booster shot. Doing this lessens your chances of getting sick with COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization. In addition, getting vaccinated and boosted helps to protect those around you who may not be able to receive the vaccine due to their age or other health concerns. Please consult with your doctor and do this at your earliest opportunity. 

As of the 28th of December 2021, 54,144,941 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States and 841,984 persons have died. Let’s continue praying for the healing of those who are infected with COVID. Pray for the health care professionals who are taking care of those infected. And pray for all who mourn those who have died. May those who have died, rest in Christ’s peace and rise in Christ’s glory.

Doug (he/him/his)

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas E. Sparks
VIII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana

Photo credit: Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard and Map website

The Rev. Matthew Cowden Elected Bishop Coadjutor in Diocese of West Virginia

The Rev Matthew Cowden.jpg

25 September 2021

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Siblings,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, God’s Word made flesh!

I want to share some wonderful news with you. Today, our brother, the Rev. Matthew Cowden (pictured), was elected by the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia to serve as their Bishop Coadjutor for a period of time before becoming the Eighth Bishop of the diocese. This is great news for the whole church and especially those who are part of the Episcopal Church in West Virginia.

Fr. Matthew began serving as the Rector of St. Michael and All Angels in 2009. He has many gifts that have enhanced the mission, ministry, and management of St. Michael’s. He has also served in positions of leadership in our diocese, the province and was most recently elected to serve on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. Let us pray for Matthew and Melissa, their children Meghan, Nicholas, and Joshua, as they prepare for this new ministry.

There is also a bitter sweetness to this news, especially for our sisters, brothers, siblings of St. Michael and All Angels in South Bend. I know full well how happy and sad they are, given the news of this election. Let us uphold them in our prayer as well as they prepare to give thanks for Fr. Matthew and his family and begin a time of transition.

It is our blessing to support all those whose lives are changed by this election.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen!

Every blessing!
Doug

The Rt. Rev. Douglas E. Sparks
VIII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana

You can watch the 144th Annual Convention of the Diocese of West Virginia and the Election of the Bishop Coadjutor here or by clicking on the image below.

2022 Assessment Reduction Requests

Dear Parish Leadership – Clergy, Senior Wardens, and Treasurers,

Each year when the parochial reporting process for the previous year is complete, parochial assessments for the coming year, in this case 2022, are calculated. This was done at the end of May and posted to our Diocesan website both at Resources/Documents and Forms (https://ednin.org/docs) and News and Events/Diocesan Convention (https://ednin.org/conv). You may always find this information at either of these two locations.

Please take some time to review your 2022 parochial assessment and make a determination whether it is feasible. If your projections indicate you are likely unable to pay the full amount, the parish may apply for a Diocesan Assessment Reduction. The application is available at the Documents and Forms link above. Application must be complete and submitted to Missioner Michelle (missioner.walker@ednin.org) by Monday, September 13 at 12 p.m. EDT so that it may be reviewed for completeness and presented to Diocesan Council for consideration on Saturday, September 18. As indicated in the form, it is requested that the priest, senior warden, and treasurer be available for this meeting (likely via Zoom). This means you need to make at least a cursory review of your proposed 2022 budget, ahead of your stewardship campaign, in order to make this determination.

If you do decide to apply, note that page two of the application form contains a series of questions that are looking to better understand the context of your faith community. Please don’t get hung up on the particulars of the questions. We know this form needs to be revised and plan to do so before next year. It’s important to focus on what necessitates the reduction request and what is being done to strengthen the financial stability of the congregation. Consider the questions offered as prompts that encourage the sharing of the “rest of the story” behind the request. The necessary financial documents will tell most of the story. Your narrative will explain the rest.

If you have questions about process, timing, documentation or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You are welcome to send your applications in early as there are often missing pieces that need to be coordinated in the last days. Please also know that each faith community remains in our prayers. We know how difficult the last year+ has been and are here to support you in any way we can.

Blessings,
Missioner Michelle

The Rev. Canon Michelle I. Walker
Missioner for Administration and Communications

Communique Regarding COVID-19 Protocols

Dear Siblings in Christ,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

As you know, early last week, the CDC revised its protocol regarding mask wearing, due to the increased infection rate, even among the fully vaccinated, because of the COVID-19 Delta variant. These revisions apply for indoor gatherings specifically.

Also on Monday, the Mayo Clinic News Network recorded a podcast with Dr. Greg Poland addressing these very concerns as well. Even though the podcast is somewhat long, I encourage our clergy and lay leaders to watch it because he addresses a number of concerns that apply to each of us and our faith communities. It is important to remember that the variants of the COVID-19 virus behave in such a way that we need to continually adapt our behavior given each variant's virulence. It is not like an off and on switch but more like a rheostat...modulating our protocols to address each context.

Also included in the email is a ZOOM conversation I had with Dean Brian Grantz which serves as a personal testimony from someone who was fully vaccinated yet became sick with COVID-19.

We have also included a link to the most recent CDC guidelines and a link to the Indiana Coronavirus Dashboard.

Please consult these resources as you seek to adapt, in your particular context, to keeping everyone safe and well, especially the youngest among us and those adults who are not able to receive the vaccine for other health reasons.

I have decided to wear a mask inside any building I enter when there are other persons present in order to keep others from catching COVID-19 from me.

Thank you for your ongoing care for one another.

You remain in prayer daily.

Doug

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas E. Sparks
VIII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana

Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Stopping the spiral of the COVID-19 delta variant

A Conversation Between Bishop Doug and Dean Brian: Dean Brian's Personal Experience having COVID-19 and Updated CDC Guidelines

CDC COVID-19 Integrated County View

Click image or here to find your own county.

Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia Announces Slate of Candidates for Bishop

2 August 2021

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Siblings,

The Rev Matthew Cowden.jpg

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

Earlier today, the Diocese of West Virginia announced their candidates for bishop and the Rev. Matthew Cowden (pictured), a priest of our diocese who serves as Rector of St. Michael and All Angels in South Bend, is one of their candidates. Please join me in praying for Matthew and Melissa and their family as the public part of this process now begins. The next step is the walkabout which will occur in August. The Electing Convention is scheduled for 25 September 2021.

I invite you to pray for the people of St. Michael and All Angels as well. The bond between a clergy person and those they are called to serve is deep and while it is a time to rejoice and give thanks for this potential opportunity for Fr. Matthew to be called to serve the wider church in episcopal ministry. Nonetheless, this process profoundly effects the life of the faith community of St. Michael and All Angels. Let us also pray for all those involved in this process of discernment and election in the Diocese of West Virginia.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen!

Every Blessing,

Doug

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas E. Sparks
VIII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana


You can view the official release from the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia here.

You can read Fr. Matthew's email to the people of Saint Michael and All Angels here.

New Happenings Ministry Camp

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Sibling in Christ,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

We have just completed our EDNIN Kids' Camp at Camp Mack under the direction of our new Missioners for Camping Ministries...Jodi and Daniel Kallenberg, Cindy Spice and Megan Spice-Frede. What a joy to be part of this formational ministry in our diocese.

We also have another camping ministry that has been part of our diocesan life for more than a decade...CAMP NEW HAPPENINGS. Camp New Happenings is a camping opportunity for pre-teen children of prisoners, to experience God's gifts of nature, kindness and togetherness, by sharing hopes and dreams within a positive camping experience.

I am designating the next three weeks as a time for you to consider making a financial contribution to support children during this year's week of camp which begins on Sunday, 25 July and runs through Saturday, 31 July at Camp Mack in Milford, Indiana.

Your clergy leader or lay leader may choose to designate one of the next three Sundays as Camp New Happenings Sunday. You can also send a check made out to the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana and in the memo line write Camp New Happenings.

All financial gifts will be used to support children coming for a week of camp! Thank you for your generosity!

Every blessing,

Bishop Doug
(he, him, his)