June 6, 2013
EWARM awarded UTO grant
Episcopal Wichita Area Refugee Ministry (EWARM) has been awarded one of only 46 grants made through the United Thank Offering.
The agency will receive $24,360 to set up a computer lab that will help recent refugees access job-training services, many of which now are only available online.
The grant will cover hardware and software.
EWARM has welcomed nine refugee families from Burma (Myanmar) to start new lives in Wichita free of persecution and violence.
More information about their work is on the EWARM website,
Getting ready for Diocesan Convention
Diocesan Convention may be four months away, but the first deadlines happen in about 60 days.
Aug. 15 is the deadline to submit nominations for elections, as well as proposed debatable resolutions and proposed amendments to the diocesan constitution and canons.
The following positions are up for election this year:
- Four clergy and four lay deputies to General Convention and Provincial Synod
- Four clergy and four lay alternates to General Convention and Provincial Synod
- One clergy and one lay at-large member of the Council of Trustees
- One clergy at-large member of the Council of Trustees, unexpired term (1 year)
Note that nominations must be made on the form posted online (in both a Word and editable PDF format), as well as be accompanied by a digital photo of the nominee.
Convention also will ratify lay members of the Council of Trustees who will be elected by each of the four convocations at their September meetings.
A page has been set up on the diocesan website to provide pertinent information as it’s available:
It also can be accessed from the main front page.
Information on the website includes contact information for committee chairs to whom nominations or proposed resolutions or amendments must be sent by the Aug. 15 deadline.
Diocesan Convention will take place Oct. 25-26 in Topeka.
Bishop Wolfe’s recent column now is online
Several people have asked for copies of the column Bishop Dean Wolfe wrote for the recent issue of The Harvest. That now is available on the diocesan website on Bishop Wolfe’s page:
Reminder: deadline for campus missioner applications is June 15
The diocese will receive names from priests interested in applying for the position of campus missioner until the deadline of June 15.
All correspondence should go to Canon to the Ordinary the Rev. Craig Loya, .
A position description is available on the diocesan website at
The bishop hopes to have a campus missioner in place by early fall.
Kansans give generous response for tornado victims
In response to Bishop Dean Wolfe’s call for donations to assist victims of recent tornadoes in Oklahoma, the diocesan office so far has received $3,469.
In a message sent to all parishes on May 21, the bishop asked congregations to take up special collections for tornado relief through Episcopal Relief and Development.
Churches still can participate in the diocesan effort on any upcoming Sunday.
After a congregation has taken its collection for ERD, please forward one check for the total amount to the diocesan office. Please make checks payable to “Episcopal Diocese of Kansas” with “Tornado Relief” in the memo line. Mail checks to Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, Tornado Relief, 835 SW Polk St., Topeka, KS 66612.
This information also is posted on the diocesan website,
Still time to sign up for ESS’s 5K “kindness” run
Runners, walkers and those who just like to make the world better are encouraged to sign up for the “Kindness Moves Me” 5K run/walk Saturday, June 15 sponsored by Episcopal Social Services of Wichita.
The race begins at 8 a.m. in front of the ESS offices at 1010 North Main in Wichita.
The cost to register is $25 in advance and $30 on race day. A 1K family fun run also is available. The cost for this is also $25 in advance and $30 on race day. T-shirts are provided for all registrants.
ESS notes that this new community event is designed to help spread kindness, just as ESS and its partner Breakthrough Club “work every day to spread a little kindness to our community through feeding those in need and assisting people living with mental illness to gain more independence.”
More information is on the event registration page:
Don’t forget: Vocationers’ weekend is set for Aug. 2-3
The diocesan Commission on Ministry will host a weekend gathering for anyone who currently is or may be considering a call to a major transition in their life. This may be a call to ordination, a new lay ministry or a new career.
This retreat will model the process, principles and practices of Christian discernment as one listens to God’s call. Participants will have an opportunity to interact with clergy and lay people from around the diocese and hear their stories of discernment.
It will take place August 2-3, from dinner on Friday through mid-afternoon on Saturday at Grace Cathedral in Topeka. Registration will be available soon.
Overnight accommodations will be at the Bethany Place Conference Center and at the Capitol Plaza Hotel at a discounted rate.
For more information contact Deacon Beth Drumm r Michael Funston
Cute pet photos can be submitted for Forward Movement calendars
Again this year Forward Movement is asking for photos of Episcopets to grace the pages of their two calendars for 2014: Episcocats and Episcopups.
The deadline to submit all nominees is June 10.
Technical information about digital photo requirements, as well as other information that’s needed, is online at
If they pick your photo for one of the 15 monthly pages, you’ll receive photo credit and five complimentary calendars.
Regional Faith and Culture Conference is set for Nov. 4-6
Amajor conference for lay and clergy church leaders is being planned for Nov. 4-6 by Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Mo., north of Kansas City
Speakers will include Dr. Walter Brueggemann and Word of Life Church pastor Brian Zahnd.
Those who register before Oct. 4 will pay a conference fee of $99; after that, it will be $139.
More information is on the event website,
Stewardship conference will help participants ‘Flourish in Faith’
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship is offering a major conference July 12-13 in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the theme “Flourish in Faith.” It is designed to offer congregational and diocesan stewardship teams theological, scriptural and practical aspects of stewardship information and annual giving.
Those unable to attend in person may register for webcast viewing. It includes the opening worship, three plenary addresses and four workshops. That cost is $75 per person
Early-bird registration discounts for in-person attenders are available until June 6.
More information is on the organization’s website,
Women are invited to Province 7 ECW retreat
All Episcopal Church Women are invited to a retreat for women of Province 7 (Kansas is one of the 12 dioceses in this province), which takes place Aug. 2-4 at Camp Allen, north of Houston, Texas.
The theme for the event is “Kindle in Us the Fire of Your Love.” It will include speakers, worship, free time to enjoy the grounds of the camp and opportunities to network with other women of the province.
The cost to attend the entire event, including meals and lodging, is $220 per person for a single room or $160 for a shared double room. Families are welcome to attend.
For more information or to register, contact Jackie Meeks at .
Clergy news
The Rev. Jim Cook, who has been rector of St. Luke’s, Shawnee for the past 18 years, has accepted a call to become rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Stillwater, Okla., beginning Aug. 1. His last Sunday at St. Luke’s will be June 30.
An open house celebration honoring Cook and his wife, Peggy, will take place at St. Luke’s on Saturday, June 29, from 1-4 p.m., with a special ceremony scheduled at 2 p.m. All in the diocese are invited to attend. The church is located at 5325 Nieman Road in Shawnee.
Bishop Wolfe has made the following parish assignments for three deacons: Sandy Horton-Smith to St. Paul’s, Manhattan; Rex Matney to Church of the Covenant, Junction City; and Beth Drumm to St. Michael and All Angels, Mission.
Anniversaries of ordinations
Congratulations go to these people as they celebrate the anniversaries of their ordination in the next two weeks:
June 6: The Rev. Shawn Streepy, St. Luke’s, Shawnee (4 years); Bishop Dean Wolfe, to the priesthood (20 years)
June 8: The Rev. Machrina Blasdell, licensed (28 years); the Rev. Ashley Null, Ph.D., non-parochial, Diocese of Western Kansas (27 years)
June 9: The Rev. Michael Munro, St. Paul’s, Leavenworth (29 years); the Rev. George Pejakovich, Grace Cathedral, Topeka, ELCA pastor (35 years)
June 11: The Rev. Curtis Cowell, retired (43 years); Deacon David Butler, (Epiphany, Independence and Ascension, Neodesha (8 years); Deacon Bob Honse, St. Margaret’s, Lawrence (8 years); Deacon Allen Ohlstein,St. Paul’s, Leavenworth (8 years
June 12: The Rev. Mark Cowell, Sts. Mary and Martha of Bethany, Larned, Diocese of Western Kansas (9 years)
June 17: The Rev. Timothy Kline, non-parochial, Diocese of Western Kansas (21 years)
June 20: The Rev. Liz Gomes, St. Christopher’s, Wichita (22 years); Deacon Carmen Anderson, retired (26 years)
Stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter
You can find news, features and updates from the diocese on social media. We’re on Facebook – EpiscopalDioceseofKansas ( – and Twitter –@EpiscoKs.
We hope to connect with you online!
Next DioLog
The next edition of DioLog will be sent to subscribers on Thursday, June 20. Information to be included should be sent to Melodie Woerman, diocesan director of communications, at , no later than Tuesday, June 18.
DioLog is a publication of the Office of Communications of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas.
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