Frontier hospitality at St. Paul's, Elko

Thursday evening brought us to the end of a long day's journey when we stopped in Elko, home of cowboy poetry and the National Basque festival. We were greeted by members of the congregation, the vestry, their priest Jody Lediard, and Sami the Church Dog. When we came into the parish hall there was a veritable groaning board of beautifully prepared food, and The Reverend Reporter groaned inwardly as I had not yet overcome the effect of the enormous Basque lunch we had eaten in Winnemucca. Still, The Reverend Reporter believes in the importance of politeness, so I managed a few bites and decided that I needed to celebrate the oncoming autumn with a slice of homemade pumpkin pie.


After the plates had been cleared and coffee poured everyone settled in to hear from the candidates, and our Moderator asked the "warmup" question: Other than Nevada, where have you travelled that you would like to return someday, or where have you always wanted to go?

Al Keeney loves to go on pilgrimage, and has travelled to Canterbury, Norwich, and Lindisfarne to do so. He related the story of his most recent pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland, how he injured his foot and could not complete the pilgrimage trek, and how he found himself being ministered to in that moment of sadness.

Eric Funston loves Ireland and its many green hills, and journeyed there with his wife this past May.

Susan Burns wants to return to Abu Ghosh, a settlement east of Jerusalem, where she explored a convent, a monastery, and a hospital where both Arab and Israeli children with chronic illnesses and birth defects are lovingly cared for.

Cathy Deats likes visiting Tulare, California, where her son and his wife live and run a farm.

Dan Edwards regards the Jerome Priory in the potato country of Idaho as a place of spiritual discovery.

Jeff Paul loves New Zealand, where he spent time living and worshipping with the Maori people.

After this question had been thoroughly explored we went off to our different rooms for group sessions. Once again The Reverend Reporter was in a group where not every candidate answered each question, so I will post a representitive sample of questions and answers.

In answer to the question how would you grow our diocese?, Jeff Paul replied that he would make it a priority to build solid youth and young adult programs, and to make sure that this vision of bringing the youth and young adults to a central place in church life was done with appropriate resources and consistency. He believes that as we dedicate our resources to this ministry we cannot help but grow.

Dan Edwards would begin with steps to unify the diocese and reclaim the original concept of total ministry, which is the church as the ministering community, and that each individual is called to recognize and appreciate their own and each other’s gifts. Doing so makes churches exciting, energetic places to be. Dan also emphasized that is important that we engage our ministries with an attitude of abundance as opposed to the model of scarcity in which churches often function. He believes that the question is not how to fill the church, but to ask who needs Jesus and take steps to answer that need.

Al Keeney would begin by paying close attention to those churches that really feel neglected by doing residential visitations. This would entail the bishop being present in one place for a longer period of time, getting to know the congregation and helping them to address the challenges that are getting in the way of growth.

Cathy Deats would get to know each congregation and how they function in order identify the mission of the different churches in their local communities. She believes that when a congregation can identify its mission this is the beginning of growth. We all also need to get in the habit of regularly inviting our friends and neighbors to church, but our church needs to be something we’re excited about.

In answer to the question as bishop, how would you guide us so that we can be more connected to our ministries and to the greater church?, Susan Burns responded that she would come into our communities and stay awhile. She believes that it’s important for the bishop to know what’s going on and what is not going well in the church. The bishop needs to address issues of alienation and estrangement between the northern and southern parts of the diocese and to pay more attention to the issues facing the churches in the frontier. Susan believes that there’s currently a sense of scarcity in the diocese, so issues dealing with the stewardship of resources need to be addressed. She sees a tremendous strength in the diocese of Nevada along with a sense of hope and spirit, especially in the small struggling churches. She asserted that we need to know each other better so that we are better able to draw strength from each other. This should be a missionary diocese to the community at large.

Eric Funston answered the same question by asserting the importance of relationships -building relationships with God, with each other, and between parishes. The bishop needs to set the model of how these relationships function. This requires a ministry of presence, where the bishop and his/her clergy and congregations getto know each other over meals, study and conversation.

It seems as though we could have chatted all night, but the evening was over all too soon. Before we concluded the evening's work we all filed into the sanctuary to recite Evening Prayer, asking God especially for blessings upon this community. Then it was time to board the bus and get some rest before beginning the long journey to Ely, Pioche, and back to Las Vegas.

Blessings,

RR+