The Scroll Sept 2011, Advent Episcopal Church, Crestwood, MO

8/4/2019 The Scroll Sept 2011, Advent Episcopal Church, Crestwood, MO

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9373 Garber Road, Crestwood, MO 63126 314-843-0123 www.advent-episcopal.org [email protected]

September 2011

In this issue:

In the Hands of God - Vic Kremer....................................1

Notes on a dissertation - Dan Handschy.......................2Music, music, music..............................................................3

Habi-Jam - Event to Support Episcopal Habitat..........4

The Episcopal Church in Haiti - Wayne Smith..............5

September events in the Life of Advent..........................6

From Maryland to Missouri: Biography of Ella..............8

Liturgical Ministies Calendar............................................10

Remembering 9/11............................................................11

The Day the Arab Came to Lui - Deb Goldfeder........12

Editor: Marla Dell

On Friday August 12, eight Advent memberswent to the city detention center at Vandeventer

and Enright. Advent volunteers to organize andparticipate in a supervised party once each year forthe children detained there who have a birthday inAugust. Thanks to Deb & Ron Goldfeder, Elaine &Mark Naes, Cheryl & John Kellogg and Dale Iffrigfor participating. Thanks also to those who madecontributions to buy the gifts.

This year we had about 30 young men and three

young ladies attend. They ranged in age from about12 to 17. We played bingo and gave candy as prizes.We presented small gifts to six of them who cel-ebrated August birthdays.

As has been the case in the past years, manydetainees seemed to be wary and defensive when

they were escorted into the cafeteria area wherethe party was held. We interacted with them a bit

at the beginning of the party. We walked the roomand introduced ourselves and asked their names.The chaplain asked us to stand in front of the groupand tell them a bit about Advent. We each tookturns sharing a few impromptu words about ourchurch and ourselves.

I looked out at the group and wondered, whatwere their preconceived ideas about us? What was

their story? What kindof family life and supportdo they have? What willhappen to them in the

judicial system? What ef-fect will the experiencehave on their futurebehavior? What is their

longer term future?

In the hands of God: a reection on a birthday partyby Vic Kremar

We played the bingo game. We gave the pres-ents to those with birthdays. We served cake, ice

cream and punch at the end of the party. The kidswere escorted out of the room and back to theirquarters.

It is natural to wonder if our presence on that one

evening had any impact on them at all. Could it possi-bly have any effect at all in breaking down racial barri-ers? Could it possibly have any effect at all in provid-ing any direction on even one of these young lives?

In reection, the answers to those questions

and to any of the questions asked in this brief essayare absolutely none of my business. The outcome isin the hands of God. Eight of us simply behaved likeChristians and reached out to those less fortunatethan us. Eight of us simply took the offering of

peace that we so enjoy on Sundays in Crestwoodto a group of thirty young people in the inner city.

Flu shots at Advent:Thursday, Sept. 22, 9 AM - Noon

Sunday, Oct 9, 8:30 AM - Noon

cc photo from ickr.com: bookgrl


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2

From the Rectors Desk

Thanks and Notes on a dissertation

I want to thank you all foryour prayers for me during my recentvacation. I took off three weeks to

see if I could nish my dissertation. I

had one more chapter to write, andgot it nearly done during those threeweeks. I have begun revisions on theearlier chapters, and should have thewhole project nished by the end of

August. I hope to turn it in by Sep-tember 1. You all have been fantas-

tically patient with me during the

three years of writing. Looking back,I realize that I matriculated in the fallof 2004, seven years ago. There werefour years of course work and thethree of writing. It has been an amaz-ingly fun journey for me.

At some point this fall, I will

defend the dissertation. The defenseis an open event, and you will all beinvited, once I know when it will take

place. You can imagine there will be aparty at church afterwards!

Heres what Ive learned, andwritten about: When the Church of

England came to this continent (withthe colonists), it was not well accept-ed here. People connected episco-pacy (the ofce of bishops) too much

with the monarchy in England. Most

of the colonists were terried aboutthe idea of bishops in America. TheStamp Act even had a provision thatsome of the revenue raised would

support bishops in the colonies.

When the Diocese of Con-necticut elected Samuel Seabury in1783 to be their bishop, the clergy

had to hold theirconvention insecret. They

sent Seabury toEngland for con-secration. TheEnglish Bishops would not consecratehim even though the War was over, sohe went instead to Scotland.

When Seabury

got back to America,

he had to build anunderstanding of anEpiscopal Churchnot based on gov-ernment establish-ment (the conceptin England). He

worked to create an understanding of

the Church based on the efcacy of

the eucharistic sacrice and apostolic

succession (bishops as successors of

the apostles). Seaburys theology wasquite creative and unique (a fact forwhich he never receives credit). TheAmerican eucharist service in thePrayer Book, approved in 1789, was

remarkably different from the Englishrite.

John Henry Hobart was apriest in the Diocese of New York

beginning in theyear 1804. In1811 he becamethe Bishop of

New York. Hetook Seaburyseucharistic the-ology and com-bined it even

Daniel J. Handschy

John Henry Hobart

Samuel Seabury


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3

more clearly with the idea of apostolic

succession. He worked out a highchurch theology, sometimes calledHobartian high churchmanship. Ho-bart made friends with many clergy in

England, and traveled there in 1824-25.He published many of his sermons inEngland along with his other writings.

In 1828, the parliament of

England took many of the state sup-ports out from under the Church ofEngland and left it in an identity crisisof sorts. Without state establishment,the Church had a hard time justifyingits existence. In 1833, a small groupof men at the University of Oxfordbegan what has come to be called

the Oxford Movement, in which they

based the Churchs raison dtre on

eucharist sacrice and apostolic suc-cession. In my dissertation, I haveshown that, at least in part, the Ox-ford Movement borrowed this ecclesi-

ology from the American Church.

The Oxford Movement isoften credited with beginning the pro-cess that led to the liturgical renewal

movement in the twentieth centuryand ultimately the 1979 Prayer Book,and all the other revised prayer booksin the Anglican Communion. I haveargued that it really began with Sam-uel Seabury and John Henry Hobart,who had to justify the existence of anepiscopal church without the prop of

state establishment.

Music, music, music

Tuesday night, September 13th, its the much anticipated annual lawnconcert with After Hours Community Band. The membership of the AHCBrepresents a broad spectrum of backgrounds including nurses, schoolteachers,

engineers, housewives, students, and senior citizensand Adventers Jocelyn, Renand Bill Sanders.

At 5 PM the Mens Club will host a cookout, and the band will play at 7. This is agreat time to invite family, friends, and neighbors. Bring a lawn chair and bug sprayand bid farewell to this very hot summer of 2011.

Then, when musically inspired, consider joining music during Sunday worship. The

hand chimes will re-appear Sunday the 18th during the Psalm. You dont have tobe able to read notesthe music is color coded. Practice is Sunday morning at9:50 AM.

Adult Choir practice begins again at 7:30 PM on Wednesday nightsstarting September 21st.


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The Scroll - September 20114

The Episcopal Habitat Project will

be hosting a lawn concert, HabiJamPicnic at Grace Church in Kirkwoodfrom 3-7 PM on Saturday, October 1.Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at thedoor), children under 10 are free.

Bring a blanket or lawn chair tohear three bands play a variety ofmusic:

The Dixie Rhythm Kings

Playing the best in Traditional

Jazz and Dixieland,

Avantis Nuovo Playing stan-

dards and jazz, and

The After Hours Commu-

nity Band Fully instrumentedconcert band featuring marches,show tunes, Big Band, jazz, andlight classics.

Food and beverages will be avail-

able for purchase, and a silent auctionas well as a 50/50 are planned. Enjoyan afternoon of food, drink and musicwhile helping build new homes andnew hope in the St. Louis area!

Full information is at http://www.ehfhp.org/habijam_11.php, or con-

tact Bill Sanders (636-441-6834 [email protected]).

Would you like an opportunity tohelp Habitat for Humanity without

raising a hammer? Volunteers areneeded to help out at the HabiJamPicnic fundraiser (described elsewhere

in this issue) at 3-7 PM on October 1.Admission is free for volunteers, andyou get to hear three bands play avariety of music.

Especially are you one of Ad-vents trained beverage servers at Fair

St. Louis? You have a skill that not ev-eryone has! This is an opportunity toput your knowledge to further gooduse and its an easy gig to boot.

If you are interested, please con-tact Bill Sanders (636-441-6834 or

[email protected]).

Volunteers needed for HabiJam Picnic

Three Bands Featured at Event to Support

Episcopal Habitat Project


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The Episcopal Church of the Advent welcomes you 5

A little known fact about the Episco-pal Church is that the diocese with thelargest membership is Haiti, with about84,000 total baptized in the records. Thebest guess is that the actual number of

baptized is closer to 150,000. Comparethis to 14,000 in the Diocese of Missouri!

Haiti is also the most impoverishednation in the Americas, and the 2010earthquake merely accentuated this da-tum. A glance at the table of statisticstells the story. Undernourished people:49 percent. Life expectancy at birth:49 years. Annual per capita income:660 dollars. Adult literacy: 48 percent.

In this picture the Episcopal Diocese ofHaiti, though a tiny minority within a totalpopulation of 9 million, provides a clearwitness to faith in Jesusand the Dioceseprovides vital and singular social services,especially in health care and education. No-tably in this season of earthquake recovery,the Diocese has provided food and shelteron twenty-three of its properties, includingon the Cathedral grounds in Port-au-Prince(Cathdrale Sainte Trinit). The earthquake

left the Cathedral unusable and destroyedmany other buildings in the Cathedralcompound. A poignant loss, and the prideof the entire nation, was the set of fourteeniconic murals of Bible stories inside the Ca-thedral church. A team of artists complet-

ed the murals in the 1950s, depicting allthe characters as people of African Creoledescent. The people look like Haitians, asis fitting. Only three badly damaged mu-rals survived the earthquake. This Cathe-

dral was a spiritual center for the wholeHaitian people, not just Episcopalians.

The past tense in that last sentenceis not quite correct, for as Bishop JeanZach Duracin makes clear, the life ofthe Cathedral and its people continues.But now it is a Cathedral without walls.

The Episcopal Church as a whole hasundertaken a grass-roots effort to rebuild

Holy Trinity Cathedral and all its walls,from the ground up, brick-by-brick. TheEpiscopal Church Women of the Dioceseof Missouri are coordinating the effortshere, with bricks at ten dollars each, soeveryone can participate. I support thiseffort, and I am participating, for thesake of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Cathdrale Sainte Trinit and its peopleplay a crucial role in sustaining the mate-rial life of Haiti, through its ministries of

education and health care. More than that,the Cathedral represents the nations soul.

The Episcopal Church in Haiti

September 2011

diocesemo.org/haiti

Advent Church WomenThe ACW is sponsoring a spare change collection for only six Sundays.

The collection is for Missouri's ECW drive to help rebuild the Episcopal

Cathedral in Haiti. The cathedral was not only a church, but two schools, aconvent and much more. It was one of the largest and growing Episcopalchurches in the world. Then the earthquake leveled the gorgeous build-ing, including all of the historic murals. Please see The Seek newspaper forpictures. There will be a collection box in the Narthex titled "Cash for theCathedral" on August 28. It will only remain up for six Sundays. We areasking for just your spare change each Sunday to help buy bricks for theHaitian Cathedral. Each brick costs $10. Let's see how many bricks wecan purchase!


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6 The Scroll - September 2011

September Vestry MeetingSeptember 12, 6 PM. The Vestry has

invited the Rev. Bob Towner and several layleaders from Christ Church, Cape Girardeau

(the Red Door Church) to join us for our Vestrymeeting. Christ Church had received a parcelof land on the outskirts of Cape Girardeau in

a growing area, but after two years of prayerfuldiscernment, decided to stay downtown, eventhough their current location is landlockedand they cant build any bigger. Christ Church

discovered a vocation to serve their downtownneighborhood. Over the last several years, theyhave discovered several vital ministries that in-volve the neighborhood. We have invited them

to come speak to us as part of our membershipin the Missional Congregations group in theDiocese. Advent has recently begun looking

outward to our neighborhood to discover ourministry. We can learn something from ChristChurch.

This Vestry meeting is open to all. Wewill serve supper at 6:00 pm, and begin the pre-sentation and discussion at 6:30 pm.

Lunch and Learn explores all things Route 66 Acclaimed as the regions most prominent and energetic preservation historian, Esley Hamilton returns to talk about the architecture of St. Louis churchesand Advent, at the monthly Crestwood Parish Nurse Lunch and Learn programRegular 9:30 exercise is followed by the program at 10:30 a.m. Free and open to allunch is provided. Please RSVP to Deb Goldfeder, [email protected].

Third Thursday Ladies shaking it up this monthThe Thursday ladies will meet at church by 5:00 pm on Thursday, Sept. 8

(the rst Thursday) and carpool to the Symphony at Forest Park. The symphonybegins at 7:00 PM and reworks conclude the concert. This is a free event. Please

bring a lawn chair and snacks and drinks to share. If you have questions, pleasecontact Donna at 314-487-0299.

Remembering September 11, 2001 See page 11.

Vestry Meeting with Fr. Bob Towner6:00 PM, See details above.

Advents Garden blooms onCheck out the garden and lend a hand,

shovel, or whatever on Wednesdays. Send ques-tions to Elaine Naes at 314-843-1773, or [email protected]

Thursday Exercise ClassesEvery Tursday morning at 9:30, starom Crestview Retirement Center leads anexercise class at Advent. Tese classes are part othe Crestwood Parish Nurse program. Attendeesenjoy light rereshments aer exercise. Join us!

Feed My People Manna MarchTe March is scheduled or Sunday,

September 25, 1-3 PM at Jeerson Barracks ParkWell meet at the General Atkinson Shelter. Te

mission o this event is to raise unds and oodor the hungry in our community one step at atime. People who are unable to participate onthe 25th can still support FMP by becoming aManna March Virtual Walker. I you are inter-ested in becoming a Virtual Walker, please seeSally Diani (3636-225-1172) or a registrationorm.

.

11th

8th

8th

In September:

12th


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The Episcopal Church of the Advent welcomes you

14th

16th

18th

21st

13th Annual Lawn ConcertThe After Hours Community Band will again join us for our annual lawn

concert. The Mens Club will host a cookout, beginning at 5:00 pm, and the bandwill play at 7:00 pm. Come enjoy this farewell to summer.

Prayer Shawl GroupOur next meeting will be Wednesday, September 14th at 1:00 pm at the

church. Please contact Mary Peck (314-894-5260) if you have questions or wouldlike to give a shawl.

Advent Men Dine OutThe Advent men will eat out on Thursday, Sept. 16, 6:00 pm at Crusoes, located

at 5591 Oakville Plaza, 314-892-0602. The menu looks good. Salads, main entreesand sandwiches are available. Call Don Dippel, 314-487-0299 for information.

Advent Church Women BreakfastThe Annual ACW Breakfast to benet the ECM Christmas drive will be Sunday,

September 18. Breakfast will be served after both services. The cost is $5.00 perperson or $15.00 for a family. Please join us for the ACW mouthwatering recipes.

Hand Choir PracticeThose who would like to help ring the chimes for the Psalm are invited to

practice at 9:50, beginning September 18. Since the music is color coded, onedoes not have to read music to play the chimes. And, youll be in great form, for-

tied with the special ACW breakfast.

Advent Church WomenThe next ACW meeting is Monday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the par-

ish hall. All ladies of Advent are welcome. Please check us out.

Adult Choir PracticePractice will resume on Wednesday, September 21, at 7:30 p.m. High school

students and adults are welcome to join the group.

Third Thursday LadiesKeep September 22nd openWe will go to Kimmswick, MO and have lunch,

and then go to the Anheuser Estates. We will try and meet by 11:30. Please callCarol (314-638-0247).i you are interested in this outing.

Feed My People - Manna March Jefferson Barracks Park. See details previous page.

7

In September:

22

nd

25th

19th


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This is a biography of one of the most

interesting, unassuming, faith-lled per-sons I have ever been blessed to know

Ella Lancaster. She has a poem or a rhymewhich she is absolutely tickled to recite forthe pleasure of all listening ears to hear andhearts to enjoy. Her memory is so lled

with wonderful stories of her childhood; achildhood that could have left her with asour outlook on life, but it did not. She wasborn in Lothian, Maryland. She attended St.

James Episcopal Church, one of the old-

est Episcopal Churches in Maryland. Thechurch had a priest in the 1800s by the

name of Thomas John Claggett who laterbecame the rst American Bishop of the

Episcopal Church in America.

Ellas Mother died giving birth to herbaby brother. Her brother also died. Ella

was almost two when this tragedy hap-pened, and became the youngest of fourchildren. She had two sisters and onebrother. Her father did an outstanding job

of keeping the whole family together forseven years, but it proved to be too muchfor him and he suffered a breakdown. Thechildren were split up among relatives. Ellawent to live with an aunt and uncle. All four

of the children, through efforts of their rela-tives, were able to receive scholarships toprivate schools. Ellas alma mater was TheHannah More Academy where her motherhad also attended and had graduated in1905 Valedictorian of her class. Ellas father

was a graduate of Cornell, and stayed veryattached to the University his entire life.

There is a plaque on the University groundsin his honor.

When Ella graduated from The Academyshe went to Business School in Annapolis,Maryland to learn secretarial skills. While

From Maryland to Missouri a Biography of Ella

working for the IRS in Baltimore, she metJoe Lancaster at a Masonic Service ClubDance in Baltimore. Joe was stationed at

the Coast Guard Training Station at CurtisBay, Maryland, and remained there for theentire war. Joe grew up in Lemay, Missouriand graduated from Hancock High School.He returned to St. Louis after the war andwent to work for the B&O Railroad as aStation Passenger Agent.

Ella and Joe were married in Baltimore

in 1946 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church.They recently celebrated their 65th wed-

ding anniversary. They have enjoyed par-enting six children; three sons and threedaughters. Their son, David is editor of St.Louis WHERE Magazine, and also an ac-complished artist (wonder where he gotall the talent?). Ella is close to her children

and grand children, which speaks volumesabout who she is and how she views herself,and what she holds dear. The Quilters havebeen honored to meet two of Ella and Joes

great grandsons when on two occasions thegranddaughters brought their baby boys andjoined us for lunch so Grandmother couldshare her wonderful, beautiful JOYS with us.

Ella is a joy herself. Her news is inter-esting and light hearted and she puts effortinto keeping it that way. I have never heardher speak to tear down anyone, ever, and Ihave known her now and Quilted with herevery Monday for twelve years.

I know Ella is very proud and happy that

she is one of the people who dreamed ofhaving a library in Jefferson County andworked without ceasing to make it hap-pen. The Library had its beginning becausetwelve women were dedicated to theircause. They each donated $5.00 to the


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The Episcopal Church of the Advent welcomes you 9

cause for a total of $60.00, and namedthemselves FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY.

With that beginning they rented a verysmall building on High Ridge Blvd in 1978.The rent was $1,000.00 per month and withpride Ella reports they never once failed topay the rent! They raised money for rentand to grow their dreams by having bakesales and, once in awhile, rafing off a hand

quilted quilt. This was a Community Library,run by an all volunteer staff with no taxes to

help support it until a library tax was nally

passed in 1990. These twelve women had

worked to make it happen for twelve longyears. The Library suffered a terrible re in

1987 while still in the rst building, but the

dedicated group re-built and restocked andcontinued. The Library is now in a large,lovely building which the County Library

District (formed in 1990) owns. They havemany paid employees, and still many inter-ested volunteers. This library houses an ex-cellent Genealogy Department, two Com-

munity Rooms, a Childrens Room, a TeenRoom, a Reading Room, a Snack Bar, and aUsed Book Store and Gift Shop which is runby Friends of the Library, which numbersabout 30 members, and who continue to

raise money for the Library. Ella is an activemember of this group. She still works oneday a week in the Used Book Store and Gift

Shop, and still teaches classes in the Com-munity Room, and still quilts there for theirfund raisers.

I think I have forgotten to mentionthat Ellas entire life has been wrapped inthe Episcopal Faith. The Academy she at-tended was an Episcopal school and manyof the students were daughters of Episcopal

priests. The school has since merged withanother, but is still an Episcopal school.

(Maybe that is where she learned to sing allthose hymns so beautifully.) I might add thatElla used to be 87 years old but she tells methat is no longer the case. Also, I am happyto report Ella has been a faithful memberof Advent for 38 years. She is a wonderful

Altar Guild Member, an active member ofACW and an active member of the Quilters.She is usually an 8 oclocker which means ifyou dont know her and you are usually a 10

oclocker you only have a few weeks left tomeet her, visit with her, and feel enriched tocount her as a friend. I know I sure do.

Phyllis Powers

Flu shots offered at AdventOn two dates, Comprehensive Care (one of the venders who supply exercise class

leaders for the SAJE ministry through Crestview Senior Living) will be at Advent togive u shots. Mark your calendars, u season will be here before you know it!

Thursday, Sept. 22 9:00 to NoonSunday, Oct 9 8:30 AM to Noon


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Liturgical Ministries: September 2011

SERVICESAT

8:00AND10:15A.M

September4

Septe

mber11

September18

September25

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ctober2

WorshipLdr

8:00am

PhyllisPowers

(9:00am)

DebG

oldfeder

DebraBailey

PhyllisPowers

ElizabethKroes

WorshipLdr

10:15AM

DebGoldfeder

KevinWilliams

ChrisVogel

BillWitte

Ro

bGyngard

Lector

NancyBirtley

BillB

ottoms

JohnKroes

RalphPeck

Na

ncyBirtley

Intercessor

ReneSanders

DebGoldfeder

ReneSanders

Crucifer

AdamWitte

JocelynSanders

AustinHenry

Au

stinSchick

TorchBearers

KatieStotler

ClareDifani

EvanSchick

Riley

Vogel

B

enDifani

JakeVogel

Ushers

GregDell

JimRode

Janic

eEvans

Harry

Dengler

MarkNaes

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ill

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BillWitte

DonMazdra

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regDell

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imRode

Oblationers8:00am

LaurelGoenFamily

GwenBro

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Lan

caster

PhyllisPowers

MaryAnnTombridg

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GwenBrown

SharonKnox

Sh

aronKnox

Bo

bWagner

Oblationers

10:15AM

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evandoski

SandersFamily

WillisFamily

KroesFamily

CoffeeHourHost(s)

Counters

LarryWillis

JimRode

BillS

anders

BillB

ottoms

BethMazdra

MarkNaes

NancyKroes

BillWitte

LarryW

illis

Jim

Rode

VestryPrayer

Cycle

BillBottoms

RobGyngard

VicKremar

Elain

eNaes

PhyllisPowers

BillS

anders

MyraSherrod

BruceStotler

ClaudiaSvoboda

ChrisVogel

BillWitte

LianIffrig

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bGyngard

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Propers.

Proper18

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per15

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Proper17

Proper18

Exodus12:1-14

Genes

is45:1-15

Exodus1:8--2:10

Exodus3:1-15

Exo

dus12:1-14

Psalm149

Psa

lm133

Psalm124

Psalm105:1-6,23-26

P

salm149

Romans13:8-14

Romans

11:1-2a,29-

32

Romans12:1-8

Romans12:9-21

Rom

ans13:8-14

Matthew18:15-20

Matthew15:10-28

Matthew16:13-20

Matthew16:21-28

Matthew18:15-20

AltarGuild

Carolyn,DebraBailey

Carolyn,DebraBailey

Carolyn,DebraBailey

Carolyn,DebraBailey

Carolyn,DebraBailey

Can't make it - plans changed? - Please call the church ofce 314-843-0123


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11

Remembering September 11, 2001

9/11 Memorial ServiceA number of local congregations, including members of Advent and SAJE, will

join together for a memorial service on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The servicewill be at St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church on Sunday, September 11, at 3:30 pm.

Interfaith Partnership sponsors a Memorial in MusicLast year, at the anniversary of September 11, it seemed there was a feeling of disunity,with the Koran burnings and suspicions of members of other faith communities. Members of

the diocese were led by our Ecumenical Ofcer, the Rev. Becky Ragland in a service at the

cathedral. This year, the Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis, of which Bishop Wayne is vice-pres-ident, wanted to plan something for the whole community to express the hope for peace andunity in our diverse expressions of religious faith in St. Louis.

The idea of a musical memorial took hold and months of work have assembled a mostamazing range of performers in this short hour at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The Hon. JohnDanforth (former US Senator from Missouri and Episcopal priest) will give the invocation,

Color guards and pipers will open the program. Soprano Christine Brewer will open withSimple Gifts. Shell be joined by the In Unison choir in gospel selections. A string quartet from

the St. Louis Symphony will play a movement of Beethoven. Musical selections will be offeredfrom our various faith traditions of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim. The St. Louis ChamberChoir will sing.

Even more wonderful than the range of performers who are donating their time andmusic, are the religious, civic, and arts organizations that are supporting this interfaith effortover 100. The Sheldon seats 700 people, doors open at 4:45, with plans for overow audience.

KETC, St. Louis public television station will tape and broadcast at 8 PM that evening, with are-broadcast on Monday afternoon.


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It is remarkable how easy it isto forget how different we are in Lui.

There are no mirrors except the tinyones we bring. Everyone around usis Moru and therefore, a bit blackas my friend Manyagugu said. When

everyone around you is a bit black,you really take notice when someoneblonder comes to town.

One day I came home from thehospital for lunch and there werevisitors! Having visitors was a big dealat the time because there were so

few people who could come in fromoutside the country. One of the visi-tors was a Moru man that I had metin Nairobi, Kenya that had been theDiocesan Administrator. I had dealtwith him when I was getting ready togo there the rst time so I was happy

to see him. The second man wasanything but a bit black! He was a

tall blond man from the Netherlands.I thought I glowed in the dark buthe was really, really blond. Its funnywhen you see a really white personafter a time when you dont see any.That was surprising to me but hewasnt as shocking as the Arab.

When you live with a commu-nity, you dont realize how much youabsorb their feelings and reactions

until you are faced with the personthey consider the enemy. I had no badfeelings or prejudices toward Arabs orMuslims before going to Lui nor was Iparticularly fearful of Muslims, but theday the Arab came, I had to face the

fact that listening to the Moru sto-

The Day the Arab Came to Lui! by Deb Goldfeder

ries about interactions between theNorth and South of Sudan had, indeedaffected me and not for the better,either. In some ways this, then, is aconfession.

The Arab came with my southernSudanese friend and this Dutch guyso he had to be okay, I thought, butI didnt feel very comfortable beingaround him, nevertheless. He wasquiet and I guess, truth be told, he waswatching all of us, too. What was an

Arab doing in Lui? A guy who hadcome from Khartoum originally! We

were four years beyond the 9/11 at-tacks so I wondered if I was thinkingabout that. But, the Arab had a differ-ent story.

Bit by bit, I heard his story fromthe people in Lui. He had come from

a wealthy privileged family and stoodto inherit his fathers position andmoney. He studied at university andbecame an imama Muslim religious

leaderand was on the fast-track tosuccess in the Islamic north of Sudan.He was very certain about his faith

and condent that he had the answers

He was the apple of his fathers eyeso, what the heck was he doing in thecathedral compound surrounded by

12


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13

people that had been his enemies inthe twenty-year-long civil war? My

friends in Lui seemed to have thesame questions. They doubted hisstory.

The Arab returned to universityto work on his doctorate in theol-ogy and decided that his real goalwas to study Christianity and debunkit. He knew about Christianity, hethought, and he would do an in-depthstudy of the Christian Scriptures andtake them apart bit by bit. Or so he

thought. As much as he wanted tond the errors in the Christian Scrip-tures, he found that he was becomingconverted to Christianity. He soughtout the Christian community in Khar-toum and found himself befriendedby Morus. He was baptized in theChristian faith but knew he neededto get out of the country because he

was in danger. He planned his escapebut was captured, thrown in jail andgiven a death sentence because of hisconversion to Christianity! The pas-tor at the church managed somehowto get a stay of execution for twenty-four hours. There were stories abouthow he escaped the prisonIm not

sure but I think it involved putting ona burka and walking out disguised as awoman.

Communities of Christians in theMuslim north secreted him out of thecountry and nally into the Nether-lands. He still felt a call to ordainedministry but now to the Christian

ministry! In order to be ordained, a

bishop had to agree to ordain him.Finally, the bishop of Lui agreed to

ordain this Arab, his former enemy.

Would I be this courageous? Idont honestly know. Early Christians

faced the same challenges and deaththreats. He was taking an enormousrisk coming into Sudan even as farfrom Khartoum as we were in Lui.Had he been caught there, the deathsentence would have been carried outon the spot. And he wasnt embracedby the people in the south either!

They had suspicions about him andwondered what he was really up to. Iheard him preach once at the hospitalchapel where he told his story but Icould tell that people doubted (andmaybe feared) him. I never knew whyhe visited Lui. He returned to hisministry in the Netherlands on the

next ight with his traveling compan-

ions and nobody spoke again aboutwhen the Arab came to Lui.


14/14

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