Dear friends,
First, the service bulletin for Sunday is attached.
Second, I want to share with you an email I received from the Bishop of Kentucky, Terry White, this week. You may remember that the vestry voted to send $10,000 to help the people of Kentucky after the devastating tornadoes there in December. We sent the money to Bishop White’s discretionary fund so that he could use it wherever it was most needed. Here is his reply:
To the Rev. Patricia Templeton, Rector, and People of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia.
Dear Rev. Tricia,
My deepest thanks to the saints at St. Dunstan’s Church for the most generous gift of $10,000 for Western Kentucky Tornado Relief in the Diocese of Kentucky. Even as losses of many kinds were so great and heartbreaking in communities and rural areas throughout our diocese, the generous response of Episcopalians to the needs of neighbors has provided healing, inspiration, and encouragement.
Your gift is helping our congregations respond to a variety of needs in nine areas that “fall through the cracks” and are not covered by federal and state programs. Our work in these areas is also now shifting from crisis mode to a longer-term recovery focus. Episcopal Relief and Development has provided great guidance and financial support to us as our clergy and lay leaders serve immediate needs, as well as assure their communities that The Diocese of Kentucky and The Episcopal Church will be partners in the recovery ahead for however long the work will take. One aspect of our long-term ministry is assisting victims who face filling out complicated applications while living with trauma, and advocating for those who are initially rejected or offered too little aid to persevere. Also I am using funds like those you provided to put in place support for our lay ministers and clergy who are experiencing compassion fatigue in various ways. From online counseling to spiritual direction to a few days at our diocesan camp to rest and re-charge, supporting these servants of Christ is vital.
It is particularly moving to receive donations from dioceses, parishes, and individuals who have endured natural disasters and engaged in relief-related ministries, as well as from those who have some connection to hard-hit western Kentucky, which is the area covered by our diocese. A favorite note so far: “I love Kentucky. I hate tornadoes.”
Again, thank you for this most generous gift. The people, clergy, and Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky send our thanks, prayers, and love to the people and clergy at St. Dunstan’s, Atlanta. Your gift embodies Our Lord’s central teaching that everything comes down to loving God and loving neighbor.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
+Terry
PS. I read on your parish website a very fine response you wrote following Archbishop Welby’s decision not to invite same sex spouses to the Lambeth Conference. I want you to know that my wife and I are not attending the Lambeth Conference because of that unfortunate decision. Thank you for proclaiming God’s Love for all.
The Right Rev’d Terry A. White
Bishop
The Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky
As to the bishop’s PS: He obviously took a pretty deep dive into our website to find something I wrote long ago. If you’re wondering what that was, here it is, written in March 2019. The Lambeth Conference, originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, is now scheduled for this summer.