ST. ANDREW’S CROSS The Brotherhood of St. Andrew of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion FALL 2016 Who was Andrew? Chris Waddle, who founded a new chapter in Alabama, began his chapter’s first study by examining the life of Andrew - the first apostle. Brother Waddle argues that Andrew’s real, authentic personality, which had such a great impact in the early days of Christianity - is much needed today. please see pages 7,8 A report from our Anglican chapters About 10 percent of our Brothers are from Anglican churches. An overview of their contribuons can be found on pages 3, 4 and 5, which includes an inspiring interview with The Rev. Fred Gough of Dillon, South Carolina. This icon of Saint Andrew by arst Pat Resmondo was com- missioned by Naonal Council chairman Dick Hooper for use at Christ Episcopal Church in Pensacola, Florida.
Transcript
ST. ANDREW’S CROSSThe Brotherhood of St. Andrewof the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion
FALL 2016
Who wasAndrew? Chris Waddle, who founded a
new chapter in Alabama, began
his chapter’s fi rst study by
examining the life of Andrew - the
fi rst apostle.
Brother Waddle argues that
Andrew’s real, authentic
personality, which had such a
great impact in the early days of
Christianity - is much needed
today. please see pages 7,8
A report from our Anglican chapters
About 10 percent of our Brothers are
from Anglican churches. An overview
of their contribu� ons can be found on
pages 3, 4 and 5, which includes an
inspiring interview with The Rev. Fred
Gough of Dillon, South Carolina. This icon of Saint Andrew by ar� st Pat Resmondo was com-
missioned by Na� onal Council chairman Dick Hooper for
use at Christ Episcopal Church in Pensacola, Florida.
My Brothers in Christ I just returned from a most invigora� ng weekend with our Brothers in Tennessee. They know how to put on a superior men’s retreat. This was their 70th consecu� ve gathering. It was most im-pressive. My hat goes off to them for the superb recep-� on they gave us. They are powerful be-cause they come together in such a unifying fashion. The head count was 243. As I sat in All Saints Chapel on the University of the South Campus, I gave humble thanks to God the Father. My weekend here was a di-rect, eye-piercing insight of what a united men’s ministry could look like throughout the country. We are the best-kept secret in the Anglican Community: Manpower! Could it be the church quit growing when the men went off to fi sh, golf and/or became car pool dads to take their children to soccer games in lieu of Sunday School on the Sabbath! Some congrega� ons have formed men’s groups for socializa� on to bring them back to church. This is good. We applaud them. These men’s groups could be missing one very im-portant ingredient for success - The Great Commission. In order for our churches to become strong once again, we need to be discipling men to Christ. Men hunger for opportuni� es to share and learn from each other; we should make sure that structure exists. Here are some prac� cal ways to assist your mens ministry on their spiiritual journey: 1) Create a mission statement for your men - what is our purpose? 2) Ask yourself and your men, “Are we inclusive - do we welcome newcomers to our group?”
3) Do we have a parish or Diocesan Web Page de-voted to men’s ministry? 4) Visit other mens ministries or Brotherhood Chap-ter to gain new ideas; 5) Encourage your men to a� end or sponsor a mens retreat in your diocese;
6) Talk to your men about spiritual week-ends such as Crusillo, Walk to Emmaus, Alpha, or one day to live; 7) Create a monthly e-newsle� er to share ideas regarding mens spiritual growth opportuni� es; 8) Develop or add an outreach ministry to the incarcerated- helping men to fi nd Christ; 9) Develop or expand a
ministry to disabled, home-less or mentally ill Veterans in your community; 10) Support or sponsor a local Boy scout Troop in your parish; 11) Establish or expand a mentoring project with inner-city youth; 12) Start a men’s book study group and 13) add others. Assistance for all of these poten� al ministries is available through your affi lia� on with the Brotherhood of St Andrew. Let your Andrew out, come and join us. Jeff Butcher is president of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. He can be reached at jeff [email protected]. Brother Butcher plans to use this message to publicize men’s groups to join the Brotherhood and he seeks your input about ways it can be distributed outside the Brotherhood.
“Let your inner Andrew
out and join us.
A REPORT FROM OUR PRESIDENT
2 The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016
How can we help your men’s group grow? President
Jeff Butcher
ST. ANDREW’S CROSSis the official publication of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Inc
To submit an article or for questions contact Brother Jim Goodson at [email protected]
or 3535 N. Hall St. No. 511 Dallas, TX 75219
The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016 3
REPORTS FROM OUR ANGLICAN CHAPTERS
The Anglican Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in
Arlington, Texas is a pivotal church in the Anglican
Church in America movement. With 63 members,
its Brotherhood chapter is one of our largest.
The Well by the Sea Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
is home to a 17-member Brotherhood chapter.
Christ the King Anglican Church in Albuquerque, New Mexi-
co is home to six sun-drenched Brothers.
At right is Jesus
The Good
Shepherd
Reformed
Episcopal
Church in
Brooklyn, New
York, home to
eight Brothers.
The church is
located at 599
Washington
Avenue.
Christ the King
Grace Church
Waccamaw on
Pawley’s Island,
South Carolina
is served by six
Brothers. It’s
one of th
na! on’s oldest
churches.
4 The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016
Anglican Brothers
REPORTS FROM OUR ANGLICAN CHAPTERS
By Jim Goodson
A man’s faith will save his life. “We need to stress this more as we strive to bring men to Christ,” says The Rev. Fred Gough, rector of St. Barnabas’ Church in Dillon, South Carolina. “Really knowing you’ll never die makes a tremendous diff erence in a person’s life.” Fr. Gough off ers a powerful tes� mony to support his be-lief in the power of Jesus Christ. A sky-diver with nine jumps on his resume, the Dillon rector faced every sky-diver’s nightmare in 2007 over Fer-ris, South Carolina: his parachute didn’t open properly as he plunged toward the ground at the accelera� ng rate of 32 feet per second per second. “I knew I had 22 seconds to extricate myself from the chute, which had become wrapped up around my ankle and toes,” he says, describing how he was falling upside down. “I had to pull myself into an ‘L-posi� on’ and pa� ently un-wrap the chute ropes from around my foot and between my toes.” Fr. Gough believes most men would panic and start cussing – or weeping, perhaps – as they plunged toward their death. “I would have, too, without the faith that I won’t die,” the 75-year-old Anglican priest says. “It’s a faith I’ve had for a long � me.” Fr. Gough pa� ently removed his boot, but that only � ghtened the cord around his foot. He then laboriously un-wound the cord from between his toes. When the fi nal cord was unreeled, the parachute opened violently, jerking Fr. Gough upright and severely injuring his back, causing pain that persists to this day. “But I lived,” he says. “I wouldn’t have lived if I had pan-icked. It’s a tes� mony to what faith in the Lord really means for your life.” The fear of death haunts all men and women, Fr. Gough believes. “But your faith in the Lord and His promise of an a� erlife will replace that background anxiety and allow you to be the person God wants you to be.”
Fr. Gough is a former command chaplain of the South Caro-lina State Guard. He now is Command Chaplain of the Joint Services Detachment of the South Carolina Military Depart-ment. He became a parachu� st in 2007. One of his inspira� ons comes from Job 19:25: For I know
that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand at the la� er day upon the earth: and though my body is destroyed, yet shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. St. Barnabas’ Brothers spend a lot of � me suppor� ng the Dillon school district and they also take care of their church. Their most recent project involved installing a new roof in advance of the rain and snow of fall and winter.
Brothers and Anglicans
Of the Brotherhood’s approximately, 4,192 U.S. mem-bers, some 362 are members of Anglican churches (8.6 per-cent). The Episcopal Church USA lists 2,225,682 bap� zed members while the Anglican Church of North America has 250,806 members for a combined total of 2,476,488 mem-bers. That gives the ACNA 10.1 percent of the two denomi-na� ons’ combined membership. The Anglican Province of America was created in 1996
con� nued on page 5
‘Really knowing you’ll neverdie makes atremendousdiff erence.’
And their signifi cant contributions
- The Rev. Fred Gough,
Chaplain (COL) , SCMD,
Parachu! st and Vicar,
St. Barnabas’ Church
REPORTS FROM OUR ANGLICAN CHAPTERS
The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 20165
a� er years of acrimonious debate within The
Episcopal Church over Biblical literalness, female bish-
ops, gay clergy and the blessings of same-sex unions,
among other things.
The Brotherhood fi nds itself unwillingly caught
in the middle. Current Brotherhood President Jeff
Butcher con� nues the tradi� on of previous presi-
dents.
“Our goal is to bring men and boys to Jesus
Christ,” Brother Butcher says. “We have li� le interest
in all these other theological ques� ons. Our mission is so
important – saving men’s souls – all these other issues are
for others to decide and debate.”
The largest ACNA church with a Brotherhood chapter
is the infl uen� al Anglican Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
in Arlington, Texas with 56 Brothers. Site of many Anglican
Church of North American conclaves – due in part to nearby
Dallas-Fort Worth Interna� onal Airport, this church has its
own Brotherhood building. It’s the only chapter to have its
own building.
Brothers at St. Peter and St. Paul support The Arlington
Life Shelter, which provides short-term shelter and support
services that help single and mul� -parent families and indi-
viduals who are homeless integrate into society and become
contributors to a thriving community.
Another large chapter is located in Conway, South Caro-
lina at St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
All nine Brotherhood chapters – both Episcopal and An-
glican – responded to help St. Paul’s Anglican in 2015 when
a 1,000-year storm dumped 17 inches of rain in 17 hours
throughout the state Oct. 4-5, especially along its Atlan� c
coastline. The 105-year-old St. Paul’s Anglican Church and
its 66-student school on Main Street in Conway suff ered the
most damage of any South Carolina Church.
By Monday, Oct. 6 the church’s ruined carpet had been
removed and workers were removing wall panels to replace
sheetrock ruined by 10-inches of water that fl ooded every
room, including the sanctuary. The majority of the prob-
lems, however, were in the day school, Brotherhood chapter
president Larry Biddle said.
“We performed as much of the labor as we could to
limit the cost of repairs, but some of the work had to be
done by professionals because some mold was found in the
building a� er the fl ood receded,” Brother Biddle said.
He praised the church’s Brothers, all its members and
Brothers from across the na� on, who responded to an ap-
peal in the St. Andrew’s Cross. “They gave everything they could give,” Brother Biddle
said.
The church runs St. Paul’s Day School and Mother’s
Morning Out programs that serve 60 children from infants
to four-year-olds. Floodwaters overfl owed into the four
classrooms and a bathroom, fi lling about 1,800-square-feet
with close to a foot of water.
Another South Carolina church concentrates on the
study segment of the Brotherhood’s triumvirate of prayer,
study and service.
“We have mee� ngs on the second Saturday of each
month that are open to the en� re parish,” says Brother
James Withington of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charles-
ton.
“The Brothers cook dinner. Our goal is to be� er under-
stand our church and, more importantly, give our parishio-
ners the opportunity to share the stories of their walk with
Christ.”
Jim Goodson is editor of the St. Andrew’s Cross. He can be reached at [email protected].
con� nued from page 4
An Easter sunrise service on April 5, 2015 at St. Peter
and St. Paul Anglican Church in Arlington, Texas.
Brotherhood stays true toits core mission
The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 20166
SCOUT IAN GARVIN RESTORES MEMORIAL GARDEN
A memorial makeoverIs provided by
Scout Ian Garvin
Ian Garvin completes the stone paving at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Memorial Garden, right. To complete his Eagle Scout project, Garvin planned, raised money for and renovated the church’s memorial garden, where 16 of the church’s former members are interred. He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 295. Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey Bishop William H. Stokes presided at a dedica� on service Sept. 11.
By Jim Goodson
WENONAH, New Jersey – Ian Garvin, the son of New Jersey diocesan coordinator Sean Garvin, has restored the Memorial Garden at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, where 16 of the church’s former members are interred. On Sunday, Sept. 11 New Jersey Bishop William H. Stokes dedicated and blessed the garden during a special service at the northern New Jersey church. “I had a tremendous amount of help, which has made the work go very smooth and fast,” Ian, who undertook the project as part of his Eagle Scout requirement, says. “Everybody gave me so much help. I raised more money than I expected, which allowed us to get the supplies that were needed and s� ll have some money le� over in case we needed more equipment or supplies.” Ian obtained dona� ons of stone materials for the fi nal step of the project – installing the stone paving. Four speakers praised Ian’s work during the dedica� on service, including Wenonah Mayor John Dominy.
The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016
NEW CHAPTER LEARNS ABOUT BROTHERHOOD NAMESAKE
7
Editor’s note: The following homily
was delivered by chapter president Chris
Waddle at the reins� tu� on of a new
chapter at Grace Episcopal Church in An-
niston, Alabama:
By Chris Waddle
There once was a man. A good man. A true man. Genuine. Authen� c. Real. Andrew was his name. We call him Saint Andrew today. But you know, there’s a problem with sainthood. We lose sight of the real per-son. Consider the stained glass windows in church. Beau� ful, aren’t they? But it’s hard to conceive of an actual person in two di-mensions. We make saintly statues out of plaster and plas� c. People used to put them on the dashboard of their car, like in the movie Cool Hand Luke. Maybe some s� ll do. When kids get their drivers’ license, someone tra-di� onally gives them a St. Christopher medal for their keychain with the chuckle Christopher would get out and walk if you drove over 65. Too bad. You need your traveling saint to protect you at all speeds. We need the reality of St. Andrew these days, too. And he’s closer to you than you know - larger, more per-sonal than a two-dimensional historical fi gure. Just how real was Andrew back then? Well, he worked in his family fi shing business on the Sea of Galilee. Andrew went out in the hot sun, caulked the boat, hoisted the sail, pulled on an oar, threw out the smelly chum, hauled in the net, sorted the catch, threw the basket up on his broad shoulder and walked it up to the market through the dust and donkey doo-doo. Whew! Andrew must have been so real, he needed more than just a dip in the sacred waters of the Jordan River. That’s where he met John the Bap� st by the way There was another side of Andrew. A spiritual side. A
God-hunger. So he trailed a# er the new rabbi John had pointed out at the river. He spent a day in study with Je-sus and the two really hit it off . Andrew became the fi rst man the Bible names as an apostle and ran to get his brother Simon to bring him to the Messiah. So Andrew also became the fi rst recruiter for the Lord. Later, Andrew facilitated Jesus’s desire to feed the mul� tude in the miracle of the loaves and fi shes. Jesus blessed the food, but it’s signifi cant that his disciples distributed the meal to the hungry. The followers carried out the Lord’s will. Prayer ... study ... service: The life of this former fi sherman inspires the Brotherhood of St. Andrew today with those same three missions and the goal to bring others to Christ, just like Andrew introduced Simon Pe-ter to the faith. This shouldn’t seem like a distant, dry, historical, two-dimensional story to anyone. Man, woman, boy, girl -- there’s an Andrew inside every one of us. Psychology calls it an archetype, a tem-plate, an internal drive. But we repress the Andrew in
AndrewA man for his time and ours . . . a man like us
con� nued on page 8
The renewed chapter at Grace Episcopal Church in Anniston, Alabama.
8 The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016
NEW CHAPTER LEARNS ABOUT BROTHERHOOD NAMESAKE
us. Embarrassment, social pressure, the world - lots of things - kick in. Here’s the message of Jesus in this tumultuous � me: Let your Andrew out!
An organized way to let him out is the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Oh, you can go your own way. But there’s strength and fellowship in the company of Brothers. And we have the work of an Andrew to accomplish. Why should we want to? “Because from those to whom much is given, much is expected,” says Jesus in the Parable of the Faithful Servant. And because He said if you feed, clothe and visit the sick and the poor and the imprisoned and the stranger among the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it for me. The � tle of an important work of theology by Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann really brings things up to date - The Prophe" c Imagina" on. When the secular community goes crazy, accord-ing to the author, the religious community gets moving with nurturing alterna� ves. When there’s widespread despair over events, the people with Andrew inside (our interpreta� on) give an answer. We minister to the public expressions of hope and yearning. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is the actual result of prophe� c imagina� on. Ministries of its kind give us a way to be real, genu-ine, authen� c - like Andrew. And did we ever need those quali� es more? Can you remember a � me when the secular world seemed crazier than now? City, state, na� on, globe: When was there ever more threat, division, disrup� on -- tumult? The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is not a refuge, though. Not a bunker. Not a foxhole. It is High Ground! A hill to take a stand from. A nurturing redoubt. An eleva-� on from which to face down secular despair. Well, enough of Bible-talk and seminary language. As a prac� cal ma" er what does a chapter of the Brother-hood do? Pray, study, serve. Follow the Brotherhood’s Devo� onal Handbook,
transform themselves into Bible and book study groups, populate spiritual retreats, feed people, visit prisoners, lead worship, call on shut-ins, drive vans to church, go to parole hearings, meet the needs of soldiers and veter-ans in the community, give people decent housing, pro-vide the homeless a warm place to crash! What doesn’t a chapter do, arm-in-arm with Andrew and following the Lord? We’d like to have new members, new chapters to help us answer the ques� on. This is not the stuff of plas-� c saints or shiny medals to wear on your keychain. This is real. All you have to do is let your Andrew out. And when you do, you will feel more true to yourself. Au-then� c. Genuine. Real. Our prophe� c imagina� on calls us to take the High Ground. To seek the fulfi llment of what’s already inside. Come join us. But even if you don’t. Let him out. Let your Andrew out.
MONTEAGLE, TENNESSEE BECOMES A BROTHERHOOD STRONGHOLD
By Dick Hooper
MONTEAGLE, Tennessee - Presi-dent Jeff Butcher addressed 250 men at the 70th annual Tennessee Men’s Conference Aug. 20 at the DuBose Center. Brother Butcher informed the men about the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, invi� ng them to “let their Andrew out” and join Team Andrew in the disci-plines of prayer, study and service. A� er the regular session, he and
Na� onal Council Chairman Dick Hoop-
er met with about 20 interested men
to explore possibili� es of star� ng new
chapters in Tennessee.
East Tennessee Diocesan Coordina-
tor Eric Haralson and the cooking team
from St. John’s Cathedral in Knoxville
prepared barbecue for the Saturday
evening dinner.
The team also won best in the
barbecue rib and barbecue sauce con-
tests, annual highlights of the confer-
ence.
This was Brother Butcher’s third
conference and it has become an ex-
cellent venue to raise awareness of the
Brotherhood.
Brothers Butcher and Hooper also
met with our na� onal chaplain Bishop
Paul Lambert to discuss further strate-
gies to enlarge our presence na� onally
and to consider ways to educate Epis-
copal and Anglican seminarians about
the Brotherhood.
Bishop Lambert has recently re-
� red to Monteagle.
President Butcher addresses Tennessee Brothers
Leaders seek ways to reach more seminarians
Brotherhood President Jeff Butcher addressed the 70th
annual Tennessee Men’s Conference Aug. 20 at the Du-
Bose Center on Monteagle, Tennessee. Below, Brothers
gather at St. John’s Cathedral in Knoxville, whose Broth-
ers prepared dinner for the Saturday evening dinner.
- photos by Dick Hooper
10 The ST. ANDREW’S CROSS Fall 2016
SUMMERTIME FUN IN ASHBURN, VIRGINIA
By William Jones
ASHBURN, Virginia - Brothers
from St. David’s Episcopal Church
hold an event now established as a
tradi� on of summer: B4 – Bible, Beef, Bird and Brotherhood. This year more than 30 members and guests feasted on grilled rib-eye steaks, chicken, baked potatoes, salad and an assortment of side dishes, all while enjoying the comradery and fellowship of their fellow Brothers in Christ. They were led in prayer and thanksgiving by their spiritual mentor The Rev. Emanuel Johnson, who at 92 years old con� nues to come to their events and regular chapter mee� ngs to lead Bible study. This year, seven guests were welcomed and two became new members! A� er the feast they held the fi rst
Many men do not know how to relate to other men in a personal conversa� on. Men are used to compe� ng with other men. That is how we were raised, that is what our teachers and coaches taught us, that is how we interact in our work world. We handle our diff erences with sarcasm, jokes and, o� en, ethnic slurs - that is how we were taught to relate to other men. The beginning of our spiritual journey needs to be in a place where we feel safe to act diff erently than we have all of our lives. That safety only comes when we learn to trust the other men in our group. That trust takes � me to develop - we experiment with being real while we are cooking pancakes on Shrove Tuesday or when we are building a Habitat House or pain� ng the outside of the Church. We experiment when we prepare a meal for Veterans and when we serve those less fortunate through a homeless feeding kitchen. We talk diff erently, we let people see that we care, and if we do not get rebuff ed or put down or made fun of, then we will be willing to try something new. Men’s groups provide a safe environment. Slowly we be-gin to experiment with real discussions. Maybe the introduc-� on of a Bible reading at the beginning of our men’s breakfast will give us an opportunity to share how that reading aff ects us in our lives. Maybe something someone else shares will push a bu� on for us and we will feel free to share those in-sights. As we experiment with digging deeper into the scrip-tures, we might be willing to read one of the books suggested by our leader, or maybe even read a book suggested by our deacon or priest. The next step may be par� cipa� on in a men’s Bible study with some or all of the men in our group. And maybe one of the men in our group will invite us to a� end a men’s retreat and if several of the men in our group are going, we might be willing to test the water - because I know them and trust them, and so we sign up. A� er weeks and months of a� ending our men’s group, we might be willing to introduce a book study for the next several months and the men who s� ck around will be able to learn from each other and be willing to share as a part of their spiritual journey because they are now on the journey. And if one of the men we trust suggests we might benefi t from par� cipa� on in a Cursillo weekend, we might be willing to listen as he explains the weekend and maybe, a� er several conversa� ons, we might seriously consider going - next year. The Brotherhood of St Andrew has been invited to a� end
exis� ng men’s ministry groups at several diff erent congrega� ons here in Arizona. These men’s groups have been mee� ng together for many years. Their current leader thinks they might be open to considering something new in terms of deepening their walk with Christ, and has asked the Brotherhood of St Andrew to come and discuss possible affi lia� on with The Brotherhood of St Andrew. We need to remember, they have been mee� ng together for fi ve, 10, 25 years. They know each other, they have developed a degree of trust with each other and they may be willing to take some new steps - just maybe. What we have to off er them are opportuni� es for
future growth. Something new, a new way of looking at how we relate to each other and to the world outside our li� le group. They may pick up one new idea, or several new ideas or they may want to become a full Brotherhood chapter - or not. We will be there to assist and mentor or guide and they need to be in charge of what they choose to do, and how they choose to structure their men’s group. Because our job, our mission, is to bring men and youth to Christ - not to add new Brotherhood chapters or to get more dues paying members to join the Brotherhood. Our newest affi liate at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Litchfi eld Park, has taken a new step in their ministry. They were already involved in prison ministry and many of their men had a� ended the last two men’s retreats. They already had a regular Bible study and men’s breakfast. When we came and talked to them about the Brotherhood, their deci-sion was to affi liate with the Brotherhood. At a recent meet-ing the men at St. Peter’s decided that their next ministry would be to once a month feed the Veterans at the US Vets Center in downtown Phoenix. This men’s group will con� nue to grow and someday that may choose to become a Brother-hood Chapter ... or they may not ... but they are con� nuing on their spiritual journey, bringing men and youth to Christ.
Jack Hanstein is vice-president of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. He can be reached at [email protected].
