News & Messages

St. Matthew's, Kenosha Service Award Winners

Paul calls us to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). What is your church doing to give thanks to its members?

St. Matthew’s, Kenosha has a tradition of showing gratitude for those who serve in their church by awarding three services awards yearly at their Annual Meeting. Before the annual meeting, Fr. Matthew Buterbaugh typically confers with the senior and junior warden about who the recipients should be.

“Gratitude is not just a private feeling but is also inherently social, connecting us as individuals with others,” according to author Diana Butler Bass. By acknowledging the award winners, St. Matthew’s is able to celebrate the work that people have done, and publicly thank them for their service. Generally, the award recipients are surprised with their awards at the Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting was held on January 20.

Jazmin Mendoza-Anderson, Acolyte Award winner

The Acolyte Award is based on best attendance in the past year. The acolytes give themselves a check every time they come into the sacristy, and whoever gets the most checks by the end of the year gets the award. This year’s winner was Jazmin Mendoza-Anderson. Fellow member Linda Bogdala noted about Jazmin, “She had been the most faithful in attendance and everyone appreciates her dedicated service to St. Matthew’s.”

Jennifer Meyer, Women's Service Cross winner

Jennifer Meyer was awarded the Women’s Service Cross. Jen has shared her musical talents as a member of the choir and as cantor at many services. She has worked diligently on many service and outreach projects. Jen also stepped up to assist in the office, coming in after her full-time job and weekends, after the parish was without an office administrator for several months.

Geoffrey Greeley, Men's Service Cross winner

This year St. Matthew’s awarded the Men’s Service Cross award to Geoffrey Greeley, senior warden. Though usually the award it is a surprise, Fr. Buterbaugh said, “I had to tell him I’d made the decision without him.” In addition to his duties as senior warden, Geoff chaired the Stewardship drive last year. Linda Bogdala said, “Geoff is a licensed lay preacher, sharing his knowledge and love of God’s word with the congregation.” He also shares his musical talents as a member of the choir.

“Gratitude happens when some kindness exceeds expectations,” according to David Brooks in an article written in the New York Times. Thank you to Jazmin, Jen, and Geoff for exceeding expectations at St. Matthew’s.

What are other parishes doing to show gratitude?

Introduction to Systemic Racism on Saturday, March 23

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” ⸺ Martin Luther King in Letter from Birmingham Jail

 In honor of Martin Luther King Day last week, I read his Letter from Birmingham Jail. In it, he writes that at the time, Birmingham was “probably the most thoroughly segregated city in America.” He also writes, “Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts.”

Recently Bishop Miller sent me a link to an article from MSN, The Worst Cities for Black Americans. In this article, Milwaukee and Racine are listed as the second and third worst places to live for African Americans now. This isn’t the first time we’ve made the list. In the current report, it says that black families earned less than have the income of a typical white family. It states that the incarceration rate for black people is 11.5 times that as the rate for white people in Wisconsin (for reference, the national rate is that black people are 5 times more likely to incarcerated compared to white people). The report cites Milwaukee's discriminatory housing policies from the mid-20th century still largely defines residential patterns today.

Birmingham is no longer called one of the most segregated cities in the country, Milwaukee is. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2016, as presented on the Sentencing Project website, only New Jersey has a higher rate of incarceration for African Americans than Wisconsin does. And a new report from WalletHut names Wisconsin as the most segregated state in the nation.

Last week, I had a man stop by St. Mark’s, Milwaukee (where I also work) asking for assistance. St. Mark’s is located on Milwaukee’s east side in a rather affluent neighborhood with little racial diversity. He expressed how much courage it took for him to come to “this neighborhood in this part of town.”

We in the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee are trying to answer our churchwide call to grow our relationships with each other through racial reconciliation. We have read the books Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and Waking Up White by Debby Irving, and we have hosted discussions on racial reconciliation and encouraged you to have discussions in your parishes. We have called on you to, in the words of Bryan Stevenson, “get proximate” and reach out to others.

To continue this work, we will be hosting Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training who will present a day-long Introduction to Systemic Racism on Saturday, March 23.

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce participants to the idea that oppression and, in particular, racism is not only a matter of individual prejudice but a systemic, institutional problem of power, which requires structural intervention to dismantle.

Participants will be exposed to a definition of systemic racism. A rationale will be explored for developing a fuller analysis of racism, including understanding its historical and legal roots and contemporary functioning.

Please join us.

Saturday, March 23
8:30 am — Check-In
9 am to 4 pm — Workshop
Zion, Oconomowoc
Cost: $10 to cover the cost of lunch (you may mail a check to the Diocese of Milwaukee Finance Office or you may pay with check or cash at the training).

Register here.  

Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. ⸺ Martin Luther King in Letter from Birmingham Jail

Sara Bitner
Communications Officer

Book Recommendation: Walk in Love

Book Recommendation!

At last year's Episcopal Communicators Conference, I received a copy of Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practices by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe. I just got around to reading it, and I thought it's a great basic exploration of the Episcopal faith.

I think it'd be great for anyone who is new to the Episcopal Church or anyone teaching Episcopal 101 classes (or the like). The authors walk you through all the basics of Anglican faith and its practices. Learn about the sacraments, the liturgical year, the creeds, the structure and governance of the Episcopal Church, and prayers. They stress that many of the topics presented in the book have been simplified or glossed over just because the scope of the book doesn't allow for deeper exploration. They wrote an overview of all the major tenents.