News & Messages

Resources for Holy Week at Home

Dear Friends in Christ,

Our Lent like no other now moves this week into a Holy Week like no other. In this issue of E-News, you will find a number of resources to aid in your observance of these most important days in our faith. One of my hopes is that families that are safer at home together will use these as new ways to give depth and meaning to family celebrations. I hope others will use them in part of the many virtual gatherings.

These resources invite us to reflect on the story of God's love poured out in Jesus in new ways. My hope is that a result will be new insights into the depth, meaning, and power of God's love for us shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Please know of my prayers for you at this most challenging time.

Yours in Easter Hope,

The Rt. Rev. Steven Andrew Miller
Bishop

Resources for holy week at home

Worship & Formation Resource List from The Episcopal Church

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church on Our Theology of Worship

Holy Week at Home from the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire

The Triduum Under Quarantine from Virginia Theological Seminary:

    Link to all their resources

Making an Altar at Home

Good Friday Contemplative Service of Scripture and Song from enfleshed

Resources for Families

Godly Play videos:

    The Mystery of Easter

    The Faces of Easter

A Lego Journey through Holy Week from Building Faith

Holy Week at Home Family Practices from Building Faith

Keeping Faith at Home with Children

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross with Woodcut Images

Stations of the Cross from Episcopal Migration Ministries

The Rev. Kevin Huddleston Appointed Interim Canon for Finance

The Rev. Kevin Huddleston Appointed Interim Canon for Finance

The Rev. Kevin Huddleston has been appointed by Bishop Miller to serve as part-time Interim Canon for Finance. He will continue serving St. John the Divine in Burlington and Holy Communion in Lake Geneva. As Interim Canon for Finance, Kevin will provide financial oversight, support, reporting and analysis for the Diocese of Milwaukee.
 
Kevin will chair the Diocesan Finance Committee and work closely with staff on internal and external financial processes. We are grateful for Kevin’s ministry with us at such a crucial time.

About the Rev. Kevin Huddleston
The Reverend Dr. Kevin D. Huddleston is a native of Rockford, Illinois. He received a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Milligan College, an MDiv. in Old Testament and Preaching from the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University and a DMin. in Preaching from A.C.T.S through Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.

Fr. Kevin was ordained at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas in 1988. He served as the priest in charge of Youth, Program Director and priest in charge of Mission and Outreach at St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas, Texas. Fr. Kevin has served on the Finance Committee for the Amistad Mission, Bolivia and the Finance Committee for the Jubilee Center, an outreach ministry of St. Michael’s, Dallas, Texas.  Fr. Kevin recently served as rector of St. Michael and Angels, Mission, Kansas before accepting the invitation from Bishop Miller to serve as the rector/vicar of St. John the Divine, Burlington and Church of the Holy Communion, Lake Geneva. He is experienced in working with large budgets and organizing systems for efficiency and effectiveness.

Fr. Kevin is married to Gaye Lynn, a realtor at Shorewest Realtors in Lake Geneva. He has three children: the Reverend Nathan is Canon for Youth and Young Adults at the Cathedral of St. Philip’s, Atlanta, and married to Katherine; Reade, Master Distiller at Headframe Spirits, Butte, Montana; and Anna, who is currently studying to be a nurse.

A Message from Bishop Miller on the Status of Public Worship

To the Clergy and People of the Diocese of Milwaukee
 
Dear Friends in Christ,
 
Grace to you and peace in this week when we draw near to the holiest days of our Christian faith. This year we will recall the events of Holy Week through a lens we could not have imagined. Like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, we wish and long for something different – take this cup from us. And yet like Jesus, our prayer must be not my will but thine be done.
 
I write you again today as your bishop, chief pastor and canonical overseer, as promised. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of my decision to extend the pastoral direction that clergy and churches of the Diocese of Milwaukee suspend public worship until at least May 1. On April 27, I will reassess this situation in light of developments and give directions for the future. This directive applies to all our congregations, clergy and licensed lay ministers.
 
What I wrote to you last month remains true, “it pains me to make this decision but I believe it is for the best of all. Loving our neighbor requires giving up for the sake of others.” I wish we would have been able to open our churches for Holy Week and Easter. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is even possible that it might be necessary to extend this directive into June and perhaps even longer.
 
Like many of you, my days are now spent in Zoom conferences, webinars, and phone calls. It is a very different way to do ministry. What has not changed is the comfort I find in the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, which has been the anchor of my prayer life for over forty years. I am pleased to see so many of our congregations gathering for the Daily Office through the internet. Many of my colleagues have remarked that the Office is said with more frequency than at any time we can remember. Just as important are the ways that we are reaching out to one another in both new and familiar ways. We are staying connected in new ways — online Bible studies, coffee hours, book studies, prayer groups — while continuing to use tried and true methods such as phone trees and personal phone calls. I dare say we are more connected to one another in real-time than ever before. Theologically, we are never unconnected because we have been joined to one another in Christ through baptism. These gatherings manifest that truth at a time we need to remember it the most.
 
Please know of my prayers for you all as this pandemic continues to unfold. If you would like me to pray for friends and loved ones who are working on the front lines of this pandemic, please send their names to me at  , and I will add their name to my list. I ask you to pray for me as I seek to minister faithfully at this time. Pray for all our clergy and people.
 
Grace to you and peace.
 
+Steven

The Rt. Rev. Steven Andrew Miller
Bishop

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