April 2012 ORDINARY CONCERNS the Bishop’S Journal March 6 - Staff Meetings Through the Morning

April, 2012 • Volume 137, Issue No. 4 Which type of disasters are most likely to affect Mississippi? By Carol Borne Spencer along the Mississippi River and creating a “Go To” document for wide distribu - The Diocesan Disaster Preparedness tion throughout the diocese. and Response Team (DP&RT) is receiv - Also, the team will work to define a ing the PINK SHEETS slowly from con - chain of command (starting with the gregations, and has begun cataloguing bishop and including the DP&RT) for our assets by convocations, by talents, use in all the convocations and congre - and resources from those congregations gations in Mississippi. that have responded. It is vitally important that parishes We continue to await responses and missions turn in pink sheets from from all congregations and hope the the Disaster Preparedness and Response work is in progress at this time. booklets that have been handed out. The team is also launching our Those who have returned these sheets Save the second stage of preparedness. We have with congregational contact information Date evaluated a five-year trend and believe and resources have been plugged in to there five top disasters likely hit or affect Advanced planning makes relief and recovery from a disaster such as a the chain of command throughout the And join us for: our state of Mississippi. Those disasters tornado a much easier task. Many Disaster Preparation and Response blue diocese. are: book pink sheets are still out. The bishop urges all parishes and missions The more data we have, the easier 1. Tornadoes to respond. it is to respond when a crisis occurs. 2. Hurricanes Parishes that do not fill out the data gathering sheets create a hole making it more 3. Floods difficult for our relief team to act quickly and efficiently. 4. Ice Storms Please send your pink sheets to the diocesan office. If you’ve lost your book - 5. Hazardous materials spills/explosions let, a PDF file has been uploaded on the diocesan website: www.dioms.org. Click (Running six and seven are Thunder/Lightening Storms and Energy Blackouts on the “Mission and Outreach” tab and find “Emergency Preparedness and due to technological and fuel failures.) Response.” The entire booklet is found on the top of the left side bar of the Emergency Preparedness and Response page. The team will be studying the top five most likely disasters, for now, with May 25-27, 2012 plans to eventually address all possible disasters. We will be taking what we The Rev. Deacon Carol Borne Spencer is the coordinator of the Diocesan learned from Hurricane Katrina, the tornadoes in Smithville and the recent floods Preparedness and Response Team. Renewal of a familiar initiative: wellness By Kyle Dice Seage Like it or not, however, the issue is here to stay, especially as we continue to hear more and more about the “expansiveness” of Americans. The statistics continue to be very frightening and most A few weeks ago, I attended a Wellness Conference at Mississippians know that we are #1 on the list for the states with the largest number of obese persons. Kanuga Conference Center, representing our diocese. Every It’s not the #1 designation anyone wants and there are many in the church who are doing what they morning (beginning at 7:00 a.m.!) there were different exercise can to try and move us beyond that list. opportunities offered to the participants, with repeat offerings Just like my experience on the climbing wall, making a choice for wellness has to made by each in the afternoon. In between were meetings on topics sur - individual and done in his or her own time. No one forced or coerced me into climbing the wall; I rounding wellness in the church. decided on my own that I was willing to try. One afternoon, the conference staff offered the “opportu - Additionally, there were lots of people encouraging me (well, they were laughing at my rapid nity” to try a 50-ft climbing wall for anyone willing to give it a climb, but there were cheers as well), and when we have support of family, friends, parishioners and chance. I did — and earned a lot of laughs from those watch - the like, we’re much more inclined to stick with the changes or challenges that we set for ourselves. ing, at the record time I achieved going UP the wall. At the In my own journey toward a better understanding of wellness, particularly getting in better physi - time, only I knew just how hard my heart was pounding; all I cal shape, I discovered that setting a realistic goal worked for me. For instance, I thought last summer was thinking about was getting to top as fast as I could just so I that I would try to run (or at least finish) one 5K last. And I did. Crossing the finish line and seeing could say I’d done it. Kyle Dice Seage others around me finish spurred me on and I signed up for another one. For me, it wasn’t so much Unfortunately, that was as far as my thought process went. how fast I was, it was simply that I did it. I didn’t focus on who was ahead or who was behind, I just As I clung to the ledge at the top, it quickly became apparent to me that it was going to be a lot harder loved having the souvenir t-shirt at the end. In six months, I ran my first (and likely, only) half- coming down. Going up, I was in charge (sort of); coming down, I had to rely on the man on the marathon just to see if I could do it. But again, like climbing that wall, I had to be the one to decide ground who controlled the ropes. and I had to decide that all I really had to do was get to the top. In the end, that wasn’t as realistic a It took a lot of persuasion and cajoling, but I finally let go of the ledge; leaned back into the goal as I’d imagined since I forgot about the part about coming down, but for me, it was another small belayed rope and began inching my way down. When I reached the ground, I realized I’d been holding step. my breath. Last, wellness in the every sense of the word, from physical to spiritual to emotional, involves let - There are a lot of sermons in that experience. But for me, there’s also a message inherent in that ting go of the notion that one can do it all on one’s own. When I leaned back away from that wall, I climb about taking chances, taking risks, goal setting/achieving and ultimately, relying on someone put my life in the hands of someone else. As Christians, we will never fully become who God intends besides yourself to accomplish what you believe to be impossible. us to be if we’re determined to do it on our own. Placing our lives, our trust, and our faith in God, in We are responsible for our own bodies, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The the assurance that God’s love and care for us is enough to sustain, change and fill us. We will be well term used a lot these days to signify the way that we keep all of these components in tune is Wellness. when we lean back, give up our own desire for control and allow God to give us health. We hear about it on the news, in magazines at the doctor’s office, in television and increasingly in everyday conversation. It’s a topic some take up enthusiastically while others more willingly dismiss The Rev. Kyle Dice Seage is the rector of St. Philip’s/Jackson and the chair of the diocesan wellness “those” types of conversations. committee. NEWS FROM THE PEWS St.Philip’s will also sponsor Steak Night on Cinco Inn and a tour of the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art is a troupe of volunteer actors from the Jackson Notes & Quotes de Mayo (May 5) at cinco cinco cinco (5:55 p.m.) featuring the Westervelt Collection of Art. area who perform skits made famous by Andy in the parish hall. Mediator will also participate in a Junior Griffith and Don Knotts on the “Andy Griffith By Jim Carrington Yoga for Life, which meets in the St. Philip’s High/Senior High Retreat on April 20-21 at Lake Show.” Two performances will be held on “The birds and the parish hall each Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m., Wanita. Saturday, April 28, in the nave of St. John’s. The butterflies have been blaz - celebrated its 5th anniversary in February. In Advent/Sumner will be distributing packets matinee will be held at 2:00 p.m. The evening ing their welcome; the appreciation for the use of the facilities the of garden seeds to approximately 150 families performance will begin with dinner at 5:30 p.m. trees have gone from pin group presented a love offering of $1170.00 to living in close proximity to the church. Each followed by a 6:30 performance. feathers to full dress, and the parish. packet will contain enough seed to plant a small, St. Paul’s/Columbus will prepare a meal it is brilliant color every - St. Peter’s/Oxford : A congregational swap family-sized garden. Seeds included are okra, for the Father’s Child Ministry . This program where!” This quote from will be held between St.

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