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A Pastoral Letter
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, D.D., Ninth Bishop of Kansas
Lent 2011
Dear Friends in Christ,
I am taking the rare step of writing you this letter, which I have asked the clergy of the diocese to read aloud as a part of Sunday worship services. I am doing this because, as your bishop, I believe the Episcopal Church in Kansas is facing one of the most urgent challenges in our history, and the church needs your help.
Sixty percent of our parishes currently are served by part-time or non-stipendiary clergy. In the near future, more of our parishes will be served by bi-vocational clergy. While we always will need full-time clergy educated at residential seminaries, we will need many more locally educated lay leaders, deacons and priests. The Kansas School for Ministry was created for this purpose and has prepared many people who have served our diocese with distinction. We need to build up this school, so it is equipped to prepare the next generation of leaders for the Episcopal Church in Kansas.
This school arguably is the most crucial program we have going in the diocese. Every strategy we have for growth and mission depends on its success. We already have raised $2.5 million from about 60 deeply committed Episcopalians for this work. Now we need to raise a matching amount from the approximately 11,940 other Episcopalians in our diocese. These funds will endow the school’s faculty, build sorely needed facilities and give 10 cents out of every dollar to outreach.
Today, I am asking every member in every parish to do these three things.
- Include this important mission in your prayers. We will accomplish nothing without God’s help.
- Prayerfully consider making a three-year pledge to this vital work. This initiative will help every parish in the diocese. Not everyone can give a lot, but everyone can give something.
- Consider your own call to ministry. How is God asking you to serve the church, your community and the world? KSM exists to help you do that.
We are at a crossroads…a point where we must decide whether or not we will follow the example of our heroic pioneer forefathers and mothers who made such great sacrifices for the work of Christ. I am speaking to you today with unusual bluntness because of the urgency of this need. We are on the verge of doing something extraordinary, but we are only half the way there.
Every Episcopalian needs to be part of this effort. If you have any questions about this initiative or any of its plans, please feel free to contact your priest, your parish Crossroads Campaign representative or my office.
May the Lord who has given us the will to do these things, grant us the grace and the strength to accomplish them.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Bishop of Kansas