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Living Wi$ely workshop offered in January
Terry Parsons, stewardship officer for The Episcopal Church, will lead a workshop to help people understand and apply sound personal financial management principles from an Episcopal perspective.

The event will take place Jan. 5-6, 2007 at St. Andrew’s, Emporia. The cost to attend is $20.

“Living Wi$ely will help people who are stressed out or confused by their finances,” said Char DeWitt, diocesan director of stewardship and development. “It’s an uncomplicated approach to getting that desired grip on finances.”

Parsons has been stewardship officer for the Episcopal Church since 1996 and is a frequent speaker around the country on stewardship and money matters.

DeWitt said she hopes each parish will designate one or two people to attend the event and then take the information back to their congregation. Others involved in a parish’s ministry, such as Habitat for Humanity, might also benefit from the training, she said.

A special hotel rate of $65 is available at the Candlewood Suites, 620-343-7756. To register, contact DeWitt at 800-473-3563 or cdewitt@episcopal-ks.org.

Parishes work together to help St. Paul’s, Kansas City
Parishioners from three Northeast Convocation churches spent Nov. 11 wielding paint brushes and tools in a work day at St. Paul’s, Kansas City.

More than 35 people gathered to paint the narthex and Ascension Chapel and provide other repairs to the inner-city church. They came from St. Paul’s, Leavenworth; St. Michael’s, Mission; and St. Thomas, Overland Park.

The church and the Episcopal Anti-Hunger Network in greater Kansas City serve the neighborhood around St. Paul’s by providing a Saturday morning breakfast program and a food pantry.

Work day organizer Rick Bush of St. Thomas said, “We can be proud to see the Kansas Episcopal community come together to provide a strong and developing outreach center for urban ministry. There is still much work to be done, as we are just getting started.” More days to help out at St. Paul’s are planned, he said.

Seabury Academy celebrates 10th year
Students, faculty and friends of Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence gathered Nov. 21 for the annual fall convocation assembly to kick off the school’s 10th year in operation.

In September 1997 the school opened, serving grades 7 through 12, with 32 students and six teachers. It now has more than 120 students enrolled. In all more than 300 students have studied at Seabury, including 60 graduates.

The college-preparatory school, named for the first bishop of The Episcopal Church, is an official institution of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas but is self-supporting.

Chris Carter is headmaster, and Bishop Dean Wolfe serves on the school’s Board of Trustees.

Grace Cathedral to celebrate 150th anniversary
Grace Cathedral, Topeka, will observe the 150th anniversary of its first service with special activities that will run throughout 2007.

A choral Eucharist on Jan. 21 will mark the official kickoff of the anniversary, just one day after the date of the first Episcopal service in Topeka. Other events will follow during the year.

On Jan. 20, 1857, the Rev. Charles M. Callaway, a missionary sent westward by a group of eastern Evangelicals, led worship for 175 people and helped establish “Grace Mission.” Callaway also founded what would become the College of the Sisters of Bethany, a girls school that occupied the 20-acre tract of land where the Cathedral, diocesan offices and Topeka High School now stand.

By 1860 the mission had been incorporated as Grace Church, and a building had been constructed near downtown Topeka. It was enlarged in 1874 and featured an impressive bell tower.

In 1879, by action of diocesan convention, the parish was designated the cathedral of the diocese.

Work on a new building at its current location of Eighth and Polk began in 1910 and was completed in 1917, minus twin bell towers that were added in the 1955.

The building was gutted by arson fire in 1975. Rebuilding took three years, although a number of items, such as stained glass windows, the pulpit and chancel rail, were added more recently as donations provided them.