I am sitting with my stepfather, listening to his labored breathing and knowing that any exhale could be his last. It is exhausting work—dying and caring for the dying. Not to mention how family members care for one another through the process of caring for the dying…

Her stepfather Bob died Tuesday, his family surrounding.

Canon to the Ordinary Dan Smith was also present with his parents as his father’s condition deteriorated. Bill Smith died Sunday the 28th, surrounded by his family. Bill was an active member of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Orlando, Fla., and the Episcopal Cursillo community. A requiem Eucharist will be held at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke’s (130 North Magnolia Ave) on Friday, May 3 at 2:00 p.m. Bill’s obituary online.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered:

one God, now and forever. Amen.

The annual convention is in late November–the date to submit nominations by is Oct. 3 this year. But (hint, hint) one doesn’t have to wait until 5 PM on October 3rd to mail, email, or fax a nomination!

Download the .PDF of the flyer and the .DOC nominations form from this handy diocesan web address: diocesemo.org/nominations2013

Congratulations to:

from Emmanuel Church:
Jerre Birdsong, Sue Smith

from
Grace Church, Kirkwood:
Becky Entenmann, Dave Jayne, Ruth Jayne, Mike Johnson, Barb Kendal, Phil Morrow, Belinda Nunez, Carlos Nunez, Dianne Sehie, Shelia Stanton

from
St. Stephen’s Church:
Donna Hawk-Reinhard, Ginger Simmons
from
St. Martin’s Church:
John Lange
from
Christ Church Cathedral:
Tammy O’Donnell
from
Trinity Church, Central West End: Mary Taylor

The Discernment Conference, sponsored by the Commission on Ministry of the Diocese of Missouri, is open to candidates, postulants, aspirants, and those contemplating discernment for ministry. It is also intended for clergy in the Diocese of Missouri who are new to the process of discernment in this diocese or for those who wish to renew their understanding. The conference will feature talks by the bishop, clergy, and laity of the diocese. There will be time for questions, fellowship, and sharing.

If you are interested in learning about discernment for ministry in this diocese, if you are already in the process, or if you are a priest or deacon new to the diocese and think you will be overseeing discernment processes in your congregation; this conference is for you.

Cost: $119 per person Scholarship help is available through the Commission on Ministry on a limited basis. Please consider asking your congregation for financial assistance.

All registrations must be received no later than Friday, May 17. Late registrations will not be accepted. Conference fee includes the dormitory room, four meals, snacks and materials. All dormitory rooms are single occupancy. Cancellations submitted after May 17 may not be refunded.

Spouses and partners of participants are invited to dinner and a panel discussion on the family life of the ordained on the evening of June 2. Dinner is served at 5:30 p.m. Reservations are required. If your spouse/partner would like to attend, please include an additional $9.00 with the registration fee. Registration form online: PDF, DOC.

I knew I would be outnumbered tonight, but I didn’t realize how outnumbered I would be.  I guess God is giving me a glimpse of how my wife feels on a daily basis living in a house with my 2 sons and I. She has a lot of testosterone to deal with.   Maybe that is why every time I tell a someone she is pregnant, they say they are praying we will have a girl.  I didn’t quite get it til tonight. Being the minority here tonight I see why they are praying that prayer.  So I just want to Thank you for allowing me to be here and share what God is doing through the work of Episcopal City Mission for the youth in the Juvenile Detention Centers of St. Louis.

I love my job as a chaplain. I have many different roles in the detention center.  I teach chapel services, and lead Bible studies, I do spiritual counseling, and listen to stories and I even get to play basketball with the kids.  The reactions vary when I walk into the gym.  I have worked for ECM long enough that most of the kids know me already, but when a new kid sees me in the gym for the first time I get a lot some giggles.  I come in dressed in my basketball gear, but all they see is a short old white guy.  Then I step on the court and then the reactions change.  I may not look it, but I can hold my own on the court students quickly wish they would have picked me to be on their team.  The funniest part  is when a young man comes up to me and says, “How come you’re not playing in the NBA?”  Just by looking at me you can tell I am not good enough to play in the NBA.  I don’t think they realize when I play in the detention center I usually play half court basketball which means not a lot of running up and down the court and I am playing against 12-17 yr olds. Not the greatest competition. To them I look great, but if you put me on the court with LeBron James, or Michael Jordan it would be a different story.

It is all a matter of perspective.  Perspective is the main thing I try and share with the juveniles I work with.  I want them to learn that life is a matter of perspective.  The right perspective sets people up to succeed and find hope when all seems hopeless. I have found a common theme in the youth I work with.  They feel hopeless.  I work with a lot of kids who come from horrific situations  Some cried a lot when they were younger, but life has taught them to harden their hearts so they won’t feel the pain.  Many of them are to the point where they don’t cry anymore.  They have learned to be tough and think that is how to deal with their problems.  They feel alone and have to figure life out for themselves.

About a year and a half ago I met a young man I’ll call Jay. When I met Jay he had been locked up for 2 months and he felt alone.  He told me that the judge would have released him after his 1^st month if his mom would have enrolled him in school.  That was all he needed, but she hadn’t done it.  She let him sit there.  When we talked Jay didn’t know how he felt. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t crying or punching walls like some other kids I have talked to.  He just felt alone and things seemed hopeless. After talking him for a while I pointed out to him it was ok to be sad and he started bawling in my office.  He needed permission to be sad about his situation and it all came out. He told me he had 4 younger siblings that were living in a condemned home with no running water. The water was shut off, but they still were using the toilet.  They were heating one bedroom with a space heater, but the rest of the house was freezing.  Jay’s mom kicked him out because Jay didn’t get along with mom’s boyfriend and she chose the boyfriend over her 16 yr old son. After Jay cried in my office I asked him if he had anyone that could help him.  He told me about and aunt, so we called her.  Thankfully for Jay that aunt enrolled him in school.  Two days later Jay was released and living with his aunt.  In the midst of some difficult circumstances Jay was able to have a different perspective and it allowed  him to see God in the midst of his situation.  This perspective allowed him to release his emotions and find new hope.

Many of the kids I work with have start to pray for the first time in their life when they get locked up.  As they pray it helps them have a better perspective about their situation. I spoke to a young man this week who I’l call Bill.  Bill was back after being out for 6 months.  When I spoke to him this week he was eating dinner by himself.  I asked him how he was doing.  I was expecting the same old response, “I’m Cool”, which is the universal phrase of all adolescents when they mean, “LEAVE ME ALONE.” Instead he told me he had been praying all morning. And every time he prayed he started crying.”  This immediately got my attention.  Then he asked me, “Chaplain, how do you know if you are hearing from God.”  What I wanted to say was, “If you figure it out let me know.”  Instead of being a smart aleck I shared how God typically speaks to me.  After we talked for about 10 more minutes Bill said the most astounding thing.  He told me, “I think God was using you to speak to me just now.”  I was blown away.  It was one of those times when God gave me some perspective.  That He is using me even when I don’t realize it.  I have found the key to working with anyone is having the right perspective.  If finding the right perspective is hard for me I think how much harder it must be for them.

The juveniles I work with have a bad perspective and they often make bad choices. When I hear about their lives I see why they have a bad perspective.  I don’t know how I would respond if I had to deal with the circumstances many of  these kids do. Yet I have found in my life that the right perspective brings a renewed sense of peace and hope.  One verse I read to the kids often comes from Philippians 4:6-7. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything.  With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and  requests to God.  7 Then, because you belong to Christ  Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.That is what a new perspective can give us.  It allows us to not worry, but pray and as we pray in faith God will give us a peace that other people don’t understand.  These kids can relate to that.  They need peace that controls they way they think and feel.

I talk to a lot of kids who want me to pray for them.  They try to pray, but don’t know if God will answer their prayers or even hear them because most of them know they have messed up.  They feel sorry for what they did to get locked up.  So when I pray I try to paint a picture of a gracious God.  One who is slow to anger and abounding in love.  When Jesus says to let the little children come to him I see these children.  That is why I love my job.  Because I get to help kids have this new perspective about God.  I work with children that God would open up his arms and welcome to himself if they could see that perspective.  When they have that perspective of God I believe that is when He shows up in powerful ways and brings hope and healing to their lives.  That is where the transformation happens and as an ECM chaplain I am blessed to play a small part in that transformation.  Thank you for letting me share a little bit with you this evening.  Bev and I will be here later to answer any questions you may have.

First, the Archbishop will be installed on the Diocesan throne as the Bishop of the see of Canterbury, the oldest diocese in the English church. He will then be installed on the chair of St Augustine as Primate of All England–the ‘first bishop’ in the country. This latter enthronement has also come to represent the Archbishop’s inauguration as the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The ceremony will be attended by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Prime Minister, and archbishops and bishops from around the world. Representatives of many other faiths will also be present.

Following in Missouri. The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced that it is airing the inauguration on BBC Two television between 2.30pm – 4.30pm GMT (9:30-11:30 AM CDT) and BBC Radio 4 (LW) between 2.55pm – 4.00pm GMT (9:55 to 11 AM CDT). A spokesperson told ACNS that, for those outside the UK, the service would also be streamed live on www.bbc.com with highlights of the service featured on BBC World News 24.

Read more about the service and traditions at the Archbishop’s web site and on the Anglican Communion News site.

Wayne Smith
Bishop of Missouri

Teaching at St. Martin's Church-Ellisville, Jan 23, 2011

“Whenever I thanked John for his guidance, he pointed up and said ‘not me–God’,” –a Good Shepherd member.

John Barrett Musgrave died Monday, March 18. It was not unexpected, he had announced his diagnosis to his flock at Good Shepherd Church and his clergy colleagues in the diocese back in Sept. 2010. His medical team finally named MSA (Multiple Systems Atrophy) the reason for his symptoms. It would be a slow but steady deterioration, and there was no cure. John incorporated these challenges as he did much in his life: he was a teacher, a steady witness, and a certain proclaimer of Jesus’ love and God’s grace.

John was born January 29, 1952, in Goiania, Brazil. His parents were Baptist missionaries who served there for 36 years. After getting his BA in Psychology from Baylor University, and psych postgraduate work, he headed off to be an account executive in Louisiana and Texas, ending up at Shearson-Lehman. He married Nannette Bert, a native of Perryville, in 1985. In 1989, John answered God’s call. He entered the Seminary of the Southwest and earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1992. He was ordained deacon July 27, 1992, and ordained priest January 26, 1993. He earned a earned a Doctorate of Ministry in congregational development at the Seabury Institute in Evanston, IL. He served three Texas congregations, the last being the 1300-member St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Houston, where he was rector from 1999 to May 2004. John was called to this diocese as a senior pastoral affiliate to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Ladue, in May 2004.

In early 2004, a majority of the congregation of Good Shepherd in Town and Country voted to join their then rector in leaving the Episcopal Church. The portion of the congregation which had remained loyal to the Episcopal Church returned to regular services in the building, and was served by two interim pastors. Good Shepherd’s vestry voted unanimously to call John, and at his suggestion and encouragement, to a three year term as Priest-in-Charge for Congregational Development.

Preaching at the Celebration of New Ministry for the Rev. Pamela Dolan, rector, and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 4-18-2012

February 15th, 2007, the congregation formally and joyously welcomed the John as its new priest, and renewed its vows of baptism in what was then a “new” liturgy, The Renewal of Ministry with the Welcoming of A New Priest. The service was presided over by Bishop Wayne. Preaching the sermon was J. Scott Mayer, then rector of Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene. The congregation grew past the 2004 loss and began to flourish. They called John as rector Oct. 1, 2008.

Visitation will be Wednesday, March 20, 5 to 8 pm at: St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 110 N. Warson Road, St. Louis 63124

Funeral Service, Thursday March 21, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust St , St. Louis 63103

Bishop Wayne Smith will officiate the burial office and preside at the Eucharist. Bishop J. Scott Mayer of the Diocese of Northwest Texas will preach and assist. Clergy may vest (white stoles). The vesting room will be in the first floor lounge (the old bookstore space).

He is survived by his wife Nannette, daughter Vanessa Lemons, and two sons, Michael and William. The family has requested in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the study of John’s rare brain disease through http://www.shy-drager.org/donate. A memorial fund is also being established at Good Shepherd in his honor.

Members of Church of the Good Shepherd have been collecting recordings of sermons and articles from Fr. John’s ministry and are developing a website library at http://johnsvoice.org, which will be officially launched in a couple of months.

Video recordings of preaching and teaching on stewardship at St. Martin’s Church, Ellisville on Jan. 23, 2011:

Sermon (2 parts):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ7onkO9KNk .
Teaching (4 parts):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxzO_xkd0sE