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Celebrating our lives together in Christ |
All
Saints Episcopal Church Receives Lilly Endowment Grant
 All
Saints Episcopal Church has received a grant of $35,000 to enable
Fr. Patrick T. Twomey to participate in the 2008 National
Clergy Renewal Program funded by the Indianapolis-based Lilly
Endowment Inc. All Saints is one of 133 congregations across the
country that will support their ministers in the program, which allows
pastors to step back from their busy lives and renew their spirits for
the benefit of their ongoing ministries.
Now in its ninth year, the program invites congregations and ministers
to consider and plan a period of intentional reflection and renewal. It
provides a time for ministers to take a break from their daily
obligations and gain the fresh perspective and renewed energy that a
carefully considered “sabbath time” of travel, study, rest, and prayer
can provide.
Each congregation is eligible to apply for a grant of up to
$45,000. Up to $15,000 of that amount can be used to fulfill
pastoral duties during the minister’s absence and for expenses related
to the congregation’s own renewal. The 133 grants this year total
nearly $5 million.
Fr. Patrick’s sabbatical, to begin the fall of 2010, will include an
eight-week period of study in the Latin
Institute at the University of Kentucky. He will concentrate on the
advanced reading and composition courses taught by Terence Tunberg and
Milena Minkova. These courses are taught entirely in Latin and
therefore will provide an extended immersion experience in
conversational Latin. Fr. Patrick has been invited to attend the
university as a Visiting Scholar.
Following the experience in Lexington, Fr. Patrick and his wife, Cathy,
will take a one week trip to Kauai. This is
intended entirely for relaxation. The last portion will be a one week
trip to Rome, but with no plans for Latin study. Fr. Patrick intends to
enjoy many new and familiar sights, and hopes to have a reunion with
his famed Latin teacher, Fr. Reginald Foster.
During Fr. Patrick’s time away, the parish will be working to deepen
its ministry of hospitality through a series of meals and lectures.
This will be directed especially to newcomers but will be open to the
parish and community. Every expense related to this proposed
sabbatical, including the cost of clergy supply, will be provided by
the Lilly Endowment grant.
This year’s congregations represent 20 denominations and 36 states.
“We have heard wonderful stories from the pastors who have already
experienced these sabbaticals,” said Craig Dykstra, Endowment senior
vice president for religion. “Their time away has freed them up to
pursue personal interests and needs in ways that have given them new
energy for ministry – and their congregations have discovered that they
didn’t fall apart without their minister around. Indeed, they too
experienced refreshment and a newfound sense of their own strength.”
The Endowment’s larger goal is to bolster the good work that America’s
pastors and congregations accomplish day in and day out and to
reinforce and build upon important work being done on both sides of the
pulpit.
“Though our Clergy Renewal Grants, we hope to strengthen the efforts of
today’s excellent pastors because it is no secret that pastors who have
reconnected themselves to the passions that led them to the ministry in
the first place are more likely to lead healthy and vibrant
congregations,” Dykstra said.
Some other news sources
Anglican
Community News Service
All Saints
Newsletter
The Diocese of
Fond du Lac Clarion
Episcopal
Life
The
Living Church
EpiScope
Episcopal
Cafe
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