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[Back to index of April 2008 articles] Body of Christ
Washington Window St. John's Episcopal Church Body of Christ aims to introduce readers to a different parish in the church family of the Diocese of Washington each month. This month, writer Diane Ney speaks with the Rev. Rock Schuler, rector of St. John's, Olney, to learn more about the life, history, plans and character of that congregation. WW: You spoke very eloquently at the Diocesan Convention about St. John's African Palms project. Would you tell us a little more about that? SCHULER: This program began in 1976 when an English missionary priest made a presentation to St. John's Episcopal Church Women about a program he had started at a mission in Tanzania, having his parishioners make these small crosses from the palms that grew all around their villages and then shipping the crosses to England to be sold to make money for the villagers. The women here were enthralled by that vision and started what began as basically a Mom-and-Pop operation which has grown into an independently functioning program with its own board and a gross revenue of about $250,000 a year. WW: And this still operates out of St. John's? SCHULER: Yes, under the auspices of St. John's vestry. We see this as a great way to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, to translate good intentions into actions. Because not only do we continue to provide that cash income to the villagers in Tanzania, but we also take the revenue from the sale of these crosses in the states, which amounts to between $50,000 and $75,000 a year, and generate micro-economic development grants in Africa. So, it's successful in very practical ways. And we're lucky to have a group of highly talented people in charge of it. We're hoping to partner with other diocesan parishes, who will purchase the crosses. We're also willing to match outreach grants from other parishes, which would double the impact of our program. WW: I saw on your Web site that you have a parenting seminar on Sundays. I'm not familiar with that program. SCHULER: We're actually in the process of reworking the program, because we want to continue it, in one form or another. We've had feedback from those who participated in it last year, and we're looking for ways to incorporate their suggestions. The seminar began as a way of encouraging parents to stay and participate on Sundays, rather than just dropping their kids off for Sunday School. Our intent is to teach parents how to bring Christian values into the home, because that's where Christian education primarily needs to occur. WW: What about your programs for youth? SCHULER: We have two lifelong parishioners who oversee our youth program and it's been pretty successful. One thing we do that's at the core of our program is the yearly involvement in Group Work Camp, through which our middle-school and high school kids help refurbish homes at several sites across the country every summer. The kids WW: You're fairly new to St. John's, aren't you? SCHULER: I came here in December of 2006. WW: What about the parish has been a pleasant surprise? SCHULER: The members of St. John's are incredibly willing to reach out far beyond themselves, and by that I mean the sustained level of support for international outreach. It's beyond what I've encountered at any other parish with which I've been involved. And on the local level, as well. St. John's is very rooted in the Olney community, which is undergoing an ethnic transformation. The congregation has become very diverse in the past two years, with a lot of new families from the Caribbean and Africa, and there's a strong sense of welcome here. Which is really part of the DNA of this parish, that kind of openness. As I understand it, we were the first parish in the diocese without geographic boundaries, because we didn't want to exclude anyone. WW: So, there's also a reaching out for new members. SCHULER: I think that's an issue faced by the entire Episcopal Church, that as our demographic ages we must be very conscious of how we're reaching out in deliberate and constructive ways to younger generations and a variety of ethnic groups. St. John's is about a quarter to a third of diverse population and we embrace that. Our phenomenal music director, for instance, is from Trinidad and is integrating different music styles into the worship. WW: It sounds as if you're experiencing a kind of transformation. SCHULER: We are, and at the same time we're tapping into our established strengths. Harking back to our community outreach, for example, St. John's sold property in the 1980s and has been using the income since then to provide money to students, to help them pay for all those extras when they go to college. There's just a real solid base of outreach and support here, whether it's for people in our own community or for those half-way around the world. [Back to index of April 2008 articles]
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