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Welcome to All things… Episcopal where we talk about anything and everything related to the Episcopal church. This podcast was designed with young people ages 18-39 in mind and a place to learn more about The Christian faith with the Episcopal lens.
>> Claire: Uh, hello, everyone. Welcome
to All Things Episcopal, where we talk about
anything and everything related to the
Episcopal Church. This podcast was
designed with young people in mind and as
a space to learn more about the Christian faith
with the Episcopal lens. So, in
traditionally Episcopalian greeting fashion, the
Lord be with you.
Greetings, friends. It's so good to be back
for season three of All Things Episcopal,
where we talk about everything and anything related to the
Episcopal Church. We have a few
announcements and changes that are happening with the
podcast starting this season. The first
is that we've had a change in our co hosts.
Father David Kendrick and Father Colin
Laramore have discerned that their time on the podcast
has come to a close. And I am
so grateful to have served alongside them, um,
for the last two years, helping,
uh, get the podcast off the ground
and for their contributions not only to the podcast, but the
wider church. With that said, we have
several new co hosts. Not one,
not two, but five,
uh, new co hosts. Which brings us
to the second announcement of the All Things Episcopal
podcast, which originally was
a production of the Diocese of West Missouri
and is now formally entering a partnership with the
Diocese of Kansas. This has been a
long time coming, um, partnership, and
everyone involved is very excited about
it and where this partnership will take us and
how we can better serve Christ's church.
Since there are going to be several new voices on the
podcast, we want you, the listener, to know
that at any given time, you'll hear at least two to
three voices, um, @ a time.
And you will, on most episodes, hear at
least one voice from each diocese, the Diocese
of Kansas, and one voice from the Diocese of
West Missouri. So, without further delay,
let's introduce our new co host. We're gonna start
with Mother Caroline.
>> Caroline: Hi, I'm the Reverend Caroline Howard.
I serve the Diocese of Kansas as the curate
for Creation Care and as Vicar of
St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Galena, Kansas.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Hi, I am the Reverend Karen
Schlebach, and I serve as the
youth young adult and campus missioner for the
Diocese of Kansas.
>> Claire: Correct.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Sorry. Yes. The Dice of Kansas.
>> Claire: Okay.
>> Haley Cobb: Hi, I'm Haley Cobb.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): She.
>> Haley Cobb: Her pronouns. I am a member of Christ Episcopal Church
in Springfield, Missouri, in the Diocese of West Missouri,
and I serve on the youth leadership team there, helping
with the youth program and am involved, uh, with
diocesan youth stuff as well. Love getting to help out there.
I'm also a member of our diocesan council.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Hi, I'm, uh, the Reverend David Wilcox.
I serve in the Diocese of West Missouri as
the missioner for youth ministry. Um, and this is
not my first time on the podcast, so it's good to be
back. And my preferred pronouns are he, him.
>> Claire: Hey, friends. I'm Claire. I am a lay
minister here in the Diocese of West Missouri.
I am also a postulant for
Holy Orders in the Diocese of Kansas. So I'm living the
best of both worlds right now. And,
um, I work with children, youth and young
adults, specifically within
the college realm.
Um, and yeah, I'm just living
my best life over here in youth ministry
and, uh, children's ministry world.
Um, so with this
introduction of new co hosts, we also wanted to ask
them some questions about,
um, how do they find themselves in the
Episcopal Church and their journey? So
I'm, uh, going to invite Mother Caroline to start us
off on how did you find yourself in the Episcopal
Church?
>> Caroline: So I'm, um,
what they call a cradle Episcopalian. I'm a
lifelong Episcopalian, grew up,
um, in the same small parish
that actually, ah, sent me to seminary.
So I have been
part of the Episcopal Church, but also part of this
small, um, parish for my whole life, which is a
really special experience. Um, and
I've experienced that,
uh, that
tradition through so many different
stages of life. Um, it very much
feels like just a core part of
me. And, um, I'm really grateful for that.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Well, uh, this is Karen, and
I, uh, am not a lifelong
Episcopalian. Um, when I was
a young child, we went to a Mennonite church.
And, uh, I think what happened is that my
parents didn't like the new minister
there. And, um, so we kind of stopped going to church for a
while. And then their, like,
really good family friends, um, invited
us to their church and it was an Episcopal church. And I still
remember, um, that we went
and like, visited the church building before we
actually went to church there. And
the, um, the woman in
the family, uh, that was inviting us, her name's
Chris, Um, she like, showed us all around
and like, showed us how the kneelers worked and like, made
jokes about all the, like, standing up and sitting down that
Episcopalians and showed us the Book of
Common Prayer and you know, just kind of helped make us feel
comfortable in the space before we went to church for the
first time. Um, and
then I went to summer camp
right, um, here in the Diocese of Kansas at Camp Wood
ymca. Uh, and I was pretty much hooked for
life after that point. Um,
so I've, I've moved around, you know, as
people do, um, but always found a home in the
Episcopal Church after that point.
I love that.
>> Haley Cobb: Mother Karen, um, I'm also what you'd call a cradle
Episcopalian. I've been an Episcopalian my whole life,
um, and I've been in the Diocese of West Missouri my whole life.
Uh, I grew up
somewhat at Saint Matthews in Ozark, a really small parish. And
then when my sister and I got to be the age, uh, for youth
ministry, we moved to Christchurch in Springfield
and got involved in that youth program and,
uh, at the diocesan level. So I'm really grateful to
be back plugged in with that now
and getting to serve the diocese that raised me in that
way. And I stayed involved through college in
Springfield, uh, through a small Episcopal campus ministry
group, and then have plugged, plugged, really
back in heavily in the last three years. And like I said,
I love getting to continue to be a part of
youth ministry and young adult ministry and all the wonderful
things.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: So it sounds like we're evenly divided. Half
cradle, half not.
Um, I did not grow up in the
Episcopal Church. I grew up Roman, ah,
Catholic, um, and found my way to the
Episcopal church, um, in
2014,
um, after a brief pit stop in Eastern Orthodoxy.
And if you want to hear more about that, go listen to the
episode about LGBT inclusion in the first
season, um,
because I talked at length about it there.
Um, but I slowly found my way
into the Episcopal Church and, uh, found
a home here. And
after a couple years, was raised up to go to seminary
and am now really grateful to be back
serving in West Missouri, uh, which is
where I found the Episcopal Church. And I'm
really glad I get to work with awesome people like Haley, who
helped keep me sane over the summer. So
that's always wonderful.
>> Claire: And, um, I guess I'm going to kind of be
the tie break between,
um, the cradle folks
and finding a home in the Episcopal
Church, um, because
I came to the Episcopal Church when I was
9. So some people view me as cradle
and some people don't. So we'll go
with yes. And, um,
I entered the Episcopal Church for
the first time, interestingly enough, on All
Saints Sunday in, uh,
2001. I
think that's what it was. And,
um, I'll never forget
that Sunday because there was so much
incense and I thought it was, like the best
smell in my life. Um,
and right after service, I
actually, in the middle of service, I pushed my stepdad
to the side and told him
to get out of my way because I wanted to watch
the people in white robes, AKA
people wearing albs,
um, because there was just something so
fascinating about it. And at the time, I
was in, uh, ballet. And the best
way I could articulate
in my nine year old mind the beauty
of what was happening in front of me in church
was like Swan Lake. There was just
so much grace and fluidity
and, um,
yeah, like, I, I stood
no chance to, to
not love the church. Um, pretty much from
the first day I stepped foot into,
into the church.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Um, can I add to. I just want.
There's two things I really want to say. One,
that's one of the things that I, like, remember loving about the
Episcopal Church when I first started going was that like,
there was something to do during church. Like, you didn't
have to just sit there. Like, you could stand and you could kneel or
you could be an acolyte and like, it was just so great to like,
have something to do during church. Yeah,
it's kind of a weird feeling. The second thing I want to say is
that Caroline's like my favorite story about
Caroline is that her quote
unquote, youth ministry when she was a youth, which is she was
the junior warden for her small parish when she was
in high school.
>> Caroline: This is true. Yes. As, uh, the
15 year old junior warden of St. Peter's
Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh.
>> Claire: Okay, that is seriously awesome. Talk
about, like youth leadership within the
church. We need more of that.
>> Caroline: Absolutely, absolutely. And like, there are great
riches among your youth. Don't forget that.
>> Claire: Oh, that is fantastic.
Um, yeah, like
I. Similar to that, um,
I had told my mom at the end of that first
service, I want to be one of the people in one of the white
robes. That was my very first Sunday in
church, um, because I knew that there was something
special about it and something
holy or set apart, so to speak.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Also, incense is the best smell ever. I'm just going to throw that
out there too.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Agree to disagree,
Aaron.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: You're hurting my heart.
>> Claire: All right, listeners of the podcast
write in team Incense or
not for what we want. We want to know for what
it's worth.
>> Haley Cobb: I'm team Incense. I'm team incense over here. So we
might be split down the middle on that as well.
>> Caroline: I'm on the fence. I'm on the fence. I think it depends on your, your
incense blend.
Oh, fascinating.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Oh, there are definitely some bad incense.
>> Caroline: So if you're pro incense, drop your favorite incense
blend.
>> Claire: Yeah.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): So I can appreciate that it adds something to the
worship experience for some people, but for me, I feel
like it takes away from the worship experience. So that's just
my. It's just a distraction for me that
is unpleasant. So I Just want to voice
that. If it's the minority opinion here, that's fine.
>> Caroline: There's space for that.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): If you're someone out there who is like me, I just, I don't
want you to feel alone.
>> Claire: Hey, you know what the unofficial slogan,
if it hasn't changed, um, of the
Episcopal Church is? All are welcome. So
all opinions are considered and welcome.
Um, so with that, um,
what is bringing you all joy in these days?
Um, sometimes the world can feel like it's on
fire, but also there are these beautiful
moments of joy and goodness.
So I'm curious, where are you
all with that? Um, and I'm going to invite Mother
Caroline to start us off again.
>> Caroline: Uh, um, I think I've
been leaning, as I often do in times
of overwhelm, to,
um, very real
bright spots and places of joy in my very real
life. So I can
often get so, so overwhelmed
by kind of the
issue of scale. When I, when I try and just think
too broadly, I freeze
up. And so my defense mechanism to
that is just remind myself of the
goodness that's really present. Um, whether
that's relationships, people that
are in my life that I can catch
up with. My animals are a fantastic source of
this. I have two critters that
bring me. They are constant sources
of joy, frustration, um, too. I mean, you know,
no one likes to discover cat puke first in the
morning, but she's real cute, so
makes it worthwhile. Um, but
lately, I think the thing that I've been
deriving the most joy from Israel,
just regularly being outside.
Um, I recently rediscovered a love
of trail hiking and walking. I had done
so much of that when I was in seminary in
Sewanee. And I got out of the habit when I
moved back to Kansas. I think because I'm
in a city now and it just feels more
challenging than stepping straight out my door
into a forest and trails. That was
such a gift.
But, um, the
part that I love the most is that I'm.
I'm fully immersed in this changing season.
Um, where we are in the northern hemisphere, we
get four seasons. And that
shift is really such a great
reminder to me of the different paces
of our lives and that
we're, we're creatures of creation. We're
not somehow divorced from the natural
order. Um, um, we need these periods of rest
and different pace
work. Um, you know, I work in a
garden most days, and we just wrapped
up our growing season. And
that's a time of long,
long hours and a whole lot of work and
work that will not wait Like, I better go pick those
tomatoes or they're going to be splitting
by the morning. And now, uh, we're
moving into a much calmer time. And I
love taking space and taking time to just
go be in it. Um, listening to
birds singing different songs is
really fantastic to
remind myself of and be
more aware of those parts of the world around me. So that is
bringing me a lot of joy.
>> Claire: And Mother Caroline, I just want to add real quick,
um, having been a recipient recently
of your ministry and your, the work with your
tomatoes, um, friends, if you do
not know this, um, Mother Caroline and
her team have created
amazing salsa. And
I ate, I think a 32 ounce jar of
salsa in like four days.
Um, maybe even less, if I'm being
honest. And it was so
joyful and I'm.
>> Caroline: So glad you enjoyed that.
>> Claire: Yeah, I may or may not have hid part of the
jar in the back of the fridge so my husband wouldn't need
it
anyways. Mother Karen, same, uh, question
to you. What is bringing you joy in these days?
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Um, a few weeks ago,
one of our. We just have a really
good group of young people at our
Canterbury House at the University of Kansas.
Uh, this year. Um, you know, it's a newer
group. It's a lot of freshmen and sophomores,
um, and they have a lot of energy and
we've had some really good conversations about
faith. Um, but honestly, the thing that brought
me the most joy is that one of the students,
um, asked me to come to his dorm in my
full priest garb and bless
his lobster. He has a pet lobster in
a tank in his dorm room. And
so we went, um, me
and another adult and then like four or five kids from the
ministry. They're not kids, they're young adults. Sorry. Four or
five of the students from the ministry came and then their,
like, neighbors from across the hall came over for the
blessing and he and his roommate were there. So there was
a decent sized group of us and we blessed this lobster.
They, like, fished it out of
the tank and held it in a spoon so that I could, like,
lay my hand on the lobster for the blessing.
And, like, it was just great. It was just great to like, walk into
a college dorm in an alb and a soul and everybody
to be like, what is happening right now? Like,
it just was fun and hilarious and,
um, you know, it was definitely a
joyful experience and I hope
there's many more like it.
>> Caroline: That is, uh, my second time hearing that. Yeah, this
is my second time hearing that story. And I just, I love it
so much. It is
delightful.
>> Haley Cobb: I would have loved to just. Yeah, be. You know, just imagine
those neighbors and they peek out their door and they're like, what is going on? That
is just so wonderful.
Um, I think the thing that's been bringing me the most joy
lately is celebrating people
around me. I'm in a season where there are lots
of weddings happening and just life
celebrations happening within my family and friends,
and I've just been really, like, leaning into those
relationships and those celebrations,
um, and just being, like, really present for those. They've brought
me a lot of joy and just, you know, the happy
tears and feelings. But I think just, yeah, in
the midst of, like, Mother Caroline said, like, in the midst of
overwhelm, just leaning on those relationships and those circles around
you, um, I've tried to be really intentional
about that, and I've been lucky that there have been so many
things to celebrate. And so it's been very, very
joyful for me.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: So one of the things that always brings me joy is
we have two dogs. Um, one is
three. Uh, her name is Ollie, and
we just recently got a
new puppy. Her name is
Pixie. And, uh, a friend of ours found her on the site of the
Paseo, which is a major street
here in Kansas City, if you're familiar with it. Um,
and just watching them interact. Um,
because even though she's only three, Ollie has become
the old soul grumpy,
um, dog. And Pixie is,
uh, My husband affectionately referred to her as a crackhead
dog. Um, uh,
she's just like a crazy ball of energy, and
she irritates Ollie so
much. But then, like, the other night, we were just laying
around the house, and they were, like, cuddled up together on the dog
bed. Um, and so, I don't know, it
just. It's just fun to watch them interact
and, like, develop as, like, distinct
personalities. Um, and
just, you know, kind of like human siblings just,
like, get on each other's nerves, but also just,
like, be affectionate and loving to each other.
And it's
just nice to be able to tune out all the other noise in the
world and just kind of enjoy
them and, like, their carefree
nature and, like, the fact that nothing
makes them happier than when we get home at night. Like, I.
I don't know. I love dogs. Um, so that's kind of what
bring. Is bringing me joy lately.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): So I follow this great Instagram account
called We Rate Dogs. Like, all one word. Re.
Rate dogs. Like, it's. They have,
uh, it's the best. If you Love dogs and want
more dogs. Highly recommend.
>> Caroline: I I. So I met Ollie when David,
Father David and I were in seminary together, and I
cannot picture her as the chill, old soul
sister. Like, that boggles
my mind.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Oh, yeah. Like, the, the role reversal is like the biggest.
Like, like it,
like it like, happened overnight. She's just like, grumpy
and old now. Like, all the energy is like, I mean, she's still got a lot of
energy, but it's like, just
comparatively, it's.
>> Caroline: Wow, she just needed to be a big sister.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Apparently, even
when she acts like she's.
>> Caroline: Mad about it, that
feels very true to being a big sister. Like,
I, I must be allowed to be annoyed to express how much I love
you.
>> Claire: Oh, so very true.
Um, speaking as the eldest
child, the only girl with two
younger brothers, so, um,
I can, I can certainly relate to that.
Um, I too, have a
dog. He just turned one. His name is
Or. And no, it's not because I love
conjunctions. Um,
it's because my,
um, my husband,
when we got our newest
dog, um, he really wanted
to keep in line with a Hebrew
name. And so, um, for our
listeners, if you're not on your, like, not
on the up and up with your Hebrew, um,
or means light. And,
um, our, our dog,
or found, uh, us three days after
we had, um, to say goodbye
to our previous dog.
Um, and he just walked up to
me and plopped himself on a, like,
on top of my feet and feels like he found
us, um, in a moment of, of
darkness. So my husband was like, yes, we're
naming our dog, or so we call him Baby or.
Because he's coming in at a hefty
£40 for a German shepherd lab
mix a year later. And I'm like, I don't think
he's really a lab shepherd mix at this point if
he's only weighing in at 40 pound.
So, um, yeah, he brings us a lot of
joy. Um, he has kind of Baby Yoda
ears as well. Father, um,
David has seen some pictures of my
dog, and his ears are a little too big
for his head.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: I can attest to this and to his overall cuteness.
Um, yeah,
he's pretty cute.
>> Claire: He's pretty fantastic. Um, so that's one of the
things that's bringing me joy in these days,
like my fellow co hosts. But also,
um, I'm also
in a season of discerning with a
couple of other women,
um, about Daughters of the King.
And so at the risk of sounding even more like a church
nerd, um, that's Bringing
me a lot of joy because it's
making me think about new ways of
discernment and prayer and,
um, what my role
as an individual Christian first,
um, can be and
is. So that's been bringing me a lot of
joy just to sit and contemplate all the
time. Um, which is pretty
awesome. Um, which
definitely plays into my
happening name. I think that. Is
it God named Mother Karen?
Yeah.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Um, which is something that, like, we made up in the
Diocese of Kansas. So.
>> Claire: Okay. Well, mine is
contemplative learner, so I think about things a
lot, and I love to learn.
Um, yeah, that's. That's
bringing me a lot of joy these days is contemplative
learning. Um,
so with that, Mother Caroline sort of touched
on this earlier about, like, the rhythms of life
and spirit and,
um, where
our spirit is taking us individually, but also
collectively as the church. And we're on
the cusp of starting a new liturgical
season. Um, so I'm curious
for the rest of you, what is your favorite
liturgical season and why?
And go. Mother Karen. Mother
Caroline.
>> Caroline: So I might
be. Might catch some resistance.
This may not be always considered a full
season by some, but my favorite church season is
the Triduum, um, which is the
three days
before, um, Easter begins.
Um, and so the services of
those days are just
my very favorite of the whole year.
Um, pretty much all of Holy Week, I just
think is very special between,
um, you know,
Palm Sunday through the first Sunday morning
of Easter. It's just
the heightened emotion, the
pageantry. I mean, I think this maybe
outs me as, like, a former theater kid, but, yeah,
I love that. I love the pageantry of
that. Um, and I kind
of think that one of my favorite
parts is that it breaks us out of our usual
rhythm. The church year
has many of those changes that help sort
of, um, disrupt the
rhythm enough to keep us engaged
and interested. Uh,
but, man, the trade room is
so powerful. Um,
and I had my first
Holy Week with my, um, parish down
in Galena this last year, and they very
gamely did whatever I. Whatever
I asked them to do. And I wanted to. I
wanted to do it all. So they had,
um, the foot washing on Thursday
and our Good Friday service and
the Easter vigilante. Um, and it
was. There was perhaps different
drama and pageantry than I was anticipating.
We didn't have, uh,
a Pascal candle. I didn't think to
look for that until Friday
evening. So that was
maybe some different excitement than planned. But, uh,
we figured it out. Um,
and it was a very. It was just A deeply
holy experience in part
because I was, you know, able to celebrate this for the first
time as a priest. Ah, for the first time
with my parish, with the people of my parish.
Um, and yeah,
it was, it was so beautiful. I've,
I've enjoyed that service. M. Well,
those. That week, my, um, whole
life I have loved them, but this was
just. This last year was such a cool shift, getting
to be the one, um,
directing those liturgies and doing the
planning with our volunteer organist and
finding readers, finding ways to make some of
these services, which can be pretty elaborate, um,
work for a parish that has
an ASA of 17. So
it was all the things
that I've always loved about it expressed in some new
ways. Um, and also kind of
like I was thinking about, Karen, what you had said about
there's something appealing about the Episcopal
liturgy where you have something to
do and man, those services, really,
they give you a lot to do. You get props, there's candles,
we're going to do foot washing, we're going to make you
uncomfortable, um, all kinds of
things. So that is definitely favorite
church season. And why, um,
for me, yeah, I.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Was talking to a young adult recently
and trying to reference something from those
services and um,
she was super embarrassed to admit that she'd
never been to any of them. And,
um, so I just said it's okay. I
frequently hear rectors say
to their parishes, I challenge you at least once in your life
to go to all of the Holy Week services
because a lot, they are, it is a
lot. And they're also
amazing. Um,
so don't knock it till you try it, I guess. I don't know.
I think my favorite season is
epiphany. Um,
I love the
idea that the epiphany is when
the three wise men arrived to
see the baby Jesus, um, which some say
symbolizes that Christ
is for all, not just for,
um, the Israelites. And
uh, so it's a cool symbolism,
but like, honestly, the best part about it is
just that all through Epiphany, we hear the miracles of
Jesus in the Gospels every week. And so it's just a
fun time, um, of year
to be in church and hear those gospel
readings and hear preaching on those gospel
readings or get to write sermons on those gospel readings.
And um, it feels
like a little bit of a celebration,
but not like an over the top celebration like
Christmas and Easter are, um,
so a hopeful, inclusive,
action oriented season.
>> Haley Cobb: I love that.
Um, I think I thought about
this a lot. I think my favorite would have to be Advent I
think for me, when it
rolls around every year, it's a pretty dreary
time, just generally in life
and living in the Midwest with
our dreary winters sometimes. And that.
That time and dedicated time of introspection,
reflection, and then that knowing of the
coming hope, um,
just gives me a lot of
joy. And going back to what brings me joy, I've
been thinking about that a lot. We're doing a confirmation class with a handful of our
youth right now. And,
um, we were talking about Advent coming up recently,
and they were kind of moaning
and groaning. They're like, I don't know. Like, it's just. It's winter. Like, yes, Christmas
is gonna. They're like, when's Christmas gonna get here? We're like, guys, no, like,
really, really reflect and, like, sit in and like,
let's, let's. Let's, um. Let's take
this time to really, like,
reflect on that anticipation in Christ's coming.
So for me, it's. It's preparing
for that celebration is really
peaceful. And I really. It gets me centered
on, you know, my faith.
And I do. I just love
it.
I also. I was. Sorry.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): I was.
>> Haley Cobb: As I was thinking about it and, um, thinking about this
question. Mother Katherine Mansfield, last Sunday,
her sermon, she talked about the question in the catechism,
what is Christian hope? And,
um, the crit. And it says, you know, the Christian hope
is to live with confidence and newness and fullness of life
and to await the coming of Christ in glory and the completion of
God's purpose for the world. And as I heard that, I was just like,
what better, you know, reflection and kind
of thought to. As we get closer and closer
to Advent.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): You liked it so much you memorized it?
>> Haley Cobb: No, I liked it so much that as I was sitting here and
remembering it, I looked it up. So I wish I
could say I just had it memorized. It stuck with me, but
it stuck with me enough that I remembered to look it up. But it did.
It struck me as like, oh, yeah, like, this is a good, good time.
And I'm. I'm really. I'm looking forward to it.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Is it a cop out to say. I don't know if
I can decide.
>> Claire: Yes.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Uh, what my favorite is.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Total cop out. David.
>> Claire: Yes, yes.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: I really like. It's pretty evenly divided
between Advent and Lent. Um,
I like the quiet reflection, um,
and kind of internal focus of both seasons.
Um, but if I had to choose, I'd
probably say Advent, um,
because there's a bit more hopefulness to the
season. Not that I think Lent should be, like,
dreary and, you
know, miserable or anything, but,
um, Advent lends itself, I think, a little bit more to
hopefulness. And I really like
the countercultural aspect of it because we live in such a
commercialized world where, you know, my neighbors
already have Christmas decorations up and it's not even
Thanksgiving.
Um,
um, so. And, you know,
I. I heard Christmas music at the coffee shop the
day before Halloween. Like,
um, yeah. Uh, and so I like
that the church calls us to kind of slow down
and take a breath and kind
of offers that,
like, season of reflection and
preparation.
Um, that's kind of an already
not yet. That kind of mirrors the whole, uh,
Christian, um, eschatology of,
you know, the kingdom of God is already here, but not
yet. And Advent really gives us a time to focus on those
things. Um, and I'm not saying be the
Advent police. Like, if you want to put Christmas decorations up, I don't
care. I mean, I might judge you a little bit, but I really don't
care. Um, but I like that it
calls us to kind of. To be a little countercultural
and to take that time to take a deep breath
and to just kind of rest in hope, um,
knowing, you know, the end of the
story, knowing what's
coming. Um, so,
yeah, Advent and Lent are pretty tied in my book. But if
I had to choose, I'd probably choose Advent.
Although some years it's Lent. Um, it just
depends.
>> Caroline: Proud of you, David. You had to make a choice.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Yeah. Out of all the folks here, Caroline has
probably known me the longest, and, um, she probably
remembers this from seminary. I hate making decisions,
so, I mean.
>> Caroline: I'm right there with you. But this is part of why I
picked a non season season.
>> Claire: How about you?
Hey, again, all are welcome
here. Um, for
myself, I, too, vacillate
between Lent and Advent.
And I don't know if it's because
we're so close to Advent that I'm
gonna say that Advent is my favorite liturgical
season.
Um, or
maybe it's some other reason that I haven't thought
of. But, uh,
one thing that I've really come to deeply
appreciate about Advent in particular
is not only its quietness, like,
um, my other co
hosts have mentioned already, but the
fact that it is
a woman who is the God
bearer, um, who is
ushering part of that hope into
the world. Um,
and, you know, some. I've heard
this said several times. Like, how many times
did you know God or the Angel
Gabriel have to knock on other doors before they
got to Mary, um,
and
she just so willingly says,
yes, let it be with me.
Um, I find
great empowerment in that, being a young
woman myself,
um, but also, like,
raising up the lowly and remembering
to whom Christ aligns
himself with. Um,
and I also love that it's the start of a
new liturgical year for us. It's
like we get a reset,
um, with new hope,
new life, all of the good
things.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: And another benefit to Advent is you get to
wear pink as a liturgical color.
>> Claire: Hey, yo, Gaudate.
Sunday.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Yeah, Sunday's a year. Yep.
>> Claire: Uh, me and my pink
glitter sneakers will be rocking
it on. Was it December 15th this year?
December, yeah. December 15th, I think, is Gaudete.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: That sounds right.
>> Claire: Third advent. Um. Okay,
so I've asked you all a bunch of questions
because I'm a question person, because I love learning.
Um, so what is
a question that you all think is
underrated?
>> Caroline: I think this is going to be my turn to say that
I. I'm having a hard time
choosing. Um, so
I'm an external pro, an external
processor, for sure. I kind of backtrack
their mid sentence. Um, I cry. A balance
between both internal and external. Um, So I
was texting a friend earlier, like, man,
what do I. What do I say?
>> Haley Cobb: This is.
>> Caroline: It's like there are too many good choices.
Um, and I think
I'll just say, like, anything you can
ask that
invites the person's
curiosity about themselves.
Um, and I can't take credit for that.
That was totally my friend who brought that up. But,
um, yeah, the.
Just the, um,
I don't know, invitational
nature of approaching someone
with curiosity is
rare. Um, I would say.
And such a gift when
it's encountered.
And, yeah, it's hard to kind of come up with those
questions,
um, that. That really
have, like, no agenda behind them other than, I just want to
learn about you as a person. Just tell me,
like, what are you into?
Um, or also those questions that
maybe kind of nudge
people out of their comfort zone. Kind of
like mildly subversive questions. Just,
um, like, what. How do you. How
do you cope with doubt? Um,
how do you. What's your favorite form of rest?
Things that, um, you know, questions
that you can frame in a way that presuppose
doubt exists and rest is good
and rest is the intent.
Um, or, yeah,
maybe tell me about yourself, but don't
talk about work.
Anything that, yeah, invites
curiosity and invites people out of their
kind of rote responses, I think is a great and
underrated question. Sorry, it is
still a cop out.
>> Claire: I Think it's great, Mother
Karen.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): That's, uh, causing me to doubt what I was going
to say. So.
>> Caroline: Sorry, sorry.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Uh, it's good, it's good.
Uh, I think
I vacillated between two questions. Um, so
I'll just say them both. But I just think,
um, talking about doubts and
um, doubts in faith, doubts in
God, doubts in belief, all that,
and having that be an acceptable
conversation in a
religious environment, um,
is completely underrated because
being able to share that and hear
from others and
um,
use that to guide conversation, I think,
um, is really important to
people growing in their own faith and their own belief.
Um, you know, we had a.
A student at um, our Canterbury
House last night who, who
remembers that when he was like in sixth or seventh
grade, um, he came to a youth event
and we kind of had an open mic or something and he
basically got up there and said, you know, I don't believe in all this
stuff. I don't believe in God. And everybody was just kind of like,
okay, cool. And
like, just having that as his background of
like. I just went to this Christian
weekend retreat surrounded by all these other
Christians and I told them that I think that they're all full of
hooey.
And they all just said, whatever,
like, we still love you, you're still welcome here.
Please come.
Um, you know, and.
And now it's whatever, six years later and
he's a freshman in college and he's still coming to
church stuff, you know, and. And he's
gone through a lot and he's still trying to figure out exactly what he
believes. But he, he does feel like there's
something, you know, he doesn't. He's not one of those people that thinks there's
nothing. And so, um,
you know, I just think being open to that and accepting of
that and, and willing to have conversation around
that can um, never be discounted.
And um,
I just think is really important.
>> Claire: I love that you mentioned that. That
this person is still
returning and they aren't
dismissing, but they aren't saying
absolutely yes. Like, this is what I believe
because, um, it proves that the
Spirit is very much alive and at work
in the world. Um,
because I think that's um,
for lack of better words, like half the battle,
um, with talking about
faith, talking about um,
spiritual life, talking about journey
on how to. Making meaning
and having purpose in life,
um, is to have that constant sense of
wonder and curiosity. And I think
the Spirit is at the center of
that for sure. So I
love hearing stories like that. Thank you for sharing that one
with Haley?
Yeah.
>> Haley Cobb: Um, under a question or a question.
I don't know, I feel like I don't ask myself enough
or you know, just don't hear enough is what is worth spending
more time on. I feel like so
often things get focused on what we need. Like our
list is getting so long and we're getting so overwhelmed. So like what do we need
to take away? What do we need to omit from this to,
you know, better focus on these other things? So
we're constantly having to think about what we're going to have to spend
less time on. And then I feel like naturally that
falls to maybe our self care or hobbies or
things like that in a crazy working world.
Um, um. And so I think really taking
time both like asking others and yourself like what is worth
spending more time on and prioritizing that and spending
time with that question is underrated.
Underrated. And I think it could really. I don't know, for me, the
times that I've been asked that, it
does kind of stop me in my tracks. I'm like, oh, I've never framed it
that way. I've always framed it the opposite of
what I need to spend less time on. And like I said, it's like your personal life and
your, your time with your people that gets,
um, gets. Gets
cut out of the list. So
I have been trying to focus more on.
Yeah, what to spend more time on instead of not.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): That's a good one.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: They're all really good ones.
>> Haley Cobb: Mhm.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Um, I think the question that I had kind of
thought about, um, kind of
to, to Caroline's point about just asking open
ended questions that allow people to talk about themselves. It's just
like, you know, how are you? Like we ask
that question like every time we greet someone. Um,
but we don't ever really expect them to be honest.
Um, you know, I'm um, great,
thanks. And like nobody actually. I mean, but
like what if we actually asked it and like meant it
and like let people tell us
how they were doing and then like we could actually
meet them there and let them know that, you
know, they're not alone? Because we all carry so many things
and it's something that's in our vocabulary like as like
polite people in society anyway, like what if we
just meant it? Um, so that was kind of the
question that I
kind of landed on. Although I think all of these have
been really good.
>> Caroline: Um, yeah, I really love that.
David. That feels like I don't know you,
you said that. And then I Immediately thought of how many times that
question is asked in passing. Like, you're walking,
you're literally just walking past someone.
Um, and I hear that question, it's like, I don't have, I don't
have time to tell you how I'm doing. Um,
so, yeah, it gets so often just these little quippy
responses, but it's, it's actually a great question if
you are willing to be present.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: Yeah, I think we need more of that
willing to be present in the world, especially right
now, uh, because there is so much going on and I
think everyone is kind of
needing somebody to talk to.
>> Claire: So one more time for the folks
in the back.
Um,
my question, uh, is kind of a
hybrid of like, I guess
all of y'all, um,
which is what is the best part of your day?
Not what did you do today?
What, um, like, how was your day?
What was the best part of your day?
And, um, I cannot take credit for
that question. My mom was the one that
made, um, us respond to that question
every night at dinner from the time I
was in elementary school until
present day when we were all together.
Because she's like, you could have bombed a
test. You could be having a really hard time
at work. You know, you could be in an argument with
someone, but there's always
something even
minute that you can be
grateful for or that you can see
some sort of goodness
on and
it's, it's rippled out. Because
I know of one other family
that started doing that with their kids
and their kids are now in middle school and
they're like, telling their friends about it.
And then, um, when my
husband and I, we got married, we started
doing that at dinner, um, or
like just before we go to bed. We always ask each other, what's the best
part of your day? Um,
because even when the world feels like it's
on fire and it feels like that a
lot of the time, literally and figuratively,
um, there's always
something to be grateful for
or something to be thankful
for.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): So it, um, makes me think of our, like, how
we do highs and lows. I do that with the youth all
the time. And the campus ministry
at Kansas State University, they do it every
week with their whole group. They go around and everybody shares a high and
a low and like, it just really gives you a
good, um, sense of
what's happening with people and,
um, a way to support people in
what they're going through and create community and.
>> Claire: Yeah, and there's always, you know, the
follow up question of, okay, I'm either going to check in
on that person later or I'm going to
celebrate that like right now,
um, and be like, oh, that's so awesome. I'm so excited for
you or let's get
coffee. And I want to know more about that,
whatever the topic is.
>> Caroline: So.
>> Claire: I also,
um. Well, thank you all
first. Thank you all for indulging me
and five questions and
introducing yourselves.
Um, but I also want
to mention that there are uh, three other
folks that are gonna be involved on the podcast,
um, production. One is ah,
Chad Sunuda. He is the director of
communications for the Diocese of Kansas.
So, um, if you are a Diocese of Kansas
person, um, look for
uh, e Communications, um,
from Chad and the diocese about the
podcast. Um, and
then Zach, um, Phillips is also
the um, director for Communications for the Diocese
of West Missouri. He is also involved in
the podcast. And um,
we also have one person who is tied
to neither diocese. Um, he
is our producer, um,
one of the producers of the podcast and editor. His name is
Loren, um, and he works
for Resonant Media. So we are very grateful
to him and his team, um, for
continuing, um, to support us in this
ministry and this work. Um,
yeah, so I just, I wanted to name
those, uh, three people before
um, we close out, uh, this first
episode. And um, because
we are people of a prayer book,
um, and just people of prayer in
general, um, I'm going to invite Mother Karen to
close us out in prayer.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Well, uh, I'm going to share a prayer that uh, the
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta shared on
their youth Instagram this week because I just thought it
was absolutely beautiful and encompassed so much
of what our young people
are, um, experiencing right now. So the Lord be with
you.
>> The Reverend David Wilcox: And also with you.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): And also with you,
God of kindness who breathes life into each new
generation. We thank you for the gift of
youth. Give us the courage to ask bold
questions, the wisdom to listen to the people who
have gone before us, and a passion for both
justice and mercy as we walk through a
cynical world. Tether our hope to you. Through the
mystery of faith. May we find strength
in our community, creativity in our
tradition, and joy in the promise of your
kingdom. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has
called us to a life of love, purpose
and peace.
Amen.
>> Caroline: Amen.
>> Claire: Well, thanks, friends. It is a joy to
do ministry with you and I am so excited
for season three. Um, for our
listeners, you
know, thank you so much for continuing to
join us in this ministry and
to be faithful listeners. Submit any
and all questions that you have to us.
Um, we love receiving them. Be
well friends. Go in peace.
>> Mother Karen (The Reverend Karen Schlebach): Thanks be to God.
>> Claire: Hey friends, thanks for listening. Please
like and subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to
podcasts. To learn more about all things
Episcopal on the Diocese of West
Missouri's communication pages, please
visit
Diowestmo
uh.org
podcasts backslash
and in the Diocese of Kansas, please
visit
edokformation.WordPress.com
all things Episcopal podcast
All Things Episcopal Podcast is a production of
the Diocese of West Missouri and the Diocese of
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