by Canon William Beasley

As Vicar General of the newly-forming Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest, I have had the privilege of an inside look at the birthing of a new diocese.

In the case of the Upper Midwest we began to view our situation like the early pioneering moments of the United States because we have a big chunk of land similar to the Northwest Territory. Our prayer and hope is that, in time, congregations will be planted and multiplied into all of the Northwest Territory.

Our newly-formed Constitution and Canons were written to provide a vision for church planting and multiplication in a revival of Word and Sacrament. We gave scope to three geographical deaneries—subdivisions within the diocese (with the hope of more to come)— in Chicago, Wisconsin and Minneapolis. Hopefully, these deaneries will grow into multiple dioceses. Greenhouse has congregations in each of these regions with the express purpose of serving the various regions and multiplying congregations.

Delegates from each congregation came together for worship and to affirm the Constitution and Canons of the newly-forming diocese in our Convening Convention. When you look at the picture of the various signatures, you might notice what a broad spectrum of contexts our congregations represent. Some speak English, and others speak Spanish during the worship service. Some congregations are in suburban areas, and others meet in city storefronts; and another meets in a rural barn. Some are in nursing homes, and others are in church buildings and others in homes.
In the current culture of church planting, potential leaders must first take assessments to see if they have the behavioral skill set to “succeed” in church planting. But what if the paradigm were to shift? (Now don’t get me wrong—there is a place for that model—but there is place for other models, also!) What if EVERYONE and EVERY gift were called forward to multiply the church into every nook and cranny of a region? What if we just assumed that EVERYONE is called to be part of church multiplication and planting? What if we helped everyone in the discernment of the gifts that the Lord has given them for the blessing of others?

What a blessing that Bishop Nathan Gasatura helped lead us at the Convening Convention! His leadership was born out of the East African revival—where the ministry of all of God’s people multiplies congregations. Greenhouse in the Upper Midwest has witnessed the very first fruits of this in multiplying from 4 to 18 congregations in the last 2-½ years in a model similar to the Global South Anglican church. The first fruit of this kind of multiplication is beginning to happen in various dioceses throughout North America.

What fuels this kind of church multiplication? A red-hot desire for those who are far from the Lord to come within his loving embrace! May we have a revival of Word and sacrament in the Upper Midwest and, indeed, in all of North America—that many more dioceses will be birthed with the vision to disciple North America, and the nations through multiplying congregations.

Next Steps for Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest
Spring 2013

1. Constitution and Canons sent from Convening Convention (April 29, 2013) to the Provincial Council for ratification.

2. Bishop Nomination’s Retreat (May 21-22, 2013 at Nashotah House in Wisconsin) with Steering Committee representing the Deaneries as spelled out in Constitution and Canons.

From the retreat a letter will be sent to the House of Bishops. Potential Candidates will be sent for the house of Bishops consideration.

3. Anglican Upper Midwest Diocese Application reviewed by Provincial Council for approval (June 18-19, 2013 at Nashotah House in Wisconsin).

4. If Anglican Upper Midwest Diocese is approved, the House of Bishops will meet to elect our bishop.

5. If the Anglican Upper Midwest Diocese is approved and bishop is elected, then there will be the consecration and instillation of our new bishop with the Archbishop presiding.

Please Keep This Process In Your Prayers!

On April 27, 2013 delegates churches across the upper midwest came together at Church of the Resurrection for prayer and the affirming of the draft constitutions and canons. Bishop Nathan Gasatura of Rwanda joined us. Canon Vicar William Beasley led the service, along with the other 3 deans, Fr. Robert Munday, Fr. Stewart Ruch III, and Fr. Christian Ruch.

Click here to see photos.

Saturday, April 27, 2013
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Church of the Resurrection
935 W. Union Ave.
Wheaton, IL 60187

All Upper Midwest congregations wishing to join the diocese must have representation.
Attendance is open to all.

Please continue to pray:

• For unity for the sake of mission among all of our congregations
• For our 4 deans (Canon William Beasley, Fr. Christian Ruch, Dean Robert Munday, Fr. Stewart Ruch) that the Lord would give them wisdom, unity and discernment
• For wisdom and direction in the process of nominating candidates for bishop
• For a clear vision for our new diocese

As we come together to form a new diocese our leaders have called us to a day of collective prayer and fasting on Friday, March 22, 2013.

Mientras trabajamos para formar una nueva diócesis nuestros líderes nos han llamado a reunirnos viernes el 22 de marzo para un día de oración y ayuno juntos.

Please join us for the fourth and final Midwest Anglican unity event on August 29th in Wheaton, IL. As we move toward the forming of a Midwest Diocese, this evening will be a chance to worship the Lord as we rejoice in the work he has done to knit us together in Christ.

Wednesday, August 29th, 7pm
hosted by Church of the Resurrection at
Wheaton Evangelical Free Church
520 E Roosevelt Road
Wheaton, IL 60187

Fr. Stewart Ruch III

Rector, Church of the Resurrection

Join us as Anglicans from the Upper Midwest gather in unity for the sake of mission (download flyer here).

Friday, June 15, 2012
6:00 PM – Dinner (RSVP: beth@greenhousemovement.com)
7:30 PM – Worship Service

Santa María
(meeting at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ)
3342 Calwagner Street
Franklin Park, IL 60131

Hosted by Fr. William Beasley and The GreenHouse
www.greenhousemovement.com

The One Plus equation undergirds the Anglican unity events in the Upper Midwest. Twin Cities area (1) plus Wisconsin’s SEWAAC (Southeastern Wisconsin American Anglican Council) (1) plus Anglican Mission Upper Midwest congregations (1) plus Greenhouse Movement congregations (1) equals (1+) ONE new enriched diocese—a diocese with synergy—one that will, Lord willing, multiply into many more dioceses of the Anglican Church in North America.

And that is why last Friday morning 4 of us loaded into Beth Thompson’s SUV to drive 2 ½ hours north to Nashotah, WI, for the 2nd Midwest Anglican Unity Event. Fastening my seatbelt, I asked, “Now, tell me again. Why are we leaving here before 11:00 AM for a worship service that starts at 6:00 PM?”

Beth, an educator, is Greenhouse Administrator and good at giving concise answers. Shifting the car into forward, she told us, “Fr. Daniel Adkinson (you know—who used to administrate Anglican 1000) has flown in from Texas to give an inspirational talk this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Leaders from the 4 different groups will be there, and this afternoon we are going to seek the Lord together so we can all minister together as 1 diocese.” Amen. We were all on board for that. The road trip flew by, and soon we found ourselves with over 45 other people from all 4 groups, new friends and old friends—sitting at tables, ready to listen and grow closer together.

Dean Robert Munday, professor at Nashotah House, warmly welcomed us and introduced our speaker. The Texan proved to have a keen grip on our Upper Midwest equation. He drew upon elements of all our groups to encourage us to work together to build the foundations for a diocese that plants churches and multiplies congregations (and eventually multiplies itself). “Spending time on the foundation-building is important,” Daniel emphasized. To demonstrate his point he projected a time-lapse video spanning 8 years that shows that the largest percentage of the time erecting One World Trade Center—now the tallest building in New York City—was spent preparing and building its foundation. He pointed out the richness of the early foundation of the church in our region, drawing on a sermon by the founder of Nashotah House, Bishop Jackson Kemper. Daniel managed to commend the work of each of the groups and our leaders, setting a great tone for the rest of our time together on Friday, and Lord willing, for the months and years ahead. Next, we formed small groups to share, pray and fill our imaginations with the possibilities of our common life together.

More people joined us as Fr. Stewart Ruch preached from Joshua 1:1-9 at the Eucharist service that followed. He inspired us with the word the Lord gave to Joshua, to “arise, go over this Jordan” together— to go forward with courage: a fortitude that Josef Pieper writes, “presupposes vulnerability….An angel cannot be brave, because he is not vulnerable. To be brave actually means to be able to suffer injury.” Fr. Stewart talked about the urgency of the current moment, pointing out that with great opportunities come great hazards—opportunities for fortitude. He spoke of the Joshua moment—the time to pass on the relay baton to the next generation. And he encouraged us to equate the word diocese with the reality of the word revival. May it be so!

Post by Deacon Anne Beasley

Article and photos courtesy of greenhousemovement.com.

Invitation to Second Unity Event: Wisconsin

Posted on May 1, 2012

Dear Friends in Christ,

St. Michael’s Anglican Church, in Nashotah, Wisconsin and the members of the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the American Anglican Council (SEWAAC) are looking forward with great anticipation to hosting our second Midwest Anglican unity event on May 11. The event will be held in Adams Hall, 2777 Mission Road in Nashotah. The Holy Eucharist at 6:00 p.m. will be a rich time of worship and prayer together (Click here to download a flyer).

SCHEDULE
6:00 Holy Eucharist
7:20 Reception and Dinner

All those who can stay overnight are encouraged to join us on Saturday morning:
9:00 – 11:00 ! The Rev. Daniel Adkinson will speak on “The Ministry of Anglican 1000 and the Impact of Regional Anglican 1000 Conferences.”

If you plan on attending the Reception and Dinner on Friday evening, please call Bill Chapin (414) 352-4586 or e-mail him at bchapinsewaac@gmail.com to reserve a place.

The Very Rev’d Canon Robert S. Munday, Ph.D

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity!”  Psalm 133:1

Church of the Cross was honored to host the first Midwest Anglican unity event.  It was a time full of blessings as we met together for discussion, worship, and prayer.  The day began with an afternoon meeting attended by 23 leaders representing the various regions.  After initial introductions we broke into smaller groups and discussed three questions:  What are our hopes as we come together in this call to unity?  What are the challenges we face?  What are the strengths each of our respective churches and regions bring?  When the small groups came back together to share the answers given by their groups, we found a number of similar themes.  Among the key thoughts shared were:

• We hope for genuine integration and partnership among our different churches and regions and look forward to sharing resources and best practices.
• We face the challenge of an reaching an outside culture that is often opposed to the things of God, with the challenge of bringing together our different church cultures and learning from each other.
• We desire to leverage our different strengths and unique characteristics and experiences to reach people of all ages and backgrounds—with a special awareness of the need to raise up young leaders and new generations of followers of Christ.
• We are excited to grow in friendship with one another, and commit to honest and transparent dialog and sharing.
• We all share a strong commitment to reaching lost people through church planting and discipling believers to grow in maturity in Christ.

After this time of sharing we spent an extended time in prayer bringing our thanksgivings and requests before God. This was followed by what we refer to in Minnesota as “a little dinner” (which basically means enough food to feed a small army—we still have leftovers, by the way, if anyone’s hungry).

We were joined by a number of others for an evening worship service in the sanctuary of Church of the Cross.  Dean Munday taught from God’s word on the mission of the church—giving the memorial charge that we would be “perpetually pregnant” as we follow the call to birth new works for the Kingdom.  In response to his message came a powerful time of prayer as the members of the different regions took turns laying hands on one another and praying for God’s protection and anointing on the representative churches and leaders.  We ended by celebrating the Eucharist together.

I can honestly say that I am already looking forward to our next unity gathering on May 11.  I often find that with the pressing needs of the local church, any other meetings that take me away from those needs seem like inconveniences.  Yet this gathering reminded me of our Lord’s deep desire for unity among his people and of the fact that there are things which we can do in partnership that we can’t accomplish alone.  This first meeting established what a strong foundation we have as we come together for the sake of mission—I look forward to building on that foundation in the months to come.

Reflection by Fr. Christian Ruch
Rector, Church of the Cross

Listen to Dean Munday’s Homily

Click here to download.

See Photos from the Minnesota Unity Event

Small group photo by Paul Calvin
Worship service photos by Dan Fine

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”  John 17:20-26

Jesus prays that the unity he enjoys with the Father will be revealed to his followers.  In the church we do not create unity—unity is revealed to us as a gift—a prayer—to be received.  We are invited to enter into the unity that Jesus is already sharing with the heavenly Father.  As we, together with him, receive that unity, we can, also, be one with one another.

When it comes to revealing the good news of the gospel to our cities and towns, our impact is exponentially greater when we are together in unity.  Like the coals of a fire when gathered close together, flames explode to bring light and create warmth.  But separate those same coals—isolate them from each other—and they can begin to smolder.

Jesus prayed for his followers throughout time to receive his unity so that the world would know that the Father had sent him.  There is a fierce battle over the unity of the church because it is in that unity that the Son is revealed with the good news of the gospel.   Christian unity is not based on our lowest common denominator. There is no unity if truth is absent, but our unity comes from the highest common denominator—the victorious Christ over sin and death.

When we all look up to the risen Christ with outstretched arms, we can receive His unity.  His unity multiplies the church just like flames multiply fire over a parched prairie.  Pray for revival fires of faith and open your arms to receive the revealed unity that Jesus brings you from the Father through the Holy Spirit—that God’s love in you may spread to the world.

Holy Father, unite our hearts—and love the world through us to you—in the name of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

-William Beasley