Post by hushasha40 on Mar 9, 2007 23:28:07 GMT 1
Worshiping to the Beat of the Creator
Linda Hanson, Duluth News Tribune
Published Saturday, March 03, 2007
Underneath a large cross in the sanctuary, Sid Perrault danced to the beat as the bells fastened around his legs jingled with the rhythm.
Nearby, Rocky Makesroomforthem, Gene Boshey and Troy Howes raised their voices in traditional American Indian songs as they beat the drum. The strong, steady drumbeat represents the heartbeat of the creator and it reverberated among the nearly 50 people gathered at the church on a recent Sunday.
The Where the Feather Meets the Cross ministry at St. Enmegahbowh Episcopal Church in Duluth incorporates both American Indian practices and Christianity. The church is named after one of the first American Indians ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota — a man who walked in both Christian and traditional Indian worlds.
Many Indian families include a blend of people, both traditional Indian and Christian, said the Rev. Jeff Nelson, an Episcopal priest who is one of the intertribal ministry’s organizers. He hopes St. Enmegahbowh is a middle ground where they all feel welcome.
Nelson knows it would take time for people to feel comfortable because Indians coming to a Christian church have been told what dogma and doctrine they were expected to believe. Traditional Indian practices that include using tobacco or burning sage and cedar are welcome at St. Enmegahbowh, he said.
“When you reach out to individuals to share God’s grace and love, you need to meet them where they’re at, whether they know God as God or as Gichi-Manidoo. We search to know God in different cultures. The stronger I become spiritually as a Christian, the stronger I become spiritually as a native,” said Nelson, an enrolled member of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
In any ministry, what’s important is connecting the individual with God, he said. It’s not how you talk to the creator, it’s that you talk to the creator, Nelson said.
“Why would anyone think that the creator, who made everything seen and unseen, would require us to worship one way and not recognize other ways of worship?” he asked.
INTEGRATING TWO CULTURES
Services typically draw about 50 people, many American Indian. The church, the former St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in the Lakeside neighborhood, also has been used for traditional Indian funerals and wakes.
“That’s what this ministry is about — to provide for people,” said Annie Henninger, who works with Nelson to coordinate the ministry and is preparing to become an ordained priest to work with American Indians.
Henninger said the ministry doesn’t try to change people. “It’s where the feather meets the cross, not where the feather becomes the cross. It’s where we walk together,” she said.
The Rev. Harold EagleBull has been part of the ministry since it started. He is an Episcopal priest who serves three churches around Cass Lake, Minn.
“The need is here to integrate the two cultures,” he said. “Over time, there can be dialogue.”
The model the church uses came from the Native American Theological Association, an ecumenical group once based in the Twin Cities. When the associated ended in the mid-1980s, things went back to the way they were before — separate, EagleBull said.
The intertribal ministry, now in its third year, expanded last fall from one to two services a month. For the first two years, it was a parallel ministry of St. Edward’s, which closed last summer. Parishioners asked the diocese to use the church and its remaining money to promote a mission in ministry there. The bishop agreed to let the intertribal ministry use the church temporarily. Nelson hopes to know by the end of the summer whether the ministry can continue using the building.
MINISTRY DRAWS FROM AFAR
Drummer Rocky Makesroomforthem thinks the Duluth ministry is working well at incorporating the two traditions.
“I think it should involve others in the community, including the Asians and African-Americans,” he said. “If more people were involved and shared their cultures, it could educate people and lessen stereotypes. This is a start, but I could see it evolve into more.”
Eugene “Ribs” Whitebird and Kathy Taylor make the 2½-hour drive from Cass Lake to the services at St. Enmegahbowh and bring their children and other family members.
“I like it because it’s traditional,” Taylor said.
Whitebird said he’s glad the church started the services. “We like to get our kids involved in the native ways,” he said, adding, “We look forward to coming. It’s a way to spend Sunday as a family.”
Bert Whitcombe of Fergus Falls, Minn., said the services at St. Enmegahbowh are awesome and he tries to make it to many of them. Whitcombe said he works on environmental issues for the diocese and learns from American Indians.
The “Where the Feather Meets the Cross” ministry is a place where people come together willingly and where racial tensions are healed, he said.
“All spiritual practices are about coming together,” Whitcombe said. “This is a healing community. People are actually coming together where they have been torn apart. It’s not words, it’s actions.”
[www.duluthnewstribune.com]
Linda Hanson, Duluth News Tribune
Published Saturday, March 03, 2007
Underneath a large cross in the sanctuary, Sid Perrault danced to the beat as the bells fastened around his legs jingled with the rhythm.
Nearby, Rocky Makesroomforthem, Gene Boshey and Troy Howes raised their voices in traditional American Indian songs as they beat the drum. The strong, steady drumbeat represents the heartbeat of the creator and it reverberated among the nearly 50 people gathered at the church on a recent Sunday.
The Where the Feather Meets the Cross ministry at St. Enmegahbowh Episcopal Church in Duluth incorporates both American Indian practices and Christianity. The church is named after one of the first American Indians ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota — a man who walked in both Christian and traditional Indian worlds.
Many Indian families include a blend of people, both traditional Indian and Christian, said the Rev. Jeff Nelson, an Episcopal priest who is one of the intertribal ministry’s organizers. He hopes St. Enmegahbowh is a middle ground where they all feel welcome.
Nelson knows it would take time for people to feel comfortable because Indians coming to a Christian church have been told what dogma and doctrine they were expected to believe. Traditional Indian practices that include using tobacco or burning sage and cedar are welcome at St. Enmegahbowh, he said.
“When you reach out to individuals to share God’s grace and love, you need to meet them where they’re at, whether they know God as God or as Gichi-Manidoo. We search to know God in different cultures. The stronger I become spiritually as a Christian, the stronger I become spiritually as a native,” said Nelson, an enrolled member of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
In any ministry, what’s important is connecting the individual with God, he said. It’s not how you talk to the creator, it’s that you talk to the creator, Nelson said.
“Why would anyone think that the creator, who made everything seen and unseen, would require us to worship one way and not recognize other ways of worship?” he asked.
INTEGRATING TWO CULTURES
Services typically draw about 50 people, many American Indian. The church, the former St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in the Lakeside neighborhood, also has been used for traditional Indian funerals and wakes.
“That’s what this ministry is about — to provide for people,” said Annie Henninger, who works with Nelson to coordinate the ministry and is preparing to become an ordained priest to work with American Indians.
Henninger said the ministry doesn’t try to change people. “It’s where the feather meets the cross, not where the feather becomes the cross. It’s where we walk together,” she said.
The Rev. Harold EagleBull has been part of the ministry since it started. He is an Episcopal priest who serves three churches around Cass Lake, Minn.
“The need is here to integrate the two cultures,” he said. “Over time, there can be dialogue.”
The model the church uses came from the Native American Theological Association, an ecumenical group once based in the Twin Cities. When the associated ended in the mid-1980s, things went back to the way they were before — separate, EagleBull said.
The intertribal ministry, now in its third year, expanded last fall from one to two services a month. For the first two years, it was a parallel ministry of St. Edward’s, which closed last summer. Parishioners asked the diocese to use the church and its remaining money to promote a mission in ministry there. The bishop agreed to let the intertribal ministry use the church temporarily. Nelson hopes to know by the end of the summer whether the ministry can continue using the building.
MINISTRY DRAWS FROM AFAR
Drummer Rocky Makesroomforthem thinks the Duluth ministry is working well at incorporating the two traditions.
“I think it should involve others in the community, including the Asians and African-Americans,” he said. “If more people were involved and shared their cultures, it could educate people and lessen stereotypes. This is a start, but I could see it evolve into more.”
Eugene “Ribs” Whitebird and Kathy Taylor make the 2½-hour drive from Cass Lake to the services at St. Enmegahbowh and bring their children and other family members.
“I like it because it’s traditional,” Taylor said.
Whitebird said he’s glad the church started the services. “We like to get our kids involved in the native ways,” he said, adding, “We look forward to coming. It’s a way to spend Sunday as a family.”
Bert Whitcombe of Fergus Falls, Minn., said the services at St. Enmegahbowh are awesome and he tries to make it to many of them. Whitcombe said he works on environmental issues for the diocese and learns from American Indians.
The “Where the Feather Meets the Cross” ministry is a place where people come together willingly and where racial tensions are healed, he said.
“All spiritual practices are about coming together,” Whitcombe said. “This is a healing community. People are actually coming together where they have been torn apart. It’s not words, it’s actions.”
[www.duluthnewstribune.com]