Province VIII welcomes new interim youth, Native American ministries coordinators
Episcopal News Service. February 23, 2010 [022310-04]
Pat McCaughan
The Episcopal Church's Province VIII recently welcomed two new provincial coordinators, the Rev. Earl Gibson as interim coordinator for youth ministries, and Paul Nahoa Lucas as coordinator for Native American and Indigenous People ministries.
"We're very excited about both appointments," said Patricia Erskine, provincial coordinator, in a Feb. 22 telephone interview. She said that Gibson, also youth minister at St. Margaret of Scotland Church and School in San Juan Capistrano in the Diocese of Los Angeles, is considered interim because "he hasn't had the chance to meet officially with the members of the group and for them to elect him formally."
Gibson succeeds the Rt. Rev. Brian Prior, who was consecrated bishop of Minnesota Feb. 13.
Gibson recalled attending his first provincial gathering about seven years ago as "an incredibly eye-opening experience," during a Feb. 21 telephone interview.
"I was raised up as a leader in youth ministry in my deanery and diocese and was doing a lot of things, but I had never heard of the Provincial Youth Event (PYE) or Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) or knew those resources were out there," Gibson said.
"I was so inwardly focused on my parish, and my deanery. I hadn't even heard of 815 [the Episcopal Church Center offices in New York], that I really wasn't looking outside the diocese."
Gibson said involving youth at a provincial level is critical to their understanding of Episcopal identity, "to realize that we're part of a larger church."
"It's critical … for the kids because they get together with kids from other dioceses. They (provincial youth events) allow for larger events where youth from very small towns can participate and take on a leadership role … [They] may be from a church where they are the only ones there on Sunday morning," he said.
Consequently he aims to get the word out about the next provincial youth gathering, July 20-25 at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, in the Diocese of Utah.
He hopes to make effective communication a key focus of his ministry, as does Paul Nahoa Lucas, from the Diocese of Hawai'i, who hopes "to try and extend the existing network among indigenous people within the province so that we can build and improve on our communication."
Lucas said he has been actively involved the past few years with ministries in Province VIII, which also encompasses dioceses in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Navajoland, Nevada, Oregon, Taiwan, Utah and Washington.
The sheer geographic size of the province, which encompasses rural and urban communities, sometimes "poses a challenge to make sure we're all kept abreast of activities and the latest developments with regard to native ministries both within the province and at the national level," he said.
Lucas has also participated in local, national and international ministries. He has been a member of both the diocesan Commission for Native Hawaiian Ministries as well as the Commission on Ministry for the past few years. He has also chaired the Native Hawaiian Ministry Study Board.
"I've also been an active senior warden at St. John's by-the-Sea in Kahalu'u on the windward side of O'ahu," he added.
He has served as a national board member of the Indigenous Theological Training Institute, a native initiative to develop alternative leadership training models for indigenous Episcopalians. He is also active with the Anglican Indigenous Network and attended their Jan. 8-10 "Pine Cones to Pineapples Winter Talk" gathering in Seattle.
He succeeds Becky Clark, who held the position for about 18 months, and who continues to consult for the Seattle-based Diocese of Olympia First Nations Committee and the church-wide office for Native American and Indigenous Ministries.
"I hope Province VIII can serve as a model for other provinces that want to promote Native ministry," Lucas said in a Feb. 22 telephone interview from his O'ahu home. "I hope that our ministry can make a difference; that at the end of my tenure I can point to specific projects that made a difference in the lives of indigenous members in the province."