Council Focuses on Native American Ministry
Episcopal News Service. May 26, 1988 [88105]
RAPID CITY, S. Dak. (DPS, May 26) -- In its last gathering of the triennium, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church met here May 16-20, and on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, to concentrate on the Church's ministry among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
A day and a half of the three and a half-day schedule of meetings was devoted exclusively to gaining insight into Indian work n the Church. The highlight was an all-day visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation (Oglala Sioux), on which 30 Episcopal congregations may be found.
On the reservation, the 40-member council worshipped at Christ Church, Red Shirt Table, and took Communion with the first American Indian Bishop of the Church, the Rt. Rev. Harold S. Jones, who celebrated and preached. There were Lakota language hymns and readings. It visited the memorial at Wounded Knee Creek to hear Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning lead meditations in remembrance of the infamous massacre there in 1890 of 350 Lakota men, women and children by U.S. soldiers, the last major battle of the Indian wars, and it paid a visit to Holy Cross Church, Pine Ridge, the "cardinal parish" of the reservation.
In plenary sessions, and on the road throughout Pine Ridge, the Council heard a series of important presentations on Indian ministry in the Church by Indian leaders from across the country. Especially appreciated, too, was a 130-page booklet of background information prepared for participants in the week-long sessions by Owanah Anderson (Choctaw), Episcopal Church Center Staff Officer for Native Ministry, on behalf of the National Committee on Indian Work (NCIW).
Anderson, along with Carol Hampton (Caddo), Field Officer for Native Ministry, and Randy Reinartz, Diocese of South Dakota Administrator, was the prime organizer of the "Indian Country" agenda.
In his message from the chair, the Presiding Bishop announced that he is expanding his Blue Ribbon Task Force on Indian Affairs, and charging it with bringing to the Church recommendations on "what we ought to be doing and how to do it." The smaller task force had been created by him in 1986 to advise him on pending legislation touching on Native Americans. He said he will ask this task force to "develop a design for a comprehensive, cohesive, coordinated Native American ministries model for our Church, a model that adheres to the principles of Native American partnership and diocesan autonomy, a model that is guided by the Mission Imperatives." The Task Force is to make its report to the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council in time for implementation in January 1990.
Specifically, Browning charged the Task Force with helping the Church to respond to the spiritual needs of Indian people, resist violations of treaty rights, combat racism as it affects Native Americans, and construct a comprehensive model for funding Indian ministries.
The Presiding Bishop placed his announcement in the context of the proclamation of hope that was the overall theme of his message from the chair. He said: "The message of hope that we bring to our Native American sisters and brothers is that we have heard loud and clear their appeal for real involvement in the decisions that effect their lives as Episcopalians. We have heard their call for Indian partnership, for Indian empowerment in the policy decision-making in this church. The National Committee on Indian Work has been restructured and revitalized, new ministry has begun in the urban communities, where half of the Indian population now reside, new models of ministry are being developed. The message that I want to give in this place is that this work must be carried forward and I will see it through."
Very serious issues facing Native American ministry were addressed in a series of talks by church leaders from the major center of Native American ministry. The Rev. Phil Allen (Oglala Sioux), Vicar of All Saints', Minneapolis, and Chair of the NCIW, addressed urban Indian ministry issues. Bessie Titus (Athabascan), a member of the Interior Deanery Executive Committee in the Diocese of Alaska, described the status of ministry among Alaska natives, some of whom are Indian and some of whom are Eskimo or Aleut. Lorraine Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock), a full-time staff member in the Diocese of Rio Grande, assessed the newly-formed urban Indian ministry in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Rev. Steven Plummer (Navajo), Vicar for the Utah Regional in Navajoland and Presiding Elder (Adah Sedahi) of Navajoland, spoke of three full-time clergy and six lay pastors, the latter all women. (Plummer became the first Navajo priest in 1976.)
Much was also learned from Sister Margaret Hawk, who, as a Church Army missionary since the 1950s, has been the mainstay of the Pine Ridge reservation ministry. Her description of the Badlands National Park and adjacent land that was set aside for the reservation: "Look at it! Nothing can grow. And when it rains, the mud sticks to your boots like a brother!"
A meditation that was given for Council members by the Rev. Steven Charleston (Choctaw) drew special attention. He spoke of the ministry of carpentry, whose purpose is to build something functional that is sturdy, that lasts, that is beautiful, that is aligned, that works for the sake of the Church. Jesus was a carpenter. He shaped, weighed, balanced. The Episcopal Church, said Charleston, has an extraordinary opportunity. Very strong leadership is in place, and there is the seminary program. "You must," however, "trust native leadership. Let it go. You'll be a little scared, but let it go....Each of you is a carpenter. Praise Jesus. Amen."