05/06/2008
Epistle for 5-6-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
A week ago I had the kind of adventure that only comes with being Bishop of Arizona. I was invited by one of our priests, Richard Morrison, to fly with him in his small plane to the Hopi Reservation to visit the Hopi Mission School. For a while I have been toying with the idea of getting my private pilot's license, and so having the chance to fly with Richard (a former Navy fighter pilot) was a good test of my interest.
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04/30/2008
Epistle for 4-30-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
Almost 30 years in the ministry and I had never been to a Cursillo gathering-up to now. This past Sunday evening I was asked to officiate at the closing ceremony for the first Cursillo held in this Diocese in about 10 years. Saying that I was impressed would be an understatement.
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04/24/2008
Epistle for 4-24-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
It was my hope that this week I could switch the publication day of E-pistles from Friday to Tuesday. Many of you have commented that receiving this missive on Friday is too late to have an impact on Sunday events, and many of the clergy take Fridays off. I am happy to oblige, but the pace of life at Diocesan House meant that, for this week anyway, I was only able to push back the transmission time by one day. I hope to do better next week!
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04/18/2008
Epistle for 4-18-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
Have you seen those great new TV ads-where politicians from different ends of the political spectrum sit on the same couch and agree on the need for environmental action? They are very clever. I've seen two. The first got Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson in the same room. In the second, Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich jointly called on America to come up with clean energy solutions. I understand that Al Gore was the force behind these ads. You can see them for yourself at www.wecansolveit.org.
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04/12/2008
Epistle for 4-12-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
Thursday night I spoke to a group of about 1,500 members of the East Valley Interfaith, an ecumenical group that works with political leaders to further such causes as public safely, education, health care, and immigration reform. It was apparent from that meeting that Arizona has a major church/state crisis on its hands as it reacts to the tactics used by the County Sheriff in his crusade to catch undocumented immigrants. Last Sunday, he interrupted a confirmation service in a Roman Catholic Church in Guadalupe. Last night the Mayor of Phoenix, the Police Chief, and representatives from the Governor's office were present to hear our concerns. I shared with that group the story of my Holy Week encounter with the Sheriff's Department, and I pass it on to you:
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04/03/2008
Alleluia Sunday appeal
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
The history of our Diocese is the history of mission. This fact was again made clear to me a few weeks ago when I had the opportunity to commemorate the contribution of the first Arizona missionary Padre Eusebio Kino. Kino died in 1711 after spending nearly 30 years on horseback baptizing, teaching, and improving the quality of life for Native Americans in Sonora and Southern Arizona. It was fitting that about 100 of us gathered (on the exact date of his death) at Tumacácori, a mission that Kino himself had founded, to celebrate the Eucharist and to add his name to our liturgical calendar.
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03/28/2008
E-pistle for 3-28-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
The Holy Week reports from parishes around the Diocese are coming in and they seem to have a theme in common: Large (sometimes record-breaking) attendance for Easter Day services. As for Good Friday, well, generally not so hot.
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03/21/2008
Easter message: Turning Point
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
Many of us look back to an event in our lives that we would describe as a "turning point" or as a "defining moment." Sometimes turning points are positive--you got a promotion you didn't expect, or your inherited some money that allowed you to pursue your dream. Other defining moments can be negative--you miraculously survived a car accident, or were forced to move to a new home. In any case, you look back to that event as the moment when your life irrevocably changed.
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03/12/2008
E-pistle for 3-14-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
The spring House of Bishops Meeting in Camp Allen has just concluded and I want share my impressions with you before I head back to Phoenix. We have enjoyed six days of fellowship, prayer (we worshipped together three times a day), great preaching, and teaching against the backdrop of springtime in rural Texas. I even managed to join some colleagues for a couple of hours of horseback-riding!
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03/07/2008
E-pistle for 3-7-08
By Bishop Kirk S. Smith
The Second Annual Ministry fair has come and gone. With a rush of last minute registrations we had about 260 in attendance, down considerably from last year. As last year, the evaluations were overwhelming favorable. So the staff and I are a bit puzzled as to why the lower numbers. Talking with the attendees, we heard a similar story. “This is hugely helpful for those of us who are lay leaders. It really gives us the tools to do our jobs, but our clergy leaders mostly didn’t mention it, or encourage people to attend.”
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