The Rev. John S. Smylie has been elected the 9th Bishop of Wyoming. The bishop-elect presently serves as rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Casper. He is married to Jill Smylie, a counselor at Verda James Elementary school, also in Casper. The Rev. Smylie’s election, held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Laramie, is a first for the Episcopal Diocese: all previously elected bishops have been from out-of-state. The delegation from St. John’s included Ron Lytle and Megan Nickles voting as clergy, and Sue Woods and Katy Lytle voting as lay representatives from the church.
 The Consecration is scheduled for July 31 at the Casper Events Center. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, will be the chief consecrator.

The Red Lodge Players will present a chamber music concert Sunday, January 31, at 3:00 pm at Saint John’s Episcopal Church.

The concert will benefit Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic.

The trio is led by violinist Randy Tracy, the Concert Master for the Billings Symphony and includes the symphony’s first chair cellist, David Heinzen and pianist Nancy Fonicello. The concert will include two of the most dramatic pieces in the chamber music repertory. The first will be Beethoven’s Piano Trio #1 in E, his first published work and the piece that earned him the accolade of ‘genius’ at the age of 23. After a brief intermission, the trio will perform Brahms Piano Trio #1, an immense masterpiece begun when he was 21. This was his first major composition and the first Brahms piece to be heard in America.

While these works date from the beginning of each composer’s career, they are fully developed compositions which herald the greatness that was to come from each man. This will be a concert of big, important and fully listenable music played in an intimate setting by well-known professionals.

Tickets are $20 per person; seating is limited. Make reservations by contacting Larry Dirksen at dirksenlawrence@yahoo.com. Call 623-363-5040 for additional information. A reception for the artists will follow.

The Rev. Ed Wetzel

The service to commemorate the life of Ed Wetzel will be Thursday, January
7, 2010 at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Bruce Caldwell will
preside at the Eucharist. Ed fulfilled his call to priesthood throughout
his life; to honor his brief but fruitful time as an ordained priest, clergy
attending may vest and sit together as is customary.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical
Clinic, which provides medical care to the under- or un-insured. Ed was a
board member of this clinic and he held the cause close to his heart.

Blessings on all of you in your grief, and we hope you come and rejoice with
us as we celebrate the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection.

********************

The Funeral service for The Reverend Edward A. Wetzel was Thursday, January 7, 2010 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Powell. Nearly 200 of his friends and family from coast to coast came to honor his life. Their ready laughter and tears were a witness to the wide swath of good work Ed cut over the years.

Ed was born in New York City on June 11, 1933, the oldest of six children born to Edward Albert and Gertrude (Fitzpatrick) Wetzel. His childhood years were spent in Scarsdale, N.Y., where he attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Grammar School and Stepinac High School. Ed graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., in 1955. Following graduation from college he began a career in advertising. For 20 years he worked in the field, becoming an officer of two of the largest advertising agencies in New York City. He would often share stories about the brainstorming meetings or barroom conversation where some of the most famous tag-lines were imagined, including the United Negro College Fund’s “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.”

On Oct. 6, 1956, Ed married Carra Quinlan. Eventually Ed and his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he managed the office of another large advertising agency. There, in 1978, Ed almost died of alcohol dependence. After several months of physical recuperation, Ed began the second half of his life, devoting his energies to his own recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous and to the recovery of those he could help. He became a substance abuse counselor and worked at treatment facilities in Georgia and Virginia. He was most involved with those whose addictions had led them into the criminal justice system.

In 1995, Ed and his wife, Carra, moved to Powell to be near their son and his family. Ed assisted in developing the Park County Drug Court and served as the coordinator during its formative years.

His spiritual journey led him to St. John’s Episcopal Church. On his first visit there, the church was hosting a carry-in dinner. He sat at the table and ate and remarked with his trademark charm and wit: “Everything I’ve heard about Episcopalians is true…real plates!”

He was called by the congregation to enter ordained ministry and was ordained a priest in January 2008. He also served on the board of the Park County Library Foundation and, at the time of his death, was a member of the board of the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic.

He was, as his brother William put it, “a major backer” in our lives. He encouraged and inspired his family, friends and parishioners with his bedrock faith, humor, and ability to know what was important. He knew his life had been redeemed by God, and he made the most of his time living in that redemption, and calling others to it.

During his illness, he opened himself to all of us, and let us walk near him on his path, even on the steepest and most difficult passages. Doubtless is he on that mountain top and sitting at the feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines. On real plates.

Blessings, brother. We will miss you.

• Wyoming Diocesan Convention, presided by The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, takes place Thursday, October 1 to Sunday, October 4. Sue Woods is attending as the delegate from St. John’s and Carra Wetzel as alternate. Also attending is Megan Nickles and Ed Wetzel. In addition, Robert Rumbolz will perform with John Rapson and Ronnie Bedford & Friends, reprising the Jazz Eucharist performed last spring at St. John’s Lenten Music Series.
• St. John’s Thrift Shop continues to be a successful and thriving enterprise. In addition to its Mon.-Wed.-Fri. hours from 1-3:30 pm, the Shop will also be open on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 12 noon to 2:30 pm. In September, the Thrift Shop workers donated $500 to each of the following organizations: Powell Valley Hospice, Lifeline, Northwest Wyoming Family Planning in Powell, and the Powell Boys and Girls Club.
• On Sept. 12, Laura Greathouse, Sue Woods, and Megan Nickles attended “Raising Up Your Congregation,” a workshop sponsored by the Wyoming Episcopalian Foundation. Held at Thomas the Apostle Center, the event focused on maintaining an informative, instructional level of integrity to administrative tasks within the church.
• Our prayers are with Ronnie Oltorf who is in the Powell Nursing Home, and Nancy Bonner and Louise Snedden in the Heartland. We also remember Chip and Victor who are serving in the military.
  Thank you to all who mowed or provided mowing for the lawn and grounds this past summer. We extend a special thanks to Pete Chidsey for his hard work on the lawn, the equipment, and sprinkler system maintenance.
• The Annual United Thank Offering In-Gathering will take place Sunday, October 18. All offerings are used to support grants for ministries at home and overseas as an outreach of the Episcopal Church.
• St. John’s Birthday Party will follow service on Sunday, November 1. Lunch will be served and there will be a table for gifts. The church’s gift “wish list” is posted on the bulletin board in the Undercroft.
• St. John’s “English as a Second Language” classes are going smoothly. The tutors are doing an excellent job and though there are a number of consistent students, there is room for more. Please spread the word. Classes are held at St. John’s on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Textbooks are available free of charge. Classes are taught in small groups or one-on-one and childcare is provided. This is St. John’s contribution to the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s Mustard Seed Mission. The Diocese challenged each of its parishes to find ways to serve the larger community in which they reside and provided funding.
• Hold the Date: Saturday, December 5 – Annual Christmas Tree-Cutting Trip in the. Join the group for a day of sledding, campfire, chilidogs, hot chocolate, and winter fun.

Download a printable PDF of The October/November newsletter

Following a discernment process that determined there is a need to help individuals in Powell who desire to learn or improve their English, St. John’s is now offering free “English as a Second Language” classes. This is St. John’s contribution to the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s Mustard Seed Mission. The Diocese challenged each of its parishes to find ways to serve the larger community in which they reside and provided funding. Classes will be held at St. John’s on

• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
• Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Textbooks will be available free of charge. Classes will be taught in small groups or one-on-one. Childcare will be provided.

Students meet with Katy Lytle, a member of St. John

At a meeting following service on Sept. 13, the congregation discussed and decided to bring to a close St. John’s Lenten Music Series. This decision will allow the church to direct its energy and resources to developing new projects, such as the ESL Program, that will continue to reach the greater Powell community. The Series has been an immensely positive event at St. John’s for 7 years. Nearly $22,000 was distributed over that time to organizations that serve Powell’s communities in need. Hundreds of guests were welcomed into the church each Lenten Season to hear music provided by professional musicians giving their time and talent to the cause. It demanded a rigorous discipline in the season of Lent for all of us, and brought us together as a worshiping community. The church reaped additional benefits as well. The piano was purchased to accommodate the musicians and the elevator installed in response to the desire to have all guests join us in the Undercroft. Thanks again to Dolores Woods for her leadership and many thanks to everyone who set tables, washed dishes, made soup, donated money and provisions, and who supported the series with their presence and prayers. A Gala concert in January is being planned to bring the Lenten Music Series to a grand culmination.

Celebration of Ministry at St. John’s from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

As the season progresses, here is a look back to Easter Sunday:

Easter Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Church from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Augusta, one of the young members of St. John’s, brought home a request from her school. The month of April sees both Earth Day and Arbor Day observed. Her school, Parkside Elementary, is promoting a recycling project and is asking for help with it. The Parkside Recycling Club would like to help set a new Guinness World Record by collecting OLD JEANS. The old jeans or denim will be used to insulate houses which have been damaged by the hurricanes, tornadoes or other natural disasters in the United States. It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to insulate an average size house. If anyone has any old jeans to donate, please drop them by Parkside School during the month of April. The collected jeans will be shipped to NG Kids/Set a Guinness World Record on June 1, 2009.