May 18, 2009
By Pat McCaughan

MINNEAPOLIS – The Episcopal Church is committed to sharing "the good news of Jesus in ways people can understand and receive" within a variety of cultural contexts, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told gatherings of Native American and Hmong Episcopalians during a May 14-17 visit to the Diocese of Minnesota.

On Saturday, she toured the Prairie Island Indian Reservation and met with a group of about 25 clergy and lay leaders at the Messiah Episcopal Indian Mission in Welch, about 50 miles south of Minneapolis. Among other things, they asked about "the circle of advice that is being consulted for decisions in and about native ministries" as well as appropriate funding sources for it.

The Rev. Robert Two Bulls Jr., director of the diocesan Department of Indian Works, shared a document previously given to the Presiding Bishop which listed concerns from a dozen clergy working in 12 Native mission congregations and two specialized ministries, including All Saints Episcopal Indian Mission in Minneapolis, where he serves as vicar.

"Much of what has been occurring or not occurring in native ministry for many years if not decades … can best be described as paternalism at its worst and in some cases as institutional racism at the core," according to the document. It also cited a 1969 Executive Council resolution aiming to help understand the state of native ministry and concluded that 40 years later, "sadly … not much has changed."

Listed among the concerns were questions about support for liturgy that incorporates native culture, inclusion in decision-making and funding sources.

"There is a difference between and struggle between the grass roots and local congregations versus everything else at the upper levels of the church," said the Rev. John Robertson, vicar of the Bishop Whipple Mission in Morton, located on the Lower Sioux Reservation.

"Who speaks for whom and how do we get ... to gospel-based discipleship?" asked Robertson, who served as TEC Native American Missioner from 1999-2003. "A long time ago, the elders told me we need to start making people for Eucharist and not Eucharist for people."

The Presiding Bishop assured the group she "was here to listen" to their concerns, a message she also conveyed at a Sunday morning forum before serving as guest preacher at Holy Apostles Church in St. Paul, a majority Hmong-American congregation. The Hmong are from Southeast Asia, including northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Burma; many fought against Communism and became refugees, later resettling in the United States.

Bao Moua, a vestry member, said 525 former Roman Catholic Hmong-Americans joined in 2005 after another church failed to honor cultural expressions. "It is very important that we have services in Hmong, because many of the elders do not speak English," she told the Presiding Bishop.

The Hmong congregation has since grown to about 600, translated worship services into Hmong, and created bilingual liturgies, said Toua Vang, a former senior warden. A translation of the Book of Common Prayer is expected to be completed within two years, he added. A Hmong Episcopalian is in formation for the priesthood and the congregation is also creating a Hmong-American Anglican Resource Center.

"We ask for your support in preserving Hmong traditions," Vang told Jefferts Schori.

Included among those traditions are a wedding reception dowry "to thank parents for raising a beautiful daughter" and an all-night funeral tradition "of sending the spirit of the deceased to heaven and to bless the surviving family members with prosperity and health," he said.

Native ministry: ‘catechesis, not advocacy'

The Rev. John Robertson and other Native American Episcopalians also questioned why indigenous ministry is no longer funded through the church's evangelism and congregation development, but instead through the advocacy center.

"Native ministry is not advocacy. It is catechesis; it's transformational community, it's making a difference in people's lives," he declared. "The Gospel has transformed the world and native communities and that's what needs to continue."

What he hopes will end is "institutional racism … the ‘us' and ‘them,'" he added. "How do we quit trying to make the system ours but instead make Christians in our community? That's how we evangelize—through community," he added.

The Rev. Phil Allen, retired vicar of All Saints Mission, said he wanted to know "how are decisions made that affect Indian ministry? We get overlooked or not consulted and instead one person is seen as ‘the expert,'" he said. "No one can speak for all Indians.

"The majority of Indian ministry takes place west of the Mississippi River, not on the East Coast. I've been a priest for 40 years, always in Indian congregations, from Navajoland to South Dakota, Utah and North Dakota as well as Minnesota, but nobody's ever asked me anything" about Native American realities or ministry, he said.

He added that he wants the Episcopal Church to understand that reality: "What it really is like, living in this country with no resources. Where kids go to bed hungry, where there is alcohol and drug abuse, and domestic violence."

New stereotypes are as erroneous as old ones, he added, including the notion that casinos have drastically improved the economic lives of all Native Americans. "It just isn't true," he said.

Jefferts Schori noted that the upcoming General Convention, which will meet July 8-17 in Anaheim, California, will consider a resolution that attempts to recognize "that many of the poorest counties in the United States are among native peoples living on reservations."

The proposal would earmark at least $400,000 for advocacy programs to help local dioceses and tribal governments alleviate poverty among indigenous peoples.

Jefferts Schori joined Allen and about 75 others for a traditional indigenous meal at the First Nations Feeding Kitchen, an outreach ministry of the All Saints mission in Minneapolis.

A crew of volunteers cooked and served heaping platefuls of roast buffalo, wild rice, organic green beans, cornbread and wojapi, traditional pudding made from chokeberries.

Cecil Ramnaraine, 80, a nearby resident, said the weekly Sunday meals "help to address community needs, because a lot of people are out of work. Plus, the buffalo tastes great. There's no fat in it," added the retired high school teacher.

The congregation began the feeding kitchen in November, 2008, said Two Bulls. Since then, they've fed about 130 people weekly on Sunday evenings.

"We promote a healthy diet," he said. "It's a traditional indigenous diet. We talk about honoring traditions, but we forget sometimes that that tradition includes food as well."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Pat McCaughan is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Provinces VII and VIII and the House of Bishops. She is based in Los Angeles.