The Ministry Narrative

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

You have in your hands the Ministry Narrative for 2024. This document is a description of what we have achieved in five areas of ministry: Service/Outreach to the Community, Worship, Education, Evangelism, and Pastoral Care. Assuredly, there are things forgotten. This document, as well as the congregation it describes, is a work in progress. As individuals and as the Body of Christ we are continually becoming more fully who God created us to be. 

As you read about each category, you will see two numbers under the heading. The first number represents the percentage of the total financial budget of the church towards the support of the particular ministry highlighted. The second number is the approximate amount of money that supported this category of ministry in 2024. Again, the numbers are approximate. They are 

the Annual Meeting’s anticipated direct program costs comprising the portion of the priest’s time, direct expenses and use of the facilities. What is not provided is undoubtedly the most important calculation in considering the life of a congregation and that is the time and effort you gave to make our ministry successful. 

God is calling us into a bold future. There are challenges and opportunities awaiting. We will be stretched because that is what God does. God stretches us as individuals and as a faith community. I am confident we will meet the challenges and opportunities that face us. I am confident we will thrive within them. I am confident God will continue to work powerfully amongst and through us. We will continue to make a difference in people’s lives and God’s creation. 

I hope you will be excited by what we have accomplished together for God with the resources you have offered. As we approach a new year, I hope we will all be grateful to God for all He has given us and done for us and respond with generosity for those abundant blessings.

Faithfully yours,
Jean G. Collins
Rector 

SERVICE (OUTREACH)

16.24 % of our expenditures
$24,179.

In joyful response to Christ’s command to love and serve one another, our Church has a very strong presence in the wider Lewistown community. Our outreach involves many members and is ever present throughout the year. 

Within the Episcopal Church structure, our congregation participates in the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund (ERD) and other national/international programs through our gifts and assessment to the Diocese of Montana. 

Also within the Episcopal Church structure, a number of members devote time and talent to our Diocese. Dean Martin has just completed a term on the Standing Committee and Anne Leininger has been elected to a three year term. Dean Martin, Tom Wojtowick, and Anne Leininger went to Diocesan Convention in October where they served as our Delegates. The Rev. Jean Collins served as a Deputy to the General Convention in the summer of 2024. Members Tom Wojtowick, Scott Sweeney, Randy Hoch, Rosemary Kent, Anne Leininger, and Toni Gies serve wonderfully on St. James' Vestry. Darla Kolar serves as our Treasurer and Jennifer Downey is our Assistant Treasurer. Mary Beth Roy serves most excellently as Clerk of the Vestry. Michael Kent chaired our Audit Committee once again. Tom Wojtowick served with him. 

Locally we are known for our efforts in environmental stewardship. We have worked to make our buildings more energy efficient, started plastic recycling (ROWL: Recycle Our Waste Lewistown), and installed solar panels. Although ROWL is now an independent entity, St. James' members remain active ROWL volunteers 

St. James’ hosted space for a warming center. Shelter Solutions for Central Montana started at St. James and we remain intimately involved in providing our neighbors with a warm and safe space during the coldest months of the year. Because of zoning regulations, churches are currently the only allowable space for sheltering the unsheltered. St. James is, thus far, the only church able or willing to offer space though a number of churches participate in Shelter Solutions for Central Montana and a number of pastors serve on its Board or as members. St. James will be available during extreme weather this winter and open ‘on call’ during January and February of 2025. The congregation and Vestry made this determination at various meetings. 

St. James hosted the luncheon for the October Blood Bank of the American Red Cross, supported the Community Cupboard, bell ringing for The Salvation Army, and others this year. The Rev. Jean Collins and Dean Martin also serve on The Salvation Army local leadership board and answer requests for assistance two months of the year. Jean also serves on the HRDC Clearinghouse board, the Lewistown Public Library Board, the Chair of Shelter Solutions for Central Montana, the Emergency Shelter and Food Committee at HRDC through FEMA, and the Patient/Family Advisory Council at CMMC. Our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper benefitted Recycle Our Waste Lewistown (ROWL) this year. Under the direction of Dean Martin we observed Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. A Walk for Child Abuse Prevention Awareness was held beginning and ending at Veterans’ Park. Throughout the month blue pinwheel gardens could be found all over Lewistown and our area. We observed Blue Sunday for the seventh time this year.

Members of St. James’ and friends in the community created quilts for Grace Camp, pastoral needs, and local emergency needs. This effort is coordinated by Cathy Holmes. These beautiful quilts were blessed in worship on May 19th. We also make our Parish Hall available for community groups including yoga, exercise, Green Share Garden, Central Montana Resource Council, meditation and other groups or individuals desiring a location for meeting or offering the community a program. Our "Little Green House" next door to the church offers a quality rental house at an affordable rate. A tremendous amount of work was done at our "Little Green House" between renters. We are indebted to those who worked so diligently to clean and repair the house. 

St. James also passed through or raised over $ 5,300.00 to benefit many groups including helping animals who were displaced in Maui as a result of wildfires and locally through SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia) and TOT (Tails as Old as Time). We assisted the Little Shell Tribe with cemetery expenses, and contributed $ 300.00 to St. Leo’s for gloves during their ‘Coats and Candy’ give away on Halloween. We financially assisted ROWL and Heart of Montana Farm in the Dell. We sent over $ 1,300.00 back to Bethlehem to support artists there who are unable to open shops and secure a living during the war in Israel. In exchange, we benefited from their talents by purchasing beautiful art. 

At Memorial Day Ceremonies, Jean provided the invocation and benediction and St. James donated $ 600.00 for three live wreaths to be placed at three of the different local cemeteries. 

St. James, under the leadership of Dean Martin, organizes and spearheads the Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner. In 2023, 500 meals were delivered, picked up, or eaten in community at the Trade Center. The meal number was 480 in 2024. This gift to our area is greatly appreciated and the food is always superb! 

Under the direction of Mary Beth Roy, members of St. James served as Christmas Angels for 16 children and 3 senior adults. We provided gifts for the Angel Tree program. Many members of our Church live out their baptismal vow to “seek and serve Christ in all persons” through their work in and support of the Boys and Girls Club, Community Cupboard, Judith Mountain Players, the local Museum, RSVP, America Reads, Friends of the Library, the Green Share Garden, Farm in the Dell, Special K Ranch, Friends of the Pool, Community Concert, the Veterans' Administration, Home Health / Hospice, the Council on Aging, Relay for Life, Head Start, Ski for Light, the American Legion, Kiwanis, Shrine Clowns, HRDC Clearinghouse, the Salvation Army, Historical Preservation, Backcountry Horseman trail work, SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia), Hospital Auxiliary (Pink Ladies), City Commission, Fergus County Community Council, Equine Special Olympics, Future Farmers of America, Navigators, High Notes, Lewistown Art Center, PEO, Trout Unlimited, Your Neighbor Cares, Shelter Solutions for Central Montana, and a plethora of other organizations. Finally, many in our community have no church home, yet at times in their life require the services of a church. At St. James', our clergyperson and some lay ministers are available in times of emotional need. Our parish is available for funerals and receptions/luncheons following them. We are also available in times of joy. Our church is available for marriages. We also provide motel rooms, food, and gas to those in need passing through our area as well as donate to the Council on Aging for folks who need a meal or shuttle service to Billings or Great Falls. In many ways, much of what we do as a church addresses a very wise expression from former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, who said, “The Church exists for the sake of those outside of it.”

****** 

Dear Jean, 

I want to share why I love Saint James Episcopal Church so much. I was embraced by a warm and welcoming community that instantly felt like home from the moment I arrived. The genuine spirit of kindness here reflects what a church should be—a place of support, love, and connection. 

The spirituality I’ve experienced at Saint James is both profound and uplifting. Each service, gathering, and moment spent with this community has deepened my faith and reminded me of the importance of togetherness. It’s a sanctuary where I feel safe to explore my beliefs and grow alongside others who share my journey. 

I truly believe that the warmth of this church is a reflection of its people, and I am grateful to be part of such a nurturing environment. 

With love,

Kerry Murphy

WORSHIP

18.45 % of our expenditures
$27,479.

This year we have continued to transform ourselves into a “Welcoming Church.” We have tried to be mindful of the need to help guests feel comfortable, knowing that we have been given an extraordinary privilege in worshiping with them. We continue to use only gluten free communion wafers as some of our members cannot eat wheat. Delightfully, new folks continue to be with us sharing ministry in the Body of Christ. We strive to be “A House of Prayer for All the People.” 

On Sundays, readers, eucharistic ministers, officiants, greeters, ushers, leaders of prayers, organist, choir members, the altar guild, the rector, and the congregation proclaimed the most visible and central act of ministry in the Church which is worship using both the Holy Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion, The Lord’s Supper, and Mass) and Daily Morning Prayer. We give heartfelt thanks to God and our members for our choirs and organists and pianists and guitars and drums in worship. We are richly blessed by our music and God is glorified! 

In addition to Sundays, we held one service on Christmas Eve and one service on Christmas Day and also, of course, services during Lent and Holy Week. We observed The Way of the Cross each Friday during Lent. During Holy Week we observed Maundy Thursday with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. On Good Friday we observed the day ecumenically at Noon 

at the United Methodist Church and in the evening at St. James. We celebrated the Great Vigil of Easter and afterwards we rejoiced in the land of milk and honey with ice cream, honey, and sherry.

We celebrated Advent Lessons and Music in worship on the First Sunday of Advent. We observed the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple or Candlemas on February 4th. We blessed candles and enjoyed the French tradition of crepes and the Mexican tradition of tamales at Coffee Hour. We observed with joy the Winter Solstice with worship and delicious soups at the home of Bil and Cathy Holmes. (That’s coming up again real soon! December 21, Saturday, at 5 pm!) On the Day of Pentecost we wore the color red, decorated with red balloons and flowers, heard the lesson from Acts in multiple languages, blessed Grace Camp quilts, and held a very festive Coffee Hour. We joyfully celebrated Rogationtide at the home of Alan and Stephanie Shammel on May 19, the Day of Pentecost. We brought water, seeds, soil, tools, and plants from various places in our large parish and asked God’s blessing upon all of these plus all of our fields and pastures, orchards, animals and gardens. Mary Beth Roy and her son, Bret Miller, made wonderful crosses for our fields and gardens and even smaller ones for those of us who just want to keep our house plants alive. 

We observed All Saints’ Sunday with “A Litany of All the Saints”, renewing our baptismal vows, remembering those whom we love but see no longer in the Eucharistic prayer and with a special Coffee Hour. We celebrated Holy Cross Day for the first time using a recently approved rite taken largely from the ancient Armenian Orthodox Church. We also added observance of Creation Season in the month of October this year. We used a beautiful liturgy approved by our Bishop. 

Since June of 2017 members and friends have gathered for Centering Prayer. We usually meet weekly via Zoom at 9:00 am. 

We offer the sacraments of the Church including burials and weddings to the broader community. We take Holy Communion to the ill and infirm. In addition, we offer prayers and worship services as invited by the community. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving ecumenically at the United Methodist Church. We also cooperated ecumenically for a Diversity Service on June 18th. St. James co-sponsored this beautiful worship service. We celebrated the Blessing of the Animals on October 13th. This was our fourteenth year inviting the community to attend this wonderful event – or ‘joyful shenanigans’ as some refer to it! In these fourteen years our worshipping congregation has included dogs, cats, miniature and full size horses, hamsters, chickens, cows (in sculpture and picture form), Selena - a corn snake, ducks, and their assorted human companions. In addition to the usual blessing, we also pay special attention to remembering pets who now enjoy everlasting life. Our joyous worship is followed by a reception loaded with animal treats and people food. This year we and our animals enjoyed wonderful treats courtesy of Judy Marxer and Jennifer Downey. 

We gathered in the Parish Hall - lower level to participate on Facebook in the Installation and Investiture of the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe as the next Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church on November 2nd. Live from New York City! 

On Election Day, November 5, the sanctuary was open for prayer and meditation from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. On November 6th we gathered for worship at Noon. The Holy Eucharist was celebrated. We live in turbulent times. It is always good to come together to pray. 

“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may.”

--John Wesley, “Sermon 39: Catholic Spirit.”

EDUCATION

17.78% of our expenditures
$26,479.

We have studied several books this year including The Whole Language by Gregory Boyle, The Dream of God: A Call to Return by Verna Dozier, and The False White Gospel by Jim Wallis. 

Devotional literature was available in the form of Forward Day by Day and additional booklets during the seasons of Advent and Lent. We also invited participation in “Lent

Madness” since our priest is crazy for it! Thirty-two saints, 40 days of Lent, voting and the awarding of the “Golden Halo” at Easter. 

We continued something called "Second Cup" which provides education on occasional Sunday mornings after everyone has enjoyed a 'first cup' of coffee or tea. We discussed our unsheltered neighbors on several occasions and were blessed to have our own Whitney Taylor come speak to us about Love INC in November.

During Lent we enjoyed The Historical Jesus - The Evolutionary Challenge of a Mediterranean Peasant with Dr. John Dominic Crossan. We gathered at Noon and enjoyed learning while eating lunch. This was a four part series. 

We watched the documentaries The Philadelphia Eleven and Bad Faith and the movie The Good Lie. We participated in two webinars: Essential Conversations: The Sin of Christian Nationalism and White Christian Nationalism, a Hobart Lecture with the Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward. 

We also participated ecumenically in Vacation Bible School with Zion Lutheran, First Presbyterian, and the United Methodist Churches. 

In our engagement with the media we educated the public about our congregation and The Episcopal Church. 

Published in the News-Argus: 
A “thank you” ad for our Neighborhood/Block Party on September 14. A terrific event led by Toni Gies!

EVANGELISM

31.55% of our expenditures
$46,982.

Evangelism encompasses all that goes into presenting the Church and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. St. James’ has publicized through the local media: newspaper and radio and as members of the local Chamber of Commerce we placed an advertisement on the placemat of our local Charlie Russell Chew Choo. The congregation has a weekly email newsletter with occasional e-blasts informing or reminding folks of events at St. James. A website and a Facebook page for the church are in place. Episcopal Church signs are hung on Highway 87. The Blessing of the Animals is an opportunity for evangelism as are invitations to be present and pray and officiate at local events. We observed Shrove Tuesday with a Pancake Supper open to the community. All monies received benefitted ROWL (Recycle Our Waste Lewistown) this year. Our evangelism efforts include "Pint with the Priest". We gather on the last Tuesday of each month. Currently we are meeting at the Pines Meadows - ELKS from 5 -7 pm. Each month between 5 and 20 people have gathered for spirited theological and friendly conversation. 

St. James' Episcopal Church, as part of The Episcopal Church, is connected to the Episcopal Diocese of Montana. As such, it joins all the other Episcopal Churches in Montana in contributing 19% of its normal operating funds to the Diocese. The Diocese, in turn, engages in 

spreading the good news through state-wide ministries and initiatives, such as Camp Marshall. The Diocese takes a portion of the funds that it receives from St. James and gives it to The Episcopal Church which stretches from Taiwan to Europe. The Episcopal Church then contributes to the Anglican Communion and its more than 85 million members worldwide. And so, using money sacramentally given (an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace) what we contribute on a Sunday morning on the corner of West Montana and Fifth Avenue North in Lewistown helps provide support for missionaries, health professionals, teachers, and disaster relief personnel around the world! 

Presenting the Church to central Montana involves making St. James’ an inviting and attractive place for worship, solace and rest. We continue to be mindful of our buildings and grounds and use the gifts of many to keep it reflective of the loveliness of God’s creation. Many buildings and grounds activities have happened this year. Perhaps most significantly was a new sidewalk installed from Fifth Street to the back door of the Parish Hall - lower level. The men’s bathroom has been renovated. Batteries were replaced, new furnace filters installed, lawn mowed, sidewalks shoveled, sprinklers repaired, ivy cut down, flowers tended, and the organ and pianos tuned. 

Part of our ministry is making our area towns more aware, again through public relations, advertising and signs and through our behavior, that at St. James’ they will find a congregation that is accepting, inclusive and willing to embrace them as fellow members of the Body of Christ.

WELCOMING STATEMENT

St. James is an affirming and inclusive parish celebrating life through worship, love, and service to welcome all just as created by God.

We strive for justice and peace among all people, and we respect thedignity of every human being.

Wherever you are in your spiritual journey you are welcome at St. James. Whether you are single, married, divorced, separated, or partnered, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, world view, or economic condition, our welcome knows no boundary.

Welcome to our community - a sanctuary of faith.

We believe God strengthens our diverse world by unity and love.

All are welcome at God's Table.

PASTORAL CARE

15.97%
$23,779.

Pastoral Care takes on a variety of expressions in our congregation. The most obvious occurs when we take care of one another in times of need and also when we join together to celebrate in times of joy. The Rector and Eucharistic ministers are always available for home communions. We are eager to be present for visitation to the sick and being with people during emergencies of all types. If a member is infirm and wishes to come to worship and other congregational activities, transportation is provided. As a family we are eager to help each other out when times are tough and we demonstrated this clearly this past year on a number of occasions. We are eager to pray for one another in joy and adversity. We take seriously the emotional and spiritual feeding of one another and especially our priest. 

Pastoral Care involves staying in touch with each other through the journey of life. Conversation at coffee hour and book study, phone calls, cards, emails, rides to worship and other activities, and the delivery of altar flowers and food – uncooked and prepared - all proclaim the ministry of pastoral care. All Saints Sunday, the Day of Pentecost and at other times are important means of pastoral care as well as evangelism. Our Coffee Hours provide gluten free choices which are necessary for some of our parishioners and another way we show our love and care for one another. Eleven of us celebrated Mother’s Day together at a festive brunch. We are always eager to help when someone precious to us dies and a reception or luncheon is desired. Thus far this year those precious to us have included Angie Hrubes. And while we grieve her loss to us, we welcomed Bentley Rowlan by Holy Baptism. We are able to offer “The Burial of a Companion Animal” worship service as it has been made available to The Episcopal Church. We enjoy one another as we attend movies and concerts together and share

meals and coffee and support area non-profits with our attendance at their fundraisers. Pastoral Care also means helping people settle into our congregation. The Church directory, name tags, and newsletter greatly assist in that. 

The Bishop’s Discretionary Fund provides for pastoral care within the Diocese of Montana and the Rector's discretionary fund helps provide for pastoral needs within the congregation and the area. 

St. James provided Christmas presents for 19 children and seniors through the Angel Tree 

FROM JEAN:          

As mentioned in my letter at the beginning of this Ministry Narrative, I’m sure some things have been inadvertently left out. What is perfectly obvious is that St. James and all of its members pack a powerful punch in this community. We are a relatively small congregation doing amazing ministry in our towns, county, state, and world. Each and every one of you is to be commended for that ministry. It’s such an honor for me to serve with you!

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members, a heart of grace and a soul generated by love.” 

Coretta Scott King