Father Steve Dewey This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. MANNA Ministries of Lapeer, Michigan - an Affiliate of Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ)

   www.mannaministries.org/board. - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/24/2002   Last Visited: 10/24/2002

   Pastor Advisor – Father Steve Dewey – Grace Episcopal Church I was drawn to Grace church by the people who make up the congregation. There are many, many folks involved in a variety of ministries. We have a thrift shop that is open six days a week and staffed b y volunteers. We are a supporting member of Manna Ministries of Lapeer County. On Tuesdays, the members of the congregation prepare and serve an evening meal for the community soup kitchen called "Food for Families". The facilities are in use by community organizations nearly every day of the week.

2. 2. eastmich.freeyellow.com

   eastmich.freeyellow.com/Colleg - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/1/2000   Last Visited: 9/10/2001

   Clergy News : Steve Dewey is now the Rector at Grace Church , Lapeer ; Amelia Hagen is the new Interim Rector at Trinity , Alpena ; Loren McClanahan has accepted a call to become part time priest-in charge of the Church of the Redeemer , Shelbyville , TN.

3. 3. 2003 Convention Address

   eastmich.org/bishop/NotesBisho - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/18/2003   Last Visited: 11/6/2006

   This is a story about my friend Steve Dewey and the vestry of the Grace Church who Steve serves in Lapeer as rector. I checked with Steve last week to make sure that my experience of what happened was the same as his, and he said it was. So, I have his permission to share this story. I also gave Steve permission to interrupt or retell the story if what I say does not tell the truth.
   
   After General Convention, Steve and his vestry decided to take an action that would advertise to the diocese and its bishop (me) that they wanted to disassociate themselves from the General Convention decision to confirm New Hampshire's election of Canon Gene Robinson as their next bishop.
   ...
   I called Steve a few weeks later and asked him to have a breakfast meeting with me. At breakfast we agreed that it would be helpful for the vestry, Steve and I to set aside an evening off of Church property to listen to one another, to share our stories which would include talking about our feelings of disconnect, frustration and anger. We talked about studying papers together that expressed the truth of both sides of the issue of same-gender unions. We set a date to meet in an upper room of the National Bank in Lapeer.
   
   Clear communication is so essential in developing honest dialogue. Following up on the conversation that Steve and I had about sharing papers, I e-mailed the senior warden of the vestry (who had been designated by the vestry to be in contact with me). The senior warden is a dear woman who cares deeply about her church and about every- one in the church. I asked her if the vestry would like to send me a paper to read, and that I had a paper for them which I attached to the e-mail. The paper was called "A Letter to Louise," written by a Baptist minister who had, over time, come to accept the validity of same-gender unions through his pastoral experiences and his extended study of Scripture and Science. The letter was written to the sister of a gay man who thought that he was condemned to hell because of his orientation. Well, sending the e-mail was a mistake. The senior warden was not aware of all of the dimensions of the conversation that Steve and I had, so she was confused by my e-mail, and saw it potentially as divisive and manipulative - when just the opposite was intended. Fortunately, Steve intervened to clear up the misunderstanding and the meeting went forward with the agreement that we were meeting to have a dialogue (not a debate), where we would share our stories of concern as Christian brothers and sisters.
   
   The evening for our meeting finally came.
   ...
   I shared these words with Steve earlier this week, and he concurred that my description matched his own sense of what happened.