Bishop Smith - Farewell reception Feb. 28

Page last updated: 3/3/10, 1:37 p.m. (fixed typo, embedded YouTube video of music clip)
-- Karin Hamilton

• About 450 people from the Diocese and beyond gathered in fellowship to celebrate Bishop Smith's ministry (and his wife Kate's ministry)  on Sunday February 28 from 4-7 p.m. at Trinity Church, Hartford, CT. Set up in the narthex was a poster on an easel giving thanks to those donors whose contributions helped make the evening possible. There was also a table where guests could leave letters or gifts, if they had brought any.
• In the nave, long swaths of different ethnic fabrics draped dramatically from high in the center of the room to pillars around the edges and to points in the chancel and the choir gallery. Twenty-three parishes had donated the fabric, which will be used again at the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas in April.
• The chairs used for seating (no pews at Trinity) were set up in groups and short rows to encourage conversation. There were round tables along the edges of the nave, each decorated with a string of of small lights. The baptismal font was in the center of the room, surrounded by a square of long tables. On a large screen, at the front edge of the chancel, a slideshow looped through 91 photos from Bishop Smith and Kate's life and ministry: everything from talking to children during episcopal visits to parishes, to celebrating the eucharist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the 5K for kids, to hiking, snowshoeing and birdwatching, and a bunch more. Just before the event began, and for a short time at its very beginning, smoke twirled upward from a bowl of incense placed on a table a few steps down from the screen at the front of the room. Towards the front also were the pulpit and lectern, both on raised platforms, used for reading the lessons during worship and later addressing the crowd in tribute. Off a short hall was another room set up for coffee and quiet conversation.
• The event began with a short worship service, with a very personalized litany and prayer for the Smiths, then a brief welcome by the Rev. Sandy Stayner, Transition Committee member and chair of the evening's event. She gave special recognition and thanks to the Rev. Ron Kolanowski, who created the canopy; the Rev. Molly James, who created the slideshow; the Rev. Marilyn Anderson, Transition Committee chair, Jean Moffitt, who coordinated the food; and to everyone at Trinity Church, the evening's host. 
• The jazz band started up. The group was led by Andy Barnett, from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. As the music played, volunteers brought out different ethnic foods onto the round tables, and mixed up tasty, red-colored non-alcoholic punch in bowls on the tables around the font. Food had been donated by 35 parishes, each contributing finger food to serve 70-100 people. The eating and schmoozing then commenced in earnest! People also lined up for the opportunity to speak personally to Bishop Smith.
• At 5:30, Michael Mills, a master drummer and percussionist (and CEO of Drums No Guns), led the children from the main room out to Trinity's library where they learned and practiced with percussion instruments. In the meantime, the adults heard presentations by Sylvia Ho, chair of the nominating committee; the Rev. Peter Stebinger, chair of the Standing Committee; Bishop Suffragan Jim Curry; Bishop Suffragan Laura Ahrens; David Carson, a Trinity member since 1962 with a long memory of the Smiths' involvement at Trinity; and Sylvia Corrigan, president of the diocesan Episcopal Church Women. Presenters announced that the fund in honor of Bishop Smith's ministry is now at $20,000; it will be divided among three ministries: the women's center in Boga, DR Congo; the Bishop's Fund for Children; and the Diocese of Colombia. The ECW gave $1000 in Kate Smith's name to the Diocese of Jerusalem, and had a stone engraved at Christ Church Cathedral for Bishop Smith, to be dedicated at the 2010 annual convention. Peter Stebinger gave the retired bishop a plaque from the Standing Committee, honoring the bishop's ministry, and Molly James gave the Smiths a scrapbook of photos collected from people around the Diocese.
• Kate Smith, and then Bishop Smith, then both offered their own thanks and other remarks to the group.
• As the tribute portion of the evening was concluding,  the children returned, drumming and shaking and slapping their instruments. The drummer led them, and the crowd, in a call and response song full of energy. A trombonist from the jazz band led off into another song, Siyahamba ("We are marching in the light of God"), which got drummers going again with Mill's enthusiasic leadership. Pretty soon dozens of people got up, held hands, and danced in a moving line that wove through the groups of chairs and around the room. The music ended about 7 p.m., and people headed out the door.
• 56 seconds of music: From an opening hymn, We are all one in mission, to Siyahamba!