PHOTO: Roger Weld

A memorial for William “Bud” Henry Tell Sutter Jr. , father of a friend of the Church, was held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the Chapel of the Holy Child. A reception was held in the vestibule of the chancellery following the service. This was a private service for family and friends of the departed. The Service was officiated by the Right Reverends Sean Savoy and Gene Savoy Jr.

Gregory Stephen Klinedinst and Stanley Lee Waltemeyer were wed in the Chapel of the Holy Child on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. in the company of close friends.

(from left to right) Rt. Rev. Gene Savoy Jr, Stan Waltemeyer, Rev. Greg Klinedinst, and Rt. Rev. Sean Savoy

The ceremony was performed by the Right Reverend Sean Savoy with Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. delivering the Nuptial Blessing. The Reverends Robert and Francine Petrovich acted as witnesses. A private reception followed.

(from left to right) Rev. Canon Robert Petrovich, Rev. Greg Klinedinst, Stan Waltemeyer, and Rev. Francine Petrovich

The event was both momentous and historic. Momentous because after 35 years of living together as a couple, Greg and Stan were able to marry formally and with all the benefits and responsibilities of marriage. Historic because the wedding ceremony was the first same-sex marriage to be performed in the Chapel of the Holy Child.

Rev. Sean Savoy took a few moments to explain the special nature of the event before performing the ceremony, beginning with a citation of statements made recently on the right of same-sex marriage by Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America:

“The right to marry is fundamental as a matter of history and tradition, but rights come not from ancient sources alone. They rise, too, from a better informed understanding of how constitutional imperatives define a liberty that remains urgent in our own era.”

And on the plight of individuals who are part of same-sex couples:

“Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

Rev. Savoy continued by introducing and then citing statements made by retired federal judge Vaughn Walker, on the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state of California:

“Marriage is the . . . recognition and approval of a couple’s choice to live with each other, to remain committed to one another and to form a household based on their own feelings about one another and to join in an economic partnership and support one another and any dependents. . . .

The right to marry has been historically and remains the right to choose a spouse and, with mutual consent, join together and form a household. Race and gender restrictions shaped marriage during eras of race and gender inequality, but such restrictions were never part of the historical core of the institution of marriage. Today, gender is not relevant to the state in determining spouses’ obligations to each other and to their dependents. Relative gender composition aside, same-sex couples are situated identically to opposite-sex couples in terms of their ability to perform the rights and obligations of marriage under . . . law. Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals. . . .

They seek the mutual obligation and honor that attend marriage . . . seek recognition from the state that their union is ‘a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred.’”

Rev. Greg Klinedinst and Stan Waltemeyer in front of the Chapel entrance following their marriage

Saturday, December 12, 2015
10:00 AM COMMUNION
Chapel of The Holy Child
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Lector: RC Robert Petrovich
Cantor: Rev. Barbara Whitney
Reader: Rev. Dea. Stephan Fuelling
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

Sunday, December 13, 2015
Church of New Epiphany
Leave: 6:15
Gate: 6:50
Sunrise: 7:20
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Concelebrant: RR Sean Savoy
Assistants: RC Roger Weld
RC Ted Staver
Rev. Barbara Whitney
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

OPEN-AIR COMMUNION
Church of the Races of Man       RM Elizabeth Reece
Church of the New Covenant       Rev. Barbara Whitney

Wednesday, December 16, 2015
12:00 N COMMUNION
Chapel of the Holy Child
RC Ted Staver

Friday, December 18, 2015
9:00 AM PRAYER & FELLOWSHIP
Chapel of the Roses
Rev. Barbara Whitney

Church of New Epiphany “before” PHOTO: Jim Elliott

The upper slate floor of the Church of New Epiphany had been weathered for decades and was in a state of much needed repair when Reno resident Community member Jim Elliott took it upon himself to find a way to repair it.

Many slabs were missing or loose and the mortar decayed. Jim started the repair early Monday, August 24th and continued through to Thursday, September 3rd. The next day, the Sanctuary fire truck was brought up to the front drive of the church for final cleanup and loose sand and dust were sprayed away to complete the job.

Twenty 60-pound bags of mortar mix was used to do the grouting between stones. Sealing took place approximately two weeks later on the 20th of September. It is expected that the entire floor will require minor maintenance yearly due to the extent of previous decay.

The first Sunrise Service of the season was held at the Church of New Epiphany on Sunday, September 6th, before Convocation.

Church of New Epiphany “after” PHOTO: Jim Elliott

Saturday, December 5, 2015
10:00 AM COMMUNION
Chapel of The Holy Child
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Lector: RC Elizabeth Reece
Cantor: Rev. Nola Slevin
Reader: Rev. James Elliott
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

Sunday, December 6, 2015
Church of New Epiphany
Leave: 6:15
Gate: 6:45
Sunrise: 7:14
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Concelebrant: RR Sean Savoy
Assistants: RC Roger Weld
RC Robert Petrovich
Rev. Barbara Whitney
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

OPEN-AIR COMMUNION
Church of the Races of Man       RC Ted Staver
Church of the New Covenant       Rev. Michael McIntyre

Wednesday, December 9, 2015
12:00 N COMMUNION
Chapel of the Holy Child
Rev. Francine Petrovich

Friday, December 27, 2015
9:00 AM PRAYER & FELLOWSHIP
Chapel of the Roses
RC Roger Weld

It is time to begin assembling the 2016 Community Calendar. And our publishing staff is looking for your best photos related to Community life. Submissions need to be at least 300 dpi at 7.5″ x 10″ size. Include with the name of the photographer and the name of the subject with each submission.

Send in submissions before the end of December to: editor@communitycommunique.net.

Saturday, November 28, 2015
10:00 AM COMMUNION
Chapel of The Holy Child
RR Sean Savoy
Lector: RC Roger Weld
Cantor: Rev. Robert Roy
Reader: Rev. Vickie Hewlett
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

Sunday, November 29, 2015
Church of New Epiphany
Leave: 6:00
Gate: 6:35
Sunrise: 7:07
RR Sean Savoy
Concelebrant: RC Robert Ptrovich
Assistants: RC Roger Weld
RC Ted Staver
Rev. Barbara Whitney
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

OPEN-AIR COMMUNION
Church of the End Times       Rev. Robert Roy
Church of the End Times       Noriko Roy

Wednesday, December 2, 2015
12:00 N COMMUNION
Chapel of the Holy Child
Rev. Barbara Whitney

Friday, December 4, 2015
9:00 AM PRAYER & FELLOWSHIP
Chapel of the Roses
Rev. Vickie Hewlett

Click here to open a PDF of the flyer for download.

The 30th Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Service, “A Celebration of Religious Freedom,” will be held on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

It is a worship service of prayers, readings and music from a variety of Faith traditions sponsored by the Nevada Clergy Association.

This year’s event is graciously hosted by: St. Therese Church of the Little Flower 875 E. Plumb Lane (corner of E. Plumb Lane & Kietzke Lane), Reno, Nevada. Monetary and food donations will go to Volunteers of America Shelter Programs.

This event is a much-revered tradition in our local community and one that is largely unique nationwide in its scope of faith diversity—something to be very proud of.

The last five previous hosts were: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2013), St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Cathedral (2012), St. John’s Presbyterian Church (2011), Trinity Episcopal Church (2010), and Sparks United Methodist Church (2009).

For information call 775-786-1800 or email gsavoyjr@communityofchrist.org or genejr@nevadaclergy.org

Click here to open a PDF of the flyer for download.

Portrait of Frank Burkitt PHOTO: Rebecca Willis

Longtime resident Consociate Frank Burkitt (November 6, 1927 – September 22, 2015) passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Reno after battling Parkinson’s Disease for nearly thirty years.

A Memorial Service was held to celebrate his life on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of the Holy Child. In attendance were two of Frank’s sons, Jeffrey and Norm Burkitt, and the members of the Reno Church Community.

Frank had been a resident member of the Second Advent Community for many years. During that time, he received Third-level Ordination in the Order of The Holy Child and was active in the Second Advent ministry and had sponsored or taken part in a number expeditions to the Chachapoyas region of Peru through the Andean Explorers Foundation. Until he became physically dependent on nursing assistance a few years ago, he was an active participant in a great many facets of Church Community life.

Eulogy for the Reverend Frank Burkitt, written and delivered by the Reverend Amanda Buchanan, October 24, 2015.

Frank Burkitt was born on November 6, 1927, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was raised outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father was a chemist at DuPont, and his mother had been a teacher. He had two brothers: William, who was older than Frank, and George, who was younger. Although Frank was born prior to the Depression and the Dust Bowl years, his family was not affected by either. His father, as an employee of DuPont, kept his job during the Depression, and Frank said he did not remember the historic dust storms of 1930s Oklahoma and Texas.

Frank talked about fishing and playing or watching baseball with his brothers. He frequently spoke of his older brother, William. William wanted to be an Air Force parachutist during WWII, but his eyesight disqualified him from joining the Air Force so he went into the Army. Frank said William had been badly wounded in fighting in southern France and was disabled for the rest of his life. This had had a profound effect on Frank.

Frank himself went into the Navy on July 4, 1945. He was stationed on Guam as a member of the SEABEES (the construction crew of the Navy). He helped build airfields on the island, operating the machinery that applied the tar to the field. When I asked him whether he had seen any combat, he said, “only fighting the monsoons.” He and his crew had had to have the tar applied and hardened before those heavy rainstorms came; that meant being on the job at 4:30 a.m. Frank said his most trying “combat” was making himself get up at 3 a.m., as he had never been a morning person. He was discharged from the Navy a year later.

Frank had three big loves in his life: His ex-wife Marylou, music, and pie. Marylou had been Frank’s high school sweetheart. When he returned from Guam, he wanted to marry her right away. His father, however, wanted him to return to college, but Frank did not like college. He was twenty years old and had a job repairing radios. His father told him that if he would wait until he was twenty-one to get married, he would give him $100. As that was a lot of money, then, Frank consented. He and Marylou were married as soon as Frank turned twenty-one. The couple moved from Oklahoma to Kansas City, Missouri, where Frank worked for a company that repaired radios and, later, TVs.

Frank then got the opportunity to work for TWA. The airline trained him to be an airplane electronics technician. After some time in Missouri, Frank was offered a transfer to New York, so the family moved. They lived in New York for many years. During this time, Frank’s daughter, Georgia, was diagnosed with leukemia. She died just after graduating from high school. Frank and his family never really recovered from the loss of the child. The grief eventually destroyed his marriage and estranged him from his family, but Frank never stopped loving Marylou. Even toward the end of his life, when often he could not remember where he lived or what decade it was, he always spoke of Marylou and the things they did together.

Frank’s second love was music. His mother had played the piano and given piano lessons to the neighborhood children. Frank loved to listen to his mother play and even learned to play the piano a little himself. His father had played the cornet and thought that playing a cornet was more suitable for a boy than the piano. Frank’s father gave him the cornet that is displayed there on the table. Frank never went anywhere without that cornet. He even took it on expedition to Peru in 1994, where he would play reveille every morning to awaken the camp.

Frank was a member of a brass band while he lived in New York. The band toured up and down the East Coast. Frank said he joined the band because his wife said he was in her hair and that he needed a hobby. (Frank worked the graveyard shift, so he slept during the morning hours and by early afternoon was up and, as he said, “rattling around the house.”) Frank had a friend in the neighborhood who was in the band and invited Frank to join. Frank not only played in the band, but he bought many instruments for the other band members and searched out music for them to play. (In these last few years, as Frank increasingly had memory problems, every now and again he would ask Rebecca to buy him valve oil for his cornet and would ask me to take him to band practice.)

His third love in life was pie. Frank ate pie for breakfast, saying it was the best breakfast food. But he did not confine himself to eating pie at breakfast only; he would eat several every day. He was particularly fond of cherry pie, but any fruit pie would do. If you took Frank to the grocery store, he would buy 30 to 40 pre-packaged small pies. The supply would not last more than a week to maybe a week and a half. He complained long and hard when the pie supply was cut off because he could no longer go the store to buy them and because we had restricted his diet to reduce the huge amount of sugar he was consuming. His favorite beverages were hard cider, beer, and apple juice. He considered water something to cook with but not to drink. Oddly, nevertheless, Frank kept many containers full of water in his house at all times.

Frank liked to keep things. He would never throw anything away. He claimed hat he needed it or that he might use it or that it may someday become valuable. One time when cleaning his house, I found home-canned dill pickles in Frank’s refrigerator. When I asked where he had gotten the pickles, he told me his wife had canned them when he lived in New York. When I asked how long ago that had been, he replied, “Twenty years ago.” He had taken the pickles with him when he had moved from New York to Reno and was still eating them. He was more than a little upset when we threw the pickles out. We tried to explain how dangerous it was to eat such old canned goods, but Frank didn’t buy it. He said you could keep home-canned things forever. He also had canned food from the store with expiration dates of twenty to twenty-five years earlier and could not understand why they needed to be thrown away.

Frank was nonetheless a very knowledgeable man. He had been a very good electrician. He was also particularly interested in astronomy. He had studied the night sky and knew all of the constellations. His music collection was vast and included everything from classical to band music. He was of course very fond of trumpet music. He had a good sense of humor that was very dry; he was amused by the ironies of life. Frank and I had many conversations and many good laughs. Once you were Frank’s friend you were his friend for life. He will be missed.

Saturday, November 21, 2015
10:00 AM COMMUNION
Chapel of The Holy Child
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Lector: RR Sean Savoy
Cantor: Rev. Michael McIntyre
Reader: Rev. Karen Elliott
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

Sunday, November 22, 2015
Church of New Epiphany
Leave: 6:00
Gate: 6:30
Sunrise: 7:00
RR Gene Savoy Jr.
Concelebrant: RR Sean Savoy
Assistants: RC Roger Weld
RC Robert Petrovich
Rev. Barbara Whitney
Organist: RC Gary Buchanan

OPEN-AIR COMMUNION
Church of the Races of Man       Rev. Dorothy Kubiak
Church of the New Covenant       Dea. Stephan Fuelling

Wednesday, November 25, 2015
12:00 N COMMUNION
Chapel of the Holy Child
Rev. Vickie Hewlett

Friday, November 27, 2015
9:00 AM PRAYER & FELLOWSHIP
Chapel of the Roses
RC Gary Buchanan