Saint Francis in the Redwood Episcopal Church
66 East Commercial, Willits, Mendocino County, California
(707) 459-3066
email: stfranciswillits@hotmail.com
Service at 10 AM Sundays
Willits used to have an Episcopal church that was closed about 30 years ago under very dubious
circumstances. I am told it was very traumatic, but a few carried on in living rooms until they were able
to meet in the storage room behind the stage in the Methodist church. This is where I first met this
congregation about 35 years ago. After a few years we got a retired priest who dragged us into the front
of the church. We met before the Methodists and warmed up their church for them. About twenty years ago we
made a huge step and bought an old cinder block business office from the utility company. We made this
humble structure very special, and its lack of windows has given it a "monk's cell" atmosphere that has
allowed us to focus on what is important: the Holy Spirit.
Our new straw bale church has been a joy! It was built with the help of our community. We had a wonderful
local architect and local builder bring it into existance. Our city is happy to have us anchor our small town's
miracle mile. Our diocese is proud of their part in making a beautiful organic church. This new sanctuary also
resonates strongly with the Holy Spirit. And our old church is now very busy hosting AA, NA, and a food
program.
Our congregation is quite a mixed bag. Half "cradle Episcopalians" and half representing nearly every
other spiritual direction. We are both very conservative and quite liberal, old families and new. The
history of tolerance and finding a middle way in our church has blended a rich and usually quite balanced
viewpoint. We are accepting of all people who seriously seek Christ and defend their right to practice
their faith in peace.
DISCLAIMER This is my personal perspective on Total Ministry and not the Episcopal Church's or Saint Francis's definition. Given that, I was one of the first to start what we originally called Shared Ministry, in one of the first two TM congregations in our diocese. I have been to four Living Stones conferences as a congregational witness. I served on the diocesan oversight group for TM for years. Our congregation has seven preachers of which I am one. Currently I am Senior Warden. I suppose that eveyone might have a different perspective, or perhaps should have their own perspective, at least from the inside. Certainly every congregation has its own way, its own flavor of implementing Total Ministry.
The Total Ministry movement is quite new to the Episcopal Church, but is "old hat" to other protestant churches that do not ordain full-time, paid priests. Some think of TM as a way for small churches (that can't afford to pay clergy) to have a volunteer priest. TM does provide this option for small churches, but Total Ministry is much more than that.
We are one of the first two Episcopal congregations in California to "graduate" as a Total Ministry church. We spent three years in training and prayer to re-discover our baptismal covenant to all be ministers of Christ. As part of that covenant most of us have taken over some aspect of our retired priest's duties and/or the management of our church, leaving our volunteer priest to concentrate on her core duties of our sacraments and eucharist. As a group we have become sort of a group-priest who always has the collective wisdom of about 60 people to refer to for decisions.
This "new movement" is actually as old as the Christian church - where everyone is directly responsible to our God - and we are simply fulfilling our baptismal vows based on whatever gifts we have to offer.
This was a three year program for us, which is pretty fast for fundamentally changing a lifetime's perception of what church is. Key to this progress was a lot of communication between everyone; it is surprising to realize that you have been in church with people for years who you hardly ever talked to, but when you did, they had a lot to say that is important to you. You develop awe for ministries you previously ever thought about. We learned to see each other as powerful agents of the Holy Spirit.
We have found new strength in ministries were were already doing, as well as discovering new ministries. We are all empowered with the full awareness and support of the rest of our congregation. This brings about a significant qualitative improvement in our religious life. It is important to note that this is entirely voluntary, but it is hard to resist the joys of finding such personal fulfillment. A notable bonus comes from this improved awareness of other's ministries; through them many of us have developed new ministries that we had not realized we had in us. What this all boils down to is finding much bliss: in each other, in our ministries which are as varied as our lives, and as a living functioning church. We recognize that nearly any activity in life can be, and is, a ministry if you see the sacred in it.
It is hard to describe how empowering and energizing this has been for all of us. As an inspired
and a truly democratic congregation, we allow ourselves to find true communion where everyone has full voice.
As convenient as a minister-led congregation can be, total ministry consistently offers multiple points of view
for every decision. Where other churches have the benefit of a wise vestry, we have the benefit of a wise
(and vocal) congregation.
The latest development for our congregation is finally building what our wonderful retired
rector calls a proper church. We have been operating out of a very humble cinder-block building
(a former utility pay-station) with no windows and plenty of leaks in the Winter. We have made it a wonderful
spiritual home, but a spirit-led financial windfall has enabled us to build what appears to be the third straw bale
church ever built in North America. It has been a challenging process but you can view an initial photo
portfolio of its construction and see how lovely the result already is.
Our town of Willits has taken the construction of this new church into their hearts. First of all
it anchors our miracle mile, a stretch of Commercial Street that is the showpiece of our architecturally
humble town. Our church is right on the busiest corner in town and the noisiest. We expect the straw bales to be
excellent noise reduction, as well as being great thermal insulation.
Mendocino county, and especially Willits, is a center of alternative energy and construction.
There are quite a few straw bale houses, a few rammed earth houses like ours, and even the first cob house to code
in the state of California! Our soaring straw bale structure has captured the imaginations of many in our town.
Finally, we fully expect it to be a destination for alternative builders, and people interested in alternative building, from hither and yon. As time and energy permits
I will expand on our story. But in the meantime enjoy some pictures of the building so far! Straw Bale and Rammed Earth Buildings
Photodocumentary About Building Our Straw Bale Church
Bill and Betsy Bruneau
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18001 Shafer Ranch Road, Willits, CA 95490-9626 USA
Website: www.bbruneau.com
email: bbruneau@bbruneau.com
Copyright 2007-2018, William Bruneau