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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Elizabeth Mullen |
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KANSAS TO BE CELEBRATED WASHINGTON – Hundreds of Kansans will celebrate the state and its people at a special worship service to be held August 21 at Washington National Cathedral. The Rev. Dr. Kelly Bender, who became well-known to Kansans when he preached on television during the 1990s as senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Wichita, will be featured as guest preacher at Kansas State Day. The Rt. Rev. James M. Adams, Episcopal bishop of Western Kansas and the Rt. Rev. Dean E. Wolfe, Episcopal bishop of Kansas will be concelebrants. The Lawrence Motet Singers, directed by David A. Grisafe, will perform a choral prelude at 10:30 a.m. Elected leaders from the state also have been invited to take part in the celebration at the Washington landmark, where the nation holds state funerals and special services to mark significant events. “Kansas Day will be an energetic celebration of the role the people of the state play in the life of the Cathedral and our nation,” said Vanessa Andrews, director of the National Cathedral Association. “We are looking forward to welcoming all our participants and visitors from Kansas.” As part of its national ministry, Washington National Cathedral offers prayers for the people and leaders of the states, and elevates each state with a major observance once every four years. Kansas visitors and natives transplanted to the Washington, D.C. area will play key roles in the August 21 service. Worshipers from the Sunflower State will bear communion elements and offer up gifts to the poor, and young people will take part in a grand opening procession bearing colorful banners from their homes of worship. The state flag will be placed on the chancel steps in the cathedral for the following week to further mark Kansas State Day. Dr. Bender, who presently is senior pastor of Paradise Valley United Methodist Church in Arizona, will address the congregation from the historic Canterbury Pulpit, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his final Sunday sermon, and from where former Missouri senator John Danforth, an Episcopal priest, gave the homily at Ronald Reagan’s state funeral in June 2004. Andrews noted numerous ties between Kansas and Washington National Cathedral. The state seal is a part of the Narthex floor in the west end of the cathedral and is represented on a needlepoint wall hanging in War Memorial Chapel. The state flower is found in the stained glass of the Folger bay window, while the Menninger Foundation of Topeka is represented in the Healing Arts Window. Further, Bell 2 in the 10-bell ring of the Gloria in Excelsis Tower was a gift from the people of Kansas to mark the state’s centennial in 1966. The bell, which rings a “high E” note, weighs 627 pounds and measures 2 feet, 6 inches in diameter. Invited guests include Gov. Katherine Sebelius, Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, Kansas members of Congress and members of the Kansas State Society, the organization of state natives now living in the Washington area. Alumni organizations representing the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Wichita State University also will take part. Following the service, the National Cathedral Association will host a reception for Kansas visitors and guests. Afterwards, docents will lead these visitors on a special cathedral tour highlighting Kansas elements in the cathedral. The National Cathedral Association (NCA) is the friends’ organization of Washington National Cathedral. It counts more than 14,000 members in every state and around the world who support the cathedral’s missions and ministries. With no government or church funding, the NCA depends on the individual support and generosity of NCA members and donors. The Cathedral’s lead volunteers helping to plan Kansas State Day are NCA regional leaders Allen and Sandra Wiechert of Lawrence, and Martha Jenkins, a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives, now residing in Washington D.C. ATTN PRINT MEDIA: If you desire e-mail transmission of this account and/or photos sent as JPEG attachments please contact Elizabeth Mullen at the number above. Also, print-quality photos of Washington National Cathedral are available on our Website, www.cathedral.org/cathedral. Click on “Photos for Print” under “Cathedral News.” | |