Remembering ECW, ECM, EYC, and Parish Keyman

Back in the ’70s, St. John’s ministries included each of those groups and more.

Episcopal Church Women was open to all women in the parish. An ECW Eucharist was held monthly on a weekday, and ECW was an umbrella organization that included different guilds for the ladies; I think the various guilds had the names of saints, but I don’t recall which saints were represented in St. John’s guilds.

Episcopal Church Men welcomed all men at St. John’s to participate. I remember when ECM met for Bible study and coffee in the parish house kitchen on Sunday mornings between the 8:00 and 10:30 worship services. There were no men’s guilds.

Episcopal Young Churchmen was the name of the youth group that met for fellowship on Sunday evenings. As a youth, I was active in the EYC at Christ Church Fairmont. We raised money by hiring a band to play at dances held in the parish house and charging admission; the dances were quite popular among non-Episcopalians from throughout the city. We used the profits to, among other things, buy an old, authentic slate pool table that was placed in the church basement. Each EYC member had a key to the pool room!

And then there was Parish Keyman, a bit of an oddity and a sexist title that soon became obsolete, but I was one. When the Rev. Jim Lewis was St. John’s rector, he appointed me to that position, giving me the responsibility for raising money to support Peterkin and making me a member of the vestry with a seat and voice but not a vote, as only elected members of the vestry are allowed voting privileges.