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14 July 2022
A Message from the Bishop About Visitation Calendars and Confirmations
Summer 2022
Dear Clergy and Lay Leaders in Charge of parishes,
Please find links at the bottom of this letter for the new schedule of episcopal visitation for September 2023-July 2025 (both by date and alphabetically by parish) and a revised Customary for the celebration of the rites of Confirmation, Reception and Reaffirmation.
This new schedule has been created to accommodate my sabbatical which will take place during mid-April 2023 to mid-July 2023. It also adds opportunities for Regional Confirmations, Receptions and Reaffirmations; in this schedule each Convocation will have one Regional Confirmation service each year, to be arranged in consultation with the Clergy Convenor of the Convocation, expanding the opportunity for this important rite to be celebrated with broad participation of the Body of Christ, and mark significant moments in the spiritual lives of our members. With this new addition of Regional Confirmations, I will no longer be available to conduct additional services of Confirmation, Reception and Reaffirmation in individual parishes outside of the usual biennial visitation. Please plan your formation schedule and celebration of these events according to this new pattern.
With this new visitation calendar, the cycle shifts to begin at the start of the program year (September 2023) and not the calendar year. As we complete the current calendar, which ends in the beginning of January, 2023 and anticipate the new calendar, which does not begin until September 2023, here is how we will “fill in the gap:”
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Current calendar (posted on website) continues through January 15, 2023.
- January 16, 2023-March 31, 2023 bishop will arrange for her own visitations based on pastoral need. (please see note about scheduling a visitation in this time, below)
- April 9, 2023 Easter at the Cathedral
- April 10-July 10, 2023 Bishop’s sabbatical (no visitations; there will be a bishop available for emergency Title IV needs)
- July 16, 23, 30, 2023 Bishop will arrange for her own visitations based on pastoral need (please see note about scheduling a visitation in this time, below)
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August 1- Sept 4, 2023 Bishop vacation
- September 10, 2023 new schedule begins
Scheduling a visitation during Jan-April 2023 or July 2023
I will schedule most of my Sunday visitations in this time to be responsive to pastoral needs in the time of parish transitions and to be present to congregations during the implementation of their Shaped by Faith plans. Some Sundays will be reserved for my travel around the diocese to experience worship in our churches from the pews. (These will be scheduled in advance. There will be no “surprise visits!”)
A limited number of Sundays in this time period (mid-January to end of March 2023) will be open to accommodate parishes who have not recently received an episcopal visit or for those with a patronal feast or significant anniversary. If you would like to get a place on this January-March 2023 calendar, please contact me directly (ascanlan@diocesecpa.org) and I will discuss with you the opportunity for a visit during this time.
The release of this calendar, the timing of my sabbatical, and this new shift in procedure comes at an important time in the life of our diocese and my tenure as your bishop. We are beginning to live into some of the shifts that Shaped by Faith has encouraged us to make. We are experiencing more fully the cycle of congregational life across the diocese, marking both endings and new beginnings. Our interest in working more collaboratively with the neighboring diocese of Bethlehem invites our getting to know each other better. And, it would be a joy for me to worship among you from time to time, getting to enjoy your sermons and experiencing the life of our parishes from the pews. I look forward to this season of our life together.
In the Way of Love,
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