Monthly News & Updates

• February 27- March 4: House of Bishops
• March 9: HDSM Retreat
• March 1o: 52nd Visit: St. James, Mountain Home
• March 16: Clergy Renewal of Ordination Vows, St. Michael's
• March 23: Centering Prayer Retreat, St. Andrew's, McCall
• March 24: 53rd Visit: St. Andrew's, McCall
• March 31: 54th Visit: St. Michael's Cathedral, Boise
• April 6: Indian Dinner Festival, St. Paul's, Blackfoot
• April 7-10: Ministry discernment visit to Redeemer, Salmon.
• April 7th: 55th Visit: St. Paul's, Blackfoot

• March 8-10: HDSM Retreat
• March 12: COM Meeting on Zoom at 6:00 PM
• March 16: Clergy Renewal of Vows
• March 20-25: Diocesan Office Closed
• March 23: Centering Prayer Retreat at St. Andrew's, McCall
• March 26: Dean's Meet
• April 4: Regional Missioners Meeting
• April 6: Blue Plate Banquet at St, Paul's, Blackfoot
• April 9: Clergy Meeting on Zoom at 6:30 PM

• March 10: Laetare Sunday
• March 24: Palm Sunday
• March 24-30: Holy Week
• March 31: Easter

• Submit Bishop's Visitation Form
• Submit Parish News for Publication
• 2024 Prayer Calendar
• Bishop's Visitation Calendar

Registration is open!

Staff Applications: Seasonal Staff applications are open! Do you know someone that would be a great camp team member? Seeking compassionate, enthusiastic staff for a summer of faith, fellowship, and fun! Information and applications are online at ParadisePointCamp.org under the "work with us" section.

Kegs 4 Kause: Join Paradise Point Camp for another Kegs 4 Kause! March 11th at Payette Brewing in Boise, 6-10 pm. Staff will lead camp games in the outdoor courtyard for the young and young at heart. More details to come!

Camp Seeks Ski-Boat: Do you have an in-board motor ski-boat that needs a home on the Payette Lake June-July? Seeking a safety-minded owner to drive (or have qualified camp staff drive) a ski boat to take campers tubing 1-2 weekdays. The boat can be docked at Paradise Point and accessed whenever you need it. Help us keep costs down and continue a favorite camp activity. Let's chat! Megan Kittridge, CampDirector@Episcopalidaho.org. 

The Rev. Larry Speir

Priest Serving | St. James, Mountain Home and Faith Lutheran, Mountain Home

Fr. Larry Spier, currently serving two congregations, St. James in Mountain Home and St. David's in Caldwell, is entering into a new ministry with the Lutherans and Episcopalians in Mountain Home. This combined ministry has been in the works for about 7 months. Bishop Megan Manlove and Bishop Jos Tharakan have signed a contract to make this ministry a reality and work in cooperation to make this ministry exciting, growing, and transformational. Congratulations and thank you to Fr. Larry for saying yes to this opportunity to work together with our communion partner, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

The Rev. Bill Brown

Priest Serving | St. David's, Caldwell

Fr. Bill Brown was ordained a Deacon in 1976 and ordained to priesthood in 1978. For the last 45 years, Fr. Brown has served in many roles in churches in Canada and the United States. He also worked for the State of Idaho serving in the affordable housing projects and programs helping people find a home.

Fr. Bill has been serving as Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew's in McCall. He lives in Boise but drove over the mountains on Highway 55 to serve this church and the McCall community for 18 years. Before that, he was also the director of Paradise Point Camp. Fr. Bill served as the Chair of the Transition Committee after the election of the 14th bishop of Idaho. His official service to the church in McCall is coming to an end on Sunday, March 31st.

Fr. Bill is assigned to serve the people of St. David's in Caldwell starting in April. He is a valuable member of the finance committee of the diocese. We are grateful for his continued ministry in the diocese. Thank YOU, Fr. Bill for all you do!

The Rev. Rob Gieselmann

Discernee Guide & Pastoral Presence| Emmanuel, Hailey

Bishop Jos has appointed Fr. Rob Gieselmann to guide anyone exploring their call to ministry in the Episcopal Church in Idaho. Fr. Gieselmann serves on the Commission on Ministry. His gifts in helping people to discern their call to ministry, before they enter the Local Discernment Committee, and his willingness to serve the church, got the Bishop's attention. His extensive experience in ministry and heart for listening will be a bonus and blessing to all who hear a murmur within them to serve God's people. If you are looking to find someone to talk to, ask questions, and seek guidance before you approach your priest or senior warden, or the bishop, call Fr. Rob, and share the tug you feel in your heart. Find his contact info listed on the staff page.

Fr. Gieselmann is a retired Episcopal priest and writer, having served parishes in Maryland, Tennessee, California, and Idaho, including as interim priest to St. Thomas, Sun Valley. Rob earned his Master of Divinity from the University of the South (“Sewanee”) and other degrees from both Auburn University and the University of Tennessee. He has published five books: Irony and Jesus, The Episcopal Call to Love, and A Walk through the Churchyard, plus two books of sermons, and has more recently edited the Speaking to the Soul page of Episcopal Café (Episcopal Journal). The father of two grown children, Rob lives in Hailey and says he experiences God most digging in the garden or trodding well-worn paths through the mountains. 

Joe Spielman

Minister of Compline | St. David's, Caldwell

Mr. Joseph Spielman, a faithful member of St. David's Episcopal Church in Caldwell, has been faithfully serving the church in Idaho for a long time. He came to the church in Caldwell over twenty years ago. Since 2003 he has served as Junior Warden for this small church. He calls himself, "Junior Warden at heart."

Over a year ago Bishop Jos mentioned to Joe if he would consider leading the diocese in a prayer ministry. He prayed about it and worked towards making it a reality, and now he is ready to serve in this role every day. If you are scrolling through posts on Facebook around 9 pm, Mountain time, stop, and tune into this beautiful form of prayer, led by a wonderful man, a servant, and a minister at heart. Join for Compline at 9 pm. Facebook or YouTube.

Anytime prayer including compline can be accessed through: www.prayerchapel.us

Amy Hoppock

Canon for Vocations | St. Michael's, Boise

The journey to ordained ministry is not easy. It comes with lots of anxious moments filled with uncertainties and at the same time, joyful, and amazing experiences. This journey can be difficult to navigate without the help of someone who can answer questions, address concerns, and ease fears and anxieties along the way. The role of the Canon for Vocation is to hold the hands that will one day be consecrated to serve God's people by administering sacraments and blessing sacred moments of life. Canon for Vocation can answer questions like "Where am I in the process?", "What is my next step?", and "Who do I talk to about this?".

Bishop has appointed Amy Hoppock to serve as Canon for Vocations. She is a parishioner at St. Michael's Cathedral. She is a trained Spiritual Director who uses art and poetry to help others find God’s gracious movements in their lives. Her most important roles are as a golf mom for her teenage son Reid and a dance mom for her teenage daughter Delana. While her family has been involved at St. Michael's for generations, she was raised in a small non-denomination church in rural Idaho. She returned to her Episcopalian roots in the past ten years. She writes a weekly newsletter (Smaller & Deeper) exploring the ordinary contemplative life and writes (and shares) haiku poetry. 

Congratulations and Thank you to Amy Hoppock, Canon For Vocations!

Mrs. Ellie Rollins

Eastern Deanery Representative to the Diocesan Council | St. Luke's, Idaho Falls

Bishop Jos is pleased to introduce the newest member of the Diocesan Council, the Deanery Representative from the Eastern Deanery. The Deans from Eastern Deanery shared a fun fact about Ellie. "She can’t decide if she likes the sermon at church more or sharing a sign of peace with old and new friends."

Ellie has a BA in English from BYU-Idaho. She’s a newer member of the Episcopal faith and a new vestry member. Her favorite places to volunteer are the soup kitchen and local food pantry, and digitally via a local Buy Nothing page. She was born and raised in Eastern Idaho. True to her roots, she and her husband named their beagle Russet Potato. She’s been in the insurance industry for 7 years. Horror movies, pickles, bird-watching, and impeccable fashion are Ellie’s favorite entertainment outside work and church. Her favorite quote is by Charlie Chaplin, “Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.”

Welcome, we are blessed to have Ellie Rollins on our leadership team!

Keep: Centering Prayer Retreat - March 23

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church | McCall

Centering Prayer is a form of Christian Contemplative Prayer, to center your awareness on the presence of God. This modern movement in Christianity was initiated by three Trappist Monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Our Bishop is an Internationally commissioned Centering Prayer facilitator. He will lead this one-day retreat at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Saturday, March 23rd from 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. Call or email Diane Penny to register 208-315-5137 or s_d_penny@msn.com

Blue Plate Banquet

St. Paul's Episcopal Church | Blackfoot

St. Michael's Cathedral | Boise

Registration for the annual Blue Plate Banquet is open. This year we have two locations for the dinner! St. Paul's in Blackfoot will host on April 6th and St. Michael's in Boise will host on August 17th. Seats are limited and we will offer an early bird discount of $10 off your registration if you are registered and paid one month before the event! Last year we loved experiencing the Bishop's cooking and the variety of foods from his homeland. We hope to see you at one of these exciting events! Register for Blackfoot or Boise by clicking the city.

Idaho Episcopal Foundation: Bishop's Reception

Barber Park Event Center | Boise

Save the Date! The Idaho Episcopal Foundation will be celebrating their 40 years of service and presenting the Excellence in Mission Award on Saturday, April 20th. For more information contact Janet Hasson here.

Bishop's Reception 

April 20, 2024

5:30 pm - 8 pm

Barber Park Event Center, Boise

Neighbors in Need Food Pantry

Ascension | Twin Falls

Ascension Episcopal Church, Twin Falls, just completed a month-long fundraising campaign for the Neighbors in Need Pantry. A shopping basket in the narthex was filled to overflowing with 265 items of non-perishable food. Cash donations on Souper Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11^th, raised $293 for the Pantry.  



The first Lenten Soup Supper on Feb. 21^st featured Paula Dodd’s Lenten Soup Bowls for sale and two kinds of soup to eat, raising another $338.  Neighbors in Need continues to provide food to Magic Valley families through the school food pantries, and assistance with rent and utilities through our partnership with South Central Community Action Partnership.