New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light
PO Box 27162, Albuquerque, NM 87125  www.nm-ipl.org


'Produced Water' in New Mexico
5:30-7:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 23, Zoom. Registration required
Water is precious and sacred in New Mexico. It is important to understand water in the context of our large oil and gas industry. Join a conversation about produced water in the oil and gas fields. Explanation of what it is, state proposals for reuse in oil and gas industry and possibly beyond and more. Virtual discussion:
  • What is currently allowed in terms of wastewater?
  • What is being considered in upcoming wastewater rulemaking in the end of July?
  • What can frontline communities do to protect their water and lands?
Featured Guest Speakers:
Melissa Troutman, Earthworks 
Norm Gaum, former Dir. Interstate Stream Commission
Community members will be invited share their experiences with waste water, their questions and concerns.   

To register, send a note to    carlos@nm-ipl.org  with your name, location and e-mail. A Zoom link will be provided
Co-sponsored by Citizens Caring for the Future, New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light and Earthworks
Free Webinar Commemorating Hiroshima
An hour-long webinar commemorating the 75th anniversary of the American bombing of Hiroshima will be free and open to everyone on August 6th at 6 p.m. M.D.T. This one-hour commemoration is sponsored by the national Pace e Bene organization and will feature Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Ira Helfand, Roshi Joan Halifax of Upaya Zen Center, the Reverend John Dear, Jay Coghlan of N.M.
Nuclear Watch and Archbishop John Wester, Santa Fe, NM Archdiocese. It will be broadcast internationally.

For more information and to register:    www.paceebene.org/hiroshimaday2020
Positions available
Hope in the Desert Church is seeking an experienced Bookkeeper/Parish Administrator for an approximately half-time position. Fr. Dan Tuton invites your queries by email at   frdan@hopepiscopal.org.
Clergy & Seminarians: Pray/Study/Act
Understanding and Confronting Racial Injustice in the DRG
All clergy and seminarians in the Diocese of the Rio Grande are warmly invited to a zoom gathering at 12 noon (MDT) Thursday, July 23, for the inaugural meeting of a new Pray/Study/Act initiative called “Understanding and Confronting Racial Injustice in the DRG: A Group for Clergy and Seminarians.”

Convened by Rev. Dr. Jeanine Driscoll, Rev. Michael Wallens, and Dr. Mandy Taylor-Montoya, this group is designed to be a community of learners working to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary to help lead their congregations in anti-racism work.

Our first session will be "Establishing a Common Language," which aims to provide a basic starting point for understanding and combating systemic racism, white privilege, and the sin of white supremacy. Please contact Rev. Dr. Jeanine Driscoll ( rector@canterburyabq.org ) for the zoom link.
Spiritual Disciplines for Building and Living in Multicultural Church Community
Every month ECFVP offers five resources on a theme. This month we've asked the Rev. Audra Abt, who serves in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Vicar at Church of the Holy Spirit and Mission Developer for Abundant Life Health & Healing, to choose five resources that resonated with her. 
With so much uncertainty about finances and what our worship and mission will look like, given the pandemic, it may seem counterintuitive to look to what small or shoe-string missions are doing. Turning to the most vulnerable congregants of more resourced congregations likewise may seem unusual. But it’s folks who’ve lived on the margins of respectable church and the ‘formal’ economy who have strategies for thriving and adapting to precarious and brutal circumstances. The Rev. Nancy Frausto in  Sustainability in the Scrappy Church  talks about the gifts of congregations who look to people - both in and outside the church - as resources, not just as charity cases. Because of their unique knowledge of what it takes to survive in a racist and exploitative world, they can lead the way to greater forms of flourishing even in the face of scarcity.
I’ve been humbled, and grateful, to have people with intellectual and physical disabilities show me my own presumptions about planning liturgy and other church activities that unintentionally left no room for them to participate and lead. Sarah Barton’s article,  Welcoming Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities , invites the church to see each person as a resource. Barton recommends not just listening to our members but going out into the community to meet people where they are, listen, and allow what we hear to help us re-design the way we do everything. As we do this in my community, we’re finding that everyone is experiencing more access to deeper participation in our worship and service life.
Even in a multicultural congregation, there’s still a dominant norm for decision-making processes, leadership selection, and who speaks when. Often this norm fits the White, middle-class, professional culture. For people that don’t fit easily into your congregation’s norms, especially when they come from historically disenfranchised positions, it can be almost impossible to offer their gifts. As the Rev. Anna Olson writes about in  Building a Diverse Vestry , developing a team that reflects the diversity of your congregation and surrounding community takes intentionality and a lot of work, but it is worth it.
As startlingly beautiful as multicultural and multilingual life in Christ can be, I have also found it to be challenging because every encounter, every event also includes real opportunities for misunderstanding or offense, which can cause conflict. Valuing and raising up a multicultural community also means valuing change, letting Christ in to change the “we” we call the church. In  Conflict and Change , Luisa Bonillas reminds us that conflict is normal, and we can all develop the capacity to endure the discomfort and move through conflict together.
The last discipline that I’ve found helpful in developing multicultural church community has been to stay eager and curious to know how Jesus is alive and present outside our membership. By seeking Christ and traces of the Holy Spirit working among others, we stay humble and tuned to God, who is bigger than any of us and any one culture.  A Practical Theology of Episcopal Evangelism  is a clear, succinct invitation to practice seeking, naming and celebrating how God is working new life and liberation among our neighbors right now, right where we are planted.
Vestry Papers Issue on
Racial Justice and Reconciliation
News from
The Episcopal Church
& the Anglican Communion 
(click on the headline to read the story)  
Spiritual Wellness
The Rev. Dr. Jeanine Driscoll of St. Thomas of Canterbury provides guidance on:
+ Managing Anxiety
+ Managing Depression
and much more....

Attention: Brotherhood
Are your Brotherhood of St. Andrew Chapters or men's groups meeting with zoom? If so and if invited, Roy Benavides,  roy.benavides@brothersandrew.net , and Tom Bates,  thomasjbates7@gmail.com  would like to join you. Roy is the BStA Province 7 President and Tom is the DRG BStA Coordinator. Thank you for your support.

Updated Cycles of Prayer
In the Loop is a publication
of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande
6400 Coors Blvd. NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120
(505)881-0636   www.dioceserg.org

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