January 2022 Newsletter

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Newsletter

January 2022, Issue No. 345

December Ordinations

Bishop Mayer recently ordained two women from the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas. On December 16, 2021 he ordained Rachel Petty to the priesthood at St. Christopher's, Lubbock. Mtr. Rachel is the new Rector at St. Christopher's after serving as their Vicar during her time as a transitional deacon. In order to view a full-length recording of Mtr. Rachel's ordination, click here. On December 18th, Bishop Mayer ordained Ashley Colley to the transitional diaconate at Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene. Deacon Ashley is finishing up her last year of seminary at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin this semester. In order to view a full-length recording of her ordination, please click here.

January Meeting

The Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas' Creation Care Committee - now named The Regenerates - met in December via Zoom. To read the minutes from the meeting, click here. Our next meeting will be on January 11 at 7:30pm via Zoom. Anyone in the diocese is welcome to attend! Click here to register for the Zoom meeting and to gain access to the Zoom meeting link.

Did you miss Bishop Mayer's Christmas Message?

If so, watch the video by clicking on the video below.

Bishop Scott Mayer's Christmas Message, 2021

A Message from CPG on

Strengthening our Data Security

to Clergy and Lay Employees in the Diocese

Given the increase in cyber attacks on individuals and organizations, it's more important than ever to ensure that client information is safe and secure. To that end, we are continuing to enhance security measures for MyCPG Accounts and CPG benefits management systems with updated multifactor authentication and stronger password requirements starting in early 2022.

Multifactor Authentication

After you sign into CPG benefits management systems or MyCPG Accounts with your username and password, you will be asked to input an authorization code that will be sent to you by text or a phone call. You may be asked additional questions during the authentication process.
Non-US-based clients will also be subject to updated authentication processes that will differ slightly from those applied to US-based clients.

Stronger Passwords

Individuals who want to reset their existing password or create a new MyCPG Account will be required to create a passphrase—a unique, sentence-like string of words or characters that is easy to remember and difficult for others to figure out. The passphrase must be at least 16 characters in length and can contain letters, numbers, spaces, or symbols. For example: “My favorite hymn is #473,” or “Mark 1:4 is a very cool verse!”

The introduction of these authentication protocols will continue to strengthen our defenses against unauthorized account access.

We will begin communicating to clients about these added security measures in early 2022.

Sincerely,

The Church Pension Group

To keep up-to-date on diocesan news, check out our website or follow us on Facebook!

Meeting Change for Relational Evangelism Conference at Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene

Dear Friends,

At Heavenly Rest, we’ve adopted the words of our rector, The Rev. David Romanik who reminds us to be “flexible and faithful.” With that in mind, we are making some adjustments to the schedule for the Relational Evangelism January gathering scheduled for Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15.

For safety and strategic reasons this event will now be held on Zoom. It’s a great opportunity for us to gather and catch up with each other, to keep moving forward, and share the good news of Christ. We’ve updated the schedule making it a one-day event that will begin on Friday, January 14 at 1:30 pm online.

Our first zoom will be a chance to hear from folks across the diocese and beyond, with a welcome from Fr. David and a special message from Bishop Mayer. This is a good time for us to gather and reflect on relational evangelism, Bishop Payne’s vision, and share stories from our context.

A second zoom session will begin at 3:30 pm, facilitated by Kathy Balch, a talented lay leader from Heavenly Rest who will kick off a conversation to reflect on program presentations and holy moments from classes.

This event will wrap up with evening prayer at 5 pm in the Heavenly Rest chapel and this worship serviced will be live streamed to Facebook.

Please see the attached schedule of events (by clicking here) and reach out to [email protected] for information and resources and join us on Friday, January 14!

Flexible and Faithful,

Corrie Cabes

Assistant Rector, Church of the Heavenly Rest

Innovation as Hospitality and Stewardship

When my wife and I first started attending the Episcopal Church, we had never been in a liturgical church before, and we were very lost. First the red book, then the blue one, then back to the red - you get the picture. Honestly, the complexity of the service was a bit of a turn-off to us as newcomers. We took a break from the book-juggling and tried services in other denominations, but really didn't feel as welcomed as we had felt in the Episcopal Church. We committed to becoming “a people of the book.” After attending for a while, we bought one of those fancy leather-bound BCPs with the hymnal in it - game changer!

Years after we’d grown to know and love the BCP, we visited a church that handed us a full text bulletin. Lo and behold! We thought, “this would have saved us a lot of hassle as newcomers!” Full text bulletins are an excellent way to lower the amount of anxiety that visitors to our parishes WILL encounter - especially those folks attending one-off events like weddings and funerals. Full-text bulletins can also be a great way to introduce and include some of the updated, expansive, and enculturated forms of the liturgy that are now authorized by the Episcopal Church, but not yet included in the BCP.

Full-text printed bulletins offer hospitality and potential for liturgical exploration - but they also use reams and reams of paper. It’s a hit to the budget and a hit to the environment. And, let’s be honest - those reams of paper we use each week go into a product that, though helpful, is touched for about an hour and then never thought of again.

I know that opinions vary in the diocese about full-text bulletin use vs. having copies of the BCP available for everyone. Why not have both? Why not have both AND a way to access the full text bulletin in a digital format?

We can gain the benefits of full-text bulletins while offsetting some of the impact on the budget and impact on the environment by offering a digital copy of the full-text bulletin alongside the paper copies.

A relatively simple way to do this is to include a “bulletin” page on your congregational website (a spot where you can upload a PDF copy of the bulletin weekly), and then create a QR code that links to that address. The QR code can then be printed and kept in the spot where (now fewer) copies of the full-text bulletin are available. Parishioners are then offered a choice between using the BCP, selecting a printed copy of the full-text bulletin, or scanning the QR code to access a digital copy of the full-text bulletin.

Deacon Courtney Jones

St. Andrew's, Amarillo

Click here to learn how to make QR codes

Would you like to highlight any news or happenings at your church?

Click here to tell us about it.

Check out the ministries below to see how your apportionments are changing lives and making a difference in our diocese. If you would like to see your congregation's 2022 Apportionment amount, click here.

Youth News

Renee Haney, Diocesan Youth Coordinator

Dates for Camp Quarterman and Camp Quarterman Jr 2022 have been set!

Camp Quarterman June 26-July 2

Camp Quarterman Jr. July 3-July 8

Camp Quarterman is for those in grades 7-12. Camp Quarterman Jr. is for those in grades 2-5. Youth in 6^th grade may choose either camp.

Watch for registration information coming soon. If you have any questions about camp or the diocesan youth program, please contact Renee Haney at 806-445-3667 or [email protected].

As I talk to campers, counselors, volunteers and staff about Camp Quarterman, I ask the question, “What does Camp Quarterman mean to you and why do you want to come back year after year?”

I would like to share what some had to say. This month Allie Farmer, from Lubbock, shares her thoughts about camp.

"On the day that I start packing and preparing to go work at Camp Quarterman for two weeks in the summer, I start to worry, “Am I getting too old for camp?”

I started going to middle school camp at Quarterman Ranch when I was in sixth grade, and didn’t know a single person that would be there. I was scared, and awkward, and likely didn’t pack enough sunscreen.

But once I got there, I saw a girl named Sam that I went to kindergarten with, in the dining hall, waiting in line for registration. Flash forward about 11 years, dozens of t-shirts, approximately six billion rousing renditions of Pharaoh Pharaoh, and plenty of gnarly sunburns later, and she was the maid of honor at my wedding.

I met my best friends at Camp Quarterman. I experienced the moments in which I felt closest to God there. Growing up, I looked forward to going to summer camp all year long. I learned how to be comfortable with who I am, and take up my space in the world, and make mistakes in a safe space where I could learn and grow from them.

I occasionally still worry that I’m getting too old for camp - I’m 25 after all and not getting any younger! But then I think, am I too old to spend a little down time in the sun, soaking up God’s creation, making friends, laughing and singing songs and doing silly dances and being a kid again? Nah. I don’t think any of us ever are.

Camp Quarterman is truly a place unlike any other. I encourage any youth considering it, to go for it!"

If you have any questions, ideas, or comments, please contact Renee Haney, Diocesan Youth Coordinator and Camp Director at 806-445-3667 or [email protected].

Click HERE to be included on our mailing list to stay connected. Follow us on Facebook at DNWTX Youth Program for more information.

Donate to Help Support Diocesan Youth

Canterbury at Texas Tech

Mtr. Leann Wigner, Canterbury Chaplain

Canterbury, along with all three Episcopal parishes in Lubbock, volunteered at the Candlelight on the Ranch event at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock on December 10 and 11 in the Episcopal Trinity Mission from Spur, Texas (most recently, Church of the Good Shepherd in Brownfield, Texas). The volunteers reconstructed a 1920's Episcopal Christmas Eve service based on the 1892 Book of Common Prayer, showing over 3,000 visitors the beauty of the Episcopal liturgy. The service was led by Br. Jimmy Haney from St. Paul's Episcopal Church who acted as the Episcopal Priest for the service. Dann Wigner from St. Stephen's served as the assistant priest, Clark Wigner from St. Stephen's served as the acolyte, and Jane Ann Wilson from St. Christopher's served as the evening's organist. Canterbury sends a big thanks to all those who volunteered. What a gift this was to the community. In order to view the service, click here. Please check out pictures of the event below:

If you have any questions, please contact Mtr. Leann Wigner, Chaplain at Canterbury Episcopal Campus Ministry at Texas Tech at 575-631-5345 or [email protected].

Donate to Help Support Canterbury

The Bishop's Staff will be working remotely until further notice. All staff members have access to email or can be reached at the office telephone number 806-763-1370.

The full events calendar can be found on our website.

Presiding Bishop Calls Nation to Wake from ‘the Nightmare of Jan. 6’

In a livestreamed Jan. 6 worship service from Washington, D.C., that marked both the Feast of the Epiphany and the first anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and later in an address to the nation from the Lincoln Memorial, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry called on Christians to reclaim the spiritual light that the holiday celebrates and reject the “deeper darkness” shown in the attack.

To read more, click here.

$2 Million Bequest Tied Up in Court as Growing North Texas Congregation Worships in Former Bank Drive-Thru

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church is a congregation of fewer than 20 people in Hillsboro, Texas. The past year has been one of transition for St. Mary’s, with its past locked up in a historic church building to which these Episcopalians no longer have the keys. The congregation’s hoped-for future is a new church to be built on vacant land, backed by more than $2 million from a gift of the estate of a former parishioner who died in 2017. For now, however, the land remains vacant, and the bequest sits untouched in a bank account – frozen until St. Mary’s resolves its legal dispute with a breakaway group of worshippers who retained possession of the old church on Abbot Street.

To read more about St. Mary's, click here.

Epiphany Series Videos

& World Mission Sunday Celebration

Join The Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion partners for a lectio divina-style study on the Gospel reading. The study spans the eight Sundays of Epiphany, starting Jan. 9 concluding on World Mission Sunday, with a special recorded sermon in the final session.

To read more about this opportunity, click here.

Statement from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on the Passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"With the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a true friend, colleague, and mentor—and a genuinely humble, great soul—has gone before us. He has passed through the gate of death into the arms of the God who gave him life.

While on this earth, he sought to follow Jesus of Nazareth in God’s way of love and life. In so doing, he showed us how to live God’s dream as children of the one God and creator of all."

To continue reading, click here.

Good Book Club returns in Epiphany 2022 with the Book of Exodus

This year the Good Book Club will dive into the first twenty chapters of Exodus from Epiphany, January 6, to Shrove Tuesday, March 1.

For more information, click here.

The Church is Not Dying, It Is Changing: A Message from the House of Deputies Theologian

"As leaders in the Episcopal Church, you have all heard a good deal about the so-called “decline of the church.” The number of both church members and dollars contributed to the Episcopal Church, locally and nationally, has been decreasing for decades. This has ignited a good deal of concern in church circles."

To continue reading, click here.

Episcopal Migration Ministries Resettles its 100,000th Refugee

“We mark this milestone with much thanksgiving and gratitude for all who have partnered with our dedicated staff in this vital ministry of serving our global neighbors forced to flee their homes in search of safety and security,” said Demetrio Alvero, operations director for EMM. "Jesus exhorted us to love our neighbors — as he demonstrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we do this through intentional, loving, and practical care of others' needs."

To read more, click here.

Diocese of Pennsylvania Reopens 3 Churches in 5 Years by Rediscovering Their Communities

St. John’s is one of three “resurrection churches” – along with St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and the Church of the Crucifixion, both in Philadelphia – that the Diocese of Pennsylvania has reopened in the last five years by reorienting the churches’ ministry to respond to their communities’ shifting demographics and spiritual and material needs. Buildings that once faced the prospect of sale after their congregations folded now host lively Latino congregations, feeding ministries and outreach to homeless people. The congregations don’t look or sound like they did before, but that’s the point, diocesan leaders say.

To read more, click here.

‘Your nation salutes you’: Bob Dole Honored at Washington National Cathedral Funeral

Bob Dole, the longtime Kansas senator and national Republican leader, was mourned Dec. 10 in a funeral at Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital city.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Washington Bishop Mariann Budde officiated at the service, and President Joe Biden was among the eulogists.

To read more, click here.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's Christmas Message 2021: 'In the name of these refugees, let us help all refugees'

“The Christmas stories are reminders that this Jesus came to show us how to love as God loves. And one of the ways we love as God loves is to help those who are refugees, those who seek asylum from political tyranny, poverty, famine, or other hardship."

To read more, click here.

More Episcopal Church news can be found here.

Episcopal Service Corps Seeks Applicants for 2022-23 Service Year

The Episcopal Church invites young leaders ages 21 to 32 interested in a transformative outreach and discernment experience to consider applying to the Episcopal Service Corps for its 2022-23 service year.

Click here to find out more.

Church Pension Group to Host Additional Conversations on its Vision, Finances, and Work

The event will take place on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM ET. All clergy, lay employees, volunteers, and lay leaders who serve the Church are invited to register here . In advance of the webinar, individuals are encouraged to view a replay of the inaugural conversation from November and review CPG’s 2021 Annual Report.

Presiding Bishop Invites Applicants for 2022 UN Commission on the Status of Women Virtual Delegation

Applications in English or Spanish are due by Friday, Jan. 28. Delegates will be expected to participate in preparatory conference calls and to participate virtually for an average of eight hours per day during the two-week UNCSW meeting.

For more information, click here.

Healthy Practices for Social Media

Join Alli Gannett, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Oregon and the Episcopal Church in Western Oregon, for a conversation discussing some of the healthy practices for navigating social media as a parish/diocesan/church communicator in order to create an engaging, safe, and wholesome account.

To register, click here.

Oneida Nation to Host Native Voices during Winter Talk

The Episcopal Church Office of Indigenous Ministries invites all Episcopalians to watch a livestream of Winter Talk 2022, an annual multiday conference that honors and highlights Indigenous and Native American traditions and contributions within the church. The event will be hosted for the first time by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. Winter Talk will be livestreamed Jan. 15-17 from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

For more information, click here.

Re-Vision and Renew: Discerning Leadership for Redeveloping Congregations

The Episcopal Church’s Office of Church Planting and Mission Development is offering a virtual retreat for those seeking to discern their role and fit in church redevelopment.

When: 12 to 5 p.m. Eastern time

on the following Wednesdays: Jan. 19 & 26, Feb. 2 & 9

For more information, click here.

Other Opportunities

Faith in the Future Talks

Pre-recorded conversations