June 18, 2024 E-News

June 18, 2024

In this edition of ENews:

General Convention Starts Thursday
Stewardship Conference scheduled for Saturday, August 24
Grace Fairfield Welcomes Neighbors to Block Brunch
Bishop Megan commissions fourteen EfM graduates from six parishes
World Refugee Day is this Thursday

Office of the Bishop

General Convention Starts Friday

General Convention begins Thursday. Watch our social media accounts for daily Updates. Please keep our deputies and alternates in your prayers.

DEPUTIES

Clergy Deputy 1

The Rev. Robin Denney | St. Mary’s, Napa

Clergy Deputy 2 

The Rev. Jim Richardson | Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento

Clergy Deputy 3 

The Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan | St. Martin’s, Davis

Clergy Deputy 4 

The Very Rev. Matthew Woodward | Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento

Lay Deputy 1 

Mr. Jay Elmquist | Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento

Lay Deputy 2 

Ms. Ceecee Coleman | St. Matthew’s, Sacramento

Lay Deputy 3 

Mr. Peter Juvé | St. Mary’s, Napa

Lay Deputy 4 

Ms. Amy Nykamp | Incarnation, Santa Rosa

ALTERNATES

Clergy Alternate 1

The Rev. Annie Mertz | St. Paul’s, Benicia

Clergy Alternate 2

The Rev. Dr. Daniel London | Christ Church, Eureka

Clergy Alternate 3

The Rev. Canon Julie Wakelee | Office Of The Bishop

Lay Alternate 1 

Ms. Miriam Casey | St. Patrick’s, Kenwood

Lay Alternate 2

Mr. Bradford Pierce | St. John’s, Chico

Lay Alternate 3

Mr. Don Taylor | Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento

Stewardship Congregational Leadership Conference

Saturday, August 24, 9:00 am – 10:00 am

Please join us for this year’s Stewardship Congregational Leadership Conference on Saturday, August 24 from 9:00 am–10:00 am. This year’s session will have a special focus on every member canvass resources for your annual stewardship campaigns. We’ll discuss the basics, share resources, and talk about why you should consider an every member canvass

to achieve not only your stewardship goals, but how an every member canvass can support your pastoral care efforts as well as help in identifying future goals for your congregation.

To register, go to: https://form.jotform.com/240366571427155

Around the Diocese

Grace Fairfield Welcomes Neighbors to Block Brunch

On Saturday, June 8, members of Grace Fairfield gathered to set up for a Neighborhood Block Brunch. This was part of Grace's Faith X Vitality Improvement Project, and the intent was to engage with people in the immediate neighborhood. Grace members each brought a dozen donuts to share, and the church provided coffee, hot tea, and juice. There was a bounce house for the kids and a corn hole game. Six families came out to visit and have a donut (or two). Grace will host another neighborhood event in July as part of their 90-day micro strategy on engaging with their neighbors.

Bishop Megan Commissions 14 EfM Graduates

Congratulations Education for Ministry graduates! On May 30th Bishop Megan commissioned to ministry the fourteen EFM graduates from six parishes around the diocese as they graduated from the four-year Education for Ministry program!

Education for Ministry (EfM) might be called Exploration for Ministry. It’s a small-group program where you’ll explore the Bible, Christian history and Christian theology, as well as what you believe and what Ministry means for you in today’s world. EfM is not just a bible study nor a book group. Along with prayer and study, through a process called Theological Reflection you’ll enjoy guided conversations on a wide variety of topics that will help you to understand your faith, views and values. EfM is not intended as a path to ordination, rather, EfM encourages participants to ask, “What is my personal ministry? How do I interact with the world?”

Learn more or join a group, contact: the diocesan program coordinator Barbara Phillips-Barrett at bpb@napanet.net or efm@trinitycathedral.org.

Disaster Resilience Team supports Siskiyou Pride Day

The First Annual Siskiyou Pride Day was hosted by the Mt. Shasta Brewery (in Weed, CA) and the Mission for Disaster Resilience was there with St. Barnabas, Mt. Shasta. With our community partner, Siskiyou Office for the Aging, volunteers helped attendees discover their evacuation zone, provided stickers and magnets with the evacuation zone and helpful tips before evacuation, guides to pre-planning for people with functional needs, and shared Project (Re)Start with the community. Many smiles were had over the course of a terrific day!

Missioner for Disaster Resilience

It’s Been Quiet – Now We Need Your Help!

Nobody will argue that 2023 was a nice break from the constant cycle of large-scale disasters in our diocese. Unfortunately, many people relaxed and stopped preparing for disaster. As a result, the Bishop’s Disaster Fund is close to being empty and as this is being written, we have two congregations experiencing evacuation due to wildfire.

Your help is needed, now!

DONATE to the Bishop’s Disaster Fund here
VOLUNTEER to help here
COLLECT – hold a special collection to support the fund, or join the Project (Re)Start ministry
PLAN for your own disaster response, just in case
Be open to the ministry of your congregation and how it supports your larger community

It has been a quiet year, but 2024 is becoming very active. Please listen to Jesus when he tells us to love each other as we are loved (John 15:12) through actively caring for those in need and preparing ourselves to not be a part of the problem when disaster strikes our neighborhood.

Peace,

Mark

Give to Disaster Resilience

Missioner for Church Life

CELEBRATE PRIDE this June!

If you and your congregation participate in any Pride events, be sure to use the hashtag #EDNCPride in your social media posts!

Check out the Pride resources on our diocesan website

https://www.norcalepiscopal.org/site/pride-month-resources/

Among the resources available on our website include the The Rainbow Initiative , which is the Episcopal Migration Ministries’ response to General Convention 2022 Resolution DO45 “On Supporting LGBTIQ+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers”, which directed the Episcopal Church to promote support for people who have fled their countries because of persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sex characteristics. The Resolution also directs Episcopal Migration Ministries to focus attention on people subject to such persecution, and to offer information on how they could be better supported.

You’ll also find resources from the Safe Zone Project, the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF Vital Practices),as well as links to other Episcopal Church

resources, including a brief history about LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church.

PATHWAYS POSTPONED to 2025

For various reasons, we’re not able to have a summer 2024 Pathways Youth Pilgrimage. We were able to have a great youth gathering at Trinity Cathedral as part of our Fearless Faith Revival, so my hope is that we will have a similar type of gathering this Fall. If you’re interested in helping plan our 2025 pilgrimage, please email me at: Mack@norcalepiscopal.org

We’re excited to announce that we will have a diocesan-wide New Camino training on September 27 & 28, 2024 at St. John’s, Chico. The Rev. Anthony Guillen, the Episcopal Church’s Missioner for Latino/Hispanic ministries will be here to help us explore opportunities for Latino/Hispanic ministry in our diocese. This training is suitable for individuals as well as church teams.

Please go to: https://form.jotform.com/232965467198170 to indicate your interest in attending and to receive updates regarding lodging and expenses.

If you would like to know more about what Juneteenth is and what it celebrates, this article by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. gives an in-depth answer to the question: What is Juneteenth?

Also, be sure to check out this website: https://www.juneteenth.com/

And read this from the Episcopal Church: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/racialreconciliation/juneteenth-and-the-call-to-remember/

Suggested Videos:

This Washington Post Interview with Naomi Mitchell Carrier, author of Go Down, Old Hannah and CEO of the Texas Center for African American Living History, speaks of the closeness of history as she tells her great-grandmother’s story.

This video from Vox helps make the connection between the history of slavery, emancipation, and the racism within our systems that led to the death of George Floyd and others.

If you’re looking for something longer, possibly to jumpstart a discussion group, this lecture from Dr. Shenette Garrett-Scott traces the history of Juneteenth from it’s inception in the freedmen colonies to the present community events.

A liturgy developed by the Diocese of California can be found HERE.

A prayer service, from Mercy Education, can be found HERE.

Commission for Intercultural Ministries

World Refugee Day is This Thursday

June 20 is World Refugee Day (WRD), a day designated by the United Nations to honor and celebrate refugees around the world. World Refugee Day is an opportunity to highlight the journeys and risks refugees face, their dreams and hopes for a better future, and our responsibility to advocate for pathways to protection for all people forced to flee home.

In 2024, Episcopal Migration Ministries marking of World Refugee Day is linked to celebrations of Pride Month in June, as we provide resources and invite local communities to support LGBTQ+ forced migrants (refugees and asylum seekers) through our Rainbow Initiative.

Click the links above to learn how you and your church can honor and celebrate refugees. Our diocesan Refugee Resettlement Teams have resettled scores of refugee families in Northern California in the past 3 years. EMM is seeking additional resettlement teams to welcome thousands of incoming refugees to our country in the next 6 months.

Get in touch with me if you’d like to join this transforming, inspiring ministry, and welcome a new family to your community.

Bob Wohlsen | bob.wohlsen@gmail.com, Chair

Episcopal Foundation of Northern California

Now Accepting Applications!

Apply for grant funds today!

The Episcopal Foundation of Northern California has joyfully committed to continue their Foundation Grant Program available to churches and missions throughout our Diocese in 2024. Supporting the Diocesan mission of making disciples, raising up saints, and transforming communities for Christ, the Foundation will endeavor to enhance ministry and outreach in the Diocese in the following four categories: Creation Care, Evangelism, Racial Reconciliation, and Community Outreach.

Apply for a Grant today!

Here's a link to helpful grant-writing resources

https://www.norcalepiscopal.org/resources-for-grant-writing/

Upcoming Events around the Diocese

Film Screening - The Philadelphia Eleven

July 13th, 2 – 4 pm, Trinity Cathedral

2620 Capitol Ave, Sacramento

Donations on a sliding scale of $5 - $10 are welcome - no one will be turned away for lack of funds

In an act of civil disobedience, a group of women and their supporters organize their ordination to become Episcopal priests in 1974. The Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia welcomes them, but change is no small task. The women are harassed, threatened and banned from stepping on church property. In this feature-length documentary film, we meet the women who succeed in building a movement that transforms an age-old institution, and challenges the very essence of patriarchy within Christendom.

Following the screening, there will be a reception in the Lexis Gallery, featuring an exhibit comprised of some 20 art pieces by seven women artists, all of whom attend Trinity Cathedral. To help us plan the reception, please register!

It's not too late to register for Summer Camp at St. Dorothy's Rest. No matter your age or stage in life, there's an offering for every individual. Visit www.stdorothysrest.org/camp to learn more about our sessions or click the button above. All sessions are OPEN and we are pleased to offer tiered pricing, payment plan options, and Camperships.

Questions? We're here to help! Contact us at camp@stdorothysrest.org.

We cannot wait to welcome you to St. Dorothy's Rest!

Camp Living Waters

Sunday, July 21 - Friday, July 26 | Cookson Ranch

Camp Living Waters is set for Sunday, July 21 through Friday, July 26 at Cookson Ranch in Redwood Valley. The Camp is open to youth ages 9- 15 and youth ages 16-17 serve as counselors. Join us this year for a week of Real Super Heroes, full of madcap cape adventures, identifying our God-given super powers and discovering the real superheroes all around us.