In this edition of ENews:
- Bishop Megan attends College for Bishops in Virginia
- Bishop Megan visits All Saints Redding
- Missioners Attend Emergency Communication Academy
- St Barnabas' Mt. Shasta partners with interfaith community
- All Saint's Redding Helps Welcomes Refugee Family from Ukraine
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Top: Bishop Megan with fellow California Bishops – the Rt. Rev. Lucinda Ashby, Bishop of El Camino Real, and The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook, Bishop of San Diego. Bottom Left: Bishop Megan with fellow bishops from the class of 2020. Bottom Right: The Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot with fellow bishops from the midwest.
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Bishops Gather at College for Bishops
Last week, Bishop Megan attended her final year of the College for Bishops – held in Roslyn, Georgia – completing required training for the first three years of her Episcopate. While there, Bishop Megan was able to connect with fellow classmates from the class of 2020, as well as fellow bishops from the state of California. Also in attendance was the Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot, bishop of the Diocese of Iowa, for her first year.
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Missioners Train for Emergency Communications at CalOES Academy |
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Last week Mark Dibelka, Missioner for Disaster Resilience, and I participated in a two-day academy for Emergency Communicators, presented by the California Association of Public Information Officers (CAPIO) and CalOES (California Governors Office of Emergency Services). The first day of training included case studies of complex events such as the 2022 Super Bowl in Inglewood and the Caldor Fire, which threatened South Lake Tahoe last summer.
The second day we gathered at CalOES Headquarters at Mather Field in Sacramento. We met in the massive Joint Operations Center, where agency representatives gather during a disaster. Through a series of hands-on exercises, we learned how a Joint Information Center operates, how to set-up a press conference, and opportunities to practice on-camera interviews, taught by veteran reporters and news anchors.
In addition to learning many helpful skills, Mark and I made connections with representatives of agencies throughout the diocese. Our hope is these will be valuable in the future, as our communities and congregations face disasters together.
– Alan Rellaford | Missioner for Communications
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WordFest Video
Now Available
If you were unable to join us for WordFest (or if you attended and would like a refresher), here is a link to the morning and afternoon sessions. Note: breakout rooms were not recorded.
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St. Barnabas, Mt. Shasta Partners with Interfaith Prayer Group for Disaster Preparation
Recently, the Rev. Larry Holben and members of St. Barnabas hosted a lunch and a work party to pack Project (Re)Start Bathroom Bins.
Project (Re)Start is an initiative by our Diocese to develop standardized bins containing essential household and personal goods to help victims after the initial days of a disaster. (Re)Start bins are distributed free of charge to anybody who has been displaced, is establishing a household in a rebuilt residence, or has experienced forced relocation. This provides interested congregations a way to provide tangible support to victims.
Starting last Advent and finishing on Easter, the people of St. Barnabas have been collecting bathroom goods and funds to purchase bathroom necessities. During the collection period, members of St. Barnabas who participate in an Interfaith Prayer Group shared their enthusiasm for helping neighbors who may lose everything in upcoming disasters.
Local Bahai, Buddhist, and ecumenical members of the Prayer Group were inspired and donated in support of St. Barnabas’s project. Even more exciting was having the group come together with members of St. Barnabas to pack 12 bins – and they haven’t stopped! Participating parishes are asked to keep at least ten bins on hand for distribution after a disaster. As bins are distributed, they are replenished for other disasters. Donations continue to come in, allowing the congregation to re-stock when needed.
This joining together of many denominations and faith practices helps build community by removing barriers to communication and builds bonds of kinship in support of the less fortunate.
As Wildfire Season begins, efforts to prepare for disaster become more urgent. Please consider a donation to the Bishop’s Disaster Fund.
All funds collected are used only towards Disaster Resilience/Relief.
If you or your congregation are interested in learning more about Project (Re)Start – and how it can help you connect to your community – click here.
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Bishop Megan Visits All Saint's Redding |
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On Sunday, May 22, Bishop Megan traveled to Redding to worship and celebrate with the congregation of All Saint's. While there, she baptized one infant and confirmed four adults, assisted by All Saints’ Rector Rev. Aidan Rontani, and Deacon Rev. Dan Boeger from St. Timothy’s, Gridley.
Following the worship, Bishop Megan met with parishioner Ed Bretzke , who created a new cross for All Saints’ during Holy Week 2022. Later, Bishop Megan gathered with members of the Ministry council and Vestry for a time of fellowship
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Top Left: Bishop Megan with confirmands – Theresa Markword, Collier Azare, Adam Wilson, and Leann Wilson. Top right: Bishop Megan with Ed Bretzke, with the cross he made for All Saint's. Bottom Left: Bishop Megan with members of the Vestry and Ministry Council. Bottom right: Bishop Megan with the Rev. Aidan Rontani and the Rev. Dan Boeger.
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Women of the Diocese Gather for Retreat |
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May 20 – 22, Trinity Cathedral sponsored a retreat for women of the diocese at Mercy Center in Auburn. The Holy Joy, Holy Rest retreat was a wonderful time for community, worship, laughter (lots of it), centering prayer, crafts, spiritual direction, and so many other wonderful things. Thanks to all who helped with this event and to those who came from Trinity Cathedral, Faith Cameron Park, Emmanuel, Grass Valley, St. Paul’s, Sacramento, St. Augustine, Rocklin, Sacramento City Church, St. Timothy’s, Gridley, and Christ Lutheran Church, Visalia. More photos and videos will be posted soon on the Trinity Cathedral Facebook page.
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The Center at St. Matthew's |
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Forward with Families Campaign is gathering momentum.
Every week at the Center at St. Matthew’s – our diocesan outreach outpost in the Arden Arcade area of Sacramento – we support families of all shapes, sizes, and circumstances. We feed the hungry, welcome refugees and immigrants, care for the homeless, and lift up hearts.
We invite you to join us in our Forward with Families giving campaign in May and June 2022. Thanks to a generous donation from the Rev. Mary Claugus, your donation will be doubled up to the matching gift amount of $25,000. We are happy to announce that to date, we have collected over 60% of our goal!
How To Donate
and select “The Center at St. Matthew’s” from the drop-down menu.
To donate by check, please make your check payable to “Episcopal Diocese of Northern California” and write “Center at St. Matthew’s” in the memo line. You may enclose a note in honor or in memory of your loved ones. Please mail your check directly to the Center at:
The Center at St. Matthew’s
2300 Edison Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95821-1714
For more information, please contact:
Jim Schaal, Executive Director
The Center at St. Matthew's
Phone: 916-927-0115
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Best Skills, Best Churches Announces
2022/2023 Program
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This exciting program is designed to meet the professional needs of leaders of nonprofit and public organizations. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will receive a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.
Click here for the schedule and additional information.
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Presiding officers endorse plan to shorten General Convention to 4 days, July 8-11, and limit attendance |
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The design group formed by the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has released its first set of recommendations for the 80th General Convention.
Photo: Sharon Tillman/Episcopal News Service
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[Episcopal News Service] The 80th General Convention will now be held July 8-11 in Baltimore, Maryland, shortened from eight to four days under a recommendation from the design group charged with planning a “shorter, smaller, safer” gathering, according to a letter to the church sent May 17 by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies.
In addition to the shortened duration, the Presiding Officers’ General Convention Design Group recommended that attendance be restricted to bishops, deputies, essential staff and volunteers and a limited media presence, with visitors generally not allowed. Dioceses would be asked to send only two alternate deputies (one lay and one clergy) and inactive bishops would be asked to stay home. There would be no exhibit hall and all church-affiliated
organizations would be asked not to hold events and receptions in Baltimore during July 8-11.
“Like many of you, we continue to grieve our inability to gather as a whole church this summer,” Curry and Jennings wrote, acknowledging they endorsed the design group’s recommendations. “But even since last week, when we first made the decision to reduce the scale of the meeting, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United States have continued to rise steeply. Although we regret that need to make this decision, we are confident that we have chosen the right path.” Read the entire article.
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Seminarian Financial Aid
The Diocese of California offers financial aid for postulants pursuing theological education at an approved seminary. Financial aid is available for students from the Diocese of California and, from designated funds, the Diocese of Northern California, the Diocese of San Joaquin, and the Diocese of El Camino Real. Specific eligibility requirements differ from fund to fund.
For additional questions, contact the vocations officer, Dr. Travis Stevens, at vocations@diocal.org.
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From the Episcopal Foundation |
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$100,000
Foundation Grant Fund –
Now Accepting Applications for 2022!
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The Episcopal Foundation of Northern California has joyfully committed to continue our $100,000 Foundation Grant program available to churches and missions throughout our Diocese in 2022.
The deadline to submit an application is July 1, 2022. Grants will be awarded in the month of August.
Click here to find out more, and to download an application!
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May 29, 2022 | Seventh Sunday of Easter
John 17:20-26
The Seventeenth Chapter of John has been called to Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holy of Holies of the Bible. Our Gospel reading for this coming Sunday is from the last part of that prayer. To do justice to this remarkable prayer would take hours of study and exposition. To do so in a short paragraph would seem impertinent. But for our deeper study it is worth underlining some major themes in this prayer. In this prayer Jesus prays for the unity of his followers, the church.
And his vision for the church is that it should be characterized by at least four things. These are:
1) Truth: Jesus prays, “Sanctify them through the truth.” (17:17) This refers specifically to the truth as revealed in scripture.
2) Holiness. Jesus prays, Sanctify them. The people of God, both in the Old Testament and the New, are called to be Holy, and to reflect the character of God: You shall be holy for I am holy (Lev. 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16).
3) Love. Jesus prayed, So that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (17:26). The love for which Jesus prays is one that not only reflects but also participates in the very love of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4) Mission. The mission to live and proclaim the love of God in the world is another key characteristic of the church’s unity. Verse 18 reads, As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. Just as it is the nature of God to reach out in love to others, so this is the calling of the people of God. These four characteristics will help to maintain and build the unity for which Christ prayed.
– The Rev. Peter Rodgers
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Commission for Intercultural Ministries |
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Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Stephens, used by permission |
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All Saint's Redding Helps Welcomes Refugee Family from Ukraine |
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Bill Rich and Alexandra Stephens, members of All Saint’s in Redding, have been organizing a Sponsor Circle, an interfaith group of members, friends, and community colleagues, to welcome an Afghan refugee family to Redding. On Monday, May 16, Bill was alerted by a neighbor of his that she and some friends were resettling a Ukrainian family in nearby Anderson. Alexandra immediately contacted the neighbor and her team and offered the help of the Sponsor Circle. Since then, the Sponsor Circle team has jumped all in and is now helping with all the tasks needed to welcome, get to know, and connect their new neighbors to services as they create a new home and new lives in Northern California.
Ruslana and Alex’s story:
Ruslana, Alex, and their sons Sam, Thomas, and Teddy arrived in Redding on April 15. The initial welcoming team located housing for the family in nearby Anderson and has assisted them in enrolling in swimming lessons at the local YMCA and applying for MediCal, CalWorks, and CalFresh programs to receive medical care, job assistance, and food assistance. They’ve also been loaned a car and received some donated household goods.
Alexandra met with Ruslana and her family last week, and they talked at length about their time here so far and their plans for moving forward. They are delighted the Sponsor Circle Team is willing to assist them; Ruslana told Alexandra that she is amazed at how kind people in Redding have been to them since they arrived on April 15. The team is now helping Ruslana and Alex connect to health care services and obtain driver’s licenses, immigration legal services, and ESL training.
The team is also seeking a workspace for Alex, a certified welder who designed and manufactured office partitions in Kyiv, so he can begin a new trade of constructing wood frames and canvases for local painters. Ruslana is meeting with a team member to sign up for classes at nearby Shasta College so she can complete her training as a graphic artist and pursue her dream of becoming a painter. Meanwhile, the team is working to help Alex apply for a work visa , enroll Sam and Thomas in a local school, and obtain a permanent car, washer, dryer, and more household goods for the family.
If you’d like to donate to helping this family or volunteer to pitch in and do a task, contact Alex Stephens at luddites@sbcglobal.net.
Your help is needed - Contact Bob Wohlsen, Refugee Resettlement Team, Donor and Volunteer Coordinator to find out how: bob.wohlsen@gmail.com
Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
Commission for Intercultural Ministry
Refugee Resettlement Team
Lynn Zender, Chair
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I Will With God's Help:
Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice
Saturday, June 4 | 9:30am – 4:00pm
Faith Episcopal Church | Cameron Park
The workshop was specially developed for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California by the Commission for Intercultural Ministries.
During the workshop you will have the opportunity to renew your Baptismal Covenant as we learn about forms of historic and contemporary racism and how to engage in ministry with sensitivity and respect for all.
This workshop is open to individuals from throughout the Diocese.
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Job Opportunities Around The Diocese |
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St. Paul's | Sacramento is seeking a Music Director.
Read the job announcement here.
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Trinity | Folsom is seeking a Director of Children’s and Youth Ministries (Lay Position).
Read the job announcement here.
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Diocesan Commissions | Committees | Ministries |
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The ENews is published weekly on Tuesdays.
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The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
Making Disciples, Raising Up Saints & Transforming Communities for Christ
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