May the gifts of Pentecost

transform us into

courageous public witnesses.


 
 

The Gift of Kindness

Emotional Kindness


Respond to the feelings of others with care


+ acknowledge their emotions


+ be someone they can trust to talk to when things are tough


+ give sincere compliments that uplift and encourage

Mental Kindness


Support mental clarity and well-being


+ Be willing to listen without judgment


+ If they want help in solving issues, be available to them


+ Encourage taking a break during stressful times.

Social Kindness


It is important to build human connections


+ Invite someone for a walk, or quiet time to talk


+Create fun rituals with family and friends


+ Make a point to call, visit or check in with those you love.

Creative Kindness


Always encourage others to be creative and use their imagination


+ Be willing to share creative ideas


+ Be supportive of projects and passions of others


+ Something you have made with love and care is always a special gift

Spiritual Kindness


Help others to find meaning and purpose in their lives


+ Listen and encourage others to talk about and embrace their passions.


+ Be open to sharing inspiring stories and ideas


+ Respecting different beliefs and views is very important.


Sensory Kindness


Be aware of creating a pleasant and calming environment


+ Remember to use headphones in shared spaces


+Keeping things tidy and distraction-free is always helpful


+Keep noise and lighting at a positive and calming level.

Physical Kindness


Be ready to offer help to those around you


+ Offer to help carry heavy items


+ Sharing healthy snacks or meals is always welcome


+ Be open to extending your hand to help, or to offer a hug if appropriate.

 

Rocky Mountain Region

Happenings

The Rocky Mountain Region hosted a workshop, "Everything Synod 101" for all delegates to Synod. 


With so many new delegates, the emphasis was on what to expect at Synod, what is the role of a delegate, what to wear and more! 


We plan on having more gatherings to keep the Region informed and educated about all Synod 2026 issues.



The Rocky Mountain Region communities came together for a presentation by Fr. Scott Jenkins.


According to the American Psychology Association, society is craving connection! 


We are at an all time high for anxiety and isolation, not feeling seen and heard, and depression. We aren't sharing our life stories as much because of lack of safe spaces. The divisions are deep and wide, further making expressing our authentic selves even tougher. 


We discussed reorienting our ECC vision and being seedlings of hope, expanding our walls! 


How can we "think outside the box" and create different ways to be better listeners, possibly in radically different spaces, as we make room to connect?



We long for welcome,

sacrament,

justice,

and

spiritual homecoming

and

seek creative ways to make this happen.




Where will the wind of the Spirit take us? 



Stay tuned as we will continue to explore these questions.



Light of Christ hosted an on-line Zoom as Fr. Teri presented a workshop called, Jesus, Justice and Poetry.  



An evening of seeing poetry in scripture, praying with poetry, and writing poetry was presented. A listening ear, open mind and a prayerful heart exposed us to creative ways of engaging the scriptures.


 

Southern California ECC

Happenings

St. Francis ECC - Largo, Florida

Happenings


EXCITING NEWS


In November 2025 St. Francis ECC purchased their own building!


We had a couple of parishioners who passed away and left a gift to our church from their estates. We also had members who started a building fund about 10 years ago. They raised over $30,000 over several years selling plants for this fund! 



Our new building is an attorney’s office and is one of 4 buildings in a small office condo complex.


It is not a lavish church building, but we have made it our own. St. Francis ECC has never been about the building, it has always been about the community.




In January, the demolition began!


One of our former members came back and acted as the general contractor for us. We also had many volunteers from our church who put in countless hours tearing out walls and helping us to rebuild. We took out the walls in 5 rooms and made that our chapel. 

We took out walls in 3 other rooms and made that our social hall. We made one office into a sacristy and another into a kitchen.


It was a long process, but our members came together and offered time, talent and treasure with the remodeling and the move.

All packed up and ready to move!

Taking down the sign at our former location to move to the NEW!


What a happy moment this was for all of us, to see our sign finally going up on our new building!















Our first Mass was in our new location on Palm Sunday, as was our first Mass in our last two rental locations (2015 and 2020)!


We celebrated Easter the following Sunday. Two weeks later, we had two ordinations: one to the priesthood and one to the deaconate.




Two Ordinations!


On Sunday April 19th, St. Francis ECC was blessed to have the ordination of two of our members!


Deacon Bob Pragano was ordained to the priesthood, and Deb Imbach was ordained to the deaconate as a transitional deacon.


It was a glorious service and all of our St. Francis Family and Friends came together to celebrate this momentous day.


We are so very proud of these two individuals, whom we have come to know and love.



Fr. Bob has been a tremendous help to us, working tirelessly in the renovation of our new space, to make it our church home. He has been blossoming like a flower in his ministry to us, and to his calling. 



Deacon Deb was the third person to be ordained a deacon here at St. Francis, but she is our first female deacon! She is a great asset to us.



May God continue to bless Fr. Bob and Deacon Deb

in their ministry to us

at St. Francis ECC.




We will be celebrating our 12th anniversary

as St. Francis ECC in June!


We cannot tell you how proud we are of our church congregation and how everyone came together to help with our new building. People really took ownership of it being OUR church.


Our celebration in June will be a joyful and hope-filled occasion as we continue together into the future!


God is good!


Pentecost at St. Francis ECC




ECC Pacific Northwest

Happenings

Click below for this story:
Olympia woman ordained as Roman Catholic Bishop | The JOLT News Organization, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit


Synod 2026

October 9-12, 2026

Bloomington, Minnesota



SYNOD MUSIC

 

"He who sings praises, not only praises,

but praises joyfully." 

-- St. Augustine



As we did in 2024, we will be using the Mass of St. Mary Magdalene setting by Sarah Hart once again at the Synod all-Communion Mass. We encourage your communities to get familiar with it in the days ahead, either by incorporating it into your liturgies or via YouTube. 


Thanks for preparing ahead of time so that our liturgy is filled with our voices!

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I65ThTQL-ks





VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!



We need your gifts to make this event the best yet. Lay and ordained ECC members, Delegates and non-Delegates are welcome to join the teams. Living in MN is not required. 


Sign up today to join one of the teams



The Leadership Council is working diligently on the budget, keynote speakers, meals, presentations, hotel reservations and more. Registration will open soon.




ECC Expense Report

Message from the House of Laity


This Newsletter was created by the House of Laity. Please send any questions and inquires to Claudia Kilby, claudia.kilby@gmail.com.




Please feel free to share our news!




All photos in this newsletter were taken by members of our ECC communities. All other graphic designs used with permission from Pixabay.com.