The Episcopal Church
in Alabama

News & Updates | July 19, 2023
Please join us on Saturday, August 12, 2023, for the 26th Annual Jonathan Daniels Pilgrimage. We will gather in the courthouse square in Hayneville, Alabama, and begin our pilgrimage procession at 11 am. The procession will travel from the square to the old County Jail where Daniels was among those detained for a week after being arrested in Fort Deposit for picketing white-only businesses. The procession continues to the site of the old Varner’s Cash Store, where Daniels was killed. The procession ends in the Lowndes County Courthouse, where a service of Holy Communion will be celebrated in the courtroom where the man who shot Daniels had been tried and acquitted by an all-white jury. Register for the pilgrimage here.

The youth pilgrimage is a weekend of service and remembrance for youth grades 9th-12th grade. We will gather at Episcopal Church of the Ascension (315 Clanton Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104), with registration from 5:30-6:30pm, on August 11th. The weekend will conclude on August 13th around 2:00pm.


Register now for the Parish Growth Conference!
Saturday, August 19th AND Saturday, August 26th

At the Parish Growth Conference, church leaders will learn strategies for fostering a vibrant and thriving parish. Participants will leave inspired and equipped to take action. We strongly encourage clergy in charge and vestry leaders to attend this free event. Bring as many people from your parish as you like! Please register online by July 28th. 

Has your parish applied for a "Renew and Refresh" grant?
Does your church have an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of fewer than 150 people? Do you need to update landscaping? Repave a sidewalk? Repair a bathroom? Paint the parish hall? Purchase a new sign? Apply now for a grant of up to $5,000 from the office of the Bishop. Applications will be accepted through Friday, July 21.
Retirement Reception for
the Rev. Canon Rob Morpeth,
Canon for Mission Support
A retirement reception in honor of Rev. Rob Morpeth will be held on Thursday, September 7 from 2-4 PM in the Refectory at the Cathedral Church of the Advent. All are invited to attend.

Rev. Morpeth, who has served the the Diocese of Alabama for 26 years, has been part of this diocese since 1990. He previously was the Coordinator of Blackbelt Ministries.

Please join us as we wish him well and celebrate his time with the diocese. If you would like to send him a card it can be mailed to: The Diocese of Alabama, 521 North 20th Street, Birmingham, Alabama 35203, attn: Rev. Rob Morpeth.
Diocesan Staff Changes
Bishop Curry is pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Elizabeth Blake to diocesan staff. Ms. Blake will serve as the Executive Assistant to Bishop Curry, replacing Ms. Liza Lee Horton.

Elizabeth is originally from Indiana but has lived in Alabama for more than 35 years. She and her husband, Britt, live in Hoover with their dog Dakota. Her son, Drew, lives in Birmingham. Elizabeth comes to the diocese after a long career as a Legal Assistant, and is excited to get to know the parishes and join Bishop G's team. She joins staff on July 24, and can be reached at eblake@dioala.org.

Ms. Horton will now manage the new diocesan database, and also serve as Executive Assistant to Canons Evans and Hudlow.
Hello, friends. Tina, McKee and I want to write a short note to thank you for your cards, calls, casseroles, flowers, visits and emails after Mary Nell’s death in January, and thank you to those who realized that we were overwhelmed and simply offered your prayers. We thank all of you who made contributions to the Mary Nell Sloan Special Session Scholarship Fund; she loved that session at Camp McDowell and that remarkable, loving, inclusive community. It has been a terribly difficult time for us, but it would surely have been so much worse without the love and support of our friends and family. Thank you all.

We are all right; coping with this loss is an every-day struggle, but we’re hanging in there. I miss seeing all of you Sunday by Sunday, but I’m enjoying retirement, and grateful that I can be home with Tina.
     
Thank you, friends. Hug the people you love every chance you get.
 
God’s Peace,
Tina, McKee and Kee Sloan
The residents of Uniontown, Alabama face the problem of having clean drinking water every day. 
For over a decade, the Episcopal Church and other organizations have been shipping bottled water to this community to meet their daily drinking water needs. This is not a sustainable, long-term solution, so the diocese has been working to provide every Uniontown family with a Berkey water system that will produce clean drinking water.

With your prayers and financial help, the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama has distributed 65 Berkey water filters to families in Uniontown! The feedback from those families has been very positive: "There were thoughts of doubt, but the first taste of the purified water was convincing - it was clear and tastes good." "The water tastes clean and refreshing….it makes me feel that our water is safe." "If there was a way to put a huge water filter over the area where we receive our water, everyone would be healthier." "..it’s the best water I’ve had to drink in years."

The need is still there, and we have more to do
There is still a list of people waiting for a water filter. Each filter costs about $400 and gives a household 6,000 gallons or 5 years of clean water. This is a welcome gift to a family who has spent too much time and money obtaining bottled water.

If you'd like to contribute, there are two ways to give:
1. Give online through our secure portal. Choose "Uniontown Water Project" through the drop-down menu.
2. Make a check payable to the Diocese of Alabama with "Uniontown Water Project" in the memo line and mail it to: Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, 521 20th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203
Stop by Holy Cross this Saturday for BLT’s and Baked Goods, and Visit the Trussville Farmer’s Market

The Episcopal Church Women of Holy Cross are hosting their 2nd BLT & "Baking for Books" Sale.
Proceeds from Baking for Books support our seminarians, by providing funds for books through a collaboration of ECW and the
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Open to the public, all mental health & other professionals & graduate students
Join us for an important, public conversation about suicide prevention and intervention, featuring keynote speakers: Noah Galloway, Karen Cook Thomas, and Cheryl Dodson. Panel discussion will follow.

Friday, August 18, 2023
Open to all mental health & other professionals & graduate students
The Friday workshop, led by Judith Harrington, PhD, LPC-S, LMFT/University of Montevallo and Steve Sweatt, LPC-S, LMFT/Community Grief Support, will address the differences between aftercare for attempt survivors and survivors of suicide loss; how to deliver effective postventive care (aftercare) for the suicidally bereaved; how to distinguish between normative grief and suicidal bereavement, and clinical areas of concern.
CLERGY NEWS
Full-time Clergy Job Postings in our Diocese
For more information about clergy jobs in the Diocese of Alabama please contact
The Rev. Geoff Evans, Diocesan Deployment Officer.
Part-time Clergy Job Postings in our Diocese
Lay Job Openings in our Diocese
Holy Trinity, Auburn seeks a full-time Youth Minister to serve young people in grades 6 - 12. View the job description here.

Holy Spirit, Alabaster seeks a part-time Director of Formation for Children and Youth. View the job description here.

St. John's, Decatur seeks a full-time Director of Communications. You can view the job description here.

Ascension, Vestavia Hills is seeking a part-time Youth Minister. Click here for more information.

Ascension, Montgomery seeks a Children's and Youth Minister. View the job description here. For more information or to submit your resume contact The. Rev. Drew Brislin.

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