April 2022
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A Brief Word From Your Region Missionary
Dear siblings in Christ,

Happy Spring! I find myself feeling quite energized now that I'm over the hump of changing the clocks and I'm starting to see evidence of flowers waking up from their long winter sleep. There is something about Spring that just captivates me; I don't know if it's the light, or the reality of new life both in our religious landscapes and in our physical landscapes, or the barest hint that change is in the air. I can't name the feeling. I can only acknowledge that I feel it, and then wait and see what happens.

Wait and see. Isn't that was scripture tells us? Wait on Jesus with expectation and longing. Yet as we embrace the longing and the expectation, we may find that "waiting on Jesus" is not a passive act. We aren't simply to stand in a queue, patiently waiting for change to happen. We are to actively engage in building the Kingdom, and wait with expectation for Jesus to be made known to us. How dull it would be to wait in a queue for Jesus, just standing around scrolling through our phones! Instead we are called to plant, water, build, create, listen, see, and grow all with the sure and certain knowledge that God is with us in our efforts even if we can't quite see that while we strive.

That's the name for the feeling I'm feeling - the desire to spring forward and get moving; the desire to begin again the work of building the Kingdom now that my (metaphorical) winter sleep is over.


Until I see you next, be assured of my prayers for you and your communities.
Maggie

Picture by Steve Karwowski, Good Shepherd, Bristol

You can reach Maggie Breen, NC & NE Region Missionary, the following ways:
US Mail: The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, The Commons, 290 Pratt Street, Box 52, Meriden, Ct 06450
PHONE: 203-639-3501 x154 (o) 860-214-0085 (c)

I would be delighted to join your congregation in 2022! Please sign up for a Sunday HERE.
If you would like to schedule a private "office hour" time with me, please sign up HERE.
Pictures From The NC & NE Regions: March
Photos by Maggie Breen and Rev. Rachel Thomas
A photo from the recent Open House at Our Cathedral, celebrating the newly renovated space with liturgy and story telling. Photo by Duo Dickenson.
Calendar Events: NC Region, ECCT & Beyond
All NC Parish & Region Events that have been added to the ECCT calendar can be found by CLICKING HERE. Just choose the month you want! Use the link at the top of the page to add any events!
All ECCT-wide events (including Region and parish events) can be found by CLICKING HERE. Just choose the month you want!
Are you curious about engaging in Spiritual Practices during your "ordinary" day? Do you wonder how you can engage with transformational work without having to take a lot of time or spend a lot of money?

I invite you to consider joining folks from the NE & NC Regions to explore The Way of Love together, a series of spiritual practices and conversations beginning in Lent and moving through Easter. We will meet weekly on Sunday evenings at 7pm, via zoom. This may be the perfect way to begin an evening routine! No need to come to all the sessions - drop in if/when you can!

Registration is required. Please register HERE.

We will meet the following Sundays: March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 24, May 1 & 8 - you can come for as many (or as few) as you wish. You will get all the materials before each week.
Summer Equine Experience: July 2022 at Shepard Meadows (Register Now!)
Getting To Know The NC Region
Moving Dialogues: Movement & Psalms in the NC Region
The Psalms reflect on universal problems and questions that all humans can face at one point or another. How is conflict started and ended? What is our relationship with the natural world? How do we be kind to each other? How do we connect to something larger than the individual, to a larger sense of community and well-being?

Moving Dialogues helped me access these texts I had never read in a creative and real way. Each meeting, we read a Psalm and get to do some moving with other people to try and apply these ancient texts to our everyday lives. I have been sharing some movement exercises that I feel help encourage introspection and creativity without words. However, anyone can volunteer to lead an exercise or share feedback/ideas about what themes they want to talk about. 

I feel lucky to hear our group of many ages and relationships with the Psalms reflect and move together. I have learned more about how others think about God and spirituality, and that I can share my perspective about religion or the world without being shamed or judged. I hope more people of all ages come and share this experience with us: hope to see you soon!

Story shared with permission by Zoe, a participant in the Moving Dialogues at Holy Trinity, Middletown, which meet on Tuesday mornings from 9:45-10:30; no experience with dance or religion is required! Photo by Martin May on Unsplash
Spring Chamber Music: The Larksgrove Duo
Presented by St. John's, West Hartford, please come and enjoy this concert on Friday, 22 April, at 7:30p

Through their innovative blending of classical and traditional forms, Larksgrove brings a fresh voice to the musical scene. Peter Zay, cello and guitar, and EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks, violin and fiddle, present unique interpretations of the classics and inventive arrangements of traditional tunes. Free admission, with donations accepted. 

Heads Up! Hartford: Building Leaders, Locally

Fun, friendship, leadership training, and a whole lot of community service come together to create the magic that is Heads Up! Hartford. A weeklong camp that brings together a diverse group of teens every June to do volunteer work, Heads Up! Hartford is currently planning to meet at Ethel Walker School in Simsbury from June 22-29, 2022. Each day, mixed teams of youth will head out on buses to work in and around the Hartford area. In the past they have done clean up work and gardening to beautify public housing projects, painted at homes for seniors, helped sort donated fruits and vegetables at Food Share, and many others. A cadre of wonderful adult volunteers delivers a healthy lunch at the worksites. The teens get to see firsthand the value of their hard work and learn that they don’t need to wait till they are adults with advanced degrees to start making a difference in the world.

Each day, the teams choose a designated leader who will coordinate with the contacts at the sites, decide job assignments there, and lead a debrief with the team at the end of the day. Those campers who have attended at least once can become part of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) that helps to plan the camp, choose the theme and scripture passage for the week, design the annual t-shirt, practice techniques for leadership, and create the ecumenical church service. During the camp week, these YABs help lead the daily team dialogue circles and assist the counselors in supporting the other campers.
In the afternoons, the teams get well-earned free time to play sports, do crafts, prep for the talent show at the end of the week, hang out with new friends, or take a nap. After dinner, the camp gathers for evening program where they may learn about food insecurity, listen to a panel of hearing-impaired youth talk about their experiences, or find out how one charity is turning confiscated guns into garden tools. Always different and interactive, these thought-provoking programs are followed by opportunities for the teams to extend the conversation in their dialogue circles.

After a snack break, the campers return for worship. Often the highlight of the day, the HUH band leads the group in singing, campers get the chance to share their “God Moments” or those special snapshots during the day when they experienced something moving, watch a slideshow where they can see what their friends were up to all day on their own teams and count the pictures of kids sleeping on the bus home, and finally end the night singing “May the Lord Bless You and Keep You” together before finishing chores and off to the dorms for conversation and sleep.

This unique camp that nurtures youth to become future leaders now has more than 50% of the staff including the director and the nurse who were once campers and now volunteer their time to ensure the next round of campers get to experience the special warmth and friendship that is Heads Up! Hartford. Information for campers and adult volunteers is available at headsuphartford.org. Confidential financial assistance is available and no camper has ever been turned away due to lack of funds. Donations to support this mission that not only serves youth, but also many charitable organizations in the Hartford area at the same time are always welcome.

Article written by Patti Cole from St. Luke's South Glastonbury
UR Community Cares: Free Help At Home

Seeking Volunteers for Acts of Kindness. Free home-based assistance is now available to residents in need thanks to UR Community Cares. Can you or someone you know become a volunteer to help a neighbor with household chores, yard work, companionship or transportation? Just one hour a week or even a month, at your convenience, will make a huge difference to help keep people living safely and independently in their homes. Feel free to refer someone in need of help, learn more at www.URCommunityCares.org or contact Michelle Puzzo, president, at 860-430-4557 and info@urcommunitycares.org.
Getting To Know The ECCT Staff
Gigi Leackfeldt, Data Analyst Manager
From our ECCT website:
As Data Analyst Manager I manage the collection of the data, examine complex sets of financial information and the variants available to best solve the current challenges. I also work to streamline logistics and identify opportunities to improve on how best to serve our parishes.
The thing I enjoy most about working at ECCT is my coworkers (and their baked goods). Fun fact: Born on Halloween! It’s why I’m so spooky.


Contact Gigi for:
  • Parochial Reports
  • Parish Audits/Financial Reports
  • JJMA Fundraising Campaign
  • Good Standing Criteria
  • The Commons Companion

You can find Gigi's contact information HERE
Getting To Know Our Camp & Retreat Center:
Camp Washington
Anti-Violence Book Study at Camp Washington (and zoom!)
In preparation for the Anti-Gun Violence event at Camp Washington in May, we will be holding a book study on "Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence", coauthored by our keynote speaker, Shane Claiborne. Dylan Mello, Carolyn Happy, and Bart Geissinger will lead discussion. You can join in person at Camp or via Zoom. 
 
Questions? Email Dylan Mello at dmello@episcopalct.org
For middle and high school youth: Come to Camp with old friends and meet new
friends as we come together for a WEEKEND OF HOPE AND TRANSFORMATION.

We will gather at Camp on Friday at 6:00 pm for an evening of engaging
conversation and discussion with Shane Claiborne, beating of guns into plowshares
around the forge, group art projects, and time to chill and talk around the
campfire. Saturday morning we will wake up to breakfast and time to wrap up our
work from Friday night, as we welcome the larger community to join us for a day
of testimony, reflection, experience, and ACTION! Our day will end with a time of
worship prayer, and a picnic lunch.

REGISTER NOW AT CAMPWASHINGTON.ORG
OR CALL US AT 860.567.9623 FOR MORE DETAILS

Join us for a day of testimony, reflection, experience, and ACTION!

We will gather around the forges as we transform guns into gardening tools and
art. Offering songs of praise and prayer, and hearing words shared by victims and
survivors of gun violence. Shane Claiborne- our keynote speaker will offer words of change and a call to action. We will work on art projects and gather in thoughtful conversations around mental health, safe gun storage and suicide prevention.

We will offer our hurts, hopes and dreams to God in song and worship, and end our day with a picnic lunch.

This day is open to ALL God’s people, of all beliefs and ages.

REGISTER NOW AT CAMPWASHINGTON.ORG
OR CALL US AT 860.567.9623 FOR MORE DETAILS
Summer will be upon us in no time! Registration is open now for 2022 Summer Camp at Camp Washington!

July 5-8 Mini Day Camp
July 10-15 Children's Camp
July 31-Aug5 Children's Camp II
July 17-22 Teen Camp
Aug 7-12 Teen Camp II

July 24-29 Pick Your Passion

July 24-26 Mini Camp A
July 27-29 Mini Camp B

Registration, COVID-19 protocols, cost, and other details can be found HERE

Also, Camp is looking for team members - check out their employment opportunities HERE
Communications For The North Central Region
* Join the NC Region Facebook Group, a community bulletin board for the region. This is your place to share parish/community events, photos, videos and more.

* Like and follow the NC Region Facebook Page. This is where the Leadership Team will post news of upcoming Region events, gatherings, conversations, resources, etc.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Get in touch with your NC Region Leadership Team here or email Maggie Breen, NC & NE Region Missionary at mbreen@episcopalct.org