|
In this edition of ENews:
- Diocesan Book Study TODAY at 6:00 pm
- 17th Convocation of the Community of the Gospel
- Congregational Development Grants Application Now Open!
- Send us your Church Banner!
| |
|
Diocesan Book Study TODAY at 6:00 pm
Join Missioner Mack in a diocesan-wide discussion of Dr. Catherine Meeks’ The Night is Long, but Light Comes in the Morning: Meditations for Racial Healing
Tuesdays at 6:00 pm
September 26 – November 14
Zoom link
| |
|
Bishop Megan at the 17th Convocation of the Community of the Gospel in Cincinnati | |
Bishop Megan as Bishop Visitor, spent time this past weekend with the Community of the Gospel at their 17th Convocation. The time was spent in silent prayer and fellowship. Our own Br. Simeon (Lew Powell) is also a part of this community. | |
Apply for a Congregational Development Grant! | |
Does your church have a small project that needs a boost?
Congregational Development Grants are for anything that helps strengthen your ministry.
These small grants (generally up to $2000) may be used for things often not funded by other diocesan resources, including building repairs or improvements and personnel.
Priorities echo those of our Board of Trustees:
- Congregational Vitality
- Creation Care
- Formation/Discipleship
- Racial Reconciliation
- Youth & Young Adults
Other areas (community organizing, feeding programs, etc.) may also be funded.
An example of grants made last year include funding for a neighborhood outreach summer program, flooring for a kitchen where food is prepared for the community, support for summer youth service program, and increasing the reach of online services through hiring a local young adult to run tech for worship.
Total grant pool is $13,000. Number of grants awarded depends upon number of qualified applications received.
Application deadline: Thursday, November 15, 2023
Grants will be announced by November 22, 2023
To apply:
Send an email to Canon Julie Wakelee at Julie@norcalepiscopal.org
Please include:
- A short paragraph explaining the need and how it will strengthen your congregation.
- A stated agreement that you will provide a short report on how the funds were used, along with photographs of the completed project, due by September 1, 2024. You will also agree to this information being shared in diocesan communications.
Churches that received CDG funds in prior years must submit their reports and photos before requesting new grants.
| |
Send us a photo of your church banner! | |
|
Even though we don't have room for all the banners, we still want to see them! Sent us a photo we can share at convention!
Please send a photo of your church banner to Maria Ramirez. maria@norcalepiscopal.org
| |
Highlights from the latest Board of Trustees Meeting | |
|
This is a short synopsis of what happened at the most recent Board of Trustees meeting. While this is not a full report of our meeting, it does share some of the highlights of our work.
During the October Board of Trustees Meeting:
The Board had a report from Mack Olson, Missioner for Church Life about our Hispanic ministries. Fr. Mack told the Board about our work with our sister diocese of Honduras. We will be sending a small team to join them at their convention early next year.
Fr. Mack also announced that we will be hosting the New Camino training with the Rev. Anthony Guillen, the Episcopal Church’s Missioner for Latino/Hispanic ministries, in early 2024. New Camino is for anyone interested in beginning Latino ministries in their congregation. If you are interested in participating in this training, contact Fr. Mack at mack@norcalepiscopal.org. Finally, Fr. Mack encouraged the Board to check out the diocesan website for information and tool kits related to Hispanic heritage month (www.norcalepiscopal.org/site/hispanicheritagemonth/)
The Board also had a lengthy discussion about where the Office of the Bishop should be located. The lease for the current space expires in December, 2024. Many options were discussed, which helpted the group honed in on the information we will need before we make a decision.
The Board also bid farewell to our members who have completed their elected terms. We expressed appreciation for the time and talents of Adrienne Collum (6 years), The Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan (3 years), Rev. Jim Richardson (3 years) and Daphne Vernon (3 years).
-Margie Harrison-Smith, Vice President
| |
Partners in Ministries of Health | |
|
FREE! Advent Study from Living Compass
Offered to you by the Diocesan Partners in Ministries of Health.
| |
|
To order, contact:
Susan Wahlstrom, Coordinator
Email: wahlstrom@volcano.net
Please include number of copies, & for what congregation.
Please include private street address as no delivery is possible to churches.
We’ll take it from there!
| |
Commission for Intercultural Ministries | |
|
Pray, Fast, and Act for Peace in the Middle East
Episcopalians everywhere are invited to observe a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, to pray without ceasing for justice, reconciliation, peace, and an end to hatred and war. We realize this is today – we hope you will include prayer, fasting, and action for peace into your spiritual practice on a day of your choosing.
Read full invitation here.
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in our communities and around the world are all calling for people of Faith to pray for a just and lasting peace for all peoples in the Holy Land and Gaza. Many churches in our diocese gathered today for the Anglican World Day of Prayer and prayed for peace.
We are also encouraged to act. The Episcopal Office of Government Relations is urging us to write our elected officials in Washington and urge them to speak out loudly for a just and lasting peace for all the peoples in the region. Here is the link from OGR to write your senators and representative; and a link to www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ to write to the President .
Please take this action and do your part to build beloved community in the Middle East.
Read Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's call to prayer on the attack on Anglican Hospital in Gaza here.
| |
|
I Will With God's Help:
Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice
This workshop is rooted in our baptismal identity and the promises we make in baptism. It focuses on how we can more fully live into our promise to be more loving toward our neighbors. During the workshop we follow the path of the Becoming Beloved Community labyrinth.
The workshops are open to anyone in the diocese. Workshops meet the requirement for licensing for Lay Eucharistic Ministers and Visitors Only. Other lay licensed ministries need to take Sacred Ground to meet Diocesan licensing requirements.
| |
Missioner for Church Life | |
Monthly Evangelism Gatherings. Last Wednesday of every month at 5:00pm | |
|
Apologies to those of you who tried to make the September meeting, I was having some Zoom difficulties. Our next evangelism gathering will be Wednesday, October 25 at 5pm. Each month, we gather on Zoom to discuss evangelism resources, share evangelism success stories, and address evangelism challenges. This month, we talk about how to “reclaim” the word evangelism, and hopefully make it a little less scary! The Zoom link to attend is here (please note this is a new Zoom link). Also, be sure to check out the Evangelism Resources on our diocesan website, where you’ll also be able to find recordings of past monthly gatherings. https://www.norcalepiscopal.org/site/evangelism-resources/
“If I have achieved anything in my life, it is because
I have not been embarrassed to talk about God.” Dorothy Day
| |
|
Spirituality of Fundraising
by Henri Nouwen
Most of our congregations have already begun their fall giving campaigns, but it is not to late check out this easy-to-read and inspirational resource from Henri Nouwen. It might help you look at your stewardship efforts less as drudgery. “Fundraising is, first and foremost, a ministry,” Henri Nouwen writes. “It’s a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission.” Nouwen encourages us to see fundraising as spiritual work and approach it confidently. “Fundraising is precisely the opposite of begging,” he points out. A Spirituality of Fundraising is brief and can easily be read in one sitting, so if you would like to receive a copy to share with your stewardship team, contact the Missioner for Church Life, the Rev. Mack Olson at Mack@norcalepiscopal.org
| |
|
Before you know it, Advent will be here, so be sure to check out these Advent resources from the Episcopal Church.
This Advent and Christmas, The Episcopal Church offers the following resources to help you and your congregation share signs of God’s love through the coming of Jesus Christ—the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).
- Digital and printable resources to promote your Advent and Christmas events on social media, websites, or around town
- Customizable promotional video for your Episcopal congregation
- Advent curriculum, calendar, bulletin inserts: “Journeying the Way of Love”
- Advent curriculum: “Preparing to Become Beloved Community”
- “Sermons That Work”
- “Lesson Plans That Work”
- “Prophetic Voices” podcast series
- “d365” devotions
- Advent wreath-making video and blessing
- Printable letter to Santa and Christmas card
- “Las Posadas” churchwide Christmas pageant
- Episcopal Relief & Development Advent toolkit
- AdventWord inspirational online calendar
- And more
| |
|
Mark Your Calendars
This Advent, join Canon Julie and Missioner Mack as we read and pray with the poetry of Maya Angelou.
Thursdays from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
November 30 - December 21
On Zoom
| |
|
Website is now live!
Visit their website to learn more about the WCC and to apply to the Lay Preaching program.
| |
Clergy Openings in The Diocese | |
Job Opportunities in The Diocese | |
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral | Sacramento is seeking a new Director of Cathedral Choristers (Children’s choir). Read the Job Announcement Here. | |
The ENews is published weekly on Tuesdays.
| |
|
|
The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
Making Disciples, Raising Up Saints & Transforming Communities for Christ
www.norcalepiscopal.org
| | | | |
