The 160th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island convenes on Friday, November 13, and Saturday, November 14, 2026, bringing together clergy and lay delegates from Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk at the Melville Marriott.

This year's gathering marks the beginning of a new chapter in diocesan life following the September consecration of the Rt. Rev. Adam J. Shoemaker as the Ninth Bishop of Long Island. The convention will feature Bishop Shoemaker’s first Address to Convention.

Delegates will consider the upcoming diocesan Ministry Plan and join together in prayer and worship throughout the weekend.

Young people ages 12-18 are invited to participate in the Youth Delegation, an opportunity to build leadership skills and learn more about diocesan governance. Following a Pre-Convention gathering at the Mercer School of Theology, youth join the main convention to engage in worship, observe legislative sessions, complete creative projects, and attend the Gala under the direction of Chelsy DeHart.

For more information on this year's convention, we invite you to visit our Convention Homepage.

Watch Live Link to page for livestream of Convention Eucharist and Bishop Adam's Address Scroll to the bottom of the page

Saturday's Convention Eucharist (9 AM)

Bishop's Address (Following Eucharist)

The end of our Stewardship reflections and discernment will be next Sunday, November 22nd, The Feast of Christ the King, the Last Sunday of the Church's year. On that Day the Pledge Cards with our intentions to support St. Mary's life in 2027 will be received and placed on the Altar.

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

From the Book Club Survey, it seems the preference for most is for once a month, on Wednesday afternoon. So as not to conflict with the Silver Circle, we'll meet at 2:30, and our first meeting will be on Wednesday November 18th.

Please read the first three chapters (they are short) and read the reflection questions and try out the spiritual practices at the end of each chapter. If you would like me to order a book for you let me know.

What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman is a 2023 book by Lerita Coleman Brown—not a book written by Howard Thurman himself. It explores Thurman’s life, contemplative spirituality, racial justice, nonviolence, and spiritual practices such as silence, attention to nature, and “centering down.” 

(https://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-You-Come-Alive/dp/B0CJB6C7Y3) 

(https://livingchurch.org/books-and-culture/learning-from-martin-luther-kings-mentor/)

- Author: Lerita Coleman Brown

- Publisher: Broadleaf Books

- Published: 2023

- Format: Also available as an audiobook

Experience Advent with the Scriptures that inspire Christmas.

As always, we will share a video and a discussion after the upcoming Advent liturgies. In Voices of Advent, Matthew L. Skinner leads us through biblical texts and explores how they shape our lives and Christmas celebrations. We listen as Jesus promises to return to us in the future, to John the Baptist as he prepares the way for the Messiah, to the faithful people and poets who anticipate the magnificence of Jesus’s birth, and to the angels and visionaries who praise God when Christmas dawns. Listen carefully to the Bible’s various perspectives that shape our preparations for Christmas; you’ll hear hope in all of them. Voices of Advent helps readers experience Advent not only as the start of the Christian Church Year, but also as the powerful overture that sets the tone for the incredible story of Jesus

This Sunday's Readings and Study Aids

The Collect

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.

Old Testament

Zephaniah 1:7,12-18

Be silent before the Lord God!

For the day of the Lord is at hand;

the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,

he has consecrated his guests.

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the people

who rest complacently on their dregs,

those who say in their hearts,

“The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do harm.”

Their wealth shall be plundered,

and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.

The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,

the warrior cries aloud there.

That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

I will bring such distress upon people

that they shall walk like the blind; 

because they have sinned against the Lord,

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them 

on the day of the Lord's wrath;

in the fire of his passion

the whole earth shall be consumed;

for a full, a terrible end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

The Psalm

Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12

Domine, refugium

1 Lord, you have been our refuge *

from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

or the land and the earth were born, *

from age to age you are God.

3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *

"Go back, O child of earth."

4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *

and like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep us away like a dream; *

we fade away suddenly like the grass.

6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *

in the evening it is dried up and withered.

7 For we consume away in your displeasure; *

we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

8 Our iniquities you have set before you, *

and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

9 [When you are angry, all our days are gone; *

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 The span of our life is seventy years,

perhaps in strength even eighty; *

yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow,

for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

11 Who regards the power of your wrath? *

who rightly fears your indignation?]

12 So teach us to number our days *

that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

The Epistle

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Fr. Plant's Commentary on the Gospel

Rev'd up for Sunday Discussion

The Gospel

Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said, “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

The Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids Ain Vares

Link to Self-Guided Retreat and Reflections on this Sunday's Scriptures by Episcopal Priest Suzanne Guthrie