In this edition: Diocesan Discernment Day; Ordination to the priesthood; Religious Life Sunday; Dover churches make news; 12-Step Eucharist; Fun Fact; Did You Know?; Check it Out!; Upcoming events in our community: news from The Episcopal Church, and more

A video recap: welcome, keynote speaker, lay licensed minister, deacon, priest, discernment, and Stevenson School

Episcopalians are invited to learn about, pray for, and celebrate the vowed religious orders and communities that have long been part of the church during a first-time observance of Religious Life Sunday. The 80th General Convention in July approved a resolution naming the third Sunday of Epiphany as Religious Life Sunday in an effort to highlight and affirm the Episcopal monastic and Christian communities that offer spiritual growth practices, retreats, and hospitality, as well as welcome new members. Religious communities in The Episcopal Church include monastic communities — whose members live together under a rule of life and vows such as poverty, chastity, and obedience — and dispersed Christian communities, whose members have jobs and live in their own homes, but who also live under religious vows. Find more information and download bulletin inserts.

Dover congregations receive training on how to provide homeless services

"For many Dover-area churches and other places of worship, the sharp rise in unsheltered homelessness statewide means more people knocking on their doors or calling their offices searching for food, shelter or gas money. The people answering those calls – an administrative assistant, for instance – are often the only person in the building . . . Church and synagogue representatives gathered at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Dover Tuesday to receive training on how to navigate those interactions." Read full Delaware Public Media article here Image: Paul Kiefer Delaware Public Media

A Message from the Invite Welcome Connect Team

Click on the link below to view more ideas on a Padlet created at an Invite Welcome Connect Digital Gathering last year. https://padlet.com/trinitywheaton/t7y3dpb7mfvcc0d8

Question: Which diocesan bishop was a keen tennis player, often playing with other clergy?

Clue: He also enjoyed golfing and fishing.

Answer: Here

Image: Bishop's mitre, Bishopsgate, London.JPG Stone bishop's mitre, fixed high on the building located at the junction of Wormwood Street with Bishopsgate in London Eluveitie Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

This week (week of January 15), in our diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we hold up in prayer Christ Church, Milford, the vestry leadership and parish. For the diocesan Cycle of Prayer, click here.

Compensation starts at $45,000 commensurate with experience. Includes medical and dental insurance. Fantastic work environment! If interested please send questions and/or resume to [email protected]

After singing to a large and enthusiastic house at their first concert last December, The Encore Chorale of Wilmington, has returned to Trinity and has begun rehearsals for their Spring 2023 Season and is accepting interested singers who are age 55 or older. The chorale is part of Encore Creativity, the nation’s largest choral organization for older adults. No prior singing experience is necessary and there are no auditions. Encore focuses on creating musical excellence while also having fun. David Simmons, Trinity’s Director of Music, is the conductor of the Encore Chorale of Wilmington.  Each semester culminates in a public performance. For more information and to register online for the spring semester, go to Encorecreativity.org. Full and partial scholarships are available.  

This series presented by the Moravian-Episcopal Coordinating Committee Racial Reconciliation Working Group, examines racial histories of the two churches and how new methods for racial reconciliation are working in ecumenical contexts.

Each webinar includes a pre-recorded segment focusing on the specific historic topic, followed by discussion between the working group and two panelists that expands the focus and connects it to the present, and a Q&A with participants. More information and registration here REGISTE

with the Rev. Elle Dowd, author of Baptized in Tear Gas.

Reading and book signing Friday, January 27, 7pm

After an informal soup and sandwich luncheon, Dowd will lead a workshop spiritual Imagination as a Tool for Social Change.

The Arts at Trinity (TAAT) kicks off 2023 with a concert by nationally recognized jazz violinist Diane Monroe and pianist Tom Lawton, a mainstay on the Philadelphia jazz scene. Both artists are well known for being equally comfortable in swing jazz, straight-ahead jazz settings, avant-garde situations and various mixtures and shades in between. Bring a friend with you and come enjoy a jazzy January afternoon at Trinity. As with all TAAT concerts, there is no admission charge for the concert, but donations are greatly appreciated to support future concerts. Free parking available in the church parking lots and on the street. 

This event is being sponsored by the Southern Delaware Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Clinicians for the workshop are Ms. Joanne Ward, Director of the Delaware Women's Chorus and Cantabile Women's Chorus, and T.J. Thomas, Director of Music at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lewes. The focus of the workshop for choristers will be topics like projection, maximizing (and minimizing) the chorister's vocal output, breathing techniques, etc. and for the organists, the main focus will be for those who serve dual functions of accompanying and directing from the organ bench. Pre-registration is required. The cost is $10. per person and there are special group rates available. Guild members will receive a discount as well. The guild is suggesting that sending parishes/churches cover the expense for those attending. To register or for more information contact Scott Kresge, Director of Music at St. John the Baptist at [email protected] The mission of the American Guild of Organists, a national professional association with more than 275 chapters and 12,000 members throughout the United States and abroad, is to foster a thriving community of musicians who share their knowledge and inspire passion for the organ. 

You are invited to join an ecumenical service in observation of the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Wednesday, January 18, 12-1pm in person or online, available for later viewing

Watch on YouTube or attend in person at Interchurch Center Chapel in New York City. Free and open to the public. Hosted by: Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, and the Interchurch Center Committee on Ecumenical, Interfaith, and Community Concerns. More information

New, certified Spanish and French translations of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer are available online. Printed copies will be available January 20.

The translations were prepared under the supervision of the Task Force for Liturgical Translations, a subcommittee of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music. The new translations were called for by the 2018 General Convention through resolution A070 and included an opportunity for churchwide feedback last fall. The Rev. Juan Oliver, who was the custodian of the prayer book when the new translations were being prepared, noted that the new translations were prepared by a team of professional translators with expertise in both literary translation as well as cultural sensitivity. An additional translation into Haitian Creole is forthcoming. More information

Episcopalians invited to register for Winter Talk 2023 livestream, January 21-23

As The Episcopal Church reckons more deeply with its past involvement in Indigenous boarding schools, the Office of Indigenous Ministries invites all Episcopalians to register to watch Winter Talk 2023, an annual conference that highlights Indigenous and Native American traditions and contributions within the church. More information and registration Watch livestream of Walk the Walk Week prayer service at Notre Dame with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, January 22, 6:30pm here

The Office of Global Partnerships invites individuals, small groups, congregations, and dioceses to utilize its weekly video series throughout the season of Epiphany. The videos — which include an adaptation of lectio divina with each Sunday’s Gospel — feature Episcopal missionaries who have served around the world through the Young Adult Service Corps (ages 21-30) and Episcopal Volunteers in Mission (over age 30). This week: Sophie Swallow, Andrew Walker, and the Rev. Bryan Vélez discuss John 1:29-42. This video was recorded in Spanish; subtitles are available in English and French. Watch their discussion at iam.ec/epiphany2023.

Ready to deepen your faith in a global setting? Episcopal Church Young Adult Service Corps opens applications for 2023-24, application deadline February 1

When program alumni were asked recently if they would recommend a year of international mission engagement through The Episcopal Church’s Young Adult Service Corps (YASC), they answered resoundingly: Yes! More information (In English and Spanish)

Do you feel called to the work of church and community redevelopment? Commences February 9

Learn more about Genesis II: Re-Vision and Renew.

People can sign up for the daily meditations here. A pdf can also be downloaded and printed for folks who prefer a hard copy. An additional resource this year features weekly reflections that can be used by individuals or groups, including Sunday formation classes, bible study groups, youth groups, etc. Check it out at episcopalrelief.org/lent. The weekly meditations will be released each week during Lent and Holy Week. There are also resources for Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday, which can be on the first Sunday of Lent or any Sunday that works for your congregations. More information

Registration open for 2023 Episcopal Youth Event “Regreso a Casa: A New Age of Faith.”

The Episcopal Church Youth Ministries Office announces open registration for delegations of young people and chaperones planning to attend the Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) July 4-8 at the University of Maryland in College Park. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, EYE is the church’s second-largest event after General Convention, drawing nearly 1,500 young people ages 15-19 from every province every three years. Attendees participate as part of a delegation, which can be from a diocese or coordinated through a congregation, school, or other Episcopal organization. Volunteers are also sought for multiple roles. More information

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry invites people of all backgrounds and faiths to give generously to the Absalom Jones Fund in support of the work of two historically Black institutions of higher education in cultivating and preparing diverse leaders: Voorhees University and Saint Augustine’s University. More information

"The report follows an interim announcement in June 2022, which reported for the first time, and with great dismay, that the Church Commissioners’ endowment had historic links to transatlantic chattel slavery*. The endowment traces its origins partly to Queen Anne’s Bounty, a fund established in 1704.

In response to the findings, the Church Commissioners’ Board has committed itself to trying to address some of the past wrongs by investing in a better future. It will seek to do this through committing £100 million of funding, delivered over the next nine years commencing in 2023, to a programme of investment, research and engagement." Read full announcement here 

Submissions: Please submit announcement information for The Net to [email protected]