Download The VOICE Digest printable PDF with highlights from this issue.

Starting with the words from Isaiah, "Behold I am doing a new thing," Bishop Hughes reflects on the new things we have started learning and doing in the Diocese of Newark in the 15 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and what the path forward might look like. (Time: 22:16.)

Get to know the first five Black women to be elected diocesan bishops within the Episcopal Church.

During this moment, with the #metoo movement, Black Lives Matter, and the increased feelings of division in our country, Black women clergy in the Episcopal Church have voiced a need to come together, believing that their experiences and concerns may be very different than those of other clergy. That need is answered here in This Band of Sisterhood.

The five Black women bishops featured in this book can provide a compass for how to journey along these new paths. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Carlye J. Hughes, Kimberly Lucas, Shannon MacVean-Brown, and Phoebe A. Roaf offer honest, vulnerable wisdom from their own lives that speaks to this time in American life.

Books are now available for pre-order on both Bookshop and Amazon; and will be available for purchase by July 20.

In 2017 the Episcopal Diocese of El Salvador established El Seminario Episcopal Anglicano de El Salvador to offer an affordable theological education to its future church leaders. Many faculty members donated their time, and some even taught remotely from Central America and the United States – including the Rev. Dr. Miguel A. Hernandez, who has taught there since its founding. In this piece he celebrates the graduation of the first class, who have received the type of education “that gives voice to the voiceless of this world.” Read more.

In our June 9 issue of The VOICE Online, an article regarding the Education for Ministry (EfM) program described the many reasons that an individual may decide to explore more of the Christian faith. To guide us on our journey, there are weekly readings, discussions, and theological reflections guided by a mentor or mentors, and in this writing, we will look at the reading materials used in EfM. Read more.

Video: Andy Wang of St. Paul's, Chatham kicked off the entertainment at Chatham's Diversity Celebration. (Time: 0:46.)

Diocesan Confirmation services for 2020 Candidates are being held on eight evenings in July and August. Click here to see the schedule of services.

Since each Candidate is limited to four guests, including their clergy and sponsors, all others are invited to watch remotely as the service is live streamed to the diocesan YouTube channel, youtube.com/c/dionewark.

The 2020 Candidates have been contacted directly about these services. Confirmation services for 2021 Candidates are being planned for the fall.

Please contact Jane Jubilee, jjubilee@dioceseofnewark.org, with any questions about Confirmation services.

This summer, the Engaging Team of Diocesan Council invites you to join us in reading Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles. Take This Bread is a beautifully written story of unexpectedly meeting God in the midst of an ordinary, non-religious life and embracing that grace in ways that are truly transformative. In this one woman’s story we are invited to explore our own relationships with God and the how we live our faith in ways that change us as we seek to make change in the world.

Read the book and then join us for one or more Zoom discussions to talk about it.

The registration deadline is 5 PM TOMORROW, Thursday, July 8 for the July meetings:

Find out more and register online.

We are excited to introduce you to Project Resource!

Project Resource is a parish-focused, comprehensive stewardship training program that teaches culture and systems change around financial development in the worldwide Episcopal Church. Project Resource provides teaching, focus, and adaptable resources to equip clergy and lay leaders to develop their year-round and annual stewardship campaigns and to plan, ask for, and receive major gifts. The Stewardship arm of the diocese has partnered with the College for Bishops to bring Project Resource to you, FREE.

Each church is urged to participate in this program. Churches must register their participants by August 16. Find out more and register online.

Registration for all Cross Roads summer camp programs, including 4 weeks of youth camp and 2 weeks of family camp, is now OPEN. Find the schedule, program descriptions, and more information at crossroadsretreat.com/summer-programs.

Bold Transformational Faith (BTF) is a project of Cross Roads and Luther Crest Bible Camp in Minnesota that provides distinct faith formation experiences to inspire an active faith in a rapidly changing world. Learn about how your congregation can partner with BTF for Sunday School and other youth and family programs on the new BTF website, mybtf.org.

The VOICE Online is currently published every other Wednesday