Greetings and a blessed New Year to you and all those around you!

[As this is "going to press," I just found out that two of our priests have contracted Covid, Rosa Buffone in Boston and Suzanne Schloemann, in St. Louis. Please pray for all those we know, and those we don't, who are suffering from this scourge.]

Covid has been such a difficult burden for us in the past two years. And it takes a toll on our spirits. Be kind to one another as best you can. The extra pressure that Covid puts on all of us can be hard on families, communities, and our Communion. Let’s be intentional about being inspired by and doing what lifts us up since this awful scourge tends to drag us down. God is with us! And so are inspired, creative voices, like Amanda Gorman. You may enjoy this if you have not already heard it.

MMS has surpassed its fundraising goal for 2021—by 21%! I am so grateful to all of you, our generous donors, who contributed over $12,700 this year. You have enabled MMS to offer grants to help newer clergy and clergy-candidates to get established and to help communities launch youth programs. 

In addition, our endowment, which is affected by market forces, performed extremely well this year. I am grateful to the work of our MMS Advisory Committee for its stewardship over our resources. 

And speaking of this committee, I want to pause and acknowledge that they have grown to a very high level of performance excellence under the strong leadership of Art Bavoso and Betty Adams. I am so grateful. And I want to thank the others who have added to the depth of its talent: (current committee members) Merry Battaglia, Mother Alice Bradley, ECC Treasurer Christine Garst, Sheila Leander, Kris Plemmons, Lourdes Talamantes, Deacon Carol Blow, Father Henry Pruski, Deacon Bonnie Pino-Fraser and (application readers/evaluators) Carolyn Reardon, Father Rick Klaich, and Rev. Denise Roberts. This great work is happening because of your efforts, and I am very grateful!

As announced on December 6^th, the application deadline for clergy/clergy-candidate applicants is January 15, 2022; for communities applying for youth program grants, the deadline is January 31, 2022. Send all applications to OPB Administrator, Carolyn Sue Cecil, at opbadministrator@ecumenical-catholic-communion.org.

Application Form for Youth Program Grants

Applicants and other interested parties may also want to contact Carolyn Sue Cecil with any questions or concerns at opbadministrator@ecumenical-catholic-communion.org.

In our current polarized political environment, where white supremacists are overtly active, we cannot allow a sense of false equivalency to settle over us and say, “These are matters over which good people disagree.” The correct moral position from the point of view of the Judeo-Christian tradition is on the side of the oppressed. The crushing burden of racism continues to cause great harm to our sisters and brothers of color in our country, with large disparities in an array of categories, including health, education, and social thriving. We cannot be indifferent to these inequities. And we, of all church bodies, cannot turn a blind eye to actions of those who would exclude persons of color from full participation in public life. Many of us are in the ECC for reasons of alienation in other church settings—those settings did not want to include us. We cannot be unempathetic to those who, in much more serious ways, have been denied the acknowledgement of their dignity and worth and have been violently treated for centuries. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to become incarnate in our culture—where the original sin of our founding was racism through the enslavement of blacks and the dispossession of “savage Indians,” it has to make a difference here because this reality is not the Reign of God.

I want to thank our Truth & Reconciliation Commission which has labored to consistently provide our Communion with opportunities to fight this pernicious evil. And I want to remind all of us of two such opportunities that are right around the corner. 

“My Grandmother’s Hands” Book Club, every other Wednesday - January 19^th to March 30^th, facilitated by Jenn Lay

“In Solidarity – Anti-Racism Workshop,” Friday Evening, January 14^th and Saturday, January 15^th, facilitated by Deacon Joan Crawford

Click here for more information and to register. Growing is good; defeating racism should not be too good to be true.

I have spent a great deal of my time as Presiding Bishop on issues of Ecumenism (discovering and sharing our “Old Catholic heritage” which, as the Dutch church believes, is essentially ecumenical; strengthening our ties with the Episcopal Church and with the ELCA Lutherans; participating in the National Council of Churches, especially in it’s concern for unity between predominantly black and white churches; creating a forum for independent Catholic bishops to get to know, trust, and collaborate with each other; and working on relations with TOCCUSA, the closest “planet with life like ours”). Now I am working with a group of interested ECC members who want to learn about ecumenism with a view to building a permanent Ecumenical Commission that will carry on this work of ecumenism. I feel very strongly about the importance of ecumenism. We deepen our own identity and widen our horizons through strong relationships with others.

If you are interested in this endeavor and would like to participate, contact Father Dewayne Messenger at revdewayne@outlook.com. We meet once a month, learning the theory and practice of ecumenism.  Thanks for considering.  

I will try to get news about this committee's progress after our Leadership Council's meeting on January 4th.

Sue Ringler left us shortly after the publication of the fall ECC Report on October 13, 2021. She was a fierce yet joyous champion of justice who should inspire us all! Thank you, Sue, for all you gave to us! See her obituary here.

Council of Bishops

Leadership Council

Steering Committees of the House of Laity and the House of Pastors

Treasurer of the OPB and HOL Finance Committee

Mary Magdalene Society

Truth & Reconciliation Commission

If you wish to send us links to your regional newsletters, reports, etc., we will put them here.