We were very honored to have The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry join our monthly clergy and lay leaders call in mid-January via Zoom. Please click on the video above and watch the conversation between Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Bishop Doug Sparks.

The presiding bishop was originally scheduled to be in South Bend that same afternoon and evening for events at the University of Notre Dame marking the Ecumenical Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. However, that event was cancelled due to COVID. We will let you know when that event is rescheduled.

Below are photos of the card Bishop Doug referenced towards the end of the conversation with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

Date: February 20

Time: 3-5:30 p.m. (eastern)

Where: Zoom

Due: March 1

As in the past, there are three reports that we request completion by March 1. The report links and suggestions are available on our website under the Resources/Annual Meetings menu options. They have been updated for the 2022 reporting cycle. Please contact Missioner Michelle Walker if you have any questions. She will briefly check email during her sabbatical, once weekly, and will be happy to help.

Date: October 1

Where: Valparaiso University

Join more than 650 people — from our community and all over the country — who walk in solidarity with the women and children who walk to St. Margaret’s House in all types of weather.

Walk with us IN PERSON: Sunday, February 20

Walk with us VIRTUALLY: February 13–20

Date: April 1-3

Where: Wawasee Episcopal Retreat Center

Date: June 12-18

Where: Camp Alexander Mack

Please watch the diocesan website and enewsletter for updates.

Date: February 4, March 4, April 1, April 29

Where: Trinity Episcopal Church (Fort Wayne)

Cost: $200

Facilitator: Sister Nancy Brousseau, OP

Download registration form

In his book What the Mystics Know: Seven Pathways to Your Deeper Self, Fr. Richard Rohr asks these questions:

Date: Sunday evenings starting February 13

Time: 6:30-7:45 (eastern)

Where: Zoom

Facilitator: The Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne

Ever wonder what it is like to take a seminary course? This spring, the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne (St Paul's, Mishawaka), in conjunction with Baptized for Life, will be teaching a course on Baptism. This will be an intense study over the next four months that will get into the debates and theological nuances of baptism and its relationship to other aspects of the Christian life. For example, we will be looking at the history and development of baptism along with asking what baptism has to do with rites of initiation, confirmation, and ethics. There will be readings and discussions that will challenge and encourage you.

Further, as our final summative event on June 12, we will have an expert in theology and liturgy from Notre Dame, Dr. Maxwell Johnson come and talk with us about what we have learned, and answer any further questions we might have from our studies.

All are invited. Please send Fr. Nate an email if you are interested so he can send on the book list and syllabus before the start date. 

Application deadline: March 4

In its 20th year, the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) offers Episcopalians ages 21-30 the opportunity to follow the Way of Love into deeper relationship with God and the global Anglican Church while spending a year living and working with communities around the world.

Throughout the month of February, we will be celebrating Black History Month across our social media accounts. Each day, a quote from a Black leader in The Episcopal Church or Anglican Communion with be shared on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Please take a moment to read these quotes each day and take to heart the message. If a particular quote speaks to you, please share the post to your own social media accounts!

Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) at Union's Facebook Live series Just Conversations with Kelly Brown Douglas explores the racialized inequities intrinsic to our nation and our collective responsibility to create a more just future. These 30-minute conversations featured on the EDS at Union Facebook page will invite activists and religious, political, and thought leaders to discuss their work being champions for justice. Videos are also available on the Union YouTube page.

Date: February 4

Time: 2 p.m. (eastern)

Join Dean Douglas as she speaks with Darren Sands, reporter who has covered race, identity, and politics for The Washington Post and BuzzFeed News. Dean Douglas and Sands will discuss the fragility of democracy and the role of race at this moment.

Date: February 9

Time: 3 p.m. (eastern)

Join Dean Douglas as she speaks with Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, and the Co-Host of the Politics and Polls podcast. In this conversation, they will discuss the state of democracy, civil rights, and Dr. Zelizer's recently released book Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Life of Radical Amazement.

Date: February 10

Time: 6:30-7:30 p.m. (eastern)

Join us as we celebrate Black History Month and honor the life of Absalom Jones, whose feast day is February 13th. Dean Kelly Brown Douglas will host a panel discussion with Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown, Episcopal Diocese of Vermont; Bishop Kevin Nichols, The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem; and Bishop Robert Wright, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. RSVP for this virtual event here. 

Date: March 9-11

Time: 8-10 p.m. (eastern)

Date: February 12

Time: 10/9 a.m. (EST/CST)

Where: Potawatomi Wildlife Park

Facilitator: The Very Rev. Brian Grantz

RSVP appreciated, but not required.

Date: February 9

Time: 3-4:30 (eastern)

Cost: $20

Date: March 11

Time: 6:30-9:30 p.m. (eastern)

Where: Rhum Academy of Music

Cost: $10

The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations (OGR) identifies opportunities for Episcopalians to participate in our democracy. Click this link to find an action alert that you are passionate about and send a message to your members of Congress. Below are new action alerts since our last newsletter.

Date: Thursdays

Time: 1-1:30 p.m. (ET)

Congress Weekly is a fast-paced, 30-minute conversation about the policies and legislation we are advocating for. They take place weekly on Thursdays from 1:00-1:30pm ET. Registration is required. If you already registered for one of the first six sessions, you MUST register again using this link.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Maxwell E. Johnson, professor of theology (liturgical studies) at the University of Notre Dame, received the Berakah Award from the North American Academy of Liturgy. This award honors "a person who has made outstanding contributions in the field of liturgy.

His award says, "The North American Academy of Liturgy award to Maxwell E. Johnson the 2021-2022 Berakah, giving thanks for your stunning ecumenical scholarship; diverse allegiances: Lutheran, Benedictine, Episcopal; litany that history is an unexacting teacher; reminder each year that Chrysostom did not write that Easter Homily; ability to hear the Holy Spirit singing in the Oblates of Blues; steadfast ministry - teacher, writer, preacher, friend. Bless you."

Date: May 16-18

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center

See full description here.

Online nomination form is here.

Christmas at Sea’s 1898 Hat was designed for a 2013 Seamen’s Church Institute contest for a knit hat with earflaps.  Several designs were finalists, and these were taken aboard ships to the have the seamen themselves choose their favorite. They chose a warm hat with double thick garter stitch earflaps that would fit under a hard hat.  Named for the year Christmas at Sea was started, the 1898 Hat is by far its most popular design, although the pattern is not for beginner knitters.

Last year, I designed a crochet version of the 1898 Hat also with double earflaps.  This version lends itself to color work, and is a great way to use up smaller balls of yarn to make fun, colorful stripes.

For neckwear, these hats combine nicely with the knit cowl or the crochet cowl.  Both of these are very popular with seafarers because they don’t get in the way safety gear yet keep necks warm without bulk. Either version of the cowl has a 20” circumference and 7” depth.

Please consider making these or other handmade items for Christmas at Sea to donate to Province V’s BPG in-gathering, April 20-30, 2022. The host Diocese of Northern Indiana has a page of CAS resources for easy access to information about the project.