Communicators & Secretaries Lunch Group to meet

The Communicators & Secretaries Lunch Group will meet on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 12 to 1:30 p.m. at the Diocesan Office in Newport News. This casual colleague group offers an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas with other church staff and volunteers around the Diocese. Bring your own lunch; beverages will be provided. There's no agenda for this gathering - just an opportunity to get together, share, encourage, support, and ask questions. RSVP to Ann Turner, aturner@diosova.org.   

Administrators & Treasurers Lunch Group to meet

The Administrators & Treasurers Lunch Group will meet on Thursday, Dec. 15, 12 to 1:30 p.m. at St. Paul's, Norfolk. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet with other parish administrators and treasurers to talk about common issues. This month's gathering will also be an opportunity to say farewell to Diocesan Comptroller Nancy James before she retires at the end of December. Bring your own lunch; beverages will be provided. There's no agenda for this gathering - just an opportunity to get together, share, encourage, support, and ask questions. RSVP to Nancy James, njames@diosova.org.  

Free online Advent course & Advent Resources

ChurchNext is offering a free course during Advent with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Getting More Out of the Bible. The course is available through Dec. 24. Click here to learn more and register.

More Advent Resources
Here are a few Advent resources, both online and in print, that you might want to include as part of your spiritual practice during Advent. 

Safe Church Training on Jan. 28

The next Safe Church classroom training will be held on Saturday, January 28, at St. Andrew's, Norfolk. Registration is open now and will close on Jan. 24. Click here to register.

Click here for more information about Safe Church training and a list of upcoming classes. Online training is also available.

Winter issue of ECW Grapevine Newsletter

The Winter 2016 issue of The Grapevine, the Diocesan ECW newsletter, is available here. This issue includes:

• Letter from ECW President Nancy Sands
• Bishop Hollerith installs ECW Diocesan Board members
• ECW gives $40,000 to Virginia homes
• UTO report
• New ECW president at Redeemer, Midlothian
• And more

You can find a link to The Grapevine and much more information about ECW on the diocesan website, www.diosova.org/ecw.  

 

News from The Episcopal Church

2017 ECF Fellowship application now open

The 2017 Episcopal Church Foundation Fellowship application is now open! ECF Fellows are scholars and ministry leaders, both lay and ordained, who are making a lasting impact on the Episcopal Church. To apply for the 2017 Fellowship click here, and to learn more about ECF's Fellowship Partners Program, click here.

Young Adult Service Corps accepting applications for 2017-2018 placements  

Young adults (21-30 years old) have an opportunity to transform their own lives while engaging mission and ministry in the Anglican Communion by joining the Young Adult Service Corps. Now, applications are available for 2017-2018 placements in the Young Adult Service Corps, commonly known as YASC. Click here for more info and application.

Currently YASCers are serving throughout the Anglican Communion, working alongside partners in administration, agriculture, communication, development, and education. Adrienne Davis of St. David's, Chesterfield, is currently serving in YASC in Hong Kong.

A message from the Presiding Bishop

Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael B. Curry has issued the following statement:

Last week I shared what I pray was a reconciling post-election message to our church, reminding us that 'we will all live together as fellow Americans, as citizens.' Today I want to remind us that during moments of transition, during moments of tension, it is important to affirm our core identity and values as followers of Jesus in the Episcopal Anglican way.

Jesus once declared, in the language of the Hebrew prophets, that God's "house shall be a house of prayer for all nations" (Mk 11:17). He invited and welcomed all who would follow saying, "come to me all who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens" (Mt. 11:28). We therefore assert and we believe that "the Episcopal Church welcomes you" - all of you, not as merely a church slogan, but as a reflection of what we believe Jesus teaches us and at the core of the movement he began in the first century. The Episcopal Church welcomes all. All of us!

As the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement today, we Episcopalians are committed, as our Prayer Book teaches to honor the covenant and promises we made in Holy Baptism: To proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; To seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves; to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being. As Christians, we believe that all humans are created in God's image and equal before God - those who may be rejoicing as well as those who may be in sorrow.

As a Church, seeking to follow the way of Jesus, who taught us, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself," (Mt. 22:39) and to "do to others as you would have them do to you" (Mt. 7:12), we maintain our longstanding commitment to support and welcome refugees and immigrants, and to stand with those who live in our midst without documentation.  We reaffirm that like all people LGBT persons are entitled to full civil rights and protection under the law. We reaffirm and renew the principles of inclusion and the protection of the civil rights of all persons with disabilities. We commit to the honor and dignity of women and speak out against sexual or gender-based violence.  We express solidarity with and honor the Indigenous Peoples of the world. We affirm the right to freedom of religious expression and vibrant presence of different religious communities, especially our Muslim sisters and brothers. We acknowledge our responsibility in stewardship of creation and all that God has given into our hands. We do so because God is the Creator. We are all God's children, created equally in God's image. And if we are God's children we are all brothers and sisters.

"The Episcopal Church Welcomes You," is not just a slogan, it's who we seek to be and the witness we seek to make, following the way of Jesus.

This statement is online here in both English and Spanish. 

Happening #65 held at Chanco

Happening #65 took place at Chanco this past Friday, November 11 through Sunday, November 13.  We had a fantastic group of happeners and staff from parishes all around our diocese, led by Courtney Mason of St. David's Chesterfield as Rector.  Happening offers teens in grades 10-12 a crash course in Christianity through an experiential program that focuses on sharing the love of God in Christ.  For many teens, it is a transformative event, and offers them an opportunity to take their faith to a whole new level.  Happening #66 is scheduled for March 10-12 at Chanco.  For more details about the program, please contact Youth Missioner Ashley Scruggs at ascruggs@diosova.org.   

Virginia LARCUM Conference Dec. 2-3

The Virginia LARCUM Conference: Living Out Our LARCUM Covenant, will be held in Ashland, VA Dec. 2-3. Keynote speaker Dr. Joseph D. Small will challenge our State LARCUM Conference to consider the need for a proper response to the Reformation today. Click here for details and registration. For more information contact Rick Caporali, 540-373-6491, rcaporali@stmaryfred.org.

James Solomon Russell/Saint Paul's College museum and archives being established

The Brunswick County/Lake Gaston Tourism Association worked with officials at Saint Paul's College before it closed to secure and store the historical artifacts, records, photographs, memorabilia and other items documenting the life of James Solomon Russell and the college he founded. Those items will be housed together in a museum and archive. A committee has been formed to start work on creating the James Solomon Russell/Saint Paul's College Museum and Archive. The newly formed committee would like to invite those who may be interested in serving on the board or helping with the project to attend their meetings - the third Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. in the former school board office at 219 N. Main Street in Lawrenceville.

"This new museum will be a great asset to this community, both alumni groups and all visitors who want to research and browse the works of this distinguished intellectual pioneer," said James Grimstead, chair of the committee, "and hopefully inspire our youth to pinpoint this place to make their mark."

For more information please contact James Grimstead, 434-848-2173.

Boys Home Christmas Tree Farm opens Nov. 25

Think of Boys Home during the holidays. When you select a beautiful, fresh tree from the Boys Home Christmas Tree Farm, you'll support them financially and support a unique and very important Boys Home activity.

The farm involves everyone. In the spring, residents set out transplants and plant seedlings. In the summer and fall, they shear trees and groom fields. During the winter, they cut and deliver trees for wholesale and assist with the Choose & Cut sales at the farm. It's a huge team effort, and an important source of revenue.

Boys Home Christmas Tree Farm will be open Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November 25 through December 23. There will be an Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 26. The farm is located at 1118 Bear Wallow Flat, West Augusta, VA. Call 540-939-4106.

To learn more about the farm and Boys Home, go to www.boyshomeofva.org.

Psychologist at Jackson-Feild presents at SBCNA Conference

Dr. J. Michael Griffin, a psychologist who provides neurofeedback therapy at Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services (JFBHS) recently gave two presentations at the annual conference of the Southeast Biofeedback and Clinical Neuroscience Association.

 

Of his two presentations, one - titled "Neurofeedback in an Adolescent Residential Treatment Program" - was the result of a study conducted at JFBHS. In his presentation, Griffin noted that "adolescents in long-term residential facilities often have histories of abuse, neglect, and family histories of mental illness. Often these youths have received years of outpatient treatment, multiple in-patient psychiatric hospitalizations in acute care facilities, foster placements, and multiple behavioral health residential admissions. Multiple [types of treatment] have been used, including counseling, psychopharmacology, recreational therapy, therapeutic horticulture, equestrian therapy, and others. Despite these interventions, significant acting out behaviors may persist."

 

The study at JFBHS sought to determine whether neurofeedback is an effective treatment to reduce the severity, frequency and duration of acting-out incidents. Over the course of the study, it was found that children receiving neurofeedback had at least 50% fewer incident reports than in prior reporting periods and those who received an average of four per month had an additional 17% fewer incident reports than those receiving two per month. In addition, staff noted that children had improved self-awareness, greater impulse control and reduced hyperactivity.

 

JFBHS is constantly striving to provide better services to help children who have suffered severe emotional trauma, and Griffin's work and services are much appreciated tremendously beneficial.

Campus ministries come together at retreat

Campus ministries from across the Diocese came together for a retreat at Chanco on the James  this past weekend. There were 43 students from William & Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampden Sydney, Longwood, Virginia Commonwealth University and Christopher Newport University. "We gathered together with the theme of looking at our brokenness and vulnerability as ways that God meets us and helps us to grow into who God created us to be," said ODU chaplain the Rev. Wendy Wilkinson. She added, "The Eucharist at dawn on the pier was a bit chilly!"

Parish pledges are due by Dec. 15

Parish pledges to the Episcopal Church in Southern Virginia for 2017 are due by December 15, 2016. A message from Bishop Hollerith, along with a Parish Commitment Form, were emailed to clergy and lay leaders in October. Letters and forms will NOT be mailed this year. If you did not receive an email, please contact Nancy James, njames@diosova.org or 757-213-3386. Click here for the 2017 Parish Commitment Form.