Clergy transitions

The Rev. Carlotta Cochrane began as Priest in Charge Time Certain at St. Thomas, Chesapeake, August 28, 2016.

 

The Rev. Frederick Walker left St. Mark's, Suffolk, on February 28, 2017.

 

The Rev. Catherine Boyd will begin as Rector of St. Martin's, Williamsburg, on April 9, 2017.

 

New offerings from ChurchNext: Water & Justice; Family Faith Formation

ChurchNext has added two new offerings to its extensive course catalog:

Water & Justice
Fletcher Harper, executive director of Greenfaith, discusses how Christians should bring a reverence for water into our communities. He teaches about the challenges to water supplies around the world and ways to develop a deeper appreciation of our sense of water as a gift. Fletcher teaches about the impetus, but also the resources, that Christianity gives us to conserve water and minimize the effects of climate change. Click here for more.

Family Faith Formation
John Roberto of Lifelong Faith Ministries, discusses the essential role that families take in raising children in the Christian faith and identifies ways to use technology to offer Christian parenting resources through websites that curate webinars, podcasts, online learning and other technological advances. He discusses way to match this material to the needs of families and to encourage them to use these resources. Click here for more.

Resources and assistance for environmental stewardship

Caring for Creation is one of our Diocesan Stewardship goals: "to inspire and mobilize parishes to play a leadership role in building a just and resilient future through environmental stewardship programs". We encourage you to access the resources that have recently been added to the Stewardship page of the diocesan website, www.diosova.org/stewardship.  

We are looking to connect with parishes who:

• would like assistance in growing an environmental stewardship program (some of you indicated that in a diocesan survey); or
• already have an environmental stewardship program and would be willing to share their experiences and resources with others.

If either of these describes your parish, please send your parish name, your name and contact information to diosovagreen@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration of this important ministry.

Jackson-Feild residents visit Club J316

Eight residents and several staff members from Jackson-Feild recently traveled to True Word Christian Church in Franklin to visit Club J316 - a free Christian club for children in grades 5-12 that is the creation of Jackson-Feild alumna Leslie Ludwig.

 

At Club J316, high school and college students - some of whom travel as much as 100 miles to perform - give an upbeat concert of hip hop and rap music in a Christian atmosphere.

 

Ludwig started Club J316 because she felt that teens are bombarded with unhealthy and unhelpful messages. Admitting that she had a great deal of obstacles to overcome in her teen years, Ludwig says, "I always wanted to do something to help other children like me. If I can help only one child with our live Holy Hip Hop and Christian Rap, I will have accomplished my goal."

 

Ludwig hopes to bring her Club J316 to the Jackson-Feild campus and share her message of hope and grace with all the boys and girls. The residents who enjoyed the concert in Franklin danced the night away and spoke of how moving the experience was.  

An Evening of Prayer in support of "Standing as Stone": Indigenous Nations and Allies Gather in the Washington National Cathedral

On Thursday, March 9, the Episcopal Church will sponsor an interfaith prayer service on the eve of the Rise with Standing Rock: Native Nations March on Washington. All are invited to join An Evening Of Prayer in support of "Standing as Stone": Indigenous Nations and Allies Gather at the Washington National Cathedral beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.

The service will feature clergy and lay leaders from the Episcopal Church and various denominations and faiths, Native American leaders from throughout the country, and residents of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.  Among the speakers are Native American Episcopal Bishops Michael Smith of the Diocese of North Dakota, and Carol Gallagher, Bishop Missioner for the Bishops' Native Collaborative in the Diocese of Montana. Click here for more information.

The service will be live-webcast here.

Episcopal Church young adults, campus ministry grant applications available

Applications are now accepted for grants to assist with young adults and campus ministries in the Episcopal Church. Grants are intended to provide funding for an Episcopal ministry (or ecumenical ministry with an Episcopal presence) in a diocese, congregation, or community college/tribal college/university campus that is currently engaging or seeking a new relationship with young adults on and off college campuses. Grants are for the 2017-2018 academic year. Click here for more information.

A Women's Hózhó Center in Navajoland

By The Rev. Lauren McDonald, Addictions & Recovery Commission Co-Chair 

In late January, the Rev. Jan M. Brown and I answered an invitation from the bishop of Navajoland to travel to Farmington, New Mexico, to consult with the Episcopal Church in Navajoland (ECN) on creating a Women's Hózhó Center.

Hózhó is a Navajo word that is difficult to translate. Its meaning encompasses the concepts of living in balance, wholeness, wellness, beauty, harmony, goodness, and blessing. It's also used as a greeting. ECN is developing the Women's Hózhó Center to help women to heal from the disease of addiction, to live in balance, to set and achieve goals, to find their own voices and identity as Navajo women, and to discover sources of strength and spirituality. Using the experience we've gained leading the Women's Discovery Group at SpiritWorks, we spent the weekend in conversation with Navajo and non-Navajo clergy and laity in designing a Women's Wellness Weekend in March that will begin the programming for the Hózhó Center.

We also visited the mission church, St. Luke's in the Desert, while we were there and were humbled and delighted at the invitation to serve as celebrant and deacon that morning. Jan then facilitated a conversation at St. Luke's annual meeting in which the atmosphere moved from one of gloom at the potential of closing, to one of renewed hope and commitment to restoration and recovery. We were honored and privileged to be invited to walk alongside the Navajo people on their journey toward wholeness.

The Episcopal Church in Navajoland covers territory in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The unemployment rate on the reservation is 50% and the poverty rate is 38%. Alcoholism and addiction continue to be a challenge, with many women, especially, dying from cirrhosis of the liver. Conditions are harsh; resources are few. And yet, in our visit we saw great hope. Several of the Navajo people have attended Episcopal seminaries and are being ordained as deacons and priests. They are working to integrate Navajo culture with their Episcopal faith. They have begun developing social enterprises like the Blue Corn Project, the Bees and Honey Project, and the ShiMa' handmade soap project. They have also developed a group of coders and another group whose expertise is web and graphic design. They welcome mission teams from across the country who come to work alongside them and learn from them. They are eager to develop an ECW for their mission diocese as well as continuing to build programming for youth.

If you are interested in learning more about our work with the Navajo people, please contact Lauren McDonald, lmcdonald@brutonparish.org, or Jan Brown, jbrown@brutonparish.org. We invite you to keep the people of Navajoland in your prayers.