Plan now to participate in the Good Book Club during Lent 2018

Forward Movement is excited to announce the Good Book Club - a church-wide invitation to all Episcopalians to read Luke and Acts during Lent-Easter 2018. Participants in the Good Book Club will begin reading Luke the Sunday before Lent, February 11, 2018, and finish up the Book of Acts on the Day of Pentecost, May 20, 2018. We hope you'll join us, and the many churches, individuals and organizations who will be a part of this special project.

Several organizations have already announced partnerships with Forward Movement on the Good Book Club, including Episcopal Church Foundation, ChurchNext, Episcopal Migration Ministries, and The Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry. Partner organizations are creating resources or encouraging their constituents to take part in the effort. A list of current partners can be found  here.

The Good Book Club website (goodbookclub.org) lists the daily readings, as well as available resources to support people as they read the scriptures. Resources also will be available in Spanish at clubbiblico.org.

And a note to Forward Day by Day readers: Forward Day by Day will use Good Book Club readings during Lent-Easter 2018, instead of the usual daily lectionary.

For now, you can sign up for updates or learn more about partnering with us at goodbookclub.org. We hope you'll read along with us, and Episcopalians around the globe!

Update from Diocesan Stewardship Commission

Stewardship is a ministry in the Episcopal Church that supports the mission and ministry of the entire church. Though often thought of as the annual fund raising typically done in the fall each year, good stewardship actually reaches into every aspect of everything done every day in every parish. The question is, how can the diocese help its parishes to actually become good stewards in all the different ways out there?

This exciting and somewhat daunting task is the focus of the Diocesan Stewardship Department. Reinvigorated by the leadership of Bishop Hollerith and the Executive Committee, this group re-formed itself in 2016, with Bob Motley and Mike McGraw serving as co-chairs. To learn what was needed, parishes were surveyed on stewardship issues, and a series of informal gatherings took place around the diocese. These results now guide us in our work for 2017-18. To these two dedicated individuals - thank you for all you have done and accomplished!

The Stewardship Department is pleased to announce new co-chairs:

Mr. Al Louer (Bruton Parish, Williamsburg) 
757-253-1209, cnwry@verizon.net 

Mrs. Elise Balcom (Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach)
757-404-2451, emblaw@aol.com

We are looking for new members to join us beginning in September, 2017. If you or anyone you know is interested in joining this dynamic group, please have that person contact one the co-chairs!

Applications accepted for Episcopal delegates to March 2018 UN Commission on the Status of Women

Applications are being accepted for a provincial delegate and up to 20 churchwide delegates to represent the Episcopal Church at the 62nd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in New York City, NY, March 12-23, 2018. The delegates will be able to attend the official UNCSW proceedings at the United Nations and will represent the Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion in their advocacy at the UN, including join advocacy with the group Ecumenical Women. Click here for more information and application. Deadline to apply is September 15.

Jackson-Feild elects new officers

Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services is proud to announce the election of new officers.

Elizabeth Feild was elected Vice-Chair. Head of global Management and Professional Development for PAREXEL, Feild has more than 18 years of experience with large scale leadership development. She holds an undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University, a masters from American University, and certificates in leadership development and business coaching from Harvard and Duke. As the great-granddaughter of Mr. & Mrs. George W. Feild - donors of "Walnut Grove" - JFBHS holds a very special place in Feild's heart. Prior to job relocations to England and then Massachusetts, Feild served on the Jackson-Feild board of trustees. Now that she and her family are back in North Carolina, Feild is thrilled to once again be actively involved in continuing the mission of JFBHS.

Anne Gordon Greever was elected Chair. Greever retired as a senior counsel from the law firm of Hunton & Williams where she specialized in labor, employment and civil rights laws and had been the chair of its investment committee for ten years. Greever received under undergraduate degree from Mary Washington University and her law degree from the College of William and Mary. In 2006, she was named to the Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine. Greever has served on the board and Vice Chair of the Richmond Economic Development Authority. She is also a past Chair of the Virginia Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section. Greever first joined the Board of Trustees of Jackson-Feild Homes in 2002.

T. Darnley Adamson, III was re-elected as Secretary of the Board. Adamson has many years of experience in both the insurance and real estate fields and currently owns and operates Green Solutions, LLC, with his son. Adamson attended Hampden-Sydney College, and is active in charitable and conservation causes.

Craig A. Tilley was re-elected as Treasurer of the Board. Tilley has had an extensive career in the finance field working for major banks and corporations in Richmond and is currently a Director of Credit at Owens & Minor. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina where he received his degree in economics.

Applications now accepted for Official Youth Presence at General Convention 2018

Applications are now accepted for high school students who want to participate in the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP) at the Episcopal Church 79th General Convention to be held Thursday, July 5 to Friday, July 13, 2018 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. Click here for more info and application.

Canterbury students take part in Campus Ministry Leadership Conference

Two Old Dominion University Canterbury students took part in the Campus Ministry Leadership Conference in Austin, Texas, July 25-28. Chris Ochillo was part of the worship team and Savannah Dunlap represented the Canterbury Center at ODU. The Canterbury Center at ODU is on 49th Street, across from the campus, and offers a welcoming place for students to study, engage with scripture, worship and have meals together. 

Photo: Chris Ochillo with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. 

 

EYE17: An experience to cherish

 By Alex Devin Ellis, St. Andrew's, Newport News

Every three years, in accordance with General Convention Resolution #1982-D079, the Episcopal Church convenes an international youth event so "that the energy of the youth of the Episcopal Church can continue to be utilized in active ministry as members of the Body of Christ." This year, the 2017 Episcopal Youth Event (EYE17) welcomed nearly 1,400 participants, workshop leaders, speakers, and volunteers to the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond from July 10-14. Southern Virginia sent seven youth and two adult leaders to the EYE17 event. Below, Alex Devin Ellis, a youth participant from St. Andrew's, Newport News, shares his experience of EYE17. In the coming weeks, you can look forward to stories from the other EYE17 participants.

 

	Alex Devin Ellis at EYE17.

EYE was a special experience, one that I will cherish for my lifetime. It was great to meet people from across America. I had a blast learning new games and hanging out with them. I made a ton of friends that I still talk to, though unlike one of the bishops I don't think I found my true love at EYE. Throughout the week I got to know my fellow Diosovas (other members of the Diocese of Southern Virginia) and really felt a strong bond grow between us. Nicholas Sears and I are like brothers and will be friends for life. We even have plans for a cross country road trip along Route 66 in eight years. Caroline Tyler and I had a great time playing cards and getting to know each other and our new friends. Capitalism is a great game that most other states didn't know how to play and is now my favorite card game. It was great having people that I knew there like the members of my EYC board Clare Harbin and Anthony Alfano, but it was equally as great getting to know new faces of our Diocese, like Peter Hood and Allie Sears.

Though I had a great time with friends, it was also a deep and moving week. Tears were shed but hope was all around. We went around Oklahoma City and viewed different Museums, but when we got to the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum I already knew it was going to be hard to get through. It was a very tragic event that took the lives of many innocent people. Going through the museum I saw many things that brought tears to my eyes. There was a clock that had stopped at the exact moment that the bomb went off, that Caroline had pointed out. When I saw it I just thought of how much more that stopped at that exact moment. Though as the day went on you could feel the love and hope for a better world. As we sang and praised God, in both English and Spanish, you could definitely feel the presence of God.

I went to different sessions during the time at EYE where you could learn about different things going on in the church or about God. On the first day, I went to a session where we could talk to Bishop Curry and ask him question after he talked about the Jesus Movement. On the next day that they had these sessions I went to one where they talked about Kids4Peace and how they are trying to make peace and how you can set up one in your area. Kids4Peace is a where you bring kids from different faiths together and talk about differences and similarities and what is going on the world or in our lives. The second session I went to on that day was about a reflection on the week.

I will always remember EYE17, with all the ups and downs. The pain and the hope, the tears and the love, the fact that I lost my favorite water bottle and how I met amazing people and could have them in my life.