From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference

Starting January 18 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), The Episcopal Church launches "From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference,” a campaign urging Episcopalians and our neighbors to engage in the spiritual practice of listening and honest conversation across the many differences that separate us, starting with four simple questions: What do you love? What have you lost? Where does it hurt? What do you dream? Read more here.

The Episcopal Church launches 2021 Absalom Jones Fund Campaign to assist Episcopal Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry invites Episcopalians to deepen their participation in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation by dedicating offerings at observances of the Feast of Absalom Jones (February 13) and making individual donations to support St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, NC, and Voorhees College in Denmark, SC, two historically black Episcopal institutions of higher education. Click here for more information.

Episcopal Church Young Adult Service Corps: Application open for 2021-2022 placements

Deadline: February 19, 2021

Applications are now being accepted for 2021-2022 placements with the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC), the international missionary program of The Episcopal Church. YASC offers Episcopalians ages 21-30 the opportunity to follow the Way of Love deeper relationship with God and the global Anglican Church while spending a year living and working with communities around the world. Click here for more information.

Project Resource offers Spring 2021 Stewardship Training

Giving of oneself financially unlocks a part of our hearts where God can do incredible work, both in us and through us. As part of our baptismal covenant, we believe we are called to reconcile ourselves to one another and to God. Fundraising is not a means to an end. Rather, fundraising as ministry is a radical act of reconciliation; a process that can both draw the giver closer to God and repair an unjust world. Project Resource provides the tools to inspire radical generosity and engage faith communities in this life-changing work. Join us on the journey of changing a culture of stewardship in The Episcopal Church.

Project Resource's Spring 2021 Training will be offered on six consecutive Sundays, April 18 to May 23, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Project Resource trainings equip stewardship teams to plan and develop year-round stewardship ministries that can be replicated and adapted for years to come. An ideal church team would consist of at least three members including the clergy person, stewardship committee chair, and other committed lay leaders. Click here for more information and registration.

During times of national unrest, a reminder that God is in charge

A message from Bishop Haynes

January 6, 2021

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Before God created, there was only God. Otherwise, there was a formless void, and a thick impenetetrable darkness. However, along with that darkness, there was movement. That movement was God’s breath, pushing and stirring through the darkness and into the voids. Into the emptiness. That breath powered forth the generative words of God which said, “Let there be light.” Light. God’s first creative act. Light that penetrates, illumines, and generates. And it is GOOD.   It might be safe to assume that most of us experienced the events of national turmoil from yesterday as a time of darkness…a frightening time that threatened to jettison us into an empty void. Faith leaders all over the country called us to prayer. Prayer is indeed essential and the one sure way that we can join with the life-generating Light of God. And so yes, let us indeed pray!   When we pray, we are reminded of who God is. God is the One who was there in the beginning. God is the One who will be there in the end. And God is the One whose spirit moves even now through our current darkness and into our empty voids. God’s breath pushes and stirs, even now, to generate life. Our prayers help us to join with Him in His Kingdom-generating voice.   Please consider this as an invitation from your Bishop to turn off the disturbing scenes of your television and social media and open your Books of Common Prayer, your Bibles, and your devotional books. Make contact with the Light of Christ and then turn and be that Light to someone else.   O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Mission from Morning Prayer II, Book of Common Prayer, p. 100)   O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Guidance, Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)   O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Quiet Confidence, Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)   Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose of the way of your servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation; that, among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by your gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Protection, Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)

Jackson-Feild – Celebrating the past and embracing the future

While ministering to the people of Norfolk during the 1855 yellow fever epidemic, the Rev. William M. Jackson, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, believed that “a Christian minister’s post in a time of trial was in the bosom of his flock, watching by the bed of death, comforting the bereaved, and encouraging the faith of the weakhearted.”¹

As the disease ravaged the communities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, there was a growing number of orphans left to fend for themselves…no family…no funds…little hope.

On August 27, 1855, Jackson was asked by a relief organization if he would “assume the care of the children made orphans by the pestilence. His noble reply was that if there were five hundred orphans, he would pledge the Church to be responsible for them; and from this time forth he took upon him the heavy burden of providing for them. The lecture-room of Christ Church, now Christ & St. Luke’s, was converted into a temporary asylum for them, and it was a pleasant thing for him to go in and cheer the sad hearts of the desolate little ones.”2   In October 1855, near the end of the epidemic, Jackson succumbed to the disease. In February 1856, the Virginia General Assembly approved the formation of the Episcopal Orphan Asylum, funded and operated by the parishes of St. Paul’s and Christ Church (later Christ & St. Luke’s). The home for children was later renamed The Jackson Orphan Asylum in memory of the man who did so much for the people of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and who literally gave his life for them. Initially the Asylum served boys and girls but somewhere along the line decided to serve only girls.   In 1920, the Rev. Norman F. Marshall – rector of Meherrin Parish and grandson of First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Marshall – started a movement in Purdy, Virginia to found a home for girls. His effort was an outgrowth of a nationwide Campaign of the Protestant Episcopal church of America. Marshall’s Episcopal Home for Girls was established in the unused rectory of Grace Church in Emporia. In 1922, Mr.& Mrs. George Feild donated their ancestral property – Walnut Grove – to the Home. A year later, after extensive renovations were completed, the girls relocated to the house. In 1925, The Jackson Orphan Asylum and the Episcopal Home for Girls merged to become Jackson-Feild Episcopal Home for Girls.

In those early-20th century years, the Jackson-Feild Episcopal Home for Girls was an operating farm led by Superintendent Miss Edith “Ma” Gage. The staff and children lived their lives much as any family would. They grew and preserved their own food, raised chickens and dairy cows, maintained an orchard, and attended public school and Grace church.   The 1950s brought significant change to Jackson-Feild. Foster care homes – rather than orphanages – became the preferred environment for children in need of out-of-home care, particularly children who were abused and neglected. In response, the Board of Trustees approved a change in focus to serve at-risk children.

In 1955, a rectory was built for Jackson-Feild’s chaplain, but the greatest amount of growth came in the 1960s and 1970s. Until 1960, when Rogers Cottage was built, all the children slept in the home’s bedrooms, meals were cooked in the kitchen and served in the dining room, and the administrative staff worked out of various rooms. In 1963, the Edith Gage dining hall was built followed by the Lallie Darden Cottage in 1967, the Robinson-Withers gym in 1971, All Saints Chapel in 1979, and Gwaltney Cottage in 1992. (photo: groundbreaking for Darden Cottage in 1967)

 

In 1994, Gwaltney School was established in order to provide academic instruction to children as part of their overall program of care. To date, nearly 200 students have earned either their high school diploma or GED while at Jackson-Feild.

 

Jackson-Feild again adapted to the needs of children and became a residential psychiatric treatment program in the early 2000’s. Accredited by The Council on Accreditation, a variety of mental health services are provided including Neurotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and more. In 2012 Jackson-Feild at the request of public agencies decided to again serve boys.

 

Today, Jackson-Feild is a behavioral health organization treating children with severe emotional disorders. Utilizing a trauma-informed, trauma-focused approach, it serves 100+ children a year.

 

For 165 years, Jackson-Feild Homes has given hope, help, and healing to children. Its ability to meet their needs has never wavered, and while Jackson-Feild celebrates its past it also embraces its future.

www.jacksonfeild.org

 

¹ Rev. George D. Cummins, The Life of the Rev. William M. Jackson, (New York, Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1856) 69

 

² Cummins, Rev. William M. Jackson, 76-77

Diocesan virtual service for Christmas 1

As a gift to the Diocese, the Diocesan Office staff, in conjunction with diocesan liturgists, will be offering worship on Christmas 1, December 27. Our worship service will be offered virtually to the entire diocese and will be accessed via the diocesan website, YouTube channel and Facebook. It will also be an opportunity for the diocese to worship together during one of the most joyful times of the year. The service recording will be available for on-demand viewing after Dec. 27. O Come Let Us Adore Him!