Liturgical resource for Day of Repentance & Reconciliation

Annual Council Resolution R-1 (2013) resolved that "November 2, 2014, All Souls Day, will be designated as the 'Day of Repentance and Reconciliation' in the Diocese of Southern Virginia and parishes will annually hold this observance during the octave of All Saints."

We encourage all parishes to live into R-1 and plan a meaningful service during the octave of All Saints. In the diocesan service we used a story format.  "Repentance, Reconciliation and Healing: A liturgical resource for congregations" follows the format of Holy Women, Holy Men. This booklet offers several options for readings and psalms.  

If you need further assistance or have questions, please contact Canon Caroline Black, cblack@diosova.org, or a member of the Repairers of the Breach Commission.  

Day of Repentance & Reconciliation events

St. George's, Pungoteague will hold a Solemn Evening Prayer for Racial Justice on Sunday Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m.. Celtic and Appalachian hymns by fiddler David Kohut.
 

Good Shepherd, Norfolk, will host a series of events leading up to a Holy Eucharist for Repentance, Reconciliation and Healing for the Sin of Racism at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Sunday, November 1, 7:00 pm - Hymn Sing. All are invited to come together for a good old fashioned hymn sing. There choirs and musicians from the local community joining us. Please come out and raise the rafters! There will be a reception and nursery! Bring your kids! Monday, November 2, Dinner 6:00 pm, Presenter 6:30 pm - Aditi Dutt, Family Educator at Bon Secours Health System, will speak to us on the topic of cultural diversity. Appropriate for teens and adults, we encourage all to come and engage this important topic. Nursery provided. Wednesday, November 4, Dinner 6:00 pm, Presenter 6:30 pm - Anthony Holley, Youth Advisor and Board Member at Teens With a Purpose, along with some of the youth involved with TWP, will present on their work with teens and their mission to raise up the next generation of leaders. Especially appropriate for teens, please encourage your youth to attend. Adults are also welcome. Nursery provided. Thursday, November 5 , 7 p.m. - Holy Eucharist for Repentance, Reconciliation, and Healing for the Sin of Racism. Join us as we finish our week of song, presentations, and reflection with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Deacon Candidate Genevieve Nelson will be our guest preacher. A reception in the Narthex will follow the service. Nursery provided.

St. Augustine's, Newport News; St. Cyprians, Hampton; St. John's, Hampton; and Emmanuel, Hampton, will be coming together for a service of Repentance, Reconciliation and Healing at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8.  The service will take place at St. John's, Hampton.  Four choirs will present a special anthem in addition to a performance by Weyanoke. Weyanoke is an a cappella vocal ensemble specializing in the songs and stories of the African Diaspora. Canon Michael Spear-Jones will be preaching. This service is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a wider community and reflect on our history while embracing a hope filled vision for the future. In this service we acknowledge that we are called as a Christian community to repent of our sins so that we can be reconciled and one day healed. After the service there will be a reception that is hosted by the St. John's young adult group with contributions from all of the participating churches. 

St. George's, Newport News, invites you to join them for an evening of fellowship and prayer on Thursday, November 5. Acknowledging the sin of racism in our past and in our present, they will gather for a time of repentance, reconciliation and healing. All are welcome. There will be a free dinner at 6 p.m. and the service will begin at 7 p.m. Clergy, please vest and process - green or multicolored stoles. St. George's is located at 15446 Warwick Blvd., Newport News. Call 757-877-0088 for more information.

ECW Board members installed at Fall Annual Meeting

By Nancy Smith, St. Aidan's, Virginia Beach     

 

Folks woke up to ice-coated windshields in Clarksville on October 18. St. Timothy's, Clarksville, ECW, led by Jean Crowe, ECW President, welcomed women who traveled across the diocese to the ECW Fall Annual Meeting that morning, with fresh-baked donuts and hot coffee.

The principal business at ECW Fall Annual Meetings is the installation of new board members. During the Celebration of Holy Eucharist, the Very Reverend Dr. Susan Grimm, Rector, St. Timothy's, Clarksville, installed the ECW board members: Kathy Haney, Recording Secretary, Christ Church, Danville; Andrea Morgan, Prayer/Worship Chair, Trinity, Portsmouth; Louise Boss, Second Vice President, Christ Church, Eastville/Bridgetown and Deborah Austin, Church Periodical Club Director, St. Mark's, Suffolk. They will serve a two-year term beginning in January 2016.

Megan-Drew Tiller, Church Relations, the Boys Home of Virginia, and Tod Balsbaugh, Vice President of Advancement, Jackson-Feild Homes attended the meeting and received contributions from parishes for God Bless the Children: ECW's 2015-16 Outreach Project. At lunch Molly Kratt, a member of St. Timothy's, shared Seven Stylish Tips for Tying Your Scarf.

ECW dues, $3 per member, are due November 1. Technically, all Episcopal Church Women, are members of ECW. Two dollars ($2) fund donations given to recipients in the diocese, nation and the world through the ECW Diocesan Budget. Imagine what sizable donations those would be, if every women in diocese gave $3. For information about recipients go to the ECW page at www.diosova.org.

PHOTO: The Very Reverend Dr. Susan Grimm, Rector, St. Timothy's, Clarksville, installed ECW board members at the Fall Annual Meeting October 18. Back row, l. to r.: Kathy Haney, Recording Secretary,Christ Church, Danville and Rev. Susan Grimm. Front row, l. to r.: Andrea Morgan, Prayer/Worship Chair, Trinity, Portsmouth; Louise Boss, Second Vice President, Christ Church, Eastville/Bridgetown; Presenter, Nancy Sands, ECW Diocesan President, Christ Church, Danville and Deborah Austin, Church Periodical Club Director, St. Mark's, Suffolk.

Women-to-Women expanding ministry in Africa

By Susan Broaddus, Christ & St. Luke's, Norfolk 

Women-to-Women have decided to expand from helping only Bukavu Diocese to also helping the new Diocese of Kamango which is being formed out of the Diocese of North Kivu near the Uganda border. Pictured here is Madame Damalie Tibafa (she's the one with the Christ & St. Luke's apron), wife of bishop-elect Canon Sabiti Tibafa who is currently Vice-Chancellor of the Anglican University in Bunia. Here in 2013, she is teaching me to cook a squash and tomato dish, one of my favorites. As the Bishop's wife, she will head the Mothers' Union in that Diocese. Happily, she is trained to do so and was the Provincial Mothers' Union Rep years ago. Help us help them by joining Women-to-Women on Monday, November 2 at 7 p.m. at 1323 Lafayette Blvd., Norfolk. Call Susan Broaddus for directions: 757-613-7004.

Jackson-Feild joins American Association of Children's Residential Centers

Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services has joined the American Association of Children's Residential Centers (AACRC), a 160-member organization now including eight in Virginia that treat children and adolescents with behavioral health disorders.

 

The AACRC believes that children and adolescents, and their families, are entitled to treatment which offers the maximum opportunity for growth and change. AACRC focuses on advancing professional knowledge, increasing public understanding about mental health in children, identifying and sharing information on emerging mental health practices, educating policy makers regarding treatment efforts, and supporting behavioral health organizations in order to provide high quality mental health services.

 

Jackson-Feild is very pleased to be a member of this worthwhile organization.

Be the first to have a 2016 Camp Chanco t-shirt!

NEW for 2016 Chanco is offering Winter Camp January 15-17, 2016.  Many of our Camp Chanco counselors will be returning to provide camp programming (minus aquatics, of course!) to our campers for a weekend of fun in God's great outdoors! Archery, low ropes course, zip lines, crafts, fun skits and games are just a few of the fun camp activities that will be provided. This session is for ages 7-12 and offers our youngest campers a chance to return to Chanco during the school year, invite a new friend and/or try Chanco for the first time before attending a full session next summer! Free 2016 summer camp t-shirts for all who attend! The cost is $125 and registration is live at www.chanco.org. Questions? Contact Executive Director Gareth Kalfas at director@chanco.org or 888-7CHANCO (888-724-2626).  

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori: I am deeply grateful for what god has been up to in the midst of our journey together

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued the following statement:  "The Episcopal Church has come a long way in the last 10 years.  We are no longer consumed by internal conflict over various social issues.  We are clearer about who we are - a multinational church, with congregations in 17 nations, worshipping in countless different languages, thriving in international, immigrant, and multicultural contexts everywhere, and discovering the abundant life that comes in turning outward to love the neighbors nearby and far away.  We are far more conscious about our vocation as partners in the mission of God to reconcile and heal the world, particularly shaped by the Five Anglican Marks of Mission.  We are holding our identity as Episcopal Christians a bit more confidently, even in the midst of our diversity.  We are also more willing to hold that identity lightly and gracefully in engaging other Christians and people of other religious traditions, searching for what we dream of in common - shalom, the Reign of God, a more just and peaceful world, with abundant life for all creation.

I am deeply grateful for what God has been up to in the midst of our journey together, and I look forward to seeing how this church of the middle way will continue to lead and partner as we travel the road home, into God's fullest dream of abundant life for all.  I thank the people of this Church and beyond for your prayers over the last nine years - especially in recognition that we do this work together, never alone.  May God bless the next chapter of The Episcopal Church's engagement in God's mission, as we go together into Galilee!"

Praying for the churches of Southern Virginia

As part of our liturgy at Annual Council 2015, each delegation wrote a prayer for their parish. We are sharing these prayers each week in the eNews so that we all can support one another in the upcoming year.

Emmanuel, Hampton
heavenly Father, we pray for guidance to help us fulfill our baptismal covenant and responsibility as stewards of your gifts and word. help us to attend to the needs of others and focus on the number of lives changed for the better as a result of our inreach, outreach, and all o four ministries. We recognize that we will face challenges and we will rely on your teachings, love and blessings to help us maintain the strength and compassion to serve our community, each other and you as we work through trials and tribulations. Through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

All Saints, Virginia Beach
God of wisdom, God of grace, we give you thanks for the life and witness of All Saints, Virginia Beach. We pray for a continuation of faithful witness to youth, children, and families of all ages so that all may know Christ's love and make Christ known through worship, music, formation and outreach  all to the glory of God and the furtherance of God's Kingdom. All this we pray through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ and St. Luke's, Norfolk
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe. You have created us and sustained us, and allowed us to reach this moment. For this and your many blessings, we are forever grateful. Please guide and bless all those who answer your call in this church, especially as we consider the future of Christ and St. Luke's Church community. Enliven them to openly listen and respond to your indwelling Holy Spirit; in themselves and in other. Strengthen their bonds of communal love and service. When they doubt, tire or disagree in their work, let them be open to discerning your guidance, and be centered in serving you to make plans and decisions in harmony with your reign on earth. Protect us and keep us attentive to the needs of our clergy, our leaders, our staff, our members, our neighbors, and ourselves. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.