Advisory Council for the Stewardship of Creation accepts applications for grants

The Episcopal Church Advisory Council for the Stewardship of Creation is accepting applications again for grants that focus on local faith-based projects for mitigating climate change and safeguarding the integrity of Creation. The Episcopal Church Advisory Council for the Stewardship of Creation, enabled by Resolution A030, Create Task Force On Climate Change, approved at General Convention 2015, will make recommendations for grants up to $10,000. Click here for application information. Application deadline is March 31.

Episcopal Church relaunches Episcopal Volunteers in Mission

As the Episcopal Church relaunches Episcopal Volunteers in Mission, interested adult candidates are invited to consider opportunities for sharing and learning in locales throughout the Anglican Communion. Through Episcopal Volunteers in Mission, lay or ordained adult Episcopalians (ages 30+) devote six to 12 months volunteering in an area of the Anglican Communion. While the ministry of presence is of prime importance, volunteers have previously contributed as teachers, accountants, doctors, administrators, theologians, agriculturalists, chaplains, and many other areas of ministry.

Click here for information, application and requirements. For more information contact Elizabeth Boe, eboe@episcopalchurch.org or 212-716-6381.

James Solomon Russell - Saint Paul's College Museum seeking support

	James Solomon Russell

The Saint Paul's College Museum Committee and the James Solomon Russell Commemoration Committee have joined forces to establish the James Solomon Russel/Saint Paul's College Museum and Archives in Lawrenceville, VA. The museum will preserve and display materials from Saint Paul's College. Most of the materials have been collected and housed in the Tourism Office under the authority of the Brunswick County Board of Supervisors. The County's Board of Supervisors has granted the committee use of the old Board of Education building at 219 N. Main Street, Lawrenceville, for displays and other museum uses.

 

The Museum Committee members are: Chairman-James Grimstead; Vice Chair-Bobby Conner; Secretary-Teya Whitehead; Treasurer-Regina Gordon; and members Carolyn Lofton, Gloria W. Menyweather-Woods, Barbara W. Malone, Sylvia Allen, Rev. Dr. Terrence Walker, Shirley Grimstead, Rev. Carlton Powell, Dr. Angela Parker, Hardi Jones, Alice W. Harris, Cleo Goodwyn, Brenda Herrington, Iris Jones, Marian H. Parker, Rob Rhodes, Stanley W. Johnson and Dr. Virginia Russell (Emeritus).

 

The committee's goal is to secure the legacy of the late Dr. James Solomon Russell in perpetuity by establishing a museum worthy of this cause. The committee's next step is to obtain non-profit incorporation (pending) and federal 501(c)3 tax exempt status.   Currently, our greatest need is for a computer setup, museum software, a copier and office supplies at a cost of approximately $2000. Donations to support the museum may be sent to: JSR/SPC Museum & Archives, PO Box 551, Lawrenceville, VA 23868.

Leadership Program for Musicians Spring Workshop on March 11

The Leadership Program for Musicians (LPM) will present their spring workshop, "Keyboards, Percussion, Guitars, Oh My! Alternative Expressions of Praise and Worship", on March 11 at Church of the Messiah in Fredericksburg, VA. The workshop will be led by Music Director Keith Tan and Rector, the Rev. Shirley Smith Graham of Christ Church in Glen Allen, VA. Cost is $45 per person. Click here for more information and registration form.

Episcopal Church Foundation hosts Church Leadership Conference at Kanuga

The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) has partnered with Kanuga to produce the Church Leadership Conference, February 17-19, featuring keynote speaker is award-winning author and blogger Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday is her latest book and many read her Washington Post article, "Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church 'cool.'." Featured speaker is the Rev. Canon Frank Logue, of the Diocese of Georgia and blogger at The Loose Canon.

 

The conference also offers a tremendous line-up of workshops that, in addition to ECF staff,  features presenters from many of our partners throughout the Episcopal Church including Episcopal Relief and Development, Forward Movement, Center for Religion and the Environment. More information and registration is available here.  

Episcopal black bishops poster, booklet available

Updated versions of the poster and booklet featuring all 42 black bishops who have been elected in the Episcopal Church prior to two recent elections are now available from the Office of Black Ministries. The men and women featured in the materials include: the first black bishop in the Episcopal Church, Bishop James Theodore Augustus Holly, consecrated in 1874 as the Bishop of the Diocese of Haiti; the first African-American woman bishop, the Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris of Massachusetts; and the first African-American Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry. The Venerable Carl Wright was elected Bishop Suffragan for Armed Services and Federal Ministries on September 20, 2016, and the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis on October 28, 2016. Get more info and order the materials here.

Absalom Jones Celebration on Feb. 12

The Annual Absalom Jones Celebration will take place at St. Francis, Virginia Beach, February 12 at 4 p.m.  Everyone is invited to attend. A reception will follow the service.

To include your acolytes and choir in the service, contact St. Francis at 757-340-6884.

After founding a black congregation in 1794, Absalom Jones was the first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church, in 1804. He is listed on the Episcopal calendar of saints and remembered liturgically on the date of his death, February 13.