ECW Annual Spring Meeting; updated Yearbook

Jackson-Feild Homes will host the ECW Annual Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 20. Come join us as we learn about the deep roots the ECW have with Jackson-Feild. A tour of the campus will include the Marshall Cottage which was renovated using the gift from the ECW last fall. To register for the meeting, contact Tia Morings, 757-650-8809 or morings1@gmail.com by May 10

. Registration cost is $20 per person. Please advise Tia of any dietary restrictions. Money will be collected during meeting check-in. Registration deadline is May 10, 2017.

2017 ECW Yearbook & Parish Directory now available
The ECW Yearbook and Parish Directory, updated for 2017, is now available as a PDF file. If you would like a copy, please contact Ann Turner, aturner@diosova.org or 757-213-3388.

William & Mary Canterbury hosts Silent Auction & Gala

Click here for more information about the Canterbury Association's Silent Auction & Gala.

Space is filling at Camp Chanco - register today!

Chanco is gearing up for its busiest summer season with paddle boarding, rock wall climbing, zip lining, arts and crafts, silly skits, songs & games along with a Chaplain program within a fantastic Christian community for ages 8-16.  You won't want to miss this summer! Click here for a 2017 summer camp promo video to see all the fun happening at Chanco. Still not convinced? Visit us at our open house May 7 from 1 to 5 p.m. and see for yourself! Then visit www.chanco.org to register today! Questions? Contact us at director@chanco.org or 888-7CHANCO (888-724-2626). See you soon!

Easter message from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

It's taken me some years to realize it, but Jesus didn't just happen to be in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He wasn't on vacation. He wasn't just hanging out in town. Jesus was in Jerusalem on purpose. He arrived in Jerusalem about the time of the Passover when pilgrims were in the city. When people's hopes and expectations for the dawn of freedom that Moses had promised in the first Passover might suddenly be realized for them in their time.

Jesus arranged his entrance into Jerusalem to send a message. He entered the city, having come in on one side of the city, the scholars tell us, at just about the same time that Pontius Pilate made his entrance on the exact opposite side of the city. Pilate, coming forth on a warhorse. Pilate, with soldiers around him. Pilate, with the insignias of Rome's Empire. Pilate, representing the Caesars who claimed to be son of god. Pilate, who had conquered through Rome the people of Jerusalem. Pilate, representing the Empire that had taken away their freedom. Pilate, who represented the Empire that would maintain the colonial status of the Jewish people by brute force and violence.

Jesus entered the city on the other side, not on a warhorse, but on a donkey, recalling the words of Zechariah:

Behold your King comes to you

Triumphant and victorious is He

Humble and riding on a donkey

Jesus entered the city at the same time as Pilate to show them, and to show us, that God has another way. That violence is not the way. That hatred is not the way. That brute force and brutality are not the way.

Jesus came to show us there is another way. The way of unselfish, sacrificial love. That's why he entered Jerusalem. That's why he went to the cross. It was the power of that love poured out from the throne of God, that even after the horror of the crucifixion would raise him from death to life.

God came among us in the person of Jesus to start a movement. A movement to change the face of the earth. A movement to change us who dwell upon the earth. A movement to change the creation from the nightmare that is often made of it into the dream that God intends for it.

He didn't just happen to be in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. He went to Jerusalem for a reason. To send a message. That not even the titanic powers of death can stop the love of God.  On that Easter morning, he rose from the dead, and proclaimed love wins.

So you have a blessed Easter. Go forth to be people of the Resurrection. Follow in the way of Jesus. Don't be ashamed to love. Don't be ashamed to follow Jesus.

Have a blessed Easter.  And bless the world.  Amen.

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The message is available in Spanish and French here. Video available here.

Residential Education Day at Boys Home, Covington

The Rev. Bill Jones honored with community leadership award

The Rev. Bill Jones and his wife, Lynn

The Rev. Bill Jones retired as our diocesan Archdeacon, but he's still busy in ministry, and last Thursday received the Ann and Don King Community Leadership Award from HomeAgain, a Richmond organization devoted to helping families and individuals experiencing homelessness secure and maintain a Home, Again. Deacon Bill has served on the HomeAgain board for 11 years, and was honored and humbled to receive this award. Deacon Bill continues to serve every Sunday at St. David's, Richmond.

April is UTO Ingathering month

April is here and you know what that means - it is time for the semiannual United Thank Offering Ingathering.

The United Thank Offering is an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Church that was founded in 1889. It is a personal and family devotional program of the Episcopal Church encouraging men, women, and children to share their thankfulness to God through daily prayer and offerings. By embracing this devotional program, we are reminded to be prayer oriented first and then we are encouraged to give tangible thanks for our blessings as an offering or thanksgiving to God. Each year, the offerings collected are given away in the form of grants. These grants focus on meeting compelling human needs and on expanding the mission and ministry of the church at home and throughout the world. Through these grants, those less fortunate can come to know the love of God.

Where does the money go? Every penny goes to grants. The 2016 UTO grant cycle awarded 32 grants totaling $1,161,314.62. These grants were awarded to projects in 32 dioceses, which included 25 dioceses located in the United States, five non-domestic dioceses, six companion dioceses, one grant to the Episcopal Migration Ministries, and one Presiding Bishop grant.

Please give generously to the 2017 UTO Spring Ingathering. Even the smallest donations, when added together, can make a huge difference in the lives of others.

Contact Ronda Toll, ECW Diocesan UTO Coordinator, rtoll@cox.net or 757-869-8873 for UTO literature, materials, supplies, or for more information.