Bishop Vaché Scholarship applications now being accepted

The Bishop Vaché Scholarships provide funds to assist both low-income and minority undergraduate college students in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. First-year students as well as returning college students are welcome to apply. Scholarship awards range from $500-$2500 per academic year.

 

Complete application packets for 2020 must be postmarked by July 1, 2020. Notifications will go out by July 29, 2020 and awards will be mailed by August 17, 2020. Click here for an application packet.

Cool Congregations Webinar April 30

We have all seen a glimpse of cleaner air due to the constraints on human activity required by the COVID-19 pandemic. But a more lasting way to clear the air and protect our climate is to measure and reduce our carbon footprints. While you're inside flattening the curve, what better time to gather up your data and measure your carbon footprint?  Join Interfaith Power & Light for a webinar on April 30 at 3 p.m. to demonstrate the NEW Cool Congregations calculator for your congregational facilities -- and for your home too.

Click here to register.  

 

Across the country, people of faith are making changes in their homes and places of worship to prevent global warming through our Cool Congregations program. IPL's unique stewardship program helps congregations reduce the carbon footprint of their facilities and engages their members in reducing their carbon footprint at home. The program educates, inspires, and saves money too!  

 

The calculators measure the energy to heat and cool and power your buildings, transportation, food, and procurement or dollars spent on goods and services.

Check out the calculators here.

New book by the Rev. Nigel Mumford available now

The Rev. Nigel Mumford, priest associate of prayer ministry at Galilee, Virginia Beach, has written a new book, "This is Where Your Healing Begins," that is now available on Amazon.  

 

The myriad of human need for healing and the peculiar personal histories surrounding them are as numerous as all people who ever lived on the planet, and involve physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, generational, identity, relational, financial, historical, locational, racial, inter-denominational, intellectual, and other global issues of healing. Spanning nearly thirty years, this book addresses what Mumford has identified as the core issues of everyday life: disease, diagnosis, distress, pain, fear, doubt, shame, guilt and all other manner of human concern.  

 

"My prayer is that hope, in the Person of the Lord Jesus, will flow through these pages and saturate your souls with what I have learnt--as I listened, loved, and prayed healing over thousands of people," says Mumford.

 

Virtual Easter Vigil a collaboration of nine Episcopal and Lutheran churches

By Kim Lenz, Acting Communications Coordinator, Grace, Yorktown 

 

The Holy Saturday Easter Vigil, held each year on the York River shoreline, will go virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Seven Episcopal congregations along with two Lutheran congregations have been working to turn what's been an eight-year tradition of drumming, fire, processions and baptisms into a virtual Vigil for participants to experience at home. Recreating what's been a highly participatory experience of a couple hundred folks has been no small feat, but all churches involved have done their best to bring this ninth annual vigil to the people.

 

Music Director Suzanne Daniel at Grace, Yorktown, has led the technology charge to record - safely and individually - this year's participants for a YouTube broadcast that will begin at 7 p.m. this Saturday, April 11. The Rev. Thomas Haynes of Christ the King, Tabb, will give the homily. The Rev. Sven vanBaars, rector of Abingdon Church in White Marsh, and this year's lead clergy, says the decision to produce a virtual Vigil is partly to mark the resurrection as the defining moment of Christian faith, but also the opportunity to have a fuller expression of the meaning of this event. The opening prayer "reminds us that the church is dispersed around the world. Maybe in this time of social isolation, in this time of being dispersed rather than gathered together as we typically are, we can hear and experience the words of this ancient liturgy with fresh ears and hearts."

 

The Vigil on the York River has historically been a collaboration recognizing Easter as a celebration of the whole church, not just individual parishes. "With the safe distancing guidelines in place we knew that we could not do the Vigil as we had, but we also knew that it was perhaps more important to make a statement of our faith in Christ's resurrection," says vanBaars. "Luckily, our Creator has made us very creative and we used our creative spirits to bring this event together in a virtual context."

 

A bulletin for this service, which also has a link to Grace's YouTube channel where it will be broadcast, is available now on the Grace Church homepage. For those who have not been to the waterfront Vigil, click here for a video created to promote last year's event.

 

This year's participating congregations are: Grace Episcopal in Yorktown; Abingdon Episcopal in White Marsh; Ware Episcopal in Gloucester; Apostles Lutheran in Gloucester; St. George's Episcopal in Newport News; Reformation Lutheran in Newport News; Kingston Parish Episcopal in Mathews; St. John's Episcopal in West Point; and Christ the King Episcopal in Tabb.

Virtual Easter Vigil from Chanco

Even though Chanco has suspended in-person group activity, we are finding ways to stay connected to our community. Join the Rev. Eileen Walsh for a special virtual/electronic Easter Vigil at Chanco on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. via Chanco's Facebook page.  

 

The Easter Vigil is one of the oldest liturgies in the church. This service will involve readings that tell the history of salvation, music, the lighting of the Pascal candle and other candles, the ringing of bells, and the joyous celebration of the resurrection! Don't miss it! 

Great Vigil from St. John's, Portsmouth

The Great Vigil of Easter is the largest worship celebration each year at St. John's, Portsmouth. Hundreds of worshippers usually gather each year in candlelight to hear the story of salvation (using scripture, video clips, and a wide variety of sacred and secular music), renew their baptismal vows, baptize new sisters and brothers in Christ, share the Eucharistic meal, and continue feasting at an elegant reception that goes well into the night! 

 

Though this year's shelter in place order makes all that impossible, you are invited to catch a flavor of this amazing annual Easter celebration on their Facebook page as St. John's Church celebrates The Great Vigil & First Celebration of Easter Online this Saturday, 4/11, at sunset (7:42pm...the beginning of the Third Day!).

Help us connect college-bound students with Campus Ministries

In an effort to help college-bound students make connections with the Episcopal Church and Canterbury fellowship when they arrive on campus this fall, we are asking one representative from each parish (Parish Administrator, Clergy, DRE, Youth Minister) to complete the data sheet linked below for anyone in our diocese who is college-bound this fall and email it to the Youth Missioner Megan Dern, mdern@diosova.org. If you have questions, please feel free to give Megan a call at 757-213-3393.  

 

Click for College-bound Students Data Sheet

 

The diocesan-sponsored Canterbury ministries at the College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampden-Sydney College, and Longwood University are eager to welcome new students and the information you provide will help facilitate that connection.  However, we want to make sure students are able to get in touch with a ministry wherever they go, even if it is not at one of the aforementioned universities. This is a great opportunity to support our youth and young adults as they go off into the world and to help continue to foster their relationships with the Episcopal Church. Thank you in for your help in gathering this information! 

 

Celebrating graduating seniors

Also, we are currently looking at different avenues to celebrate graduating seniors.  We know that with the school year cut short and many events cancelled, that seniors are not able to celebrate in ways that they have seen other classes be celebrated.  If you are interested in participating in this conversation, have seniors that you think might be interested in participating, or are doing something cool within your parish, please contact Youth Missioner Megan Dern, mdern@diosova.org.