Letters to the parishes
from Treasurer John Meek and PB&R Chairman Spencer Coleman
requesting your 2013 pledge to the diocese are being mailed this week.
Please look for them in your mail and direct them to the appropriate
people. Two are being sent to each parish - one to the senior warden and
one to the rector, vicar or priest-in-charge. A 2013 pledge form is
enclosed in the letter addressed to the senior warden. The pledge form
needs to be sent to the diocesan office by December 1 in order for the
PB&R Committee to complete the 2013 budget in time for the Executive
Board meeting in January. Thank you.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Open Enrollment for health plans begins today!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Safe Church training now required for Lay Licensing
Please
be advised that effective immediately all persons applying for lay
licensing will need current Child and Adult Safe Church certification.
The Adult module is available as 3 hour classroom training. Please
consult the diocesan website
to see currently scheduled training sessions and register online. The
Child module may be completed as classroom training as noted above or
online by contacting Judy Rieken via e-mail at jrieken@diosova.org. Please send your name, home address, a contact phone number, and the parish you attend.
History-making change coming to Jackson-Feild Homes
By Tod Balsbaugh, Jackson-Feild Homes
After 157 years of serving only girls, Jackson-Feild Homes (JFH) will soon accept boys into its Adolescent Psychiatric Program. Children who come to JFH have poor family relationships and support. They live in environments filled with substance abuse. They are all-too-familiar with the court systems and social service systems having received numerous in-home, community-based, and residential services. They have suffered serious emotional trauma as the result of abuse and/or neglect.
In
2010, JFH developed its Trauma Focused Treatment model and as a result
of the tremendously successful strides made in the treatment of girls,
agencies across the Commonwealth that place children into residential
facilities have been asking JFH to accept boys as well as girls. Trauma,
abuse and neglect knows no gender. In fact, the majority of children
currently served by the Commonwealth of Virginia are boys, yet until now
there has been no residential treatment facility available to meet the
needs of severely traumatized boys. After much thoughtful and prayerful
consideration, the Board of Trustees approved the recommendation to
accept boys into its Adolescent Psychiatric Program. JFH anticipates
that the first will arrive on campus within the month. Safeguards and
security are already in place to ensure that this history-making change
will proceed smoothly and successfully.
Jackson-Feild is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation to provide residential treatment services.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Two Southern Virginia Episcopalians are LPM students this year
Two Southern
Virginia Episcopalians are among the twelve students in Central
Virginia's Leadership Program for Musicians (LPM), which began its
2012-2013 year of classes last weekend. Enrolled are Augusta Arthur from
Johns Memorial, Farmville and Bruce Dersch from Christ and Grace,
Petersburg.
In all this year
there are six Episcopalians, four Lutherans, and two United Methodists.
LPM is a continuing education program in church music, worship, and
liturgy open to people in all denominations who love church Music and
want to learn more about it. In the classes you'll find professional church
musicians, choir members, people on Worship and Music committee,
Clergy, and, well, enthusiastic members of congregations. At the completion of the two year program, students receive a Certificate of Church Music from the National LPM organization.
Classes meet
monthly for five months on a Friday night and all day Saturday for this
year's four courses - Leading Congregational Song, Resources for an
Effective Music Ministry, Hymnody of the Christian Church, and
Philosophy of Church Music. LPM is sponsored by the Episcopal Church and
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Find complete details of
the program at www.lpm-va.org.
Southern Virginia contributes over $27,000 to Rebuild Our Church in Haiti
By Teresa S. Mathes, Program Director, Episcopal Church Foundation
As Rebuild Our
Church in Haiti transitions to the Church Development Office, I'm taking
the opportunity to thank people for their leadership and support, but
this email is high up on my list of favorites. As of September 7,
Episcopal Church Foundation had received $27,716 in gifts from the
Diocese of Southern Virginia.
This project has
been a gratifying experience of collaboration between clergy and laity,
between the church's organizational structures and the imaginative
parishioner in the pew. It represents the Episcopal Church at its best.
Thousands of congregations and individuals from 92 dioceses have
contributed over $2.8 million, mostly in small gifts. About 60 dioceses
ran active campaigns for the project, many like Southern Virginia while
doing other significant work as well. The remaining support came through
the open source nature of the project, which made it available to
anyone with a phone and internet access. The funds we have raised will
be transferred to the Episcopal Church office, where they will be
disbursed according to a written protocol developed in collaboration
with Bishop Duracin.
Clearly, there
will be much to do in Haiti for years to come, but you have helped to
lay the foundation on which they will rebuild. You can follow the
progress of our project here.
Editor's Note:
A very grateful thanks is extended to Barbara Byers of Good Shepherd,
Norfolk, for spearheading and coordinating the very successful
fundraising effort for Haiti here in Southern Virginia.
22nd Annual LARCUM Conference in Richmond
LARCUM
(Lutherans, Anglicans, Roman Catholics and United Methodists in
Covenant) will hold its twenty-second annual conference in churches in
the Lakeside area of Richmond November 30 and December 1. John Borelli,
Special Assistant for Interreligious Activities at Georgetown University
will speak about the significance and continual ecumenical influence of
the Second Vatican Council. Also present will be our bishops who will
lead us forward in living out the LARCUM Covenant. Further information,
schedules and registration forms may be found on the diocesan website or by contacting the Rev. Paul Phillips at phpccity@verizon.net.
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