Juneteenth Celebration at Bruton Parish

A service commemorating Juneteenth will be held on June 19 at 9 am in the Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Churchyard. Join us as we remember and celebrate the day when all American slaves were declared to be free. It took until June 19, 1865 to get the message to a group of slaves in Galveston, Texas, who had not been told they were free. The holiday is meant to commemorate the emancipation of 4 million slaves, but particularly the small handful who weren't aware that emancipation had come months earlier (250,000). 

 

This service will include a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, the singing of Lift Every Voice and Sing, known as the Black National Anthem, a presentation of the Juneteenth Flag, remarks by the Rev. Willis R. Foster, Sr., in addition to a Litany of Repentance. The Right Rev. Susan B. Haynes will be present for the Commissioning for the Ministry of Justice and Reconciliation. Join us as we remember and celebrate the day when all American slaves were declared to be free. Please wear a mask and observe social distancing.

Registration open for upcoming session of Virtual Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency course

Registration is now open for a special Virtual Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency Course (VELMC), an innovative five-day intensive course designed for diocesan staff, clergy, lay leaders, and seminarians to gain practical knowledge and cultural competency for Latino/Hispanic ministry. The course will be conducted online in English, August 10-14, 2020.

The five-day VELMC includes 20 hours of online classroom presentations, worship services, and group dialogue, with comfortable breaks and an ample lunch time factored in from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (EDT) each day. VELMC has an Early Bird registration rate of $250, if registered by July 3.  Regular registration of $300 has a deadline of August 3. Click here to register. 

United Thank Offering presents the Inaugural Great EpisGOpal Race

The United Thank Offering (UTO) invites all to support the 2020 Ingathering by joining them in gratitude, grabbing a pair of sneakers, and racing YOUR way in the Great EpisGOpal Virtual Race. Anytime between July 22 - July 31, choose a preferred mode and distance and race to raise money for COVID-19 relief. Participants can bike a 10K, run a half marathon, skate a mile, and more-the options are limitless. All of the funds that are raised will be collected for the 2020 UTO Ingathering and dispersed to ministries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking for some friendly competition? Start a team with friends, church, or diocese and see how far the team can collectively go. Prefer to keep your sneakers in the closet? Sign up and invite others to donate to a personal page. Registration is just $15 with the option to purchase a race shirt with an amazing original design by Chris Corbin.    

 

Click here for more information about the EpisGOpal Race and how you can participate. 

Family camping at Chanco

Did COVID foil your family vacation plans? We have the answer for you - Chanco is now open for family camping! Guests may enjoy kayaking, canoeing, swimming, paddle boarding, hiking, campfires, and fishing along the beach - just to name a few of our fantastic outdoor activities. With options ranging from campsite camping to renting fully equipped homes, we have the vacation option for you! Click here for more detailed information including a "Welcome to Chanco Family Camping" packet, a suggested packing list and more. Click here for a family camping reservation form to email to us at hospitality@chanco.org or contact us at 888-724-2626 to make your reservation today! Welcome back to the magical forest!

An invitation to watch the metrics with Bishop Haynes

After conferring with the medical and legal subgroups of the Advisory Panel for Re-Gathering, Bishop Haynes invites you to follow along with her as she watches the recommended metrics for determining when a 14-day decline in COVID-19 cases has happened in the State of Virginia. Bishop Haynes, at the recommendation of doctors, physician assistants and registered nurses, will be monitoring the decline in new cases, hospitalizations, commitments to ICU's, deaths and percent positivity as they are updated daily on the following sites:

 

Virignia Department of Health (Specifically, she will be looking at the 7-day average)

  

John Hopkins University percent positivity

  

Covid Act Now (reports on readiness of hospitals, adequacy of testing, etc.)

 

Additionally, Bishop Haynes and Canon Hoffman will continue to meet with the medical advisory panel at the beginning of each week so that they can assist with correctly interpreting the data. Bishop Haynes will let the diocese know each week what the progress is; in the meantime, you are invited to watch along with her. The hopeful news is that we are getting closer, and we will see each other again very soon.

Congratulations graduates!

We want to celebrate all of our seniors who are graduating. It may not have been your typical year, but their achievements are still a huge accomplishment. Youth Missioner Megan Dern has put together a Celebration video of the seniors who participated in our call for pictures. You can view the video here. We know there are more seniors out there who are celebrating this special time and we send our sincerest congratulations to them as well.

 

Connect college-bound students with campus ministy 

The Diocesan Office can provide graduating seniors with information to help them make connections with the Episcopal Church and Canterbury fellowship programs when they arrive on campus in the fall. If you are interested in information for you or your student's upcoming school, please contact Youth Missioner Megan Dern (mdern@diosova.org) with the name of the school you will be attending.

Resources for adult formation related to race and diversity

Virginia Theological Seminary's Building Faith blog shared these resources for adult formation and discipleship that relate to race and diversity:

 

Sacred Ground is a film-based dialogue series on race & faith. It is a small-group curriculum designed in 10 parts with documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories. This curriculum is part of the larger  Becoming Beloved Community commitment within The Episcopal Church to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society.

 

White Privilege: Let's Talk - A Resource for Transformational Dialogue is an adult curriculum that's designed to invite church members to engage in safe, meaningful, substantive, and bold conversations on race. 

 

GCORR Real Talk is a series of conversations with community and faith leaders to discuss and uncover the disparities of race, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status that are deeply embedded in our social fabric.  

 

Vital Conversations 1: Realities of Race and Racism is a video-based series featuring contemporary theologians, sociologists, laity, clergy, and other thought-leaders dealing with challenges of race, culture, and oppression in the Church and world today.  

 

One Body Many Members: A journey for Christians across race, culture and class is a faith-based journey of discovery to learn, share and proclaim God's intention of oneness among people of every racial, ethnic and class background. How do we find that unity in a world as diverse as ours? How can we build up "one body" as strong as that?

 

Implicit Bias: What We Don't Think We Think is an on-demand online course for anyone who is interested in learning and teaching others about implicit bias. The course is designed to be done at your own pace with pieces for individual work, group work, and optional sermon preparation. 

 

You can find many more resources on the Justice & Advocacy page of the diocesan website.