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December 1, 2009
Diocesan Prayers

For all the Sundays during December please pray for the organizations that deal with children with special needs, especially for the work of the Sheltering Arms Foundation and Episcopal Community Services. Please pray also for those who work in Child Protection agencies throughout the State of Minnesota.

Sunday, December 1 is 2 Advent
St. Nicholas, Richfield
Church of the Advent, Farmington

Anniversaries
12/6 Charles Vogt, p 1958
12/7 Paul Allick, p 1996
12/8 Juanita Palmerhall, p 2000
12/11 Christopher Haack, d 2008
12/11 Heidi Joos, p 1993
12/11 Marilyn Leach, p 2005
12/11 George Ross, p 1989
12/11 Coleen Tully, p 2005

Diocesan Cycle of Prayer
Anglican Cycle of Prayer
Gospel Based Discipleship
Events
La fiesta de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
The community of El Santo Nino Jesus would like to invite you to a celebration - La fiesta de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. At this special mass, which starts Friday, December 11th at 10:30 pm, Bishop Jelinek will be celebrating and Neptali Rodriguez will be preaching. At midnight everybody will usher in the morning with Las Mananitas, and there will be Mexican atole and pan dulce (hot chocolate and sweet rolls) following the service. To learn more about El Santo Nino Jesus, please visit their new website.
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day messages from Presiding Bishop and Bishop Jelinek
From Bishop Jelinek, "It's hard to imagine anyone in our country who has not been touched personally by AIDS. In the early years we lost friends, relatives, and lovers and for a while many of us became numb to the amount of death we saw and experienced and the loss of so many wonderful people to our lives and our hearts. We can be grateful for the scientific researchers and pioneers who have tried new combinations of medications that have saved and sustained many more lives. Other countries are still in the worst stages of the pandemic. Infection rates of 25 percent and higher still exist in some places - a magnitude of prevalence that is difficult for most of us in Minnesota to imagine. In our anxiety about H1N1 let us not forget the continuing seriousness of AIDS which we can do something about. I encourage you to look at the website for the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition and continue to discern how it is you can be a part of bringing an end to this horrific disease."

From Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, "December 1 each year is World AIDS Day, an occasion both to remember the 25 million beloved children of God who have lost their lives to the pandemic over the past three decades, and to rededicate ourselves to building a future without AIDS." Read the full text of the Presiding Bishop's statement for World AIDS Day.
Resources
Adult forum opportunities
Forward Movement proudly introduces its newest publication! Praying Day by Day: a year of meditations is now available for purchase, and the authors are willing to come to your church for an adult forum and book signing. The list price for each book is $15.00. If your church orders ten or more copies, your cost is only $10.00, and when the book sells, $5.00 per book can go to any cause you like. To set up an event, please contact the Rev. Leonard Freeman and the Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman at (952) 449-0166.

Diocesan Council Dates
The Diocesan Council meeting dates have been updated on the diocesan website.

Advent calendar
Check out the daily Advent calendar and Advent music player on the homepage of the diocesan website.
News
A message from the Church Pension Fund
"As you are well aware, 2009 was an unusual year in terms of the state of the financial markets and the impact on the economy. Fortunately, despite that difficult economic environment, the Fund remains sound and pension benefits remain secure. It is in this context that we want to explain the recent decision of the Church Pension Fund (CPF) Board not to give a cost-of-living-related increase for 2010, and to reassure you that this decision is not a reflection of diminished pension security." For full article, visit the diocesan website.
Ordinations and Receptions
Ordinations upcoming
God willing and the people consenting, on Sunday, December 20, 2009, at 4:00 pm at Christ Church, Grand Rapids, Carla Hodgson and Jill Marie Schubert will be Ordained to the vocational diaconate. That same day, time and location, Sally Cummings, Jeanne Rasmussen, Rhonda Ruder, John Undem, and Paula Gillman are set to be Ordained to the priesthood. Clergy are encouraged to attend and vest in red.

Receptions upcoming
God willing and the people consenting, on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 7:00 pm at St. Mark's Cathedral, Minneapolis, the Rev. Neptali Rodriguez Espinel, the Rev. Jeffrey Scott Francis Nelson, and the Rev. Timothy Hodapp will be received as priests. Clergy are encouraged to attend and vest in red.
This Week in the Diocese

December 1, 3pm: Trustees Meeting, Episcopal Center, Minneapolis

December 2, 10 am: Faith Formation meeting (children's ministry focus), St. Clements, St. Paul

December 9, 10 am: Department of Indian Work clericus, St. John's, St. Cloud

A complete Calendar of Events is available on our website.  Other events can be found on the community calendar, the Region 7 Calendar and the Episcopal Music Calendar.