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Province II Christian Formation Network
Sponsors Workshop
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Toward full Maturity in Christ:
A workshop on Adult Learning & Formation
April 26, 2008 Mercer School of TheologyGarden City, Long Island
Registration Fee: $25
Pulling its theme from Ephesians, this workshop offers a wonderful opportunity for all Christian Educators to absorb valuable
formation techniques, with special emphasis on Emerging Adulthood.
Ferlo
Lemler
 The
Rev. Dr. George Ferlo, Director of the Institute
for Christian Formation at Virginia Theological Seminary will speak on:
- Maturing in Faith: Stages of Faith & Shifting Models of Learning.
- Multiple Intelligences.
The Rev.
Jim Lemler, Priest-in-Charge, Christ Church, Greenwich, CT will discuss:
- Developments in Adult Catechesis.
- Learning & Christina Formation in Emerging Adulthood.
For details and to register online, visit the website of the Mercer School of Theology.
And while waiting for April 26th, enjoy these articles by Roger Ferlo and sermons by James Lemler.
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Ministry of Presence: Province II Bishops in Haiti
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 The annual Province II House of Bishops meeting was held January 9-14 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Bishops "Skip" Adams (CNY), Mark Beckwith (Newark), George Councell (NJ), Michael Garrison (WNY), Mark Sisk and Catherine Roskam (NY), and Orris Walker (LI) were warmly hosted by Bishop Jean-Zache Duracin. Counting nearly 180,000 parishioners in 98 worshipping communities served by just 30 clergy, Haiti, one of the eleven dioceses that comprise Province II, is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.
In the western hemisphere's poorest nation, kidnapping has been a major problem. In fact, Bishop Duracin's own two daughters were kidnapped on the road leading out of the city while traveling to their grandmother's funeral in January 2007. The girls were found unharmed within 40 minutes. Yet while the kidnapping rate has declined drastically since reaching a high of 40 per week in 2005, the safety of the Province II bishops was a concern. Therefore, their visit was confined to the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Even so, "Everywhere we went we were accompanied by armed guards," reported Bishop Garrison.
"It was important for us to go," said Bishop Councell. "I've never seen such brutal poverty up close. Practically nothing works. On every street corner children are digging through garbage looking for food. Yet people are living their lives. It was a wrenching experience. I was deeply shaken."
"It was painful to see a country teaming with with so many young people living in such poverty," added bishop Garrison. "Roughly 500,000 of those children will not get an education."
 In total, the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti runs 90 elementary and secondary schools, a university and a seminary. In addition, most churches also sponsor a clinic. St. Vincent's in Port-au-Prince sponsors the only clinic in the country that provides medical help and counseling for handicapped persons.
The bishops visited the Episcopal Theological Seminary where they announced a gift of $20,000 from Province II. The Rev. Canon Ogé Beauvoir, dean, said the gift will enable the seminary to purchase an additional water purification system and a truck so that seminarians can deliver potable water to those who need it. Income from water sales will help the seminary become more self sustaining.
Bishop Garrison delivered a check to the Diocese of Haiti from the Diocese of Western New York that will provide for rural water purification near Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic.
Speaking at the Province II Council meeting in Newark on February 8, the Rev. Nathanael St. Pierre, a native Haitian, said the bishop's ministry of presence matters greatly.
Noting that the Church is as the
center of Haitian life, he said, "In Haiti the priest is almost
everything to the people-the lawyer, notary, teacher, counselor. It's
different than here.
"I
am the fruit of the Episcopal Church's work in Haiti," he said.
Becoming a priest was "a call to me because of what the Episcopal
Church had been in my life as I was growing up."
St. Pierre later left Haiti to attend school in Montreal. By the time he finished, the political situation in Haiti had deteriorated so badly that returning was not a viable option. He now runs The Good Samaritan Center, a Haitian immigration center in the Bronx.
"The world knows all the bad
things about Haiti. The Church needs to help the world see the good.
Besides the poverty, Haitians are people of joy and hope."
While grateful for the help sent to his native land by people throughout North America, he explained that sometimes things meant to help only add to Haiti's many problems. The influx of donations of cast-off shoes, for example, has put local shoemakers out of business. He pleaded, "Don't make Haiti be a dump."
We will go back and find deeper ways to connect" vowed Bishop Councell, "We are now walking in deeper solidarity."
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Finger Lakes Conference:
All good things come to an end
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 In 1938 on the shores of Seneca Lake in Geneva, New York, a new conference debuted. Dubbed the Finger Lakes Conference, the gathering provided a week-long opportunity for Christian education, Christian community and relaxation.
 On June 27th of this year, after a run of 70 years, the sun will set
for a final time on this much beloved, once popular Province II event. But before that sunset, the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, will spend five days framing the demise of the conference not only as an ending, but also as the planting of new beginnings. For complete information about the June 22-27 event, visit the conference website.
In 1965, Dr. Charlie Osgood, a layman form the Diocese of Central New York was elected president of FLC's board. "Charlie recruited new lay people for the board and they took the conference to the cutting edge of progressive Christianity," reports the Rev. Barbara Humphrey, a priest of 25 years in the Diocese of Rochester. "The conference discussed homosexuality long before it became an issue in the Church. We always welcomed diversity and the outcasts."
The intersection between public policy and faith was often grist for the FLC. Notable conference keynoters have included John Spong before he became the Bishop of Newark; Bishop Robert Spears of Rochester; retired Bishop of New York, Paul Moore, Jr.; and Boone Porter, a well known professor of the Old Testament at General Theological Seminary. They focused on topics like hunger, racism and peace and challenged conferees to live the gospel in their everyday lives.
 When the surge of modern
spirituality began, FLC was right with it, and as it did with many, the
conference resonated deeply with Barbara Humphrey's life and ministry.
She first attended in 1956 and has missed just three years since. She
has served as conference nurse, instructor, dean, chaplain, and
chairperson of the board. "It's just been a great group of people to be
associated with through the years!" she exclaims.
Bishop Spears was fond of saying that the Finger Lakes Conference was the only congregation he knew that only met once a year. At the height of its popularity, FLC drew 250 participants, but in recent years the average age of attendees has steadily risen, while its numbers have waned significantly.
With deep gratitude for 70 amazing years and with no small measure of sorrow, the current board decided that this summer's gathering would be FLC's last.
"It's a different world we live in today, even from 10 years ago." says Barbara. "At one time, there were three or four conferences in the United States like Finger Lakes. Come June, we'll be the last to leave."
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| St. Paul's, Fredricksted sets sights on opening new community center
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 Episcopalians from the five islands that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands gathered in Fredricksted, St. Croix on February 4 to join Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori in dedicating a new community center renovation project. The center will be named for Clarence "Cherra" Heyliger, a dedicated Episcopalian and Fredricksted resident.
The Presiding Bishop meets Heyliger's widow, Eunice.
Photo: Cristian Simescu/The Virgin Islands Daily News
Cherra Heyliger was well known as a newspaper columnist, radio broadcaster and community activist. His daughter, Syd Heyliger-Browne, said a center for youth had long been a dream of her father, who once taught at-risk youth. The family's one request is that "Have a jolly good day," the words with which Heyliger ended his columns, appear above the building's exit door.
Unused since the 1990s, the former rectory of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fredricksted was built in the 1800s. The church hopes to receive a grant from the VI government to help with renovation costs, estimated to be $200,000. When the project is complete, the community center will house an after-school tutoring program and provide space for St. Paul's youth steel orchestra program.
 St. Paul's, Fredricksted, was built in 1813 and today has an average Sunday attendance of 180. The church provides a
variety of community outreach programs to the local community.
Led by the Rt. Rev. Ambrose Gumps, the Diocese of the Virgin Islands spans both the U.S. and British Virgins Islands and is comprised of fourteen parishes located on the islands St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola and Virgin Gorda.
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Leadership changes around Province II
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 Moved by the Holy Spirit, the Diocese of Rochester took just two ballots to elect the Rev. Prince Singh to be their eighth bishop on Saturday, February 2.
Quoted in The Finger Lakes Times,
George Joseph said of Singh, "He said when he looked into the eyes of
lepers, he'd seen the face of Christ, and I thought I'd like to have
someone of that spiritual depth as our bishop." Joseph was one of 149
lay delegates to the electing convention held on February 2. Others
cited the Rev. Dr. Singh's visionary leadership and energetic
personality.
In a letter the Diocese of Rochester after
his election, Singh wrote: "I am rolling up my sleeves to develop
visions with you, and to lead you in transforming those visions of hope
into the vibrant reality of a growing and compassionate Church. . .
Let us build on firm foundation a new Church where there are no
outcasts, nor orphans, and no invisible people. Let us build a Church
where everyone works diligently from our fundamental identity that we
all created in the image of God, who calls us BELOVED."
 Singh will succeed the Rt. Rev. Jack McKelvey, who became Bishop of Rochester in December of 2000 and plans to retire in May of this year
Bishop-Elect
Singh, 45, a native of India, immigrated to the Unites States in 1993
with his family. He was ordained by the Church of Southern India, a
member church of the Anglican Communion, in 1989. He is currently
rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Oakland/Franklin Lakes, New Jersey (Diocese of Newark). Pending the proper consents, Singh will be consecrated at the University of Rochester's Eastman Theater on May 31.
 The Diocese of Rochester will also bid farewell to the Rev. Canon Stephen Lane, who was elected Bishop Coadjutor of Maine last October. Lane has served Rochester as Canon for Deployment and Ministry Development for the past eight years. He will be consecrated in Maine May 3rd.
 The Diocese of Long Island has initiated the process of electing a Bishop Coadjutor. The Rt. Rev. Orris G. Walker, Jr., 65, has served as bishop there since January of 1991. |
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