The Rt. Rev. Steven A. Miller and The Rev. William F. Myrick, rector, pose with (L-R) Joe Mork, Jennifer Mork, Ian Carthey.

Bishop Miller made his Visitation to Christ Church, Delavan on Sunday, June 10th.  Roberta Karstetter, long-time member and parish treasurer, reports that it was a wonderful occasion which saw Ian Carthey confirmed and and Joe and Jennifer Mork received into the Episcopal Church.  At a reception following the service, members of the parish enjoyed having time for fellowship and visiting with the Bishop.

Jim Murphy, ECF Senior Program Director

Planned Giving Workshop at  2012 Diocesan Convention 

      

Trustees of Funds and Endowments will sponsor a workshop on planned giving at this year's diocesan convention to be held October 12 & 13, 2012 at the Madison West Marriott Hotel in Middleton, Wisconsin. The workshop is scheduled for Friday, October 12 at 2:00 p.m.

The workshop will be presented by Jim Murphy, Senior Program Director for the Episcopal Church Foundation and is described by Jim as follows:

Setting Up a Planned Giving Program for Your Parish (for parish leaders attending convention)

Take the mystery out of planned giving for your parish. Learn in easy to understand terms how planned giving differs from annual stewardship and capital campaigns, and how your parish can build endowments through wills and life income gifts. After a review of the planned giving instruments, you will learn about the importance of a parish vision, protecting and growing your endowment, and how to invite others to remember your parish through estate and financial planning. You will leave the workshop with a plan of action.

Anyone may attend the workshop without cost or registration for convention. We hope to have broad attendance from parishes within the diocese to hear Jim's informative and important presentation.

A Season of Civility

      Are you weary of the increasing polarization in our public discourse at the very time we need government leadership to address our biggest problems?

       You can help begin a different kind of conversation in our congregations and communities. We should neither remain silent nor go along with the prevailing bitterness in our politics. We must create "safe spaces" for respectful conversations across the partisan divides. And we must move beyond the walls of our congregations include everyone in our local communities in this dialogue.

      The Wisconsin Council of Churches, the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and other partners are sponsoring a "Season of Civility." Go to the Wisconsin Conference of Churches website on to learn about some of the components of this program and how you and your congregation can participate.

St. James, Milwaukee to offer adult English classes & summer camp for children

St. James Episcopal Church, Milwaukee is seeking ways in which it can continue to serve members of the greater area of Milwaukee. Our community is going to implement a summer camp for kids, as well as English Classes for adults in the fall. English Classes will begin on September 17th, 2012; the program will take place every Monday and Wednesday in the evening. Child Care will be available for adults that are participating in the class. St. James is in need of various resources in order for these programs to effectively serve its participants.

Please click for more information on how you can help make these important programs happen and a bulletin insert so you can share this info with your parish.

Community of Hope Training Coming Soon 

Community of Hope (COH) is an opportunity to create a Christian community of lay pastoral care givers equipped for pastoral ministry. Pastoral care is when a per-son is being "present" in a listening, compassionate, non-controlling manner to an individual or group for the purpose of consciously or unconsciously representing God to them and seeking to respond to their spiritual needs. COH is united in prayer and shaped by Benedictine spirituality. The 12-week training session includes an annual retreat and continued support for the lay chaplains.

St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church is a training center for COH. The next session begins in September on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00p.m. Applications, interviews, and recommendations from pastors or priests are part of this process.  more info

Misconduct Prevention Training  offered at Trinity, Wauwatosa

Safeguarding God's Children; Preventing Child Sexual Abuse is a program used throughout the Episcopal Church to train parents, clergy, lay employees and church volunteers in understanding the steps parish communities should take in order to make our church safe for our children.  

Our Diocesan Misconduct Prevention Policy requires that this training be completed by all clergy, all vestry members, all lay employees who work with children or supervise adults who work with children, as well as all volunteers who regularly work with children or youth. The training is highly recommended for Sunday school teachers.  Training opportunities will be offered twice this spring at Trinity Church, Wauwatosa.

• Sunday May 20^th     
• Sunday June 17^th

Both trainings will be held in the Trinity parish hall and will begin at 11:45 AM. If you are interested in participating you may call the Trinity office, 414-453-4540, to make a reservation.

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?

A Note from the Commission on Global Reconciliation

Each year our diocese allocates 0.7% of the diocesan budget to support work done to achieve MDGs by parishes and entities within the diocese.    The Eight Millennial Development Goals are  

1. ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY & HUNGER
2. ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
3. PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN
4. REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY
5. IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH6.
6. COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES
7. DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
8. ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Last year, contributions were sent to 5 projects that are supported by congregations within our diocese. It's time again to consider distribution of the 0.7% to projects that work toward the achievement of the MDGs.

If your congregation is involved in such a project, you may apply for additional funding from the diocese. Applications are due July 1, 2012. For more information, please see our "Letter to Parishes" on the Diocesan website or contact: Deacon Carol Smith at 608-230-6888 or csmith@carthage.edu