Adult Curriculum Options

Spiritual Tones

1. The Sacred Art of Listening
2. Mudhouse/Sabbath - book and video
3. Praying with the Body - book and video
4. Sacramental Life
5. The Jesus Creed - book and video
6. 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed
7. Writing to God
8. Making Crosses
9. Praying in Color

Parenting

1. Parenting Teens with Love and Logic
2. Visionary Parenting
3. Letting them Go
4. Stop Bullying
5. Bullying - what every adult needs to know

Episcopal Faith

1. The Story of Anglicanism - DVD
2. The Story of the Episcopal Church - DVD
3. A Journey through the Book of Common Prayer - DVD
4. Jesus was an Episcopalian (and you can be one too!)
5. Your Faith, Your Life

DVD's

1. Nooma - DVD with study guide

 Bible Study

1. Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Luke; The Gospel of John - books

Palestinian Quest for Just Peace

1. Steadfast Hope - book and DVD

 2nd Half of Life

1. The Essential Grandparent
2. Falling Upward - A spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
3. Unwrapping the Sandwich Generation
4. Understanding the Senior Adult
5. Caring for Aging Parents
6. Spiritual Caregiving - Healthcare as a Ministry

People with Disabilities

1. Including People with Disabilities in Faith Communities
2. Achieving best behavior for children with developmental disabilities
3. Rhythms of Grace - Worship and Faith formation for children and families with special needs

Advent/Christmas

1. Stations of the Nativity - Book and outline for doing a Stations in your parish
2. Stations of the Crib
3. Christ is Coming - Celebrating Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
4. Christmas is not your birthday
5. A Thrill of Hope - DVD and discussion guide
6. The Journey - Walking the Road to Bethlehem - Book, DVD, Youth and Children's materials

Lent

1. Get Over Yourself; God's Here

Thoughtful Christian - www.thethoughtfulchristian.com  leader's guide and participant handout   FREE

1. Study of book of James
2. The Real Consequences of Bullying
3. Prosperity Gospel: Will Jesus make you Rich?
4. Does Prayer Change Anything 

LeaderResources - www.Leaderresources.org  

1. DVD's for Adults
   1. A Thin Place
   2. Growing Toward God Series - 6 different DVD's
2. Spiritual Gifts Discovery Tool - Free

On Being - by Krista Tippett - purchase downloads from Cokesbury.

Liturgical Welcome Posters for your Parish

The 2011/12 liturgical poster series is finally ready, just under the wire in time for Advent. This year features Episcopal artists, which is a particular joy. The artists featured are:

Barbara Desrosiers

Scott Fisher

David Orth

Diane Walker

The posters will be customized with your church's name. The cost is $20 for a PDF file of the posters, which you can have printed at a printer's near you. Alternatively you can purchase both a PDF set plus a printed set for an additional $20 that will be mailed to you. You'll have to purchase these separately since the printed set needs to be by check written to Minuteman Press.

You can view and purchase the set at:

http://www.myfaithmylife.org/welcomeposters.html

ERD Abundant Life Project for Advent

Episcopal Relief & Development has just released a new six module Abundant Life Garden Project Children's Chapel program for use during Advent. The program focuses on the themes of Light, Water, Seeds, Soil, Animals, and New Life. Each module includes a short litany of thanks, a children's homily with photographs, questions for discussion, Prayers for the People, suggestions for further outreach activities, and a coloring sheet from the wonderful artwork by the Rev. Jay Sidebotham.

For those of you who have already used the Abundant Life Garden Project, this children's chapel edition will feature both new material and some familiar themes. For those of you who have not used our curriculum, this program serves as an introduction to our full five module program used by a number of parishes for Vacation Bible School, weeknight programs, and even Sunday morning programs.

This program is absolutely free and available for immediate download. To access the program, please go to NEW Children's Chapel Edition (www.surveymonkey.com/s/ChildrensChapel) and enter your name and contact information. When you complete this information, a full menu of the six modules will appear.

Episcopal Relief & Development is grateful to everyone who has participated in our Christian Formation programs. Together, we are healing a hurting world!

Advent Series - The Dark Night Experience and Navigating the Holidays

St. John of the Cross, a 16th century poet and Roman Catholic mystic, coined the phrase "Dark Night of the Soul" by giving the title to one of his poems. John was a Carmelite priest who was taken prisoner by the church after participating in a Carmelite reform movement along with his co-conspirator St. Teresa of Avila. While in prison he suffered for more than nine months in a narrow, stifling cell, together with such additional punishment as might have been called for in the case of one guilty of the most serious crimes. In the midst of his sufferings he was visited with heavenly consolations, and some of his exquisite poetry dates from that period. His writings are powerful and worthy of reading and meditating on.

The dark night is a very real spiritual state that often follows an experience of some sort of loss. For the four Wednesdays in Advent we will be discussing what happens during this spiritual state as well as identifying tools to help you navigate your life while in this state. While we think of loss as the death of a loved one, loss comes in many forms. Loss happens when we receive a diagnosis, when a change occurs in our live, such as a new birth, marriage, new job. Loss also occurs when things change beyond our control; for instance when things change in the economy, with our jobs, with our church community, in our families, etc.

This series will be led by Pastor Tammy+. Please consider joining us at 5:15 pm at St. David's Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City beginning on Wednesday the 30th of November. We will meet until 6:30 followed by a pot luck meal before the Chancel choir begins their practice.

Decorated miniature Christmas Trees & Cards for your shut-ins.  (Learned not to put lights on trees going to nursing homes.) 

Invite mentally handicapped adults (who live in local group homes) to dinner.  Provide a traditional Christmas dinner (turkey, ham & sides).    

 "...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream."

Amiably at home with virtue and evil - 

The righteousness of Joseph and Herod's

Wickedness - I'm ever and always a stranger to grace.

I need this annual angel visitation.

- this sudden drive by dream into reality - 

to know the virgin conceives and God is with us.

The dream powers its way through winter weather

and gives me vision to see the Jesus gift.

Light from the dream lasts a year. Through

Equinox and solstice I am given twelve months

Of daylight by which to build the crèche where my 

Redeemer lives. The fetus of praise grows

deep in my spirit. As autumn wanes I count

the days until I bear the dream again.

ADVENT QUIET DAY - DECEMBER 3, 2011

St. John's Episcopal Church - Tulsa OK
 10:00-2:00

Meditations given by Father John Rule

Lunch Provided with Reservations

Please Email sisharonsi@gmail.com if you would plan to attend

INVITE A FRIEND TO THIS SPECIAL DAY SPONSORED BY THE SOCIETY OF THE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY CROSS.

(from her sermon October 30, 2011)

We are in our stewardship season - the time when we ask the question: how do we respond to the abundance of God's blessing in our lives?

We are all on the journey to become fully alive to all the gifts we receive from God and fully responsive as well.

A Christian life, fully alive, has a certain shape. It is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith.

We start with gratitude. We want to be thankful for people, things, and events in our lives. But thankfulness is not just about how these people, things, and events enrich us. We can also challenge ourselves to be thankful for who people are and for the ways they are responding to God. In addition, our own thankfulness for all that we have been given - in talent, time and treasure - is not just for ourselves and our own enjoyment. They are gifts given to help us respond to and serve God and others.

Does it seem difficult to be thankful? We can build a grateful disposition by answering the following questions:

• How intensely do I experience my moments of gratitude?
• How often do I pause to consider the blessings and gifts in my life?
• Are there any gaps in my awareness because I tend to take events, people and things for granted?
• Do I spend enough time thinking about all the people who, in some way or another, have contributed to my experiences? 

Make a list! Post it and continue adding to it. The practice of increasing the frequency, intensity, span and depth of our gratitude will help us avoid taking things for granted. We realize that what we have is not because we have made it, earned it or deserved it. At the core, all we have a gift. Our very lives are so dependent on God and on the lives and work of others, as some find out when they become ill or lose a job. As our general thanksgiving says, "We bless [God] for our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life" (BCP, 101). Fully alive Christians live lives grounded in gratitude. Grateful people know that all we have and all that we are belongs to God.

A Christian life, fully alive, has a certain shape. It is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith.

Let's talk about prayer. How would Jesus know what to do as a Son on earth? He spoke with his Father and listened to him. God revealed to him the ways to love - in thought, words, and deeds. As Jesus followed what he heard from his Father his life and death gave glory to his Father and served each one of us. He lived his life whole heartedly. He died whole heartedly. He is fully alive now in the resurrection.

We are called to be fully alive and we will know what that means in when, in and through prayer, we are in relationship with God who loves us. Being prayerful is being open to God, listening to God, and then acting on what God says.

We are a church that values prayer in common. We have a Book of Common Prayer. We pray in common and we pray alone. Because prayer is so important to how we respond to all the blessings in our lives, we created a Prayer for you.

We want you to get as near to God as you can. We want you to respond to God. We want you to be fully alive.

A Christian life, fully alive, has a certain shape. It is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith.

Let's talk about faith. We must walk in faith. I am not talking about beliefs. In the Greek, there is no passage in the Bible in which faith means beliefs. When Jesus is amazed by the Roman official's faith, he is really talking about his trust. When Jesus comments on his disciples' lack of faith, he is talking about their lack of trust and courage. Faith is courageous trust. To trust courageously is to live fully alive and to freely respond to God.

Remember that the history of Israel includes many stories of people stepping out in faith. Remember the Israelites released from slavery in Egypt to wander in the wilderness. Each time the Israelites became afraid, God reassured them: with daily bread, with water, and with his life-giving laws.

Fear can make us forget that God is faithful. It can make us forget our freedom to respond. We put ourselves in the center and then we are tempted to require others to meet our rigid standards. Sometimes our pride can be more important than our faith.

Jesus' prescription is radical. Go back to your relationship with your heavenly Father. Remember that we are all students with one teacher, Jesus the Messiah. Be open. Be teachable. When you know that all is gift, respond freely to the God who loves you and lifts you up. Respond by loving and serving God and your neighbor.

Here is where gratitude and faith connect. When we receive a gift from a friend we say thank you without looking at gift because we trust that friend. No one can say thank you for a gift and mean it without trust in the giver. To trust always takes courage. It takes faith.

All is gift. All is gift. No matter what, God provides what we need right now. It takes courage to trust God as Giver of all gifts and say thank you for everything.

A Christian life, fully alive, has a certain shape. It is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith. 

We now have over 900 people in the Dicoese trained in Safeguarding God's People! That is an increase of 300 in the last six months! We have been working hard to provide Safeguarding training sessions so that all clergy, including deacons, would have an opportunity to be trained. It is our intention that all clergy and deacons complete Safeguarding God's Children training  by the end of the year. In order to help you out, we have scheduled the following training opportunities:

November  19       St. Basil's, Tahlequah - 10 a.m.

December 1          Diocesan Office TRAIN THE TRAINER - Last one of the year. Contact Sabrina Evans 405 232 4820 to register. 10 a.m. until 2:30

December 5          St. Luke's, Chickasha - 5:30 p.m.

These trainings should take about 3 hours long.

Safeguarding God's Children is required of all clergy and deacons who are active in ministry within the diocese, including clergy that serve as supply. Attendance at one of these trainings is mandatory.  Safeguarding must be retaken every 4 years for everyone.

These trainings are open to all in people of the Diocese. Even if you have had safeguarding in the past, you too must recertify every 4 years to keep current. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE RECERTIFICATION TIME IS 4 YEARS AND NOT 5 AS PREVIOUSLY INDICATED. You can download the registration form at: 

http://www.epiok.org/resources/safeguarding_god_s_children.html 

The Episcoposse (a joint gathering to all youth in the Tulsa Area, 6th grade through 12th grade)  will meet Sunday from 4-6 pm at St. Dunstan's, Tulsa,  for a tailgate and flag football game. We also spend time in worship and prayer.

Parenting - Top Ten Safety Tips   

As with any safety measure, parents should coach their children on what to do in an emergency situation.

Wearing personal ID everyday is recommended by The KlaasKids Foundation, The Laura Recovery Center, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, and the new Action Director of FEMA, R. David Paulison.

1.      Instruct children to "Never" go anywhere without first getting permission. Don't go looking for lost pets, to someone's house, riding in a car.

2.      Have children wear up-to-date, discreet personal ID at all times. 

3.      Parents always carry a current photo ID of your child. Keep fingerprints and DNA samples at home. If you have a photo phone, take a picture of your child each day.

4.      Before going on an outing, play a game of "What do I look like?"  Have your children recite what you look like and what you are wearing that day. Parents take note of what your children is wearing that day. Take a picture using cell phone camera.

5.      If lost, tell children to stay where they are.  Don't go running around looking for mommy and daddy.  Assure them you will return to where you last saw them.

6.      Instruct children to identify "Helpful Strangers." There are certain kinds of strangers that can assist a child when they need help: mothers with children, uniformed police, store clerks.

7.      Teach children to show their ID to a "Helpful Stranger" in an emergency situation.

8.      Instruct children never to play alone, teach them to stay with at least one other child.

9.      Teach children that their body belongs to them.  Teach them to trust their feelings.  Say "NO" and run away from a situation if it doesn't feel right. 

10.    Teach children to scream "Help - your not my mommy or daddy," if someone tries to take them. Teach children to rip off their Who's Shoes ID and leave it as a clue for law enforcement if a stranger does take them.

by Mary Lynn Fernau

in an article from

The National Parenting Center