|
Mark Your Calendar!
July 17-18: St. Peter's, Washington, NC: Dental Clinic: Volunteer your time and resources to help the community in this worthwhile event. For more details, contact Nancy Hamblin.
August 20: Trinity Center: ECW August Gathering:Guest Speaker: We will explore with The Rev. Deacon Kitty Davis the topic of Greed, Grace, and Gratitude with the hope that we can learn to achieve balance and serenity in an era of history that appears obstructive to our best efforts to rest in God. Registration will begin at 9:00 A.M. Check with your Parish ECW President or Contact Person for additional information or contact Jo Anne Kilday at (252) 393-6343 or kilday@ec.rr.com.
August 20-23: Trinity Center: Conference on Church Music: Join us for the gifted leaders; the glorious music; the opportunities to learn, make new friends, and
catch up with old ones; and to enjoy excellent food. This conference will feature David Flood. For more information, contact the Rev. David Umplett.
August 28-30: Trinity Center: Youth and Young Adult Re-visioning Conference: If you are interested in helping us to re-vision the Youth/Young Adult Ministry in East Carolina, then please sign up to attend this conference. The conference will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and end
with Eucharist at St. Francis by the Sea, Salter Path at 10:00 a.m. Sunday. For more information or questions please contact Jimi Paderick at 252-522-0885 ext. 233 or
jpaderick@diocese-eastcarolina.org.
October 17-18: Trinity Center: New Beginnings: New Beginnings has been revived, revitalized and restored! Your local area youth met last Spring to analyze the program and make changes/improvements to make it even bigger and better than before. New Beginnings is a weekend at the Trinity Center for middle schoolers ages 6th-8th grade. It is lead by youth who have been participants in the past. NOTE: 6TH GRADERS ARE NOW WELCOME AT NEW BEGINNINGS! If your youth is interested in attending please contact Kim Willis at stpaulsyouth@embarqmail.com or at 252-482-3522.
|
|
Wow! It is hot outside! Please take a few moments to sit still, cool off, and read a little about what is happening around this great diocese of ours.
If you have news that you would like to share with the Diocese, make sure to send it in by the 10th of the month. You can email your news to kdixon@diocese-eastcarolina.org.
Stay cool and remember to keep us all informed.
|
|
I Am Inspired
A reflection on the recent journey to the
Dominican Republic
Submitted by The Rev. Mark M. Powell
 I am inspired by the focus on ministry to the poor. Most of the Episcopal Churches in the Dominican Republic have been established in the areas of extreme poverty. This was done purposely in order to better minister to the poor. One of these established churches has a ministry program that lends out micro-loans. Micro-loans are very small loans $500 or so designed to spur entrepreneurship for people who have no access to steady employment and lack the collateral or credit history for a loan. They receive these micro-loans to help start a business where they produce goods such as making baskets, or provide a service such as cutting hair. From our first hand experience we have seen that these loans are functioning quite effectively.
I am inspired by the vision and leadership of this Diocese of the Dominican Republic and its people. Since 1994 this Diocese has doubled and even tripled in size in some areas. None of this could have happened without vision and steady leadership.
It is important to know that this growth not only involves the bricks and mortar but also is a direct reflection on the quality of the spiritual lives of the people. It is vital to note that this growth does not appear to be slowing down. There were some lofty new goals set in 2003. The hope of these goals is to establish 25 new congregations, open homes for senior citizens, add new children's shelters in areas of extreme poverty, and recruit and develop 25 new priests. Those of us who journeyed to the Dominican Republic can honestly attest to the fact that these goals were being realized throughout the country.
I am inspired by the passion for life that the people of the Episcopal Church of the Dominican Republic demonstrate. In each and every church, school, and medical clinic that we visited, the zeal for living life to the fullest was tangible. You could nearly grasp the energy in their worship services. The smiles of the children in school were infectious. The people we visited, lived their life with hope in Christ, truly an inspiring quality.
As we begin the process of forming a companion relationship with the Diocese of the Dominican Republic, I hope that you too will be inspired as I have been.
A video from this trip can be found here.
|
What Does the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Look Like in 2010?
Submitted by Bishop Daniel
As our Diocese of East Carolina continues to evaluate and re-vision our Youth and Young Adult Ministry we want to assure the youth and young adults that support for ongoing programs throughout our diocese is a high priority, as well as the priority of exploring new areas of ministry among youth and young adults. We have a strong foundation laid for this ministry and our goal is to build on that foundation. To that end, a weekend conference hosted by Bishop Daniel is being planned for August 28-30 at Trinity Center. Anyone who is interested in helping in this re-visioning process is invited to come with your ideas, wishes and "what-ifs." We are inviting representatives from all parishes and ministry groups, Youth Ministers, Clergy, Campus Ministers, Vestry Representatives, youth and young adults. Specific information will be sent to each congregation regarding registration.
|
Organizing for Tansition
Submitted by Joan McIlwraith
On Saturday, May 2nd, the Prison Ministry Commission of the Diocese of East Carolina presented a roundtable discussion on the problems of reentry, hosted by the Outreach Commission of St. John's Church, Wilmington.
Prison Ministry may not be a popular topic but we hoped to get something going that would help inform and possibly kick off a network of those who are interested and have a passion for helping those just released from incarceration.
Our first presenter was Laura Overstreet, Superintendent of the Wilmington Residential Facility for Women, whose mission is to prepare women to return to society as productive citizens through a prison work program. This program has been fully funded by N. C. Department of Corrections since 1976; however due to the poor economy, Governor Purdue has been forced to cancel these funds and the facility is scheduled to close in November this year.
Keith Haynie of Oxford House, Inc. based in Durham was our next speaker. This ministry mentors and offers ex-offenders transitional housing, vocational training, preparation to return to the workplace and job placement. Their goal is to offer clean, safe, affordable drug free housing for inmates leaving prisons and mentor their transition. Begun in 1975 in Washington, DC, there are presently 125 houses in NC with locations in 28 cities. There are at present 4 Oxford homes in Wilmington, NC. Keith is an ex-offender who benefited from this program and is now employed by Oxford House as a manager to help mentor others. He brought along four young men who are currently in one of the program houses and who shared their experiences with us. For more information on Oxford House, you can go to www.oxfordhouse.org.
Our last speaker, well known in Wilmington, was Frankie Roberts from Leading Into New Communities, Inc. (LINC). LINC is a non-profit organization in Wilmington that provides shelter and services to those who have been released from local jails, state and/or federal prisons. It also provides services to children who are at risk due to parental incarceration. LINC assists individuals in realizing their goals by creating bridges between them and valuable resources, as well as teaching team work and responsibility. They can be found on the web at www.lincnc.org.
Our speakers gave a wealth of information on the problems of reentry as well as what is being done to assist and bring ex offenders into productive citizenship. Those attending were able to ask questions, speak with our guests during lunch, and leave with an expanded knowledge of what those recently released from jail have to face. One attendee stated that he decided to come at the last minute and was 'mind-boggled' by the scope and success of the programs. He also said that if another roundtable gathering of this sort is presented, he will definitely attend and urge others to come. Many who experienced this presentation felt the same way.
We were also blessed by the gift of music from Roger Charles and Pamela Federline who opened our roundtable with appropriate songs and returned to offer more music as we reconvened from lunch.
We began our day with coffee, muffins and donuts and a light lunch was provided by St. John's.
On August 29th, Christ Church, New Bern, will be hosting another reentry roundtable meeting starting at 10am. We would urge you to attend. You will be surprised by what you will see and hear.
|
General Convention to Help Set the Course for the Next Three Years
Imagine Eucharist for 8,000 people. Imagine a marketplace of goods and ideas. Imagine quiet conversation among friends, old and new. Imagine one of the largest legislatures in the world. Image the utter silence of prayer before momentous decisions.
The Episcopal Church's General Convention, which gathers every three years, is all of these things. The 76th General Convention begins in Anaheim California on July 7th and runs until July 18th. Bishops and elected deputies, four clergy and four lay, from dioceses throughout The Episcopal Church will come together to examine and discuss major issues about policies and worship. They will make decisions that will help guide the direction of the Church for the coming three years.
Issues such as the Millennium Development Goals, world mission, and concerns about peace, justice and human need will be carefully  examined. These issues will be addressed and voted on in the form of changes to the Constitution and Canons as well as through resolutions. If resolutions or changes are passed, they will then become the basis for decisions all throughout The Episcopal Church.
All of us at the Diocesan House in Kinston are working to make sure that you can stay informed on the issues discussed and the decisions made during Convention. There will be regular videos, news clips and blogs from Convention. You will hear from your deputies and you will be able to see what life at Convention is like through their eyes. Remember to check back at the Diocesan website during Convention to get your latest news and information. Although it is several thousand miles away, we want you to feel like you are in the middle of the action!
To learn more about General Convention, please visit the Diocesan website: www.diocese-eastcarolina.org/GeneralConvention
|
Your Moment of Delight
Penn Perry, Director of the Trinity Center at Salter Path, sends his many thanks for those who came out to participate with "Volunteer Day" in May. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
