Commitment letters and preliminary budget sent by diocese's budget chairs to church leaders 

Dear Clergy, Wardens, and Treasurers,  

As you have probably read in the diocesan newsletter, at the August 16 meeting of Trustees and Council, a draft budget was passed for publication to the Diocese and in anticipation of your commitment to support the diocesan budget (download a copy here).

Your commitment form is also transmitted for your return to Controller Becky Meyer at the Diocesan Office on or before September 30, 2011. While Diocesan Canon 16 provides for an expectation of a commitment of at least 15%, the proposed budget is not based upon 15% congregational pledging because, based upon history, we know that some congregations will not make the expected commitment. We give thanks for the congregations who are contributing 15%, and ask those of you who are not currently at a 15% commitment, to please make a substantial move toward doing so.  

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Bishop informs church leaders of reduced health insurance rates

 News briefly

Music ministry being nurtured

Resurrection worship brings diversity into harmony 

By Suzanne M. Warner, Priest, Resurrection Episcopal Church

Youth choir members sing at rector's and deacon's ordination service at cathedral. Photo by Donald Vish

Resurrection Episcopal congregation includes a wonderful mix of refugees from Sudan andBurma and longtime Louisvillians, and each Sunday our languages and music blend into fine harmony as we worship the Lord.

The church, located at 4100 Southern Parkway in central Louisville, has two services each Sunday morning: the first at 9:45 a.m., when the choir includes young people from Karen and Karenni families; the second, a Sudanese service, partially in Dinka, at 11:30 a.m. (all times Eastern).   Read more 

Diocese invited 

St. Alban's to celebrate 50 years next week

Planning underway for Cursillo 44   

Fellow Cursilistas!  It is that time again.  Please prayerfully consider potential pilgrims for this year's weekend, October 6-9, 2011 at All Saints Episcopal Conference Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky.

Pilgrim applications and sponsor forms may be found on the Cursillo 44 webpage.  The deadline for registration is September 16, 2011.

Time for St. George's 

Plan to spend your time and more  

Worship, workshops, music  

and more

New Saturday evening service available  

Cathedral Arts announces season's first concert    

St. Francis' annual outdoor service and picnic this Sunday

St. Francis in the Fields Church will have an outdoor service and parish picnic on Sunday, September 4, 2011.

The annual outdoor service will begin at 10 a.m. (EDT) in the backyard of the church near the Lower Level Sunday school entrance.  Music for the service will be provided by The Field Hands. The potluck picnic will follow.   

St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church is located at the northwest corner of U.S. 42 and Wolf Pen Branch Road.  For more information, visit www.stfrancisinthefields.org or contact Cheryl Brandreth, family ministry coordinator, in the parish office at 502-228-1176, or via email to Cherylb@stfrancisinthefields.org.    

Organist John Cantrell opens new season    

St. Francis in the Fields begins Fall adult education series

Choral Arts Society's 2011-2012 season announced  

Save the Date for MANIFEST 2011: September 25   

Messiah-Trinity to hold an 'Olde Tyme' carnival 

By Pat Case, Messiah Trinity Church 

Save the date: Sept. 24, 2011   

Plan now for the Fall Acolyte Festival  

Pastoral counselors to gather in Fort Wayne 

American Association of Pastoral Counselors

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Washington National Cathedral receives $25,000 from Roman Catholic archdiocese; other faith communities offer support

[Episcopal News Service] Members of faith communities locally in Washington and across the country have rallied around WashingtonNational Cathedral in its time of need following last week's magnitude-5.8 earthquake.  

Post-Irene, Vermont looks at long recovery

Diocesan disaster coordinators play a key role in hurricane response   

[Episcopal News Service] Of the 50-some parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, Gethsemane Episcopal Church in Proctorsville, where the parish hall lay in unsalvageable ruins and the church itself slipped off its foundation, bore the brunt of structural damage following Hurricane Irene's heavy rains and flooding.

"We are still getting reports from isolated areas, mostly water damage to homes, and roads and bridges washed out, and there are still many areas where people are stranded," said Lynn Bates, the diocese's canon to the ordinary and transition minister, in a Sept. 2 telephone interview with ENS. "Other damage to church property may be minimal."

Hurricane Irene left more than 40 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage when it plowed up the Eastern Seaboard Aug. 27 - 28, but rather than paralyzing the coast, the storm's massive rains and subsequent flooding have left communities in upstate New York,
Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and especially Vermont, isolated and in some cases still without electricity.    Read more  

Episcopal Church to mark 10th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks; Presiding bishop calls for reflection, commitment to peace

[Episcopal News Service]

Episcopal Church and other religious leaders are planning interfaith events to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when almost 3,000 people perished after hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The Executive Council, at its June meeting, invited all Episcopal communities "to open the doors of their institutions" during the Sept. 10-11 weekend to commemorate the anniversary "with acts of prayer and remembrance, service, creativity, interfaith cooperation, education, community building, and fellowship, offering our institutions as active, accessible sites of healing for our local communities."    Read more  

FAITHful conclusions

Labor Day is every day

By Dan Webster, Episcopal News Service

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The collect prayer for Labor Day isn't usually heard in church by many Episcopalians.  Unless your parish has a Monday service, or your rector offers this prayer on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend -- traditionally a low-attendance Sunday -- I suspect this is one of those prayers you have to seek out. It's on page 261 of the Book of Common Prayer.

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