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July Calendar
We welcome your Diocesan and Provincial Events to add to the Calendar on the National ECW Web Site. Please send your Diocesan events to your Province Representative.
Corrections to Calendar listings should be sent to your Province Representative, listed below. |
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If you have any questions regarding ECW programs or activities, please contact us via email by clicking on a name below: National President:
Vice-President of Program:
Information &
Communication:
Member-at-Large
Social Justice:
Member-at-Large
Multi Media:
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Province Representatives
Meigan Chan Province 3
Barbara Owens Province 4
Valerie Hoffman-Hatcher Province 5
Mary Kay Whisler Province 6
Patsy Duncan Province 7
Nancy Crawford Province 8
Suyapa Rodriguez
Province 9
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Greetings!
As you read this issue of the eCommuniqué many of you are looking ahead to Summer and slowing the pace of daily life a bit. For some Episcopal Church Women, however, the Summer months signal big events and travel plans. Girls Friendly Society will hold their National Meeting in Southern California at the end of June and beginning of July. A full report of this exciting event will appear in the July eCommuniqué. The National ECW Board is making travel plans for the next board meeting in early August, at Menucha Conference Center near Portland, Oregon (Province VIII). Check the Calendar on the national ECW web site for dates of these and other Summer happenings. We thank you for subscribing and for forwarding the eCommuniqué to your friends using the link here: Our top 'Forwarding Angels' for the last issue include Bryn Roth, with over 20 forwards, and Margaret Jordan, Ginger (you know who you are) and Margaret Nolde. Remember, when you use the "Forward Email" link we will be able to see how many emails you personally forward to your friends. If you are one of the Top Forwarders you'll see your name in the next issue of the eCommuniqué! We do hope you enjoy this issue!
Blessings,
Christine Budzowski
Member at Large, Multi-Media and the ECW Communications Team |
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 United Thank Offering Aids Agricultural Training Facility
by Pamela Stewart, Vice-President, National UTO Board During its recent granting session, the United Thank Offering board voted to give $49,250 to an exciting project sponsored by the Nippon Sei Ko Kei (Anglican Communion in Japan). Located in northern Japan, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is an international training ground for grassroots rural leaders to learn sustainable agricultural practices. The facility, known as the "farm shop", to date has trained 1,160 rural leaders (at least half each year are women) from 52 countries throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Trainees are organized into groups and given land on which to grow crops and livestock to manage. As they work together, they learn not only about farming but also about leadership, communication and cooperation, allowing them to return to their rural communities to work with and train between 50 and 200 people each year, changing people from food recipients to food producers.
The current structure on the grounds, used for workshops, experiments in "low tech" technologies applicable to rural communities, and food processing and storage, is in desperate need of replacement and construction is planned for next winter for a total cost of $526,000. Thanks to UTO, the new facility will be energy efficient and ecologically sound with passive solar air heating and cooling, passive solar water heating and underground water cooling. As a result of the sustainable systems, the new farm will not only serve as a model on the use of clean renewable energy but also allow for the drying, cooling and storing of farm produce and seeds without refrigeration. The new building will also boost ARI's financial security as it will increase their capacity for fee-based training (currently they train Japanese Peace Corps Volunteers and are planning to expand to University students and NGO workers in Japan).
The Asian Rural Institute has a long and inspiring history of working with students from developing countries and is supported by many groups, including the United Methodist Church, the Church of Canada, American Friends of ARI, the Episcopal Church, and the Young Adult Service Corp which has sent several volunteers in recent years. And now United Thank Offering is delighted to be a part of this endeavor. After considering some of the major criteria in awarding a grant (does it meet compelling human need, does it benefit a number of people and does it impact the lives of women and children?) the board answered in a resounding "yes". The ripple effect from this program is enormous, and I, as the Member-at-Large for Asia and Pacific, was excited to research and present this grant and am thrilled with the outcome. |
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Elsie's Inbox
 Hello ECW! Elsie Chelsea Worthmore here, discovering how wonderful it is to communicate with friends old and new using the internet! I've hooked up with a group of Episcopal Communicators online, and they share some really great resources with one another. For this month's issue I want to share a new resource we've just posted to our web site, prayers to use in times of Environmental Disasters, like the Gulf Oil Spill.
The following prayer was written by the Rev. John Widdows, from the Episcopal Diocese of Maine:
As the catastrophic oil accident in the Gulf continues, O God, for the wonders of technology, we give you thanks.
For the limits of technology we pray for awareness.
For the arrogance of technology, when it harms your Creation, we pray for humility.
For the victims of this technology, we pray for forgiveness.
For the recklessness which prevents careful preparation for accident, we pray with repentance and for enlightenment.
And for our capacity to learn from this huge mistake and to minister compassionately as a society to those harmed by it, we give you thanks. Amen.
This prayer and several others have been gathered into a PDF you can download from our national ECW web site Resources page or by clicking this link
That's all for now! Enjoy the Summer, and I'll be back with more resources for you in July. |
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Spotlight on Ministry
 The Order of the Daughters of the King® celebrates 125 Years of Prayer, Service, and Evangelism
by Grace Sears, National President
Between Easter Eve and Ascension Day in 1885 several young women in an Episcopal church in New York formed themselves into the first chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King, under the leadership of Margaret J. Franklin. They promised to keep the Rule of Prayer and the Rule of Service, and to wear the badge of their Order, i.e., a Greek cross inscribed with FHS (for His sake) and "Magnanimiter crucem sustine" ( "With heart, mind, and spirit, uphold the cross"). The Rule of Prayer is still kept today by well over 20,000 women and girls in this country and by about 3000 Daughters in other countries. Each Daughter pledges to pray every day for the spiritual growth of the church to which she belongs, for her priest, for her sisters in her chapter, and for other concerns brought to her attention.
Like everyone else, Daughters must choose among multiple expectations and demands. In prayer they ask, Lord, what would YOU have me do? and trust a still small voice to nudge them in the right direction. A Daughter may pray in the car, beside a sleeping child, or over a cup of coffee, but as she daily seeks to hear God's voice, her perspective changes, and her capacity to serve in the name of Jesus is strengthened. In chapter meetings and regional retreats Daughters have a chance to learn and support each other in spiritual growth.
The early Daughters saw their Rule of Service primarily in terms of outreach and evangelism. They endeavored to bring one woman or girl to church every week. Service activities included greeting visitors at church, making home visits, teaching collects to the children of the parish, as well as taking food and clothing to the poor and packing boxes to send to mission stations in this country and abroad.
To fulfill their Rule of Service today, Daughters consult with their rector or chaplain on ways they can reach out to others. It could be an unexpected need -- help with a reception following a funeral, for example. Daughters may become Lay Eucharistic Ministers, visiting the sick or homebound. Chapters often sponsor or lead retreat days. They may engage in works of mercy, whether with a food bank, a health fair, a soup kitchen, or visits to Alzheimer's patients. Or Daughters may be led to simple acts of kindness: an effort to include someone who is lonely, listen to someone who is grieving, or encourage someone who is at the end of her rope, and let each one know God cares. Some chapters have formed prayer partnerships with chapters overseas, as communication across geographic boundaries becomes easier. Whatever the service or witness to which Daughters are called, it is rooted in prayer.
We invite you to join us in giving thanks for God's blessing on the Order through 125 years of prayer, service, and evangelism! If you would like to know more, please visit our website: www.dok-national.org. |
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Sincerely,
Christine Budzowski
National Episcopal Church Women
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