|
Diocese of San
Joaquin
The Episcopal Church
|
|
ext | Optional L
|
|
From The Rev. Helen O. Harper,
St. Michael's, Ridgecrest
"Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? Matthew 25:44
When I arrived in Ridgecrest September 2015, one of my first questions was when and where did the Ministerial Association meet? I was told there was no longer a Ministerial Association, there had been one years ago but they no longer met. While I was wondering what could be done for us to start again, a call went out to church representatives for us to meet around a common issue: how best to serve the rapidly growing homeless and working poor population in the City of Ridgecrest? Although this issue had been present for some time, and each church was doing what they could, the breaking point came in June when - on short notice -- a local hotel owner decided to renovate their facility. When they closed the hotel on short notice approximately 100 permanent residents were forced to find other homes. This event caused a spike in the number of people who were already going from church to church seeking food, gas, shelter along with other types of assistance. St. Michael's pantry - which operates 3 hours a week -- now serves over 50 people.
What came out of several meetings was the creation of a voucher system where each church provides as many vouchers, as each can afford, on a monthly basis. One voucher equals a night's stay in a hotel for an individual or a family; in addition, a fuel voucher is issued to those passing through town. The Ridgecrest Police agreed to manage voucher distribution. We are also providing "Blessing Bags" filled with non-perishables for transient individuals and people staying overnight in hotels. Here we have a fine example of Pastors, lay people and civic leaders joining together to serve God's people when they are in need.
"All believers were united in heart and mind and shared everything they owned, and great grace was upon them all" Acts 4:32-33.
The Rev. Helen O. Harper
Priest-in-Charge, St. Michael's, Ridgecrest
|
"CanonBall Express"
artist The Rev. Stephen Bentley |
Current Total: $13,497.55
We are still accepting donations for the Canonball Express and
we are almost there. We purchased Canon Anna's Prius for
$22,322.18 including fees. Many thanks go to Brian and Shauneen Terrell, St. Francis, Turlock for assisting the Diocese with getting a great vehicle at a great price!
If you have not yet contributed to the Canonball Express please prayerfully consider doing so.
Blessings,
+David
Please send your donations to The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, memo Canonball Express,1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355
|
| Call to The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin
57th Diocesan Annual Convention
|
Radical, Welcome, and Sending
Call to The Episcopal Diocese of
San Joaquin 57th Annual Convention
October 28-29, 2016
ECCO
Episcopal Conference Center, Oakhurst
 Guest Speaker
The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers
Canon to the Presiding Bishop
for Evangelism and Reconciliation
Registration is online only this year and last day to register is October 14
Click here to go to registration site on our Diocesan Website And
find all reports and information about our annual convention.
|
|
Church of the Saviour, Hanford
|
Church of the Saviour Outreach Update
From Jeff March
One of our goals at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour (ECoS) this year was to increase our presence in the community, for both the Church and more importantly to increase our services to our Soup Kitchen patrons. Many of us here at ECoS have a vision that our Soup Kitchen would become a center of help for our less fortunate neighbors. To accomplish that goal, with the encouragement of our Soup Kitchen Manager, Bennie Harrell, we have begun to reach out to partner with other faith based, government and private social service organizations that already provide services to that population. We have also added a daytime Eucharistic liturgy on Wednesdays at noon and begun an experiment with our mid-week evening liturgy. Read more ...
|
 The Labyrinth Walk, St. Andrew's, Taft
|
Called to Be...
(Homily for Aug. 7, 2016, given by Fawn Pender, Junior Warden at St. Paul's, Visalia)
Last Diocesan Convention, Bishop Rice challenged us to consider what God had called us each to be. Convention attendees were each given a tee shirt as a visible reminder to wear as we went about our daily lives. There was no right or wrong answer to this challenge, but we were encouraged to thoughtfully consider our answers.
For me, there were some easy ones, thanks to this season of my life. I am called to be a child of God, certainly, and also to be the stay-at-home-Grammie to Lily and Olivia. That is my main focus these days, and I thrive on it. But as the old Ronco commercials used to tell us..."But wait - there's more!"
For many years my dream was to have a tea room with my mother. It would be a cozy place filled with spots to chat with family and friends, to read a good book, to be served with cups of kindness. I collected tea cups, teapots, books about tea...the whole shebang. I never considered the possibility that my mother wouldn't live long enough for us to fulfill this dream together. So my dream has shifted. Read more...
|
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Modesto
|
|
Climate Change Series
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Modesto
Way back in 1989, September 1st was proclaimed the World Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox Church. Since then many other churches and councils - including the world wide Anglican church and the Roman Catholic Church - have joined them. Now this day of prayer has been extended to a month long Season of Creation, ending on the Feast of St. Francis, October 4th.
How appropriate that in September we at St. Paul's should be looking at, and praying about, climate change! For three Wednesdays in September - September 14th, 21st & 28th - from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm we will focus our attention on this frightening phenomenon.
|
|
The Episcopal Church of St. Anne, Stockton
|
Important: Friday Reflection Update
All submissions are due MONDAY for the following Friday Reflection.
Submission requirements:
pictures -JPEG format
articles- word document
linked documents- PDF
|
|
|
Native Vendor Event, Tulare
|
Native Vender Event
September 24
9am-3pm
St. John's Episcopal Church
1701 E. Prosperity Avenue
Tulare, CA |
20th Annual Sierra Aids Walk
|
20th Annual Sierra AIDS Walk
Big Trees State Park
1170 East Highway 4, Arnold, CA 95223
Saturday, September 24th 2016
Bishop David, Canon Anna, and Deacon Carolyn Woodall will be walking in this event!!
Please Support them all!
The Sierra AIDS Walk is the main fundraiser for Sierra HOPE, an organization providing support for those with HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C and other chronic illnesses in Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties.
You can help make this year's
AIDS walk a success: Go to sierraaidswalk.dojiggy.com and join, or simply donate to, Bishop David's team - Bishop David's Walkabout. We've already earned the tie-dye t-shirt (photo below) commemorating the walk, which we will give to Bishop David, but we want to be the biggest contributor to this important cause. Go online and donate today at http://sierraaidswalk.dojiggy.com/
For more information, go to the Sierra Hope website.
|
|
A Day of Discovery
A Program for Discerning Ministry in the
Episcopal Church
November 12, 2016
10:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
2216 17th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Day of Discovery is designed to help Episcopalians broaden their understanding and appreciation of the four groups of ministers in the Episcopal Church. Participants will discover new arenas for ministry as well as see and experience the complementary relationship between all ministers of the Church. Click here to read more and register.
|
Thanksgiving at ECCO
November 24-25
Reservation Deadline is
November 10
Festivities include:
Holy Eurcharist with
Bishop David Rice
Appetizers and Dinner
Social, Games and Relaxation
Click here for more information
and registration
|
The fragrance always remains on the hand that gives the rose
-Gandi
If you have yet to start your Stewardship plan, start now!
Contact the Diocesan Office for the TENS password.
Stewardship is a year long program!
|
The Five Marks of Mission
|
The Five Marks of Mission
Click here for poster to post
|
Safeguarding God's Children
|
|
Safeguarding God's Children!
Please review your Safeguarding God's Children program in your parish. Are all volunteers working with children current with the training or have gone through the program?
Please contact Stephanie Gilmer, Diocesan Coordinator at mzgilmer@att.net.
|
Southern Deanery
Pre-Convention Meeting
Saturday, September 17, 11am,St. Michael's, Ridgecrest
Standing Committee Meeting
Teleconference/Adobe
September 27, 6:30pm
Northern Deanery Clericus
Wednesday, September 28, 11am
St. Paul's, Modesto
Diocesan Council Meeting
Teleconference/Adobe
September 29, 6:30pm
Northern Deanery Pre-Convention Meeting
Saturday, October 1, 10am,
St. John the Evangelist, Stockton
Central Deanery Pre-Convention Meeting
Sunday, October 9, 3pm
St. Paul's, Visalia
57th Diocesan Annual Convention
October 28-29, ECCO
Episcopal Conference Center, Oakhurst
Day of Discovery
November 12
10am-2pm
St. Paul's, Bakersfield
Thanksgiving at ECCO
November 24-25
Register deadline November 10
Advent Clergy Retreat,
December 6-8,
St. Anthony, Three Rivers
Diocesan Council/Standing Committee Retreat
February 17-18, ECCO
|
Send your donations to The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355. Please write Yellow Bags in the memo line. Thank you.
|
|
 |
|
Orders are coming in! Order yours today!
"The Advent Calendar to Color" is being sponsored as Diocese-wide fundraising project through the office of our Bishop, David Rice. It's a great way to help celebrate the month-long season of anticipation which precedes Christmas.
An entirely novel concept, "The Advent Calendar to Color" combines the current craze for coloring books containing complex and interesting images with a traditional Advent calendar. The idea is for adults and children together to color one page each day. Pages cover the five "candle Sundays" on specifically religious themes which are traditional in the Episcopal church, while images for weekdays and Saturdays cover a wide variety of seasonal, Christian, and ecumenical themes. Each page is packed with detail: there are Christmas trees, Santa Claus and Old St. Nick; winter fun going ice skating and building a snowman; gratitude for the beauty of nature and for wild animals; the abundance of field and garden. Bells give tongue, angels appear, and there are packages tied with ribbons. The idea is to foster dialogue between children and adults, provide "teachable moments", counter "Xmas commercialism", and provide a guide to the deeper meanings of the season. Coloring the pages is also just plain FUN.
For More coloring pages and information on how to order the Advent calendar click here now.
|
|
The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355
PH 209-576-010209-576-0104 F 209-576-0114 E contact@diosanjoaquin.org
|
|
|
|
|
