Child Abuse and Sexual Misconduct Prevention training will be offered on Saturday, November 17th, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Christ Episcopal Church, North Hills.

 

The training is free, and open to all clergy, postulants & candidates, employees, and volunteers in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. It satisfies the training requirement established by diocesan policy for clergy, employees, and volunteers working with children & youth.

 

The training will be led by the Rev's Bill Geiger & Leslie Reimer.

 

Questions can be directed to Bill Geiger at 724-422-5038.

 

Click here to register.

 

On Thursday, December 6, at 10:30 a.m., the Diocese of Pittsburgh ECW will be packing Christmas boxes for the Seaman's Church Institute at St. Paul's, Mt. Lebanon. Since 1898 volunteers of the Seamen's Church Institute have been collecting, packing, knitting and distributing Christmas gifts to mariners who are miles from home on Christmas Day.  

The Seamen's Church Institute is North America's largest and most comprehensive mariners' service agency, promoting safety, dignity, and improved working and living conditions for millions of men and women serving in the maritime workplace. Founded in 1834, the Institute is a voluntary, ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

Needed are donations of hand lotion, chewing gum, wrapped candy, puzzle books, microwave popcorn, lip balm and paperback books. 

 

Items can be brought to the packing party or left in the church offices at: St. Paul's, Mt. Lebanon; Trinity Cathedral; Church of the Nativity, Crafton; St. Thomas Memorial Church, Oakmont; Calvary, East Liberty. 

 

It will be a community work day with lunch provided. Please help with this wonderful ministry and fellowship opportunity.

 

Please RSVP by November 30 to Debbie Wiles at 412-344-5759 or debwiles@verizon.net. 

Trinity Cathedral's young adult minister, Ben DeHart, will lead a Wednesday evening in-depth look on the Gospel According to St. Mark, Wednesdays beginning November 28th, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral. 

Everyone is welcome. Call or email Ben DeHart for more details at 609-240-8558 or bendehart@gmail.com.

Plans are to discuss Mark's theological and narrative structure (and how this helps us understand individual passages), its distinctive motifs (e.g. its "Messianic Secret" and why everything happens "immediately"), but most importantly we will wrestle with its key question, "Who do you [the reader] say that I [Jesus] am?" 

 

Following months of anticipation and media speculation, Downing Street confirmed Nov. 9 that the Queen has approved the nomination of Diocese of Durham Bishop Justin Welby as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury.

 

As the 105th archbishop in a succession spanning more than 1400 years, Welby will assume the multi-faceted role as spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, Primate of All England, and bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury.

 

Church of England bishops are appointed rather than elected, with a 16-member Crown Nominations Commission putting forward two names - a preferred candidate and a second candidate - to Downing Street. The U.K. prime minister then seeks approval from the British monarch, who is the supreme governor of the Church of England.

 

Read the rest of this story at Episcopal News Service.

To engage children in a more active role during worship this Advent, the Episcopal Church is offering a four-week series of lectionary-based children's sermons.

 

Offered at no fee, the children's sermons provide clergy and lay leaders with step-by-step instructions on how to help the children lead the adults in worship.

 

"The sermons were designed for use in small congregations, but are appropriate for churches of any size and with any number of children, ranging in age from young children to youth," explained Sarah Johnson, Editor of Sermons that Work in the Episcopal Church Office of Communication.

 

The sermons for the four weeks of Advent are available the Sermons That Work website at http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/childrens-sermons.