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Bishop's Fall Clergy Retreat

Oct. 19-21, Shrine Mont

This year's Fall Clergy Retreat will feature Patricia A. Parachini, SNJM, D.Min., a pastoral theologian, educator and spiritual director. In a ministry spanning more than 40 years, she has written extensively on preaching, liturgy, and spirituality, led retreats in national and international settings, and is currently affiliate faculty at Loyola University, Maryland, and The Catholic University of America. Pat will guide us "to more deeply appropriate gospel spirituality and develop a personal plan for following the Way of Jesus."

Read Bishop Susan Goff's letter of invitation. A draft schedule of events is available here. Registration is available both online and by mail. Register here.

Need to Know

2016 Church Leadership Conference

Register today for "Be Still and Grow" and explore how churches can refocus their energies and deepen the faith of their membership. What would it look like if there were a renewed focus on prayer and liturgy? What could the Church become if leadership were more concerned with spiritual well-being than physical or financial? Early bird rates end October 19. Register now.

Installation of the 27th Presiding Bishop

The Union of Black Episcopalians invites

you to a celebration in honor of the installation of The Rt. Rev. Michael Bruce Curry as the first African American Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church on Oct. 31 at the D.C. Armory. For details and to sign up for a free ticket, click here.

Episcopal Church Women (ECW) Exhibit to Open at Mayo House

An exhibit featuring the history of The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) will open at Mayo House on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 4:00 p.m. The exhibit is just one of the events commemorating the 125th Anniversary of the ECW in the Diocese of Virginia. Other events include the Fall Meeting on Oct.15. The meeting will include fun, food, fellowship, education and celebration. Free child care will be provided for children of all ages. Registration will be available this week.

Survival Skills for Lay Professional Training

The Diocese of Virginia office for congregational development, in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, has developed a training program designed to help lay professionals navigate the complex, shifting demands of their jobs in healthy ways. Survival Skills for Lay Professionals will address handling crises, negotiating healthy boundaries, dealing with difficult people and practicing self care.

Faculty for the training will be Dr. Doug Thorpe, executive director of VIPCare, and Julie Simonton, officer for congregational development and stewardship.

The workshop is from 9:30 - 1:30 and includes a working lunch.

Dates include:

Oct. 8, St. Paul's, Miller's Tavern
Nov. 4, The Falls Church, Falls Church
Charlottesville training dates TBD

Learn more and register.

Taste and See that the Lord is Good: A Conversation between a Farmer, a Chef, and a Theologian

Oct. 3, Grace & Holy Trinity, Richmond

An invitation and an opportunity to explore the relationship between faith and food:

Our relationship with food, God, and the environment is the focus of our Stewardship of Creation Conference this fall. With the help of our keynote speaker, Rachel Marie Stone (Eat with Joy), together with the panelists and workshop leaders, participants will be invited to discern a new relationship with food, one which honors both God and the world as God's gift.

The program cost is $15 for adults (children 12 and under are free) and includes a "wholly" meal. Learn more and register.

Wild Longing: A Contemplative Prayer Group

This fall you are invited to deepen your prayerful experience of God's abiding presence in your life through a variety of contemplative prayer practices. We will learn how to make ourselves more fully available to God through sound, silence, image, intercession, scripture, and creation. This group will start with an opening retreat on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and then continue on Thursday evenings in October from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Space is limited. Please contact Abbott Bailey to register or with any questions. The Reverend Abbott Bailey is the rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. She is currently enrolled in a program on Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups and Retreats through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and will be sharing this rich, experiential approach to prayer through this offering.

"Seeing the Face of God in Each Other" - Anti-Racism Workshop

Oct. 2-3. St. Mark's, Richmond

The Anti-Racism Workshop will be facilitated by the Diocesan Committee on Race and Reconciliation. The goals of the workshop are to:

Acquire anti-racism tools
Explore avenues to reconciliation
Renew your spirit with us

The workshop will begin Oct. 2 at 5p.m - 9p.m. with a light supper. The session on Oct. 3 will be from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. and contintential breakfast and lunch will be served. The cost is $25.

To register, please email Ellyn Crawford, crawfordellyn@yahoo.com.You may bring a check with you or mail one to the Diocese c/o Mary Anne Bryant.

Stewardship Workshops

Oct. 17, St. Peter's in the Woods, Fairfax Station
9:30 a.m. - 12: 00 p.m. - Capital Campaigns

Is your church talking about a capital campaign? Do you need more information about what's involved? Deal Tompkins will provide a workshop on Oct. 17 from 9:30a.m. - 12 p.m. at St. Peter's in the Woods, Fairfax Station. For a full explanation of stewardship workshops, visit the Stewardship and Generosity page on the diocesan website. Register today!

Spiritual Direction

Pathways: Spiritual Direction, a ministry of spiritual direction is currently being offered at Roslyn. Each hour long session is $65, overnight lodging at Roslyn is at an additional cost. For more information, visit our website.

The Rev. Howard Kempsell has six slots remaining for next week, Sept. 28 - Oct. 1. Please contact Amy Williams, awilliams@thediocese.net to schedule a session.

Future residencies:

Nov. 10 -12: Ms. Linda Nelson
Dec. 14 - 17: The Rev. Howard Kempsell

Other News & Events

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) will host the second interfaith summit on stewardship of Virginia waters in Virginia Beach on Oct. 7. During the "Living Waters: Wading In" conference, theologians, scientists, advocates and policy makers will explore concrete steps people across many faith traditions can take to protect and restore our rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay. Registration is available online.
Are YOU a Christian Educator for a parish in the Diocese of Virginia? If so, then we need your help! The diocesan Office of Christian Formation wants to know what Faith Formation looks like at your church. Please take a few moments to fill out our survey so that we can better serve you and other Christian Educators across the Diocese. If your church has more than one person who works with Faith Formation, feel free to have everyone involved share their responses with us- the more information we have, the better! If you should have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Meg Schwarz (mschwarz@thediocese.net or 800-DIOCESE x1043) with those. Thank you in advance for your time and help!
Epiphany, Oak Hill, has partnered with Our Daily Bread's Food 4 Thought program to help fight child hunger in Fairfax County. Each month, the parish provides and pack meals, drinks and snacks for elementary school children who receive free or reduced-price meals during school days. For many of these children, school meals might be the only ones they receive. On Sunday, Oct. 11at 11:30 am, Epiphany will pack meals together. If you would like to participate in this outreach opportunity or donate supplies, please call (703) 466-5200 or email admin@coee.org.

Immanuel, Old Church, will present Paul Winter's Missa Gaia (Earth Mass) as this fall's "Music in the Old Church" program on Sat., Oct. 17 at Grace & Holy Trinity, Richmond, at 2:30 and 8:00 p.m. A choir of over fifty voices (representing over 20 local churches) with an eleven piece orchestra will be directed by Jimmy Hicks and will feature soloists Desiree Roots, Kelly Kennedy, Wendy Fox- Williams, and Stephanie Hill. Also included in the program are Paul Halley's Freedom Trilogy, Creativity, and Voices of Light; Peter Anglea's Psalm 150 and Dolly Parton's Light of a Clear Blue Morning. Parking is available at the VCU deck at Laurel and Main Streets. Tickets ($15) are available at 804-779-3454, immanoch@verizon.net or at the door.

Church Events

9/26: Celtic Communion, St. Paul's-on-the-Hill, Winchester
9/26: Annual Country Fair, Pohick Church, Lorton
9/26: International Festival, St. Philip's, Richmond
9/27: International Worship Service, St. Philip's, Richmond
9/27: The Rev. Dr. Harold T. Lewis: "The Church in a racist society: agent of change or chaplain to the status quo?", St. Paul's Memorial, Charlottesville
9/27: Daniel del Pino, pianist, St. Patrick's, Falls Church
9/27: Blessing of the Animals, St. Barnabas', Annandale

800-DIOCESE | www.thediocese.net