November 2015

Going forward with Province II

The Provincial Council met for the first time since General Convention on October 23, 2015. The minutes of the meeting are posted online, although they will not be approved until the February meeting of the council. Vice President, Canon Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine, Esq., presided in the absence of the President, The Rt. Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, who was on Long Island marching in the event in memory of Dejah Joyner, the child who was shot.

In addition to the regular business of any council meeting, the council addressed two areas of concern: the position of Executive Coordinator, which has been filled by Canon Chuck Perfater for the last twelve years, and the plans for the activities and attention of the province for this triennium. Read the whole article...

Out in our neighborhoods...

Diocese of Albany
The Albany Refugee Resettlement Ministry (ARRM) is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany that has been serving Tri-City communities for over three decades, historically through St. David's Church in East Greenbush and now through St. Francis Mission in the West Hill neighborhood of Albany. Read the whole story...

Diocese of Central New York

Find out more about the search in Central NY on the Province II website - including links to CNY's pages.

Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
Up next at the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center: refugee serving organizations will come together November 18 to provide information on how to better serve refugees in Rome. For more information: http://jnrc.it/informational-night/

The Diocese of Haiti
Haiti Connection 2015 becomes Haiti Connection 2016
The Haiti Connection Conference originally scheduled for October 21-23, 2015 has now been rescheduled for April 6-8, 2016 - same city (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), same host hotel (the Montana Hotel, now called the Suites Horizon), and the same purpose (sharing, learning, inspiration and connections with others who are doing God's work in Haiti). A tentative schedule and registration form will soon be posted on the website.

The Diocese of Long Island

2015 October 23 In Memory of Dejah Joyner - news segment

2015 October 23 In Memory of Dejah Joyner - news segment from Episcopal Diocese of Long Island on Vimeo.

The Diocese of New Jersey
Bishop Stokes' reflections on radical hospitality. Read more...

The Diocese of New York
Carla E. Roland Guzm�n is rector of the Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew and Saint Timothy, a bilingual congregation in New York City. She was ordained in the Diocese of Puerto Rico and has served for 12 years in the Diocese of New York. She currently serves as co-chair of the Faith, Family & Equality Latin@ Roundtable that develops materials for Latin@ congregations and families to understand and accept members of the LGBTQ Community. She writes in ECF's Vestry Papers on stewardship in "The 2% Campaign" - available in both English and Spanish. http://www.ecfvp.org/.../rethinking-stewardsh.../the-2-campaign/

The Diocese of Newark
Morristown's Project Homeless aids displaced
MORRISTOWN - Men and women shared stories of homelessness, mental illness and addiction, but also recovery and hope Thursday morning during the annual Project Homeless Connect at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Read the Daily Record's article...

Diocese of Rochester
Change Ringing Bells to be Dedicated
The weekend of November 20-22 will launch a wonderful new sound on the north side of Rochester. The Church of the Ascension (corner of Lake Avenue and Riverside St.) has a new set of ten carefully tuned bells hung for change ringing. Read more (scroll down)...

Diocese of Western New York
178th Convention Meets in Mayville
Diocesan Convention met on the shores of Lake Chautauqua on Friday and Saturday. Delegates were invited to join in a Halloween party on Friday night. Trivia games, a duck scavenger hunt, pumpkin decorating and ghost bowling were enjoyed by many of the delegates. No one reported seeing an actual ghost.The theme of the Convention was "I will with God's help." Read more...

The Alongsider Program at the Community of St. John Baptist

An Alongsider commits to a period of six months to one year to live, pray and work with the Sisters at the Convent. We hope that she will see this time as God's call to deepen her spiritual life and to draw closer in her relationship with God. Find out more...

Advent is coming!

Anglicans worldwide and all Christians are being invited to observe Advent in a fun and prayerful way through a global online Advent Calendar called AdventWord. AdventWord invites Christians to sign up to receive a daily meditation and respond by posting a picture on Instagram and other social media. The pictures combine to create the Advent Calendar in real time.
ECF Vital offers a curated list Advent resources, that we update each year - here's the link: http://www.ecfvp.org/tools/advent-resources
English Advent guide: Practicing Patience With All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind by Scott Stoner and guest writers Steven Charleston, Nurya Love Parish, Tom Purdy, and Porter Taylor
Spanish Advent guide: Link: http://goo.gl/kPsezc
Forward Movement resources include including the popular Advent color-it-in calendar with art by Jay Sidebotham.
Sign up to receive a daily meditation from the Brothers of the Society of Saint John Evangelist, an Anglican/Episcopal monastic community.

Episcopal Relief and Development's 75th Anniversary Gift Package

The 75th Anniversary Gift Package is the highlight of this year's holiday giving season from Gifts for Life, Episcopal Relief & Development's alternative giving catalog. As the organization celebrates 75 years of healing a hurting world, congregations, families, groups and individuals are invited to give a gift with lasting impact, providing basics for life to strengthen communities around the globe. Find out more...

2016 Roanridge Trust Award Grants

The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society is now accepting applications for the 2016 Roanridge Trust Award Grants. These grants are given to support creative ministry and highlight the important mission in rural areas and small towns across The Episcopal Church. Although previous recipients are eligible to apply, priority is given to new applications. The application deadline is Friday, November 20th. You can download an application by clicking here. (Applications in Spanish are available here).

Church Publishing has just released a new book by activist and writer Louie Crew Clay.

Louie Crew Clay: A Profile in His Own Words "Letters from Samaria" features gay Christian pioneer's moving, often funny prose, poetry

Vestry Resource Guide
Vestry Resource Guide is available in both English (http://www.forwardmovement.org/Products/1951/the-vestry-resource-guide.aspx) in both print and e-book formats.

Coming Soon...

Details and links for all of these are on the Province II website

Trinity Institute: Listen for a Change-January 21-23, 2016

Racial justice is a matter of life or death; we can't afford to stay silent and tacitly accept the (mostly) invisible systems that support inequalities, create suffering, and deny human dignity. Rather, we need to have an open dialogue-a process that starts with listening. Find out more...

Join us for "Be Still and Grow" at the February 19-21, 2016 Conference as we 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? Click here for more information and to register.

Episcopal Foundation Webinars

For the full calendar, information and registration, go to the website.