Discussion Resources
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I have spent thousands of hours fishing in my life and a month ago I hooked something I have never hooked before-myself. With the help of a large Northern Pike that I was trying to get off of a multi-hooked lure I buried one of the free hooks deep into my left thumb. It was a barbed hook which greatly increased the pain as well as the challenge of extricating it from my thumb. Since the barbed hook was already half way through my thumb I debated for a moment whether to try and push it all the way through, or to try and pull it back out. After a few minutes of debate as to what to do next I made what turned out to clearly be the right decision. I had my wife drive me to the local emergency room, which thankfully was only thirty minutes away. The doctor was able to see me quickly and assured me that he knew exactly what to do, as the hospital was located in an area in Northern Wisconsin known for its great fishing. He explained that he had extracted hundreds of hooks from many hands and feet over his many years of practice. Once my thumb had been numbed he went to work and ended up pulling the hook out the way it had gone in, which unfortunately allowed the barb to do more internal damage as it was being extracted. Soon the ordeal was over and after expressions of deep gratitude to the medical staff I was on my way with a well-bandaged left thumb.
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From the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees The Rev. Michael Monnot
As a priest, as Co-rector of All Saint's Episcopal Church in Sacramento, and more recently as a member of the Diocesan Board of Trustees, I experience, as many of you probably have as well, the pull toward being overwhelmed by detail. We begin with high hopes and dreams of how we are going to make an impact on the world with our ministries, or long to begin our work caring for those who need comfort, or living out a pastoral role in a community of people moving through all the joy and suffering in their lives. But part of the reality of ministry is also our experience of vestry meetings, budget planning, scheduling, managing conflict, large and small...all of the day to day tasks of ministry. It's easy to get distracted or preoccupied with the small fires and the mini-crises that we face each day.
Yet there are times when things happen, nearby or in the world, when we are shaken out of those small parts of our role to face something larger, something that cannot be ignored. We are all living in a time like that right now. If your experience is anything like mine, you have had a moment - perhaps writing a sermon, or planning for a vestry meditation, or working on an adult education plan - when suddenly the subject you were preparing to talk or write about suddenly isn't enough anymore. The Gospel passage can't be this abstract at a moment like this; the Bible study suddenly risks irrelevance; the leak in the church roof can't be all that we focus on. Matters like these, important though they may be, simply won't be what people will be focusing on when they hear what you say, or read what you write, or think about the subject matter you are proposing that they think about.
This, it seems to me, describes much of what the experience of doing ministry is like right now, in July of 2016. That fine exegesis of the passage from the Gospel of John just isn't quite enough after the latest news from Orlando, or Baton Rouge, or Dallas. But more, it feels hard to focus on budgets, meetings, and other such details, when there is so much obvious and immediate pain in the world. Business as usual just doesn't seem right when we and so many people around us are trying to understand what is going on, and what we can and should do about it. To the largest extent, this is exactly as it should be. Times like these, if they have any positive effect on us, serve to shake us out of our complacency and give us a chance to look at who we are and what we are doing with new eyes. It can also be frightening: I find that a long focus on the routines of ministry can feel familiar and comfortable, and that having to find my way through times like these both personally and in ministry can make me well, uncomfortable. But our calling as disciples of Jesus is to care for one another, to love our neighbor, and to take part in building up the Kingdom of God. This is a chance for all of us, I believe, to reconnect with the core of our ministry, and indeed, with the core of our baptismal vows. We have the opportunity to discern new ways to help bring about justice and reconciliation. As Christians, that's our job. I have a feeling that this is a situation that will be with us for a long time. There are many awful hurts that are rising all about us, and they will not be going away soon. We are being challenged once again to move out from our area of comfort into a new commitment as disciples of Jesus. And if I read my gospels right, that can be beautiful and wonderful - but rarely comfortable.
But on the positive side, as I said, there will be an opportunity for us to again more deeply engage with what we have been called to do from the beginning. And we can be blessed even in those other aspects of ministry, in the budgets, the meetings, and the details. We will, I think be able to see again more clearly their role as a part of our ministry. If we are reconnected with the original purpose and deeper understanding of what we are called to in the larger sense, we will be more capable of faithful - and joyful - service in the small things as well as the large ones.
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McClellan Conference Center
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New at 2016 Diocesan Convention: Breakout Sessions
- College for Congregational Development
- Disaster Preparedness
- Diocesan Youth Discipleship
- Doctrine of Discovery
- Finance & Benefits
- Redevelopment of St. Matthew's, Sacramento
Informal gatherings are also scheduled for Friday at lunchtime to discuss: Total Ministry, Episcopal Public Policy Network, Children's Ministry, Welcoming the Stranger Task Force, Prison Ministry and Learning About the Diaconate.
Please click here for all 2016 Diocesan Convention information.
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Bishop's Sabbatical Update: Successful Launch!
Please click here for all Bishop's Sabbatical information.
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Office of the Bishop Staff Announcement
The Office of the Bishop is pleased to welcome back Tamoya Bell (formerly known as Tamoya Brewster) from her maternity leave!
Tamoya and her husband welcomed their twin boys, Zechariah and Zion, into the world on February 12, 2016.
We are also pleased to announce that Tamoya will continue on as Benefits Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California and begin a new role in the Office of the Bishop Accounting office as an Accounting Specialist.
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Youth Pilgrims Return From South Africa
Lift Every Voice youth adult pilgrims returned safely this week from South Africa! These pilgrims participated in the continuation of the Lift Every Voice: Freedom Ride pilgrimage that began in North Carolina in the summer of 2015.
Please stay tuned to learn more about this trip, and hear the stories of the youth pilgrims in the months to come, as they return from this powerful experience.
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Planning to Retire?
Retirement Resources for Clergy
As clergy prepare for retirement, there are several important steps to take. Clergy should contact the bishop as soon as the time for retirement is near. After a discussion with the bishop, the clergy may begin working with their vestry to plan for a retirement transition as soon as a decision to retire is made. It is also very important for the clergy person, and the vestry, to determine when this retirement transition will be formally announced to their congregation.
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Bible Challenge Weekly Meditations
Bulletin inserts for Luke Chapters 1-23 available
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Register online today!
Godly Play Training &
Children's Ministry Conference
August 11-13, 2016
Incarnation Santa Rosa, CA
Please click here to learn more, apply for grants and register.
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Upcoming Anti-Racism Trainings in Our Diocese
I n the next few months there will be at least three opportunities to experience, "It's More than Just Color," the anti-racism training developed and presented by the diocesan Commission on Intercultural Ministries. Such training is now required for all licensed ministries.Everyone in the diocese is welcomed to participate in any of the upcoming anti-racism trainings that are currently scheduled:
Everywhere the Episcopal Church is present, a multiplicity of cultures are present, too. The Commission for Intercultural Ministries seeks to help your worshiping community welcome and appreciate the great diversity of people among and around us. Please join us for a training!
Click here to learn more and to register for these trainings.
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Clergy on the Move
Mara Arack, Calvin Stanley Cornils, Elizabeth Bates Gaines, Pamela Ann Gossard, Babette Florence Haggenjos, Patricia Ann Park, Anne Susan Pierson and Katherine Margaret Sefton will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons on Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 11: 00 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento.
Clergy Retirement Resources
Please click here for important clergy retirement information.
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Special Clergy Anniversaries
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Please click here to learn more about these and additional opportunities.
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Please join us in continued prayer for Bishop Barry Beisner, and his wife the Rev. Dr. Ann Hallisey, Dean of Students at CDSP and priest in our diocese, and Ann's daughter Dr. Kate Rubins, biochemist and astronaut. Kate launched on a mission to the International Space Station on July 6th, and will be in space for the next six months. Please join us in prayer for Kate, Ann, Barry and their family. We invite you to include Barry, Ann, Kate, and all involved in the international space station, in the Sunday prayers, and to pray daily together as a community during this time. Please click here for updates from NASA about this launch.
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To submit a clergy prayer request, please contact Sandra Littman, Administrative Assistant to the Bishop, at 916-442- 6918 ext. 213
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Events In & Around Our Diocese
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News In & Around Our Diocese
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Caroline McCall is a director and trainer for the College for Congregational Development here in our diocese, and has worked with several of our congregations as a consultant. She has already had a very positive impact on our congregations in this diocese, and I am pleased that she will be in this position at CDSP. We will continue to benefit from her expertise as we form clergy and lay leaders in our diocese. Please join me in celebrating this call! - Canon Andrea McMillin
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National & International News
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Click here for more National & International News.
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