March 13, 2014  


Notes from Bishop Mark

Yesterday morning the Commission on Ministry and I met to do our ongoing work with those in our ordination processes. We also continued our conversations to revise and renew our process for discernment and ordination in this diocese. As we currently have a dozen people in some formal stage of our process, I will be suspending the reception of any new aspirants into the process for one year. This suspension is first and foremost a pastoral matter. As there will be substantive changes in the way we discern, I do not want someone to start a process only to change it once they have begun. And this suspension is also a matter of the time and resources that are currently available to the Commission. I will soon email clergy a more detailed description of this suspension.

Lenten Quiet Day for Clergy is next Wed March 19, 9am-2pm: We will meet at St. Paul's in Salem. I will bless oil of Chrism for use in our liturgical and pastoral ministry during the Eucharist. Lunch will be provided at no cost by St Paul's. I will offer two reflections and there will be time for silent reflection. We will gather at 9:00 and begin formally at 9:30. We will officially end at 2:00, but people may choose to stay and meditate until the end of the day. There will be no business. 

 

Call for a count: St. Paul's, Salem, has graciously offered to prepare lunch at no cost for the upcoming Clergy Quiet Day. All clergy should respond to this extension of hospitality by letting Lynn ([email protected]) know if you plan to attend. Be sure to tell her any dietary restrictions you have. 


Sunday Visitations and Midweek Vestry Meetings:

 

On the First Sunday in Lent I worshipped with the people of St. Stephen's in Forest. (There was one person received). This Second Sunday in Lent I will worship with the people of Trinity, Rocky Mount. I will also install their new rector, The Rev. David Taylor during this liturgy. 

 

Vestry meetings: This week I am meeting with the vestry and leaders of Grace Church, Massie's Mill.

 

Pastoral Concerns:

 

The Rev. Richard Fife underwent a heart procedure in Charlottesville last week. He has to have another one on April 10th. Richard is now on a medical leave from St. Elizabeth's. Please keep Richard and Jenny in your prayers. 

 

Amy Frazier's father, Roy Berkenstock, died this week after a hard battle with cancer. Amy is the spouse of The Rev. Dr. Mark Frazier. Please hold her family in your prayers. 

 

The Rev. Gene Anderson continues to rehab from a broken ribs suffered as the result of a fall during the recent snow storm.


Notes from Evans House

 

New on the www.dioswva.org Faces of the Diocese
blog:

Nick Moga, our diocesan coordinator for Episcopal Relief and Development and also co-chair of the diocesan Millenium Development Goals Committee, has written "Thinking About Water in a Different Way."

Nick's experience of helping build a new village in Honduras helped him realize how much we take for granted about our water supply and what the consequences (some not immediately obvious) of not having safe water readily available are.
 

Additional Information About Certain of the Safeguarding God's People Training Sessions--and an additional training. Remember that anyone may attend any session:

  • April 12-Augusta Convocation -- 1 -  4 pm at Washington & Lee University's Hillel House (204 W. Washington Street, Lexington 24450) The Hillel House is directly beside R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church's parish house. Ample parking is available behind the Hillel House in a W & L parking lot off of Jefferson Street.
  • April 27--a new training, just scheduled--12:30 - 3:30 at St. Mark's, Fincastle, in the church nave (111 S. Roanoke Street, Fincastle 24090)
  • May 3--Lynchburg Convocation -- 9:30 am - 12:30 pm at St. John's, Lynchburg (200 Boston Ave., Lynchburg 24503) 

Contact the Rev. Joe Dunagan or the Rev. Kathy Dunagan, Diocesan Safeguarding God's People Coordinators, for additional information:

Events 
 
Nuevo Amanecer 2014, a favorite conference in The Episcopal Church, will focus on God's mission and the celebration of culture, diversity, and the unique sense of fiesta (joy) fostered in the Latino/Hispanic Community.

With the theme Community * Mission * Fiesta, Nuevo Amanecer 2014 will be held August 25 - 28 at Kanuga Conference Center, NC. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is partnering with Kanuga and The Episcopal Church's Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries to offer this conference.

Complete information is here.

 

Seeking the Sacred Thread-Celebrating the Heart of Life, a time of sanctuary, sustenance, and inspiration in a retreat setting, is an offering of AwakeningSoul, scheduled for November 6 - 9 at the Lutheridge Conference Center in Arden, NC. 

 

Speakers will be John Philip Newell and Barbara Brown Taylor. Fran McKendree and the AwakeningSoul Ensemble will lead the music. Brian Prior will be the Chaplain. 

 

Complete information is available here.

 

News 

Applications are now being accepted for an assortment of positions with The Episcopal Church. Go here for complete information.  

 

Repeated from Previous Updates 


Beirne Carter Education Grant applications for the education of clergy children are due by March 31. Go here for complete information.

 

Note the change in the time for the Abingdon Convocation's spring meeting posted in the list on the right.

 

St. John's, Roanoke, invites you to a performance by the Virginia Glee Club with the Oriana Singers on March 14 at 6 pm.

The Mary & Martha Chapter of the Daughters of the King at St. John's, Bedford, invites you to a Lenten Quiet Day
on Saturday, March 15. Complete information is here.

St. Paul's, Lynchburg, invites you to their Celtic Evensong service:

  • March 16, 5 pm 

Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, invites you their choir's performance of Jesus, Son of Our Father, on Saturday, April 12 at 3 pm. Download the flyer for this event here.

 
Upcoming Conferences at Kanuga

The largest event of its kind in the Episcopal Church, Kanuga's Christian Formation Conference is four days of learning, fellowship, refreshment and renewal. This year's keynoter is Dr. Walter Brueggemann, noted Biblical scholar and author of over 100 books and articles. To supplement his addresses, there will be a wide array of workshops providing practical resources for the home and parish. To learn more and register, go here.

The Lansing Lee Conference: This three-day conference, themed "Experiencing Eternity", will explore ways God reaches across time and space to meet us and how this connections shapes and transforms our lives. Celebrate the transcendent power of God's love with powerful story, great worship, and creative experiences in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. To learn more and register, go here

 

Answers to questions that are already coming in concerning the Good Friday Offering are here

 

The Presiding Bishop's Lent message is available here. The video is downloadable here. 

 

The Task Force for Re-Imagining The Episcopal Church (TREC) has released the second of its Study Papers

 

Focusing on reforms to church-wide governance and administration, the Study Paper is available here.

 

The first Study Paper was released February 6 and is available here.

 

TREC members previously noted: We ask you to respond in whatever way feels comfortable and constructive for you: email a TREC member privately, email TREC through our common address ([email protected]), respond publicly by posting on our website, use your name or a pseudonym, write papers we can use and incorporate, or make comments on specific points.

 

Episcopal Church grants available for campus ministries

 

Applications are now being accepted for grant proposals from dioceses, parishes or community college/college/university campuses for new as well as current campus ministries in higher education institutions in the Episcopal Church. Go here for complete information.

 

Episcopal Appalachian Ministries Grants 

 

The spring small grants deadline is approaching fast! Go here for complete information.

 

The Episcopal Church Task Force on the Study of Marriage wants videos from Episcopalians throughout the church. 

 

The videos should focus on the topic: Give us your first name and tell a one-minute story about your relationship or one you know well in which you have seen the image of God. 

 

"We invite Episcopalians to prepare, produce and submit a one-minute video sharing their thoughts and feelings that we can use in our reporting," commented Task Force member the Rev. Canon W. (Will) H. Mebane, Jr., Diocese of Ohio. "The videos don't need to be professionally recorded-feel free to use a Smartphone or flip cam." 

 

The videos should be sent to [email protected]

 

These videos will be used as part of upcoming presentations and reports to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.

 

A statement from the United Thank Offering Board 

 

The members of the board of the United Thank Offering have issued the following statement: 

 

Please join the United Thank Offering Board in giving thanks to God for the collaborative work between the Board, staff of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society and members of Executive Council, the result of which is the creation of organizational documents that clarify and implement the work of the Board, grow the ministry of the United Thank Offering, and facilitate the relationship between the Board and Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS). 

 

Read the complete statement here.

 

New Opportunities Grants: Proposals invited for Native American program assistance 

 

The Episcopal Church Office of Indigenous Ministries and the Executive Council Committee on Indigenous Ministries invites Episcopal communities with Native American initiatives to submit proposals for the New Opportunities Grants, which provides funding for programs in 2014. 

 

"The New Opportunities Grant was a project established to assist native people throughout the Episcopal Church to develop new and innovative approaches to their ministry," explained Sarah Eagle Heart, Episcopal Church Program Officer for Indigenous Ministries.  


Grant guidelines, requirements, forms, further information and application instructions are located here.

   

Lee Vaughn Children's Fund 

 

The sudden death of Lee Vaughn, age 51, a long-time member of Emmanuel, Bristol, who served recently as Senior Warden there has prompted the parish to establish a fund for his three children (Charlotte, age 14; Sarah, age 14; and Reilly, age 12) for their college education and possibly their future major medical expenses. The fund will be managed by Doyle T. Liske, CPA, Lee's father-in-law. 

 

Deposits may be made at any Wells Fargo branch, or mailed to
Donna Clark
Wells Fargo Bank
601 State Street
Bristol, VA 24201
Lee Vaughn Children's Fund

Account #5385462725

 

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New Life
Click here
to see the chart of 2014 Received Reports as of March 11, 2014
.

Click here for current information about the Sponsor-a-Day program.

Click here for the current list of supply clergy. 
 
Click here for the diocesan staff directory.

SPRING CONVOCATION MEETINGS

ABINGDON: April 6, 3-5 pm
Grace House
NEW RIVER: April 27, 3-5 pm
Christ Church, Blacksburg
ROANOKE: May 4, 2:30-4:30 pm
St. John's, Roanoke
AUGUSTA: May 18, 3-5 pm
R. E. Lee Memorial, Lexington
LYNCHBURG: June 1, 2:30-4:30 pm
St. John's, Bedford

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