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In This Issue
Youth@Convnetion
Carla's Corner
Living Compass
A Book in Review
New in the Resource Center
Stewardship
Camp Webb
Safeguarding God's Children
Websites, Facebook, and Twitter. OH MY!
Send In Your Articles
Christian Formation Staff
Upcoming Events

 Family Fun Saturdays

January 19, 2013 9am-3pm

Zion, Oconomowoc

& February 16, 2013 9am-3pm St. Dunstan's, Madison

 

Camp Webb

Open House, June 2, 2013 10am-2pm

Camp Webb Camp Week 

June 16-21, 2013

 

Summer Mission Trip

July 2013

 

All Soul's Youth Event

Nov 2-3, 2014 at Zion, Oconomowoc

 

For more information

 

Camp Webb

Oct 12-13, 2012

Camp Webb 2012 & 2013

Camp Webb logo

 

For more information go to www.campwebb.org.

 

Intersted in being on staff?

Click here for information!

 

 

Resource Center
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  YOUTH @ Convention

   Check out scenes from Youth @ Convention

Youth at Convention 2012
Youth games!

 

Youth at convention eucharist 2012
Youth at Convention Eucharist
YouthatConvention Food Pantry Grace
Serving at Food Pantry, Grace Church

 

Carla's Corner

Youth@Convention; Family Saturdays & More! 

Check out our full row of Youth at Convention for Convention Eucharist! 

Youth at convention eucharist 2012
Youth at Convention Eucharist

Youth from all over the diocese joined us for fun and fellowship, Convention Eucharist, dinner and Monstrance's debut on Friday night. We stayed overnight at St. Dunstan's. Saturday we served at the Food Pantry, Grace Church. We served 22 persons at the pantry from 10am and Noon. The youth shared that serving on Saturday was the best part of the whole weekend. Their second favorite part was riding the cool elevator at the Marriot. Thank you to Rev. Seth Allen Raymond, John Michael Rasmus, Russell Lenz, and Bill Dunlop for being our Y@C adults. Thank you to Deacon REGS Scheeler (Bishop's Deacon for Christian Formation) and Lori Masset (Christian Formation/Camp Webb Assisting Volunteer) for their time with our youth and for assisting as Christian Formation representatives to Convention.

The Youth & Family Commission of the diocese is planning our next event for January 19, 2013 and February 16, 2013 - Family FUN Saturdays! Jan. 19 we will meet 9-3 at Zion in Oconomowoc and Feb. 16 we will be at St. Dunstan's, Madison. Come the day that fits your calendar schedule. Bring the entire family. We will be family together on this day event. We'll be talking about the value of being family, that we have a voice and can be advocates for our families, (no matter our ages). Parents will also have a time to talk together about discipline. Teens and children will have time to talk about our own voices and talent of negotiation with parents. We'll share family meals/snacks and create a craft that will be a conversation starter for meals to come!

This Family Saturday will be part of our Diocesan Christian Formation and Leadership Development Days presented in partnership with the Commission on Ministry and Development. The COMD will also hold two opportunities in February and March 2013 for continuing leadership training and vestry days.

Offering these opportunities separate from Friday convention workshops allows more time for learning and building community together. Peggy Bean, the COMD, the Life-long Christian Formation Commission and Youth & Family Commission hope you will plan to join us at each of these 2013 events!

 

May it be well with your soul,

Carla

 
Living Compass: Advent 2012 Program
  Living Compass wheel   Embracing and Living the Love of God in Advent: An Advent Program and Resource from Living Compass

 

     Advent is often said to be the favorite season in the church by many people. It is a time when we begin to think and plan for gatherings of family and friends, and ways we will show our love for those we love in many ways: preparing special food, decorating, buying or making gifts, singing certain songs, and eating together just to name a few. This beautiful season can also be a time when we prepare ourselves for Christmas, for welcoming in our hearts once again, the Love of God in Christ. We may wonder how we can do this, or perhaps how to do this better. After all, it isn't necessarily easy with all the other things we have to do to prepare for our Christmas celebrations. Jesus himself reminds us that we can welcome him and love him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength (Luke 7:27). It is Jesus' own words we will be exploring in this 4 session program about how this Advent we can love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and in so doing welcome God's love into our busy world especially at Christmas, and every day.

 

     This Advent program is a resource of Living Compass. In addition to the 4 sessions which can be used individually for small or large groups or Bible Studies, or for a retreat, Living Compass offers a companion book of readings for each day of Advent. This booklet can also stand alone as a personal daily devotional and makes a great gift.   You can order the Advent program and/or the companion book Living Love: Daily Readings for the Season of Advent by emailing Edith Braeger at [email protected].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Book in Review
Lots New in the Resource Center - Check It Out!

Don't just read about it here - check out a book from the Resource Center. Here are "Two in Review".

 
           book review  
Episcopalians newly discovering their church home or long-time members who may have forgotten why they love the church will appreciate Unabashedly Episcopalian. Bishop Andy Doyle has mined the Baptismal Covenant and his own experiences leading the Diocese of Texas. The result is a heartfelt, smart and practical book that calls Episcopalians to wake up to the church's unique gifts and story, and equips them to share that witness in their neighborhoods and out in the world.  

 Family Theology book review Carol Gallagher takes on the challenging task of weaving what she learned from her family life, her Cherokee heritage, her understanding of biblical stories, and her life in the church into a theological tapestry. Along the way she invites us in with questions and observations that reach beyond her life and into ours. Gallagher, the former bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, is the first American Indian (Cherokee) female bishop in the Episcopal Church. She is currently Assisting Bishop of North Dakota and is the author of Reweaving the Sacred: A Practical Guide to Change and Growth for Challenged congregations (Church Publishing, 2006).  

What's New in the Resource Center

 advent book reviewBook of Faith Advent Reflections: You Shall Have a Song

 God promises, "You shall have a song" (Isaiah 30:29), even when things look the most bleak and hopeless. This book explores four songs from the Bible: God's New Song (Psalm 96), Song of Light (Isaiah 42:1-9), Mary's Song (Luke 1:46-55) and Servant Song (Philippians 2:5-11). Use the daily reflections on your own or with a friend or family member. Explore the weekly Bible studies in an existing group or form a group with others, who are reading this book. Check out the activities and choose some hands-on ways to celebrate this Advent season. The Activity section is written by Debbie Trafton O'Neil, and is appropriate for either family use or for creating a congregation wide "Advent Fair". Advent Reflections is a series of daily devotional resources for Advent.  Each title offers opportunities to open scripture, look at it through different lenses, and join in conversations around the Bible and is appropriate for use across denominations.

 

Care Giver book review

Caring Liturgies- The Pastoral Power of Christian Ritual

Caregiving practices in churches often center around listening and giving counsel, making referrals, and creating support groups for specific needs. In Caring Liturgies, Susan Marie Smith proposes that Christian ritual is both a method and a means for helping people through liminal times of transition and uncertainty, even vulnerability and fear. It teaches readers to recognize the ritual needs of fellow Christians and thus create post-baptismal rites of passage and healing that might strengthen and support them in the fulfillment of their ministries.  The book extends the usefulness of denominational "occasional services" books and other resources by suggesting ways to build a rite around a central symbolic action.

 

Sample: Chapter 1 http://www.augsburgfortress.org/media/downloads/9780800697365Chapter1.pdf

 

Episcopal Etiquette book review Barney Hawkins, priest and seminary professor, invites his reader into a reflection on the craft of priesthood and the etiquette and ethics that inform that craft. With his own life and ministry serving as case study, Hawkins offers a perspective borne of great love and (sometimes painful) experience.

However this book came to be in your hands, open it carefully so that you do not miss any part of what is being offered you: true words from a wise man about living a life that matters, without dismissing any of the dark guests who keep priests honest and make ministry worth doing. -Barbara Brown Taylor

 

 

Stewardship vs. Charity

 

Stewardship vs. Charitable Giving

 

By: Paul Citerony

 

 

 

Christian stewardship is a critical ministry for any parish community. Unfortunately, stewardship can at times, be thought of as a perplexing influence in our lives. Eventually however, stewardship helps us to clarify values, purposes and our daily decisions.

 

At this time of year, when we begin to think about stewardship, it's important to distinguish or draw a line between stewardship and charitable giving. Stewardship is grounded in the Biblical principle of giving the first fruits of the harvest back to God in thanksgiving. Charitable giving, on the other hand, is a generous sharing of last- fruits, with worthy causes that happen to please the giver. Both types of giving express generosity, but the differences between stewardship and charitable giving are significant.

 

First fruits-the Hebrew expectation-was the first tenth portion, off the top, as the obligation to be met, first. Last- fruits come later, after other expenses and tax obligations have been satisfied. Giving from the harvest is different from giving from assets or accumulated wealth. Stewardship is about faith and about sharing of the faith among our friends in Christ. It's not primarily about ways to raise money or pay bills.

 

Therefore, giving back to God is, obviously different from giving to a favorite charity, such as a museum, repertory theatre, or an alma mater, - especially when that charity has "cultivated" the donor, tapped into feelings of loyalty, pride or obligation, as well as personal recognition.

 

On the other hand, the tithe or one's proportionate giving is pure gratitude. Charitable giving often entails fulfilling a community service or cultural need. Both types of giving are important and matter. Charitable giving is the lifeblood of American culture, education and mission. But stewardship is a ministry of the faith community, not in order to only meet a budget, but to help us get right with God.

 

To be a Christian means to organize everything around the principle of Thanks -Living. Each of us needs ways to say thanks to the God who is the source of all we are and all that we have. Only when we believe and practice that insight can we even talk about ourselves as "Stewards".

 

Any other motive for giving is less than Christian. The question for us is not, "How much money does God demand?" But, - "How much of all that God has given me, do I have a right to keep for myself"? If we feel that God has given us little, then our response will be small. If we feel we owe our very lives to Him, - then our response will reflect that belief. Our response can be a shinning light in our community to reflect our Christian goodness as in Ephesians 5: 8 - 9:

" For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth."

 

If we, as a congregation, can comprehend that Christian stewardship begins with a solid understanding all we have comes from and belongs to God, - we are managers or stewards of God's property. As we face the responsibility that comes from being entrusted with someone else's belongings, it is important to realize that stewardship must be more than a duty: it is a joyful and thankful response to God's gifts and graciousness to us. Stewardship can only proceed from a celebration of our commitment to Christ and to the joyful knowledge that the earth is the LORD's and everything in it, - the world, and all who live in it.

 

Our goal must be giving in ways which help us grow spiritually in our relationship with God by supporting the church's mission and ministry with a portion of our income. To give is to live. To restrain, to hold, to guard, to hoard, is to die. Freely, we have received; Lord, help us to freely give.

   

CAMP WEBB

Camp Webb logo  

Hello.  My name is Grace M.  I am a 6th grader and I have been going to Camp Webb for the past two years.  Camp Webb is an amazing experience.  It can bring you closer to God but that's not all...You can go swimming, which includes a raft that you can jump off.  There also a gigantic slip-n-slide down a hill that is really AWESOME!

There is a staff scavenger hunt where you get a list of secret facts about all of the staff.  When you find the counselors, you act out what you think their secret is.  If you are right, they have to sign your list.  It's sooooooooooooo much fun!!! 

At Camp Webb, I get meet and make new friends from all over Wisconsin that may be my friends for the rest of my life, at least that what my Mom says.  The girls all sleep in one big room, in bunk beds, and we have "siestas" after lunch where we pass notes back and forth and try to not giggle and laugh so loud that we disturb the counselors. Each night is a beautiful campfire, where we sing lots of creative, fun songs.  Some nights we roast marshmallows and make yummy s'mores.  There are lots of outdoor games to play where you run around the field.We get to visit the Lutherdale farm that has cute pigs, fluffy chicks, clucking hens, goats and a cow. I love holding the chicks and snorting at the pigs! At Camp Webb, even the meals are really good.  (Better than school lunches, that's for sure!) And before each meal, we sing a different grace.  They are fun because they come with actions!  My favorite grace is called Batman.  "Na na, na na, na naaaaa, thank you, Jesus!"The older kids get to climb the high ropes course and go down the zip-line.  I did not get a chance to do that yet, but the teenagers that did said it was amazingly cool!   I am really looking forward to doing the ropes course this coming summer.  Camp Webb is full of fun and surprises and your kids will have a blast and want to go back year after year.  I know I do.
Safeguarding God's Children & Safeguarding God's People In-Class Trainings and On-line
safeguarding picture

Safeguarding God's Children

  • November 3, 2012 9am-Noon          St. Luke's, Milwaukee

For the latest information on Safeguarding God's Children
 and to register for a training, please
click here

 

 

If you would like to schedule a training in your parish or if you have a number of people who need to be trained, please let me know so that we can schedule an event at your church or in your area.  

SGC is also available for renewal of certificate on-line! Contact Rev. Carla McCook directly to register, include your full name, date of birth (mm/dd), parish and parish city. ([email protected])

 

Please make note of all who are required to have certified SGC training : clergy, vestry, Vacation Bible School Teachers and Volunteers, Youth Group Leaders and Volunteers, Sunday School Teachers, Church Staff, and those going on trips with youth. 

SAFEGUARDING GOD'S PEOPLE is now on-line! This is mandatory for all cleargy, vestry, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, church staff and volunteers who work with adults. On-line is the only way to take this SafeGuarding portion. Contact Rev. Carla McCook directly to register, include your full name, date of birth (mm/dd), parish and parish city. ([email protected])

 

 

 

 

Websites, Facebook and Twitter. OH MY!

In today's social media age we at the diocesan office are trying to be more social media savvy. The Diocese is in the process of developing a new website which is schedule to go "live" November 2012. Christian Formation is excited that we are already using Facebook and Twitter to get the Formation Message out!

Please like our Facebook page Like us on Facebook
and our Twitter feed is here: Follow us on Twitter

These medias not only provide us a place to talk about what is happening in the Christian Formation office but it also gives us a space to give you many new resources that are not talked about in our e-News.

 Follow or Like us today!
 

Send your articles into the Christian Formation E-News 
If you have formation news, events, or resources that you Email
think would be of interest to the Diocese at large and that you would like to see in this electronic publication, please do not hesitate to email Carla at [email protected] .

ALL ARTICLES MUST BE IN NO LATER THAN THE 7TH OF EVERY MONTH.

Thank you for your ministry, for your commitment to Christian Formation, and for sharing your gifts with the church.  

Christian Formation Staff

Rev. Carla McCook is the Bishop's Assistant for Christian Formation.  She works in conjunction with clergy, laity, parishes and convocations to create, promote, sustain and formation and education. Her mission is to resource, equip and empower formation leaders of all ages throughout our diocese. Diocesan Christian Formation has oversight for Resource Center, Safeguarding God's Children & People, Education for Ministry, Camp Webb and Outdoor Ministries, Life Long Christian Formation Commission, Youth & Family Commission, Youth@Convention, teaching & preaching around the diocese. She is available to lead a teaching series or preach on request. She is passionate about partnering with you for Christian Formation. She is available at [email protected] or (414)272-3028 ext 116.  

 

 

 

 

RegsThe Rev. REGS Scheeler has been a deacon of this diocese of many years, serving us in many different ways. Throughout his time, his passion and focus on formation and education for youth and their leaders has not changed. REGS is a non-stipendiary staff person who is available to help congregations move through transition, assist them in discernment or challenge them as they move forward. He can make visits on Sundays and some weekdays. If you think a visit from him would be of use to you, don't hesitate to call and discover the ways in which he might help your parish. He is also assisting with other formation events throughout the year. He has a gift and call for cooking ministry which we try to incorporate into all he does. He can be reached at [email protected]  or (262)827-9378.

The Rev. Carla McCook
Bishop's Assistant for Christian Formation
The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee
[email protected]
www.diomil.org
414-272-3028 x116

The Rev. Deacon REGS Scheeler
Bishop's Deacon for Christian Formation
The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee
414-378-7390