SEPTEMBER CLERGY NEWSLETTER
The Blessings and Curses of Social Media 
by Adam Thomas

This week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu did not die.
 
But you might have seen a social media post asserting that he had. And you might have reflexively shared it without a first (let alone second) thought as to the veracity of the original report. Thus, this odd death hoax, which preyed upon a report of the archbishop's hospitalization, made the rounds until someone checked his vitals. On Monday, Tutu took to Twitter to assure his followers that he was still very much his jubilant, gracious - and very alive - self: "Thank you all you tweeters and facebookers for the love and prayers for my good health. Love is the best medicine. God bless you all!"
 
Something similar happened to Mark Twain in 1897, while the author was in London on a speaking tour. But it took weeks, not minutes to fly around the world.
 
Facebook hasn't even had its bar mitzvah, yet this story illustrates how social media and other technology have rewired us. When I wrote Digital Disciple in 2010, I became painfully aware of this rewiring and took steps to undo it. I stopped using turn-by-turn instructions, preferring instead to try to find my way to unknown destinations so as not to outsource my navigational sense to a machine. I stopped using a tip calculator app on my phone, so the neural pathways leading to my mental math processing center wouldn't get too overgrown. I begrudgingly used social media only because my publisher asked me to. (After all, I had just written a book about the internet.)
 
Now, I don't want this article to devolve into total internet bashing. I love the internet. It's where I met my wife, after all. But like most things that are used without much self-examination, social media and associated Tech can lead us astray. Indeed, news no longer has to be verified to be disseminated. Sharing best done in private happens in public. And don't get me started on trolls: online anonymity brings out the absolute worst sides of people (though I'm convinced most trolls only have worst sides).
 
This Sunday is Social Media Sunday (#SMS16). By all means, take to all the various social media outlets to which you belong. If you want to reach youth, they're on Instagram and Snapchat now, not Facebook and Twitter. Tell the world how awesome #Jesus is and how being part of his movement is changing your life and the world.
 
I invite you also to use #SMS16 for another purpose.
 
Use this Sunday as a day of examination of your own involvement and enmeshment in the often-overwhelming world of the Tech. What opportunities are open to you because of the connecting power of social media that have the potential to be blessings? Pray for the strength and courage to trend towards those (and I use that verb on purpose). Conversely, what challenges do you encounter when interacting with social media? Do you spend too much time mindlessly scrolling through your feeds? Do you repost stories like the archbishop's death hoax prematurely? Do you vent your frustrations online without taking a minute to evaluate their impact on family, friends, or parishioners? Pray for the strength and courage to resist these challenges.
 
This Social Media Sunday thank God for such a powerful tool for witness that the internet can be. And pray to God for the awareness to use this tool only in life-affirming ways.
_____________
 
The Rev. Adam Thomas serves God as the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Mystic, CT. He has written the books Digital Disciple and Letters from Ruby as well as the video-based curriculum Unusual Gospel for Unusual People. Adam writes the websites wherethewind.com (mostly sermons) and humancleric.com (mostly his love of board games and other geeky stuff). He lives in Mystic with his wife Leah and their two-year-old twins.
This Sunday is Social Media Sunday--be involved!

On September 25, we want ECCT to be the church online. We are looking to all clergy members to help represent the church to the world via social media. 

How can you participate? Well here are some ideas: 

  • display your wifi network & password so others may utilize it
  • tweet/post on Facebook parts of your sermon or another sermon, encourage other to live-tweet the sermon as well
  • 'check-in' to or tag your parish or worshiping community
  • take selfies with fellow parishioners or clergy members
  • create a SnapChat filter for your community
  • offer a blessing of devices, we use them everyday--they should be blessed as well!
  • livestream a worship service, or highlights of it via Facebook Live or Periscope
  • encourage congregants and other members of your community to do the above
  • Instagram parts of your ministry & life of the church
  • overall bring your Sunday experience to social media
  • Download and print this insert for your bulletin or post it to your church's website
Join the #SMS16 Facebook page here to learn more, share ideas, and get excited. 
 
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut has our designated hashtag #ECCT, and Social Media Sunday has a designated hashtag #SMS16. Utilize those hashtags to be retweeted, reposted, and liked on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other major platforms. 
 
Also in preparation, like ECCT's Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
A message from the House of Bishops

The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church met September 15 - 20 in Detroit, MI for their annual meeting. A video daily account of the activities are available here, and your can recap the week by scrolling through the Twitterfeed at #HOBfall16.

Here is a message from the House of Bishops: 

"Greetings from Detroit, a city determined to be revived.  Greetings also from the city of Flint, where we are reminded that the gift of water has for many of our brothers and sisters become contaminated.

Here we have been exhorted to set our sights beyond ourselves and to minister to the several nations where we serve and the wider world.

We lament the stark joylessness that marks our present time.  We decry angry political rhetoric which rages while fissures widen within society along racial, economic, educational, religious, cultural and generational lines.  We refuse to look away as poverty, cruelty and war force families to become migrants enduring statelessness and demonization.  We renounce the gun violence and drug addiction that steal lives and crush souls while others succumb to fear and cynicism, abandoning any sense of neighborliness.

Yet, in all this, "we do not despair" (2 Cor. 4:8.). We remember that God in Christ entered our earthly neighborhood during a time of political volatility and economic inequality.  To this current crisis we bring our faith in Jesus.  By God's grace, we choose to see in this moment an urgent opportunity to follow Jesus into our fractured neighborhoods, the nation and the world. 

Every member of the church has been "called for a time such as this." (Esther 4:14) Let prophets tell the truth in love.  Let reconcilers move boldly into places of division and disagreement. Let evangelists inspire us to tell the story of Jesus in new and compelling ways.  Let leaders lead with courage and joy.

In the hope of the Resurrection let us all pray for God to work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish God's purposes on earth."

Video in English and Spanish available here
This Saturday is the Living Local, Joining God workshop
What's all this about God's mission? Come find out!
Sign-up today with clergy and lay leaders from across ECCT for a little theory about how to discover what God's up to. Then, following an early lunch, we'll head out together and try on what we've just learned, listening for what God is telling us in some of West Hartford's nearby neighborhoods.
  • How do we recognize God's effect on the world around us?
  • How do we confidently step in and help God with the work? 
  • How do we become a force of goodness that reckons with a world hungry for hope?
Together, we'll learn and practice what living local and joining God is all about.
Cost: $5 to help defray the cost of lunch. Scholarships available.
Host a Concert in Conjunction with the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence, September 25
Supported by Bishops United Against Gun Violence

On Sunday, September 25, places and communities of worship are encouraged to hold music events to remember the victims of America's gun violence epidemic in a nation-wide Concert Across America to End Gun Violence. 

This countrywide series of live music events of various sizes and types will be in conjunction with Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence and the Bishops United Against Gun Violence (of which Bishop Ian and Bishop Laura are members). Parishes and worship communities are encouraged to be involved in various ways. Communities can integrate a peace-themed choral performance into an already-planned service, hold a special performance by a choir, musician, or music group, or organize a "unity" concert with secular and faith-based community organizations and/or with other houses of worship. Others may also gathering to watch a livestream of other concerts.

For a list of contributing cities and states, or ways to be involved globally with this event please visit the Concert Across America's website . 

More information and resources are available here. Please register your music event on their website as well. Please also email a notice of your concert to [email protected]. Follow the movement on Social Media with the hashtags: #ConcertAcrossAmerica and #EndGunViolence   
Upcoming Events:

Clergy Professional Development & Safe Church Recertification, October 1

Attendance at Safe Church Recertification Training for Clergy is required for all clergy canonically resident or licensed in The Episcopal Church in CT (ECCT). This interactive and engaging full day program addresses the following topics: Boundaries for excellence in ministry, ECCT guidelines for ordained ministry, Legal requirements for mandated reporting of suspected abuse, Update on Title IV disciplinary process. This will be held at St. John's, Washington from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.. Registration here

Clergy Day! October 11

Fall 2016 Clergy Day will be Tuesday, October 11 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., at t. Mark's Church, New Britain. Please register here

Celebration of New Ministry, Stephen Holton on October 27

All clergy are invited to celebrate the new ministry of Stephen Holton at Christ Church, New Haven. Please join all of ECCT. The celebration service will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Christ Church. 

Clergy Professional Development & Safe Church Recertification, October 20

Attendance at Safe Church Recertification Training for Clergy is required for all clergy canonically resident or licensed in The Episcopal Church in CT (ECCT). This interactive and engaging full day program addresses the following topics: Boundaries for excellence in ministry, ECCT guidelines for ordained ministry, Legal requirements for mandated reporting of suspected abuse, Update on Title IV disciplinary process. This will be held at Christ Church, Greenwich from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Registration here

Preaching Symposium with the Rev. David BartlettNovember 5

The Bishops and Commission on Ministry invite any lay or ordained person to attend a Preaching Symposium at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford on Saturday, November 5, 2016 from 9am to 3pm. The Rev. David Bartlett, professor emeritus at Yale Divinity School, will be the plenary speaker for the morning and workshops will be offered in the afternoon. Lunch will be provided.  If you have any questions about the day, please contact the Dean of Formation, Molly JamesThe cost to attend is $20 and scholarship funds are available. Please register via Eventbrite here.

Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Network Meeting November 15
 
The Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Network invites you to attend a meeting of Hospital Healthcare Chaplains on Tuesday, November 15, at 10:30 a.m. The meeting will be held at Norwalk Hospital and will be hosted by the Rev. Debra Slade, the Rev. Judy Holding, and Bishop Laura Ahrens. This gathering is expected to last 2 hours. We welcome you to attend this informative and rewarding event.  Please RSVP via Eventbrite.
Important Dates on the Calendar:
  • Priest in Charge Meeting, September 29, 10 - 11:30 a.m., The Commons
     
  • Clergy Recertification, October 1, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., St. John's, Washington
     
  • Clergy Day, October 11, 12 - 2 p.m., St. Mark's Church, New Britain  
     
  • Clergy Recertification, October 20, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Christ Church, Greenwich
Formation Corner

Important Dates
  
For postulants & candidates:
Conversation with COM and Standing Committee: January 14, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 
 
Resource Pages
 
 
If you have any questions about the ordination process or know someone who might be called to Holy Orders, please contact Molly James, Dean of Formation.
Transitions Update

The Rev. Victor Rogers is now half-time Priest in Charge at All Saints Church, Oakville.
 
The Rev. Nathan Ives is now Missional Priest at Grace Church, Stafford Springs.
 
The Rev. Ben Brockman is now half-time Interim Rector at St. Mark's Chapel, Storrs.
 
The Rev. Ann Broomell is serving as Interim Rector of St. Andrew's Church, Madison until November 1.
 
The Rev. Christopher Leighton is now Interim Rector at St. Peter's Church, Milford.
 
The Rev. Kim Litsey is now quarter-time Transitional Deacon at St. Paul's and St. James' Church in New Haven.
 
The Rev. Jane Hale is now quarter-time Transitional Deacon at Trinity Church, Brooklyn.
 
The Rev. Phil Bjornberg is now part-time Transitional Deacon at Trinity Church, Portland.
 
The Rev. Tom Furer is retiring as rector of Trinity Church, Tarriffville on September 30.
 
The Rev. Alex Dyer has accepted a call as Priest in Charge of St. Thomas', Dupont Circle (Diocese of Washington). His ministry as Interim Rector of Old St. Andrew's, Bloomfield will end in early October.
 
We are currently receiving names for a � time rector (with rectory) for St. John's Church, North Haven as well as for a full time rector for St. Peter's, Milford

St. Mary's, Manchester and St. Mark's, Storrs, both full time rectors, should begin receiving names next week.  

 
Parishes in Transition
 
Christ Church, Bethany...........................................................Pending
Christ the Healer, Stamford......................................................Pending
Christ and the Holy Trinity, Westport........................................Seeking PIC
Epiphany Church, Durham..........................................Using Supply Priests
Old St. Andrew's, Bloomfield..............................Interim in place: Alex Dyer
St. James, New London....................................Interim in place: Bob Miner
St. John's, North Haven.................................................Receiving Names
St. Luke's, New Haven.........................................Seeking Priest in Charge
St. Luke's, South Glastonbury........................................Seeking PT Interim
St. Mark's, Storrs....................................... Interim in place: Ben Brockman
St. Mary's, Manchester....................................Interim in place: Lynne Grifo
St. Martin's, Hartford.............................................Seeking Missional Priest
St. Matthew's, Wilton......................................................Seeking Interim
St. Paul's, Fairfield..........................................Interim in place: Amy Welin
St. Paul's, Riverside............................................................Interviewing
St. Peter's, Milford..............................Interim in place: Christopher Leighton
St. Peter's, South Windsor................................Interim in place: Shaw Mudge
St. Timothy's, Fairfield........................................................Interviewing
Trinity Church, Seymour.....................................Interim in place: Steve Ling
Trinity Church, Trumbull..................................Interim in place: Paul Carling
Trinity Church, Wethersfield.......................................................Pending
 
 
Please contact Lee Ann Tolzmann ([email protected]) with any questions.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
PARTICIPATING IN GOD'S MISSION


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