Prayer Calendar
Feb. 12: Prayer for The Church of the Province of Central Africa and The Most Revd. Albert Chama, Archbishop of Central Africa & Bishop of Northern Zambia.
Feb. 19: Prayer for Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America and The Most Revd Armando Guerra Soria Primate of IARCA & Bishop of Guatemala
Feb. 26: Prayer for Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo and The Most Revd Kahwa Henri Isingoma Archbishop of the Congo & Bishop of Kinshasa
In the Diocese
& Beyond
Feb. 12: Bishop Visitation at St. Thomas Campbellsville, Campbellsville. Feb. 17-18: Third annual Renewal Conference "Apprentice to Jesus" at St. Francis in the Fields. Begins 7:00 pm on the 17th and releases 4:00 pm on the 18th EST. Feb. 18: Youth Digital Communications Pow-wow at All Saints Center 10:00-4:00 pm CST. Feb. 19: Bishop Visitation at Trinity Church, Brandenburg. Feb. 22: Ash Wednesday. Bishop Visitation at Christ Church Cathedral. Noon and 7 pm EST. Feb. 26: Bishop Visitation at Trinity Church, Fulton.
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PASS IT FORWARD
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in your church without access to Email?
Be
Internet Friendly
Distribute copies
of E-Blast
at your church; take them to our shut-ins
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This E-newsletter is
published by the
Diocese of Kentucky Communications Office.
Send news and
photos to the editor at
enews@episcopalky.org
at least two weeks before you'd like to have it published.
Diocese of Kentucky
(502) 584-7148
425 S. Second St.
Suite 200
Louisville, KY 40202
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St. Francis in the Fields invites all to third annual Renewal Conference: "Become an Apprentice to Jesus"
St. Francis in the Fields would like to invite the entire diocese to join them for a seminar February 17 and 18 with James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful Community, entitled "Becoming an Apprentice to Jesus."
This seminar follows on his previous seminar two years ago on his book The Good and Beautiful God. It is meant to help you learn how to allow Christ to transform you through soul-training exercises and spiritual practices. As "apprentices" to Christ we too can possess his characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The seminar will focus and show us how to bring spiritual formation and community engagement together so that we engage in discipleship and serve others as the hands and feet of Christ. Everyone will learn hot to develop a Kingdom heart, see other people as precious children of God, and extend His love and mercy towards them.
Please join St. Francis in the Fields and James Bryan Smith as they work to build a good and beautiful community here in the Diocese of Kentucky and the world around us.
To register online, pl.ease visit www.stfrancisinthefields.org or call 502-228-1176. The registration fee of $25 covers materials, continental breakfast, and lunch.
Registration deadline is February 13.
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Preparation for Lent
Beloved,
Notices of parish Mardi Gras meals and Pancake breakfasts and dinners mean the concluding days of the Season after the Epiphany are at hand. "Alleluias" will be buried, and palms will be burned as we prepare to gather for the start of the Lenten pilgrimage.
Like you, before Ash Wednesday arrives, I am giving thought to how I will mark this season when the celebrant invites us to the observance of a holy Lent. This year, the prophet's concept of a fast feels particularly challenging:
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,...
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them? (Is 58:6-7)
My Lenten journeys in recent years have begged me to consider how "giving up something" as well as "taking on something" will produce the fruit Isaiah envisions resulting from a holy fast. How can my Lenten practices lead me to love God more deeply and my neighbor the same way?
Our Prayerbook provides two prefaces for the Eucharist in Lent. One speaks of Christ overcoming temptation and seems especially appropriate early in the fast. The second reads that God bids us to cleanse our hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast, that fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by Word and Sacrament, we come to Easter's joy.
Each year, as I either face how poorly I have maintained my chosen observances, or, how proud I am at keeping my practices, I eventually realize the observances have almost become ends in themselves, and I am not as prepared as I sincerely wish to be for the Passion and Resurrection. But we are at the threshold of a new Lent, and by grace, may it be different this year!
May our Lenten journey lead us as individuals and as a diocesan community, deeper into the life of the Risen Christ, so that come the Day of Resurrection, we can truly shed the old life of sin and be raised to newness of life.
May these final days of Epiphanytide fill us with light and hope.
+Terry
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| Talking to your youth: Digital communications pow-wow
 In our Diocese and across the Province, communicating with our youth is one of the more challenging aspects of youth ministry. In many ways e-mail, texting, Facebook and other social media make our job easier, but these communication methods also raise some serious questions. Many Dioceses have implemented policies regarding these issues, some more restrictive than others. Those of you who work with youth on a weekly basis know far better than I what is necessary or effective for communication. Your input is especially needed.
- We will meet: February 18, 2012 at All Saints Center from 10 am - 4 pm Central.
- Our meeting will include lunch so an RSVP is essential. There will be a requested donation of $12 to cover the meal. Scholarships are available from the Diocesan Youth Budget.
- A minimum of six (6) people are required.
- The pow-wow goal is to draft a proposal for Trustees and Council. Our primary consideration will be electronic and social media (texting, Facebook, etc.)
Reply to Beth Bojarski with name, position (clergy, lay, volunteer, paid, etc.), church and food restrictions. |
 Summer Camp Olympic Torch Parade
All Saints Summer Camp will be celebrating the Olympic Games this summer as the theme for Christian Education and camp in general. To promote summer camp programs, the Youth Program would like to organize a Torch Parade through each deanery in the diocese; however, this can only happen with the help of volunteers!
If you are interested in volunteering to organize an All Saints Summer Camp Torch Parade this spring, please contact Beth Bojarski.
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St. Andrew's raises $1,500 for Crusade for Children in second annual Chili Cook-off
 | | Collins Hall is bustling with folks eating chili and sharing fellowship |
Summary by Brian Kinnaman
The parish of St. Andrew's in Louisville teamed up with The Academy at St.
Andrew's for their second annual Chili Cook-off this past January to raise money for the WHAS Crusade for Children. The WHAS Crusade for Children is a Louisville based charity that works to raise money for agencies, schools, and hospitals to better the lives of special needs children in Kentucky and Indiana.
With a crowd of over 150 people, approximately $1,500 was raised to benefit the charity. Guests showed up to not only taste the chili and desserts but also to compete for a slew of trophies. First place trophies went to Elizabeth Willoughby and Kelly Cook for their meaty and vegetarian chilies respectively. Second-grader, Molly Preston, won first place prize for best dessert. The entire crowd enjoyed lively music by The River Sirens the entire night.
Read the original article here
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Managing Staff: 7 Things to Consider
Summary by Brian Kinnaman
Original article by Jeremy Sierra
In continuation from last edition's article, "Real basics for vestries", which highlighted how the Episcopal Church Foundation is focusing on strengthening vestries and offering different strategies for congregations trying to solve familiar problems in new ways.
7 friendly tips for vestries on how they can support the person or people who help keep the day in, day out operation of the parish run smoothly, the parish administrator (PA).
- Share what's going on in the church. Make sure to tell the PA about everything that's happening in the church to make sure event scheduling mix-ups are kept to a minimum. "The PA is a traffic cop to prevent potential collisions."
- Help the PA feel connected to the spiritual side of the church. Since many administrators don't attend the church for which they work, make sure to provide the PA with updates on the vision and their role in that vision for the church.
- Establish clear reporting relationships. Chain of command. Ultimately, the rector is the PA's boss. Make sure they have worked out established priorities to guide choices and requests.
- Build time for dealing with interruptions into the workday. Understanding that the potential for interruptions during a normal workday is extremely high and often as a PA, vestry members should make their requests in a timely manner and understand when last minute requests can't always be accommodated.
- Support the PA when they need to say 'no.' The PA's job requires setting and adhering to a strict weekly schedule. Vestry requests should try to respect this schedule and vice versa.
- Provide up-to-date equipment in the office. Updating equipment saves time and stress and ultimately is worth the expense. Having to fight with old computer software or constantly jamming printer does not lead to a productive workday.
- Offer comprehensive job descriptions for all administrative positions. Clear job descriptions lets one prioritize. Occasionally comparing job descriptions with actual job assignments can help to keep communications and expectations clear.
Communication is key to any happy office relationship. Talk to your PA but also listen to them. Your parish will reap the benefits.
Read the original article here
Visit their website and find ways to strengthen your church leadership here
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A message from the Episcopal Church Executive Council
By Episcopal News Service
Office of Public Affairs | January 29, 2012
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church issued the following message at the conclusion of its three-day meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland
A Message from Executive Council
January 29, 2012
Linthicum Heights, Maryland
* God is awesome
* The Good News is not fair
* God always acts first
The Rt. Rev. James Cowan of the Anglican Church of Canada
As Executive Council gathered for its penultimate meeting before General Convention, heavy rain was pelting the south windows of the Maritime Institute like hard little fists, making everyone grateful for the solace of dry warm spaces. This was Executive Council's third meeting of this triennium in this venue, a reflection of a money-saving strategy to contract to meet in a couple of places, Linthicum Heights, MD, and Salt Lake City, UT. In prior triennia, Executive Council had moved around the church, meeting once in each of our nine provinces, but our new discipline of choosing only two money-saving venues is a reflection of our willingness to adapt to changing financial conditions.
The draft budget for the 2013-2015 triennium overshadowed all the other Executive Council business at this meeting. The budget conversation began at the June 2011 Executive Council meeting, also held at the Maritime Institute, when members were challenged to "change the conversation," to seek a way to take on the adaptive challenges facing all denominations in a post-Christian era of declining interest in the institutional church. The Joint Standing Committee on Finances for Mission (FFM) already had begun working with the treasurer in mid-2011 on a financial projection model and determined that the current spending model is unsustainable. At that time, it was pointed out that the chairs of Executive Council's standing committees had previously not provided much input into the budget process. The Executive Council's newly formed Executive Committee was charged with developing a process for the triennium budget that would challenge the church to new ways of engaging God's mission.
Read more
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In England, women bishops legislation remains intact: Synod expected to take final vote in July
 | | Protestors in favor of women bishops gathered in July 2006 on the campus of York University before the debate began on a motion that addressed the process of ordaining women to the episcopate. ENS Photo/Matthew Davies |
By Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davis | February 9, 2012
The Church of England's General Synod, meeting Feb. 6-9 in London, has rejected a bid to provide greater concessions for those opposed to women bishops. A final vote on the legislation that will enable women to become bishops is expected to come before synod in July.
The Manchester Diocesan Synod Motion, introduced in September 2011 and backed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, would have supported amending a draft measureto enable two bishops to exercise episcopal functions within the same jurisdiction by way of "co-ordinating" their ministries.
The same amendment was rejected 18 months earlier when in July 2010 General Synod backed the currently unaltered measure that paves the way for women to become bishops, a setback for traditionalists who had hoped for more robust provisions for those in opposition. Some supporters of women bishops feared the Manchester Motion would force women bishops to accept limitations on their authority.
During the past 18 months the legislation supporting women bishops has been given the nod by 42 of the 44 diocesan synods throughout England, but it now requires a two-thirds majority in each of the three houses of General Synod - bishops, clergy and laity - for it to be adopted. Before the legislation comes to synod for final approval, likely when it next meets in July, the House of Bishops will have one last chance in May to tweak the text of the draft measure.
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Court rules California gay marriage ban unconstitutional
 | | Gay marriage advocates cheer during a rally moments before hearing the news of the Proposition 8 over-ruling outside the Ninth Circuit Courthouse in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 7. Photo/REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach. |
By Episcopal News Service
Pat McCaughan | February 7, 2012
Gay marriage supporters rejoiced Feb. 7 after an appellate court ruled California's controversial Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional.
"Today's 9th Circuit Court decision is not just a victory for gay and lesbian couples in California - it is a victory for all Americans who believe that the 'liberty and justice for all' in the pledge we teach our children really means ALL," according to an email statement from the Rev. Canon Susan Russell, a former president of Integrity USA, a group that works for full inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people in the Episcopal Church.
"It is also a victory over those who erroneously believe that the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment gives them freedom to write their theology on marriage - or anything else - into our Constitution," added Russell.
She is a senior associate rector at All Saints Church in Pasadena, which on Jan. 28 celebrated its 20th anniversary of blessings same gender couples. The Rev. Canon George Regas in Jan. 1992 performed the "first known public blessing" of a same gender couple.
Shortly after California voters approved Proposition 8 by 52 percent in Nov. 2008, the Pasadena church announced that its clergy would no longer sign civil marriage certificates for any couples until the right to civil marriage is available to all couples.
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