Please note that the Diocesan Office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year's holiday from Tuesday, December 24th-Wednesday, January 1st. The office will reopen during normal business hours on Thursday, January 2nd.

Merry Christmas!

This 24-hour high school retreat is an opportunity for 9-12th graders to gather together for a fun, intentional exploration of what it means to be an Episcopalian in this day in age. The event runs from 2 pm Central, January 19th through 2 pm Central, January 20th. 

Youth are encouraged to bring their own BCPs, if they have one, to mark up.

Early Bird Registration is $60 if received by January 15th. The regular registration fee of $75 starts January 16th.

For more information visit the Youth webpage.

Click here to register!

During this holy season of waiting and expectation, the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) invites you to consider your own great expectations for the future of our Church. Are there emerging scholars and ministry leaders, lay or ordained, whose work fills you with a sense of hope? If so, please let them know about ECF's Fellowship Partners Program, a program that has been supporting innovative scholars and ministry leaders for nearly 50 years.

Please forward this email to them and let them know that the application process for the 2014 Fellowships is now open. At this early stage, all applicants should bear the following in mind:

• ECF is committed to strengthening the leadership capability of the Episcopal Church. Applicants to the academic and ministry tracks are asked to describe how they plan on developing the next generation of leaders for the Episcopal Church, whether this is in the context of academia, a local congregation, through a church-wide initiative, or in another setting. 
• An ECF Fellowship provides both financial support and networking opportunities. ECF has typically awarded three to four Fellowships per year. New awards range up to $15,000 for the first year and are renewable for an additional two years. In addition to this financial support, new Fellows join a wide network of past Fellows and ECF partners with them so that they may share their knowledge, experience, and best practices with the wider Church. 
• The application requires a significant commitment of time and effort and is due on March 14, 2014. The selection process for an ECF Fellowship is highly competitive and a strong application requires a significant investment of time and effort. We encourage all applicants to begin this process early. ECF will announce the 2014 Fellows in late May.

Please visit the ECF website to learn more about the Fellowship Partners Program, the application process, and be sure to review our list of Frequently Asked Questions. You will find profiles of the 2013 Fellows here and our complete list of all ECF Fellows here. Please email me, Miguel Escobar, or my colleague Brendon Hunter, Assistant Program Director, should you have any questions about this program or the application process.

Finally, as we anticipate the 50th anniversary of the Fellowship Partners Program, please consider making a year-end donation in support of this important ministry. Thank you for your support and for forwarding this message to those whose ministries inspire you and give you hope. And from all of us at ECF, we wish you a blessed Advent and Christmas.

• The Graymoor Institute
• The U. S. Catholic Conference
• The World Council of Churches

In addition to providing an occasion for shared worship and reflection, the Week of Prayer also provides a possible occasion for congregations and parishes to participate in supporting our shared life in the Kentucky Council of Churches.  If appropriate in your tradition, we would be grateful if you would suggest to congregations that they consider an offering or gift to the KCC at this time.  In support of such an effort, you and they can visit this link (www.kycouncilofchurches.org/ecucamp) to find information and possible bulletin inserts that may be used to interpret and promote the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The support of your judicatories, congregations, and members, as well as your personal support of the Kentucky Council of Churches is greatly appreciated.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or suggestions regarding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity or regarding your ongoing support of the Kentucky Council of Churches.

Sincerely,

Mike Ward, Chair  Kentucky Council of Churches, Development Unit

Telephone: 859-276-4285

Email: obxward@windstream.net

From the Office of Public Affairs of the Episcopal Church

Working in advance, topics for November through January have been posted on  The Toolkit, located on the  Public Affairs pages of the Episcopal Church website. Items are presented to provide ample lead time for your communications initiatives.

In addition to the previously posted ideas The Toolkit now features background and suggestions for:

December 25 - Christmas Day
Winter Break
January 1 - New Year's Day/Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
January 6 - Epiphany, Baptismal Covenant
January 20 - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
National Poverty in America Awareness Month

Also remember that January 12 is the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.  

Also included on the Public Affairs Toolkit page is a link to the Office of Government Relations Toolkit, with information on legislative happenings as well as guides and steps for individuals and congregations. The Toolkit is designed for your use to help enhance your message, broaden your reach and offer tips for placements into regional, secular, and other media - both traditional and social. The Toolkit is an aspect of Let's Invent This Together, a variety of resources and services available through diocesan partnerships. Through these partnerships we seek to further churchwide goals and diocesan mission. 

The goal of The Toolkit is to enable you to prepare your messages not only for your diocese or congregation, but your regional area, your ecumenical partners, and beyond.  The contents of The Toolkit reflect items that are designed to make research and facilitation as problem-free as possible for you.

Contents include: 

• Catalog - a list of important topics along with any actions taken by The Episcopal Church and General Convention.
• Getting started - an easy how-to for getting started in preparing materials, news releases, op-eds, etc.
• Topics - topics of interest that you may want to address, whether liturgically, socially, or the hot news that people are discussing.

From the Episcopal Church Foundation

As part of ECF's on-going efforts to assist congregations in developing their leadership and financial resources, we are offering a wide range of web conferences for clergy and lay parish leaders this spring. There is no cost to participate in ECF's web conferences and all lay and clergy leaders are welcome to participate.

Topics include planned giving, capital campaigns, stewardship, vestry leadership, vision and planning, parish finances, stewardship, endowments, communications, and leading change.

Click on the links below to register, or click here to learn more.

• Vestry Orientation (January 7, 2014, 7:00-8:00 PM ET), presented by ECF Program Director Miguel Angel Escobar and Assistant Program Director Brendon Hunter
• Transformation by Capital Campaign  (January 28, 2014, 7:00-8:00 PM ET), presented by Leslie Pendleton, ECF Associate Program Director and Capital Campaign Consultant
• Vision & Planning (February 4, 2014, 7:00-8:00 PM ET), presented by ECF President Donald V. Romanik
• Basics of a Parish Finances (February 5, 2014, 7:00-8:00 PM ET), presented by Jerry Keucher, ECF Consultant, and Jim Murphy, ECF Managing Program Director
• Year Round Stewardship: Talking About Money When You're Not Asking for It. (February 11, 2014, 7:00-8:00 PM ET), presented by Chris Harris, St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, CA

Clergy are reminded that requests for continuing education funds from the Commission on Ministry must be approved BEFORE the event occurs. If you have a request or any questions about this process, please contact the Commission on Ministry by emailing the Rev. Anne Vouga at avouga@gmail.com.

In every age, Christians have sought to bear witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ while translating it into radically different cultural, political, and social contexts. New forms of the body of Christ emerge from theologians, pastors, artists, and those confronting practical issues of living the faith. These varied expressions anticipate the church described in Scripture as "a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb." Faithfully re-imagining our lives before the throne of Christ, the unmoving center of our community, is essential for all who hope in the Kingdom of God. 

Featured Guest Speakers

• Walter Brueggemann
• Molly T. Marshall
• Stephanie Paulsell
• Miroslav Volf

January 9-10, 2014

Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky

To learn more and register, visit their website.