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Join Us Saturday, March 24, to March for Our Lives
By the Rev. James Richardson, Priest-in-Charge, Incarnation, Santa Rosa
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Besides the March for Our Lives in Sacramento to the state Capitol, there will be others in Santa Rosa, above, and in the northern part of our diocese. |
The epidemic of mass shootings, as horrific as they are, have felt distant to me. They have been in someone else's town, someone else's state, someone else's church, someone else's school.
I must confess after every mass shooting, that without realizing it, I have become a little less shocked.
Until the shootings in Yountville last week.
Among the three women shot and killed was Jennifer Gonzales, who Lori and I had known when she was a teenager growing up in Sacramento.
She was always smiling, always enthusiastic, always caring for others. We knew her especially as a bubbling teen presence at Camp Sacramento in the Sierra during the summer.
Jennifer had gone off to college and become a dedicated clinical psychologist working with the Department of Veteran Affairs with veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
She was 32, and married a year ago. When she died, she was seven months pregnant with their first child.
Jennifer was best friends with another young woman who we have remained close to over the years, Susan Hennessey, who grew up at Trinity Cathedral and now lives on the East Coast.
Susan was quoted last week in the San Francisco Chronicle,
remembering her friend as a "sunny, beautiful, unfailingly kind little girl who grew up to be a sunny, beautiful, unfailingly kind woman."
"Jenn was good, from head to toe," Susan said. "Thoroughly good in a way that is exceptionally rare. ... She dedicated her life to helping veterans who were hurting."
Many are left hurting, Many, many hearts are broken.
***
It is time to march for our lives.
On Saturday, March 24, Deacon Pamela Moore, from my parish in Santa Rosa, and I will join other Episcopal clergy and lay leaders at the state capitol at the March for Our Lives. We are marching to say, "Put down the guns - we have had enough of this."
There will be other marches nationwide, including in Santa Rosa a few blocks from our parish.
The Episcopal Church has long stood for reasonable gun controls, and the bishops of our church, including Bishop Barry Beisner, issued a statement last week urging us to support this march and these efforts at gun control. We hope you will join us
.
Deacon Pamela preached a powerful sermon at the Church of the Incarnation a few days after the Yountville shootings about why we march, and please let me close with a few of her words:
"We are all entitled to live lives free from fear, oppression, humiliation, conquest, and domination. We have the right to live in peace, to make a good living, to feed our families, to have housing, to love whom we love, to do good works, and to prosper...
"The #NeverAgain movement (organizing the march), begun and led by young people, challenges the status quo and demands that we move beyond saying, 'Our thoughts and prayers are with you' after each mass shooting to having real national conversations about gun violence, how to address it, and how to ensure that it does not happen again."
You can get more information about the march in Sacramento here. Our clergy plan to meet near the corner of 3rd and O streets on the southeast corner of Crocker Park around 9:30 a.m.; the march to the Capitol is scheduled to begin at 10. Parking may be a problem; the two nearest garages are:
- Old Sacramento Garage, entrance on I Street between 3rd and 2nd.
- Tower Bridge Garage, entrance on Capitol Blvd at Neasham Circle near the Tower Bridge.
You can get more information about the march in Santa Rosa
here
.
In Arcata, Deacon Anne Pierson says, "T
he students at Arcata High School are planning to put on a March for our Lives at noon on 3/24, meeting at the Arcata Playhouse, located at 1259 9th St., Arcata. To date, everything is being learned via word of mouth and, in a small community, that works fairly well!"
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FROM THE BISHOP SEARCH COMMITTEE
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Please Keep the Bishop Search Process in Your Prayers
The Bishop Search Committee asks that you continue to pray for the search process; we encourage you to add this to your Prayers of the People as a congregation:
Almighty God,
giver of every good gift,
look graciously upon your church
and so guide the minds of those
who shall choose a bishop for this diocese,
and those who offer themselves as candidates,
that we may receive a faithful pastor
who will care for your people
and equip us for our ministries,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
More
information about the Bishop Search is available here.
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FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
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Good Friday - March 30
The Office of the Bishop will be closed. The office will reopen for business at 8:30 a.m. on April 2. The Diocesan e-News will be published Tuesday, April 3.
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Celebrations of New Ministry
On Saturday, April 7 at 3 p.m., the celebration of new ministry for the Rev. Doyle Dietz Allen will be at St. Patrick's, Kenwood. Clergy: white stoles.
On Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m., the celebration of new ministry for the Rev. Dr. Daniel London will be at Christ Church, Eureka. Clergy: white stoles.
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Register Now for CCD!
Registration for the College for Congregational Development is still open. Groups chose either two weekends or a weeklong session:
- April 6-8 & Oct. 26-28
- June 10-15
All sessions will be at The Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg. L
earn more about the benefits of attending CCD and register here.
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New Safe Church Training Available Online
Our new Safe Church online training system is now available for use! If you need training, please contact your congregation's administrator, who will provide log-in information for you to use. More information about Safe Church training is here.
All congregations have received an email about the new system. If you have questions or are not sure who your congregational administrator is, please contact Anne Clarke at [email protected].
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Open Clergy Positions
- All Saints', Redding: Receiving names for rector
- Grace Church, Fairfield: Receiving names for priest-in-charge
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Bishop's Visitation Schedule
- March 25 - Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento
- April 1 - St. Matthew's, Sacramento
- April 15 - St. John's, Chico
- April 22 - St. Alban's, Arcata
- May 20 - All Saints', Redding
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Send a Kid to Camp or Pathways This Summer!
Camper scholarships in the amount of $200 are available to 60 children and youth who are active in their congregation.
Congregational leadership (such as clergy, vestry members or youth ministers) can apply for these scholarships;
click here
to fill out the form. Congregations will be responsible for verifying that each child is eligible and for distributing the scholarships.
The diocese recommends the following camp programs: Camp Living Waters in Humboldt County, the Bishop's Ranch and St. Dorothy's Rest in Sonoma County, and Camp Galilee on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe (where the photo above was taken).
Also, consider this summer's Pathways pilgrimage, from June 24-30. Registration is open for all youth finishing grades 7-12. Learn more and register here.
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April 21, St. Mary's, Napa: Anti-Racism Training, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The training is free and lunch is provided, but registration is required. Register here.
May 3-4, The Bishop's Ranch: Children and Youth Ministers' Retreat.
Our retreat
will be
led by the Rev. Dr. Susanna Singer,
who teaches Christian education at
Oct. 1-4, The Bishop's Ranch: PNEUMA 2018.
This year's Pneuma Conference will focus on tools for wellness.
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NEWS & EVENTS IN AND BEYOND OUR DIOCESE
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Memorial Service for Pastor Gene Jewell
The Rev. Gene Jewell, an ELCA pastor who served on staff at Faith, Cameron Park, died March 12 after a prolonged illness. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
His memorial service will be at Faith Church on March 26 at 11 a.m.; a reception will follow. Pastor Trudy Franzen from St. Stephen's Lutheran Church will preside, and Bishop Mark Holmerud will preach. The church is at 2200 Country Club Drive.
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Human Rights and Youth Leadership Seminar in El Salvador
Erika Trez, director of Youth and Family Ministries at Grace, St. Helena, is interested to coordinate a group from our diocese for an incredible trip to El Salvador this summer. Please
contact her
if you or someone you know want to go!
It is open to youth ages 14-22, plus chaperones. The trip dates are July 7-14 and the cost is $995 plus airfare (currently around $800 from SFO). The registration deadline is April 8.
Learn more and what to expect
here
.
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St. Gregory's Abbey July Vocation Program
If you're a male, ages 18-50 and you would like to learn more about
becoming a monk or are wondering what it feels like to be a monk,
St. Gregory's Abbey Benedictine monastery invites you to spend two weeks (or more) in July with them. St. Gregory's is a monastery of the Episcopal Church at Three Rivers, Michigan.
The cost is only $25 for registration; more information is
available here.
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From the Episcopal Church
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THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Making Disciples, Raising Up Saints & Transforming Communities for Christ
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