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Making Disciples, Raising Up Saints & Transforming Communities for Christ
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Pilgrimage - How to Have an 'Encounter With God'
"Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." Psalm 84:5
Reflections from some of the travelers recently returned from the 2017 Holy Land pilgrimage:
Donna Arellano, parishioner, St. Michael's, Carmichael, on her first experience being on pilgrimage in the Holy Land: "In Capernaum, I sat on a wall of the ancient synagogue, where Jesus preached. By being present and quiet, I allowed the Holy Spirit in, and I felt a melting into the moment, and that Jesus had been there."
The Rev. Maryly Adair, rector, St. Peter's, Red Bluff, after returning from her first pilgrimage: "Every place we went, we started by praying, by having a reading from Scripture related to the place we were, and singing hymns. You have a sense of awe when you're praying and singing-you enter that moment in a very profound way."
Bishop Barry Beisner, on what it means to be a pilgrim: "These places can be powerful places of encounter with God. It's a powerful moment when you walk the Via Dolorosa, getting to know Jesus better, and all of us together and each of us separately considering our commitment to Christ and our own discipleship."
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News & Events in our Diocese
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2017 Congregational Leadership Conferences
Registration is Now Open
The first Congregational Leadership Conference is this Saturday and there's still time to register to join Bishop Barry and learn how to strengthen your service to your church and community.
The plenary conversation this weekend at St. John's, Petaluma, will address a way of viewing the strengths and gifts of our congregations and communities called Asset Based Community Development in the Congregation. Come and hear about ways to map the assets in your church and neighborhoods so that we may work together to build up the Kingdom of God.
Click here for the full program this Saturday in Petaluma. A service bulletin insert for your congregation is
available here.
These leadership conferences, sponsored by the Office of the Bishop, are designed for clergy, vestry members, treasurers and other program leaders in your church. Everyone is welcome to attend. There is no cost to participate - registration is required. Check in, coffee and conversation begins at 9 a.m.; the program runs from 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
This year there are a variety of offerings at our different regional sites, so look below to choose the program that fits you best (and you are welcome to attend more than one!)
Dates, Locations and Registration Information:
May 13 - Christ Church, Eureka - Registration information coming soon.
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Anti-Racism Training - March 11
St. Patrick's, Kenwood, is offering a day of anti-racism training led by the Rev. Lewis Sitting Panther Powell, on Saturday, March 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Register by
February 27 by calling the church office: 707-833-4228.
From the Rev. Marcia Tyriver: "This will be a time of small group discussions, videos, Bible study, prayer and sharing to help us better understand key concepts and wrestle with issues of power and privilege, culture, structural and institutional racism, and where God call us to be brothers and sisters in this multicultural church and culture."
For more information, see
St. Patrick's website.
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College for Congregational Development
Registration is Now Open
A two-year training program designed to build leadership skills and help clergy and laity assess their congregation's needs, focus on priorities and develop strategies for their church's growth and vitality.
2017 Training Dates and Locations
Weekend Sessions
April 28 - 30 - The Bishop's Ranch
October 27 - 29 - The Bishop's Ranch
*Check-in for the weekend training sessions begins on Friday at 9:00 a.m.
and the program begins at 10:00 a.m. The weekend sessions end on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
Week-Long Intensive
June 11 - 16 - The Bishop's Ranch
*Participants register for both Weekend Sessions or the Week-Long Intensive
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Anita Weaver Grant
Deadline Extension - March 1
The deadline for grant applications for the Anita Weaver Funds, which were designated to help homeless indigent seniors, has been extended to
March 1.
This is a grant for one year of $15,000. If successfully completed and reported, the grantee is eligible to apply for a second-year grant of $7,500. This grant provides an opportunity to develop a longer-term program in collaboration with other congregations and/or city or county resources.
Currently, Arcata Housing Project, through St. Alban's, is in its second-year grant cycle. LEVN (Lutheran Episcopal Volunteer Network ) received its first-year grant this year for an intern to work in partnership with Next Move of Sacramento, a grassroots organization working to address the problems of homelessness in Sacramento and the adjoining region.
Grant awards will be announced April 1.
Click here to download the Request for Proposal, which contains instructions about submitting your grant application.
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Conversations on Race - Trinity Cathedral - February 21
Nell Braxton Gibson, an award-winning author and a member of Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, who currently resides in New York, will read from her acclaimed chronicle of growing up as a black girl in the 1950s and '60s: "Too Proud to Bend: Journey of a Civil Rights Foot Solder."
The book chronicles Gibson's journey from her youth to becoming someone who the New York Daily News
described as an "unsung hero of the civil rights movement." Her
book will be available for sale in the Cathedral Bookstore on the evening of the talk.
For more information on the event,
click here.
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Bishop's Book For Lent and Lenten Formation Resources
Bishop Barry has chosen "Toxic Charity," by Robert Lupton, as the Bishop's Book for Spring and Lent. The book discusses ways in which the growing trend of service projects and trips (what Lupton calls the growing "compassion industry") can be damaging and toxic to the people they are intended to help. A companion guide will be available next week.
Lenten Faith Formation Resources for 2017 are available to download and share with others.
Click here
for books, study guides, online resources and more to help you and your congregation observe a holy Lent.
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Pathways 2017- Reconciling with the Earth & Each Other
The pilgrimage, led by Bishop Barry and young people from the diocese, will explore the stories of oppression, struggle and healing from the Yosemite and Central Valley areas of our state. Scholarships are available, so cost shouldn't stand in the way.
Final deadline to apply is February 15.
Dates: June 18-23, 2017
Location - ECCO: Episcopal Conference Center, Oakhurst, California
Participants: Those finishing grades 7-12
Young adult leaders: Ages 18-30
Cost: $400
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Youth Ministry Symposium - Church Divinity School of the Pacific - March 18
Parents, clergy and lay leaders are invited to the fifth annual CDSP Youth Ministry Symposium with keynote speaker
Leslie A. Choplin, D.Ed.Min.
, co-author of "These Are Our Bodies: Talking Faith and Sexuality at Church and at Home," a new curriculum from Church Publishing. In addition to the keynote address, the day will include opportunities for training and certification in safe church practices according to the national Safeguarding Church practices.
Scholarship and travel funding is available from the Diocese of California, the Diocese of Northern California and Province VIII.
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News & Events B
eyond
our Diocese
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Community of St. Francis - Franciscan Spirituality - April 7-17
Join the Sisters of the Community of St. Francis for a 10-day residential immersion program to study Franciscan Spirituality and a living out of that spirituality through participation in the Sisters' life of prayer, work, ministry and community. The programs are open to any woman over 18 and there is a limit of two participants per immersion.
The program, including room and board, is free, but donations are always welcome. (St. Francis House is not wheelchair accessible.)
2017 Program Dates:
Holy Week/Easter - April 7-17
Summer - August 11-21
St. Francis Day - September 29-October 9
To register, email Sr. Pamela Clare, CSF at [email protected].
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Ways You Can Help Refugees and Immigrants
From Lynn Zender, Chair, Welcoming the Stranger: Immigration & Refugee Ministries
- Get involved. The Episcopal Policy Network has launched a campaign asking everyone to call their elected officials to let them know we welcome refugees. Join them in their effort and help spread word of the campaign - details are available here.
- Become informed. The National Immigration Law Center has a brochure to inform immigrants of their rights. If you or someone you know could be affected by government action, the brochure is available here.
- Connect with Episcopal Migration Ministries. EMM has served immigrants and refugees for more than a century and has a wealth of online resources for people of faith.
- Support organizations committed to protecting immigrants' and refugees' legal rights. The American Civil Liberties Union was joined by the National Immigration Law Center in bringing a case that resulted in the first stay of the Executive Order by a federal court.
- Assist local refugee organizations. In Northern California, organizations that work with refugees and immigrants include Opening Doors, Project Rest and World Relief Sacramento.
- Get the facts. Refugees must undergo an extensive screening program before they are allowed to resettle in the U.S. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has a fact sheet on that process, which is available here.
Editor's Note: The ministry of "Welcoming the Stranger" came out of a resolution from the 2014 Diocesan Convention. The text of Resolution R6-14 is available here.
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Share the Good News!
If you have a news story or event of interest to others in the diocese, or if you want assistance with your church or ministry communications, call Paula Schaap, Communications Director, 916-442-6918, ext. 226.
If you received this e-News from another and would like your own subscription,
click here to sign up and keep abreast of news from our diocese and beyond.
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