Gentled by our days of waiting and unknowing, now there is much to be done.

 

Some people are going home, others are filing insurance claims. In the Body of Christ, these people come together.

Some people are stress cooking, others are too stressed to cook. In the Body of Christ, these people come together.

Some people have time and gratitude, some people are broken by loss and grief. In the Body of Christ, these people come together.

Evacuees fear that they are burdensome, and give thanks for the gift of sharing the gifts God entrusts to them. These people belong together in the Body of Christ.

 

Together we live into our baptismal vow to seek and serve Christ in all persons.

Thanks be to God.

 

I hope to see you tomorrow, and I look forward to serving alongside you in the weeks of lamentation, thanksgiving, hospitality and healing to come."

A prayer from Bishop Barry for the diocese:

"Most Gracious God: 
Hear our prayer for all whose lives are impacted by this crisis. 
Shield and deliver all emergency responders; 

give wisdom and guide those in authority; 

watch over all who have been forced to evacuate, and all who wait with uncertainty. 

Comfort those who mourn great loss. Help those who wish to help 

to be patient and effective in compassion. Bless us all, and help us trust in you. 

In Jesus name we pray, Amen."

We give special thanks to the Very Rev. Mary Hudak, Rector of St. Michael's, Carmichael, and its parishioners, who have provided hundreds of respirator masks to be taken to Redding as evacuees begin returning to their neighborhoods.

For the latest information on the wildfires, please check the  Cal Fire site frequently.

You may donate online to our  Diocesan Disaster Relief fund here.   Choose "Disaster Relief" from the drop down options.  The link to donate is also here:  https://secure.accessacs.com/access/oglogin.aspx?sn=159790

F or decades, Camp Noel Porter has been a sacred place for families, young adults, youth, and children. As camping programs have changed, the  Camp Noel Porter board and the Board of Trustees have prayerfully decided that it is no longer possible to hold camp programs on this site. It is time  to say goodbye to this summer camp ministry, remembering the spirit-filled gifts that we have received 

here. The time has come to "pass it on" as our camp-song reminds us. 

 

To honor this beloved ministry, Bishop Barry Beisner invites you to a day of memory, celebration, connection, prayer, and song on Saturday, Sept. 1, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.  If you plan on attending, we ask that you please RSVP here by Aug. 10.

 

This event is free, and dinner will be provided. An agenda of the day is below.

 

2:00 p.m.  Visit the camp, arts/crafts, ping-pong, connect with old friends

4:00 p.m.  Eucharist at the Outdoor Chapel

5:00 p.m.  Dinner provided

6:00 p.m.  Campfire

7:30 p.m.  Closing prayer and closing song, "Pass It On"

 

Thank you to the 37 churches that have submitted their Certificate of Lay Delegates forms for the 2018 Diocesan Convention. If you're one of the remaining churches that hasn't submitted your form to the Office of the Bishop, please note that the due date is this Friday, Aug. 3. 

The 2018 Certificate of Lay Delegates form and more information is  available here. 

Please note that filling out this form is NOT convention registration for delegates. See the link below for convention registration.

The Bishop's full 2018 visitation schedule is available here. 

LEVN is moving to Sacramento, and they need your help! This is an incredible undertaking that fulfills the vision of Jocelynn Hughes, the outgoing Pastor and Executive Director of LEVN. Her faith in the future of LEVN brought us to this point, and now we need to come together in community to bring the program officially over the causeway and furnish the homes of LEVN volunteers for the 2018 - 2019 program year. 

Your donation of time, household items, or money will help ensure the continued success of this program and help provide a comfortable home for the volunteers who are creating a new life and intentional community in Sacramento. For more information on how to donate, please c heck out the LEVN moving page.

The St. Matthew's Center is a project of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, based in Sacramento. It is an effort by the Episcopal Church in this region to ascertain and meet the needs of a diverse and somewhat underprivileged community in the North Sacramento area. To this end, the campus of an existing Episcopal Church is being converted into a center for outreach to the surrounding neighborhood, while still hosting a small, active congregation. While this project is still in development, it already hosts a food bank, a preschool, and an ESL facility.

 

The Center is seeking an individual who can assume the day-to-day management of the Center, as well as strategizing community outreach, fundraising and future growth in the services provided by the Center. The individual chosen to be Executive Director will also need to be able to maintain and manage relationships with and among the existing projects and congregation (which are largely self-managing and autonomous), as well as working with and reporting to the Center Committee. (The Committee serves as a Board for the Center, under the Episcopal Diocese.)

 

View a complete job description.  Applications will be accepted through Aug. 17.  Please submit a cover letter and resume to [email protected] . 

The Spiritual Care Services Department of Mercy San Juan Medical Center is sponsoring a free informational meeting for leaders who are interested in developing a grief support group for their own congregations on Aug. 6 from 6 - 7 p.m. Please register by Aug. 3. To register, or if you have questions, please contact Chaplain Matt Sanders by email at  [email protected] or call or text at (916) 995-1856.

Are you tired of listening to voices that divide us? Ready to celebrate our common humanity in all its wonderful diversity? 

Join Karen Lawler, OEF, the members of St. Mary's, Elk Grove, and representatives of the City of Elk Grove Multicultural Commission  on Aug. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at the Morse Park Labyrinth as we celebrate the gifts of the diverse cultures in our community. We will walk the sacred path together, sharing reflections about our desire for unity, an end to hatred and violence and deeper understanding between us all.

 

As part of our commitment to racial justice, St. Mary's in Elk Grove offers these labyrinth walks quarterly in a public park, leading prayer and reflections on issues of systemic injustice and violence which tear at fabric of our community. This is an interfaith service. We welcome your presence in body or in spirit. For those who wish to join us through virtual presence please see the links on the Facebook event.

Not a year goes by that we don't get approached by an adult who says, "I wish I could go to summer camp!" Camp Wise is a direct response to this and provides the opportunity for seniors (60+) throughout our diocese to experience camp, some for the first time, and for others, the opportunity to go to camp again!

Camp Wise is a 4-day experience, Aug. 5-8 at St. Dorothy's Rest, which is located in the middle of a redwood forest, just miles from the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River. The St. Dorothy's  staff is uniquely equipped to provide seniors with a memorable camp experience that is full of fellowship, fun, activities, worship, s'mores & more! 

Registration is now open , and camp scholarships are available. We hope you can join us for this unique summer camp offering! 

Beginning Aug. 6, our Episcopal church in Ukiah, Holy Trinity, will open its doors to 50 children, kindergarten to 5th grade, who were traumatized by the 2017 Redwood fire. Started as an  outreach ministry by Lutheran Social Services and strengthened with  generous grants by our diocese and the Methodist Church, and $2,000 raised by Holy Trinity. The total cost of the camp is over $20,000, and the effort was helped by a large donation from Redwood Forest Products.

The camp will be run by 30 community volunteers, including eight from Holy Trinity. The children will receive two meals each day, lots of fun and games, plus trauma counseling by trained professionals volunteering their time.

"This project has been a real 'Loaves and Fishes Story' and is truly a miracle," wrote the Rev. John Day, the priest-in-charge at Holy Trinity, in an email composed during intermittent power outages on Monday, July 30.

 

Two items from St. Francis, Fair Oaks, which closed on April 7, still need homes. They are listed below. You may send an email to [email protected] if you are interested, or if you have questions, or for photos of the items. Also, please take into consideration that you would need to go to Fair Oaks and pick up the item and arrange for its transportation to your congregation, at a time and date to be arranged.

The first item is a Baby Grand Piano - this piano was donated by a family in Grass Valley. It has stipulations that the piano needs to be given to an Episcopal Church in Northern CA. Thom Greathouse from Emmanuel, Grass Valley, worked with the family. The piano is in very good condition. The second item is an  Allen Organ in  good condition. The serial number is 150327.