SOUTHWEST REGION ENEWSLETTER

September 2019
From your Region Missionary, Erendira Jimenez
Dear Friends,

It’s been an eventful summer for your new Region Missionary—finishing seminary, starting this new job, moving to Fairfield, and beginning to spend time in your parishes and communities. I am so grateful for all the warm welcomes that I have received as I get to know our SW Region, slowly but surely. 

As September begins and we look to the program year ahead with new energy for following Jesus, I want to invite you to partner with me in a spirit of curiosity and spaciousness, as we imagine together what our work of Joining Jesus might be. Curiosity to consider that there might be answers to our questions—how to engage with youth, how we might participate in racial justice work, what we might need to let go of to have fullness of life —by looking outside of the walls of our churches. And spaciousness to hold difference, newness, discomfort with gentleness as we try new things. The answers we are seeking might be discovered through leaving the comfort of what is familiar and trekking into new terrain.

This fall I invite you to share your stories with me so I can include them in the newsletter. I invite you to join me for coffee and conversation in the community so that I can learn more about what inspires you and lights a fire in your heart when it comes to participating alongside God in this world. I also want to know what your concerns, fears, and uncertainties about the world and the church are. We can’t move forward to the new life Jesus promises unless we name what holds us back.

Our clergy are wonderful and necessary, and I also believe that God is moving in each of us, lay and clergy alike. I want non-collared people to know that you have the power to change the world, your communities, your families by listening to the Spirit and acting with courage and vulnerability. I'll be praying for all of us as we continue to discern how we are being called to step out into the world in trust, in truth, in love. I look forward to where this next month is taking us!

Peace and joy,
Erendira
SCENES FROM THE SUMMER
Church at the Beach with St. Paul’s Fairfield
Midday Eucharist with Trinity, Southport
Southwest Region Convocation, June 2019
Carillon Bell Concert with St. James, Danbury
Beach Church with Christ and Holy Trinity, Westport
Visit to historic St. Francis, Stamford
Vigil for School Safety and Gun Violence with Working Beyond the Walls—Stamford churches
All six Region Missionaries at White Supremacy Culture 101 Training with Trinity Connects, Boston
Fr. Geoffrey Hahneman’s last Sunday with St. John’s, Bridgeport
Coffee in the Community
SAVE THE DATES

I want to get to know you better! Join Erendira out in the community to share stories of what inspires you, challenges you, reveals God to you. Ask me questions about the SW Region or about what my work is (full disclosure: I'm still figuring it out). Brainstorm a new idea about church with me. Drop in or stay a while for conversation. Coffee or a drink is on me!
SW coffee
Ministry Networks and Region News
Send Your Updates!

Ministry networks and parishes, if you’d like to have an upcoming event or update on what your group or community is doing in your neighborhoods please send a brief description to ejimenez@episcopalct.org. I'll need it by the 22nd of the month to be included in the next month’s newsletter. This is a great way to invite folks from other parishes to collaborate with you, whether it’s worship, community events, or justice ministries. Let’s get the word out!
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN:
Pilgrimage November 16-17, 2019
Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
The Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation Ministry Network's pilgrimage planning team has acquired tickets to the Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. for Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17.

Travel will be by motor coach, departing Hartford Nov. 16 at 4 a.m. and stopping in Riverside at approximately 5:30 a.m. en route. The bus departs D.C. at 2 p.m. on Sunday for the return trip.

The cost for bus riders is $80 per person. The Network has an additional 20 tickets available for individuals who wish to make their own travel arrangements. They must be present with the rest of the group to have their timed-entry tickets accepted. Attendees will be responsible for making their own reservations at a nearby hotel, discounted rates are available. Lunch on both days, and Saturday dinner, are also separate. There is no admission fee to the Museum; you need the timed-event tickets.

Group size is limited and will be first-come, first-served. Register today!
Sundays with your RM
Your RM has already been out preaching at our churches! To know where she’ll be on a Sunday check out her schedule below. Feel free to join on a Sunday and get to know another church in your neighborhood while you’re at it!
Join the Region Leadership Team
Have you've been excited by the work you've seen unfold in the Region? Do you have hopes and dreams for greater collaboration and mutual sharing among our parishes? We’re still looking for a couple more folks to join the team. Please consider being part of the Southwest Region Leadership Team.

To learn more about what it means to be part of the team or if you would like to join, please contact Erendira ejimenez@episcopalct.org