NORTHWEST REGION ENEWSLETTER

May 2019
From Eliza, your Region Missionary
Hello friends,

It's difficult to believe that my time in Connecticut is coming to a close. I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet (44 more days) but would like to direct your attention to the Northwest Region Convocation below. Here we will do something special for my departure, in addition to an energizing and Holy Spirit filled Episcopal Revival !

Please consider coming to Convocation! If this doesn't work for you, I would love to see you at the 9am Sunday service at Trinity, Torrington for Pentecost on Sunday, June 9th. I will preach a farewell sermon of sorts, and will be my last Sunday sermon for the foreseeable future!

With much love and gratitude,
Eliza
Upcoming Events
Northwest Region Convocation
Saturday, June 22 from 10am-3pm
Please join us to "renew and revive" at the 2019 Northwest Region convocation. Combining elements of our Episcopal liturgy with retreat and revival themes, we invite you to participate in this day of Christian spiritual refreshment. With lively music, prayer, scripture, companionship, and testimonials, we will endeavor to enrich each other's faith and strengthen our Christian community. We will enjoy all of this in the tranquil and uplifting setting of Trinity Retreat Center in Cornwall.
 
Morning snacks and lunch will be provided. There will be no heavy business agenda. Instead, this is a time to refresh. 
 
In addition, we will also say goodbye to our Northwest Region Missionary, Eliza Marth, who will be leaving her position at the end of the month. Please come to thank her for her ministry and to wish her well on her journey with Christ.

Please register using this link. Please also help us get the word out by including it in your parish announcements!
Calling all Wardens! Past or present, Junior or Senior
We are excited to announce the formation of the  Northwest Region Warden’s Network. Every Warden brings a unique set of talents, best practices and experience. We now have an email account to enable a list serve as well as a face book page for information sharing and enjoyment. 

If you are a past or present Warden (from any Region!) and would like to have access to these two resources, please email Kim Polhemus at  nwr.wardens@gmail.com Please indicate your name, parish, town and elected position. Also, indicate if you would like to be included in occasional email and/or have access to the NWR Wardens Face Book page. 
Northwest Region Parish Musicians Gathering
Please join the Northwest Parish Musicians for a candlelit choral Evensong on Sunday, June 2 from 7:30-8:30pm at Trinity Episcopal Church in Torrington. If you would like to sing in the choir for this service, please email Jerry Davidson at jfd112@gmail.com.

Our next Northwest Parish Musicians Luncheon will be on Sunday, June 30 from 1-3pm at St. John's in Waterbury. Please bring your calendars to this gathering, as we will look at the 2019-2020 program year to lay a foundation for collaborative musical events in the Northwest Region. Please click here to RSVP.
Northwest Region Lay Preacher Reunion
We are still trying to find a good day/time for gathering the Northwest Region Lay Preachers. If you are not already on the email list but would like to be, please send a note to Eliza at emarth@episcopalct.org. If you are interested in becoming a lay preacher, please ask your clergy person to send an email to Eliza so we can begin organizing a class for Fall 2019.
What's Cooking?
New Start Ministry: looking for Employment Assistant Volunteers
New Start Ministry is a team of people who are committed and prepared to resettle a refugee family in our Northwest Region. Based out of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Woodbury, New Start Ministry is in need of a couple volunteers to assist with employment issues. Tasks include helping to construct a resume, coaching on employment interview skills, scouting out entry level jobs for people with limited English, and accompanying the refugees on visits to potential employers, and so on. This work is preformed in coordination with other New Start Ministry team members, especially those team members responsible for transportation, ESOL, housing and finance.

If you are interested, please email Susan Suhr at susan.e.suhr@gmail.com.
Local Book Event: Loving Mother Dolores
LOVING MOTHER DOLORES

On Saturday, May 18 at 10am, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Woodbury is hosting a book signing for LOVING MOTHER DOLORES, a book written by local author, Ree Howell. Mother Dolores will be the featured speaker with free refreshments served prior to the talk.

LOVING MOTHER DOLORES tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a cloistered Catholic nun and a deeply committed evangelical Christian.
 
Eight years after knowing one another, Ree moved to Connecticut, and she and Mother Dolores began meeting twice a week. During their meetings, they discuss such things as Elvis and Hollywood and the loves of their lives, which, for Mother Dolores, include her faith, friends, and the Sisters who are her family.
 
As a screenwriter, Ree has a close creative relationship with producer-director-writers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon. Their most recent success is the anti-abortion film,  Unplanned .  Chuck and Cary’s Los Angeles based company, Believe Entertainment, funded the publication of  Loving Mother Dolores  through local publisher, Testa Books.
 
If you already know this famous nun,  LOVING MOTHER DOLORES  will introduce her to you in a new way. And it will give you a closer look at the remarkable Abbey that Mother Dolores so loves.
 
Author Ree Howell   is an award winning playwright, optioned screenwriter, and published author. She lives in Woodbury, Connecticut, four miles from the Abbey of Regina Laudis.

For more information:   contact Monie Munson at Testa Books (828) 279-0450
Bible Journeys: Anglican Heritage Trip
St. Paul’s, Brookfield is sponsoring a trip in October to England and Scotland to explore our Anglican/Episcopal Heritage. Fr. Joseph Shepley will be leading the adventure which will include a visits to Lambeth Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wesley Chapel, Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Coventry Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Aberdeen, Scotland where Samuel Seabury was consecrated as the first US Episcopal bishop. We'll see all the other top sites as well, including the Tower of London & the Crown Jewels, a dinner cruise on the Thames, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Edinburgh. This trip is loaded with extras and for the adventurous, an Ireland extension is available.

The entire trip is being coordinated by a parishioner who is an experienced travel planner (15 different countries total) and was a veteran (20 years) travel manager for a major professional sports team.

For more information, check the video or their webpage:
Breakfast Church