In this edition: Racial Justice & Reconciliation Grant; Website Survey update; New clergy call announcement; Women's Retreat; Fun Fact, Check it Out! Did You Know? News in the ECD community, Episcopal Church, and Anglican Communion

Congratulations to the Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission (RJRC) of the Episcopal Church in Delaware for receiving a $7,000 Becoming Beloved Community seed grant from the Episcopal Church to catalyze the church’s work of truth telling, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice! The grant, one of 16 seed grants, will enable the RJRC to work in partnership with clergy, parishes, church leadership, and community and interfaith partners to more closely examine the untold history of systemic racial injustice in our church and community, internalize our Baptismal Covenant, and become the beloved community that the Gospel of Jesus has called us to be. The seed grant was announced at the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council during its June 25-28, 2021 meeting. More information in English and Spanish here.

Based upon your feedback we have been able to make some updates and changes to the current website, which will also be incorporated in the new website. Our thought process for making some changes now is to provide an easier transition to the new website. New websites can be frustrating to navigate, similar to when a grocery store decides to move your everyday items to a different aisle. Most (almost all) of the changes that we have currently made are in the navigation system at the main menu bar.

The information we gathered will be influential in the construction of the new diocesan website, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. Check out some of the recent changes to the website here.

This week (week of July 25), in our diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we hold up in prayer St. David's Church, Wilmington, the Rev. Brad Hinton, rector; the Rev. Maryann Younger, curate; and the Rev. Deacon Bruce Richards. For the updated 2020-2021 diocesan Cycle of Prayer click here.

Reporting to the Head of School, the Chaplain plays a vital role in the life of the St. Anne's community including leading weekly chapel services, teachng religious studies, and overseeing the community service program. Read full job description here. Interested candidates can send their cover letter, resume, and list of references to employment@stannesde.org. 

Stop #1, 9-9:30am, St. Nicholas Episcopal Church garden located at 10 Old Newark Road, Newark, DE 19713. Established in 2011 and opened to the community in 2015. Recipient of NCCD mini-grant in 2019. Garden coordinator Fran Traccone will lead this tour. 

Stop #2, 10-10:30am, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension demonstration vegetable garden and native plant garden located at 461 Wyoming Road, Newark, DE 19716. Master Gardener’s will provide an overview of the gardens. 

Stop #3, 11-11:30 am, Food Bank of Delaware farm located at 222 Lake Drive, Newark, DE 19702 in the Pencader Industrial Park. Come learn about the hoop houses, CSA and field growing areas from community farm manager Kyle Brolis. 12-1pm. Bring your own lunch for networking under the picnic pavilion at the Food Bank of Delaware.

Celebration of New Ministry, the Rev. Shelley D. McDade, Wednesday, August 11, 5pm, St. George's Chapel, Harbeson. All are invited. Reservation information to follow.

Diocesan stewardship workshops coming soon:

Save the Date! Fire and Formation: A Virtual Gathering sponsored by the Commission on Ministry

The Fire & Formation initiative is to aid and encourage the laity to discover their passion for Christ, deepen their spirituality, and fully live out their baptismal covenant. More information to follow.

This year's one-day, hybrid convention will take place both virtually and in person at St. Andrew's School, Middletown. View the Call to Convention to learn more. All convention information can be found on the diocesan website, here.

The Episcopal Church’s Office of Church Planting and Mission Development will offer a virtual retreat for those who feel a calling toward church/community redevelopment. The retreat is designed to give participants feedback around core competencies in church redevelopment. It is designed to nurture leaders who will encourage their congregations to develop relationships and partnerships outside the church — relationships which then invite change and redevelopment within the church. More information

This is an innovative five-day intensive course designed for diocesan staff, clergy, lay leaders, and seminarians to gain practical knowledge and cultural competency for Latino/Hispanic ministry. More information

Who? All Episcopalians over 18 are invited to apply, especially young adults, people of color, Indigenous and LGBTQ people, and those whose communities have been affected by climate change and environmental injustice

Where? Online in virtual daily meetings

When? October 31-November 12

Applications due by August 20 More information

Episcopal Bishop Scott Hayashi, himself a victim of gun violence, now advocates with a group of other U.S. Episcopal bishops on the issue. In 2018 the clerics decided their push was missing something: a prayer. More information

White Christian decline has slowed. Mainline Protestants now outnumber white evangelicals. New York is home to several of the most religiously diverse counties in the U.S. These shifts and findings are among some of the notable revelations documented in a sweeping and exhaustive survey of the U.S. religious landscape by the Public Religion Research Institute. More information

Three new courses related to safe church policies within the Episcopal Church were released July 14, with webinars planned soon to help dioceses transition to a new learning platform. All new courses will be launched to create a new program called Safe Church, Safe Communities. Developed by the Task Force to Develop Model Sexual Harassment Policies and Safe Church Training in partnership with risk management vendor Praesidium, the new courses are Introduction and Theological Background, Organizational Rules and Model Policies, and Abuse and Neglect. A train-the-trainer course will also be available live over Zoom and in-person in November, according to Judith Andrews, chair of the task force. In addition, the following courses will be added to Praesidium Academy by the end of 2021:

The new learning modules reflect policies approved by The Episcopal Church in 2017 for the protection of children, youth, and vulnerable adults. More information 

As the new course materials are being released, Praesidium is transitioning from the Armatus platform to Praesidium Academy. Learn more about the upgrade here

Hybrid has been defined as a combination of an in-person service with an online service, either livestreamed or recorded, of the Eucharist, Morning Prayer, Compline, Noonday Prayer, or a Bible study. Even those who may not be enthralled with hybrid recognize its value. 'The digital world is a new mission frontier,' said Bishop Pierre Whalon, chair of the House of Bishops’ Ecclesiology Committee. 'And the church needs to be there. And the church needs to know how to use it.'” Read full Living Church article here

A Year in the Life, filmed throughout the pandemic using COVID-safe protocols, explores how Episcopal schools, ministries, and congregations have adapted to the challenges of the year – from food insecurity to calls for racial justice to worship through restrictions – and more. Each year, young adults answer the call to serve God and neighbor through the Episcopal Service Corps, or ESC, and its affiliates around the country. When Corps members discerned their calls to serve with the New York Service & Justice Collaborative, they knew they would partner with places like the Church of the Holy Apostles’ soup kitchen and the Trinity Episcopal Church Giving Tree thrift shop. But during a pandemic, how could they continue the work they had been given to do? The answer: creativity, faithfulness, commitment, and an exceptional love for their neighbors. Watch A Year in the Life here

The Anglican Communion has launched a social media video campaign to mark this year’s 30^th anniversary of the annual international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. Young Anglicans from around the world are being invited to take part in the campaign by submitting a video which the Anglican Communion Office can release during the 16 Days, which runs from 25 November to 10 December.

The Anglican Communion’s Project Director for Gender Justice, Mandy Marshall, said: “sadly gender based violence is still with us 30 years after the campaign started, yet there is amazing work going on around the Communion to address it. “We need to hear the voices and views of young Anglicans to challenge us into prioritising ending GBV in our churches.” Young Anglicans – defined for this campaign as Anglicans aged 35 or under – are invited to submit videos of up to two-minutes duration by email or WhatsApp. The selected videos will be published by the Anglican Communion Office during the 16 Days of Activism. Full details of the campaign, and information about how to submit videos, are available at anglicancommunion.org/exposure.

Anxiety about the future of the Church of England’s parish system, unity across differences over the ordination of women, and the adequacy of its clergy discipline system featured prominently in the latest semiannual session of its General Synod, held online July 9-12. More information