North Central Region
Monthly Newsletter
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I'm presently booked for all Sundays until late December 2021. If you would like me to visit your parish in late 2021 or in the Winter of 2022, please sign up for a Sunday HERE.
If you would like to schedule a private "office hour" time with me, please sign up HERE.
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A Brief Word from your Region Missionary: |
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Dear siblings in Christ,
The mornings have a definite chill most days now and it's fairly clear that we are on the backside of Summer and striding toward Fall, full-steam ahead! The Fall is my favorite time of the year. I enjoy going apple picking, hearing the leaves crunch under my feet as I walk Laverne, and noticing the small changes on the farm as the season changes over.
The Fall also brings the program year forward, and there are many ways in which you can engage with the Region during this time. In this edition of the Missive, you will find information on our upcoming Annual Convention, the NC Region Convocation, funds that are available through the ECW, and an initiative around planting trees.
As we move into the Fall, the pace can sometimes seem quite frantic as we struggle to get all the things done or lined up to do later. The continued impact of COVID remains real and present, perhaps more so as our young people go back to school. Please be gentle with yourselves.
And, to close this portion of the newsletter, please know that YOU ARE LOVED.
Until I see you next, be assured of my prayers for you and your communities.
Maggie
photo by Rachel Thomas, SE Region Missionary
You can reach Maggie Breen, NC & NE Region Missionary, the following ways:
US Mail: The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, The Commons, 290 Pratt Street, Box 52, Meriden, Ct 06450
PHONE: 203-639-3501 x154 (o) 860-214-0085 (c)
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Announcement: If you need any assistance with making sure that your parish is in compliance with Safe Church Model Policies, please reach out to me - I'm always available to help with anything that you need!
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Getting To Know Your Region |
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NC Region Annual Convocation: Sunday, 3 October |
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Greetings Siblings in Christ,
The NC Region Leadership Team is pleased to invite you to participate in the 2021 Annual Convocation. We will meet on Zoom for a program around sharing what brings us together, particularly in light of the pandemic, celebrating our mutual affection for God, and engaging with some Spiritual Practices! We know that these past 18 months have been very difficult, and while the pandemic has made it so that we are often physically apart, in Jesus we are one family.
Please join us on Sunday, October 3, 2021 from 3-6pm.
!Saludos hermano/as en Cristo!
El Equipo de Liderazgo de la Región Norte-Central se complace en invitarles a participar de nuestra Convocatoria Anual 2021. Nos reuniremos via zoom con un programa donde nos enfocamos en aquello que nos une, particularmente después de todo lo que hemos vivido con la pandemia, y así celebrar nuestro mutuo amor a Dios, mientras realizamos ejercicios espirituales. Estos últimos 18 meses han sido bien difíciles, y a pesar de que la pandemia nos ha limitado el compartir en persona, sin embargo, en Jesús todos somos una sola familia.
Acompáñenos el domingo 3 de octubre de 2021, de 3:00PM a 6:00PM.
Favor de registrarse al evento a través de Eventbrite, dando click ‘Aquí’
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NC Region Sacred Ground Opportunity: SPOTS STILL OPEN |
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Join with members of the NC Region for a 10-session course to continue our anti-racism work. We are asking that participants be intentional about committing to this program, so that we can journey over sacred ground together in a dedicated small group.
We will be meeting 10 times, roughly every two weeks (with November, December, and April being slightly different due to holidays), from 6:30pm-8pm on Thursdays, via ZOOM. Participants will be given the ZOOM links before each class. The dates are as follows: 11/11, 12/9, 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/10, 3/24, 4/21, and 4/28.
Participants will be expected to watch approx.90 minutes of stimulating film before each class and read approx. 35 pages before each class. Materials will be provided to you in advance. You can CLICK HERE for more detailed information on this course.
We ask that you carefully consider your availability for this program. Because we want to keep the group relatively small, we are limiting participation to 20 people. You can REGISTER HERE. Registration will close on October 21. If you have any questions, please contact Maggie Breen, NC & NE Region Missionary, at mbreen@episcopalct.org.
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Episcopal Church Women
#1 To all Episcopal Churches in Connecticut, If you have outreach programs or are thinking of starting one that could use some extra funding the board of the Episcopal Church Women would love to hear from you. Because we did not hold our Annual Meeting in 2020 or again this past May 2021 we have an abundance of funds that can be used for Outreach Programs. We would be interested in supporting small start-up ministries or established programs that could benefit from financial support.
#2 Clergy Daughters Scholarship Program;
Applications for the Clergy Daughters Scholarship Program are being accepted now. There is no deadline for submissions. Applications must be between the ages of 17-25 and planning to enroll or currently enrolled in an undergraduate or vocational training institution.
#3 The board of the Episcopal Church women is in need of a secretary to serve until May 2024. As a member of the board she will be responsible for keeping an accurate account of the meetings. There are three or four meetings a year that she will be expected to attend. A lap top computer will be available for her use in that position.
If you are interested in any of these items, please contact Betty Silva at ecwct@yahoo.com directly
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Tree Initiative: How You Can Help Creation
Listen to what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
Although we often hear this phrase after the readings on Sunday morning, it is an admonishment we are supposed to practice 24/7. I recently heard the Spirit speaking to me through an NPR episode of Disrupted entitled, How Trees Are Key to New England’s Environmental Future. I shared this with friends from the Creation Care Network and friends that I knew cared for tree preservation. We agreed that God was calling ECCT to act on this call and so we met for the first time on September 1.
Why are trees important?
· Trees offer us shade and cooler temperatures. Temperatures are 19% higher in Hartford than in the surrounding towns that has more trees.
· Trees absorb CO2 and store carbon.
· Trees improve water quality by filtering sediments and chemicals.
· They also prevent erosion. Their root systems reduce storm water runoff.
· Trees increase the well being of the people who see them.
What do we need to do something about trees?
Twenty-four thousand acres of forest are lost every year in New England. Deforestation replaces trees with buildings or parking lots is the biggest problem. Logging timber is the second largest cause. This is exasperated by our throw away society, relacing rather than reusing or recycling. Natural disturbances such as hurricanes, ice storms and insect and disease are the third leading cause of why our forests are being destroyed.
New Haven has a program that plants about 425 trees a year. Unfortunately, the same number of trees are cut down or die each year also and unfortunately, the older trees have more to offer than younger trees do.
The NPR program offered a lot of solutions that we feel parishes and individuals can do. These ideas go from leaving you tree populated area to a local land trust to looking at your church property to see if there is room for more trees. Understand that you need to commit to caring for trees over their life span and that you need to choose the right tree for the right location. We hope to help you with whatever you decide to do.
The Rev. Ellen Adams Deacon serves at St. James, New London where she works on the New London Pollinator Pathway.
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Region Resource Reminders |
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AVAILABLE NOW: Many thanks to Melien Lavoie of the NC Region Leadership Team, who created THIS LOVELY GOOGLE DOCUMENT to capture all the great things that are happening across the NC Region. Please complete it if you have an event you want to share.
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Looking for a place to try online worship? For an ongoing list of ECCT Parishes hosting livestream services click here
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2-1-1 is a one-stop connection to the local services folks in your community may need, from utility assistance, food, housing, child care, after school programs, elder care, crisis intervention and much more. For more info click here.
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3-1-1 It is similar to 2-1-1 but region specific to the city of Hartford. More info here.
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Safe Church Training Information available HERE
ECCT COVID-19 Resources HERE
More detailed calendar information HERE
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Join Your ECCT Region Missionaries for this Seven-Part Series |
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Tue, Sep 14, 2021 12:00 PM EST
Stories Along the Way of Love
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Consider joining with the ECCT Region Missionaries and friends across ECCT on Tuesdays at noon as we adventure along the Way of Love. You can click the link above to register and you can click on the video below to hear a little about what this is all about. |
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Thu, Oct 14, 2021 10:00 AM EST
2022 Budget of Convention Finance Review
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Annual Convention Moves Online
Saturday, Oct. 23 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
After much prayer, research, thought, and discussion, your Convention Planning Team has made the difficult decision to move our Annual Convention to an online format this year due to COVID-19 Delta variant surges. Given the rigors of the past year and a half and the fatigue many in our community are experiencing with online events, we are condensing the schedule to one day, Saturday, October 23, focusing on the essentials. Read more.
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What do you dream of seeing in your neighborhood? Do you have a partner parish and other organizations that might work with you and your own parish to bring it into fruition? What is God inviting you to imagine?
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut (ECCT) is pleased to make available funds to catalyze our Regions’ engagement by joining in God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation in new and exciting ways. These funds — designated for distribution over the next five or six years — are intended for exciting, innovative, new or expanding ministries that engage and energize parishes, Ministry Networks, and community partners within our Regions.
This is a real opportunity for Episcopalians, with our allies and partners, to dream big and imagine together: How might we, within our Region’s communities, join Jesus more deeply in God’s work to change the world? Watch the fund's launch video to learn more, or visit our website and download an application.
Applications due October 18.
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Communications for the North Central Region |
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* Join the NC Region Facebook Group, a community bulletin board for the region. This is your place to share parish/community events, photos, videos and more.
* Like and follow the NC Region Facebook Page. This is where the Leadership Team will post news of upcoming Region events, gatherings, conversations, resources, etc.
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Questions? Comments? Concerns? Get in touch with your NC Region Leadership Team here or email Maggie Breen, NC & NE Region Missionary at mbreen@episcopalct.org
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