 |
|
From Bishop Barry
|
|
|
Bishop Barry gives his blessing to the celebration of new ministry of the Rev. Doyle Dietz Allen at St. Patrick's, Kenwood, on April 7. |
Dear Friends in Christ:
Grace and peace to you, and Easter blessings. (My Easter Vigil sermon is
available here.)
I have just returned from a brief time with our latest College for Congregational Development gathering. This program, the people who lead it, and the people who participate in it are a clear expression of the health and strength of this Diocese.
Like you, I have found that the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King has been an occasion for some deep and difficult
reflection. I have been aided in that work by a recent re-reading of his last book, "Where Do We Go From Here?" The subtitle describes our most urgent challenge: "Chaos or Community?"
CCD is helping us to answer those questions by helping us to build communities that are transformative, communities that are more truly reflective of the restorative and renewing power of Easter, and less an embodiment of the chaos of the world. I am very grateful to Canon Andrea for bringing CCD to us, grateful to the Board of Trustees for funding it, and grateful to all the clergy and congregations who are engaged in it. (If you and your congregation are not participating in CCD, please give me a call and we can discuss how to get you involved.) To find out more about the program,
click here.
It is great to have so readily available John Bogart's
histories of the three previous episcopates. There is much to learn in them, and this time of transition is an excellent time for such learning. I commend them to you. Thanks to my executive assistant Jacqi Seppi for her special efforts to put these before us. (And please speak kind words of encouragement to Harry Allagree, who is busily trying to complete a history of my episcopate - even while I am still trying to make it interesting enough to want to write/read about!)
Finally, I want to express gratitude for all of you who prayed with me on the March 14 Day of Lamentation, and marched with me (or supported the marchers) in multiple locations around the Diocese on the 24th. Such solidarity in such a time is a very great blessing.
Yours in the Risen Lord,
|
|
|
THE SEARCH FOR OUR NEXT BISHOP
|
|
Bishop Search Work Evolves
The Search Committee is hard at work gathering information about the diocese, and reading and reviewing all the wonderful information and comments that came to us from the listening sessions held around the diocese. Every single comment is being read, and we'll use that information to guide the writing of the profile, especially sections on "who we are" as a diocese and the type of bishop we seek. A draft of the profile will be produced in mid-April, and the final profile should be public shortly thereafter.
Also, as announced earlier this month, the Standing Committee is searching for people interested in appointment to the Transition Committee.
Applications are due by May 4. Learn more and apply here.
|
|
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
|
|
Bishop Barry to Receive
CDSP Honorary Degree on May 18
The Very Rev. Dr. Mark Richardson, president and dean of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, announced that our bishop will receive an honorary degree from the seminary at its commencement on Friday, May 18. If enough people are interested in attending the ceremony, we'll charter a bus to take a group to Berkeley. If interested, email us at
[email protected] with "BUS" in the subject line.
|
Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves to Speak at May Clergy Conference
The 2018 Clergy Conference will be from 3 p.m. May 22 to 11:30 a.m. May 24 at the Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg.
The guest speaker will be T
he Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real. Bishop Mary recently announced her decision to begin the process of electing the next bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real with a projected ordination and consecration of the next bishop of El Camino Real to be on Jan. 11, 2020.
Gray-Reeves was instrumental in forming Beautiful Authority, a network gathering for young women clergy, and is a participant in The Gathering of Leaders, also designed to encourage, energize and empower clergy leadership. She serves on various committees and boards of The Episcopal Church, and is a member of the International Women's Forum.
She is the author of "Unearthing My Religion" and co-author of the
2011 book "
The Hospitality of God." She has been bishop of El Camino Real since 2007.
There will also be a chance for clergy to speak to members of the Diocese of Northern California Bishop Search Committee during the conference.
|
|
Reminder: Retired Clergy Luncheon Thursday, April 12
Bishop Barry invites all retired clergy and their spouses/partners to lunch twice a year. Thank you to all who responded and the bishop looks forward to seeing you Thursday, April 12, at Faith, Cameron Park.
The lunch will begin at 11 a.m. and run to no later than 1:30 p.m.
Rev. Christine Leigh-Taylor (
[email protected]) is chaplain to the retired clergy of the diocese. She arranges these free fellowship events at churches around the diocese.
|
|
Open Clergy Positions
- All Saints', Redding: Receiving names for rector
- Grace Church, Fairfield: Receiving names for priest-in-charge
|
|
Bishop's Visitation Schedule
- April 15 - St. John's, Chico
- April 22 - St. Alban's, Arcata
- May 20 - All Saints', Redding
- May 27 - Holy Trinity, Willows
|
|
|
Send a Kid to Camp or Pathways This Summer!
Camper scholarships in the amount of $200 are available to 60 children and youth who are active in their congregation.
Congregational leadership (such as clergy, vestry members or youth ministers) can apply for these scholarships;
click here
to fill out the form. Congregations will be responsible for verifying that each child is eligible and for distributing the scholarships.
The Bishop's Office is committed to expanding opportunities for our young people to experience life-changing summer programs. If you would like to join in this effort, your donation is welcome, and you may
donate online here. Enter the amount, select "Youth Camp Scholarship" in the "Select a fund" field and enter your e-mail address. Follow the screen prompts to complete your donation.
If you have questions about summer camps in our diocese or camper scholarships, please contact the Rev. Anne Clarke at
[email protected].
|
|
Diocesan Anti-Racism Training: April 21
The second 2018 Anti-Racism Training will be from 10 a.m.-
5 p.m. on April 21 at St. Mary's, Napa.
This training also will be facilitated by leaders from the
Kaleidoscope Institute.
This event is free, and lunch is included, but registration is required. This training is required for the following people:
- Employees of the Church
- All elected leaders (vestry members and diocesan delegates)
- All licensed lay leaders (Worship Leaders, Eucharistic Ministers, Eucharistic Visitors, Preachers, Catechists, Evangelism Facilitators, Healing Ministers)
|
|
NEWS & EVENTS IN AND BEYOND OUR DIOCESE
|
|
St. Francis, Fair Oaks, Final Service on Saturday, April 14
The Rev. Joseph Duggan, priest-in-charge of St. Francis, Fair Oaks, since Sept. 2012, announced that its final service will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. The vestry voted to close the church, and the closing was announced at its annual meeting on Jan. 14.
Clergy are welcome to vest: white stoles. The church is at
11430 Fair Oaks Blvd.
On April 5, Trinity Cathedral Dean Brian Baker officiated at a service "in which we dedicated the portion of the columbarium that came to us from St. Francis... We were able to provide a home for their beloved columbarium and the loved ones interred there. As I was praying with the 20 people gathered, I was keenly aware of how fortunate we are to be able to serve the diocese in this way. We have a special relationship of service to the diocese and the columbarium reminds us of the holy connection."
|
|
Comings and Goings
The celebration of new ministry for the Rev. Dr.
Daniel London
will be April 20, 7 p.m., at Christ Church, Eureka. Clergy: white stoles.
The Rev. Charles Poole's last Sunday at All Saints, Redding, was April 8; he and his wife Evelyn are moving to Bend, Oregon
.
Incarnation, Santa Rosa, will have a special ceremony followed by a fiesta on May 6 to send off the Rev. James Richardson, who has been priest-in-charge there since August 2015. Their new rector, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Shaver, is wrapping up his duties at Church Divinity School of the Pacific and will begin in June.
Belfry Pastor Jocelynn Hughes
will be
transitioning
out of her role in the Lutheran-Episcopal ministry at University of California, Davis. The Belfry is looking for a new executive director; a job description can be found on the Belfry's website.
|
London
|
Poole |
Richardson
|
Hughes
|
|
|
Multicultural Conversation Training in Woodland, April 28
Is your church/school/community changing so rapidly you feel you can't keep up? Is it difficult to have conversations in your community across the blue/red line or with newcomers and neighbors?
Ana Hernandez, cultural conversationalist, will teach a Saturday workshop on Multicultural Conversation training from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 28 at St. Luke's, Woodland. The workshop will focus on active listening skills as well as how to engage in effective communications across cultural lines. This workshop is important for anyone working with congregations, communities, and schools and is essential for anyone interested in healing racism and reconciliation work. Ms.Hernandez has years of work in the Episcopal Church as a workshop facilitator on cultural issues.
The cost is $20, which includes lunch; scholarships are available. Contact the Rev. Anne Clarke,
[email protected]
, for more information and to register.
This event is sponsored by Province VIII of the Episcopal Church.
|
|
Archbishop of Canterbury Asks Christians to Pledge2Pray
|
|
Have you ever been caught in a wave and felt the surge of the water swirling around you as you're swept to the shore? Waves are a powerful force, a bit like prayer. They may start small on a distant horizon and build into a huge breaker. But unlike waves, with prayer anything is possible...
"We're asking people to pray in whatever way they want, with whoever they want and wherever they can, that others might know Jesus Christ," Archbishop Justin Welby said in announcing this year's #Pledge2Pray.
The days between Ascension, May 10, and
Pentecost, May 20,
are traditionally a time when the Church focuses on prayer. T
he vision for Thy Kingdom Come builds on this tradition and aims to see the whole family of God joining together to pray for the Holy Spirit to help them as witnesses to Jesus Christ and to play a part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities.
Our experience is that when people come together to pray amazing things happen. Pledge to pray for 10 days as an individual, a family or a church and
sign up here. You can also find resources to help you plan special events to share the joy. Let's light up Northern California on the global map!
|
|
From The Episcopal Church
V
isit Cuba on the EO Celebration Cruise with The Friends of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. Cruise from Miami on Jan. 13-21, 2019 on the Royal Caribbean. Your trip will be enhanced by messages from The Rev. Dr. Luis León, who is a native of Cuba, rector at St. John's Church Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. and chair of the Episcopal Church General Conventio
n's Task Force on the
Other news:
|
|
|
THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Making Disciples, Raising Up Saints & Transforming Communities for Christ
|
|
|
|
|
|
