Bell Tolling for the 400 th Anniversary of the Arrival of the First Enslaved Africans 
A message from Bishop Goff:

This summer history is alive in Virginia as we remember events of 400 years ago. The Englishmen who inhabited Jamestown and nearby settlements held their first representative legislative assembly on July 30, 1619. In August of the same year, the first English women arrived to join the men. Late in the month, Jamestown colonist John Rolfe recorded the arrival of “20 and odd” African men and women….

As we remember those 20 African people who were stolen from their homes, brought to and sold on the shores of Virginia, let us lament the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade that still haunts us today. Let us pray for descendants of slaves and of slave owners alike, for all people of our Commonwealth and nation, and for all enslaved persons in our world today. And let us commit ourselves to working for justice, freedom and peace for all people.

This Sunday afternoon we have the opportunity to participate in the commemoration and commitment in a particular and concrete way. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the National Park Service invite churches across the nation to ring bells for one minute at 3 p.m. If your church doesn’t have a bell, or if you are unable to be at church at that time, ring whatever bells you have (including bell tones on your mobile device) wherever you are. Ring bells for remembrance. Ring bells for hope. Ring bells for the promise of freedom.

Apply to Participate in the Triangle of Hope Youth Pilgrimage
The Triangle of Hope is a covenantal community dedicated to transforming the long history, ongoing effects and continuing presence of slavery in our world through repentance, reconciliation and mission. Participants (rising eighth through eleventh graders) will prepare together through worship, prayer, study and retreats. Then they will travel as pilgrims over the course of three summers to the Diocese of Liverpool in 2020, host fellow pilgrims from England and Ghana in Richmond in 2021 and make the pilgrimage to Ghana in 2022. Participants are expected to be present for all three years. Questions? Contact triangleofhope@thediocese.net. Learn more. Apply . Bulletin insert .
Episcopalians Vote!
“As citizens of this country, [voting] is a right, an obligation, and a duty. Go vote. Vote your conscience. Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor, to participate in the process of seeking the common good, to participate in the process of making this a better world. However you vote, go and vote."
– Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s Faithful Citizen Civic Engagement Program can help you have nonpartisan discussions about voting and voting rights with your congregation. Learn more. Click for the Episcopal Church’s Vote Faithfully Toolkit.  
What Can Sierra Do for You?
Staff Spotlight
Interested in connecting the youth at your church with youth across the Diocese? Your diocesan staff is here to serve you. Call Sierra Gore, the diocesan Project Coordinator and Adult Co-Chair of Parish Youth Ministries, at 804-643-8451 x1023 or email her at sgore@thediocese.net .
Dismantling Racism Workshops
September 6-7
St. Stephen's, Culpeper
October 4-5
Pohick, Lorton
The Committee on Dismantling Racism will host a “Seeing the Face of God in Each Other” workshop in the Culpeper Region. The goal of this workshop is for participants to acquire anti-racism tools, explore avenues to reconciliation and renew their spirits. 
Upcoming at Shrine Mont
Tee with the Bishop Golf Tournament
September 8-9 | Join Bishop Jones for two days of good food, fun and golf. Register .

Harvesting the Spirit Yoga Weekend 
September 15-17 | Come home to yourself and reconnect to the inner “you” through yoga practice, expressive dance, massage and music. Register .
Upcoming at VTS
Browse all fall 2019 offerings from Continuing Education at VTS . Receive a 20% discount on campus housing when attending a Continuing Education event.

Theater and Theology
Thursdays, September 19 – October 10, 7-9 p.m. | $100.  Examine rhetoric and power, with special focus on church and state, the qualities of a leader, vice and virtue, and the theology of war through the lens of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts 1 & 2. The course will involve discussion about the two plays themselves, movie adaptations, and the Folger Theater’s fall performance of Part 1. Register . 

Hybrid Faith Formation Cohort 
Tuesdays, September 17 – November 5, 2 p.m. (via Zoom) | $100. Wrestling with what it means to share and offer Christian formation in person as well as digitally? Gather on Zoom, experiment with different platforms and formats for digital ministry, and develop plans and resources to implement hybrid faith formation in your community. Register.  
Join Us in Prayer
We pray for Grace Church, Goochland; St. Peter's, New Kent (pictured); and Christ Church, Winchester, as they prepare for their Bishop's Visitations this month. We pray for Bishop Goff, Bishop Jones and Bishop Mathes in their travels to these congregations. 

We pray for the Standing Committee as they meet on September 5.

We pray for Daniel Johnson, Patrick Keyser, Amanda Kotval and Kristin Wickersham as Bishop Goff ordains them , God willing and the Church consenting, to the Sacred Order of Priests on  September 7.
Church Events
August 24: Community Yard Sale Emmanuel, Alexandria.
September 6, 13, 20 and 27: Sowing the Seeds: an Episcopal Approach to Evangelism Learn the Episcopal way of Evangelism and how to share your walk with God in a way that is authentic and inviting to others. St. Matthew's, Sterling.
September 7: Adult Sexual Misconduct Prevention Emmanuel, Richmond.
September 14 - 15: Food, Feasting and Faith with Kendall Vanderslice Explore the intersection of food and theology, attend a bread baking workshop, and worship over dinner. Trinity, Charlottesville.