North Central Region
Monthly Newsletter
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If you would like to have me visit your parish to preach or simply to join in worship, 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,
I hope this newsletter finds you with some vacation plans in place and/or basking in the wonderful afterglow of a well deserved vacation! I have recently been reminded that even the apostles took time to rest; they may still be many things on our to-do lists, but please consider this some friendly encouragement to take a rest. The Fall will be a busy time for all of us.
As the calendar moves from July into August, I've been finding myself thinking about how I interact with God. There is church, of course, and it's a joy to be able to visit parishes across ECCT. I also recently found the "Pray as you Go" app, which has daily meditations which are lovely and fairly brief. Most importantly, though, I'm working on reshaping and reimaging daily interactions with God. I've been asking myself what it would look like if my To-Do List looked like: 1. wake up, 2. eat breakfast, 3. follow Jesus. How would my day be different if everything I did was in the spirit of following Jesus. The disciples certainly lived extraordinary lives, having direct relationships with Jesus, but they also had lives full of really ordinary things like going to the market or taking care of a sick relative.
I've been wondering how my attitude towards my daily tasks might change if I can allow myself to imagine that these ordinary things are also the work of following Jesus. I'm going to try-on this practice in August. Perhaps you'd like to try it with me?
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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QUICK! Are you interested in a Town Hall meeting about hybrid services for small congregations?
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Meet Your NC Region Leadership Team: Lucy Fuentes |
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Lucretia R. Fuentes aka Lucy
Member: St. Monica’s Episcopal Church, Hartford over 20 years
Ministries: St. Monica’s Elderly Housing Corporation, Altar Guild, Food Pantry, Vestry
Widow, 5 years, married 48 years to Juan Fuentes Vizcarrondo, Puerto Rican photojournalist and community activist
Four daughters, nine grandchildren, eight great grandchildren
Live in the Blue Hill neighborhood, Hartford for 49 years
Library Assistant, Hartford Public Library, 1985-2014
Skills: working knowledge of Spanish, some computer skills,
Interests: reading, backyard bird feeding, anti-racism
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The North Central Region Leadership Team Wants YOU
Are you curious about what is happening around the NC Region? Would you like to join a team of people who work together to create opportunities around the Region? Are you a little bit curious about what the Region Leadership Team is? Good News! All this and more can be found out – the NC Region Leadership Team is hosting an OPEN MEETING on 11 August at 6pm and you are invited to join us. See how a meeting is run, meet some of the team, and ask some questions. Please note, you do not have to come to the open meeting to join the Region Leadership Team. If you are interested in joining our team, please email Maggie at mbreen@episcopalct.org! New team members will begin meeting with us in October or November of 2021.
A little background information: The NC Region Leadership Team was originally started in 2017 when The Episcopal Church in Connecticut formed 6 Regions. Since then, we’ve brought together more than 28 people from across the Region to collaborate, celebrate, plan, and pray together. We listen for what is happening and what could be happening around the Region. We support each other and dwell in sacred stories together. We currently meet monthly, on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, for 90 minutes via zoom. If you would like more information, please contact Maggie at mbreen@episcopalct.org
The link to join the August RLT Open Meeting is here - 11 August, 6p:
Join Zoom Meeting
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A Story from the NC Region: Little Free Pantry |
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Southington’s first Little Free Pantry
combats lingering food insecurity
A flexible way to help address food insecurity in central Connecticut
[Southington, CT, July 3] – As of July 1, there is a simple way for people to address their immediate hunger needs in downtown Southington. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has installed a Little Free Pantry at 145 Main Street. Like the more familiar Little Free Library, the Little Free Pantry is a wooden box open to all. It houses non-perishable food, personal hygiene items, and paper goods. With the motto “Give what you can, take what you need,” the pantry is open at all hours, and anyone is welcome to use it.
The operation of the Little Free Pantry is simple. Donated items are accessible to anyone who visits the pantry, no questions asked, at any hour of the day or night. Kate Palinkos, a parishioner at St. Paul’s and organizer of the Little Free Pantry, says, “With the support of the entire Southington community, the LFP will hopefully sustain itself: when people are able to donate, they will, and others will benefit from using those items.” The pantry is located prominently in the St. Paul’s driveway for easy access. The church is a landmark in town—for their former pumpkin patch, being the first location of Bread for Life, using their parking lot as a turnaround to get to the post office, or just as the little brown church with the red doors. Thus, the pantry is in a central, accessible location.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ongoing food insecurity faced by many families and individuals, especially in Connecticut. Food insecurity, as defined by the USDA, is a “household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” According to the CT Food Bank, food insecurity was predicted to rise 28% due to the pandemic—and as many as 1 in 4 children in Connecticut would be at risk. The economic effects of the pandemic will be long-lasting, even as numbers for the disease have fallen.
The idea for the Little Free Pantry at St. Paul’s came to Palinkos last November. When the Rt. Rev. Dr. Laura Ahrens, Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, visited St. Paul’s and preached about adaptive leadership. When Bishop Ahrens told the story of Tiernan Cabot, the young entrepreneur who started Hartford Bags of Love, Kate Palinkos was inspired. She began organizing the Little Free Pantry at St. Paul’s. Palinkos says, “This is a way for us to look out for each other.”
On Tuesday, July 27 at 6pm, St. Paul’s will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally commission their Little Free Pantry. Bishop Ahrens will bless the pantry. All are invited to join the ceremony. As of July 1, the St. Paul’s pantry is open and available for use, either for donation of food and goods or for people to use the items in it.
The church hopes the pantry will be a way for neighbors to help neighbors in town. “We envision our Little Free Pantry complementing the other pantry and food services in Southington,” says the Rev. Helena Martin, Missional Curate at St. Paul’s. “It’s a little something to fill in those unexpected gaps that arise in people’s lives.” Find out more about the St. Paul’s Little Free Pantry at http://www.stpaulssouthington.org/pantry.
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Happenings Around the Region: |
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Trinity, Tariffville is offering a Summer Mini-Retreat on Saturday, 7 August, from 8:30-11:30a. They are bringing Cy Varland, a Presbyterian minister and licensed Mental Health Counselor in NY, to lead this retreat where you will have an opportunity to reconnect with God. All are welcome. Please REGISTER HERE.
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Int'l Missions in the Time of COVID: What We Have Learned - 14 September 2021, 7p
Moderated by Rebecca Stearns of St. Paul's, Windham Center!
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ECCT Reparations Task Force
Did you know? July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Month. The campaign was created to bring attention to the unique experiences of underrepresented people as it relates to mental health. Mental Health touches so many aspects of a person’s life, from the ability to experience joy, to have meaningful relationships, to hold a job, and just simply to survive. On May 29, 2020, the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), released a statement that pointed out the correlation between the constant stress of racism and mental health. This information is taken from Envision2bWell Inc.
Issues of mental health have long been ignored, particularly for BIPOC (Black Indigenous and other People of Color). What are your thoughts about this? Answer here
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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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Tue, Sep 28, 2021 6:00 PM EST
2022 Budget of Convention Finance Review
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Thu, Oct 14, 2021 10:00 AM EST
2022 Budget of Convention Finance Review
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Fri, Oct 22, 2021 1:30 PM EST
Annual Convention 2021
Connecticut Convention Center,
Hartford
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ECCT Resource for COVID-19 are continually being updated, including:
• Messages from our Bishops • Financial Resources • Self-Care Resources • Digital Communications Resources • Worship Opportunities • And More...
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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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