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"We have this crazy tendency to say thank you in a deep way only when we are parting ways," says Bishop Hughes, "when someone is moving away or moving on or when someone dies so they aren't there anymore to even hear how grateful we are. So I want to encourage us that, in this time of transition, one of the ways we can make a complicated time more joyful is to thank those who have helped us so much along this way." (Time: 4:50.)

As a result of what Bishop Hughes heard from our churches during her first three-year cycle of visitations, she says, "I am convinced we must try something new. Starting this September, all churches will be on a two-year rotation. In 2021-2022, I will see approximately 51 parishes on 32 Sundays. The only way to make this happen is to have a combined visitation with two or more churches on some weeks." Find out more.

When the 147th Annual Diocesan Convention is finally held this Saturday, June 26 after a five-month postponement, it will be the first large in-person diocesan gathering since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. While it will comply with all canonical and state requirements for a diocesan convention, pandemic-related safety precautions will make it quite a different experience than previous conventions. Whether you plan to attend in person as a Deputy, or to simply watch it online, here’s what you need to know. Read more.

The service bulletin, as well as the proposed agenda and other Convention materials, will be posted before Saturday at dioceseofnewark.org/convention (check the Resources sidebar on the right side of the webpage.)

On Saturday, June 19, diocesan staff members Jane Jubilee and Cecil Broner provided hospitality at Episcopal House to Bishop Stokes and members of the Diocese of New Jersey. The group was in Newark for the Juneteenth Rally urging the passage of NJ S322/A711 to establish a Reparations Task Force; Bishop Stokes was one of the speakers.

Like many Catholic boys (and even girls), Thomas Murphy thought of becoming a priest when he was growing up in Our Lady of Mercy Church in Jersey City’s Country Village.

But then he married Susan Suarez while teaching at St. Peter’s Prep, where he graduated in 1985. At some point he went searching for a church to join and he settled on St. Paul’s in Bergen Episcopal on Duncan Avenue.

Then lightning struck twice as his thoughts of priesthood resurfaced – but in the Episcopal church, which ordains married men. Read more.

This summer, the Engaging Team of Diocesan Council invites you to join us in reading Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles. Take This Bread is a beautifully written story of unexpectedly meeting God in the midst of an ordinary, non-religious life and embracing that grace in ways that are truly transformative. In this one woman’s story we are invited to explore our own relationships with God and the how we live our faith in ways that change us as we seek to make change in the world.

Read the book and then join us for one or more Zoom discussions to talk about it.

July meetings (registration deadline is 5 PM on Thursday, July 8):

Find out more and register online.

See all clergy ministry transitions in 2021.

Registration for all Cross Roads summer camp programs, including 4 weeks of youth camp and 2 weeks of family camp, is now OPEN. Find the schedule, program descriptions, and more information at crossroadsretreat.com/summer-programs.

Bold Transformational Faith (BTF) is a project of Cross Roads and Luther Crest Bible Camp in Minnesota that provides distinct faith formation experiences to inspire an active faith in a rapidly changing world. Learn about how your congregation can partner with BTF for Sunday School and other youth and family programs on the new BTF website, mybtf.org.

TryTank Experimental Lab, a joint project of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA, and the General Theological Seminary in New York, in collaboration with York St. John University in York, England, have launched a survey to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Episcopal Church.

The survey is seeking to understand how clergy and churchgoers of the Episcopal Church in the United States have coped with the COVID-19 pandemic and to solicit their opinions about how this may affect the Church’s future. The results are expected to be released later in the year.

The survey can be found at EpiscopalPulse.org.

The VOICE Online is currently published every other Wednesday