The Office of the Bishop will close for Easter Break on Friday, March 29 and reopen on Tuesday, April 2.

Have a Blessed and Safe Easter Weekend!

After a three-month maternity leave, Holly Davis will resume her duties as Executive Assistant to Bishop Owensby on Tuesday, April 2. Please be patient as she and baby Magnolia adjust to this new arrangement. We look forward to having her back on board!

Stay informed on the latest updates by visiting the Convention Hub on the diocesan website.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Convention opens May 3, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. with Eucharist at St. James, Alexandria, followed by a catered reception in the Parish Hall.
• Note--The location of Convention has been changed: On Saturday, May 4, Convention check-in will commence at 8:30 a.m. in the Best Western Alexandria Inn & Suites, 2720 N. MacArthur Drive.
• The business meeting begins promptly at 10:00 a.m.
• There is no cost to attend Convention.
• Everyone who plans to attend Convention must register. Registration is now open and will remain available through April 26.
• Childcare will be available at all Convention events (sign up during registration).
• Display tables will be available for outside vendors or diocesan clergy and laity who want to display information about their organization or ministry (sign up during registration).

Questions? Please contact Joy Owensby.

DEADLINES

If you have a resolution to be considered for our 2024 Diocesan Convention, please submit no later than May 1, 2024, to Mary Shaddock Jones via email.

Nomination Forms Due April 15

2024 Diocesan Nomination forms for Disciplinary Board, Standing Committee, and Trustee to University of the South are open. The deadline for submissions is April 15. The nomination form can be found here.

Annual Report and Necrology Forms Due April 15

The 2024 Annual Report and Necrology forms are open. The deadline for these forms is April 15. Both forms can be found here.

Lodging Options

A room block has been secured at Best Western Alexandria Inn & Suites. To make a reservation, call the hotel and use the code "epiwla." Kings are $97, Doubles are $104, and Suites are $114.

If you made a hotel reservation in Pineville, don't worry! The Best Western is less than 10 minutes away from the Country Inn and Suites.

Summer is right around the corner, and it’s not too late to sign your child up for an experience like no other at Louisiana’s premier Episcopal summer camp!

Selected as one of “America’s Best Summer Camps 2023” by Newsweek, Camp Hardtner isn’t just about games; it’s about making memories, finding joy, and discovering new things about yourself.

Campers will find an experience that will stick with them all year long and possibly for life. An experience of relationship, community, belonging, and self-worth–all built upon the foundation that God’s love surrounds us and transforms our lives.

You can sign up by clicking here.

Mark your calendars now: the Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will visit our diocese September 20-22, 2024. His agenda will include a diocesan-wide event, a gathering for clergy only, and preaching at Sunday morning worship.

Given his recent health issues, keep in mind that his itinerary will be limited to what is appropriate for his energy levels and continued well-being, and his travel will be restricted to the diocesan see (the Alexandria area).

We are very excited Bishop Curry will be with us, and we will provide more details about his visit as they become available.

Have you seen the calendar of events on the new diocesan website? Find diocesan events for various categories: Bishop's Visitation, Youth Events, Christian Formation Workshops, and more. Explore the diocesan calendar of events by clicking here.

On March 26, the clergy of our diocese came together to renew their ordination vows and bless the chrism oil. The Rev. Mitzi George was the guest preacher. She spoke about answering God's call, even when we feel inadequate and unprepared to do so.

Photo: The clergy of our diocese stand on the steps outside of St. James in Alexandria.

What happens when you take just about every character from every play about the old South and throw them all into a moldy mansion surrounded by a sinister garden of man-eating flora? More importantly, why is a church producing a play about murder?

“Murder isn’t silly, but this story is, and we want to show our community that church can be a fun place to be – as well as a spiritual home,” said the Rev. Michael Cannon.

St. Paul's in Shreveport is proud to present their third production in the inaugural season of their theater ministry. This will be shown April 5 and 6 at 7:00 p.m. and April 7 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and free for seniors and students.

Join Rabbi Judy Ginsburgh on April 6 for this interesting and informative event at the Jewish Temple in Alexandria. This class is free and open to the public, but reservations are required by emailing here.

The Camp Hardtner Board of Trustees and Daniel Chapman are planning a day to go around the camp and prepare it for the summer. This will be hosted Saturday, April 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

You can sign up by scanning the QR Code or clicking here.

Want to see your congregation or organization featured?

Share your ministry stories, announcements, and events with us through the Digital Hub on the diocesan website.

The Partner’s Path, a nonprofit that serves people who are married to Episcopal clergy, exists because being a clergy spouse is unlike any other role inside or outside the church, according to Laura Jackson, the group’s executive director.

“I have a friend who is a psychiatrist and married to a priest, and she said, ‘My husband doesn’t come to my job and watch me work,’ yet clergy spouses often are expected to be in church every Sunday,” she said.

The seeds of The Partner’s Path began years ago, when Ardelle Walters, credited as the group’s founder, headed off to seminary with her husband.

You can read more by clicking here.

Photo: The Partner’s Path offers support for spouses of clergy of The Episcopal Church, including spouses of bishops like these at the Lambeth Conference

For 102 years, donations to the Good Friday Offering have directly supported ministries of the Anglican Communion Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.

In a letter, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry talked about speaking to the Rev. Canon Faiz Basheer Jerjes and his colleague, Sinan Hanna, of St. George’s Anglican Episcopal Church in Baghdad—the only Anglican church in Iraq. After a moving conversation, Fr. Faiz asked one thing of our church: “Please don’t forget us.”

You can read the full letter, donate, and learn more by clicking here.

Bishop Jake is offering a weekly Eastertide Devotional “The Meaning of the Resurrection” at his newsletter “The Woodlands.” Subscribe for free by clicking here. You will receive a meditation in your email inbox each Wednesday morning.

While the written version is available to everyone who signs up, paid subscribers can also listen to the audio version and will receive additional offerings as well. (Proceeds from paid subscriptions are used for alms. If a paid subscription is not for you right now, but you would like access to the audio, just shoot Bishop Jake an email.)

In addition to the Wednesday devotional, all subscribers (free and paid) receive a reflection on Holy Scripture each Friday morning along with occasional special offerings.

Please join Bishop Jake online for the nationally recognized Faith Forum on Sunday, April 14, at 10:00 a.m. ET. His friends at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, have invited him to talk about the theme “Living the Resurrected Life,” and he would love for you to be in the virtual audience.

If you can’t join him live, you can catch the episode later on YouTube (found here).

The link for the event can be found here.