Episcopal Church Women

Summary

Times Daily Leader – Episcopal Church makes returning to school a little easier – The West Point Consolidated School District has created a hybrid learning environment…

The Spokesman Review – Two former farm kids embark on new life in Clarkston after helping grow church garden – “When I’m 86 years old, I hope I still have the spunk…”

Go Erie – Rev. Melinda Hall: Taking the side of love for our neighbor – God’s love draws us together as brothers and sisters across time and space… and Jesus had a lot to say about that.

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Episcopal Church makes returning to school a little easier

Times Daily Leader – West Point, MS

In all West Point schools, classes have been taking place online, with distance learning since the first week in September. The West Point Consolidated School District has created a hybrid learning environment as a return to the classroom, that began Tuesday. All students are still part of distance learning on Mondays, but a “green group” attends in-person classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a “white group” attending in-school classes on Wednesday and Friday. It allows the schools to have smaller class sizes to maintain social distancing. […]

Two former farm kids embark on new life in Clarkston after helping grow church garden

The Spokesman Review – Spokane, WA

When I’m 86 years old, I hope I still have the spunk and the ability to garden like Jeanie Baker and Leon Alboucq do.

These two intrepid former farm kids have inspired – and put to shame – the rest of the gardeners at the Resurrection Episcopal Church Community Garden.

Between 2013 and 2019, they grew more than 18,000 pounds of produce and donated it to Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank. Earlier this summer they decided to hang up their hoses in Spokane and head back to Clarkston, to be closer to old friends, family and a milder climate. […]

Rev. Melinda Hall: Taking the side of love for our neighbor

Go Erie – Erie, PA

God’s love draws us together as brothers and sisters across time and space.

“Politics,” a word from the Greek for city and citizen, is about how we live together, and Jesus had a lot to say about that.

The values Jesus demonstrates are about people living well in relationship with God, with themselves and with one another. God desires flourishing and wholeness for everyone, and Jesus shows this continually. He heals people in body and mind. He bridges relationship divides. He advocates visiting the prisoner and inviting the poor to your table. […]

Summary

The family priest entered the room and began praying for Katie Churchwell’s beloved mom.

It was in this moment that Churchwell, the new dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, finally accepted her call to the ministry.

She recalled that in some religious circles, the prayers her priest lifted up are called “last rites,” but in her Episcopalian tradition, they are simply known as prayers offered at a time of death and dying.

And Churchwell’s mother was dying of cancer […]

Oregon’s new Episcopal bishop follows journey of faith to a historic first for church in U.S.

The Oregonian – Portland, OR

A woman raised in Hood River and forever aware of the injustices perpetrated against her grandparents during World War II is completing a symbolic circle that began with a dark era in the nation’s history.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a 1942 executive order that resulted in 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry being evicted from their homes and imprisoned.

“When my grandfather was in jail in Portland, my grandmother visited him,” said the Rev. Diana Akiyama, 61. “During that visit he told my grandmother to get the kids baptized to show they were American, so she had a Japanese Methodist minister baptize them.” […]

St Matthew’s Church to Hold Final Service Capping 38 Years in County

The Scott County Times – Forest, MS

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Forest will conclude the final chapter in its 38-year history in October with its last service and closure.

Many of the residents of Forest and Scott County practice their Christian faiths with one of the other denominations in the area including Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic, among others. Through it all, a small group of Episcopalians have maintained a presence nestled near the center of Forest for almost four decades. Most of that time, members worshipped in a small building at the corner of East Third Street and North Graham Street. While the building looks more like someone’s residence than a church in the traditional sense, the Holy Spirit of being a welcoming place of worship as a home of Christ and God is just as strong in the hearts of its members. […]

Summary

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church welcomes new priest – The Hays Daily News – St. Michael’s Episcopal Church has welcomed a new priest, the Rev. Shay Craig…

Pensacon partnering with Saint Christopher’s Church to feed school children – 3WEARtv – PENSACOLA, Fla. – Pensacon is partnering with Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church to help feed children in need who attend O.J. Semmes Elementary School…

The Sedona Women celebrate 20 years of ‘making a difference’ – Red Rock News – In it’s first in-person event since March, some of The Sedona Women volunteer to prepare and deliver lunches, drive-thru style, outside of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Monday, Aug. 31. Sedona Women’s Public Relations Committee Heads…

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St. Michael’s Episcopal Church welcomes new priest

The Hays Daily News

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 2900 Canal Blvd., has welcomed a new priest, the Rev. Shay Craig, the first time the church has had a full-time pastor in a decade.

Craig, a native of northern California, served at Christ Cathedral in Salina for two years before coming to Hays in July. Prior to that, she was the associate for Resource Development on the bishop’s staff in the Diocese of Chicago. She was ordained a priest there in 2018.

She also serves St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 2422 Hyacinth Ave., about 15 miles north of Hays.

She said, “I’m very excited to be joining St. Michael’s and St. Andrew’s, even in these very odd times. This is the first time in many years that these two churches have been served by a full-time clergy who can dedicate herself to dreaming with them and join in listening for the Holy Spirit to tell us how to be. It is a time of great innovation and inspiration. The Spirit is certainly on the move in the Episcopal Church in Hays.” […]

Pensacon partnering with Saint Christopher’s Church to feed school children

3WEARtv – PENSACOLA, Fla.

Pensacon is partnering with Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church to help feed children in need who attend O.J. Semmes Elementary School.

On Tuesday, Pensacon began giving away passes to its 2021 event, which is scheduled for Feb. 26-28 in downtown Pensacola, to donors to Saint Christopher’s Weekend Backpack Food program.

The convention will award a pair of VIP Experience passes to one donor in September, and a pair of weekend passes to one donor per month starting in October and running through February.

The Weekend Backpack Food program provides food to more than 75 students in need each week. On Fridays, students are issued a backpack filled with food to get them through the weekend. The backpacks are returned on Mondays and refilled during the week to be reissued each Friday. All monetary and food donations go directly to feeding the children. […]

The Sedona Women celebrate 20 years of ‘making a difference’

Red Rock News

The year 2020 is a big one for women. It marks the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in America and Joan of Arc’s canonization, as well as the 50th anniversary of the first women becoming officers in the Army. The year is also big on a local level, as The Sedona Women celebrate two decades strong.

In the spring of 2000, Helen Wolfe organized the first meeting for the all-women group at local Italian restaurant Dahl & DiLuca.

“I knew Sedona could use an organization for women which would create friendships, then together, make a positive difference in the community,” Wolfe, who now lives in Wyoming, said. “It was a winner, from the very first meeting.” […]

Summary

Trio helps feed hungry neighbors countywide – The Litchfield County Time – Denise Butwill of Litchfield volunteered with her church’s food pantry until they were forced to close due to Covid-19 concerns.

Faith Matters: It’s an amazing time of learning how to reinvent our own lives – New Haven Register – In the faith world we are often encouraged to “let go and let God.”

Suffrage anniversary commemorations highlight racial divide – WCAX3 Burlington VT – All over the country on Wednesday, people commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in the United States. The law said no one could be denied the right to vote because of gender. In Burlington, speakers came together in front of City Hall to talk about the past and about the future.

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Trio helps feed hungry neighbors countywide

The Litchfield County Time

Denise Butwill of Litchfield volunteered with her church’s food pantry until they were forced to close due to Covid-19 concerns. She then approached Deirdre Houlihan DiCara, executive director of FISH (Friends in Service to Humanity of Northwest Connecticut), a long-time non-profit that provides food and shelter, to assess the current needs for other local non-profits.

Denise, a children’s librarian, said, “The project is important to me because I want to help provide food to those that don’t have enough to eat and I truly want to support the non-profit workers that have been feeding people through the pandemic. This project is a way to stay flexible and direct help quickly to where it is needed most, which in turn will accomplish both goals.” […]

Faith Matters: It’s an amazing time of learning how to reinvent our own lives

New Haven Register

As both a priest in an Episcopal church with its own church band and someone who chose to take lessons and become a jazz drummer, I’ve had the chance to play with some fine musicians. Several of those musicians can legitimately claim to be inventors. I’ve seen their inventions out in the marketplace. I’ve also watched their creative minds at work when, right there in the moment of a jazz performance, they improvise their solos.

I’m aware that inventions of something new to offer into the world in the marketplace and improvising a jazz solo are not quite the same. Yet, what I know about my musical inventing and improvising friends is that they approach life with little room for the impossible. Their attitude is that the impossible is just something requiring a different way of thinking, a different energy, and for sure a goodly dose of daring and not being afraid to make an honest mistake. […]

Suffrage anniversary commemorations highlight racial divide

WCAX3 Burlington VT

All over the country on Wednesday, people commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in the United States. The law said no one could be denied the right to vote because of gender.

In Burlington, speakers came together in front of City Hall to talk about the past and about the future.

Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont noted that this anniversary gave the right for white women to vote. She says it wasn’t until the Equal Voting Act of 1965 that race no longer became a barrier.

“But today as we celebrate, we have come together as a diverse group of people, concerned about our future and the concern about everyone’s right to vote,” MacVean-Brown said.

“There are 7 million more women in the U.S., in this country, than men. We hold the power to change our laws, our leaders, our lives and the world. And although this year marks the first 100th year of suffrage, it doesn’t need to take another 100 years to make those changes a reality,” said Lisa Senecal, the chair of the Vermont Commission on Women. […]

Summary

Pickens County Progress – Books for the children of inmates goal of new ministry – It’s odd to see a table of brightly colored children’s books sitting the lobby of the county jail…

WRBCtv – Two Florida teachers turned their students’ desks into little Jeeps to make social distancing less scary – as coronavirus cases rise, many worry that young children’s excitement will quickly turn into fear…

CentralMain.com – Gardiner churchyard project reassembles stone pieces – For six years, three people have been working to locate and repair gravestones for the churchyard next to Christ Church Episcopal. With just four identified graves left, they are wondering if more stones will turn up.

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Pickens County Progress

Books for the children of inmates goal of new ministry

It’s odd to see a table of brightly colored children’s books sitting the lobby of the county jail, but a new ministry here believes their presence can make an important difference in the lives of children who have parents incarcerated.

The table is manned by volunteers from The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family, who are part of Isabelle’s Book Club, a ministry providing free and popular children’s titles to any youth (the books ranged from those for the youngest readers up to Harry Potter titles). The books are donated by Barnes and Noble for the program. […]

WRBCtv

Two Florida teachers turned their students’ desks into little Jeeps to make social distancing less scary

Summary

Litchfield County Times – Caring for Bethlehem takes a village — and many others – Cathy Wheeler and Carolyn Happy purchase fresh produce from local farmers and distribute it for children’s summer meals…

Words&Way – DC Episcopal Bishop Says She’ll Appeal to ‘Better Angels’ in Convention Prayer – Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington who criticized President Donald Trump after he held a Bible aloft during a photo op…

Faith & Leadership – ‘400 years of tears’ — how three churches in the present are beginning to atone for the past – Preserved in old vestry minutes, newspaper articles, correspondence and member rolls is a history some churches are beginning to grapple with…

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Litchfield County Times

Caring for Bethlehem takes a village — and many others

BETHLEHEM — On a recent Friday morning, Carolyn Happy from Bethlehem and Cathy Wheeler of Morris, both members of Christ Episcopal Church Stewardship Committee, were preparing 11 colorful bags of fresh produce, as they have done since late June. The church members stepped up when the school district stopped free lunches once the school year ended.

The church buys fruit and vegetables from local farmers to support them, and to supplement the sandwiches and other meals provided by the town’s food bank. In addition to March Farms, Percy Thomson Meadows and Sun One Organics, the group purchases homemade hummus from Oliva on Main, a Mediterranean café across the street from the church. Owner Riad Aamar said the restaurant is happy to be part of the healthy meals for local children and noted that their hummus is now for sale at New Morning in Woodbury, The Market in Bantam, The Market in Northville and the Pantry in Washington Depot. […]

Words&Way

DC Episcopal Bishop Says She’ll Appeal to ‘Better Angels’ in Convention Prayer

(RNS) — Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington who criticized President Donald Trump after he held a Bible aloft during a photo op in front St. John’s Church near the White House in June, says she will call upon “higher angels of our nature” in her prayer before the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday evening (Aug. 18).

Budde told Religion News Service that she intends to intersperse her roughly 100-word prerecorded benediction with homages to prominent religious figures of the past such as Protestant minister and peace activist William Sloane Coffin, civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis. She plans to ask God “to give us the grace to realize in our time something out of the ‘beloved community’ of Dr. King, the ‘just society’ of Congressman Lewis, and the ‘more perfect union’ of President Lincoln.” […]

Faith & Leadership

‘400 years of tears’ — how three churches in the present are beginning to atone for the past

Summary

The Apalachicola Times – Apalachicola, FL – Trinity donates laptops to college-bound – If you have a good laptop computer languishing in a closet or under a bed, put it to work…

Cumberland Times-News – Cumberland, MD – Local election judges reaffirm commitment to service – Husband, wife view serving people as ‘human duty’…

Erie Times-News – Erie, PA – Starting ‘good trouble’ in Erie – The scene came to me Friday evening as I stood outside the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul on West Sixth Street witnessing an extraordinary moment. I’m sure I’m not the only one who left hoping, praying, that our children will have cause to tell the story of that night…

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The Apalachicola Times

Apalachicola, FL

Trinity donates laptops to college-bound

On August 4, two college-bound Franklin County High School graduates received laptops at Trinity Episcopal Church. Keondre Sewell and Jaylin Charles will attend Troy University in the fall.

The idea for donating laptops began with some ladies – many are Trinity members – who meet during the pandemic for safe socialization. They include Kay Carson, Dolores Croom, Martha Harris, Penny Marler, Patti McCartney, Susie Wagoner, Kathy Willis, and Myrtis Wynn. […]

Cumberland Times-News

Cumberland, MD

Local election judges reaffirm commitment to service

ROSTBURG — Tony and the Rev. Karen Crosby are an unusual couple.

Tony, a retired sociology professor from Frostburg State University, is a member of the Frostburg Methodist Church. Karen, a semi-retired social worker who worked in child welfare, leads the congregation at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Broadway.

Tony is a registered Republican. Karen is a registered Democrat.

“The two of us are like salt and pepper,” Tony said with a smile.

The two have one thing in common, though. They have both served as election judges since 2016 and are dedicated to serving again in November, despite COVID-19.

“There’s something about it that doesn’t make me shake in my shoes,” Karen said. “I see this as my human duty.” […]

Erie Times-News

Erie, PA

Starting ‘good trouble’ in Erie

White bishops pledge repentance for sin of racial indifference

One scene from “Hamilton” that sticks with me is when Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton and his crew raise glasses to fomenting a revolution against long odds.

“I may not live to see the glory,” Hamilton sings to his companions. “But I will gladly join the fight. And when our children tell our story, they’ll tell the story of tonight.”

The scene came to me Friday evening as I stood outside the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul on West Sixth Street witnessing an extraordinary moment. I’m sure I’m not the only one who left hoping, praying, that our children will have cause to tell the story of that night.

Black and white clergy shared the steps of the cathedral, but it was the bishops of three predominantly white churches who had come to speak and face the hard truth. […]