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Friday, July 10

Diocese of Southwest Florida Bi-weekly Newsletter

DaySpring Summer Camp Postponed

PARRISH - After much consideration and great disappointment, the Diocese of Southwest Florida has decided to postpone its in-person Middle and High School DaySpring Summer Camp sessions until the summer of 2021. The decision to postpone the in-person sessions was made after careful examination of the COVID-19 guidelines and standards from the CDC and Manatee County’s Department of Health. Throughout the decision-making process, diocesan leadership remained focused on our mission to strengthen our diocesan youth community and to transform lives, while being deeply rooted in the safety and protection of God’s children.

In lieu of the traditional in-person camp, the diocese will now shift its efforts to creating a number of free online virtual summer camp activities that will be designed to connect our summer residential camp community to one another. MORE

Counselors to Lead Virtual Offerings

PARRISH - Although Dayspring Summer Camp won’t meet in-person this year, the counselors and staff will safely lead virtual offerings to the youth of our diocese as well as create a camp care package to send to those who were registered for summer camp. The group will also spend time enhancing DaySpring’s safety procedures for other diocesan youth offerings in the Fall. Though ministry during a pandemic may look different, the staff is excited to create a vision for how to reach and care for youth in the Diocese of Southwest Florida.

Convention News

Convention Updates

PARRISH - The Diocese of Southwest Florida has released updated directions for delegates to the 52nd Annual Convention, to be held online. 

The 52nd Annual Convention of the Diocese of Southwest Florida on October 16 & 17, 2020 will be a virtual convention, conducted via Zoom with delegates around the diocese.

  • A consolidated lineup of workshops will be offered via live-stream in the weeks leading up to Convention. Details will follow in the Convention Guidebook.
  • The business meeting on Saturday will be live-streamed to delegates (and the entire diocese) from DaySpring Episcopal Center. Delegations will be able to attend from their local church or in deanery gatherings via videoconference.

For more information and the full letter, visit our convention page HERE. The letter is HERE.

Elections: Aug. 1 Nomination Deadline

PARRISH - The Diocese of Southwest Florida seeks nominees for diocesan elections at the 52nd Annual Convention, on Saturday, October 16-17, 2020. Elections are at the Saturday business session, which will be offered by teleconference. Nominations are being sought for:
  • Standing Committee, Lay: Elect two (2). Elect one (1) lay person to a three-year term, one (1) lay person to a two-year unexpired term. 
  • Standing Committee, Presbyters: Elect three (3). Elect two (2) presbyters to a three-year term and one (1) presbyter to a two-year unexpired term.
  • Diocesan Council, At large, Clergy: Elect one (1) to a two-year term. 
  • Ecclesiastical Disciplinary Board, Lay: Elect one (1) lay person to a three-year term. 
  • Ecclesiastical Disciplinary Board, Clergy: Elect two (2) clergy to a three-year term. 
  • University of the South Trustee: Elect one (1) clergy to a three-year term.
The deadline for submitting nominations to appear in the convention guidebook is August 1, 2020. You can fill in an entry form HERE or visit our convention page HERE.

Convention Rosters Published

PARRISH - The Diocese of Southwest Florida has published the Preliminary Rosters for Lay Delegates/Alternates and Clergy to the 52nd Annual Convention. The convention will be held Oct. 16-17, 2020. These rosters will be updated as changes are received. MORE

Events

Aug. 22: Register for Stewardship Workshop Training

PARRISH - The yearly diocesan Stewardship Workshop, this year set for Aug. 22, 2020, helps prepare congregation leadership in the Diocese of Southwest Florida for their upcoming stewardship campaigns.

This year, a team from Horizons Stewardship, a consultancy on capital campaigns and ministry funding, will lead the day-long training, which is open to all in the diocese. It will be offered in Zoom.

Facilitated by the Rev. Canon Chris Gray, the Stewardship Workshop includes training from three staff experts at Horizons. Partners Scott McKenzie and Kristine Miller, and Senior Vice President Terry Goolsby will share a proven framework for engaging the parish and elevating your capacity to meet the needs of ministry. MORE

Upcoming Events at the Diocese


Our Event page has the latest on what's happening, including online events:

Other Canceled Events


Please consult our Event page for the latest on diocesan events and updates:
  • Fall Clergy Retreat: The upcoming Fall Clergy Retreat with The V. Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, dean and president of Seminary of the Southwest, has been canceled.

Parish News

Trinity Parish Hall


NAPLES - Construction continues of the new Parish Hall building project at Trinity-by-the-Cove, Naples. See photos from parishioner and photographer Colin Edwards by clicking HERE.
  

Holy Innocents' Supports Valrico Feeding Ministries

VALRICO - Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church held a pre-order-and pre-pay Pop Up Stock Up fundraiser with the opportunity to pre-purchase restaurant quality frozen food on Saturday, June 20, 2020 at their church campus. Pop Up Stock Up is an opportunity to support Holy Innocents’ Transforming Lives for Christ Feeding Ministries by merely shopping and stocking up with a variety of Sysco’s restaurant grade, frozen food items. Holy Innocents’ teamed with Sysco Food Company and Love INC of Metro Tampa for this event. Future Holy Innocents’ Pop Up Stock Up events are opportunities to support them by simply shopping and stocking up with favorite food items. MORE HERE

Iona-Hope Celebrates Centenarian with $5,000 in Donations

FT. MYERS - Parishioner June Lockhart of Iona Hope celebrated her 100th Birthday on June 6 and Iona-Hope parishioners made it a grand day of celebrations. About 50 cars lined up in the rear parking lot and went to work finalizing their decorations. One car even had a very loud “Happy Birthday” playing and another had “76 Trombones”, all this through the amplified car systems. The Parade Marshall, Ardis Uberti, organized the cars and dispatched them, in order, around in front of the deck outside the Adler Gathering Place. June and Gail Hamlett sat in chairs and waved and shouted with the folks in the cars. Well done everyone. A great deal of food was donated in June’s name to the Gladiolus Food Bank and checks for a total of over $5,000 were given in June’s name. 

New Wifi, Ethernet at St. John, Brooksville

BROOKSVILLE - Members of St. John, Brooksville, helped bring Ethernet and wifi to the church from the administration building to the sanctuary, thanks in part to support from a Growth Grant from the diocese. Here, parishioners Bradley and Noah helped string and bury the cable.

"Your continued enthusiasm for proclaiming the good news at St. John’s Episcopal Church, even in these challenging times is inspiring to your peers in our diocesan community," said Bishop Dabney Smith, in a letter to the vestry of St. John's this March. "Your energy in implementing this initiative will be contagious. And the example that you provide will enhance the evangelism and growth efforts of our diocese."

Other Parish Briefs

Other news from our congregations:
  • Store Relocation in Clearwater: Construction has begun on the first floor of the administration building for the relocation of the Thrift Store at St. John, Clearwater. 
  • Masks for Deacons: Deacon Lisa Parker of St Margaret of Scotland in Sarasota has generously provided masks for all of the active deacons in the Diocese of Southwest Florida.

Education for Ministry Classes Forming Across Diocese

SARASOTA - Across the diocese, there are many Education for Ministry classes and groups offered by parishes that are forming this summer. Education for Ministry, or EfM, is a four-year certificate program for laity under the direction of The School of Theology at Sewanee, The University of the South. The EfM program is preparation for the ministry to which we all are called. The Diocese of Southwest Florida supports this important ministry to laity, through our various parishes. Groups begin meeting in September and run for 36 weeks. Registration starts each summer. If you are interested in finding out more about EfM or in registering for a group, please call Deacon Martha Goodwill at (941) 556-0315 or email at mgoodwill@episcopalswfl.org

In the News

Congregations in the News. Email links to editor@episcopalswfl.org

Memorials to Lynching Victims in Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG - The St. Petersburg Community Remembrance Project coalition has been meeting since last year at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church. Through newspaper clippings, personal diary entries, and other archival documents, the group is working with EJI to document cases of lynching in Pinellas County. Their names will be engraved on a memorial that will be placed on land donated by the city at Second Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Street North, site of the John Evans’ lynching in 1914. MORE

HUD Secretary Visits Previous St. James Building

TAMPA - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson commemorated Juneteenth on Friday by touring the ongoing community revitalization efforts in Tampa's first African- American neighborhood, and the previous location of St. James, set to be a museum. MORE

The Rev. Paige Hanks: Justice as the Work of the Church

ST. PETERSBURG - Each of us needs to believe in our commitment made at our baptism, and then take the first steps with ourselves and within our worshipping communities. MORE

Key Web Links

A roundup of useful links from the diocese, wider church, government:
 

Episcopal Church

Diocese

  • Diocesan COVID-19 Page: This includes letters, news stories and useful links for congregations and parishioners.

Federal & Florida Resources

Positions Available

  • Employment: Facilities Manager, St. Mark’s, Venice: The facilities manager is in charge of the overall maintenance, appearance, and safety of the indoor and outdoor areas of the church campus. MORE

Other Online Diocesan Links

  • Giving Pages: All of our congregations should have a GIVING page that details how to donate to your parish, from mail to ACH to online giving. MORE
  • Food Pantries: Please keep us advised about your food pantries HERE.
  • Parish Nurses: We maintain a public list of parish nurse programs HERE.
  • Thrift Shops: Our network of Thrift Stores is slowly reopening. Help us make sure that your retail store is listed properly HERE.
  • Streaming: Update the diocese on your web streams HERE. And email Garland Pollard if you need our information sheet on upgrading your systems.
Other news? Submit it HERE.

Diocesan Cycle of Prayer

Above, stained glass at Grace Episcopal, Tampa

July 12: Diocesan House, DaySpring Episcopal Center; Epiphany, Cape Coral; Good Samaritan, Clearwater; Good Shepherd, Dunedin; Good Shepherd, LaBelle; Good Shepherd, Punta Gorda; Good Shepherd, Venice

July 19: Holy Spirit, Osprey; Holy Spirit, Safety Harbor; Church of the Nativity, Sarasota; Church of the Redeemer, Sarasota; Grace Church, Tampa; Clergy spouses and widows of the Diocese of Southwest Florida MORE

Links, Publications and Resources

Parishes By Deanery

Other Resources

Useful Links

Copyright © 2020, Diocese of Southwest Florida.

Questions, additions, comments? Email gpollard@episcopalswfl.org.

Our mailing address is:
Diocese of Southwest Florida
DaySpring Episcopal Center
8005 25th St. East
Parrish, FL 34219

941-556-0315

Bridges is published bi-weekly for the leadership of the Diocese of Southwest Florida.
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