Bishop Lucinda Ashby is traveling to locations across the diocese to join clergy for "Blessing of the Oils" services. Locations in all deaneries -- Santa Clara Valley, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo -- are hosting services while maintaining COVID-19 precautions and social distancing. These scenes are from the blessing service at St. Timothy's in Mountain View. (Thanks to Bill McIndoo & the Rev. Terry Gleeson for photos)
Throwback Thursday
40 years ago ... the first Mission Bell
Forty years ago from this coming Sunday, October 11, Mission San Juan Bautista was the setting for a historic event: the installation of Charles Shannon Mallory as the first bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real. The event was chronicled in the first edition of The Mission Bell, the first news publication for the diocese. The newspaper, seen below, included a sprawling photo gallery of the event, a new diocesan logo, and news across the diocese. We'll share more flashbacks from our 40-year history in future issues!
Convention Update
Nominations announced for diocesan leadership
Nominations for diocesan leadership have been submitted and consist of the following summary. Click links for more details about each individual in English and Spanish:
Standing Committee – Clergy (Elect 1)
The Rev. Rob Keim, St. Barnabas, Arroyo Grande (English / Spanish)
Standing Committee – Lay (Elect 1)
Shonna K. Close, Holy Family, San Jose (English / Spanish)
Eric Fisher, St. Stephen’s, San Luis Obispo (English / Spanish)
Board of Trustees – At Large (Elect 4)
The Rev. Ian M. Delinger, St. Stephen’s, San Luis Obispo (English / Spanish)
The Rev. Maly Hughes, St. Francis, Willow Glen (English / Spanish)
The Rev. Kristine Johnson, St. Mary’s, Pacific Grove (English / Spanish)
Commission on Ministry – Clergy (Elect 1)
The Rev. Deacon Susan L. Arnold, St. Barnabas, Arroyo Grande (English / Spanish)
The Rev. Deacon Kathleen Crowe, St. Andrew’s, Saratoga (English / Spanish)
Commission on Ministry – Lay (Elect 1)
Lorienne Elisabeth Schwenk, St. Benedict’s, Los Osos (English / Spanish)
Secretary to Convention (Elect 1)
Jeff Diehl, St. Barnabas, Arroyo Grande (English / Spanish)
Those contemplating nominations from the floor need to contact the co-chairs of nominations, The Rev. Martín Juárez (sanpabloseaside@gmail.com) and Ms. Liz Frost (lizwfrost@msn.com).
Online registration is being finalized and will be ready next week; watch for a link in the next issue on Thursday, October 15. Follow the Diocesan Convention page for updates and additional resources.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Diocese of El Camino Real, all convention attendees are encouraged to wear clothing styles from the early 1980s! Watch for a fashion guide coming soon.
Episcopalians invited to share stories in social justice survey
The Task Force on Theology of Social Justice Advocacy invites Episcopalians to participate in a survey, “Social Justice and the Episcopal Church: A Call for Stories”. The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in English here and in Spanishhere. Responses are due by November 5, 2020. Read the full announcement here.
St. Dunstan's Carmel Valley names new rector
The Rev. Laurel Coote has accepted a call to become the sixth rector of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Carmel Valley. Coote is expected to assume duties at St. Dunstan’s in early December. She succeeds the Rev. Rob Fisher, who was rector until June 2019, when he became rector of St. John’s, Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. Her most recent pastoral assignment was as interim priest at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. Read the full announcement here.
Civil Engagement Resources
In these turbulent times, do you get anxious listening to the news and wonder what you can do? The Episcopal Church has some ideas for faithful action:
The Diocese of El Camino Real has received emergency relief funds from Episcopal Relief & Developmentto support those impacted by the wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. If you know of individuals or families who are in need, please contact your local clergy who will help direct funds. Bishop Lucinda has also established the "Bishop's COVID-19 and Disaster Relief Fund." See past issues for details.
EVENT CALENDAR
The Church of the Good Shepherd will host Kimberly Ertl, L.Ac., online on October 14 at 12 noon to discuss her work and philosophy in building one’s immunity to help fight illnesses and achieve wellness. Visit the Good Shepherd event page for details.
Join Episcopal Church Women the morning of October 24 for a retreat focusing on Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), suffragist and journalist, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), Supreme Court justice. Click here to download the flyer.
Weekly diocesan conversations about race
The Revs. Karen Cuffie and Jani Wild are leading weekly pastoral conversations on racism every Thursday at 4:30 pm., with discussion and prayers. Please join us to learn, process, and share together in a faith community.
Join the Zoom Meeting here Meeting ID: 835 7594 8022; Password: 748467
One tap mobile: +16699006833,,83575948022#,,1#,748467# US (San Jose)
Follow ECR on social media for photos, news, links & more
Please stay informed about COVID-19 news by visiting your local county public health website. The five county sites in our diocese are listed at right.
Real Episcopal is published every Thursday. News and event submissions must be received the previous Sunday before publication date. Please limit submissions to 150 words in text format (unless agreed to in advance) and include the "who-what-where-when-why" information in the first paragraph.
Photos are welcome. Please send jpeg files with a minimum size of 1100 pixels wide (for phone images, select "original size" when sending).
EVENTS: Announcements must be in text form, no more than 100 words,and must be accompanied by a link to a web page with full information (flyers may be included with submission). All submissions will be edited for clarity and space.
PLEASE NOTE: Church-specific event submissions will appear in no more than three issues per event.
News and/or story ideas should be emailed to Elrond Lawrence, diocesan communications director, at elrond@realepiscopal.org.
