DioCal News & Events
The Episcopal Diocese of California's weekly round-up
February 23, 2021
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El botón azul le da la opción de leer esta publicación en español, por ahora esta opción no funciona en el teléfono celular, pero si en los otros dispositivos electrónicos.
Entendemos que la traducción no es perfecta, así que si tiene alguna pregunta acerca de lo que hemos publicado no dude en contactar a Stephanie Martin Taylor o Adia Milien
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Clergy on the pandemic front lines: 'How do we really grieve?'
[NPR] Health care personnel are not alone on the front lines of the struggle with COVID-19. Another group is the faith leaders who minister to the sick and console those who are grieving. Four faith leaders with different missions and experiences share their thoughts and feelings about their pandemic work and the burdens they bear.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls for Good Friday Offering to support ministry in Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East
In his Good Friday letter, Presiding Bishop Curry asks each Bishop and congregation to consider providing assistance for the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Good Friday Offering here
Read letter here
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Expanding Horizons Reporting and Distributions Policies and Procedures
From 2015 through 2019, the Diocese of California conducted a comprehensive capital campaign, which we called Expanding Horizons. The goal was to fund diocesan projects in four key areas: global mission, essential housing, the environment, and the revitalization of congregations. Through direct gifts to the campaign and many congregational-level efforts, the campaign raised more than $15,280,000. After expenses, the campaign had about $12,000,000 to distribute across the identified program areas. Our report to Convention showed how, in the first year of allocations, Expanding Horizons distributed more than $2,130,000. Over the course of the next six years, the diocese will continue to allocate funds to the identified program areas.
In the spirit of transparency and accountability, the Finance Committee, through the work of a subcommittee, wrote, proposed, and recommended a policy for distributions which was adopted and approved by Executive Council in November 2020. The complete policy is at the end of this announcement.
Key observations are as follows:
- Expanding Horizons is audited annually alongside the diocesan audit by the firm Hood & Strong. The Expanding Horizons accounts are kept separate from the diocesan operating fund.
- Distributions will continue to be made annually from the core case elements as directed, with oversight by the Finance Committee and Executive Council.
- Proposed changes to the distributions may be made by: The Bishop’s Office; A congregation or institution of the diocese; a member of a congregation in the diocese. Proposed changes should be made in writing to the Canon to the Ordinary, who will vet the change and forward to the Finance Committee for discussion.
- Expenses or distributions above $10,000 must be approved by both the Finance Committee and Executive Council.
- The CFO and the Bishop’s Staff will report on Expanding Horizons expenditures to Executive Council
- The Development Director will report Expanding Horizons activity annually to Convention
The documents pertaining to Expanding Horizons policies can be found at diocal.org/expanding-horizons
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The Bishop's Ranch: March weekend retreats
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Help spread the word: DioCal is hiring
Multicultural Ministry and Community Engagement Officer (full-time)
The Multicultural* Ministry and Community Engagement Officer is a member of the Diocese of California Senior Staff and reports to the Canon to the Ordinary (CTO). To learn more about the position and receive application instructions, please click the link below.
*Note: The use of the term “multicultural” describes the authentic and fulsome diversity of the Bay Area with regards to race, ethnicity, language, geographic home or origin, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition, immigration status, socioeconomic background or condition, education, housing status, experience of oppression, and other experiences of difference and/or marginalization.
Learn more here
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Support the formation of Lay Leaders in your church!
Bexley-Seabury has now launched Pathways for Baptismal Living. These online programs support canonical licensing of lay leaders in the areas of Evangelism, Catechist, Preaching, Worship Leadership, and Pastoral Leadership. There are also classes on fundamentals of faith for those wishing to learn more about faith. The Faith Formation Working Group has scholarship money to support lay formation. Please contact Amy Cook (amyc@diocal.org) or Caren Miles (carenm@diocal.org) for more information.
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Planning for Resilience — Take action with DioCal!
This column is designed to help our congregations, week by week, update their disaster plans and their listings on the Episcopal Asset Map.
Do you have an emergency kit at home? If so, are there others in your congregation who might need help buying and assembling the items they need to be ready for a disaster? This week’s suggested action: Resolve to spend this Lent creating or updating your emergency kit, or helping someone else with theirs.
Over the next few weeks, this column will suggest items to gather or purchase, so follow along for ideas and updates! First tip: find a waterproof bag or container to store and protect your emergency items. It should be kept in an easy-to-grab place. |
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DIOCAL - Workshops & Events
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The 2021 Stewardship Webinar Series
The 2021 Stewardship Webinar Series is launching to help clergy and lay stewardship leaders learn best practices for pledge campaigns, year-round stewardship formation, planned giving, event-based fundraising, and more.
Join us for the first workshop on Thursday, February 25 at 7 p.m. on Zoom, Evaluating your 2020 Pledge Campaign. Designed for clergy and stewardship committee members, this webinar walks through the best practices on evaluating the results of your most recent pledge campaign. Our stewardship is about more than our fundraising. Learn practical and theological ways to analyze your results, examining the numbers, the feelings, and the pastoral issues that come with asking for money and participation in our congregations. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/139322119209. Registration is free but required.
Our second workshop will be on Year Round Stewardship Formation on Thursday, March 25 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. We will talk about keeping the conversation about generosity and gratitude going on all year long. Learn tips on how to integrate liturgy, action, and formation for each month of the year to focus on our stewardship of our members, resources, and the world around us. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/139323140263. Registration is free but required.
You can sign up to receive emails whenever we create a new event by joining our Eventbrite page at: http://diocal.eventbrite.com We’ll continue our stewardship series on the Fourth Thursday of every month at 7 p.m.
For more information, please email Davey Gerhard daveyg@diocal.org
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Some Lenten offerings, from the Episcopal Chaplain to UC Berkeley
Lenten Meditations on Animals from the 2nd Century.
This is a series of daily reflections beginning with the first full week of Lent and are adapted from the second or third century Greek Phyliologus, composed in the Christian community of Alexandria Egypt. This work uses both real and mythological animals to provide allegories for the life of faith. I selected this text this year because of the recognition that even as the pandemic might be slowly receding (very slowly) the issue of climate change remains even more real. Before the Industrial Revolution, the Christian Church was very attuned to the cycles of the Earth. Our liturgical calendar still reflects this with its implicit reliance on the seasons of growth, harvest, and length of days. Our modern experience has been to withdraw from that recognition, to our own demise. It is important for us to find ways to reconnect and to undertake the communal action of faith to care for and heal God’s creation. My hope is that through these meditations you can practice the art of greater attention to your spiritual journey and its relationship with the created world around you. As a bonus – each exercise contains an image you can print out as a meditative coloring exercise!
Listening Exercise on Sufjan Stevens and Buxtehude
On Fridays I will post a combined listening exercise using tracks from the most recent album, Ascension, by the Indie musician (and Episcopalian) Sufjan Stevens, and from Buxtehude’s Membra Jesum Nostri, a musical meditation on the body of Christ. I should note that some of the language in the Sufjan Stevens album is not always polite and the subject matter is difficult as he is faithfully trying to wrestle through what it means to live in this nation during this time.
To receive these offerings please contact Tom Poynor, calepiscopal@gmail.com
Zoom Discussion on The Silver Chair
Sundays beginning 2/28 at 1:30pm
Finally, I invite you to consider joining us on Zoom each week for a revised version of a project I did a few years ago entitled “The Lion, the Brunch, and the Wardrobe.” We will meet on Sundays at 1:30 (brunchtime) to discuss chapters from C.S. Lewis’s Narnia Book, The Silver Chair. This book is a particularly appropriate Lenten devotion for this year as it I moves through a journey of increasing darkness and into redemption. It is, perhaps, the most dark and mysterious of the Narnia series and certainly belies any assertions that C.S. Lewis was writing easy, comforting, children’s fiction. We will read two chapters each week, beginning with chapters 1 and 2 this week. The chapters are very short and can be read in under an hour (in most circumstances). Let me know if you have questions or if, for financial or other reasons, you have difficulty accessing a copy of the book. Also, please feel free to let others know. The Holy Week Schedule will look slightly different as we will read on Palm Sunday, Wednesday, and Holy Saturday. The final session will take place the Sunday after Easter.
If you are interested in joining in this project then please register through the zoom link.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEucu2vrTIjEtD9FMO8dXVXYT7iYlfGMGR3
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Debunking Myths About Hospice
Saturday, March 6, 2021, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
Hospice isn’t what you think. Too often, when someone mentions hospice care, people feel afraid. But hospice isn’t about the end, it’s about the journey. It’s about navigating new terrain together and about everyone (the patient and the family and friends) being more comfortable during the ride. You don’t need to be alone—you can have a partner in care. At the end of this hour, you’ll know what you need to know for the moment when you or a loved one finds themselves needing care. Bring your questions and invite a friend. We will discuss:
- When is hospice appropriate? When should you start thinking about hospice?
- What happens when someone goes on hospice?
- What services can you expect? What are the benefits?
- What is the difference between Palliative care and hospice?
- What are the spiritual aspects of hospice?
- Did you know you can graduate from hospice?
This workshop is led by Lena Asidov, Administrator, Angel Palliative Care and Hospice, and the Rev. Hailey McKeefry Delmas, Chaplain, Angel Palliative Care and Hospice. Click here for more information and registration.
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Rescheduled Day of Discernment
Saturday, March 13, 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Would you like to enrich your personal practice of discernment? Are you part of a local discernment committee that would like to expand your expertise? Are you thinking about a call to holy orders? Whatever your motivation, this workshop provides rich tools, grounded in our baptismal covenant, to help frame your journey. The focus is on discernment for ministry in daily life – lay and ordained.
This online workshop is open to anyone, however, it is required for anyone interested in entering the ordination process. This workshop is also recommended for members of local discernment committees and any clergy working with someone interested in the process.
When: Saturday, March 13, 2021, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Online through Zoom
Contact: Amy Cook, amyc@diocal.org, if you have any questions about the day; Whitney Wilson, vocations@diocal.org, if you have questions about the ordination process.
Register:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwoc-uorDwsG9SRe92GoSyeCLmIG98jKMXQ
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Entering Holy Week: Palm Saturday Writing Meditation with Cara Meredith
Date: Saturday, March 27th, 9 am - 12 pm
Lent is, no doubt, a season of transformation, and oftentimes, Holy Week has a way of renewing our faith before the penultimate event of Easter. In this spirit, a special Palm Saturday Writing Meditation will guide our hearts to receive whatever the week ahead and the upcoming season has in store for us by writing by hand, in community.
Join author Cara Meredith for a virtual writing meditation that leans into creativity and spirituality through the simple act of writing. All are welcome, no matter where you are in your writing or your spiritual life. Cara, an Oakland-based author and member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, delights in helping guide participants into discovering deeper truths about themselves and the Spirit through writing.
Cost: $20, scholarships are available. If you have any questions, contact Amy Cook, amyc@diocal.org. Spaces are limited. REGISTER HERE.
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Spring 2021 workshops
CARe Workshops (Spring 2021)
In Spring 2021, CARe will continue to offer an array of online workshops covering a wide variety of themes in the arts and religion. Each topic is covered by two 2-hour-long workshops. Open to students and community members alike, each workshop pair carries a $100 fee. CARe workshops are open to all - no experience in any of the fields necessary!
Learn more about workshops and instructors here
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From the Episcopal Church
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Episcopal Church Toolkit for COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution (English/Español)
The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations has developed a toolkit for individuals, congregations, and ministries to facilitate and promote COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the United States. This toolkit promotes the ongoing work that parishes and dioceses have already been doing, shares best practices, and offers ideas for ways that communities can help U.S.- based Episcopalians to facilitate vaccination, overcome vaccine hesitancy, and find information from state and local officials. Churches and church leaders (lay and ordained) can serve as an important trusted bridge between public health officials and communities.
Find the toolkit in English and Spanish here.
Click here to read more
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Deadline approaching for 2021- 2022 Conant Grants
The deadline is approaching to apply for Conant Grants from the Episcopal Church for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Conant Grant funds are provided for the improvement of seminary-based theological education. Specifically, the grants are directed for the support of research, writing and course development undertaken by faculty members at the recognized Episcopal seminaries in the United States.
Information, instructions, and application are available here.
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Job Opportunities
Please address all inquiries and applications to Transition Minister Denise Obando, deniseo@diocal.org, unless otherwise noted.
Clergy Positions – Diocese of California
Vicar :: St. John the Evangelist :: San Francisco
Multicultural Ministry and Community Engagement Officer (lay or ordained) :: Diocese of California :: San Francisco
Vice-Dean :: Grace Cathedral :: San Francisco
Lay Positions – Diocese of California
Assistant Director :: The Bishop’s Ranch :: Healdsburg
Content and Administration Manager (PT) :: St. Mark’s :: Palo Alto
Clergy Position – Other Dioceses
Priest Associate for Adult Ministries :: Christ Church :: Greenville, SC
Rector :: Emmanuel :: Staunton, VA
Rector :: St. James :: Hendersonville, NC
All postings are available on the diocesan website:
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Important resource links for this pandemic season
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