Episcopal Church joins COVID-19 vaccine partnership
The Episcopal Church has joined the U.S. government’s new COVID-19 Community Corps program to encourage Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines and build confidence in their safety and efficacy, and the Office of Government Relations has developed a toolkit for individuals, congregations and ministries to facilitate and promote COVID-19 vaccination. The Church is one of over 275 founding members; the Diocese of Washington and Washington National Cathedral are members as well. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has recorded a video statement about the personal and collective importance of getting vaccinated.
The Episcopal Church has also signed on to a letter encouraging the Biden administration to waive vaccine patents, making it easier for other countries to produce vaccines.
On March 31, Washington DC Bishop Mariann Budde met with Vice President Kamala Harris to talk about the program (above). Read the full story.
El Camino Real celebrates Easter
From Palo Alto to Los Osos, the congregations of El Camino Real celebrated the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, April 4, withoutdoor services and online gatherings. Bishop Lucinda Ashby was in two places at once for Easter Sunday, providing pre-recorded sermons for Trinity Cathedral, San Jose in English and in Spanish, while also appearing at the outdoor Easter service at St. John's Chapel, Monterey (above). The bishop's visitation schedule is listed at her page on RealEpiscopal.org.
An online, tri-lingual Easter Vigil was presented that Saturday evening on thediocesan YouTube page and totaled more than 700 views for the English sermon service and 110 views for the Spanish sermon service. Below are scenes from Easter Sunday at St. Luke's, Atascadero (below) and St. Paul's-San Pablo, Salinas (lower photo).
The "Bright Sunday" service at St. Andrew's, Saratoga, held on the second Sunday of Easter, featured some "holy humor" (below).
Earth Day resources and diocesan events
The 51st Earth Day is Thursday, April 22. The diocesan Creation Care Task Force invites you to join our Earth Day events :
Brown Bag Lunch meeting -- Bring your lunch and join us at 12 noon for prayers led by St. Benedict’s, Los Osos, followed by a presentation and conversation about Creation Care led by Bill Shreve. Zoom link here.
And at 7:00 pm, join a panel of expert presenters on “Sacred Ground – what we can do for healthy soils and a healthy planet”. How we tend our gardens and grow our crops can make a huge difference not only in the quality of the food we eat but also in the ability of our soils to sequester carbon. Come and learn what you can do to help heal the planet from the ground up. Register here.
The task force has compiled a list of resources and events to aid parishes plan events and services to commemorate this day. We hope you can use these resources to initiate or energize efforts to care for creation in our congregation.
"Honored Woman's Day" on April 24: cheer your congregation's honoree!
The diocesan Episcopal Church Women “Honored Woman’s Day” is taking place Saturday, April 24 from 10 am to 12 noon. The event will be held virtually, using Zoom; we will honor a woman from each of our congregations in the Diocese of El Camino Real — women who proclaim their faith through their lives and actions for their congregation, the diocese, and the community. If your church hasn't submitted a nomination yet, the deadline has been extended to April 19. The full announcement and nomination form is available here.
Clergy are encouraged to complete and return submissionsto Donna Seelbach, president of the diocesan Episcopal Church Women. Email Donna to RSVP and for submissions at dsdonnaseelbach2@gmail.com.
Honored Women’s Day to support Church Periodical Club
The Church Periodical Club (CPC) is an organization of the Episcopal Church, dedicated to the worldwide Ministry of the Printed Word. CPC operates at all levels of the Church - national, provincial, diocesan and parish. There are two funds: the National Books Fund limits itself to books and related materials for adults. The Miles of Pennies Fund issues grants to serve the needs of children. The maximum grant is $844.80 (one mile of pennies). For more information contact Jane Pomeroy at jane.pomeroy@prodigy.net.
"Stations of the Resurrection" exhibit opens at St. John's, Aptos
St. John's, Aptos recently installed an original set of Stations of the Resurrection, created by the parish's adult formation team, in the front courtyard of the church. The temporary exhibit will be up until May 23 (Pentecost), and the public is welcome to come to the church campus to walk the stations. St. John's is located at 125 Canterbury Drive in Aptos, just off Hwy 1 at the State Park Drive exit near Seacliff State Beach. If you are unable to travel to Aptos but would like to experience the stations from your own home, please download a PDF of the stations here.
Episcopal Church web series explores challenges of past year
A Year in the Life is a new web series from The Episcopal Church that documents how Episcopal churches, schools, and ministries have navigated a very contentious and difficult year. New episodes of A Year in the Life will be released every two weeks beginning on April 20. The trailer is available for viewing on The Episcopal Church website here, on Facebook here, and on Instagram TV @theepiscopalchurch.
The Office of Government Relations (OGR) represents the policy priorities (based on General Convention and Executive Council resolutions) of The Episcopal Church to the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. and helps to shape the discussion of political issues throughout the Church. Below are alerts relating to current legislation:
Don't-miss events for April 2021 - Join us for these amazing collaborations with Episcopal and non-Episcopal partners on topics like voting rights, women peacemakers, immigration, the environment, Congressional chaplain leadership, and more!
Urge Congress to pass the Momnibus - The Momnibus is a suite of twelve bills addressing a wide range of issues related to maternal health, from growing the perinatal health care workforce and funding community-based organizations that work on health equity, to improving maternal health care for those who are incarcerated and those with mental health issues.
"Healing Hearts" is a virtual grief support group led by clergy and lay people from Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, Saratoga, and meets the second Wednesday of each month from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. We provide a safe and compassionate place for you to feel supported, listened to and understood as you talk about your experience with stress, grief and loss. Our time together is designed to meet you where you are, whether you are dealing with a recent challenge or loss or from years ago. Please join us for one session or multiple sessions. For any questions, contact jwild@st-andrews.org or Pbryan@st-andrews.org.
Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in San Jose is receiving applications for a part-time Priest-in-Charge. You may view their OTM Portfolio here and their Parish Profile here. For questions or to submit your resume and application for consideration, email kirstin@realepiscopal.org or call the office at 831-394-4465.
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Submitting news to RealEpiscopal
Real Episcopal is published on the first and third Thursday of the month. News and event submissions must be received by 12 pm noon on the Friday 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 needs. 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.
