Diocese of Newark Bishop Committee Evaluates Nominees

by Bill McColl

The Nominating Committee for the 10 th Bishop of the Diocese of Newark ( New Jersey ) has closed its two-month long nomination process and is now evaluating the nominees to determine the four to six candidates to be voted on at the special convention September 23 rd .

The nominees who eventually emerge from this phase of the process will be visited by members of the committee, and after even more evaluation the finalists will be chosen. Those names will be announced on June 28 th . Then, each candidate will be invited to take part in a “walkabout” of the diocese prior to the special convention.

As the discernment work continues, the committee will hold a series of instructional sessions for delegates in each of the diocese's 10 districts during the spring.

“They need to understand how the nominating process is functioning and most importantly to participate in the ‘walkabouts‘ and the election,” committee member The Rev. Stuart Smith of St. Clements's Church in Hawthorne said. “Electors must come to know the nominees as personably as possible.”

And the voters are not the only ones encouraged to participate.

“Others in the diocese also need to know the nominees to share with the electors their thoughts and concerns about the nominees,” he said.

The Rev. Smith noted this is part of the Nominating Committee's overall mission:

“We want to be as open in our process as possible and to abide by the characteristic skills and qualities the diocese is calling for in a new bishop,” he said.

The Nominating Committee is co-chaired by the Rev. Victoria McGrath of All Saints in Millington and Dr. Louie Crew of Grace Church in Newark . More information about the search process can be found on the committee's website: www.bishopsearch.dioceseofnewark.org

Bill McColl is Communications Chairman for the Nominating Committee and attends All Saints Church in Leonia

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Mariners Receive Record Number of Christmas Gifts

February 17, 2006: The Seamen's Church Institute of New York & New Jersey is proud to announce that Christmas 2005 gifts to mariners were a record 16,169 hand-made presents. This included 8,530 hand-knitted gifts to deep-sea mariners and 5,065 hand-knitted scarves for America 's river mariners. Christmas-on-the-River also gave 2,674 Christmas gifts that included hand-made cards from children and/or cookies to mariners.

“We are grateful to our volunteer knitters, packers, and supporters in River Friendly Churches. Our partnerships grow stronger each year and our ability to share God's love on Christmas Day with mariners far from home is expanding,” said the Rev. Jean R. Smith, SCI's Executive Director.

The Institute received hand-made presents from over 3,500 knitters representing every state as well as gift items from River Friendly Churches. The Seamen's Church Institute distributes the Christmas gifts to seafarers coming into the Port of New York & New Jersey and to America 's river mariners along 2,200 miles of America 's inland waterways from Pittsburgh to New Orleans .

The tradition of hand-knit gifts for the Christmas-at-Sea program stretches back to 1898 during the Spanish American War when it was started. Today, the knitted items include hats, scarves, vests, and socks are collected year-round at the Institute's headquarters in Lower Manhattan .

Here is a sample of letters received from deep-sea and river mariners:

To Seamen's Church Institute:

At our last call at New York you delivered to us 26 plastic bags with gifts for my men and me. With this gifts along went your warm words for the Christmas Eve. I like to thank you and all diligent knitters and spenders for these unexpected presents and for their prayers for our safety as well as for your good wishes for the year to come. On December 24th we celebrated our Christmas Eve with all our crew. At that time we were inside the Malacca strait, one of the places in the world most haunted by pirates. But we sailed under a good star and passed safely. Yesterday noon we arrived in Singapore , loading and unloading appr. 28,000 mtons of cargo. In addition, a huge amount of spare parts and bunkers had to be lifted. The crew finished their work today December 26, at 05:00 local time and we will leave the port around 13.30 local time heading for Laem Chabang / Thailand . The New Year will find us in Hong Kong, loading cargo for the US West Coast, the port of Seattle . We are all wishing you and all the persons who were caring and praying for us as well as your families some peaceful Christmas days and a happy year 2006 with best health and God's blessing.
Capt. W. Koehler and the crew of CMV “Antwerpen Express”

From America 's waterways:
To Seamen's Church Institute:

I had to work all of the Christmas holidays and New Years too. It is always very hard being away from my loved ones during the Christmas holidays. One thing always helps is the kindness that is shown thru Seamen's Church and all of the children who send their fresh baked cookies and candy with their beautiful Christmas cards. You know what blesses me is that these children take time out of their busy day to create those wonderful cards, just for us mariners. I mean, these cards are really good. I read every card that comes to our boat.  Just looking at them and reading the words on them, I can feel the love in their message to us. I know it brightens my day. It shows that someone really cares for us. There are times when we are many miles from a town and can't get a cell phone signal, cut off from the world. But when I get off watch and go to my room, there are some of the children's Christmas cards in full view, to brighten my day. Please thank all of the children for the cards. They are a blessing to me. And not only me, but to the crew as well.
Sincerely Yours,
Capt. Ralph S. Williams III, Relief Captain M/V Martha May

The Seamen's Church Institute's mission is to advance the personal, professional, and spiritual well being of mariners worldwide. Established in 1834 in Lower Manhattan , SCI is an ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church. To learn more about SCI, please visit www.seamenschurch.org .

Debra Wagner, Director of Communications
212-349-9090 Ext. 249,
dwagner@seamenschurch.org (cell 516-382-1920)
The Seamen's Church Institute Of New York and New Jersey
241 Water Street
New York , New York 10038
212/349-9090
FAX: 212/349-8342
Website: www.seamenschurch.org

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Finger Lakes Conference June 25 – 30, 2006 Living Prayerfully

 Margaret Guenther , General Lecturer at the 2006 Finger Lakes Conference, will offer her audience an opportunity to reflect on the challenge of living prayerfully amid the demanding busyness and complexity of life at the beginning of the 21st century. Lecture topics will include:

• How do I hear God's voice?
• How can I pray in a seventy-hour week?
• Where is God in my everyday life? 
• How can I live prayerfully in a complicated and often violent world? 
• And for that matter: what do I think I am doing when I pray?

Prayer is more than saying certain words at certain times, more than a laudable spiritual discipline, more than a comforting habit.  Prayer is a way of life and the work of a lifetime, the practice of the presence of God. 

Margaret Guenther, well-known author of My Soul in Silence Waits, Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction and many other books on spirituality and prayer is Associate Rector for Spiritual Formation at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, Washington, DC. She is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and recently retired professor of The General Theological Seminary in New York where she was the director for The Center for Christian Spirituality.

Conferees choose one of these five Courses :

• Christian Art - Susanna Bede Caroselli, SSG Professor of Art History, Messiah College and Author of books on Renaissance Art
• Dark Love: Mary Magdalene as Icon of the Christian Mystical Life - The Rev. Suzanne Guthrie, Episcopal Chaplain at Cornell University and Author of Praying the Hours and other books
• How Can We Keep From Singing? Topics in Worship Music - Carl Johengen, DMA, Co-Minister of Music, St. Thomas Church, Bath NY and Lecturer, Nazareth College of Rochester
• Wanting More Space for Grace: Adventures in Contemplative Prayer - The Rev. Dr. Darlene B. Muschett, Retired Pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd, Lutheran Church , Rochester , NY
• Public Ethics: Is There a Common Good? - The Rev. Dr. Peter W. Peters, Adjunct Faculty at Bexley Hall Seminary and Adjunct Professor of Ethics, Colgate Rochester Divinity School

The Finger Lakes Conference is held annually under the auspices of Province II in Geneva , New York on the Campus of William Smith and Hobart Colleges . The Conference provides a safe and rich environment where persons who are deeply committed to a spiritual path and those who are searching for an indefinable “something” in their lives may learn and explore together. The General Lecture, small group discussions, courses, daily worship and impromptu offerings by conference members make each day exciting. But sometimes rest and quiet are what is needed and attendance at any offering is optional

We hope that you will find Finger Lakes Conference just what you need for relaxation and renewal as you begin your summer.

Finger Lakes Conference: Sunday June 25 to Friday June 30, 2006
Fee : $450 fee includes lodging, meals and all conference costs. Scholarships are available.
Information and registration form available on our Website: FingerLakesConference.org
Or contact the Registrar: Susan Chadwick, 607-741-0175, email: susiechad1@aol.com

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Thursday Nights at General

Entitled Christianity in America and the Episcopal Church Since 1945, Church History Professor Robert Bruce Mullin's topics are listed below. Join us for an interesting and informative series about the church today.

February 16, 2006 The 1950s: The Attempt to Return to Normalcy Outlining the religious world of the post-World War Two era, the “Eisenhower revival,” and the Episcopal Church's response to the challenges of the 1950s.

February 23, 2006 The 1960s: Revolution In and Out of the Church Focusing on the broad cultural and political revolutions of the 1960s and how people, including Episcopalians, attempted to deal with them.

March 2, 2006 The 1970s: The Question of Women Discussing the rise of the various waves of feminism and how the church attempted to rethink traditional ideas and understandings.

March 9, 2006 Evangelicals, Fundamentalism, and the Culture Wars Tracing the revival of conservative Protestantism in the closing decades of the 20 th century, and how this revival has affected the Episcopal Church.

Each lecture will begin at 7 PM and last until about 8:30 PM, with ample time for questions and discussion.

The charge for the series is $135. All lectures are at the Seminary, 175 Ninth Avenue at 21 st Street , in New York City . To register, new apply on line at http://www.gts.edu/thursdays.asp or contact Helen Goodkin, Director of the MA Program and Lay Education, at 212 243 5150 ex. 461, or Goodkin@gts.edu.
Helen F. Goodkin
Director of the M.A. Program and Lay Education
The General Theological Seminary
175 Ninth Avenue
New York City 10011
212 243 5150 extension 461

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