 Education for Ministry, sponsored by the Episcopal Church, is a small-group, adult formation program based on study and practice in theological reflection. The EfM program is designed to help Christians prepare for their ministry (not to become an ordained minister). The four-year "Classic" program is designed for a deep exploration of the Old Testament, New Testament, Christian history, and theology. Readings are assigned from the Bible along with historical background information and interpretations from different perspectives. The one-year "Wide Angle" program includes the same four areas, still rigorous, but less deep than "Classic". Participants join a seminar group that meets locally or online. Groups typically meet for 2 or 3 hours per week from September to May. There are no tests or grades, but the University of the South provides a curriculum and reading list. A trained "mentor" facilitates the group meetings and logistics. Each group, with 6-12 participants, meets together to discuss their assigned readings. The readings are different for each program year, and the discussions are intense and enlightening while respecting confidentiality. Participants are asked to commit to one year at a time, beginning each fall. Participants spend about eight hours per week reading, meeting, etc. There are no ministry or service requirements, but the studying gives a new perspective on the faith journey. See the links below for more information, including lists of existing seminar groups around the United States.
Main EfM web site: https://theology.sewanee.edu/education-for-ministry/ List of onsite EfM seminar groups: https://theology.sewanee.edu/education-for-ministry/program/efm-onsite/ List of online-only EfM seminar groups: https://theology.sewanee.edu/education-for-ministry/program/efm-online/ This article has been submitted by Gary Gocek, a lay EfM participant. I recently retired from a career as a software developer. When I was working full time, my Christianity time was limited to Sundays with stories from the weekly lectionary, and the occasional community service project. Moses parted the sea and Jesus walked on water, and then on Monday, it was back to the rat race. Nowadays, I am blessed to be able to make the time for EfM—with my seminar group participants—and I have encountered the epic sweep from Eden to the new Jerusalem. EfM has provided me with a new approach to prayer, worship, study, and ministry. In 1 Samuel, Hannah set in motion events that led to David, but oh how David was flawed! Paul had a personality and was a philosopher on par with Socrates. Miracles happened and there were witnesses. The Holy Spirit and Jesus connect us. As I begin year 3, I am actually looking forward to reading a history textbook! My name is Samantha, and I am the new Coordinator for Forma Evangelism. I’ve taken over this role following Sarah Allred’s fabulous leadership as she moves into a new role on the Lifelong Learning Team. You are receiving this email because you are on Forma’s list of Provincial formation contacts. If this no longer fits your role in your context, please let me know who the best person is to contact regarding formation initiatives in your Province.
I am writing to share that the Lifelong Learning and Forma Certificate in Lifelong Formation program is seeking applicants for the 2025 Cohort. More information about the program can be found here: https://www.forma.church/certificate-program/ I am hoping that you will help us to spread the news about this continuing education opportunity to individuals in your network who may be interested in applying. Would you please pass this information along to anyone who is working in the field of Christian formation across the whole lifespan who might be interested in deepening their own formation in ministry? I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you for your partnership! Samantha Clare <[email protected]> Episcopal Communicators Membership Updates We are updating membership to make it easier and more accessible, especially for smaller and more rural parishes and dioceses. First, we are switching from annual membership (everyone renews January 1) to rolling membership (you renew the day you joined)! We hope this will make it easier for you to join and take advantage of membership benefits as soon as possible. During this transition process, we will make adjustments to accommodate those who joined this last year. Second, we are going to offer a diocesan group package intended for dioceses to grant memberships to smaller churches with communications professionals (employed or volunteer) who otherwise could not afford a membership. More details about this will come soon, though diocesan communicators have already heard about this opportunity through a pilot launch earlier this year. EpisComm24 in Portland, Maine!
While details are almost ready for public viewing, it is time to make plans with your time and budget to join our 50th year celebration in April in Portland, Maine. The committee and host diocese are working on some really cool surprises for this event, in addition to the fellowship and learning opportunities you’ve come to love. As a reminder, we do have scholarships available. Check Us Out in Houston and the Episcopal Parish Network! Episcopal Communicators is once again sponsoring the Episcopal Parish Network annual gathering pre-conference for communicators. Taking place in Houston on March 6-9th, the pre-conference will focus on compelling storytelling with exciting speakers from public broadcasting, national politics, and Episcopal Communicators! We will also hold a regular workshop at EPN aimed at non-communications staff about the importance of investing in communications capacity.  Celebrate UBE Sunday and the Feast of Alexander Crummell Sunday, September 10, 2023   Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Alexander Crummell, whom you called to preach the Gospel to those who were far off and to those who were near. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
On Sunday, September 10, the Union of Black Episcopalians celebrates the life and legacy of our notable saint, the Reverend Alexander Crummell, on his official feast day. Crummell was the personification of the will to overcome during the 19th century, successfully confronting and prevailing over barriers erected because of his race. According to A Great Cloud of Witnesses, “Crummell’s ministry spanned more than half a century and three continents. Everywhere, at all times, he labored to prepare black people and to build institutions that would serve them and provide scope for the exercise of their gifts in leadership and creativity. His faith in God, his perseverance in spite of repeated discouragement, his perception that the Church transcended the racism and limited vision of its leaders, and his unfailing belief in the goodness and greatness of black people are the legacy of this African American pioneer. He died in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1898.” UBE designates September 10, 2023, as UBE Sunday to commemorate the racial justice ministry of the Union which was an outgrowth of Father Crummell’s advocacy. Please join us by using the following liturgical resources in your bulletin on September 10 or any other Sunday that you are reflecting on racial reconciliation. Send us your story on how you are celebrating UBE Sunday and the Feast Day of Alexander Crummell to [email protected]. Then, make a special donation to UBE by visiting our website at https://www.ube.org/DONATE/donate-online.html. We are continuing Crummell’s work of overcoming racism in society and in the church. Thank you in advance for your generosity. To read more or access resources, click the links below: Bulletin insert – Alexander Crummell – half page (2023); click here. Bulletin insert – Alexander Crummell – full page (2023); click here. Litany for the Feast of Alexander Crummell and UBE Sunday; click here. http://www.lectionarypage.net/LesserFF/Sep/Crummell.html ***Don't forget to subscribe to the UBE YouTube Channel. *** www.ube.org This is your opportunity to work with those who make a difference. You are invited to consider running for church-wide office, and the application is now open.
Here is the link to a news story from ENS (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/joint-standing-committee-on-nominations-opens-applications-for-episcopal-church-positions-committees-boards/), and the link to the application (https://www.generalconvention.org/nominee-application) in English, Spanish, and French. Applications due April 15, 2023  The Episcopal Church and Visual ArtsThe mission of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA) is to encourage artists and organizations to engage the visual arts in the spiritual life of the church. ECVA values the significance of visual imagery in spiritual formation and the development of faith, and encourages those who are engaged in using the visual arts in spiritual life. Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA) strives to encourage:
The current exhibition is What are you seeking? Expectations and Epiphany What are you seeking? Expectations and Epiphany is the first ECVA exhibition for 2023. Recognizing that artists are given the gift of searching, participants were asked to consider how each responded to being called to be an artist, learning to accept that call, and moving forward with all the doubts, uncertainties, questions and finally, the revelation or the epiphany. Seventeen artists contributed 35 entries. Julie Bender is the guest curator. There is a call out now for the next exhibition:
Call to Artists The Power of Creating a Series of Artwork Due March 1 - March 20, 2023 The exhibit will open in April Episcopal Service Corps Seeking Applicants - Virtual open houses in early 2023 Episcopal Service Corps (ESC) invites young leaders ages 21 to 32 interested in a transformative outreach and discernment experience to apply online for the 2023-24 program year.
Potential applicants are encouraged to take ESC’s online discernment quiz. Those interested can also register online to attend a virtual open house:
 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. Joseph says: Who will give lodging to these pilgrims who are weary of traveling the roads? We have come exhausted from Nazareth. I’m a carpenter, by the name of Joseph. In the name of the heavens, I beg you for lodging, my beloved wife can no longer travel. People inside the Church answer: Although you tell us that you are weary, we do not give lodging to strangers. We don’t care what your name is; let us sleep. We are telling you that we will not let you enter.  On Sunday, December 19, 2021, the South Bronx Team Ministry [a shared ministry comprised of Misión de San Juan Bautista, St. David’s, St. Edmund’s, and St. Simeon’s] and St. Margaret’s celebrated Las Posadas (A Service of shelter for the Holy family) jointly for the first time. These two entities collaborated and worshipped at this one-of-a-kind bilingual Christian, biblical, and evangelistic service which bears its roots from the Hispanic culture. The service embodied a collection of Advent, Marian and Christmas songs accompanied with prayers and reflections in both English and Spanish. Las Posadas is a cherished Advent tradition that has been celebrated among families in Mexico and other Latin American countries for hundreds of years. In 1857, an enthusiastic priest, Fray Diego de Soria, a monk of the Order of St. Augustine, introduced the devotion in a church in Mexico. These celebrations were precisely at Christmas time and were a strong attraction to new Christians. Las Posadas became so popular that soon the celebration was taken up by other churches in Mexico and neighboring countries. Soon homeowners began celebrating in their homes where travelers went from house to house led by the angel with a little donkey on which the Virgin, Mary, was seated and Joseph walked by her side. For the most part, this celebration takes pace during Advent from December 16 through December 23 with a special service on December 24. During this novena (nine days of preparing our hearts to welcome Jesus into the world), the community gathers every night. While Las Posadas is celebrated in many unique ways today, the theme of hospitality remains vital. See a photo album of the event > Today some churches embrace the Posadas celebration to help connect with new Latino neighbors. The Reverends Benjamin Nnaji [ Priest-in-Charge: St. Edmund’s, St. David’s, Misión de San Juan Bautista, St, Simeon’s, Bronx], Mario Martinez [Assistant priest: Misión de San Juan Bautista] and Theodora Brooks [priest-in-charge: St. Margaret’s, Longwood] and their respective congregations partnered and sought to do the same – connect with our neighbors. The service began with the priests accompanied by Mary, Joseph and the infant seeking entry into the Church. A dialog ensues between both groups - those inside and those outside: People inside say: Who are the children of God? People outside say: All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. People inside say: To what does the Spirit of God guide us? People outside say: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self–control.  Once the people inside of the Church were persuaded to admit the entourage, they said, “Lodging we will give you with much happiness; enter, good Joseph; enter with Mary. Enter, holy pilgrims. Receive this corner not of this humble home, but of our hearts.” The entourage was received joyously to the music provided by a mariachi band. In his sermon, The Reverend Canon Victor Conrado, Canon for Congregational Vitality and Formation, encouraged us to be adventurous like Mary. He went on to further engage us in identifying the degradation of our individual communities which may be attributed to the pandemic – homelessness, unemployment, food insufficiencies, depression, lawlessness, fear. We have become estranged in our own skin; becoming to accustomed to isolation and alienation. Where is God throughout all this? What is God telling us to do during this time? These questions were also asked when the travelling Holy family sought a place to rest - How do we know we love the Lord and have faith? What good is it, my brothers, and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have work? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. A simple statement that appears to be on a loop in my head is ‘meet people where they are’. In doing so, by God’s mercy we may again find ourselves as we seek to serve others and treat each other with love. The celebration concluded with a procession into the neighborhood. Mary, Miss Hailey Montilla, rode the pony holding the infant and Joseph, Mr. David Ash, walked alongside. As we traversed the neighborhood singing, we saw onlookers through their windows; they waved enthusiastically from their warm abodes as we passed by. It was our aspiration that our neighbors would join us even if it was simply out of curiosity. Again – meet people where they are. At least they now know that we are not just a building but a group of people within that building. We anticipate this service being a staple during Advent. When our neighbors are ready, our doors will be open to receive them and with this reception may we each find ourselves and offer a corner of our hearts in the process.  Story and photos from Stephanie Harris-Ash
What, exactly goes on at a General Convention of the Episcopal Church? This is old hat to deputies who have been to five or six General Conventions, as many have, but it is always a mystery to people who have never attended the week-long gathering. So here is what the Diocese of New York is doing this year!  Your Diocesan Deputation to the 2022 General Convention invites you to an Online General Convention Orientation Session with The Rev. Matt Mead, Clerical Deputy and Diane Pollard, Alternate Lay Deputy on Monday, January 31 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Via Zoom Join us and learn about our diocese's presence and participation at the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, July 7-14
Click here to register for the Jan. 31 Zoom For questions about the program, please contact: The Rev. Matt Mead, Clerical Deputy to General Convention [email protected] Ms. Diane Pollard, Alternate Lay Deputy to General Convention [email protected] Zoom support generously provided by the Church of the Heavenly Rest, Manhattan and its staff. For technical support after registering, you may contact Lucas Thorpe at [email protected]. |
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